Archeologists write history at Sidon excavation site

[icymist]

Archeologists write history at Sidon excavation site
Discovery of cuneiform tablet supports stories about Sidon's past

By Hilary Robertson
Special to The Daily Star
Wednesday, September 07, 2005

SIDON: A rare cuneiform tablet has been discovered on an excavation site in Sidon, exciting archeologists and serving as the first piece of evidence of writing in Sidon's history. Unearthed on a site managed by the British Museum, this is only the second tablet ever found in Lebanon and it is especially important as a historical clue, proving that writing was in everyday use in the third millennium in Sidon.

Dr. Claude Serhal, director of the excavation, calls this site "extraordinary." She says archeologists there are not rewriting the history of Sidon because the city's history has never been written before. Though Sidon is mentioned 35 times in the Bible and many stories about it are well known throughout the region, no one has ever found any evidence to verify these stories.

"This is an opportunity to really learn something, to finally have evidence of what occurred in Sidon's history," says Serhal.

A preliminary report by Irving Finkel indicates that the tablet dates back to about 1400 B.C. Finkel is an expert in cuneiform and the Assistant Keeper in the Department of the Ancient Near East at the British Museum in London. He says when he first got news of the discovery everyone in his office was literally jumping with excitement.

(more)
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&article_id=18269

[Igel]

1. How humorous: "one of the names seems to be Arcadian"

I suppose Akkadian is intended, and I suppose the language is Akkadian or akin to it (as opposed to Hittute, Luwian, or any of the other possibilities for cuneiform).

But still ... jumbalaya in antiquity ... perhaps the origin of plov and pilaf?

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Well, there was an Arcadia in ancient times

but it was in Greece, not Syria-Mesopotamia. So Akkadian proably was meant.