Cirta steles

Last updated
A selection of the inscriptions in Mark Lidzbarski's Handbuch der Nordsemitischen Epigraphik: #3 = Costa 12 #4 = Not included (found in 1860) #5 = Costa 18 #6 = Costa 34 #7 = Costa 24 #8 = Costa 28 (KAI 102, RES 1544, KI 95) #9 = Costa 13 #10 = Costa 25 (KAI 103, RES 339, KI 96) #11 = Costa 3 #12 = Costa 4 #13 = Costa 21 #14 = Costa 32 Lazare Costa inscriptions in Lidzbarski's Handbuch der Nordsemitischen Epigraphik Table XV (cropped).jpg
A selection of the inscriptions in Mark Lidzbarski's Handbuch der Nordsemitischen Epigraphik: #3 = Costa 12 #4 = Not included (found in 1860) #5 = Costa 18 #6 = Costa 34 #7 = Costa 24 #8 = Costa 28 (KAI 102, RES 1544, KI 95) #9 = Costa 13 #10 = Costa 25 (KAI 103, RES 339, KI 96) #11 = Costa 3 #12 = Costa 4 #13 = Costa 21 #14 = Costa 32

The Cirta steles are almost 1,000 Punic funerary[ citation needed ] and votive steles found in Cirta (today Constantine, Algeria) in a cemetery located on a hill immediately south of the Salah Bey Viaduct.

Contents

The first group of steles were published by Auguste Celestin Judas in 1861. The Lazare Costa inscriptions were the second group of these inscriptions found; they were discovered between 1875 and 1880 by Lazare Costa, a Constantine-based Italian antiquarian. Most of the steles are now in the Louvre. [2] [3] [4] These are known as KAI 102–105.

In 1950, hundreds of additional steles were excavated from the same location – then named El Hofra – by André Berthier, director of the Gustave-Mercier Museum (today the Musée national Cirta) and Father René Charlier, professor at the Constantine seminary. [5] Many of these steles are now in the Musée national Cirta. [6] Over a dozen of the most notable inscriptions were later published in Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften and are known as 106-116 (Punic) and 162-164 (Neo Punic).

Judas steles

Auguste Celestin Judas 1860 Punic steles from Constantine (Cirta) - Plate 11.jpg
Auguste Celestin Judas 1860 Punic steles from Constantine (Cirta) - Plate 1.jpg
Auguste Celestin Judas 1860 Punic steles from Constantine (Cirta) - Plate 3.jpg
Auguste Celestin Judas 1860 Punic steles from Constantine (Cirta) - Plate 4.jpg
Selection of inscribed steles published by Auguste Judas in 1861 (steles shown without inscriptions); example inscriptions shown separately

In 1861 Auguste Celestin Judas published a series of 19 inscribed steles in the Annuaire de la Société archéologique de la province de Constantine. Between 1857 and 61 more than 30 such steles had been collected by the Archaeological Society, of which a dozen in 1860 alone. [7] Judas noted that the locations of the finds had been difficult to ascertain, his understanding was as follows: [8]

Of the nineteen inscriptions of which I have spoken, two, nos. II and XVII, come from Coudiat-ati; sixteen from the location of the new Christian cemetery, to the west and 500 meters from Coudiat-ati, 725 meters from Constantine. For number I, no indication.

Costa steles

Overview

On the death of Lazare Costa, Antoine Héron de Villefosse and Dr Reboud negotiated the acquisition of all of Costa's steles for the Louvre. Although not all the steles made it to the Louvre, more were found. [9]

A concordance of 135 of the steles was published by Jean-Baptiste Chabot in 1917. [10]

Berthier steles

One of the Berthier steles at the Musee national Cirta Cirta hofra funerary stele 03 mus constantine (Livius).jpg
One of the Berthier steles at the Musée national Cirta

Overview

At the southern exit of the city, on the El Hofra hill, about 150m southeast of what was then the "Transatlantic Hotel" (today a branch of the Crédit populaire d'Algérie), the construction of a large Renault garage (today Garage Sonacome) was begun in spring 1950. [5] The hill is at the confluence of the Rhumel River and its tributary Oued Bou Merzoug, just south of the Salah Bey Viaduct. On May 6, 1950, the excavator struck a mass of stelae grouped over a length of about 75m, laid flat and forming a kind of wall whose height did not exceed the thickness of four stelae while the width varied from 0.5-1.0m. [6]

The stelae were not found in situ: all appear to have been broken with intention (all were broken and many of the inscriptions were mutilated), and then transported to a sort of dumping ground. [11]

By September 1950, about 500 fragments had been found, more than half of which bearing inscriptions; [6] in total 700 stelae and fragments were found, of which 281 were Punic and neo-Punic stelae, totally or partially legible, 17 were Greek inscriptions and 7 were Latin inscriptions. [5] Almost all the steles were published by Berthier and Charlier, except for three – one long Punic inscription which was too faint, and two Neo Punic inscriptions which were later published by James Germain Février (KAI 162–163). [12]

