Karatepe Stone Slabs ~600 BCE

Letter style is a mix of Phoenician and Israelite

Texts at Karatepe in southern Turkey written in a mix of Phoenician and Israelite letter styles

(Feb 11, 2023) The texts at Karatepe in southern Turkey were written in a mix of Phoenician and Israelite letter styles. The language is Akkadian. These stone slabs along with slabs showing images were placed at the north gate of some sort of official complex. The narrow middle right text is on a stone slab placed endwise.

Translation

Translation

Narrow Slab Translation

  1. The filtering has been foreshadowed
  2. The lack of fertility-fluids has been expelled by the night
  3. To affect the fertility-fluids, astrological-powers should not be chaotic
  4. Energy is controlled when bursts-forth
  5. Alu (when Alu bursts-forth)
  6. To grind-down those opening considerations (focused magical emotions)
  7. Don't reveal affections for fertility-fluids
  8. Fight that fertility-fluid magic
  9. Drunkenness redirects the manifestations
  10. Don't paralyze the pasture (night sky) 
  11. Nourishments are being expelled by the tinkering
  12. Blockages are being nourished by the eagle-vultures
  13. Magic is hitting the bursting-forth of fertility-fluids
  14. Nourishments are being replaced by rainstorm chaos
  15. Magical emanations are dividing those nourishments  
  16. Lack of consistency is redirecting those
  17. Supervise considerations (focused magical emotions) opening
  18. emotional chaos

Translation

Karatepe is located on a hill overlooking a major trade route between the Mediterranean and Anatolia/Mesopotamia.

A visit to Karatepe in 2021 by Aytaç Batıbay who writes:
The first open-air museum of our country, Karatepe-Aslantaş, which is included in the Unesco cultural heritage list, is called asativataya at the time of the ancient hittite kingdom.. It is a place where you can easily spend time with your family, especially in epidemic days, which has both nature, history and picnic areas. Of course, do not pass without stopping by the ancient city of Kastabala on the way, it is also very close to the center of Osmaniye. Karatepe Aslantaş Open Air Museum is the place built as a border fortress against the attacks from the north by Asativata, who introduced himself as the ruler of the region, in the 8th century BC, which coincides with the Last Hittite period.
In 1946, excavations were started under the direction of German archaeologist Prof. Dr. H. Bossert. The foundation of the castle was made of stone and the top was equipped with adobe and bastions, and the castle, which was attacked by Assyrians around 700 BC, was burned and destroyed.  

Archaeology

(Feb 11, 2023) Karatepe means “Black Hill” in Turkish. It is an ancient fortified hill in the province of Cilicia. Together with the neighboring fortress Domuztepe it dominates the trade route from northern Syria into Central Anatolia across the Anti-Taurus mountain range. It is located about  45 miles northeast of Adana. It was excavated during 1947 to 1957 by Halet Cambel and H. Th. Bossert. The texts are now displayed at the Karatepe Archaeological Park. Another excavation occurred between 1997 and 1999 by U. Bahadir Alkim.

The city and fortresses were founded around 1,100 BCE after the Great Drought which ended the Bronze Age. The city has continued to exist into the present. No archaeological dates have ever been published for the tablets.

References

Ceram, C.W.  (1956) The Secret of the Hittites, The Discovery of an Ancient Empire. Pheonix Press, London

 Mazar and Panitz-Cohen (2019) Tel Batash in the Late Bronze Age. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/40130336/Mazar_and_Panitz_Cohen_2019_Tel_Batash_in_the_Late_Bronze_Age20190820_6759_bfg08d

Stefania Mazzoni (Oct 2018) Book review of the final excavation report in Journal of Near Eastern Studies Vol. 77 Issue 2, p305-307.  Book written in German and is titled: Karatepe-Arslantas. Azatiwataya by Martina Sicker-Akman, Eva Maria Bossert, and Wolfgang Fischer-Bossert. Deutsches Archaologisches Institut, Archaologische Forschungen 29. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag

North Gate of Karatepe Overlooking the Trade Route

North Gate of Karatepe Overlooking the Trade Route

This photo was taken soon after the site was excavated. The valley was dammed and is now a reservoir.

