Alphabetic Inscriptions on Ivories from Nimrud

Author(s): A. R. Millard
Source: Iraq , Spring, 1962, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Spring, 1962), pp. 41-51
Published by: British Institute for the Study of Iraq

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4199711

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

British Institute for the Study of Iraq is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and
extend access to Iraq

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 41

ALPHABETIC INSCRIPTIONS ON IVORIES

FROM NIMRUD

By A. R. MILLARD

AMONG the carved ivories found by Layard and Loftus at Nimrud in the
nineteenth century a few bear alphabetic inscriptions or single letters
which may be fitters' marks. Similar pieces have been found subsequently
at other sites of the first millennium B.C. and it was to be expected, therefore,
that further examples might be discovered in the large collections of ivories
unearthed during the current series of excavations at Nimrud by the British
School of Archaeology in Iraq. Several inscribed pieces were found during
the I96I season and they are published here together with those from earlier
seasons.'
Four alphabetic inscriptions on ivories are already known. The ivory
strip from Arslan Tash is of particular value as it enables a date to be given
to the bedstead of which it was a part and to associated ivories.2 On it is a
dedication, in Aramaic, "to our lord Hazael." Hazael king of Damascus
C. 843-796 B.C. is the only known historical figure to whom such reference
might apply.3 If, then, it is correct to attribute this ivory to the late ninth
century B.C., it may be that it formed an item of the tribute taken from Damascus
by Adad-nirari III c. 804 B.C. which included ivory furniture.4 There are
two inscribed pieces from the Loftus collection of Nimrud ivories: a knob
inscribed " property of Milki-ram " (I m I k r m) and a text too damaged to
be deciphered.6 At Ur an ivory box-lid was found, beneath a pavement laid
in the reign of Nebuchadrezzar II (605-5 6i B.C.)8 which carries a two line
dedication in Phoenician: " This box Amat-Ba'al, daughter of Pat-isi, slave-
girl of [the master?] presents to Ashtart. For this may she bless me during
the life of the master [ . . . . . ] son of Yasod."7

1 I am grateful to Professor M. E. L. Mallowan,

i962, article " Chronology" and from an unpub-
Director of the British School of Archaeology in lished paper by Mr. K. A. Kitchen of the University
Iraq, and to Mr. David Oates, Director of the I96I of Liverpool who has kindly permitted me to read
Nimrud Expedition, for allowing me to study these his manuscript; for the most part they follow the
ivories at Nimrud and in London and for permission system proposed by E. R. Thiele, The Mysterious
to publish them. My thanks are also due to Dr. R. D. Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, 195 I.
Barnett, Professor G. R. Driver and Professor D. J.
4 I R 35.1 11.I-2I; E. Unger, Reliefstele Adadniraris
Wiseman for their encouragement and for several
III aus Saba'a und Semiramis, I9I6, 11. II -20.
valuable suggestions which are embodied in this
6 R. D. Barnett, Catalogue of the Nimrud Ivories in
paper.
a F. Thurcau-Dangin el al/i, Arslan Tash, 1931,
the Britishi Aluseum, I956, p. i6i; pl. CXXXII S.292u
(knob), S.3 (other text).
pp. 135-138.
3 M. F. Unger, Israel and the Aramaeans of Damascus, 6 Sir Leonard Woolley, AJ VII, p. 410.
I957, pp. 82 f., I63 f. Dates -,of Aramaean and 7 E. Burrows, JRAS 1927, pp. 791-794; R. D.
Hebrew kings are taken from The New Bible Dictionary, Barnett, op. cit. p. 226, U ii.

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 42 A. R. MILLARD

As will be shown, the new inscriptions from Nimrud contribute in particular

to our knowledge of the origins of the ivories. All are written in some form
of the Phoenician or Old Hebrew scripts and are here transliterated into Roman
characters. Largely on the basis of the differences of script they are divrided
into two groups, Aramaic and Hebrew. The single letters and other signs
used as fitters' marks are included at the end. Most of the pieces were found in
Fort Shalmaneser;8 a few bearing single letters were unearthed in the North-
West and Burnt Palaces within the citadel.

