INDEX

Acknowledgements 11

Introduction 13

Chapter I: The Stelae 15

I.1 Discovery of the Stelae 15

I.2 General Characteristics of the Stelae 17
I.2.a The Common Stelae (10th-6th c.) 18
I.2.b The Persian Period Stelae (6th-5th c. B.C.) 18
I.2.c The Punic Stelae (4th/ 3rd c. B.C.) 19

I.3 The Function of the Stelae 19
I.3.a Signalization of the Tomb 19
I.3.b Representation of the Dead 20
I.3.c Commemoration of the Dead 20
I.3.d Religious Function 20

I.4 Description and Dating of the Stelae 22
I.4.a Tell el-Burak 22
I.4.b Khalde 25
I.4.c Sidon 25
I.4.d Tyre 26
I.4.d1 Stelae in the DGA Collection in Beirut 26
I.4.d2 Stelae in the DGA Collection in the Beiteddin Museum 42
I.4.d3 Stelae in the Hecht Museum Collection 56
I.4.d4 Stelae from the 1997 Excavations 64
I.4.d5 Stelae from the 2002 Excavations 74
I.4.e The Persian Period Stelae 75
I.4.f The Punic Stelae 80
Table I. The Stelae 84


Chapter II: The Epigraphic Evidence 89

II.1 The Phoenician Script 89
II.1.a General Characteristics 89
II.1.b The Development of Individual Signs 90

II.2 The Onomastics 96
II.2.a General Characteristics of the Phoenician Personal Names 96
II.2.b The Theophorous Personal Names 97

II.3 The Punic Personal Names 100
Table II. The Phoenician Personal Names 110
Table III. The Punic Personal Names 113
Table IV. The Development of the Phoenician Signs 114

Chapter III: The Symbols and Their Interpretation 115

III.1 General Characteristics 115

III.2 The Symbols: Identification and Interpretation 116
III.2.a The disc, the winged disc, the disc flanked by uraei 116
III.2.b The crescent-disc 117
III.2.c Hemispherical, U-shaped, and pillar-shaped betyls 120
III.2.d Egyptian hieroglyphic signs: pseudo-ankh, ankh, and nfr symbols 123
III.2.e The isosceles triangle and the origin of the «Tanit sign» 128
III.2.f The cross symbol 131
III.2.g The anthropomorphic representations 134
III.2.h The shrine 136

Concluding Remarks 139

Addendum 141

Bibliography 143

List of Figures 157

Recensiones 161