{{Short description|Iron Age inscription found in Jordan}} {{Infobox artifact | name = El-Kerak Inscription | image = J 6807 El-Kerak Inscription, Jordan Archaeological Museum.png | image2= | material = Basalt | size= | created = {{circa}} 840 BC | location = Jordan Archaeological Museum | id = 6807 |discovered_date=1958|discovered_place=Jordan|height=12.5 cm|width=14 cm|language=Moabite}} {{Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions sidebar}} The '''Kerak Inscription''', also known as the '''Kemoshyat inscription''', was discovered in 1958 in Jordan, near Wadi el-Kerak. It is a basalt inscription fragment measuring {{convert|12.5|cm|in|sp=us}} high by {{convert|14|cm|in|sp=us}} wide. The inscription has been dated to the late ninth century BC. The inscription is known as KAI 306.
The fragment shows a belt, a pleated skirt, and a navel; along the mid-line of the fragment are three lines of Canaanite inscription.
The artifact is also known as the '''El-Kerak / Al-Karak / Karak Inscription'''.
==Discovery== The stone was acquired by the Jordan Archaeological Museum in 1958. It was reportedly found by Falah Qaddur (or Fallah el-Baddour), a bedouin from the Tafilah Governorate. According to Reed and Winnett, Qaddur stated that he had found the stone "in a foundation trench that had been cut for the construction of a new building in Al Karak." A letter from Awni Dajani, then the head of antiquities at the Jordan Archaeological Museum, stated that the stone was found by Odeh Subh el-Khwalideh (a relative of Qaddur) in the house of Suleiman el-Mubayyedin, near the Roman Pool east of Kerak.
==Inscription== The inscription contains 3 incomplete lines, comprising 8 complete words and fragments of 5 more, all written in the Moabite language known primarily from another artifact - the Mesha Stele. The text of the inscription looks like that of the Mesha Stele, but there is one special feature: the letter ''He'' has four horizontal strokes going to the left from the vertical stroke, while a typical ''He'' in tenth to fifth century BC northwest Semitic inscriptions contains only three strokes to the left. This letter is present in the inscription at least 3 times, and each time it appears with 4 horizontal strokes. Another difference between the Mesha Stele and the Kerak inscription is the separation between the words. In the Mesha Stele there are dots, and in the Kerak inscription there are small lines.
==Transliteration and translation== Provided below is a transcription of the inscription, its transliteration in Hebrew letters, as well as an English translation.<ref name=Hanson>[http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/westsem/elkerak.html "The El-Kerak Inscription"] at ''K. C. Hanson's Collection of West Semitic Documents'' website</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://maskani.lugovsa.net/node/48 |title=Drawing by Christopher A. Rollston and transcription |access-date=2011-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426062612/http://maskani.lugovsa.net/node/48 |archive-date=2012-04-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Words in brackets are not preserved in the inscription, but reconstructed, partly by comparison with the Mesha Stele.
<!--[Transcription should use the International Phonetic Alphabet and/or the original Moabite. Square Hebrew, from Imperial Square Aramaic, is a much later script.] --> {| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;" |- ! Line ! Transcription ! English translation |- | 1 | align="right"|{{Script/Hebrew|[אנכי (PN) בן כ]'''משית מלך מאב הד'''[יבני]}} | [I am (name), son of Che]'''mosh-yat, king of Moab the '''[[Dibon|'''Dib'''[on]]ite]... |- | 2 | align="right"|{{Script/Hebrew|[בבת]'''י כמש למבער כי אה'''[בני]}} | [... in the templ]'''e of Chemosh as a sacrifice, because I lo'''[ve...] |- | 3 | align="right"|{{Script/Hebrew|[...]'''נה והן עשתי את'''[...]}} | [... and beho]'''ld, I have made it'''... |}
==Further reading== * [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1355710 A Fragment of an Early Moabite Inscription from Kerak], William L. Reed and Fred V. Winnett, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 172 (Dec., 1963), pp. 1–9 * [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.373.0105 A Moabite-Inscribed Statue Fragment from Kerak: Egyptian Parallels] Author(s): Heather Dana Davis Parker and Ashley Fiutko Arico; Source: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 373 (May 2015), pp. 105–120; Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:9th-century BC inscriptions Category:1958 archaeological discoveries Category:Moab Category:Moabite inscriptions Category:KAI inscriptions Category:Archaeological artifacts Category:Ancient Israel and Judah Category:Archaeological discoveries in Jordan