The Philistine language is the language of the people of the Philistines until they are assimilated by the Semitic environment. Known for fragmentary evidence - glosses in the Old Testament and single short texts.
| Philistine language | |
|---|---|
| Self name | is unknown; |
| Regions | coastal strip of southwestern Canaan : the territory of Gaza and adjacent territories along the coast ( Ashdod ) |
| Extinct | about VII century BC. |
| Classification | |
| Category | Languages of Eurasia |
| supposedly Anatolian | |
| Writing | Cypriot-Minoan letter , Proto-Canaanite letter , Phoenician letter |
Already by the 9th-8th centuries BC e. most of the Philistines Semitized [1] and developed their own Philistine Semitic language, also known as the Ekron language of the Canaanite subgroup of the northwestern Semitic subgroup [2] [3] .
Content
Texts by Philistine Linear Writing
The texts listed below in appearance resemble Cypriot-Minoan writing , but are not included in its corpus, since only a part of researchers agree with this identification [4] , while others write more carefully about “linear writing of Aegean origin”.
- Afek : a tablet with text from several lines [5] .
- Ashkelon : a crock with an inscription in 9-character paint [6] .
- Ashdod : clay Philistine seals with texts of 5-6 characters [7] [8] [9] [10] . The reading of the signs is given according to J. M. Facchetti and is not generally accepted [11] .
- Text 1: du-re? - () - te-ja
- Text 2: ja? - () - ro-ba + freestanding syllabogram e
- Tel Casile : an amphora inscription (read by J. Facchetti): ti? -Jo 1 [11] .
- several shards of Mycenaean ceramics with single signs resembling Cypriot-Minoan (possibly marks of potters) [12] [13] .
Specialists in the Cypriot-Minoan language (S. Ferrara, F. Steele) expressed a cautious doubt that these inscriptions are Cypriot-Minoan, in view of the peculiarities of the markings that distinguish them from Cypriot inscriptions. B. Davis identified a number of characters differently than Facchetti [4] . The scarcity and brevity of the inscriptions does not allow us to judge in which language they are made.
Texts by Phoenician and Aramaic writing
The Philistines borrowed the Phoenician letter [14] .
The relatively long Philistine texts (in Phoenician writing) identified the ostracone from Izbet-Cart ( fr: Izbet-Sartah ), two ostracons and a seal from Tell-Gemme ( Tel-Gamma , de: Tell Jemmeh ) [10] .
The text from Izbet-Tsart (5 lines, 9th century BC), according to some estimates, was made not by the Phoenician, but by the earlier Canaanite letter . The text can not be interpreted, except for the last line (list of Phoenician letters)
- 'bsdh't' o
- ktnoqh'tb'z [] toltt
- y qsqq
- oygbnhp'tbhdzqloto'ob'hbrobs
- 'bgdhwzhtyklmnsopsqrst
The first oracle from Tell Jemme (VII century BC) is a list of names. According to Aaron Kempinski, each line means "A, (son) B-a", while the middle name ends with the -š index, which he compares with the genitive of Indo-European languages. Most of the names are interpreted as Semitic (some with the addition of the indicated ending), but about a third of the names are not Semitic, although they may have parallels among Anatolian names, as well as, possibly, Cypriot ones (the latter are attested in Assyrian texts) [15] . J. M. Facchetti also considered this indicator a genitive, but Etruscan.
- lhrš. bnkš
- wnnt. 'dnš
- šlm. 'nš
- bolšm '. šgš
- rk '. šm'š
- bol '. hmš
- ntn. ppš
- tb. šl [
The second ostracone (VII century BC) is, apparently, also a list of names with numbers at the end of the lines. The morphological indicator -yh is repeatedly found in it (possibly, it corresponds to the final -ja from the text with a “linear” (Cyprian-Minoan?) Letter, as well as, probably, the already mentioned index of the genitive of names -š [11] .
- []
- [] h klytbš []
- [] ksryh 2 []
- [] y brzyh 20 []
- [] rvš 3Z []
- [] 1Z
Here Z is a zigzag sign (apparently also a numeral).
Perhaps the Philistines can also include several poorly interpreted ostracons with exceptionally short inscriptions from Ashdod, Tel Qasile, Atsora, Tell al-Fara and others. J. Nave has a total of 14 Philistine inscriptions in Phoenician or Aramaic writing [16] .
Vocabulary
Personal Names
The Philistines in the Bible and other ancient texts bear both Semitic names and names of obscure etymology.
- Ahish ( Anhus , Assyr. I-ka-u-su) - ruler of Gath , patron of David . The name is compared with the Asia Minor name Ankhiz [17] [18] .
- Goliath has analogues in the Anatolian languages - the Carian Uliat [19] and the Lydian Adiatt / Aliatt [20] [21] . The Hellenized form of the Anatolian name is also known - Kalliad.
- Delilah - Samson's wife who betrayed him
- Mitinti - the name of two rulers, in Ashdod and Ashkelon - are mentioned in both Phoenician and Assyrian texts [22] .