Aramaic inscriptions
ND. IOI5I. An ivory label, ends slightly curved, full length 9.2 cMs.
present width 6 5 cms. The polished upper surface is slightly convex. At
I * 8 cms. from the left end is a circular hole, o 7 cms. in diameter and there is
another opposite it, i * i cms. from the right end. To the left of the latter are
engraved the letters h r t. From SW. 37. Plate XXIIIa.
ND. 10359. Triangular plaque, the nose piece of a ceremonial harness,
bearing an Astarte figure in high relief on the front (to be published elsewhere).
In the top right hand corner of the reverse is engraved I' s. From SW.
Plate XXIIIb.
The label can very probably be read as the name of the ancient city of Hamath
on the Orontes in Syria (modern Hama).9 This city may then have been the
place of origin of the object or of the contents of the box to which this label
was originally affixed. Apart from Assyrian and Biblical references, Hamath
is mentioned in the Hittite hieroglyphic inscriptions of its ninth century king
Urhilina and his son,'0 on some bricks found during excavations in the tell of
Hama" and on the Aramaic stele of Zakir who entitles himself " king of Hamath
and Lu'ash"'.12 The latter place name is likely to be identical with the 1' I
on the second ivory. The text of the Zakir stele indicates that the territory
of Lu'ash adjoined the Hamath district and was ruled from the city Hadrak.
Lu'ash is equated with the Nuhasse of several Egyptian documents, the Amarna
letters and Hittite texts and perhaps with Assyrian Luhuti.'3 This was the

S References arc given to the rooms as marked on

13 On Nuhaggc see Sir Alan Gardiner, Anrient
the plan, Plate I of this volume. Egvptian Onomastica I, 1947, pp. I68-71; S. Smith,
9 Excavations wcre made on the tell and in the town The Statue of Idrimi, I949, pp. 6 f. For Elahuti,
by a Danish expedition (193I-38). The ninth and Luhuti, Lu'ash in cuneiform documents J. Lewy,
eighth century remains, denoted Level E, are described Or. XXI, pp. 393 ff. Lewy wotld distinguish betwcen
in H. Ingholt, Rapport pri/iminaire sur Sept Campagnes Lu'ash and Hlatarikka since the second occurs in
de Fouilles d Hama en Syrie, 1940. Detailed reports Assyrian texts as thc name both of a city and of a
oni the structural remains and the cemeterics have
countrv. It is possiblc, however, that this is an
also appeared; P. J. Riis, Hama II.3, Les Cimetiires d
cxample of a place with two names, Lu'ash, the more
cridnation, I948; E. Fugmann, Ha1aa hi, L'Archi-
ancient, applied to the region and Hadrak primarily
tecture des piriodes pri-hellenistiques, I 95 8.
to the city. Luhuti docs not appear in Assyrian
10 B. Hroznv, Arch. Or. X, pls. LV-VI.
11 H. Ingholt, op. cit. pp. I15-17. inscriptions after the time of Shalmanescr III (8 8-824
12 Recently translated and discussed by M. Black B.c.) nor Hadrak before that period. Similar alter-
in D. W. Thomas, Documents from Old Testament nation of names may be obscrvcd with Arpad (bit
Times, i958, pp. 242-50 (hereafter DOTT). Agus), Damascus (bfl Hatail) and Samaria (bit Humri).

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 ALPHABETIC INSCRIPTIONS ON IVORIES FROM NIMRUD 43

country north of Hama towards Aleppo. The site of Hadrak (Assyrian Hata-
rikka; Hebrew Ha.rak) has been located near Qinnesrin, I5 miles south-west
of Aleppo.'4 The Zakir stele itself was found at Afis, I4 miles south-west
of Qinnesrln.15
The date of the Zakir stele is disputed, some placing it c. 805 B.C. while
others prefer c. 775 B.C.16 On the chronology followed here the latter date
must be preferred, for Bar-hadad, son of Hazael, king of Damascus, mentioned
in the stele as attacking Hadrak, ruled c. 796-770 B.C. The victory of Zakir
is possibly to be associated with the expeditions " against Damascus " and
" against Hatarikka " of 773-2 B.C. recorded in the Assyrian Eponym List,'7
the army of Shalmaneser IV (782-772 B.C.) relieving the siege of Hadrak.
Hamath, it has been suggested,'8 was a loyal tributary of Adad-nirari III
whose expedition of c. 803 B.C. was to support that city and it might be that
Shalmaneser IV's campaign against Damascus in 783 B.C. led to retaliation
against the loyal king of Hamath and Hadrak by the Damascenes. There
was unrest during the reign of Awsur-dan III (772-754 B.C.), for two campaigns
were directed " against Hatarikka " (765 and 75 5 B.c.)'9. The control of the
rulers of Hamath over their northern province may have been weak at this
time when Jeroboam II of Israel (c. 782-753 B.C.) claimed the suzerainty of
the southern part of Hamathite territory.20 When Enil, king of Hamath,
paid tribute to Tiglath-pileser III in 738 B.C., Hadrak was one of the districts
of Hamath incorporated into the Assyrian empire.2' Hamath itself became an
Assyrian province following the revolt of the usurper Yau-bidi in 720 B.C.22

