The Çineköy inscription is an ancient
bilingual inscription, written in
Hieroglyphic Luwian and
Phoenician languages. The inscription is dated to the second half of the 8th century BC. It was uncovered in 1997 near the village of
Çine, that is located some 30 km south of
Adana, capital city of the
Adana Province (ancient
Cilicia) in southern
Turkey.
The find was first reported and described in 1999,[1] and the first edition of the inscription was published in 2000.[2] Important additions to interpretation of the inscription were made in 2007,[3] 2012,[4] 2015,[5] and 2017.[6]
Another important inscription of the same type is known as the
Karatepe inscription, which was known earlier. Both of these inscriptions trace the kings of ancient
Adana from the "house of
Mopsos" (given in Hieroglyphic Luwian as Muksa and in Phoenician as Mopsos in the form mps). He was a legendary king of antiquity.
Background
The object on which the inscription is found is a monument to the Storm God
Tarhunza. The inscription was authored by the ruler known as Urikki in Assyrian texts, which is equivalent to War(a)ika in Luwian. The question whether it is the same person as Awar(i)ku of the
Karatepe inscription or a different one remains debatable.[7][8] He was the
vassal king of
Quwê (Assyrian name), the modern
Cilicia. In Luwian this region was known as 'Hiyawa'.[9]
In this monumental inscription, Urikki made reference to the relationship between his kingdom and his
Assyrian overlords. Also, in the Phoenician version of the inscription, Awariku claims to have built 15 fortresses in his kingdom.[9] In the Luwian version of the same inscription, the same sentence is misinterpreted as a reference to destroying fortresses.[10]
The Çineköy inscription has a special significance for determining the origin (
etymology) of the term Syria, a question that was debated among scholars since 1871, when
Theodor Nöldeke proposed a linguistic explanation based on derivation of Syria from Assyria.[11] That explanation received majority support among scholars. Discovery of the Çineköy inscription provided additional evidence for direct connection between terms Syria and Assyria. Phoenician section of the inscription mentions ʾŠR (Ashur), and also ʾŠRYM (Assyrians), while Luwian section narrates the same content by using SU-RA/i (Syria). Analyzing the inscription, historian
Robert Rollinger pointed out in 2006 that Luwian section provides conclusive evidence for the original use of the term Syria as synonym for Assyria, thus settling the question.[12][13]
The examined section of the Phoenician inscription reads:
And the king [of Aššur and (?)]
the whole “House” of Aššur (’ŠR) were for me a father [and a]
mother, and the DNNYM and the Assyrians (’ŠRYM)
were a single “House.”
The corresponding section of the Luwian inscription reads:
§VIAnd then, the/an Assyrian king (su+ra/i-wa/i-ni-sa(URBS)) and the whole Assyrian "House" (su+ra/i-wa/i-za-ha(URBS)) were made a fa[ther and a mo]ther for me, §VIIand Hiyawa and Assyria (su+ra/i-wa/i-ia-sa-ha(URBS)) were made a single “House.”
Noting the
scholarly consensus on the interpretation of terms Syria/Assyria in the Çineköy inscription, some researchers have also analyzed similar terms, that appear in other contemporary inscriptions, suggesting some additional interpretations.[14][15][16][17][18]
Dinçol, Ali; Dinçol, Belkis; Hawkins, John David; Marchetti, Nicolò; Peker, Hasan (2014).
"A Stele by Suhi I from Karkemish". Orientalia. 83 (2): 143–153.
Hawkins, John David (2017).
"The Ending of the Çineköy Inscription". At the Dawn of History: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honour of J. N. Postgate. Eisenbrauns: Penn State University Press. pp. 211–216.
ISBN9781575064710.