Knowledge

Moabite language

Source 📝

609:
celebrate his victory over Israel. Apart from this text, however, we have only two other fragmentary ninth century inscriptions, with various seals to represent later Moabite. The better preserved of these two inscriptions seems to be a fragment of another inscription by Mesha… the second preserves only a few letters which can be made into a couple of conjectured words…. our knowledge of the grammar and other linguistic features of Moabite is dependent almost completely on one inscription alone.
477:; it has been transliterated as well as translated by Alvierra Niccani. Others are followed by a plural noun. Numeral phrases can stand in apposition with a noun (phrase) coming before or after. This is seen in KAI's line 17: “ymh.wḥṣy.ymy.bnh.’rb’nšt,” meaning, “his days and half the days of his son, for forty years.” 464:
In numbered examples, non-Roman script representations are signaled by arrows, namely ⟶ or ⟵, to indicate the text's direction of writing as it is presented in the volume. As for Ugaritic, Hebrew (epigraphic and Tiberian), Phoenician, and Moabite, the arrow will typically point in the same direction
523:
A lexical isogloss exists between the Northwest Semitic languages Aramaic, Hebrew and Moabite. For example, the verb 'to be', from the root(s) *HWY/HYY. The coastal languages, Phoenician and Ugaritic, both used the root *KWN, and that seems to be the case in the mother tongue of the Amarna scribes
608:
The major problem with the study of the Moabite language is the lack of material upon which to base a study. We are fortunate to have a major inscription in the Mesha Stone . This is a basalt stele found in Diban, Transjordan, dating from sometime after 850 BC, set up by Mesha, king of Moab, to
532:
A syntactic feature that Aramaic, Hebrew and Moabite share is the syntagma of the narrative preterit. Supported by three inscriptions, prefix preterite narrative sequences are found in Moabite as well as Old Southern Aramaic and Hebrew. First, it was discerned in the Old Aramaic inscription of
494:
a vertical stroke, /, appears 37 times. However, its function is the subject of disagreement among researchers. Van Zyl claims that the strokes are used to divide clauses. Similarly, Segert explains that they can be seen as tools for the punctuation of sentences. A. Poebel offers a different
545:
with and without the sequential conjunction. This feature is absent in Phoenician, a language that is certain to be Canaanite, which suggests that the classification of Moabite as a Canaanite dialect does not apply.
495:
explanation and states that vertical strokes are used to separate sentences forming a mentally cohesive group. According to Andersen the only two parallels that can be found in accordance with the stroke are in the
436:). Vowel values and diphthongs, which had potential to vary wildly between Semitic languages, were also largely typical of other Semitic tongues: there is inconsistent evidence to suggest that 456:. On the other hand, although Moabite itself had begun to diverge, the script used in the 9th century BC did not differ from the script used in Hebrew inscriptions at that time. 452:, another characteristic shared by Hebrew and later Phoenician. Moabite differed only dialectally from Hebrew, and Moabite religion and culture was related to that of the 1119: 269:
The following table presents the first four lines of the inscription of Mesha Stele including its transliteration and English translation by Alviero Niccacci.
1129: 444:
much like in Hebrew and later Phoenician, at the same time, there is evidence to suggest that the diphthongs /aw/ and /ay/ eventually contracted to
1084: 951: 499:. Rather, he suggest that a dot fulfills the function as a word divider based on its occurrence in a variety of Old Aramaic inscriptions, the 770: 1134: 474: 263: 1124: 646:"Biblical War Revealed on 2,800-Year-Old Stone Altar: The altar reveals new details about a rebellion against the Kingdom of Israel" 473:
The absolute numeral precedes singular (collective) nouns, for instance “thirty years” is expressed as “šlšn.št” in line 2 of
886: 808: 631: 595: 679: 515:
has been revised the past few years. Dialects of Canaanite, including Moabite, show differences from one another.
