Arslan Tash ivory inscription
Arslan Tash ivory inscription is a small ivory plaque with an Aramaic language inscription found in 1928 in Arslan Tash in northern Syria (ancient Hadātu) by a team of French archaeologists led by François Thureau-Dangin.[1]
The plaque mentions "Hazael", who has been speculated to be the Biblical Hazael of Aram-Damascus. The inscription is known as KAI 232.[2]
The plaque, along with many other ivory items, was found on the site of a palace from the 8th century BC belonging to the city's Neo-Assyrian governor.
Three parts of the plaque have been found; two parts fit together, the third one does not. The two joined parts together are 2 cm high and 7.9 cm long, while the third part is 1.9 cm high and 3.2 cm long. The entire inscription on the plate is usually reconstructed as follows:
This ... son of Amma, engraved for our lord Hazael in the year ...
Currently, the plaque is in the Louvre collection under the inventory number AO 11489.
Bibliography
- Clyde E. Fant, Mitchell G. Reddish, "Lost Treasures of the Bible", Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids / Cambridge 2008, pp. 106-109.
References
- ^ Arslan-Tash. v. 1 p.135: "Trois fragments d'une lamelle d'ivoire portant une ligne de texte en carac- tères araméens. Ces fragments ont été trouvés aux environs immédiats des cadres décrits plus haut p. 89 et suiv."
- ^ Muscarella, Oscar White (29 January 1980). The Catalogue of Ivories from Hasanlu, Iran: Hasanlu Special Studies, Volume II. UPenn Museum of Archaeology. pp. 218–. ISBN 978-0-934718-33-2.