ND. 8184(a). Thin curved strip, 5 x I * 5 cms., both ends and lower edge
broken. Six letters remain, engraved upon the convex face: Z y h q r b. From
S.io. Plate XXIIIc.
This may be interpreted as part of a dedicatory inscription in Ara
haqrib ". . . who offered . . . " or " . . . which X offered . . . ". The phrase
finds a parallel in the inscription on a cylinder seal of the seventh century B.C.:
I'kdbn br grbd srs' ty hqrb /hdd "Property of'kdbnsonofgrbd,
the eunuch, who made offering to Hadad " or ... . which he offered to
Hadad. . . "23. Plate XXIIId.

1418 D. J. Wiseman inJ.

DOTT. p. S0. S. Smith,
p. 449, n. io8; Or. XXI, p. 421, Cambridge Ancient History III, p. 2B, links Adad-
nirari's invasion with Zakir's victory.
1] ldentified with 'pi mentioned in the text, DOTT
9 RLA IL, p. 460.
p. 250.
20 II Kings xiv.25, 28.
14A. Dupont-Sommer would place it just before
Adad-nirari III's Syrian campaign, c. 80o B.C. (Les 21 D. J. Wiseman, Iraq XVIII, Pt. 2, p. 128.
Aramiens, 1949, p. 47); cf. M. Munn-Rankin apud 22 H. Winckler, Die Keistcbrifitexte Sargons, I, I889,
M. V. Seton Williams, Iraq XXIII, Pt. I, p. 73. M. pp. 103-5, 174 if.
Black, DOTT, p. 242 argues for the later date (the
23Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum II, no. 75. The
last line but two of the page should read c. 775 B.C.);
seal, BM. 89154, is reproduced by kind permission
cf. M. Unger, op. cit. pp. 85-89.
of the Keeper of the Department of Western Asiatic
"RLA II, p. 460. Antiquities at the British Mseum.

(1151) I

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 44 A. R. MILLARD

ND. 8i84(b). Small fragment from the upper edge of a flat plaque, 3 X
I * 5 cms. The polished surface bore an inscription of which the letters b
survive. Plate XXIIIc.
The language, content and script demand an Aramaic origin for these four
inscriptions. Early Aramaic epigraphy has been advanced recently by the
study of the inscriptions on three stelae from Sfireh south-east of Aleppo,24
but the documents available for comparison are still very few, as the table
drawn up by M. Starcky shows.25 There are fourteen monumental inscrip-
tions on stone including three actually written in Phoenician, but without
recognizable distinction of script. Four were found at Zinjirli and two at
Karatepe about 47 miles away;26 five were found in the Aleppo region27
and single pieces at Arslan Tash and Tell Halaf.28 Lesser inscriptions exist
on silver ingots and a gold sheath (?) from Zinjirli,29 on bricks from Hama,
on the ivory from Arslan Tash30 and on various seals and weights.3' All
of these are written in a similar form of the Phoenician script, The table
(Fig. I, cols. 9-II) shows that the letters on the Nimrud ivories (ND. IO'I5I,
10359, 8I84) belong to this tradition. The beth slightly inclined to the left,
theyodh with its shaft and upper diagonal made in one curving stroke, the memn
with straight descender and 'shin' head, the taw with shaft much longer
than the transverse bar, are in particular very like the equivalent letters on the
Zakir and Sfireh stelae.
The development of this script as a cursive hand is illustrated by the ostraca
of the seventh century B.C. found at Assur32 and at Nimrud.33