262:
and a few seals. The inscription on Mesha Stele is also referred to as “Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften” (
982:
Das appositionell bestimmte Pronomen der 1. Pers. Sing. in den westsemitischen Inschriften und im Alten Testament
537:
by king of Hamath and proclaimed to be of Canaanite influence on an Aramaic text. Second, it occurred in the
562: 151: 1109: 231: 189: 76: 1104: 645: 326:[𐤕𐤉 𐤟 𐤀𐤇𐤓 𐤟 𐤀𐤁𐤉 | 𐤅𐤀𐤏𐤔 𐤟 𐤄𐤁𐤌𐤕 𐤟 𐤆𐤀𐤕 𐤟 𐤋𐤊𐤌𐤔 𐤟 𐤁𐤒𐤓𐤇𐤄 | 𐤁[𐤌𐤎 𐤟 𐤉 71: 701: 1114: 266:), which is German for “Canaanite and Aramaic Inscriptions.” It is to be read from right to left. 258:, which is the only known extensive text in the language. In addition, there is the three-line 66: 669: 246:
An altar inscription written in Moabite and dated to 800 BCE was revealed in an excavation in
621: 538: 56: 620:
Simon B.Parker, 'Moabite, Ammonite and Edomite' in John Kaltner, Steven L. McKenzie (eds.),
259: 204: 334:-ed after my father. I made this high place for Kemosh in Qerihoh. high pl(ace of salv-) 8: 366: 251: 235: 227: 185: 115: 81: 310:𐤉𐤁𐤍𐤉 | 𐤀𐤁𐤉 𐤟 𐤌𐤋𐤊 𐤟 𐤏𐤋 𐤟 𐤌𐤀𐤁 𐤟 𐤔𐤋𐤔𐤍 𐤟 𐤔𐤕 𐤟 𐤅𐤀𐤍𐤊 𐤟 𐤌𐤋𐤊 1078: 1021: 945: 918: 751: 689: 500: 203:
The body of Canaanite epigraphy found in the region is described as Moabite; this is a
167: 1013: 882: 814: 804: 743: 675: 627: 591: 572: 425: 223: 215: 61: 389: 219: 856: 798: 585: 534: 382: 362: 361:
The main features distinguishing Moabite from fellow Canaanite languages such as
48: 496: 247: 108: 818: 1098: 1017: 747: 542: 144: 832: 965:
Segert, Stanislav (1961). "Die Sprache der moabitischen Königsinschrift".
294:𐤀𐤍𐤊 𐤟 𐤌𐤔𐤏 𐤟 𐤁𐤍 𐤟 𐤊𐤌𐤔 ? ? 𐤌𐤋𐤊 𐤟 𐤌𐤀𐤁 𐤟 𐤄𐤃 135: 491: 255: 208: 1025: 1001: 922: 755: 731: 906: 453: 567: 160: 128: 1043:(2nd ed.). Leiden - Boston - Cologne: The Context of Scripture. 1058:. Jerusalem: Carta's Atlas of the Biblical World. pp. 220–221. 879:
The Semantics of Word Division in Northwest Semitic Writing Systems
623:
Beyond Babel: A Handbook for Biblical Hebrew and Related Languages,
715:
Compston, H.F.B. (1919). "The Inscription on the Stele of Mesha".
732:"The Stele of Mesha and the Bible: Verbal System and Narrativity" 318:-bonite. My father ruled over Moab for thirty years, and I rul- 512: 393: 197: 31: 420:"town of Israel"); and retention of a verb form with infixed 590:. Forschungen zum Alten Testament. Eisenbrauns. p. 33. 193: 192:, formerly spoken in the region described in the Bible as 524:
from Canaan as well; and it is also standard in Arabic.
416:) but retains in the construct state nominal form (e.g. 506: 342:...𐤔𐤏 𐤟 𐤊𐤉 𐤟 𐤄𐤔𐤏𐤍𐤉 𐤟 𐤌𐤊𐤋 𐤟 𐤄𐤔𐤋𐤊𐤍 800:
Dialect Geography of Syria-Palestine, 1000-586 B.C.E.
