Kition Tariffs

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The long inscription (showing both sides) in the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum (CIS I 86)
The shorter of the two Kition Tariffs, in the British Museum, CIS I 87

The Kition Tariffs are two important Phoenician inscriptions found near Larnaka, Cyprus in 1879.[1][2] The longer of the two has been described as "Among the longest and most important Phoenician inscriptions from Cyprus".[3]

They were excavated in 1879 from a mound known as the Bamboula, by a team led by Lieutenant Hugh Montgomery Sinclair (1855 – 1927) of the Royal Engineers. They were presented to the British Museum in 1880, where they remain on display.[4]

Sinclair was assisted in his works by Demetrios Pieridis; Sinclair's 5 July 1879 report described: "2 Phoenician inscriptions have been found written in some sort of paint on stone & being (according to Mr. Pierides) accounts of wages."[4] The finds were brought to the attention of the British Museum in 1880 in a report from Charles Thomas Newton, forwarding a letter from Charles Abbott, 3rd Baron Tenterden on behalf of Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville. Newton's report stated:[5]

Near Larnaka is a mound of rubbish close to a stagnant pool of salt water which is believed to be the site of the ancient harbour of Kition. This stagnant pool, which contributed to the unhealthiness of Larnaka during the summer months, has been filled up by levelling the mound of rubbish under the direction of Lieut. Sinclair R.E. whose report of these operations is enclosed herewith. Irregular foundation walls of various epochs were discovered in the mound which are shown in the tracing annexed to Lieut. Sinclair's Report... Among the antiquities found here the most interesting are two pieces of calcareous stone on one of which are 17 lines of Phoenician inscription on one side and 12 lines in the same character written in black.

References[]

  1. ^ Watson, W. (1997). Comments on the Phoenician Tariff Inscriptions from Kition. Die Welt Des Orients, 28, 89-95. Retrieved October 31, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25683641
  2. ^ Healey, Joseph P. “The Kition Tariffs and the Phoenician Cursive Series.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 216, 1974, pp. 53–60. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1356334. Accessed 31 Oct. 2020.
  3. ^ Peckham, B. (1968). Notes on a Fifth-Century Phoenician Inscription from Kition, Cyprus (CIS 86). Orientalia,37(3), nova series, 304-324. Retrieved October 31, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43074237
  4. ^ a b Fourrier Sabine, Kiely Thomas. Excavations at Kition-Bamboula 1879. Finds in the British Museum. In: Cahiers du Centre d'Etudes Chypriotes. Volume 42, 2012. pp. 273-304. DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/cchyp.2012.1027
  5. ^ Bailey, D. M. “The Village Priest's Tomb at Aradippou in Cyprus.” The British Museum Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 1/2, 1969, pp. 36–58. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4423043. Accessed 31 Oct. 2020.
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