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Cesnola Phoenician inscriptions

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The Cesnola Phoenician inscriptions are 28 Phoenician inscriptions from Cyprus (primarily Kition) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Cesnola Collection. They were discovered by Luigi Palma di Cesnola during his tenure as the United States Consul to Cyprus from 1865 to 1871.[1] They were inscribed on votive bowls, two stelae, and on 18 different vases.[2]

The Cesnola Collection was brought to public attention for the first time in 1870 when Emil Rödiger presented a report to the Prussian Academy of Sciences,[3] and in 1872 Paul Schröder (Philologe) published facsimiles of the texts.[4] The collection was acquired by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1872. Many were then published in the 1880s in the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum, although CIS inscriptions 24, 26 and 28 and RES 389, 1518 and 1519 are now missing - i.e. they are not in the museum and some were not in the collection when it was studied in 1885. One is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (72.129).[5]

They were first systematically classified by John Myres in 1914, and then again by Javier Teixidor in 1976.[2]

Inscriptions

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Details of the inscriptions are below, using Teixidor's numbering.[5]

Krater fragments

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No. Image Object Accession Number Date Inscription Summary CIS / RÉS Myres Other ref
1 Rim fragments 74.51.2275-77 392-362 BCE Mentions Milkyaton, king of Citium and Idalium, and a religious dedication. I 21, 17 ab, 20; RES 1531, 1528 1806-8 Cyprus pls. 9:3, 10:13; Atlas III, pl. 122:5 abc
2 Rim fragment 74.51.2281 392-362 BCE Mentions Milkyaton, king of Citium and Idalium. I 18 1812 Cyprus pl. 10:12; Atlas III, pl. 122:9; Hall 2, IX
3 Rim fragment 74.51.2274 392-362 BCE Partial inscription mentioning "king of Citium and Idalium." I 19 1805 Cyprus pl. 10:11; Atlas III, pl. 122:4; Hall 2, IV
4 Handle fragment 74.51.2289 5th-4th century BCE Partial inscription, possibly "cup." I 30 1820 Atlas III, pl. 123:16; Hall 2, XVI
5 Rim fragment 74.51.2286 5th-4th century BCE Possible dedication mentioning "statue." I 29 1817 Cyprus pl. 11:20; Atlas III, pl. 123:14; Hall 2, XIV
6 Rim fragment 74.51.2284 5th-4th century BCE Possible votive gift dedication. I 34, RES 1533 1815 Cyprus pl. 11:16; Atlas III, pl. 123:12; Hall 2, XII
7 Rim fragments 74.51.2287-88 5th-4th century BCE Votive text with regnal year of the monarch. I 31, 35 1818-19 Cyprus pl. 11:18, 19; Atlas III, pl. 123:15 ab; Hall 2, XV ab
8 Fragment 74.51.2293 5th-4th century BCE Partial text, possibly a name, "son of ..." I 36 1824 Cyprus pl. 11:22; Atlas III, pl. 123:20; Hall 2, XX
9 Rim fragment 74.51.2278 5th-4th century BCE Title of the dedicator, possibly "interpreter of the thrones." I 22ab 1809 Atlas III, pl. 122:6; Hall 2, VI
10 Bowl fragment 74.51.2285 5th-4th century BCE Dedication to "his Lord Esmun Melqart." I 37 1816 Cyprus pl. 11:23; Atlas III, pl. 123:13; Hall 2, XIII
11 Rim fragment 74.51.2280 5th-4th century BCE Dedication to Esmun and Melqart. I 23 1811 Cyprus pl. 10:10; Atlas III, pl. 122:8; Hall 2, VIII
12 Rim fragment 74.51.2292 5th-4th century BCE Dedication to Esmun Melqart. I 28 1823 Cyprus pl. 11:17; Atlas III, pl. 123:19; Hall 2, XIX
13 Rim and handle fragment 74.51.2279 5th-4th century BCE Dedication from the son of Abdmelqart to Esmun Melqart. I 39, RES 1534 1810 Atlas II, pl. 141, 1051; Hall 2, VII
14 Rim fragments 74.51.2272-73 5th-4th century BCE Dedication to Esmun Melqart. I 16ab, RES 1530 1803-04 Cyprus pls. 10:14, 9:1; Atlas III, pl. 122:3 ab; Hall 2, III ab
15 Rim and handle fragment 74.51.2282 5th-4th century BCE Dedication to Esmun Melqart. I 25ab 1813ab Cyprus pls. 10:15, 12:30; Atlas III, pl. 122:10; Hall 2, X
16 Rim fragment 74.51.2283 5th-4th century BCE Dedication to Esmun Melqart. I 27 1814 Cyprus pl. 11:21; Atlas III, pl. 123:11; Hall 2, XI
17 Rim fragment 74.51.2291 5th-4th century BCE Possible end of a votive formula. I 33 1822 Cyprus pl. 9:5; Atlas III, pl. 123:18; Hall 2, XVIII
18 Rim fragment 74.51.2290 5th-4th century BCE Partial inscription, possibly "q' h t" (aleph and het uncertain). I 32 1821 Cyprus pl. 9:6; Atlas III, pl. 123:17; Hall 2, XVII

