Tripolitania Punic inscriptions

Tripolitania Punic inscriptions
Bilingual inscription at Leptis Magna
Writing	Punic

Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions
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Corpora Scripturae Linguaeque Phoeniciae CIS (Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum) KAI (Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften) TADAE (Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt)
Discoveries (17th & 18th c.) Punic-Libyan bilinguals Cippi of Melqart Carpentras Stela Pococke Kition inscriptions Benhisa inscription Phoenician Harpocrates statues Nora Stone Athenian Greek-Phoenician inscriptions
Discoveries (19th c.) Tripolitania Punic inscriptions Elephantine papyri and ostraca Mdina steles Carthaginian tombstones Humbert Carthage inscriptions Turin Aramaic Papyrus Blacas papyrus Falbe Punic inscriptions Reade Punic inscriptions Limyra bilingual Abu Simbel Phoenician graffiti Ain Nechma inscriptions Kellia inscription Marseille Tariff Nimrud ivory inscriptions Assyrian lion weights Phoenician metal bowls Anat Athena bilingual Bourgade inscriptions Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II Gozo stele Serapeum Offering Table Cirta steles Carthage Tariff Son of Baalshillek marble base Carthage tower model Bodashtart inscriptions Kition Resheph pillars Ankh-Hapy stele Pauli Gerrei trilingual inscription Baalshamin inscription Phoenician sun dial Umm al-Amad votive inscription Cesnola Phoenician inscriptions Khaznadar inscriptions Hadrumetum Punic inscriptions Mesha Stele Abydos graffiti Idalion bilingual Idalion Temple inscriptions Yehawmilk Stele Tharros Punic inscriptions Royal Steward inscription Carthaginian slaughterhouse inscription Carthaginian mother goddess inscription Carthage Festival Offering inscription Wilmanns Neopunic inscriptions Pricot de Sainte-Marie steles Cherchell Neopunic inscriptions Bashamem inscription Baal Lebanon inscription Saqqara Aramaic Stele Tayma stones Kition Tariffs Adadnadinakhe bricks Siloam inscription Sant'Antioco bilingual Palmyra Tariff Osorkon Bust Pierides Kition inscriptions Eshmun obelisk Persephone Punic stele Lilybaeum stele Henchir Guergour Neopunic inscriptions Guelaât Bou Sbaâ Neopunic inscriptions Tyre Cistern inscription Tamassos bilinguals Masub inscription Tabnit sarcophagus Panamuwa II inscription Madaba Nabataean Inscriptions Hadad Statue Abdmiskar cippus Maktar and Mididi inscriptions Bar-Rakib inscriptions Neirab steles Sarıaydın inscription Larnakas tis Lapithou pedestal inscription Kilamuwa Stela Hasanbeyli inscription Kition Necropolis Phoenician inscriptions Douïmès medallion El Amrouni mausoleum Abiba’l inscription Tortosa “bomos” inscription El-Osiris inscription Avignon Punic inscription Punic Tabella Defixionis Quintus Markius trilingual inscription
Discoveries (20th c.) Farasa bilingual inscription Phoenician Adoration steles Banobal stele Eshmun inscription Sibbolet funeral inscription Stele of Zakkur Villaricos Phoenician stele Assur ostracon and tablets Throne of Astarte Gözne Boundary Stone Thinissut sanctuary inscription Gezer calendar Samaria Ostraca Olbia pedestal Giardino Birocchi inscription Sardis bilingual inscription Rhodes Phoenician-Greek bilingual inscriptions Kesecek Köyü inscription Aramaic Inscription of Taxila Arwad bilingual Mitsri genealogy inscription KNMY's child sacrifice(?) inscription Ahiram Sarcophagus Byblos Necropolis graffito Byblos altar inscription Ophel ostracon Phoenician arrowheads Ur Box inscription Byblos bronze spatulas Abda sherd Son of Safatba'al inscription Batnoam sarcophagus Yehimilk inscription Sefire steles Arslan Tash ivory inscription Hama graffiti Pul-i-Darunteh Aramaic inscription Arslan Tash amulets Tell Halaf inscription Agrigentum inscription Lachish letters Safatba'al inscription Hermopolis Aramaic papyri Phoenician papyrus letters Melqart stele Honeyman inscription Stele of Serapeitis Jebel Massoudj Neopunic inscription Adon Papyrus Kilamuwa scepter Tel Qasile ostraca Karatepe bilingual Tel el Maskhuta silver bowls Pumayyaton and Pnytarion's inscriptions Byblos clay cone inscriptions Carchemish Phoenician inscription Hatran Aramaic inscriptions Djinet Neopunic inscriptions Wadi Murabba'at papyrus Hazor inscriptions Al Jib jar handles Byblos marble inscription Kubaba Aramaic inscription El-Kerak Inscription Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription Yavne-Yam ostracon Arad ostraca Nebi Yunis ostraca Tel Dan bowl Seville statue of Astarte Khirbet Beit Lei graffiti Amman Citadel Inscription Ein Gev jar Phoenician Sphinx inscription Baalshillem Temple Boy Abydos Aramaic papyrus Pyrgi Tablets Carthage Administration Inscription Daskyleion steles Mozia Punic inscriptions Deir Alla Inscription Grotta Regina Punic inscriptions Tekke Bowl Inscription (Knossos) Aramaic Sustenance tablet Aramaic inscription of Laghman Tel Siran inscription Letoon trilingual Aramaic inscription from al-Mal Hadad-yith'i bilingual inscription Ketef Hinnom scrolls Sarepta Tanit Inscription Çebel Ires Dağı inscription Monumental Hebrew inscription from Jerusalem Hazael horse frontlet Bukan inscription İvriz inscription Bactria Aramaic documents Tel Dan Stele Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription Çineköy inscription Tablet De Geest
Discoveries (21st c.) Zayit Stone Kuttamuwa stele Khirbet Qeiyafa ostracon Ataruz altar inscriptions Ishbaal Inscription
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The Tripolitania Punic inscriptions are a number of Punic language inscriptions found in the region of Tripolitania – specifically its three classical cities of Leptis Magna, Sabratha and Oea (modern Tripoli), with the vast majority being found in Leptis Magna. The inscriptions have been found in various periods over the last two centuries, and were catalogued by Giorgio Levi Della Vida. A subset of the inscriptions feature in all the major corpuses of Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, notably as KAI 119-132.