Eagle Vulture at Karatepe

Short 2014 Video

No sound

North Karatepe Panel Showing a Victorious Eagle Vulture Between Images of Abundance

North Karatepe Panel Showing a Victorious Eagle Vulture Between Images of Abundance

(Feb 11, 2023) A Karatepe north gate panel set showing a victorious eagle vulture under the sun disk Hu surrounded by images of masculine fertility (left) and feminine fertility (right). The eagle vulture trims the life network.  Notice the eagle vulture has been partly anthropomorphized indicating the lordification process was ongoing at this time. The hieroglyphic type writing is Luwian and is presently undeciphered despite some claims to the contrary. (from Ceram 1956)
Cylinder Seal from Cyprus (1300 BCE) showing Eagle-Vulture with Clipped Wings

Context: Eagle-Vulture with Clipped Wings

(Feb 11, 2023) Eagle vulture without wings from Canaan 1300 BCE . The images on this cylinder seal are in the Cypriot style yet this seal was found at Tel Batash (Biblical Timnah) in what would soon become Philistia. This town was violently destroyed around 1280 BCE during the chaos surrounding the drought ending the Bronze age. The building in which it was found was some sort of public building. This image contrasts the power of life and death. On one side of the eagle-vulture is the tree of life with snakes at its base who represented that power. The other side of the eagle vulture has a dead Ibex representing the end to fertility. So an eagle vulture with clipped wings may indicate that it had become powerless. (from Mazar and Panitz-Cohen, 2019)
Karatepe Right Slab

Karatepe Right Slab

Karatepe Narrow Slab (Levant Text 33)

Phoenician letter style with Israelite yod (I,Y) and Etruscan lamed (L)

Karatepe Narrow Slab Lines 1 and 2

Translation in Akkadian 

(read right to left. Capital letters on stone. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels)
  1. NaPu  A   ITu (Levant 33.1)
  2.  Lu  Mu  MuŠu  AṢu (Levant 33.2)

In English

  1. The filtering has been foreshadowed
  2. The lack of fertility-fluids has been expelled by the night

Karatepe Narrow Slab Lines 3, 4, and 5

Translation in Akkadian

(read right to left. Capital letters on stone. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels)
  1. Ne'u  Mu,  Le'u   NuNu  Ya (Levant 33.3)
  2. Gi  'Ru  U  G' (Levant 33.4) Word spacing!
  3. 'L (Levant 33.5)

In English

  1. To affect the fertility-fluids, astrological-powers should not be chaotic
  2. Energy is controlled when bursts-forth
  3. Alu (when Alu bursts-forth)

Karatepe Narrow Slab Lines 6, 7, and 8

Translation in Akkadian

(read right to left. Capital letters on stone. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels)
  1. ṬaNu  A  ANu  Pu (Levant 33.6)
  2. Nu  Ya  Ne'u  Mu (Levant 33.7)
  3. ṢaLu  Mu  A  Tu (Levant 33.8)

In English

  1. To grind-down those opening considerations (focused magical emotions)
  2. Don't reveal affections for fertility-fluids
  3. Fight that fertility-fluid magic

Karatepe Narrow Slab Lines 9 and 10

Translation in Akkadian

(read right to left. Capital letters on stone. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels)
  1. Še’u  Du  IWu (Levant 33.9)
  2. ḪaMu  Ya  Ta'u (Levant 33.10)

In English

  1. Drunkenness redirects the manifestations
  2. Don't paralyze the pasture (night sky) 

Karatepe Narrow Slab Lines 11 and 12

Translation in Akkadian

(read right to left. Capital letters on stone. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels)
  1. Bu  AṢu  KaNu (Levant 33.11)
  2. Ṣe’u Bu  Ru (Levant 33.12)

In English

  1. Nourishments are being expelled by the tinkering
  2. Blockages are being nourished by the eagle-vultures

Karatepe Narrow Slab Lines 13 and 14

Translation in Akkadian

(read right to left. Capital letters on stone. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels)
  1. Tu   ḪiTtu  Ga'u  Mu (Levant 33.13)
  2. Bu  TeNu  MuRu  NuNu (Levant 33.14)

In English

  1. Magic is hitting the bursting-forth of fertility-fluids
  2. Nourishments are being replaced by rainstorm chaos

Karatepe Narrow Slab Lines 15 and 16

Translation in Akkadian

(read right to left. Capital letters on stone. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels)
  1. Zu  Tu  BaMu  Bu  A     (Levant 33.15)
  2. Lu  GiNu  IWu  A    (Levant 33.16)

In English

  1. Magical emanations are dividing those nourishments  
  2. Lack of consistency is redirecting those

Karatepe Narrow Slab Lines 17 and 18

Translation in Akkadian

(read right to left. Capital letters on stone. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels)
  1. EMu  ANnu  Pu    (Levant 33.17)
  2. NuNu  IMu   (Levant 33.18)

In English

  1. Supervise considerations opening
  2. emotional chaos
Karatepe Left Center Slab

Karatepe Left Center Slab