Sárospataki Füzetek 17. (2013)

2013 / 1-2. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Doedens, Jacob J. T.:Ókori izraelita politeista feliratok: Aséra mint JHVH felesége?

Doedens. Jacob J. X

5. brktk. l[y]

6. hwh tmn

7. wl'srth. yb

8. rk. wysmrk

9. wyhy ‘ m. d[n]

10. y[

\\.kpx

(1) “Utterance of (2) ’Amaryaw: (3) Say to my lord: (4) ‘Is all well with you? (5) I bless you by Ya(6)hweh ofTeman (7) and his asherah. May he bl(8)ess you and keep you, (9) and be with my lord. . .”41 42

Partly overlapping43 with a drawing of a procession of worshippers44 * is a fragmentary inscription on Pithos B, which seems to specify the blessing:

1. Jlyhivh htmn. wl'srth.[

2. kl 'sr. ys 7. m 's. bnn h'[?] wntn Ihyhw klbbh45

1. ] for/to Yhwh (of) the46 Teiman and to Asheratah47

2. all that he asks from a man48 who acts compassionately he[?], and Yhw49 will

41 Transcription: Keel and Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, 226. For a slightly different reconstruction of the text, see Moshe Weinfeld, “Kuntillet Ajrud Inscriptions and their Significance,” SEL 1 (1984): 125.

42 “Kuntillet Ajrud: Inscribed Pithos 2,” tranlated by P. Kyle McCarter (COS 2.47B:172). Cf. Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel, 395.

Weinfeld, ““Kuntillet Ajrud,” 125, combines both inscriptions.

44 Cf. Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel, 398.

4^ Transliteration: Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel, 398. Cf. Keel and Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, 227.

4<^ Perhaps the h of the article is dittography of the last h from lyhwh, cf. Keel and Uehlinger, 227, nt.

77.

47 Or: ‘his asherah’, cf Keel and Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, 227.

McCarter translates: “everything that he asks from a compassionate god”, reading the expression m s hnn as m'lhnn, (COS 2.47B: 172).

49 Because of the (for Kuntillet Ajrud unique) presumed defective spelling of the divine name as yhw, McCarter reads wntnldyhw without word-divider, explaining the last word as the preposition / with dayyéhü, literally, ‘according to his sufficiency’, resulting in the translation: “and may he grant according to his needs all he asks”, (COS 2.24B: 172). According to Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel, 399, this is the earliest known attestation of this short form of the divine name in Hebrew. Later it is commonly attested in the Elephantine texts. It is also known as theophoric element in proper names.

48 SÁROSPATAKI FÜZETEK 2013/1-2.