In addition to inscriptions in the Punic script, the corpus includes a number of Punic inscriptions written in Latin script, such as KAI 304-305.^[1]^[2]

According to Karel Jongeling, 68 inscriptions are known from Leptis Magna, 15 from Sabratha, 10 from Oea, 4 from Zaiuet el-Mahgiub, 3 from Wadi el-Amud, 2 from Germa and 1 each from El-Amruni, Gasr Doga, Bir Gebira, Bu Khemmàsc, Henchir Gen Rieime, Misurata Marina, Al-Qusbat, Ras el-Hadagia, Sàmet el-Crèma, Taglit and Tarhuna.^[3]

Prior to 1927, only eight Punic inscriptions from all of Tripolitania had been published.^[4]

The first find was in 1806 by Jacques-Denis Delaporte at Leptis Magna, published by Ali Bey el Abbassi in 1814-16,^[5] and later in Delaporte‘s 1836 memoir:^[6]

I turned south and climbed the remains of the temple of Friendship. I had barely reached the mound when I set foot upon a hard stone. The foreign characters under the Latin characters engraved on it made this monument so precious in my eyes, that I have not hesitated to include a copy of the inscription... It is a shame that it is only a fragment, because it could allow clarification of Punic or Phoenician writing, which is, I believe, that of this inscription, because lingua punica quidquid terraram est à Cyrene usque ad Gades occupavit... The stone is still on the spot: I have not urged the Americans to seize it, because it suits France better, if it is deemed worthy of adorning the Napoleon Museum.^[7]

Delaporte identified the language as Punic by reference to a quote from Samuel Bochart's 1646 work Canaan, which translates in full as: "...the language of Canaan, whether Phoenician or Punic, which was brought from Phoenicia into Africa, and occupied all the world from Cyrene to Gades."^[8]

By 1857, Moritz Abraham Levy stated that five inscriptions were known.^[9]

Later discoveries

For forty years between 1927-1967, Giorgio Levi Della Vida worked to prepare a corpus of the Punic inscriptions in Tripolitania, intended as the Punic parallel of Joyce Reynolds' and John Bryan Ward-Perkins' The Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania (IRT). Levi Della Vida's corpus brought together research which has often appeared in periodicals that are not very accessible, sometimes defunct, and were not always accompanied by adequate photographic documentation.^[10]^[11]

Concordance

Image	Discovery date and location	Punic concordance				Latin (if bilingual)	Current Location	Other ref.
Image	Discovery date and location	Tripolitania^[12]	Iscrizione Puniche della Tripolitania	KAI, CIS, NE^[13]	Levy 1857^[14]	IRT^[15]	Current Location	Other ref.
			1
	1806, Leptis Magna^[5]		9		I1		British Museum (BM 1862,0527.2)^[16]
	1824, Leptis Magna^[17]		10	NE 434, B-a	I2		British Museum (BM 135744)^[17]	^[18]
			11		I3
			12		I4	655	lost^[19]
			13		I5	654	Red Castle Museum^[20]
		12	17	KAI 130
		13	18	KAI 129
		14	19	KAI 131
			16			481
		27	21	KAI 120		319	Leptis Museum
		28	22	KAI 122
		29	23	KAI 123			Leptis Museum
		30	24a and 24b	KAI 121		321-323	in situ
			25	KAI 127		294
		31	26	KAI 124		338
		32	27	KAI 126		318, 347
		34	29	KAI 128
		36	30	KAI 125		305
		37	31	KAI 119
			68	KAI 132
	1901, Breviglieri		76	KAI 118, RES 662				^[21]
			82A-K
			96

Other

KAI 178 Leptis Magna Latino-Libyan [in LATIN]