214:
Moabite, together with the similarly poorly-attested
396:(Central Semitic); retention of the feminine ending 302:
I am Mesha, son of Kemosh(x), king of Moab, the Di-
777:, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 330:-ty.ʾhr.ʾb / wʾ.ʿś.hbmt.zʾt.lkmš.bqrḥh / bm(tʾ.y-) 350:-ation because he saved me from all predators... 1096: 1002:"Whence Came the Israelites and Their Language?" 541:. Finally the prefix preterite, appeared in the 796: 184:, is an extinct sub-language or dialect of the 254:. Most knowledge about Moabite comes from the 1120:Languages attested from the 1st millennium BC 881:. United Kingdom: OXBOW BOOKS. p. 53. 674:. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 395. 400:or "-ah", which Biblical Hebrew reduces to 1130:Languages extinct in the 1st millennium BC 1083:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( 950:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( 643: 1041:The Inscription of Zakkur, King of Hamath 984:. University of Chicago Press. p. 9. 577: 16:Ancient Semitic language of Moab (Jordan) 904: 769:Compston, Herbert Fuller Bright (1919), 768: 729: 714: 667: 250:. It was written using a variant of the 1038: 935: 876: 556: 1097: 1068: 1053: 999: 979: 964: 900: 898: 771:"The Moabite Text in Phœnician Script" 663: 661: 485: 314:-ybny.ʾby.mlk.ʿl.mʾb.šlšn.št.wʾnk.mlk- 995: 993: 991: 775:The Inscription on the Stele of Méšaʿ 583: 527: 511:The geography of the dialects of the 503:and other texts of the early Hebrew. 792: 790: 507:Classification as Canaanite dialects 1135:1st-millennium BC disestablishments 895: 658: 200:) in the early 1st millennium BC. 13: 988: 432:"I began to fight", from the root 14: 1146: 857:"isbn:0805446796 - Sök på Google" 787: 762: 723: 1125:1st-millennium BC establishments 41:early half of 1st millennium BCE 30:Formerly spoken in northwestern 1062: 1047: 1032: 973: 958: 929: 870: 849: 825: 298:ʾnk.mšʿ.bn.kmš(...).mlk.mʾb.hd- 877:Crellin, Robert S. D. (2022). 708: 668:Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (2007). 637: 614: 587:Diversity in Pre-Exilic Hebrew 480: 1: 905:Anderson, Francis I. (1966). 803:Eisenbrauns. pp. 31–39. 549: 392:(also Northwest Semitic) and 196:(modern day central-western 7: 518: 490:In the inscriptions on the 468: 424:, also found in Arabic and 234:, together with Hebrew and 232:northwest Semitic languages 190:Northwest Semitic languages 10: 1151: 1006:Israel Exploration Journal 730:Niccacci, Alviero (1994). 412:, "town", Biblical Hebrew 356: 346:-šʿ.ky.hšʿny.mkl.hšʿlkn... 241: 1054:Rainey, Anson F. (2006). 1000:Rainey, Anson F. (2007). 644:Owen Jarus (2019-08-22). 465:as the original writing. 459: 207:limited primarily to the 188:, themselves a branch of 158: 142: 126: 121: 105: 45: 37: 26: 21: 797:W. Randall Garr (2004). 837:Encyclopedia Britannica 1039:Millard, A.R. (2000). 940:. Leiden. p. 185. 936:Van Zyl, A.H. (1960). 980:Poebel, Arno (1932). 539:Deir Alla Inscription 1071:Aramäische Grammatik 260:El-Kerak Inscription 180:, also known as the 1110:Canaanite languages 1069:Segert, S. (1975). 486:Sentence boundaries 273: 252:Phoenician alphabet 186:Canaanite languages 116:Phoenician alphabet 925:– via JSTOR. 