Deciphering Phoenician Writing
Can ChatGPT help me read Phoenician?
The term “Phoinike”, Φοινίκη has ancient origins dating back to early Greek historical and literary records. Its earliest use was in the Homeric Epics, the “Illiad” and the “Odyssey.” The Greeks referred to the people from the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, Israel and Syria as “Phoenicians” (Phoinikes).
The term is thought to be from the Greek word “phoinix” φοῖνιξ which means “purple” or “crimson.” This is thought to be in reference to the purple dye produced by the Phoenicians from the highly prized murex snail.
The Phoenicians didn’t call themselves that, though. The ancient Phoenicians referred to themselves as "Kanaʿani”, or what we typically refer to them as the biblical Canaanites. They probably also would have called themselves by the city states they were from: Tyre: צור (Ṣūr), Sidon: צִידוֹן (Ṣīdūn), Byblos: גְּבַל (Gebal), and Carthage: Qart-ḥadašt (meaning "New City").
Historians will say that ancient Phoenician as a language is relatively well attested. Numerous inscriptions, texts, and other written records have been discovered. Key sources of Phoenician texts include coins, papyri, pottery shards, and inscriptions on temples and buildings. Based on these discoveries, linguists and historians believe they have reconstructed the Phoenician language to a significant extent.
Just how accurate is this reconstruction of Phoenician? I wanted to find out, so I asked ChatGPT for help. First I asked for a list of some artifacts with ancient Phoenician writing on them.
Here is a list of 10 artifacts with Phoenician inscriptions which ChatGPT provided. The list includes the name of the artifact, the location it was found and the date of the artifact. This is followed by the Phoenician script and proposed translation.
Ahiram Sarcophagus - Byblos, Lebanon; c. 1000 BCE
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤇𐤓𐤌 𐤁𐤒𐤀 𐤀𐤓𐤉𐤌 𐤋𐤀𐤅 𐤏𐤓𐤓𐤂𐤌 𐤌𐤇 𐤀𐤂𐤌𐤉 𐤋𐤀𐤉 𐤀𐤓𐤔𐤌
Translation: "May a curse be upon anyone who moves this sarcophagus or disturbs Ahiram's rest. May his royal lineage perish, and may his offspring be cut off forever."
2. Eshmunazar II Sarcophagus - Sidon, Lebanon; c. 5th century BCE
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤔𐤌𐤍𐤆𐤓 𐤁𐤉𐤌 𐤌𐤋𐤊 𐤀𐤔𐤌𐤍𐤆𐤓 𐤁𐤀𐤔𐤌𐤍 𐤀𐤊𐤋𐤓 𐤁𐤔𐤌𐤉𐤕 𐤋𐤀𐤁𐤉𐤋 𐤀𐤆𐤌𐤍
Translation: "I, Eshmunazar, king of Sidon, son of Tabnit, king of Sidon, and grandson of Eshmunazar, king of Sidon, lie in this sarcophagus. I built temples to the gods of Sidon and the temple of Astarte."
3. Kilamuwa Stela - Zincirli, Turkey; c. 825 BCE
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤊𐤋 𐤊𐤋𐤌𐤅𐤀 𐤁𐤍 𐤇𐤉𐤉 𐤇𐤌𐤋𐤋 𐤀𐤏𐤋𐤌 𐤀𐤋𐤌 𐤓𐤌𐤁 𐤀𐤌𐤉𐤉
Translation: "I am Kilamuwa, son of Hayya. I have oppressed the powerful and helped the weak. I have made bronze gates and iron axes, and brought water to the city. I am the king who brought peace."
4. Cippi of Melqart - Malta; c. 2nd century BCE
Phoenician: 𐤋𐤌𐤋𐤒𐤓𐤕 𐤀𐤅 𐤌𐤏𐤋𐤕 𐤉𐤉𐤋𐤀𐤋𐤌 𐤁𐤀𐤓 𐤁𐤉𐤌 𐤀𐤁𐤋𐤕𐤀𐤁𐤋𐤕
Translation: "To the lord Melqart, master of Tyre, this monument is dedicated by 'Abd'osir and 'Osirshamar, sons of 'Osirmunis, to seek his favor."
5. Nora Stone - Nora, Sardinia; c. 9th century BCE
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤕 𐤕𐤓𐤔𐤌𐤔 𐤀𐤉𐤉𐤀𐤓 𐤇𐤌𐤋 𐤋𐤊𐤀𐤓 𐤓𐤀𐤂𐤉𐤕 𐤅𐤀𐤁𐤋𐤓𐤇
Translation: "At Tarshish, he found an enemy, and drove him out. The scribe took possession of the city. The city was inhabited and made prosperous."
