DEAPS
Digital Editions of Aramaic and Phoenician Sources

Correction Request

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Tell Assara no. TY85.55

Inciced Jar Handle Label

Metadata

Genres
  • Vessel Label
  • Incised
  • Incised handle
  • Transjordan | Transjordan Region
Language
Aramaic
Script
Aramaic
Find Type
Excavation
Created by
James D. Moore
Material
clay | vessel (or pot fragment/sherd)
Updated by
James D. Moore, 2026-01-18
Date (Composition)
Gregorian -550 to -332 [Persian, 5th cent. BCE, 4th cent. BCE]
References
  • Kautonen, Saimi et al. 2024.
  • Lorenzon, Marta et al. 2023. pp. 22–23.

Kautonen, Saimi, Jonathan Valk, Joanna Töyräänvuori, Samuel Reinikainen, and Marta Lorenzon. “A New Inscribed Aramaic Potsherd from Tell Al-Assara, Jordan.” Levant 56, no. 2 (May 3, 2024): 229–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2024.2331386.
Lorenzon, Marta, Antti Lahelma, Maher Tarboush, Elisabeth Holmqvist, Dries Daems, Saimi Kautonen, Joanna Töyräänvuori, et al. “Tell It Like It Is: Discoveries from a New Survey of the Northern Jordanian Plateau.” Near Eastern Archaeology 86, no. 1 (March 2023): 16–27. https://doi.org/10.1086/723459.

Images

Textual Notes
The published edition has sorely misread the label. The 2024 update still misreads the label but makes better sense. Both attempts misunderstand the paleography of Achaemenid Imperial Aramaic as well as the function and diction of administrative language. Noteworthy, this label is incised and uses letter forms that are more frequently found in Achaemenid Anatolia than in the Levant or Transjordan. Compare Tell Nimrin, Tell Bleibel, Tell Mazar.

Text and Translation

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James Moore Last updated 06 August, 2025 by James D. Moore

side: cv line: 01

James Moore Last updated 06 August, 2025 by James D. Moore

Under the authority of Šezibˀel.
Moore, James D.. 'Tell Assara no. TY85.55.' DEAPS. 12 Dec, 2025. https://deaps.osu.edu/text_objects/15306. Accessed: 19 Jan, 2026.