24 A. Dupont-Sommer avec la collaboration de 28 The badly damaged inscription from Arslan

Tash is drawn in F. Thureau-Dangin, op. cit., p. 88.
M. L'Abbe J. Starcky, Les Inscriptions Aramiennes
de Afiri, 1958. fig. 3o. For the inscribed altar from Tell Halaf
26 ibid. Plate XXIX. see J. Friedrich, Die Inschriften von Tell Halaf, I940,
26 Inscriptions of Kilamuwa, in Phoenician, pp. (late
69-78; R. A. Bowman, AJSL LVIII, pp. 359-67.
ninth century B.c.) and of Bar-Rekub (late eighth The inscription of Mesha', king of Moab, would
also fall into this series if J. Starckv's inference that
century B.C.) are translated in ANET, pp. 5oo-5oI.
Inscriptions of Panammu I (early eighth century B.C.) it was written by scribes trained in Syria was accepted,
and Panammu II (erected by Bar-Rekub, his son) op. cit. p. I 3 8.
are published in F. von Luschan, Ausgrabungen in 29 Ingots published in F. von Luschan and W.
Sendschirli III, pp. x1 f., ibid. IV, pp. 55-84. On the Andrae, Aeusgrabungen in Sendschirli V, pl. XXXVIIl;
poorly preserved Hittite (?) text in Aramaic script sheath ibid. pl. XLVII, cf. K. Galling, BASOR II9,
from Ordek Burnu see M. Lidzbarski, Ephemeris fur pp. I5-I8.
Semitische Epigraphik III, 19I5, pp. i92-206; J. Frie- 30 Bricks from Hama, H. Ingholt, op. cit. pp.
drich, Kleinasialische Spracbdenkmdler,- 1932, pp. 3 8-9. II5-7, P1. XXXIX nos. I-5. Ivory from Arslan
On Karatepe see R. D. Barnett, J. Leveen and C.
Tash, F. Thureau-Dangin, op. sit. pp. 235-8.
Moss, Iraq X, Pt. I, pp. 56-74; A. M. Honeyman,
31 A seal from Khorsabad, AJSL XLIX, pp. 5 3-5;
PE-0 I949, pp. 21-39. another seal N. Avigad, IEJ VIII, pp. 228-30;
27 Three from Sfireh dated in the mid-eighth weights from Nimrud, CIS II, nos. 1-14. On
century B.C.; the Zakir stele and the stele of Bar- Aramaic inscriptions and script generally, see F.
Hadad, king of Aram, found near Aleppo recently Rosenthal, Die Aramdistiche Forschung, I939.
translated in DOTT. pp. 239-241. W. F. Albright
32 M. Lidzbarski, Altaramdische Urkunden aus Assur,
dates this c. 850 B.C. (BASOR 87, pp. 23-9) but
19I2, pp. 5-I5.
J. Starcky, after examining the original, suggests a
later date, op. cit. p. I35, n. i, " il nous parait difficile 33 Two ostraca were found by Layard, CIS II,
de donner a cette dedicace une date plus haute qu'a nos. 44, 45; BM. 48277, and one more recently,
celle de Zakir." ND. 623I, see J. B. Segal, Iraq XIX. Pt. 2, PP.139-45.

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 PLATE XXIII

-4. - - - -

- - - - -. N

- - *--. -.. U

7 0 - ,'*'-----..'- U

p.

,.0
.4i
--., U

-- U

00
U
- Cl) U)

4)

'.4i
ft.

L _

U)

N CU

v:
rL 4-4
l~~~~

00

CU
* -
C
c

00

00

vU z

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 PLATE XXIV

ff 5s46k - s#'t y , *. >s;. 1 8 a. ND. I01 5o. Hebrew inscription. S

I AO

bh ND. 10304. Inscribed griffin. Seep. 49. ' j2j(;

c. Fitters'
This content downloaded frommarks. See p. S?.
193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 ALPHABETIC INSCRIPTIONS ON IVORIES FROM NIMRUD 45

