An undeciphered alphabetic stele found in Ördek-Burnu, 20 km south of Sam'al (8 miles south of Zinjirli) in what is now northern Syria, dates to the 9th century BCE. The language of the inscription is difficult to interpret. It contains Semitic words but is not grammatically Semitic, and may be a mixture of Luwian and a Semitic language.[1] It is kept in Istanbul.

Stele of Ördek-Burnu
Stele of Ordek-Burnu in the Istanbul Museum of the Ancient Orient
Createdc. 850 BC
Discoveredbefore 2014
Present locationIstanbul, Turkey

Bibliography edit

  • Mark Lidzbarski: VI. Die Stele von Ördek-burnu. Ephemeris für Semitische Epigraphik III. Giessen 1915, pp. 192–206, pls. 13–15.
  • André Lemaire and Benjamin Sass: The Mortuary Stele with Sam’alian Inscription from Ördekburnu near Zincirli, in: BASOR 369, 2013, pp. 57–136.

References edit

  1. ^ Holger Gzella, Language and Script, in: Herbert Niehr (2014), The Aramaeans in Ancient Syria, p. 75, but. cf. Lemaire and Sass 2013.