Carpentras Stele

The Carpentras Stele is a stele found at Carpentras in southern France in 1704 that contains the first published inscription written in the Phoenician alphabet, and the first ever identified (a century later) as Aramaic. It remains in Carpentras, at the Bibliothèque Inguimbertine, in a "dark corner" on the first floor. Older Aramaic texts were found since the 9th century BC, but this one is the first Aramaic text to be published in Europe. It is known as KAI 269, CIS II 141 and TAD C20.5.

It is a funerary dedication to an unknown lady called Taba; the first line of the image depicts her standing before the god of the underworld with her arms raised and the second, her lying down, dead, being prepared for burial. The textual inscription is typical of Egyptian funerary tablets in that she is described as having done nothing bad in her life, and wishes her well in the presence of Osiris. A long-running scholarly debate has focused on the language of the inscription, and whether it was written as prose or poetry.

It was the first Northwest Semitic (i.e. Canaanite or Aramaic) inscription published anywhere in modern times (the Cippi of Melqart inscriptions, reported ten years earlier in 1694, were not published in full at that time).

It was considered to be Phoenician text at the time of its discovery. Scholars later argued that the inscription was "Aramaic" or "Chaldean". Since the early 19th century the language of the inscription has been considered to be Aramaic.

It was first translated in full by Jean-Jacques Barthélemy in the 1760s, and then by Oluf Gerhard Tychsen in 1802; the two translations were subsequently compared and critiqued by Ulrich Friedrich Kopp in 1821, who was in turn quoted by Wilhelm Gesenius in his widely published Scripturae linguaeque Phoeniciae. Kopp criticised Barthélemy and other scholars who had characterized the inscription and some coins as Phoenician, with "everything left to the Phoenicians and nothing to the Arameans, as if they could not have written at all". Kopp noted that some of the words on the stele corresponded to the Aramaic in the Book of Daniel, and in the Book of Ruth.

Initial publication
The stele was first published in 1704 by Jean-Pierre Rigord in an article focused on Rigord's description of the hieratic script; the article represented the first recognition of a non-hieroglyphic Egyptian script in modern times. Rigord wrote that "I have in my Cabinet an Egyptian Monument that I have sketched here, on which there are historical figures, above a Punic inscription." Rigord, M., "Lettre de Monsieur Rigord Commissaire de la Marine aux journalistes de Trevoux sur une ceinture de toile trouvée en Egypte autour d'une Mumie." Mémoires pour l'histoire des Sciences et les beaux Arts, Trevoux 4 (1704): 978–1000: "D'ailleurs ce qui doit avoir le plus contribué à introduire ce langage et ce caractere en Egypte, c'est la Dynastie des Rois bergers. C'étoient des Bergers Pheniciens lesquels conquirent l'Egypte, & qui y regnerent pendant quelques siecles: ils dûrent y introduire le langage Phenicien. Car ces Rois traiterene l'Egypte en païs de conquête, ils brûlerent les Villes, abbatirent les Temples, massacrerent un nombre infini de gens et firent generalement tout ce qu'ils purent pour détruire la nation: il leur fallut donc nécessairement faire venir beaucoup de Pheniciens pour s'assurer contre les naturels du païs; qui ne pouvoient être que très-mal intentionnez. Il seroit surprenant que la langue Phenicienne ne se fût pas introduite dans l'Egypte lors qu'elle étoit gouvernée et toute occupée par des Pheniciens. Il y avoit même encore du tems d'Herodote aux environs du Temple de Protée à Memphis un endroit où demeuroient les successeurs des Pheniciens: c'est ce que l'on appelloit le camp des Tyriens. On pourroit m'opposer que Joseph dans la Genese ne parle à ses freres que par interprete, pour nė se pas faire connoître à eux: mais quelque ressemblance qu'il y ait entre les langues, elles changent considerablement pour peu qu'elles s'éloignent de leur source. Le Grec litteral par exemple n'est pas entendu par les Grecs d'aujourd'hui, quoi que ce soit la langue mere. Pour venir à la langue Punique, on voit que cette langue doit avoir une grande ressemblance avec l'Hebreu litteral. En effet, tous les sçavans qui ont voulu expliquer la scene Punique qui est dans Plaute, ont recours aux racines Hebraiques; et ce n'a été qu'à force de reflexions qu'ils en sont venus à bout. Ainsi le langage du public en Egypte pouvoit fort bien être Punique originairement, sans être entendu par des bergers Pheniciens. J'ai dans mon Cabinet un Monument Egyptien que j'ai fait graver ici, sur lequel il y a des figures historiques, et par dessus de l'Ecriture Punique; ce qui paroît une preuve assez solide du sentiment que je viens de proposer."