A Hebrew I;zscription
ND. 10150. Fragmentary plaque, 9 X S *3 cms. On the upper, polished,
surface are remains of three lines of writing, the letters carefully engraved with
a sharp point and each word separated by a dot.
Line i. [ ]wL.b[ ]y p t[ ]y[ ]
Line 2. [ ]LAJLd/rJLYJ .7nm Ik.dI.w[ ]
Line 3. [ ]' . b m h w[ ]'[ ] From SW 37. Plate XXIVa.
The form of the script is clearly different from the preceeding pieces (cf.
Fig. I, col. S with col. io). Especially noticeable are the curving descenders
of kaph, memn and pe. This is a characteristic of inscriptions from Palestine,
with which ND. 10150 also shares the following features (references to the
columns of Fig. i):
'aleph the lower diagonal curves upwards to the right of the shaft as on some
of the ostraca from Samaria (3);
beth leans to the right, cf. i and contrast 9-I i;
gimel has its left stroke considerably shorter than the right cf. I, 3;
daleth is tailless;
waw is carefully formed with three strokes, a vertical bent leftwards at the top
and crossed at the bend by a straight diagonal and at the upper end by a
short diagonal parallel to the first, cf. the more cursive forms of I-4;
yodh has sharp angles and the bottom diagonal is terminated by a downward
flick, found also at Samaria (3);
kaph two fingers rise from the left of the curving shaft;
lahmedh the tail is very long in proportion to the hook;
mem occurs in two forms, one, the initial form here, but at Samaria (3) and
Qasile (4) also a medial form, inclined to the right, but both forms having
the ' shin' head as at Samaria (3) and in the Siloam tomb inscription (2);
pe shows a curving descender meeting the head line at an acute angle;
taw has arms of approximately equal length.
The interpretation of this text, offered with reserve, supports the epigraphic
indications in assigning the piece to a Hebrew origin.
Line i. Insufficient letters remain to allow any reconstruction. The traces
after beth are puzzling. They might possibly be the right part
of shin (w) of even of a badly formed sade (\). After y p t the
may have been a point (word-divider) as the space is too small for
any letter.
Line 2. The first letter can only be read as beth. The second could be either
daleth or resh, the stance suggests that resh is the more likely (c: daleth
in g d 1). Slight traces of the next letter running into the resh show
(1151) D2

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 46 A. R. MILLARD

Sioamn SilocTm Samaria QasiLe ND Nimnrud Samarici Arslan-Tash ,S4 Zakir

tunneL tombs ostraca ostraca os 101TD marks marks marks Ho.zael Ioasq,jiosi.

81 t + 4 A

d q
h A

u8t5 7 r 1'8 V H

t '0 00 0

kI
nY JJ 2O 2

~ 0 0 0 0 00 0 0

2 7 36 7 8 9 10

s~
S ~FG
w i.w
Cat v
of H

t 9

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 ALPHABETIC INSCRIPTIONS ON IVORIES FROM NIMRUD 47

that it cannot be read as be, but must be yodh. A noun with first
person singular possessive suffix -y would be the most plausible
explanation of this word, unless it be part of a proper name. Four
common nouns might fit: b ry " my nobles "; [']h ry "my
successors "; [b]h ry " my young men, warriors "; [m b]j r
best." Choice of any of these depends upon the interpretation of
the remainder of the text. The lack of any definite article with
,. m I k . g d I (" from a great king ") seems odd. " From the great
king " (m h rn I k . h g d 1) might be expected as in II Kings XVIII. Ig
where this phrase is an epithet of the king of Assyria. If this title
is a translation of the Assyrian sarru rabu or its equivalent, the article
might be omitted.34 g d I " great " is a word attested only in
Hebrew.35
Line 3. The mark before 'aleph could be the remnant of the corner of a uwaw
of, if the letters were not quite level, of either beth, resh, qoph, mem
or nmn.

The last two lines may be reconstructed, tentatively, as part of a curse formula
against any who might deface the inscription:
. . . b r Y. m m k.,gdl. w'd. 'y-. 'Ir.y b'w. b'. 2v mbw. 't. bspr

" (may God curse any) of my successors, from great king to private citizen
who may come and destroy this inscription."
The Phoenician texts of king Yehawmilk36 and from Karatepe37 provide
parallels to " from great king to private citizen " while the root m b h is
attested in Hebrew with the meaning " to wipe out."38 In this passage
w m w w is taken as a ' perfect ' tense of the verb with ' waw conservative '
used of future action. Equally possible is the translation " . . . and they
wiped out . . . ", interpreting it as a simple perfect with the conjunction.39
If this was approximately the purport of the inscription, it was evidently
a commemorative plaque, perhaps dedicating a votive offering and invoking
divine retribution upon any who dared to damage or erase it.
Little is known of Hebrew epigraphy before the eighth century B.c.40 A
number of texts from that century indicate that there was then considerable
scribal activity and ability in both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The

34Compare melek yareb (Hosea v. 13, x.6) which 38 e.g. Exodus xxxii.32; Isaiah xliii.-5.
is probably the translation of some similar phrase,
see F. Brown, S. R. Driver, C. A. Briggs, Hebrew 39 On the constructions with 2;aw see G. R. Driver,
English Lexicon of the Old Testament, I906, p.Problems
937a. of the Hebrew Verbal System, 1936, pp. 85-I44.
35 C. F. Jean and J. Hoftijzer, Dictionnaire des
40 The Gezer Calendar is of the eleventh or tenth
Inscriptions Simi/iques I960, p. 48.
centuries B.C., DOTT, pp. 2oI-3. A seal from
36 G. A. Cooke, North Semitic Inscriptions, 1902, Megiddo may date from the reign of Jeroboam I
p. I8, line ii. (c. 931-910 B.C.) according to S. Yeivin, JNELS XIX,
37 See n. 26. pp. 205-2I2.

