The Amman Citadel Inscription is the oldest known inscription in the so-called

Ammonite language Ammonite is the extinct Canaanite language of the Ammonite people mentioned in the Bible, who used to live in modern-day Jordan, and after whom its capital Amman is named. Only fragments of their language survive—chiefly the 9th century BC Am ...

. It was discovered in 1961 in the

Amman Citadel The Amman Citadel () on Citadel Hill () is an archaeological site on an L-shaped hill towering over Downtown Amman, in the central part of the capital of Jordan. The Amman Citadel is considered to be among the world's oldest continuously inh ...

, and first published in full in 1968 by

Siegfried Horn Siegfried Herbert Horn (March 17, 1908 – November 28, 1993) was a Seventh-day Adventist archaeologist and Bible scholar. He is best known for his excavations at Heshbon in Jordan and Shechem in the West Bank. He was Professor of History of ...

.Horn (1969). p. 2. At the time of its discovery it was the third longest Semitic stone inscription ever found in the

Southern Levant The Southern Levant is a geographical region that corresponds approximately to present-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan; some definitions also include southern Lebanon, southern Syria and the Sinai Peninsula. As a strictly geographical descript ...

, after the

Mesha Stele The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a stele dated around 840 BCE containing a significant Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, Canaanite inscription in the name of King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan). Mesha tel ...

and the Siloam inscription. The inscription is known as KAI 307. As of 1969, the inscription was on display at the

Jordan Archaeological Museum The Jordan Archaeological Museum is located in the Citadel of Amman, Jordan. Built in 1951, it presents artifacts from archaeological sites in Jordan, dating from prehistoric times up to the 15th century. The collections are arranged in chronolo ...

Description

The inscription is carved into a white

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

block of approximately 26 × 19 cm (10" × 7½") in size, with parts of the inscription lost. Most letters are clearly visible, and the stone has few traces of

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

and was therefore probably not exposed to the elements. The inscription contains eight lines. The left and right sides of the inscription are missing parts, and the bottom line does not seem to include the end of the inscription. The top line is thought to be the beginning of the inscription since there is space above it. In the eight lines, 93 letters are shown, which are interpreted to be spread between about 33 words.Horn (1969). pp. 2-3. The size and shape of individual letters vary considerably, suggesting that the inscription comes from a novice scribe. Numerous letters have unusual shapes, for example the ''ḥēt'' has only two cross beams, compared to the usual three (), similar to the

Mesha stele The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a stele dated around 840 BCE containing a significant Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, Canaanite inscription in the name of King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan). Mesha tel ...

. The ''ṭēt'' is only a crossbar in a circle (instead of the usual ), and the ''ʿayin'' is already slightly open upwards ( instead of ), which occurs in Phoenician inscriptions only from the 5th century. It is understood to be a building inscription, although due to the fragmented nature of the inscription, the translation remains uncertain. The reconstruction by

William Fulco William James Fulco, S.J., (February 24, 1936 – November 29, 2021) was an American Jesuit priest and National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. ...

assumes that the inscription concerns the Ammonite chief deity

Milcom Milcom or Milkom (Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤌𐤋𐤊𐤌 *''Mīlkām''; Hebrew language, Hebrew: ) was the name of either the national god, or a popular god, of the Ammonites. He is attested in the Hebrew Bible and in archaeological finds ...

, restoring a single missing letter to form the name.

Text

Bibliography

* * Cross, Frank Moore (1969). "Epigraphic Notes on the ‘Ammān Citadel Inscription". ''

BASOR The Basor or Bansor are Hindus found in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in India. They have a scheduled caste status.People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part One edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 212 to 215 Manohar Publicatio ...

'' 193, pp. 13–19. * Fulco, William J. (1978). "The ‘Ammān Citadel Inscription: A New Collation". ''BASOR'' 230, pp. 39–43. * Horn, Siegfried (1969). "The Ammān Citadel Inscription". ''BASOR'' 193, pp. 2–13. *

Websites

The Amman Citadel Inscription
at kchancon.com

References

{{reflist 1961 archaeological discoveries Archaeological artifacts Ancient Near East KAI inscriptions Canaanite inscriptions Ammon Archaeological discoveries in Jordan 9th-century BC inscriptions