Thursday, July 18, 2024

Alphabetic cuneiform at Deir ‘Alla?

THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY: The Enigmatic Tablets from Late Bronze Age Deir ‘Alla (Michel de Vreeze).
Using some sign identifications based on parallels and patterns within the Deir ‘Alla tablets themselves, a preliminary identification of most signs can be offered. This allows the language in the tablets to be identified as Northwest Semitic, which we can call Canaanite after its Late Bronze Levantine inhabitants. Nevertheless, the reading of the tablets remains problematic and far from ideal. What does seem clear is that by reading the signs with reference to later Hebrew grammar, which preserves earlier Canaanite forms, the texts appear to contain short ritual utterances and poetic proverbs written within a cultic setting, related to the temple activities.
This ANE Today essay came out a few years ago, but somehow I missed it. It just came to my attention because of a recent popular article on the tablets.

As far as I can recall, this story is new to me. Briefly: 15 inscribed clay tablets were excavated at Tel Deir ‘Alla from the 1960s on. Recent work, as per the quotation above, indicates that they are written an otherwise unknown alphabetic cuneiform script. There's not much to work with, but you can read preliminary translations in the ANE Today article above. Given the tiny size of the corpus, I would receive the translations with caution.

Northwest Semitic epigraphy and Tel Deir ‘Alla (Deir Alla) are already well connected due to the Iron Age II Balaam inscription discovered there by the same excavation. For many PaleoJudaica posts on it, start here and follow the links.

The corpus of Late Bronze Age alphabetic cuneiform outside of Ugarit is very small. For a recently noted example from Beit Shemesh, see here. It's good to know that there is more.

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