- Taita, the ruler of the Syrian Philistines (the kingdom of Palistine in the Amuk Valley) and his wife Kupapiyas bear characteristic Anatolian names [23] .
Names of the Gods
- Dagon
- Pythogeya (tentatively referred to as ptgy) is the name of the goddess from the dedication inscription in Ekron [24] [25] . The same inscription ( en: Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription ) contains the genealogy of the Philistine kings with their names.
Toponyms
- Szekelag is a city built by the Philistines ( 1 Sam. 27: 6–30: 26 ).
Other glosses
The Bible attests to a number of Philistine glosses, in particular:
- The title seren (leader of the Philistines) in modern Hebrew has acquired a new meaning " captain " ( military rank of the IDF ); a number of researchers, in particular, R. D. Barnett [26] believed that this word is associated with the Neo-Hittite sarawanas / tarawanas [27] or other Greek. τύραννος ( tyrant - which, in turn, was a West Anatolian loan; the first known bearer of this title was the Lydian Gig ). [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] . Thomas Schneider, on the other hand, identified the term seren with the Lemnos word seronai, which he interprets as a title (debatable interpretation) [35] .
- kōbá - the name of the copper helmet of Goliath in 1 Kings. 17: 5–38 , - Edward Sepir suggested that the word has an Indo-European etymology [36] .
- 'argáz - a box or vessel with the golden gifts of the Philistines, mentioned in 1 Sam. 6: 8–15 and nowhere else in the Bible, [37] - according to E. Sepir, “is clearly not a Semitic word,” although there are parallels in Aramaic and Arabic.
- title padî . [38]
- the title paraz (village leader) - identified by L. Neselovsky-Spano in an inscription from Ekron, has parallels in biblical vocabulary - Habakkuk 3:14 [39]
Philistine Semitic language
There are several dozen inscriptions from the territory of the Philistine Pyatigrad, made in a special local dialect of the Canaanite language, one of the descendants of which is also Hebrew . A complete catalog of such inscriptions was published by [40] .
Example: Ostracon text from Ashkelon [41] :
- ] m'br. sû. tsû [
- ] k? w. ysû n? . l [
- ] '[.] br [.] s \ pn? [
See also an article on the royal dedicatory inscription from Ekron: en: Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription
Notes
- ↑ Singer, Itamar. "Egyptians, Canaanites, and Philistines in the Period of the Emergency of Israel," inI. Finkelstein & N. Na'aman, eds. From Nomadism to Monarchy. Archaeological and Historical Aspects of Early Israel. Jerusalem: 1994: 336
- ↑ Byrne R. (2002) Philistine Semitics and Dynastic History at Ekron. Ugarit-Forschungen, 34
- ↑ The Canaanite Dialect of the Dedicatory Royal Inscription from Ekron - Jaacob Callev
- ↑ 1 2 http://www.fcsh.unl.pt/kubaba/KUBABA/k_2_2011_texts/DAVIS%202011%20-%20Cypro-Minoan%20in%20Philistia.pdf
- ↑ Kochavi, M. and Beck, P. 1990. The Egyptian Governor's Residence and Its Finds (Israel Museum Catalog 312). Jerusalem P. 24
- ↑ Cross, FM and Stager, LE 2006. Cypro-Minoan Inscriptions Found in Ashkelon. Israel Exploration Journal 56: 129-159: see discussion on pp. 131-134
- ↑ Assaf Yasur-Landau. The Philistines and Aegean Migration at the End of the Late Bronze Age, p. 309
- ↑ Ben-Shlomo, David (2010). Philistine Iconography. A wealth of style and symbolism. p. 72
- ↑ Ben-Tor, Amnon (1991). The archaeology of ancient Israel, p. 279
- ↑ 1 2 Garbini, Giovanni. I Filistei. Gli antagonisti di Israele, nuova edizione, Brescia, Paideia, 2012
- ↑ 1 2 3 Facchetti GM (2002). Appunti di morfologia etrusca . P. 148-150.
- ↑ Landau, AY & Goren, Y. (2004). A Cypro-Minoan potmark from Aphek. Tel-Aviv 31, pp. 22-31.
- ↑ Ben-Shlomo, David. (2014). Marked jar handles from Tel-Miqne - Ekron. Material Culture Matters: Essays on the Archeology of the Southern Levant in Honor of Seymour Gitin. Edited by John R. Spencer, Robert A. Mullins, and Aaron J. Brody. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, Indiana. 2014, pp. 17-32
- ↑ Philistines
- ↑ Kempinski, 1987, p. 21.
- ↑ Naveh, 1985, p. 17
- ↑ Achish | The amazing name Achish: meaning and etymology
- ↑ https://www.jstor.org/stable/27926047
- ↑ Vernet Pons, M. (2012). The etymology of Goliath in the light of Carian Wljat / Wliat: a new proposal . Kadmos 51, 143-164.
- ↑ Tell es-Safi / Gath weblog. and Bar-Ilan University. ; For the editio princeps and an in-depth discussion of the inscription, see now: Maeir, AM, Wimmer, SJ, Zukerman, A., and Demsky, A. 2008 (In press). An Iron Age I / IIA Archaic Alphabetic Inscription from Tell es-Safi / Gath: Paleography, Dating, and Historical-Cultural Significance. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research .