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 48 A. R. MILLARD

largest body of material is the collection of ostraca found at Samaria.41 Various

dates are proposed for this group, usually in the first half of the eighth century
B.C.42 Another potsherd from Samaria (excavation no. C. iioi) has three
lines of writing scratched upon it-the former group are all written with pen
and ink-in a script with very exaggerated curving descenders.43 Two
ostraca from Tell Qasile (Fig. I, col. 4) are dated to the years immediately
preceding the invasion of Tiglath-pileser III in 732 B.C., the same period as
C. IIOI from Samaria.4 Several names scratched on pots found at Hazor
and at other sites also ante-date the Assyrian conquest.45 A fragment of stone
discovered at Samaria bears three well-cut letters of a more permanent inscrip-
tion.46 Four monumental inscriptions have been found near Jerusalem and
all are dated in or near to the reign of Hezekiah of Judah (c. 7I6-687 B.C.).
The Siloam tunnel inscription is taken as the classic example of early Hebrew
writing (Fig. i, col. i), shown by the Samaria ostraca to be the cursive hand
transferred to stone.47 Closely related to it are three tomb inscriptions from
the Siloam valley (Fig. I, col. 2). One has been almost completely recon-
structed by N. Avigad, the others have yielded only a few words.48 The
discoveries in the caves of Wadi Murabba'at near the Dead Sea include a
papyrus palimpsest which has been dated epigraphically to the mid-eighth
century B.C., probably in the reign of Uzziah (c. 767-740 B.C.). The script
lies between the main group of Samaria ostraca and the single one, C. 11OI.49
There is little material for comparison from the seventh century B.C. in
Palestine50 and the script of the ostraca from the years immediately before the
fall of Jerusalem is plainly more developed than the letters on the Nimrud
ivory.51
WXhile it is unwise to make definite attributions on slender evidence, the form
of a;e' with 'shin' head, a type beginning to be superseded by the more
cursive ' strokes and crossbar' form even in the Siloam tunnel inscription
(Fig. i, col. i) and only occasionally encountered in later texts,52 and the meticu-
lously formed wavi) support an eighth century B.C. date for this inscription. The
)odh with its extra tick may suggest that it came from Samaria where the only

41 See D. Diringer, Le Iscrizioni Antiro-Ebraiche, 47 D. Diringer, op. cit. pp. 8I-I02; S. Moscati,
1934, pp. 2i-68. op. cit. pp. 40-43.
42 ibid. and S. Moscati, L'epigraf:a ebraica48
antica
IEj III, pp. I37-52; V, p. I63; A. Reifenberg,
(1935-50), 1951, pp. 27-39. J. T. Milik in Discoveries J1'OS XXI, pp. I 34-7.
in the Jtedaean Deserl II, I 960, assigns them to the reign
4 J. T. Milik, loc. cit. pp. 93-I00, pl. XXVIII.
of Toash (c. 798-782 B.C.). Y. Yadin has rccently
proposcd a lower date, in the reign of Menahem 50 Apart from the manv seals and weights, see
(c. 752-742 B.C.), Scripta I-ierosolymita DO1TT
VIII, pp. 218-30,
I960, the largest collection are the
groups of inscribed jar handles from Gibeon, J. B.
pp. 9-17.
43 Published bv E. L. Sukenik, PEQ 1933, pp. Pritchard, Hebrew Inscriptions and Stamps from Gibeon,
152-4; of. W. F. Albright, PFQ 1 936, pp. 2II-I5 1959.
44 B. Maisler, JNES X, pp. 265-7. 51 H. Torczyner, The Lachish Letters, I938; the
ostracon from Ophel, D. Diringer op. cit. pp. 74-80;
45 Y. Yadin, HaZor II, i96o, pp. 70-75. For other
graffiti Diringer and Moscati op. cit. a letter from MIezad Hashavyahu, J. Naveh, IEJ
46 T. W. Crowfoot, G. M. Crowfoot, K. M. X, pp. I29-39.
Kenyon, Samllar-ia-Sebaste IlI, 1957, p. 33. 52 P. Lapp, BASOR I 5 8, pp. I 9-2 I.

