Phoenician papyrus letters

The Phoenician papyrus letters are the only two known papyrus letters written in Phoenician. The first was discovered in Cairo in 1939, and the second in Saqqara in 1940.[1] Both letters were first published by Noël Aimé-Giron.

Saqqara letter (KAI 50)

The Saqqara Phoenician letter is a papyrus letter written in the Phoenician language that was found in a mastaba well in Saqqara, Egypt, in 1940.[2][3] It is one of only two known papyrus letters written in Phoenician.[4]

The letter is written from a woman to another woman, both speaking Phoenician but living in Egypt. The letter reads as follows:

To Arishut daughter of Eshmunyaton: Tell my sister Arishuth, your sister Bisha said: Are you in good health? I, too, am in good health. I bless you to Baalsaphon and all the gods of Tahpanhas so that they may keep you always in good health. I have indeed received the silver that you have sent me; 320 shekels and a quarter... This was all the silver that belonged to me... And you have sent me the document of discharge that...

Cairo letter (KAI 51)
Cairo Phoenician Papyrus

The Cairo papyrus was first published in 1937 by Noël Aimé-Giron, who found it in the archives of the Egyptian Museum at Cairo.[5]

References
  1. Vance, Donald R. “Literary Sources for the History of Palestine and Syria: The Phœnician Inscriptions,.” The Biblical Archaeologist 57, no. 1 (1994): 2–19. https://doi.org/10.2307/3210392. "... There are two private letters on papyri (KAI ## 50-51)..."
  2. Noël Aimé-Giron, 1940, Ba'al Saphon et les dieux de Tahpanhès dans un nouveau papyrus phénicien, ASAÉ 40 433-60, Pl. xl
  3. Delekat, L. “Ein Papyrusbrief in Einer Phönizisch Gefärbten Konsekutivtempus-Sprache Aus Ägypten (KAI 50).” Orientalia 40, no. 4 (1971): 401–9. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43078963.
  4. Greenfield, Jonas C. “Notes on the Phoenician Letter from Saqqara.” Orientalia 53, no. 2 (1984): 242–44. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43075264. "It remains the sole example of a letter in Phoenician to have been discovered so far."
  5. Noël Aimé-Giron, May 1937, Adversaria semitica: 1. Papyrus Phénicien, Bulletin de l’Institute Francais d’Archaologie Orientale 38 (1939), p. 1-63
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.