Click to viewA 2,900 - twelvemonth - honest-to-goodness tombstone from the ancient kingdom of Sam’al , located in what is today southeastern Turkey , has shed ignitor on an ancient spiritual opinion yet unsung . The gravestone , called a stele , is in nearly pristine condition and archaeologists were capable to translate all the writing on it . Now they ’ve advance new insight into what hoi polloi of the Iron Age believed about soul and destruction . A team of archaeologist from the University of Chicago will discourse their findings at a conference this weekend . The human who create the stela was named Kuttamuwa , and he describe himself as a “ handmaid ” of King Panamuwa . Kuttamuwa ’s stele , in pristine condition , was found in a suburb of the walled city , far from the palace – archaeologist ruminate it was probably the man ’s own house . Though the city of Sam’al was influenced by local Semitic culture in many way – including their language – Kuttamuwa and Panamuwa are names that show the Indo - European cultural influence . Also , Kuttamuwa was cremated , a practice session ban by Semite tribes of that era . Apparently Kuttamuwa had his stele made while he was still animated , and last summertime the archeologic team set up it , translate its inscription like this ( there are interrogation marks for translation they are n’t sure of yet ):
I , Kuttamuwa , servant of Panamuwa , am the one who supervise the production of this stela for myself while still living . I place it in an unceasing chamber ( ? ) and build a spread at this chamber ( ? ): a bull for [ the tempest - god ] Hadad , … a ram for [ the sunshine - god ] Shamash , … and a ram for my soul that is in this stele .
Written in an alphabet deduct from Phoenician , the language is a West Semitic dialect similar to Aramaic and Hebrew . The endocarp depict Kuttamuwa himself , eating at a board laden with food and drink . What this expose , according to research leading David Schloen , is that Kuttamuwa ’s people believe in a split between body and soul . This was a comparatively novel belief at the prison term , and many neighboring peoples like the Israelites think the body and soul were one . Kuttamuwa , however , design for his mortal to remain in the stela while his body was cremate . That ’s why he requested a “ feast ” in the sleeping room to feed his soul . research worker found cadaver of food offerings in ancient sports stadium around the stela . agree to archeologist Schloen :
Kuttumuwa ’s inscription show a fascinating mixture of non - Semite and Semitic ethnical elements , including a belief in the enduring human soul - which did not inhabit the castanets of the deceased , as in traditional Semitic thought , but inhabited his stone monument , possibly because the corpse of the at peace were cremated . Cremation was considered to be abhorrent in the Old Testament and in traditional West Semitic culture , but there is archaeologic evidence for Indo - European - stylus cremation in neighbour Iron Age sites .
Funerary Monument Reveals Iron Age Belief[via University of Chicago ]
anthropologyArchaeologyHistoryScience
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