833:"Moabite | people" 584:Young, I. (2011). 528:Syntactic features 501:Siloam Inscription 272: 222:, belonged to the 1056:The Sacred Bridge 967:Archiv Orientální 888:978-1-78925-678-9 810:978-1-57506-091-0 632:978-0-884-14384-0 597:978-3-16-151676-4 573:the Linguist List 369:are: a plural in 354: 353: 280:Line Inscription 224:dialect continuum 211:and a few seals. 205:very small corpus 174: 173: 77:Northwest Semitic 1142: 1105:Moabite language 1089: 1088: 1082: 1074: 1066: 1060: 1059: 1051: 1045: 1044: 1036: 1030: 1029: 997: 986: 985: 977: 971: 970: 962: 956: 955: 949: 941: 933: 927: 926: 907:"Moabite Syntax" 902: 893: 892: 874: 868: 867: 865: 864: 853: 847: 846: 844: 843: 829: 823: 822: 794: 785: 784: 783: 782: 766: 760: 759: 727: 721: 720: 712: 706: 705: 699: 695: 693: 685: 665: 656: 655: 653: 652: 641: 635: 634:pp.43-59 p.46ff. 626:SBL Press, 2019 618: 612: 611: 605: 604: 581: 575: 560: 283:Transliteration 274: 271: 178:Moabite language 170: 154: 138: 131: 111: 51: 19: 18: 1150: 1149: 1145: 1144: 1143: 1141: 1140: 1139: 1115:Hebrew language 1095: 1094: 1093: 1092: 1076: 1075: 1067: 1063: 1052: 1048: 1037: 1033: 998: 989: 978: 974: 963: 959: 943: 942: 934: 930: 903: 896: 889: 875: 871: 862: 860: 855: 854: 850: 841: 839: 831: 830: 826: 811: 795: 788: 780: 778: 767: 763: 728: 724: 713: 709: 697: 696: 687: 686: 682: 666: 659: 650: 648: 642: 638: 619: 615: 602: 600: 598: 582: 578: 561: 557: 552: 530: 521: 509: 488: 483: 471: 462: 383:Biblical Hebrew 359: 244: 228:Canaanite group 182:Moabite dialect 166: 150: 147: 134: 127: 112: 107: 101: 72:Central Semitic 52: 49:Language family 47: 17: 12: 11: 5: 1148: 1138: 1137: 1132: 1127: 1122: 1117: 1112: 1107: 1091: 1090: 1061: 1046: 1031: 987: 972: 957: 928: 894: 887: 869: 848: 824: 809: 786: 761: 742:(3): 226–248. 722: 707: 680: 657: 636: 613: 596: 576: 554: 553: 551: 548: 529: 526: 520: 517: 508: 505: 497:Gezer Calendar 487: 484: 482: 479: 470: 467: 461: 458: 418:qiryát yisrael 358: 355: 352: 351: 348: 343: 340: 336: 335: 332: 327: 324: 320: 319: 316: 311: 308: 304: 303: 300: 295: 292: 288: 287: 284: 281: 278: 248:Khirbat Ataruz 243: 240: 172: 171: 164: 156: 155: 148: 143: 140: 139: 132: 124: 123: 122:Language codes 119: 118: 113: 109:Writing system 106: 103: 102: 100: 99: 98: 97: 96: 95: 94: 93: 92: 91: 90: 89: 55: 53: 46: 43: 42: 39: 35: 34: 28: 24: 23: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 1147: 1136: 1133: 1131: 1128: 1126: 1123: 1121: 1118: 1116: 1113: 1111: 1108: 1106: 1103: 1102: 1100: 1086: 1080: 1072: 1065: 1057: 1050: 1042: 1035: 1027: 1023: 1019: 1015: 1011: 1007: 1003: 996: 994: 992: 983: 976: 968: 961: 953: 947: 939: 932: 924: 920: 917:(2): 81–120. 916: 912: 908: 901: 899: 890: 884: 880: 873: 858: 852: 838: 834: 828: 820: 816: 812: 806: 802: 801: 793: 791: 776: 772: 765: 757: 753: 749: 745: 741: 737: 733: 726: 718: 711: 703: 691: 683: 681:9780802837851 677: 673: 672: 664: 662: 647: 640: 633: 629: 625: 624: 617: 610: 599: 593: 589: 588: 580: 574: 570: 569: 564: 559: 555: 547: 544: 543:Tel Dan stele 540: 536: 525: 516: 514: 504: 502: 498: 493: 478: 476: 466: 457: 455: 451: 447: 443: 439: 435: 431: 427: 423: 419: 415: 411: 407: 403: 