Handbuch der Nordsemitischen Epigraphik
1898 handbook of Northwest Semitic inscriptions by Mark Lidzbarski
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Handbuch der Nordsemitischen Epigraphik, nebst ausgewählten Inschriften (“Handbook of North-Semitic Epigraphy, together with selected inscriptions”) is a two-volume reference work on Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions by Mark Lidzbarski, published in 1898.[1]
It became a foundational manual for the field of Semitic epigraphy.[2]
History
Conceived as a comprehensive handbook of Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, the Handbuch contained texts, readings, references, and selected facsimiles.[3]
It was subsequently eclipsed by later standard corpora such as Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften (KAI), and the Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt (TADAE) for Egyptian Aramaic.
Contents
- Volume I (Text): Introductions to scripts, readings, and extensive bibliographies
- Volume II (Plates): Facsimile tables of inscriptions (46 plates).
Related and subsidiary publications
In the same way that the Répertoire d'Épigraphie Sémitique (RES) functioned as a companion to the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum (CIS), Lidzbarski published further works related to the Handbuch:
- Ephemeris für semitische Epigraphik (ESE): 3 vols., Giessen: J. Ricker / Töpelmann, 1902–1915 (vol. 1 = 1900–1902; vol. 2 = 1903–1907; vol. 3 = 1909–1915). Conceived to publish new finds and to re-discuss previously published texts, updating and correcting the Handbuch.[2]
- Altsemitische Texte, Heft 1: Kanaanäische Inschriften (KI): Giessen: A. Töpelmann, 1907. A reader for students with brief notes, intended “primarily for lectures”; in the preface Lidzbarski explicitly directs teachers to show reproductions for the Handbuch and Ephemeris. Although published as Heft 1 (Volume 1), no further volumes were published.[4]