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 ALPHABETIC INSCRIPTIONS ON IVORIES FROM NIMRUD 49

other examples of this have been found. The care with which it has been
inscribed and the neatness of the letters make the Nimrud piece perhaps the
finest example of ancient Hebrew calligraphy.

ND. 10304. Griffin from an openwork plaque. On the reverse letters

have been roughly scratched. The rump of the animal has been broken away
and with it some of the inscription. The remainder may be read ' ly .
There is a single deeply cut vertical made by two strokes close together at the
right and a second adjacent to the first letter. This seems to be a deliberate
mark and it is possible to read the letter as betb. The line taken as the vertical
of 'aleph could be an accidental or tooling mark and so the letter might be resh.
The line joining 'aleph to lamedh may be accidental and other marks are from
clawed chisels. The diagonal line above the shin is also likely to be accidental.
The last letter is uncertain, it could be qoph as well as 'ayin. From SW. 37,
Plate XXIVb.

ND. 10303. A similar piece which has traces of three letters lightly scratched
on the reverse: . 1'. From SW. 37, Fig. 2a.
If ' Iy S ' is read on the first griffin, several parallels are available. As well
as a Hebrew personal name (Elisha'), it occurs on the ostracon from Nimrud,53
which may be a list of Hebrews,54 on a seal bought in Baghdad55 and on an
Ammonite seal.56 If this may be interpreted as a personal name, the second
inscription may be linked with the Hebrew name Yizliyah,57 but it is difficult
to understand what purpose such names would serve on these ivories.

a b c d

e f h
FIG. 2. Inscriptions on ND. I0303, numerals(?) and other signs.

Fitters' uuarks
Many ivories carry letters and other signs on the tenons, edges or backs.
They are similar to those from Arslan Tash58 and Samaria59 and belong to the

53J. B. Segal, Iraq XIX, Pt. 2, p. 140, II (concave 56 W. F. Albright in Scripta et Documenta I: Miscel-
side) line iI. lanea Biblica B. Ubach Dicala, 1953, p. 131.
54 W. F. Albright, BASOR 149, p. 34. 57 No meaning is known for the root z 1'.
55 D. Diringer, op. cit., pl. V, 41. The name also 58 F. Thureau-Dangin, op. cit., pp. I 3 5-8.
appears on a stamp seal from Ur (BM.i23oo6; U.E., 59 E. L. Sukenik ptud J. W. Crowfoot, Samaria-
X pl. XXXIV, no. 576). Sebaste 2, T'he Early Ivories, I938, pp. 6-8, P1. XXV.

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 50 A. R. MILLARD

Phoenician or Arama
The letters do not provide a basis for distinguishing Syrian from Phoenician
ivories, however, for there are hardly any Phoenician inscriptions of the ninth
and eighth centuries B.C. for comparison.60
The signs are recognised as guide or check marks for the assembling of the
individual components of a large piece of furniture. There are markings on
the hinged edges of the ivory writing boards from Nimrud indicating adjacent
parts.6' A sequence has also been observed in the markings on several
plaques depicting the ' Birth of Horus ' from Arslan Tash.62 Similarly, eight
short lengths of half-round moulding from Nimrud (ND. 797I) have marks
between the dowel holes on the base which seem to be related: ' I ; y I ;
s ; Ig; I h ; Iw; r X.63 A group of tenons, all from Room NW. 2I,
carry letters and a curious inverted horn (Plate XXIVc). This same mark occurs
on one piece from Arslan Tash,64 possibly an indication of common origin
for some of the Nimrud ivories and those from Arslan Tash. A number of
openwork plaques of gazelle and of cows suckling their young from Room NW.
21 (to be published separately) bear two letters on the base: b ' (Plate XXIVc)
m; 'iV ; ii(?) w ; h I . Three ivories, all from Room SW. 37, have vertical
strokes which may be numerals: I I I I I I (Fig. 2b, a female mask);
I I I I I I i I I I t (Fig. 2C, a griffin plaque); I I I t (Fig. 2d, ND.
I0564, a row of lotuses). The may be the cipher used for twenty (=),
cursive form ', in an Aramaic inscription of the sixth century B.C. from
and in the papyrus and leather documents of the fifth century B.C.66 The
single line (-) for ten and three lines (-), for thirty, are found in Hebrew
texts of the eighth century B.C.67 The fact that there are apparently ten verti-
cals in the second example and the presence of teth in the third (which has no
known numerical value) are opposed to this suggestion.
Two ivories have an unknown symbol on the reverse (Fig. 2g, an openwork
plaque; h, a female figure, ND. 103II, from Room SW. 37). A second non-
alphabetic sign is found on ND. I0308, a palmette from Room SW. 37 (Fig. 2i).