399: 395: 391: 387: 384: 380: 376: 372: 368: 364: 349: 347: 344: 341: 338: 337: 333: 331: 328: 325: 322: 321: 317: 315: 312: 309: 306: 305: 301: 299: 296: 293: 290: 289: 285: 282: 279: 276: 275: 270: 267: 265: 261: 257: 253: 249: 239: 237: 233: 229: 225: 221: 217: 212: 210: 206: 201: 199: 195: 191: 187: 183: 179: 169: 165: 163: 162: 157: 153: 149: 146: 145:Linguist List 141: 137: 133: 130: 125: 120: 117: 114: 110: 104: 88: 85: 84: 83: 80: 79: 78: 75: 74: 73: 70: 69: 68: 65: 64: 63: 60: 59: 58: 54: 50: 44: 40: 36: 33: 29: 25: 20: 1070: 1064: 1055: 1049: 1040: 1034: 1012:(1): 41–64. 1009: 1005: 981: 975: 966: 960: 938:The Moabites 937: 931: 914: 910: 878: 872: 861:. Retrieved 859:(in Swedish) 851: 840:. Retrieved 836: 827: 799: 779:, retrieved 774: 764: 739: 735: 725: 716: 710: 670: 649:. Retrieved 639: 622: 616: 607: 601:. Retrieved 586: 579: 566: 558: 531: 522: 510: 489: 472: 463: 449: 445: 441: 437: 433: 429: 421: 417: 413: 409: 405: 401: 397: 385: 381:"kings" for 378: 374: 373:rather than 370: 360: 345: 329: 313: 297: 286:Translation 277:Line Number 268: 245: 213: 202: 181: 177: 175: 159: 86: 67:West Semitic 57:Afro-Asiatic 698:|work= 492:Mesha Stele 481:Controversy 440:shifted to 404:only (e.g. 256:Mesha Stele 209:Mesha Stele 1099:Categories 1073:. Leipzig. 863:2018-04-13 842:2018-04-13 819:1025228731 781:2022-10-24 736:Orientalia 651:2019-08-24 603:2023-06-03 550:References 454:Israelites 367:Phoenician 236:Phoenician 1079:cite book 1018:0021-2059 946:cite book 911:Orentalia 748:0030-5367 717:MacMillan 700:ignored ( 690:cite book 568:MultiTree 161:Glottolog 129:ISO 639-3 82:Canaanite 1026:27927155 923:43073932 756:43076168 519:Isogloss 469:Numerals 426:Akkadian 388:), like 216:Ammonite 168:moab1234 563:Moabite 430:w-’ltḥm 390:Aramaic 386:məlākîm 357:Grammar 242:History 226:of the 220:Edomite 87:Moabite 62:Semitic 22:Moabite 1024:  1016:  969:: 235. 921:  885:  817:  807:  754:  746:  678:  630:  594:  535:Zakkur 513:Levant 460:Arrows 414:qiryāh 410:qiryah 406:qiryat 394:Arabic 377:(e.g. 363:Hebrew 198:Jordan 32:Jordan 27:Region 1022:JSTOR 919:JSTOR 752:JSTOR 1085:link 1014:ISSN 952:link 883:ISBN 815:OCLC 805:ISBN 744:ISSN 702:help 676:ISBN 671:Moab 628:ISBN 592:ISBN 448:and 379:mlkn 365:and 218:and 194:Moab 176:The 571:on 565:at 475:KAI 434:lḥm 422:-t- 408:or 402:-āh 398:-at 375:-îm 371:-în 264:KAI 230:of 152:obm 136:obm 38:Era 1101:: 1081:}} 1077:{{ 1020:. 1010:57 1008:. 1004:. 990:^ 948:}} 944:{{ 915:35 913:. 909:. 897:^ 835:. 813:. 789:^ 773:, 750:. 740:63 738:. 734:. 694:: 692:}} 688:{{ 660:^ 606:. 339:4 323:3 307:2 291:1 238:. 1087:) 1028:. 954:) 891:. 866:. 845:. 821:. 758:. 719:. 704:) 684:. 654:. 450:ē 446:ō 442:ō 438:ā 428:(

Index

Jordan
Language family
Afro-Asiatic
Semitic
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest Semitic
Canaanite
Writing system
Phoenician alphabet
ISO 639-3
obm
Linguist List
obm
Glottolog
moab1234
Canaanite languages
Northwest Semitic languages
Moab
Jordan
very small corpus
Mesha Stele
Ammonite
Edomite
dialect continuum
Canaanite group
northwest Semitic languages
Phoenician
Khirbat Ataruz
Phoenician alphabet

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.