Temple tariff Phoenician Inscription, Kition, Cyprus; 450 BC; Tablet A:

Temple tariff Phoenician Inscription, Kition, Cyprus; 450 BC (CIS I, 86. KAI 37 A)
This inscription was found in 1879 during the removal of the mound of Bamboula at the site of the Acropolis of the ancient city of Kition; modern day Larnaca and is now preserved in the British Museum. This inscription was written using black ink on a limestone tablet recto-verso which edges were a bit damaged.
Phoenician Inscription using modified Latin alphabet:
1- TKLT YRḤ ᵓTNM
2- BḤDŠ YRḤ ᵓTNM
3- LᵓLN ḤDŠ QPᵓ 2
4- LBNM 4 ᵓŠ BN ᵓYT BT ᶜŠTRT KT QR 2
5- LPRKM WLᵓDMM ᵓŠ ᶜL DL QṢR 20...
6- LŠRM BᶜR ᵓŠ ŠKNM LMLKT QDŠT BYM Z Q...
7- LNᶜRM 2 QPᵓ 2
8- LZBḤM 2 QR 1
9- LᵓPM 2 ᵓŠ ᵓP ᵓYT ṬNᵓ ḤLT LMLKT...
10-ᵓT PRMN QR 3
11-LNᶜRM 3 QPᵓ3
12-LGLBM PᶜLM ᶜL MLᵓKT QPᵓ 2
13- LḤRŠM 20 ᵓŠ PᶜL ᵓŠTT ᵓBN BBT MKL...
14-LᶜBDᵓŠMN RB SPRM ŠLḤ BYM Z QR 3 WQPᵓ 3
15-LKLBM WLGRM QR 3 W[Q]Pᵓ 3
16- ...........ŠLḤ BYM Z QR 2 WQPᵓ...
18-............ᶜMQ............

Phoenician Inscription using Hebrew alphabet:
תכלת ירח אתנם. בחדש ירח אתנם. לאלן חדש קפא 2. לבנם 4 אש בן אית בת עשתרת כת קר 2. לפרכם ולאדמם אש על דל קצר 20 ... לשרם בער אש שכנם למלכת קדשת בים ז ק... לנערם 2 קפא 2. לזבחם 2 קר 1. לאפם 2 אש אף אית טנא חלת למלכת קדשת. את פרמן קר 3. לנערם 3 קפא 3. לגלבם פעלם על מלאכת קפא 2. לחרשם 20. אש פעל אשתת אבן בבת מכל. לעבדאשמן רב ספרם שלח בים ז קר 3 וקפא 3.לכלבם ולגרם קר 3 ופא 3. ....שלח בים ז קר 2 וקפא...עמכ....
English translation:
1-(These are) The expenditures (of the Temple) for the month of Etanim.
2-(Paid) On the new-moon of the month of Etanim.
3-To the leaders of the new-moon festival, 2 QPᵓ.
4- To the 4 masons who built/repaired the temple of Astharte at Kition, 2 QR.
5-To the 20 taskmasters and men (who were stationed) at the door of the sanctuary...
6- To the singers from the city who were in attendance of the Holy Queen on this day...
7- To the 2 young servitors, 2 QPᵓ.
8- To the 2 sacrificers, 1 QR.
9- To the 2 bakers who baked the basket of cakes for the Holy Queen.
10- Along with the PRMN, 3 QR.
11-To the 3 young servitors, 3QPᵓ.
12- To the barbers employed in the (sacred) liturgy, QPᵓ 2.
13- To the 20 craftsmen who made the female statues in the temple of Mekal...
14- To Abdeshmun, chief of scribes, on duty this day, 3 QR and QPᵓ...
15- To the 'dogs' and the' lion's whelps', 3 QR and 3 QPᵓ...
16-....... On duty this day, 2 QR and ...QPᵓ...
17- .......