- ↑ Georg Hüsing, according to Ferdinand Bork in AfO 13 (1939-1941: 227), noted by GA Wainwright, “Some Early Philistine History” Vetus Testamentum 9.1 (January 1959: 73-84) p. 79 note 3
- ↑ Naveh, p. 9
- ↑ Thomas Zehnder (2010). Die hethitischen Frauennamen. Katalog und Interpretation. Dresdner Beitrage zur Hethitologie - DBH 29. Harrassowitz Verlag, 2010
- ↑ Schneider, 2011, p. 575
- ↑ Schäfer-Lichtenberger (2000). The goddess of Ekron and the religious-cultural background of the Philistines // Israel Exploration Journal 50, pp. 82-91.
- ↑ Barnett, “The Sea Peoples” Sect. IV “The Philistines”, New Cambridge Ancient History p. 17 - mentioned in a critical review by Michael C. Astour in Journal of the American Oriental Society , 92 .3 (July - September 1972: 457f.
- ↑ Sandars, Nancy K., The Sea Peoples: Warriors of the Ancient Mediterranean, 1250–1150 BC, Thames and Hudson, 1978
- ↑ Robert Drews, “The First Tyrants in Greece” Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte , 21 2 (2nd Quarter 1972: 129-144) p. 138.
- ↑ Helck W., Ein sprachliches Indiz für die Herkunft der Philister, in: Beiträge zur Namenforschung 21, 1983, p. 31.
- ↑ Meriggi, P. “Schizzo della delineazione nominale dell'eteo geroglifico (Continuazione e fine)”, in: Archivio Glottologico Italiano, 38, 1953. pp. 36-57.
- ↑ Chantraine, P. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Histoire des mots, vol. 4.1, 1968, p. 1146.
- ↑ Gusmani 1969: R. Gusmani, Isoglossi lessicali Greco-Ittite, in: Studi linguistici in onore di Vittore Pisani, Brescia 1969, Vol. 1, p. 511-12.
- ↑ Cornil, P. “Une étymologie étrusco-hittite”, Atti del II Congresso Internazionale de Hittitologia, Pavía, 1995, p. 84-85.
- ↑ Rabin, C. “Hittite Words in Hebrew,” Or NS 32, 1963, pp. 113-39.
- ↑ Schneider, 2011, p. 572
- ↑ Sapir, “Hebrew 'helmet,' a loanword, and its bearing on Indo-European phonology” Journal of the American Oriental Society 57 .1 (March 1937: 73-77).
- ↑ E. Sapir, "Hebrew 'argáz, a Philistine Word," Journal of the American Oriental Society (1936: 272-281)
- ↑ “Common IE property” asserts (Sapir 1936: 279 note 23) noting Greek πόσις, Lithuanian -pati-s , -pats , and Tocharian A pats .
- ↑ The New Type of Ekron Inscription - Revisited | Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò - Academia.edu
- ↑ Niesiołowski-Spanò, Łukasz (2012), p. 435- ...
- ↑ The Epigraphical Record: A Philistine Ostracon from Ashkelon | The bas library
Literature
- Cross, Frank Moore (1996). " A Philistine Ostracon from Ashkelon ," Biblical Archeology Review, 22 (January-February 1996): 64-65;
- Keel, Othmar (1994). Philistine anchor seals . Israel Exploration Journal> Vol. 44, No. 1/2, 1994.
- Kempinski, Aharon (1987). " Some Philistine Names from the Kingdom of Gaza ," Israel Exploration Journal, 37 (1987): 2G24;
- Naveh, Joseph (1985). " Writing and Scripts in Seventh-Century BCE Philistia: The New Evidence from Tel Jemmeh ," Israel Exploration Journal, 35 (1985): 8-21, P12-4
- Niesiołowski-Spanò, Łukasz (2012). Dziedzictwo Goliata: Filistyni i Hebrajczycy w czasach biblijnych . Torun. - the book contains a full body of Philistine-Semitic inscriptions and a number of information about their pre-Semitic writing.
- Schneider, Thomas (2011). The Philistine language. New etymologies and the name 'David'. Ugarit-Forschungen 43, pp. 569-580.
- Shea, William (2003). Samson and Delilah in a Philistine text from Ashkelon . DavarLogos, ISSN 1666-7832, Vol. 2, Nº. 1, 2003, pags. 73-86 01/2003.
- Singer, Itamar (2009). (link unavailable) A fragmentary tablet bearing an unknown script . In: Y. Gadot, E. Yadin (Eds.). Aphek-Antipatris II. The remains on the acropolis. The Moshe Kochavi and Pirhiya Beck excavations. Tel Aviv 2009. Chapter 16. P. 472-484.
- Stieglitz, Robert (1982). Did the Philistine write? Biblical Archeology Review, 8 (4), p. 31.
- Stieglitz, Robert (1977). Inscribed seals from Tell Ashdod: the Philistine script? Kadmos XVI, p. 97.