Some are dated to the reign of Massinissa or the reign of her sons; they range from 163-2 BCE until 148-7 (the year of Massinissa's death) and perhaps until 122-1 (under Micipsa). Number 63 (KAI 112) mentions the simultaneous reign of the three sons of Massinissa – Micipsa, Gulussa and Mastanabai, and one of the stelae contains a complete transliteration of a Punic text in Greek characters (page 167). [5]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Numidia</span> Berber kingdom in North Africa (202 BC - 46 AD)

Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia, Libya, and some parts of Morocco. The polity was originally divided between the Massylii in the east and the Masaesyli in the west. During the Second Punic War, Masinissa, king of the Massylii, defeated Syphax of the Masaesyli to unify Numidia into one kingdom. The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later alternated between being a Roman province and a Roman client state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiddis</span>

Tiddis was a Roman city that depended on Cirta and a bishopric as "Tiddi", which remains a Latin Catholic titular see.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M'hamed Hassine Fantar</span>

M'hamed Hassine Fantar is a professor of Ancient History of Archeology and History of Religion at Tunis University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punic-Libyan bilinguals</span> Two important ancient inscriptions from Dougga, Tunisia

The Punic-Libyan bilingual inscriptions are two important ancient bilingual inscriptions dated to the 2nd century BC.

Naïdé Ferchiou was a Tunisian archaeologist whose work dealt mainly with Roman North Africa. She excavated at several important sites, including Abthugni.

Nacéra Benseddik is an Algerian historian, archaeologist and epigrapher. She was born in Bordj Bou Arreridj on 4 December 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yehawmilk Stele</span>

The Yehawmilk stele, de Clercq stele, or Byblos stele, also known as KAI 10 and CIS I 1, is a Phoenician inscription from c.450 BC found in Byblos at the end of Ernest Renan's Mission de Phénicie. Yehawmilk, king of Byblos, dedicated the stele to the city’s protective goddess Ba'alat Gebal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neirab steles</span> Ancient funerary stela

The Neirab steles are two 8th-century BC steles with Aramaic inscriptions found in 1891 in Al-Nayrab near Aleppo, Syria. They are currently in the Louvre. They were discovered in 1891 and acquired by Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau for the Louvre on behalf of the Commission of the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum. The steles are made of black basalt, and the inscriptions note that they were funerary steles. The inscriptions are known as KAI 225 and KAI 226.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maktar and Mididi inscriptions</span>

The Maktar and Mididi inscriptions are a number of Punic language inscriptions, found in the 1890s at Maktar and Mididi, Tunisia. A number of the most notable inscriptions have been collected in Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften, and are known as are known as KAI 145-158.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carthaginian tombstones</span>

Carthaginian tombstones are Punic language-inscribed tombstones excavated from the city of Carthage over the last 200 years. The first such discoveries were published by Jean Emile Humbert in 1817, Hendrik Arent Hamaker in 1828 and Christian Tuxen Falbe in 1833.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tayma stones</span>

The Tayma stones, also Teima stones, were a number of Aramaic inscriptions found in Tayma, now northern Saudi Arabia. The first four inscriptions were found in 1878 and published in 1884, and subsequently included in the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum II as numbers 113-116. In 1972, ten further inscriptions were published, and in 1987 seven further inscriptions were published. Many of the inscriptions date to approximately the 5th and 6th centuries BCE.

The Hadrumetum Punic inscriptions are Punic votive inscriptions found in the Old City of Sousse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masinissa</span> First King of Numidia

Masinissa, also spelled Massinissa, Massena and Massan, was an ancient Numidian king best known for leading a federation of Massylii Berber tribes during the Second Punic War, ultimately uniting them into a kingdom that became a major regional power in North Africa. He is considered the founder of the first Algerian state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utica National Museum</span> Archaeological Museum in Utica, Tunisia

The National Museum of Utica is a museum dedicated to archeology in Tunisia located in Utica. The museum is dedicated to preserving important historical objects from the history of North African civilizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baalshamem inscription</span>

The Baalshamem inscription is a Phoenician inscription discovered in 1860–61 at Umm al-Amad, Lebanon, the longest of three inscriptions found there during Ernest Renan's Mission de Phénicie. All three inscriptions were found on the north side of the hill; this inscription was found in the foundation of one of the ruined houses covering the hill.

The Phoenician Adoration steles are a number of Phoenician and Punic steles depicting the adoration gesture (orans).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pricot de Sainte-Marie steles</span>

The Pricot de Sainte-Marie steles are more than 2,000 Punic funerary steles found in Carthage near the ancient forum by French diplomat Jean-Baptiste Evariste Charles Pricot de Sainte-Marie in the 1870s. The find was dramatic both in the scale—the largest single discovery of Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions—and also due to the finds almost being lost in the sinking of the French ironclad Magenta at Toulon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ain Nechma inscriptions</span>

The Ain Nechma inscriptions, also known as the Guelma inscriptions are a number of Punic language inscriptions, first found in 1837 in the necropolis of Ain Nechma, in the Guelma Province of Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guelaât Bou Sbaâ Neopunic inscriptions</span>

The Guelaât Bou Sbaâ Neopunic inscriptions are two Neopunic inscriptions – one bilingual with Latin – discovered in 1882–84 in Guelaât Bou Sbaâ, about 10 km from Guelma in Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persephone Punic stele</span>

The Persephone Punic stele is a marble bas-relief stele of the Greek deity Persephone above a short punic inscription.