Marble blocks

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No. Image Object Accession Number Date Inscription Summary CIS / RÉS Myres Other ref
19 Block of white marble 74.51.2271 5th-4th century BCE Traditional reading with the name Hannibal and a dedication formula. I 15 1802 Cyprus pl. 9:4; Atlas III, pl. 122:2; Hall 2, II
20 Block of white marble 74.51.2294 4th century BCE Inscription mentions Pumiyaton, king of Citium and Idalium, and two offerings. I 14, RES 1529 1801 Cyprus pl. 9:2; Atlas III, pl. 122:1; Hall 1, 25–26; Hall 2, 7

Vases

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No. Image Object Accession Number Date Inscription Summary CIS / RÉS Myres Other ref
21 Amphora of coarse white ware 74.51.2298a, b Late 7th century BCE The name "Baalay," indicating ownership or dedication. RES 1521 1826 Cyprus pl. 9:7; Atlas III, pl. 123:26; Hall 2, XXVI; Peckham, 16–17
22 Amphora of coarse ware 74.51.2299 4th century BCE The name "Baalazor," a well-known theophorous name, likely the owner's name. RES 1526 1828 Hall 2, XXVII; Peckham, 17
23 Amphora of red earthenware 74.51.2300 Early 7th century BCE Name "Baalpilles," "Yaton," and possibly title "inspector" or "inspected." RES 1520 1827 Cyprus pl. 10:8; Atlas II, 1049; Hall 2, XXV; Peckham, 16–17
24 Alabastron 74.51.2295a 4th century BCE Inscription reads "kly" with an unknown symbol, possibly indicating ownership or contents. RES 1523 1825 Cyprus pl. 12:25; Atlas II, 1048; Hall 2, XXII; Peckham, 17
25 Jug of red-slip ware 74.51.1401 8th century BCE The name "'nts," unknown in both Phoenician and Greek. RES 1524 479 Cyprus pl. 12:26; Atlas II, pl. 141:1052; Hall 2, XXIII; Peckham, 105, 115
26 Steatite vase 74.51.5057a 9th-10th century BCE Three undeciphered signs, possibly "hhh," considered archaic. RES 1525 1540 Cyprus pl. 12:27; Atlas II, pl. 141:1050; Hall 2, XXIV; Peckham, 17
27 Painted white ware vase 74.51.1001 7th century BCE Inscription with four letters, "d/r g m n," unknown in Phoenician. RES 1522 775 Cyprus p. 68, pl. 10:9; Atlas II, pl. 141:1047; Hall 2, XXI; Peckham, 17

Other

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No. Image Object Accession Number Date Inscription Summary Bibliography
28 Sarcophagus from Amathus 74.51.2452 450-400 BCE Single letter "shin" on the foot end of the lid. Myres, 233–234

Bibliography

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  • Cannavò, Anna; Schmid, Stephan G. (2020-12-01). "From Paul Schröder's archives on Cyprus, IV. The inscriptions from the Lang and Cesnola collections". Cahiers du Centre d'Etudes Chypriotes (50): 175–193. doi:10.4000/cchyp.504. ISSN 0761-8271.
  • Teixidor, Javier (1976). "The Phoenician Inscriptions of the Cesnola Collection". Metropolitan Museum Journal. 11: 55–70. doi:10.2307/1512684. ISSN 0077-8958.
  • Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 1801, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  • Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum: [1] and [2]

References

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  1. ^ Teixidor 1976, p. 55.
  2. ^ a b Teixidor 1976, p. 57.
  3. ^ E. Rödiger, Monatsberichte der königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Phil.-hist. Klasse vom 9. Mai 1870, pp. 264-272
  4. ^ P. Schröder, Monatsberichte der königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Phil.-hist. Klasse vom 6. Mai 1872, pp. 330-341, pls. 1-3
  5. ^ a b Teixidor 1976.
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