What fun! A new 8th cent bce inscription from the fantastic site
of Zincirli (for details, go here). Here is
a high-resolution image (HT Chip
Hardy). Click on the image again to enlarge it. Jim
Getz provides a copy of Dennis Pardee’s transcription based on the latter’s
SBL presentation.
Alas, Jim does not provide a translation. After
all, he implies, he blogs for those who will be able to translate it on their
own. But Jim: that is no way to keep your stats high. Caution is the true explanation
for his non-translation. Ed
Cook, Duane
Smith, and everyone else also choose caution and deference to Pardee over a
translation attempt of their own. However, if I were Pardee, I would welcome alternative
translation attempts.
Below, I throw caution to the wind, provide the text in transliteration and in sense-unit by sense-unit format. I also translate the first five lines. Note that d and r are virtually indistinguishable in the script; I transliterate with one rather than the other based on lexical and semantic, not paleographical considerations. The transliteration is best viewed after the font Gentium Alt is installed on your computer; it can also be converted to other fonts like Charis SIL.
- ʾnk.ktmw.ʿbd[.]pnmw.[zy].qnt.l[y].nṣb.b
- ḥyy.wšmt.wth.bsyr.ʿlmy.wḥggt.s
- yr.zn.šwr.lhdd.qrpdl.wybl.lng
- d.ṣwrn.wybl.lšmš.wybl.lhdd.krmn
- wybl.lkbbw.wybl.lnbšy.zy.bnṣb.zn.
- wʿt.mn.mn.bny.ʾw.
- mn bny.ʾš.wyhy.lh.
- nsyrg.znn.wlw.yqḥ.mn
- ḥyl.krm.znn.šʾ.
- ywmn.lywmn.wyh
- rg.bnbšy
- wyšwy
- ly.šq
אנך כתמו
עבד פנמו
זי קנת לי
נצב בחיי
ושמת ותה
בסיר עלמי
וחגגת סיר זנ
שור להדד קרפדל
ויבל לנגד צורנ
ויבל לשמש
ויבל להדד כרמנ
ויבל לכבבו
ויבל לנבשי
זי בנצב זנ
I am
Kuttamuwa,
servant
of Panamuwa,
I who
acquired for myself
the
stele while I was living.
I
placed it
in my
permanent chamber
and feted
this chamber:
a bull for Hadad of QRPDL;
produce
for opposite the depictions,
produce for Shamash;
produce
for Hadad of the vineyards,
produce
for his vessel;
produce
for my life-breath
that is
in this stele.
The translation, of course, is no more than a first stab.
I imagine that (the ashes of?) the named food-offerings would have been placed before the appropriate objects in the
permanent funerary chamber in which the stele was displayed.
For comparison purposes, a reformat of Pardee’s partial translation
of lines 1-5 as quoted and cited elsewhere (Univ of Chicago news
release and Doug Magnum)
follows. Regrettably, I was unable to attend Pardee’s SBL lecture. I am unaware
of his motivations for translating some vocables as he does.
I, Kuttamuwa,
servant of [the king] Panamuwa,
am the one who oversaw
the production of this stele for myself while still living.
I placed it
in an eternal chamber [?]
and established a feast
at this chamber [?]:
a bull for [the god] Hadad
. . .
a ram for [the god] Shamash
. . .
and a ram for my soul
that is in this stele.
Actually, I've got Pardee's complete translation from the presentation as well....
Posted by: Jim Getz | November 27, 2008 at 09:51 PM
If you email it to me, Jim, I would appreciate it.
At this point, beyond a limited number of details, I do not even know where Pardee and I agree and disagree.
Posted by: John Hobbins | November 27, 2008 at 09:55 PM