References

  1. pages 433-434
  2. Punic stele with triangular pediment: "Dating from the 2nd century BC, this votive stele was discovered in Algeria in 1875, together with some hundred others, by Lazare Costa, an Italian antiquarian from Constantine. An enthusiastic amateur archaeologist, Costa visited all the civil engineering sites and agricultural development projects in Constantine and its environs. Thus it was that on the slopes of the hill of el-Hofra - then being prepared for the planting of a vineyard - he discovered the greater part of these monuments, today in the Louvre."
  3. Cahen, Abr. (1879). Inscriptions Puniques et Neo-Puniques de Constantine. Alessi et Arnolet., Recueil des notices et mémoires de la Société Archéologique du Département de Constantine, volume 19, 1878, pages 252 onwards and plates
  4. V Reboud, Quelques Mots sur les Steles Neo Puniques Découvertes par Lazare Costa, Recueil des notices et mémoires de la Société Archéologique du Département de Constantine, volume 18, 1877, pages 434 onwards, and plates
  5. 1 2 3 4 Février 1955.
  6. 1 2 3 Grenier Albert. Nouvelles archéologiques d'Algérie. In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 94e année, N. 4, 1950. pp. 345-354. DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.1950.78583
  7. Auguste Celestin Judas, 1861, Inscriptions Numidico-Puniques Découvertes a Constantine, Annuaire de la Société archéologique de la province de Constantine 1860-61, Société archéologique, historique et géographique du département de Constantine: "Dans le cours des quatre dernières années seulement, plus de trente pierres avec des inscriptions ou des anaglyphes numidico-puniques ont été découvertes dans l'antique capitale de Massinissa. Plusieurs des inscriptions apportent, si je ne me trompe, un nouveau jour à l'étude de la langue introduite par les Carthaginois... En novembre 1860, une nouvelle trouvaille a eu lieu; elle comprenait une douzaine de pierres.... Les textes qui m'ont paru, à l'aide de ces instruments, susceptibles de lecture sont au nombre de dix-neuf; des copies, les unes réduites, les autres de grandeur réelle, en sont présentées aux plancbes I à IX."
  8. Auguste Celestin Judas, 1861, Inscriptions Numidico-Puniques Découvertes a Constantine, Annuaire de la Société archéologique de la province de Constantine 1860-61, Société archéologique, historique et géographique du département de Constantine: p.89 "Des dix-neuf inscriptions dont j'ai parlé,-deux, les nos II et XVII, proviennent dû Coudiat-ati; seize de l'emplacement du nouveau cimetière chrétien, à l'ouest et à 500 mètres du Coudiat-ati, à 725 mètres de Constantine. Pour le n° I, nulle indication."
  9. Les Inscriptions de Constantine au Musee de Louvre par Philippe Berger, Actes du onzième congrès international des Orientalistes. Paris, 1897. Section 4 Congrès international des orientalistes, 1897, p.273 onwards: "A la mort de M. Costa, M. Héron de Villefosse, aidé du Dr Reboud, dont le nom restera attaché à l'épigraphie de Constantine, négocia l'acquisition de toutes les stèles de Costa pour le Musée du Louvre. Un certain nombre d'entre elles, sans doute déjà dispersées auparavant, ne sont pas parvenues au Musée du Louvre. D'autre part, la collection du Louvre s'est enrichie de quelques stèles qui ne figurent pas parmi les estampages de M. Costa, et d'une vingtaine d'autres provenant du moulin Carbonel et données par le Dr Reboud. Telle qu'elle est, la collection des inscriptions de Constantine, qui ne comprend pas moins de 150 numéros, forme, après Carthage et Maktar, la série la plus complète des inscriptions phéniciennes d'Afrique. Ces inscriptions paraîtront à leur place dans le Corpus; je voudrais dès à présent appeler l'attention sur quelques particularités communes à cette série épigraphique, l'une des plus intéressantes par son unité, comme aussi par certains caractères qui lui assignent une place à part dans l'épigraphie punique."
  10. Chabot, Jean-Baptiste (1917). Punica: XVIII Steles Punique de Constantine; II. Collection Costa. Journal asiatique. Société asiatique. pp. 50–72.
  11. Février 1955, p. 410-411: "Les stèles n'ont pas été trouvées in situ: brisées toutes avec intention, elles avaient été transportées ensuite dans une sorte de terrain de décharge.... Toutes les stèles étaient brisées et sur beaucoup l'inscription mutilée."
  12. Février 1955, p. 411: "Trois textes ne figurent pas dans la publication. L'un est une longue inscription punique, à peu près évanide. Les deux autres sont néo-puniques : la lecture matérielle en est aisée, l'interprétation difficile ; je viens de les éditer, avec l'autorisation de MM. Berthier et Charlier, dans les Mélanges Isidore Lévy."

External sources