The Bar-Rakib inscriptions are a group of 8th-century BC

steles A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

, or fragments of steles, of King Bar-Rakib, from Sam'al. The inscriptions were discovered during the 1888–1911 German Oriental Society expeditions led by

Felix von Luschan Felix Ritter von Luschan (; 11 August 18547 February 1924) was a medical doctor, anthropologist, explorer, archaeologist and ethnographer born in the Austrian Empire. Life Luschan was born the son of a lawyer in Hollabrunn, Lower Austria, and at ...

and

Robert Koldewey Robert Johann Koldewey (10 September 1855 – 4 February 1925) was a German archaeologist, famous for his in-depth excavation of the ancient city of Babylon in modern-day Iraq. He was born in Blankenburg am Harz in Germany, the duchy of Brunswick ...

. Their

Aramaic inscriptions The Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, also known as Northwest Semitic inscriptions, are the primary extra-Biblical source for understanding of the societies and histories of the ancient Phoenicians, Ancient Hebrews, Hebrews and Arameans. Semitic ...

are written in

Luwian Luwian (), sometimes known as Luvian or Luish, is an ancient language, or group of languages, within the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The ethnonym Luwian comes from ''Luwiya'' (also spelled ''Luwia'' or ''Luvia'') – ...

-style raised characters, and represent some of the first known inscriptions to use Imperial Aramaic. Older inscriptions found at Sam'al were written in the "

Samalian language Samalian was a Semitic language spoken and first attested in Samʼal. Samalian is primarily known from three inscriptions, the Hadad Statue and the Panamuwa II inscription ( KAI 214–215), both unearthed in the late 19th century, and a thi ...

" or the

Phoenician language Phoenician ( ; ) is an extinct language, extinct Canaanite languages, Canaanite Semitic language originally spoken in the region surrounding the cities of Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre and Sidon. Extensive Tyro-Sidonian trade and commercial dominance le ...

Table

Gallery

File:Bar-rakib.jpg, Bar-Rakib silver ingot in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

(BM 134918)Bar Rakib Silver ingot
/ref>

References

{{Reflist

Bibliography

* Halévy, J., "La première inscription araméenne de Barrekoub ou A1." RevSém 3 (1895b): 394–95. * Müller, D.H., "Die Bauinschrift des Barrekub." WZKM 10 (1896): 193–97 + 1 pl.. * Winckler, H., "Die Bauinschrift Bar-rekub's aus Sendschirli." MVAG 1 (1896): 198–202. * Halévy, J., "La première inscription de Bar-Rekoub revue et corrigée." RevSém 4 (1896a): 185–87. * Hoffmann, G., "Zur Bauinschrift des Barrekab." ZA 11 (1896a): 317–22. * Halévy, J., "Le texte définitif de l'inscription architecturale araméenne de Barrekoub." RevSém 5 (1897): 84–91. * Peiser, F.E., "Aus dem kaiserlich-ottomanischen Museum in Constantinopel." OLZ 1 (1898): 6–9. * Halévy, J., "Nouvel examen des inscriptions de Zindjirli." RevSém 7 (1899): 333–55 * Halévy, J., "Un bas-relief à inscription araméenne de Barrekoub." RevSém 3 (1895a): 392–94 * Müller, D.H., "Die Bauinschrift des Barrekub." WZKM 10 (1896): 193–97 + 1 pl. * Luschan, F. von, "Bildwerke und Inschriften." Pp. 325–80 In Ausgrabungen in Sendschirli, IV., Berlin: G. Reimer, 1911 * Halévy, J., "Les deux inscriptions hétéennes de Zindjîrlî." RevSém 1 (1893–94): 138–67, 218-58, 319-36; 2:25-60 * Sachau, E.,
Baal-Harrân in einer altaramäischen Inschrift auf einem Relief des Königlichen Museums zu Berlin
" SPAW 8 (1895): 119–22 8th-century BC Aramean kings Ancient Near East steles Aramaic inscriptions KAI inscriptions 8th-century BC steles