Rigord had a number of plaster casts made and distributed to others in the academic community, mostly in Southern France. The stele was subsequently reviewed by Anne Claude de Caylus, Bernard de Montfaucon and Jean-Jacques Barthélemy. Barthelemy's review ended an early dispute about the language of the inscription – a consensus formed that the inscription was Phoenician; this consensus was to last until the beginning of the 19th century. Rudolf Jaggi, (2012) "Der "Stein von Carpentras", 	Kemet: Die Zeitschrift für Ägyptenfreunde, volume 21, issue 1, p.58-61: "Er selbst bezeichnete die Inschrift als "phönizisch". In seiner oben erwähnten Publikation von 1704 stellte er näm- lich die Theorie auf, die phönizische Schrift sei älter als die ägyptische und habe diese beeinflusst! Der Pater de Montfaucon konterte 1719: "Die Schrift, die sich unter dem Bild befindet, ist die wahre ägyptische Schrift, nicht hieroglyphisch." Wahrscheinlich hat er bereits hie- ratisch oder demotisch geschriebene Dokumente gesehen und die Steleninschrift diesen zugeordnet. Der Comte (Graf) de Caylus gab ihm 1752 recht: "Die Schrift ähnelt stark der phönizischen [...], aber Pater Montfaucon hat besser geur- teilt, als er sie als ägyptisch erklärte. Tatsächlich ist sie unter einem ägyptischen Bas-Relief eingraviert!" – ein ebenso ver- blüffend einfacher wie falscher Schluss. Am Ende seines Resümees versteigt sich der Graf sogar zu der Behauptung, mit dieser Inschrift sei bewiesen, dass die phönizische Schrift von den ägyptischen Hieroglyphen abstamme. Der Abbé Jean-Jacques Barthélémy (1716–1795), der auch einen Abguss des "Steins" besaß, beendete 1761 den Streit mit seiner Explication d'un bas-relief égyptien et d'une in- scription phénicienne qui l'accompagne... Graf Caylus reagierte als erster auf die Publikation – und er reagierte großzügig, wie es sich für einen echten Wissen- schaftler gebührt: "Ich habe Grund zu glauben, dass diese phönizische Inschrift, durch Abbé Barthélémy mit großem Scharfsinn und großer Kenntnis der gelehrten Sprachen ausgedeutet, großen Lärm machen wird (fera de bruit) im kleinen Kreise der Gelehrten."

Poetry
A number of scholars have suggested that the inscription should be translated as a poem, i.e. in metric form. This was first proposed in 1868 by Joseph Derenbourg.

The inscription, in poetic form, was translated by Charles Cutler Torrey as follows:
 * Blessed is Taba, daughter of Tahapi, devotee of the god Osiris;
 * She, who to none did aught of evil, by whom no slander whatever was spoken.
 * Before Osiris be thou blest, before him take the gift of water;
 * Be thou (his) worshipper, my fair one, and among his saints be thou complete.

Images
In the top part of the stele, Egyptian god of the underworld Osiris sits on the throne, recognizable with his characteristic crook and flail. Behind him is a goddess dressed in a long skirt; it could be Isis or Maat. At the table a lady, perhaps the deceased, stands with her arms raised in an adoration pose. In the lower image, the deceased is shown lying on a lion-bed. The embalming god Anubis is shown, assisted by the falcon-headed Horus. The four canopic jugs with the entrails of the deceased are under the bed, with lids likely designed as heads of four sons of Horus: Imset (human head), Hapi (baboon), Duamutef (jackal), Qebehsenuef (falcon). Nephthys kneels at the feet of the dead, and Isis is shown at the head.

Popular culture
The stele featured in three of the letters written by Vincent van Gogh in 1889 to his brother and sister.