The Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, also known as Northwest Semitic inscriptions, are the primary extra-Biblical sources for understanding of the societies and histories of Phoenicia, the Israelites, and the Arameans, which includes groups within the Northwest Semitic languages. Northwest Semitic contains the Aramaic and Canaanite languages; the latter groups includes PhoenicianâÂÂPunic, the Ammonite language, and Hebrew.
Semitic inscriptions may occur on stone slabs, ostraca, and ornaments and range from simple names to full texts.
The oldest inscriptions form a dialect continuum that includes Canaanite languages and Aramaic, exemplified by writings which scholars have struggled to fit into either category, such as the Stele of Zakkur and the Deir Alla inscription.
The Old Aramaic period (850âÂÂ612 BC) saw increased production and dispersal of inscriptions â not because the Arameans formed a dominant empire, but because their language was increasingly adopted as a regional lingua franca. Their language was adopted as an international language of diplomacy, particularly in the late Neo-Assyrian Empire when it spread throughout the Near EastâÂÂincluding Egypt (in administration) and Mesopotamia (where it became natively spoken). The first known Aramaic inscription was the Carpentras Stele, found in southern France in 1704; it was considered to be Phoenician text at the time.
Only 10,000 inscriptions in Phoenician-Punic, a Canaanite language, are known, such that "Phoenician probably remains the worst transmitted and least known of all Semitic languages." The only other substantial source for Phoenician-Punic are the excerpts in Poenulus, a play written by the Roman writer Plautus (see for an analysis). Within the corpus of inscriptions only 668 words have been attested, including 321 hapax legomena (words only attested a single time), per 's analysis in 1983. This compares to the Bible's 7,000âÂÂ8,000 words and 1,500 hapax legomena, in Biblical Hebrew. The first published Phoenician-Punic inscription was from the Cippi of Melqart, found in 1694 in Malta; the first published such inscription from the Phoenician "homeland" was the Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II published in 1855.
Fewer than 2,000 inscriptions in Ancient Hebrew, another Canaanite language, are known, of which the vast majority comprise just a single letter or word. The first detailed Ancient Hebrew inscription published was the Royal Steward inscription, found in 1870.
The inscriptions written in ancient Northwest Semitic script (Canaanite and Aramaic) have been catalogued into multiple corpora (i.e., lists) over the last two centuries. The primary corpora to have been produced are as follows:
The inscriptions listed below include those which are mentioned in multiple editions of the corpora above (the numbers in the concordance column cross-refer to the works above), as well as newer inscriptions which have been published since the corpora above were published (references provided individually). They are ordered chronologically by date of their modern discovery, illustrating the development of the study of ancient Semitic epigraphy.