A New Funerary Stele from Karkemish and New Values for Some Anatolian Hieroglyphic Signs

Year 2023, Volume: 87 Issue: 309, 357 - 383, 08.08.2023

Hasan Peker

https://doi.org/10.37879/belleten.2023.357

Abstract

Karkemish is located on the West bank of Euphrates River, about 60 kilometres southeast of Gaziantep, Turkey, and 100 kilometres northeast of Aleppo, Syria. Ruins of the city, over 90 hectares, of which over 55 lie in Turkey and around 35 in Syria. Since 2011 Karkemish has been newly explored by a joint Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition. During the 2016 excavation campaign by the Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition at Karkemish, a fragment of a funerary stele bearing a Hieroglyphic Luwian text was unearthed in the Lower Palace area. The stele probably dates to the early eighth century BCE (reign of Yariri/Yarri) and belonged to the wife of a cultic official. In this article, after presenting an edition of the inscription in question, new values for the Anatolian hieroglyphic sign L375 (which is attested on the stele in the writing PURUS-L375-sá of the word *kummayalli(ya)s, “sacred priest”) and related signs such as L375, L144 (= *521), L74, L129, and L398 are suggested while reinterpreting several passages of hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions from both the Empire and Late Hittite periods.

Keywords

Karkemish, Iron Age Funerary Stele, Anatolian Hieroglyphic Script, Luwian, Birds of Prey

Karkamış’tan Yeni Bir Mezar Steli ve Bazı Anadolu Hiyeroglif Yazısı İşaretleri için Yeni Değerler

Abstract

Karkamış antik kenti, Fırat Nehri’nin batı kıyısında, Gaziantep (Türkiye) kentinin yaklaşık 60 kilometre güneydoğusunda ve Halep (Suriye) kentinin 100 kilometre kuzeydoğusunda yer almaktadır. 90 hektarın üzerinde bir alana sahip kentin kalıntılarının 55 hektarı Türkiye’de, 35 hektarı ise Suriye sınırları içerisindedir. 2011 yılından bu yana Karkamış antik kentinde, Bologna Üniversitesi, Gaziantep Üniversitesi ve İstanbul Üniversitesi’nin kurucusu olduğu bir Türk-İtalyan ekip çalışmalara başlamıştır. Türk-İtalyan Karkamış Kazılarının 2016 sezonunda, Aşağı Saray Bölgesinde, Anadolu hiyeroglif yazılı Luvice büyük bir mezar steli parçası (KH.16.O.378) ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Stel muhtemelen MÖ. 8. yüzyılın başına (Yarri/Yariri’nin hükümdarlığına) tarihlendirilmelidir ve bir kült görevlisinin eşine aittir. Bu makalede söz konusu yazıtın edisyonu sunulduktan sonra, İmparatorluk ve Geç Hitit dönemlerinden çeşitli Anadolu hiyeroglif yazılı Luvice yazıtlardan pasajlar yeniden yorumlanırken, stelde PURUS-L375-sá olarak geçen *kummayalli(ya)s sözcüğünü yazmakta kullanılan Anadolu hiyeroglif yazısı işareti L375 ve L144 (= *521), L74, L129 ve L398 gibi ilgili işaretler için yeni değerler önerilmiştir.

Keywords

Karkamış, Demir Çağı Mezar Steli, Anadolu Hiyeroglif Yazısı, Luvice, Alıcı Kuşlar

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