A Blessing in the Phoenician Karatepe Inscription?

Abstract

The inscription from Karatepe (KAI 26) is a bilingual artefact in Luwian and Phoenician. Since both texts are written in a fluent and idiomatic manner, they must be interpreted independently. A comparison between them can be undertaken only after an independent reading. This way of approaching the texts calls into question the volitive interpretation of the so-called blessing in III:2–III:11 in the Phoenician version on the basis of the volitive meaning of the parallel Luwian section. Indeed, the presence of a blessing is unlikely in a royal Phoenician inscription because of its literary genre. Moreover, it is improbable that wbrk in II:2 begins a blessing since all other Phoenician inscriptions use the yiqtol ybrk to introduce one. Lines III :2–11, rather than being a request for blessing, are a description of blessing and prosperity accorded to the city by Baal and the gods.