| Idalion bilingual | |
|---|---|
 Idalion Bilingual at the British Museum in 2007 | |
| Created | c. 388 BC |
| Discovered | 1869 Dali,Nicosia,Cyprus |
| Discovered by | Robert Lang |
| Present location | London,England,United Kingdom |
| Language | Phoenician |
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TheIdalion bilingual is a bilingualCypriot–Phoenician inscription found in 1869 inDali, Cyprus.[2] It was the key to the decipherment of theCypriot syllabary, in the manner of theRosetta Stone to hieroglyphs.[3] The discovery of the inscription was first announced byPaul Schröder in May 1872.[4] It is dated to 388 BCE. ThePhoenician inscription is known asKAI 38 andCIS I 89.
It was discovered byRobert Hamilton Lang in his excavations at the Temple of Idalium (modernDali, Cyprus), whose work there had been inspired by the discovery of theIdalion Tablet in 1850. The stone was found in the centre of the temple, together with the five otherIdalion Temple inscriptions. The stone is thought to have been apedestal for a statue, as there is an apparentdowel hole in the top.[5]
Lang wrote of his discovery:[6]
The most valuable monument uncovered by my excavations is unquestionably the bilingual inscription in Cyprian and Phoenician, engraved on marble; an inscription which, I feel confident, will ultimately prove the means of enabling philologists to decipher the Cyprian alphabet ... The bilingual inscription proves also that, the two alphabets, Phoenician and Cyprian, had a contemporaneous existence.
It is currently in the archives of theBritish Museum, with identification number 125320.[5] It was exhibited at theFitzwilliam Museum inCambridge in 2018.[3]
The Phoenician inscription is three lines long:[5][7]
The Cypriot inscription is written in theGreek language. It is four lines long, also written right-to-left.[5] It was used byGeorge Smith to decipher theCypriot syllabary in 1871, in the manner of theRosetta Stone to hieroglyphs.[3] It is dated to 388 BCE. Subsequently, EgyptologistSamuel Birch (1872), numismatist Johannes Brandis (1873), philologistsMoritz Schmidt,Wilhelm Deecke, Justus Siegismund (1874) and dialectologistH. L. Ahrens (1876) all built on Smith's decipherment of the stone.[8]
]
]
'
'
𐠞𐠪𐠐𐠵𐠩
'
'
𐠖𐠑𐠌𐠅𐠰𐠜𐠩
mi-li-ki-ja-to-no-se
'
'
𐠋𐠯𐠃𐠚
ke-ti-o-ne
'
'
𐠊𐠁𐠭𐠑𐠃𐠚
ka-e-ta-li-o-ne
'
'
𐠞𐠪𐠐𐠄
pa-si-le-u
] ' 𐠞𐠪𐠐𐠵𐠩 ' 𐠖𐠑𐠌𐠅𐠰𐠜𐠩 ' 𐠋𐠯𐠃𐠚 ' 𐠊𐠁𐠭𐠑𐠃𐠚 ' 𐠞𐠪𐠐𐠄
] 'pa-si-le-wo-se ' mi-li-ki-ja-to-no-se ' ke-ti-o-ne ' ka-e-ta-li-o-ne ' pa-si-le-u
[In the fourth year] of King Milkyaton, reigning over Kition and Idalion,
]𐠕𐠙𐠚
]-me-na-ne
'
'
𐠰𐠟𐠞𐠕𐠦𐠚
to-pe-pa-me-ro-ne
'
'
𐠚𐠵𐠫𐠭𐠭𐠩
ne-wo-so-ta-ta-se
'
'
𐠰𐠙𐠯𐠥𐠅𐠭𐠚
to-na-ti-ri-ja-ta-ne
'
'
𐠰𐠮𐠊𐠮𐠩𐠭𐠩
to-te-ka-te-se-ta-se
'
'
𐠃𐠲𐠙𐠸
]𐠕𐠙𐠚 ' 𐠰𐠟𐠞𐠕𐠦𐠚 ' 𐠚𐠵𐠫𐠭𐠭𐠩 ' 𐠰𐠙𐠯𐠥𐠅𐠭𐠚 ' 𐠰𐠮𐠊𐠮𐠩𐠭𐠩 ' 𐠃𐠲𐠙𐠸
]-me-na-ne ' to-pe-pa-me-ro-ne ' ne-wo-so-ta-ta-se ' to-na-ti-ri-ja-ta-ne ' to-te-ka-te-se-ta-se ' o-wa-na-kse
[on the last (day)] of the period of five intercalary days, the prince
]𐠃𐠀𐠠𐠯𐠖𐠑𐠍𐠚
]-o-a-pi-ti-mi-li-ko-ne
'
'
𐠰𐠀𐠡𐠒𐠛
to-a-po-lo-ni
'
'
𐠰𐠀𐠘𐠍𐠒𐠂
to-a-mu-ko-lo-i
'
'
𐠀𐠡𐠂𐠵𐠂
a-po-i-wo-i
'
'
𐠭𐠩
ta-se
'
'
𐠁𐠄𐠍𐠏𐠩
e-u-ko-la-se
]𐠃𐠀𐠠𐠯𐠖𐠑𐠍𐠚 ' 𐠰𐠀𐠡𐠒𐠛 ' 𐠰𐠀𐠘𐠍𐠒𐠂 ' 𐠀𐠡𐠂𐠵𐠂 ' 𐠭𐠩 ' 𐠁𐠄𐠍𐠏𐠩
]-o-a-pi-ti-mi-li-ko-ne ' to-a-po-lo-ni ' to-a-mu-ko-lo-i ' a-po-i-wo-i ' ta-se ' e-u-ko-la-se
[Baalrom son o]f Abdimilk, has dedicated this statuette to Apollo Amyklos, from whom he has obtained the accomplishment of his wish.
[𐠁]𐠟𐠱𐠋
[e]-pe-tu-ke
'
'
𐠂𐠱𐠊𐠂
i-tu-ka-i
'
'
𐠀𐠊𐠭𐠂
a-ka-ta-i
'
'
[𐠁]𐠟𐠱𐠋 ' 𐠂𐠱𐠊𐠂 ' 𐠀𐠊𐠭𐠂 '
[e]-pe-tu-ke ' i-tu-ka-i ' a-ka-ta-i '
[T]o good fortune.[3]