60 Beside the Kilamuwa and Karatepe inscriptions 67 The Samaria and Qasile ostraca and the papyrus
(see n. 26) there are only the short dedication on a from Murabba'at, see n. 38, both Milik and Yadin
bronze bowl from Cyprus (CIS I, no. 22), assigned to discuss the ciphers in the papers cited. Dr. Barnett
the eighth century B.C., and the tomb inscription, has noted that a closely related system of numerals
also from Cyprus, discussed by W. F. Albright, was used by the writers of Hittite Hieroglyphic
BASOR 83, pp. I4-I6, who dates it early in the ninth inscriptions, both in Imperial times and in the 'neo-
century B.C. lFittite' period. Examples can be found on jars
61 D. J. Wiseman and M. Howard, Iraq XVII, from Hattusa, K. Bittel, Bogazkoy. Die Kleinfunde der
Pt. I, pp. 4, 5, I5. Grabungen I906-I2, I937, Tafel 38-2 1 11 11 11 11 -
(possibly 9 + 30), in the inscriptions on lead from
62 R. D. Barnett, op. cit., p. II2, n. 3.
Assur, B. Hrozn', Les Inscriptions Hittites Hiero-
63 Cf. D. Oates, Iraq XXI, Pt. 2, p. I05.
,lyphiques II, 1933, p. I27, lettre a, col. IV,I.I4
64 F. Thureau-Dangin, op. cit., pl. XXVI, no. 2I. p. 13I, lettre, c, col. III, i.z - (io), col. IV,
(50),
65 S. A. Cooke, North Semi/ic Inscriptions, I902,
I.2 11 (5), p. 146, lettre g, col. I,fr.3 (II); and,
pp. 195-9.
on the stele from Jekke (Iraq X. Pt. 2, Fig. 34) line
66 G. R. Driver, Aramaic Documents of the Fifth
4 11111 (I5) and front, line 4 = (20).
CenturY B.C., 1957, p. 69.

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 ALPHABETIC INSCRIPTIONS ON IVORIES FROM NIMRUD 51

There is a lotus engraved upon the back of one piece (ND. 7805, Fig. ze) and
another has a cruciform design beside a gimnel on the tenon (ND. I0695, from
Room SW. 37, Fig. 2f).
The information provided by this epigraphical material adds weight to Dr.
Barnett's suggestion that some of the Nimrud ivories were made at Hamath,
or at least were brought therefrom,68 although whether they were tribute
from a subject king (as Enil) or were looted by Sargon at the sack of the city
cannot be decisively determined. The forms of the letters, so far as such
evidence is of value, agree with a date in the eighth century B.c. The fitters'
mark in the form of an inverted horn mray indicate that the Arslan Tash ivories
came from the same workshop as some of the Nimrud pieces, especially those
from Room NT. 21, a separate group from the majority of the pieces which
were found in Room SW. 37.
Emphasis is laid on the miscellaneous nature of the collections of Fort Shal-
maneser by the appearance of the Hebrew inscription, ND. 10150. Again
it cannot be decided whether this was tribute from, say, Menahem of Israel69
or even Hezekiah of Judah70 or whether it was booty from Samaria.7" Since
both Samaria and Hamath participated in the revolt of 72o B.C.,72 it is possible
that these ivories were all transported to Nimrud at that time.

68 op. Cit., pp. 46-49. 71 4. Winckler, op. cit., 1, 46-50, 103-IO5.

69 p. Rost, Die Keilschrifttexte Tiglat-pilesers III
I893, pp. 26-27.
70 Tavlor Prism of Sennacherib, col. iii, I8-41, 72 A. G. Lie, 7he Inscriptions of Sarpon 11, Kinig of
IR, 37-42. Afryria, i929, 11. 23-57.

This content downloaded from

193.0.118.39 on Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:05:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms