Social:Cirta steles

A selection of the inscriptions in Mark Lidzbarski's Handbuch der Nordsemitischen Epigraphik: #3 = Costa 12 #4 = Not included (found in 1860) #5 = Costa 18 #6 = Costa 34 #7 = Costa 24 #8 = Costa 28 (KAI 102, RES 1544, KI 95) #9 = Costa 13 #10 = Costa 25 (KAI 103, RES 339, KI 96) #11 = Costa 3 #12 = Costa 4 #13 = Costa 21 #14 = Costa 32

The Cirta steles are almost 1,000 Punic funerary and votive steles found in Cirta (today Constantine, Algeria) in a cemetery located on a hill immediately south of the Salah Bey Viaduct.

The first group of steles were published by Auguste Celestin Judas in 1861. The Lazare Costa inscriptions were the second group of these inscriptions found; they were discovered between 1875 and 1880 by Lazare Costa, a Constantine-based Italian antiquarian. Most of the steles are now in the Louvre. These are known as KAI 102–105.

In 1950, hundreds of additional steles were excavated from the same location – then named El Hofra – by André Berthier, director of the Gustave-Mercier Museum (today the Musée national Cirta) and Father René Charlier, professor at the Constantine seminary. Many of these steles are now in the Musée national Cirta. Over a dozen of the most notable inscriptions were later published in Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften and are known as 106-116 (Punic) and 162-164 (Neo Punic).

Judas steles

Selection of inscribed steles published by Auguste Judas in 1861 (steles shown without inscriptions); example inscriptions shown separately

In 1861 Auguste Celestin Judas published a series of 19 inscribed steles in the Annuaire de la Société archéologique de la province de Constantine. Between 1857 and 61 more than 30 such steles had been collected by the Archaeological Society, of which a dozen in 1860 alone. Judas noted that the locations of the finds had been difficult to ascertain, his understanding was as follows:

Of the nineteen inscriptions of which I have spoken, two, nos. II and XVII, come from Coudiat-ati; sixteen from the location of the new Christian cemetery, to the west and 500 meters from Coudiat-ati, 725 meters from Constantine. For number I, no indication.

Costa steles

Overview

On the death of Lazare Costa, Antoine Héron de Villefosse and Dr Reboud negotiated the acquisition of all of Costa's steles for the Louvre. Although not all the steles made it to the Louvre, more were found.

A concordance of 135 of the steles was published by Jean-Baptiste Chabot in 1917.

Gallery

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  Lazare Costa's manuscript map showing the location of his discoveries

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  Inscriptions 1-3 (at the Louvre: AO 1026, AO 1020, AO 1018)

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  Inscriptions 4-6 (Costa 6 is RES 331)

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  Inscriptions 7-9 (Costa 8 is KAI 105 / RES 334 / KI 98 / NSI 51)

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  Inscriptions 10-12

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  Inscriptions 13-15

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  Inscriptions 16-18 (Costa 16 is RES 328, Costa 17 is RES 333)

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  Inscriptions 19-21

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  Inscriptions 22-24 (Costa 22 is RES 330, and Costa 24 is RES 326)

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  Inscriptions 25-31 (Costa 31 is KAI 104 / RES 327 / KI 97)

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  Inscriptions 32-35 (Costa 33 is RES 329)

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  AO 5226 on display at the Louvre

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  AO 5187 on display at the Louvre

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  AO 5191 on display at the Louvre

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  "Costa 15" in the Louvre-Lens

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  Costa 16 on display at the Musée d'archéologie méditerranéenne, Marseille

Berthier steles

One of the Berthier steles at the Musée national Cirta

Overview

At the southern exit of the city, on the El Hofra hill, about 150 m southeast of what was then the "Transatlantic Hotel" (today a branch of the Crédit populaire d'Algérie), the construction of a large Renault garage (today Garage Sonacome) was begun in spring 1950. The hill is at the confluence of the Rhumel River and its tributary Oued Bou Merzoug, just south of the Salah Bey Viaduct. On May 6, 1950, the excavator struck a mass of stelae grouped over a length of about 75 m, laid flat and forming a kind of wall whose height did not exceed the thickness of four stelae while the width varied from 0.5-1.0m.

The stelae were not found in situ: all appear to have been broken with intention (all were broken and many of the inscriptions were mutilated), and then transported to a sort of dumping ground.

By September 1950, about 500 fragments had been found, more than half of which bearing inscriptions; in total 700 stelae and fragments were found, of which 281 were Punic and neo-Punic stelae, totally or partially legible, 17 were Greek inscriptions and 7 were Latin inscriptions. Almost all the steles were published by Berthier and Charlier, except for three – one long Punic inscription which was too faint, and two Neo Punic inscriptions which were later published by James Germain Février (KAI 162–163).

Some are dated to the reign of Massinissa or the reign of her sons; they range from 163-2 BCE until 148-7 (the year of Massinissa's death) and perhaps until 122-1 (under Micipsa). Number 63 (KAI 112) mentions the simultaneous reign of the three sons of Massinissa – Micipsa, Gulussa and Mastanabai, and one of the stelae contains a complete transliteration of a Punic text in Greek characters (page 167).

Bibliography

• BERTHIER André – CHARLIER René, 1952–55, Le sanctuaire punique d'El-Hofra à Constantine. 2 volumes
  • Février, James Germain (1955). "Review: Le sanctuaire punique d'El Hofra à Constantine, par André Berthier et René Charlier. Préface d'Albert Grenier, membre de l'Institut, 1955". Revue des Études Anciennes 57 (3–4): 410–412. https://www.persee.fr/doc/rea_0035-2004_1955_num_57_3_3534_t1_0410_0000_1. 
• Bertrandy François, Sznycer Maurice, Les Stèles puniques de Constantine, musée du Louvre, département des Antiquités orientales, Paris, Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1987.
• MacKendrick, P.L. (2000). The North African Stones Speak. University of North Carolina Press. p. 194. ISBN 978-0-8078-4942-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=rH26vL2CWbkC&pg=PA194. 

External sources

• The Lazare Costa steles at the Louvre
• Photos of the Berthier steles