French Translation:
1-Total des dépenses (du temple) pour le mois d'Etanim.
2 -(Payés) à la néoménie du mois d'Etanim.
3-Pour les chefs de la néoménie, 2 QPᵓ.
4- Pour les 4 maçons qui ont construit/ réparé le temple d'Astharte à Kition, 2 QR.
5-Pour les 20 gardiens du verrou et les hommes (qui ont été postés) à la porte du sanctuaire...
6 -- Pour les chanteurs de la ville qui étaient au service de la reine sainte ce jour-ci...
7 -- Pour les 2 jeunes serviteurs, 2 QPᵓ.
8- Pour les 2 sacrificateurs, 1 QR.
9- Pour les 2 boulangers qui ont cuit le panier de gâteaux pour la reine sainte.
10- Aussi pour les PRMN, 3 QR.
11-Pour les 3 jeunes serviteurs, 3QPᵓ.
12- Pour les barbiers employés dans le culte, QPᵓ 2.
13- Pour les 20 artisans qui ont fait les statues femelles dans le temple de Mekal...
14- Pour Abdeshmoun, chef des scribes, en service ce jour, 3 QR et QPᵓ...
15- Pour les" chiens" et pour les "minets" 3 QR et 3 QPᵓ...
16- ....... en service ce jour, 2 QR et... QPᵓ...
17- .......

Thank you for watching and see you next time with section 'B' of this inscription.
I wish you all a Happy New Year 2012.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Temple tarrif
• Phoenician Inscription
• Kition
• Cyprus
• Larnaca
• Religion
• Canaan
• Paganism
• Lebanon
• Bible
• Hebrew
• Etanim
• New moon
• Astarte
• Mekal
• Sacred
• Eshmun
• Sacrifices
• dogs
• lion's whelps
• Holy queen

[MrViTopol]

@ahhc07 on second thought, in the word ''PRMN'' in line 10,

the last two letters were mistakenly identified as 'MEM' AND 'NUN' !!!

while in truth, those letters being simply letters ''KAF'' and ''MEM''...

thus the word is ''PRKM'' - the '' curtain attendants'', the same ''PRKM'' whom we already meet with in line 5 of this in this inscription. repeated mentioning of the cult personnel is expected in a tariff list.

[ahhc07]

@MrViTopol Thank you for your valuable expert input.

[MrViTopol]

@ahhc07 ''PRMN'' in line 10, could be singular for an employee who cuts the clothing (of devotees ?). the Hebr. root 'PARAM' = to render clothes asander , see Leviticus 10:6, 13:45, and 21:10. but here, most likely it's some sort of a sacred Tailor. since the word ''PARAM'' can mean both unstitching and stitching at the same time, similar to the opposite meanings seen in the word ''paraq'' = to disassemble in modern Hebrew, while meaning 'to assemble' , to repair' in ancient Hebr.

[ahhc07]

@MrViTopol You are perfectly right gurim is similar to arabic "garou"in singular. The issue of sacred prostitution is a bit debatable and I am going to comment on it in my future videos. Do you have any suggestions about the mysterious word "PRMN" in line 10? Happy New Year to you too!

[MrViTopol]

@ahhc07 Happy New Year. Gurim are cubs of any animal including dogs, not just lion's, while Kelbim were adult male prostitutes, Gurim were boy prostitutes. euphemisticaly they all were called Qdeshim ( see Job 36:14 ).

[ahhc07]

@TheAncientScribes This is a bit controversial some scholars say that sacred prostitution did not even exist. In line 15 of this inscription there is the mention of 'Kelbim' and 'Gurim' 'the men dogs' and 'the men lion's whelps' that some scholars translate as male prostitutes/ homosexual prostitues.Will talk about that in detail in my future videos.

[TheAncientScribes]

@ahhc07 As far as I am aware temple prostitution was expected once in the life of a woman. She would offer her services to passing merchants in costal areas and donate her payment to the temple. Some temples had slaves to act as permanent temple prostitutes. The idea being a commercial venture.

[ahhc07]

@TheAncientScribes This seems to be right as barbers were included in the list of the temple employees. Interestingly this practice is still alive in Hinduism. In my future videos I am going to talk about other temple practices including the so called "sacred prostitution". The Phoenician Astarte has its roots in the Mesopotamian Ishtar so I guess the cult of Astarte may be an old one dating back to the second or even third Millenium BC. Thank you for sharing your Knowledge.

[ahhc07]

@Malkibaal Happy New Year to you too. Thank you dear friend. We need to see more of your videos this coming year.

[Malkibaal]

a happy new year to you too my great friend Tony :)