The particles beth and waw and the periodic structure of the Nora Stone Inscription

Abstract

The stone referred to in this study is 1.05 m. high and 57 cm. wide. It was discovered in 1773 in Pula near the ancient site of Nora in Sardinia, and when found it was 'serving as part of the wall of a vineyard belonging to a religious order'; in 1830 it was taken to the museum of Cagliari (Gibson 1982, 25)' The letters incised on this stone constitute one of the most puzzling pieces of Phoenician writing found in the corpus of Semitic inscriptions (CIS I88dI:, I: 144). As Gibson's bibliography on this inscription shows (1982,26), much has been written on it, with the obvious result that a host of interpretations have been proposed for it. However, Gibson himself says that he 'found it impossible to give a translation' of this inscription which seems to date to the early or mid ninth century B.C. (1982, 25). In reality, the date of this inscription is still a moot question and some scholars, such as Guzzo Amadasi, tentatively propose the eighth century B.C. (Guzzo Amadasi 1967,83).