6. Pyrgi Tablet - Pyrgi, Italy; c. 500 BCE
Phoenician: 𐤋𐤀𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤕 𐤌𐤊𐤌𐤕𐤉 𐤋𐤀 𐤋𐤋𐤋𐤋𐤄 𐤀𐤊𐤕 𐤀𐤁𐤉 𐤏𐤔𐤓𐤕𐤀𐤄
Translation: "To the lady Astarte, this is the holy place, which was made and given by Thefarie Velianas, who reigns over the Caerites. In the month of the sacrifice to the Sun, as a gift in the temple."
7. Bodashtart Inscription - Sidon, Lebanon; c. 6th century BCE
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤉 𐤁𐤃𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤕 𐤌𐤋𐤊 𐤁𐤃𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤕 𐤁𐤃𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤕 𐤁𐤃𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤕 𐤋𐤏𐤓𐤅𐤍 𐤌𐤋𐤋𐤕
Translation: "I, Bodashtart, king of Sidon, son of king Bodashtart, grandson of king Bodashtart, have built this temple to our lord, Eshmun. May he bless me and protect my reign."
8. Ma‘sub Inscription - Ma'rib, Yemen; c. 6th century BCE
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤊𐤉𐤓𐤇𐤓 𐤁𐤉𐤍𐤋 𐤀𐤁𐤃𐤏𐤋𐤃𐤀 𐤄𐤄𐤃𐤁𐤓𐤕 𐤔𐤌𐤅𐤏𐤓𐤀
Translation: "Dedicated to the god Almaqah by 'Abd'addan and his brothers, sons of Sumu'awtar. May he grant them prosperity and long life."
9. Byblos Obelisk Temple Inscriptions - Byblos, Lebanon; c. 19th-18th century BCE
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤊𐤋 𐤀𐤃𐤄𐤅𐤓 𐤀𐤓𐤋 𐤁𐤋𐤊𐤔
Translation: "Dedicated by Yatonbaal to the Lord of Byblos."
10. Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone) - Dhiban, Jordan; c. 840 BCE
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤋 𐤌𐤔𐤄 𐤌𐤋𐤄 𐤁𐤓𐤋 𐤌𐤅𐤁𐤏𐤋 𐤇𐤌𐤔
Translation: "I am Mesha, king of Moab. My father was king of Moab for thirty years, and I became king after
Me: “The English seems longer than the Phoenician text, can you please provide a word by word exact translation? Include the Phoenician text, the Phoenician word transliterated, and the word-by-word English.”
ChatGPT:
Certainly! Here's the information with the Phoenician text, transliteration, and word-by-word English translation for each artifact:
1. Ahiram Sarcophagus - Byblos, Lebanon; c. 1000 BCE
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤇𐤓𐤌𐤁𐤒𐤀 𐤀𐤓𐤉𐤌𐤋𐤌 𐤏𐤓𐤓𐤂𐤍𐤌 𐤌𐤇 𐤀𐤂𐤌𐤉 𐤋𐤀𐤉 𐤀𐤓𐤔𐤌
Transliteration: ʾa-hi-ra-mu ʾa-mi-ta ʿa-si-ta ʾa-ma-ru ʾa-gu-mi ʿa-ti ʾa-pi
Word-by-word Translation: Ahiram (name) he sealed. I, Ahiram, am the king. Curse (be upon) anyone who (moves) it.
2. Eshmunazar II Sarcophagus - Sidon, Lebanon; c. 5th century BCE
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤔𐤌𐤍𐤆𐤓 𐤁𐤉𐤌 𐤌𐤋𐤊 𐤀𐤔𐤌𐤍𐤆𐤓 𐤁𐤀𐤔𐤌𐤍 𐤀𐤊𐤋𐤓 𐤁𐤔𐤌𐤉𐤕 𐤋𐤀𐤁𐤉𐤋 𐤀𐤆𐤌𐤍
Transliteration: ʾa-si-mu-na-a-za-ru ʾa-pu-ni ʾi-ta-mu-na-a-za-ru ʾa-pa-ta-mu-na-za-ra ʾa-ti-ku-mu-mi ʾa-pi-ʾi-ti-ku ʾa-gu-mu
Word-by-word Translation: I, Eshmunazar, son of Tabnit, king of Sidon, grandson of Eshmunazar, king, lie in (this) coffin. I built (temples) for the gods of Sidon and (the temple) of Astarte.
3. Kilamuwa Stela - Zincirli, Turkey; c. 825 BCE
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤊𐤋 𐤊𐤋𐤌𐤅𐤀 𐤁𐤍 𐤇𐤉𐤉 𐤇𐤌𐤋𐤋 𐤀𐤏𐤋𐤌 𐤀𐤋𐤌 𐤓𐤌𐤁 𐤀𐤌𐤉𐤉
Transliteration: ʾa-ti-ru ha-ya-a ba-li ʾa-ri-si-ru ʾa-ta-mi ka-ti-ri ʾa-pa-lu ʾa-ta-ka ʾi-ti
Word-by-word Translation: I, Kilamuwa, son of Hayya, king. I (oppressed) the powerful and I (helped) the weak. I (made) (gates) (of bronze) and (ax) (of iron) and (water) (I brought) (to the city).
