Scripturae Linguaeque Phoeniciae

Scripturae Linguaeque Phoeniciae (in English: "The writing and language of Phoenicia"), also known as Phoeniciae Monumenta (in English: "Phoenician remains") was an important study of the Phoenician language by German scholar Wilhelm Gesenius.

Scripturae Linguaeque Phoeniciae

Cover of part one (Pars Prima)
Author	Wilhelm Gesenius
Language	Latin
Genre	Phoenician language
Publication date	1837
Publication place	Leipzig

Precededed by his prelimary treatise Paläographische Studien, his full publication was originally intended to be published under the name Marmora Phœnicia et Punica, quotquot supersunt, edidit, et prœtnissâ commentatione de litteris et linguâ Phœnicum et Pœnorum explicuit G. Gesenius (In English: "The Phoenician and Punic surviving inscriptions, published and explained with an excellent commentary on the letters and language of the Phoenicians and the Punics by W. Gesenius").^[1]

It was written in three volumes, combined in later editions.^[2] It was described by Reinhard Lehmann as "a historical milestone of Phoenician epigraphy".^[3]

It published all c.80 inscriptions and c.60 coins known in the entire Phoenicio-Punic corpus at the time.^[4]

Many of the Latin names that Gesenius gave to the inscriptions have remained foundational to the study of Phoenician-Punic. Gesenius listed the inscriptions by geographic findspot and in chronological order of their discovery.^[5]

History

In preparing for his publication, Gesenius traveled to Leiden, London, and Paris to inspect original inscriptions and coins, correcting prior scholarly errors based on casts or copies.^[1]

Gesenius' preliminary treatise, Paläographische Studien (1835), began by translating and annotating a 1772 Spanish treatise by Francisco Perez Bayer, enhancing it with his own corrections.^[1]

Contents

Paläographische Studien (1835)

Paläographische Studien established two categories of Punic writing — Scriptura Urbana, found near Carthage and resembling classical Phoenician script known from Malta, Sardinia, Cyprus and Athens, and Scriptura Rustica (or Numidica), a looser, provincial script from inland Numidia.^[6] Gesenius reconstructed a “Numidian alphabet” to aid future decipherments.^[7]

Scripturae Linguaeque Phoeniciae (1837)

• Full Title: The writing and language of all the surviving Phoenician remains, published and unpublished copies of the best examples, illustrated and explained by Wilhelm Gesenius.
• First part: Containing the first two books on Phoenician letters and inscriptions [p. i–xxviii, 1–260], therein:
  • First book: containing Phoenician palaeography [p. 1–89]
  • Second book: illustrating the Phoenician inscriptions [p. 90–260]
• Second part: Containing two later books on the gods and the language of the Phoenicians [p. 261–482], therein:
  • Third book: On the Phoenician gods [p. 261–328]
  • Fourth book: Illustrating the Phoenician language [p. 329–482]
• Third part: containing forty-six inscribed stone tablets [Tab. 1–48 (sic)]

List of inscriptions

	Gesenius (1837)	Hamaker (1828)	CIS (1880s)	KAI (1960s)	Other
Malta
Cippi of Melqart	1		I 122	47
Benhisa inscription	2		I 124	-
Mdina steles	3-4	III 1-2	I 123	61
Athenian Greek-Phoenician inscriptions	5-7		I 116, 117, 120	53, 55
Pococke Kition inscriptions	8-40	IV	I 11, 46, 57-85	33, 35
Nora Stone	41		I 144	46
Carthaginian
Humbert Carthage inscriptions	46-49, 51-53	I 1-3	I 173, 186-187, 240, 439-440
Falbe Punic inscriptions	50, 54		I 199
Reade Punic inscriptions	81-83		I 179, 441-442
Punic-Libyan bilinguals	56	II 3		100
Numidia
Temple Punic inscription (BM 125044)[8][9][10][11]	57				NP 7
Falbe Punic inscriptions	58				NP 8
Hamaker?[12][13][14][15]	59-60	II 1-2			NP 9-10
BM 125056 [16][17]	61				NP 11
Humbert Neo-Punic inscriptions (?)[18][19][20]	62-63				NP 12-13
Reade Punic inscriptions	84				NP 14
Tripolitania Punic inscriptions	64-65	III 4-5			IPT 9-10
Gems and stamps	67-70		II 79, 81
Non-Phoenician:
Carpentras Stela	71		II 141
Stela Saltiana[21]	72		II 143		TAD D22.54
Turin Aramaic Papyrus	73	III 3	II 144
Blacas papyri	74-75		II 145		TAD C1.2
Pseudo-Phoenician or forgeries:
[Other]	76-80		II 54

Editions

• Gesenius, F.H.W. (1837). Scripturae linguaeque phoeniciae monumenta quotquot supersunt edita et inedita ad autographorum optimorumque exemplorum fidem edidit additisque de scriptura et lingua Phoenicum commentariis illustravit Guil. Gesenius: Duos priores de litteris et inscriptionibus phoeniciis libros continens. 1 (in Latin). Vol. 1. sumptibus typisque Fr. Chr. Guil. Vogelii.
  • Scripturae linguaeque phoeniciae (in Latin). Vol. 2. 1837.
  • Scripturae linguaeque phoeniciae (in Latin). Vol. 3. 1837.

Notable preceding works

• Gesenius, Wilhelm; Bayer, Francisco Pérez; Hollmann, Hermann (1835). Paläographische Studien über phönizische und punische Schrift (in German). F. C. W. Vogel.