Bibliography

References

↑ Goodchild, R. G. (2011-11-29). "The Latino-Libyan Inscriptions of Tripolitania - The Antiquaries Journal". The Antiquaries Journal. 30 (3–4): 135–144. doi:10.1017/S0003581500087795. ISSN 1758-5309. S2CID 162787261. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
↑ Charles R. Krahmalkov. “A Reinterpretation of the Neo-Punic Inscription IRT 889 from Roman Tripolitania.” Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 93, no. 1, 1973, pp. 61–64. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/600518. Accessed 31 May 2022.
↑ Neo-punic inscriptions from Libya
↑ Levy Della Vida, 1927, page 92: "Non è inopportuno rammentare quali siano le iscrizioni neopuniche della Tripolitania finora pubblicate: esse non superano, come è stato detto sopra, il numero di otto."
1 2 Bey, Ali (1816). Travels of Ali Bey in Morocco, Tripoli, Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia, Syria, and Turkey, Between the Years 1803 and 1807. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. p. 242. Retrieved 2025-05-24. At 45 miles from Tripoli are the ruins of the ancient Leptis, or Lebda. I was told that they still contain a great number of columns, capitals, and other interesting fragments. Mr. Delaporte, secretary to the general consulate of France, has visited these ruins, and copied the inscriptions which are to be seen in plate No. 16.
↑ Reynolds, J. M. “Some Inscriptions from Lepcis Magna.” Papers of the British School at Rome, vol. 19, 1951, pp. 118–21. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40310492. Accessed 9 Oct. 2022.
↑ Delaporte (1836). Mémoire sur les ruines de Leptis Magna, régence de Tripolis de Barbarie: adressé en 1806 à M. le prince de Bénévent (in French). Impr. roy. pp. 13–14. Retrieved 2022-10-06. Je pris au sud et montai les débris du temple de l'Amitié. J'étais à peine arrivé sur la colline qu'ils forment, que je mis le pied sur une pierre dure. Les caractères étrangers placés sous les caractères latins qui y sont gravés ont rendu ce monument si précieux à mes yeux, que je n'hésite pas à en figurer l'inscription... Il est à regretter que ce ne soit qu'un fragment, car elle pourrait faire naître quelque éclaircissement sur l'écriture punique ou phénicienne, qui est, je crois, celle de cette inscription, parce que lingua punica quidquid terraram est à Cyrene usque ad Gades occupavit... La pierre est encore sur les lieux :je n'ai pas engagé les Américains à s'en saisir, parce qu'elle convient mieux à la France, si toutefois elle est jugée digne d'orner le musée Napoléon.
↑ Bochart, S. (1674). Geographia Sacra seu Phaleg et Canaan (in Latin). Impensis Johannis Davidis Zunneri. p. 66. Retrieved 2022-10-06. Tertia sit lingua Chanaan, sive Phænicum aut Punica, quæ ex Phænice in Africam perlata est, & occupavit quicquid terrarum est à Cyrene usque ad Gades.
↑ Phönizische Studien von M. A. Levy (in German). F. E. C. Leuckart. 1857. p. 88. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
↑ Vida, G.L.D.; Amadasi, M.G.; Guzzo, M.G.A. (1987). Iscrizioni puniche della Tripolitania (1927-1967) (PDF). Monografie di archeologia libica (in Italian). "L'Erma" di Bretschneider. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-88-7062-612-4. Retrieved 2022-10-12. Nel corso degli ultimi anni del proprio lavoro scientifico, G. Levi Della Vida si era dedicato, in particolare, alla raccolta in un piccolo Corpus delle iscrizioni in caratteri punici e neopunici rinvenute nella region tripolitana e da lui già edite per la massima parte nel corso dei lunghi anni della sua attività. La scomparsa dello studioso arrestò il compimento di quest'opera, che era intesa come il « parallelo » punico della raccolta di J. M. REYNOLDS e J. B. WARD - PERKINS, The Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania, Rome-London, 1952 (IRT). L'utilità del lavoro è evidente: le edizioni di G. Levi Della Vida sono spesso apparse in periodici poco accessibili, a volte estinti, e non sempre sono accompagnate da un'adeguata documentazione fotografica;
↑ Jongeling, K.; Kerr, R.M. (2005). Late Punic Epigraphy: An Introduction to the Study of Neo-Punic and Latino-Punic Inscriptions. Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 978-3-16-148728-6. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
↑ Tripolitania, in Dictionnaire des Inscriptions Sémitiques de l'Ouest
↑ Mark Lidzbarski, 1898: Handbuch der Nordsemitischen Epigraphik, nebst ausgewählten Inschriften: I Text and II Plates
↑ Phönizische Studien von M. A. Levy (in German). Vol. 2. F. E. C. Leuckart. 1857. p. 88. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
↑ Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania, 2009
↑ "architrave BM 1862,0527.2". The British Museum. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
1 2 "sculpture BM 135744". The British Museum. 1989-02-17. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
↑ Jongeling, Karel. “IPT 10.” Orientalia, vol. 76, no. 1, 2007, pp. 47–52. JSTOR, JSTOR 43077607. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.
↑ "Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania: 655".
↑ "Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania: 654".
↑ https://base-map-polytheisms.huma-num.fr/source/553

Tripolitania Punic inscriptions

Later discoveries

Concordance

Other

Bibliography

References

External links

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