DO NOT GO LIVE Alumnus Translates Kuttamuwa Stele

November 19, 2008

Samuel Boyd, M.Div. '06, tells the story, "I was invited to the dig as an archaeologist, though my training in my doctorate is more linguistic/philological, specializing in Northwest Semitic languages (as well as a few non-Northwest Semitic languages, such as Ge'ez and Akkadian). While in other fields inscription discoveries are not rare, in ancient Semitic languages the last time an intact and in situ inscription was discovered like this was Tell Fekherye in 1979.

"For instance, the Tell Dan inscription with 'House of David' was significant, but not intact and not found in its original spot. So, we were not expecting to find an inscription and the department had some funds left over and, therefore, invited a few philologists to get field experience.

"The dig director made me a square supervisor. Archaeologists dig in 10 x 10 meter squares, and I oversaw one of these square (we had approximately 10 of these square in operation this summer) with an assistant who was a masters student from Oxford and four to seven Turkish locals who help out on the dig as excavators. I reported to an area supervisor (one of my jobs was also to stand in for one of the area supervisors, who was sick), who reported to the dig director.

"The stele was discovered in the square adjacent to mine. In the morning before breakfast, the supervisor of that square remarked to me how wonderfully round one of the stones in his square was. After breakfast, one of the Turkish locals saw writing on the back, and the area director called me over to read it.

"I was the first person to lay eyes on the inscription and read it in 2700 years, which was amazing. I called one of the other philologists over to confirm my reading, and once the inscription was taken from the ground I was one of three field philologists who provided a round translation of the inscription. We worked in the back room of the municipal building in a small city called Fevzipasha in SE Turkey.

"After we completed the epigraphy and translation work, we conferred on a fairly regular basis with the dig director and co-director regarding how it should be interpreted in light of the archaeological, cultural, and material context. We also sent our transliteration, translation, and photos to my adviser, who is publishing the editio princeps.

"So, between the 3 philologists, the dig director and co-director, and my adviser (whose name is Dennis Pardee, mentioned in the NY Times article), we arrived at the basics of what you read in the article on Tuesday.

"However, there are many more linguistic and cultural questions to ask, particularly as the language closely resembles Sam'alian (either a sister language or daughter language of Aramaic; their relationship is debated) and Old Aramaic, but does not match either precisely.

"In addition, we have dated the inscription to approximately 730 BC, and the king following the king mentioned in the inscription was absorbed directly into the Assyrian empire, putting it (again, approximately) around the same geo-political/military push of the Neo Assyrian empire which also exiled the Northern tribes of Israel.

"Since the Neo Assyrian Empire increasingly used Aramaic as its lingua franca over time, the various overt Aramaisms may be due to increased cultural contact with the local dialect called Sam'alian; however, this is a seriously debated point, and the language could also simply reflect a previously unknown form/dialect of Aramaic, a more conservative, and probably safer, conclusion.

"In addition, we discovered a scarab seal likely in Egyptian hieroglyphics in my square, which would be further evidence of the extensive cross cultural influences at this site as in indicated in the NY Times article. The seal may only be imitation hieroglyphs, however, since many people in the Levant wore such imitation hieroglyphic seals as amulets; our Egyptologists in the department have yet to analyze it."

Archaeology magazine article, "Insight Into the Soul"

Science Daily article, "Funerary Monument Reveals Iron Age Belief That The Soul Lived In The Stone"