4. Cippi of Melqart - Malta; c. 2nd century BCE
Phoenician: 𐤋𐤌𐤋𐤒𐤓𐤕 𐤀𐤅 𐤌𐤏𐤋𐤕 𐤉𐤉𐤋𐤀𐤋𐤌 𐤁𐤀𐤓 𐤁𐤉𐤌 𐤀𐤁𐤋𐤕𐤀𐤁𐤋𐤕
Transliteration: ʾa-sh-m-l-q-r-ti ʾa-ti ʾa-si-mi-ri ʾa-pa-ti ʾa-ti-ka-ri-ti ʾa-bi-ʾa-mi-ri
Word-by-word Translation: To (the lord) Melqart (of Tyre) (this) (temple) (is dedicated) by (Abd'osir) and (Osirshamar), (sons) (of Osirmunis), (to seek) his (favor).
(I’m shortening the list here to save some space)
Me: “Why are some words in parenthesis and some not?”
ChatGPT: “The words in parentheses are used to clarify or complete the meaning of the Phoenician text, as the Phoenician language script often omits vowels and some grammatical markers, making the direct translation somewhat ambiguous or incomplete without context.”
Me: “Give me the Phoenician, the exact transliteration of the Phoenician, and the exact translation of each word, not using fill in the blank speculations.”
ChatGPT: “Unfortunately, I don't have the capability to provide specific Phoenician script, exact transliterations, or word-by-word translations for ancient inscriptions at this moment. If you have any other questions or need information on another topic, feel free to ask!”
Hmmm, well … we have a problem here I guess!
For some of these artifacts, like the Eshmunazar II Sarcophagus, the writing is fairly clear:
Other artifacts… well, not so much:
So besides the fact that some of these artifacts might not be even readable to begin with, there aren’t any vowels other than letter ‘A’, and we might not know where words or sentences start and end, so it looks like we are all out of luck!
But in this case, I don’t think ChatGPT is entirely at fault. In my opinion the historians seem to be making stuff up. Let’s take the shortest inscription and try it ourselves to see what we can come up with. The Byblos Obelisk inscription:
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤊𐤋 𐤀𐤃𐤄𐤅𐤓 𐤀𐤓𐤋 𐤁𐤋𐤊𐤔
Translation: "Dedicated by Yatonbaal to the Lord of Byblos."
Since Phoenician reads from right to left, we have the following letters:
𐤀 = aleph; 𐤊 = kap; 𐤋 = lamed; 𐤀 = aleph; 𐤃 = dalet; 𐤄 = he; 𐤅 = nun; 𐤓 = res; 𐤀 = aleph; 𐤓 = res; 𐤋 = lamed; 𐤁 = bet; 𐤋 = lamed; 𐤊 = kap; 𐤔 = sin
So, it should be: “akl adhenr arl blks”
And we have no idea what other vowel sounds might be in there. We are told that Byblos is actually called Gebal, so I’m not sure where they are getting Byblos out of that, nor do I see any resemblance to a Yatonbaal whatsoever.
I’m going to try to enlist ChatGPT once again and start with just “akl”.
ChatGPT: “The transliteration "akl" in Phoenician script can have multiple meanings or translations depending on the context and the intended language. Here are a few possible translations for "akl" based on different contexts":
Food: In Arabic and several Semitic languages, "akl" (أكل) translates to "food" or "to eat."
Eat: The verb form in Arabic can also mean "to eat."
Intellect: In Persian, "akl" (عقل) refers to "intellect" or "reason."
Mental: In Arabic, "akl" (عقل) can also mean "mental" or "intellectual."
These translations highlight how the meaning of "akl" can vary significantly depending on its context within the sentence and the cultural or linguistic framework in which it is used.”
No luck with ChatGPT on the other words though:
Adhenr: “This transliteration could potentially represent a Phoenician word that might have a range of meanings or could be a proper noun. Without a direct understanding of Phoenician vocabulary, it's challenging to give a precise translation.”
Arl: “Without a direct understanding of Phoenician vocabulary, it's difficult to provide a definitive translation. It could potentially be a name, a place, or an object whose meaning is not clear without more context or archaeological evidence.”
Blks: “Similar to previous responses, without a direct understanding of Phoenician vocabulary and context, it's difficult to provide a definitive translation. It could potentially be a name, a place, or an object whose meaning is not clear without more archaeological or contextual evidence.”
So, that answers my initial question— I guess ChatGPT cannot help me decipher ancient Phoenician.
Well, all we have to go on here is that this inscription might actually have something to do with thinking about food or eating, so it’s time for a snack!
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