Global InformationTamassos bilinguals information
| Tamassos bilinguals | |
|---|---|
 Tamassos bilingual 1 | |
| Material | Stone |
| Created | c. 363 BC |
| Discovered | 1885 Pera Orinis, Nicosia, Cyprus |
| Discovered by | Max Ohnefalsch-Richter |
| Present location | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Language | Phoenician |
The Tamassos bilinguals are a pair of bilingual Cypriot–Phoenician inscriptions on stone pedestals found in 1885 in Tamassos, Cyprus. It has been dated to 363 BC.
It was discovered by Max Ohnefalsch-Richter, in excavations funded by Charles Watkins, Cyprus Director of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, and in conjunction with Colonel Falkland Warren, Chief Secretary of Cyprus. A subsequent legal battle broke out between Watkins and Warren regarding ownership of the excavated antiquities.
It is currently in the British Museum, with identification numbers BM 125321 and BM 125322. The Phoenician inscriptions are known as RÉS 1212 (KAI 41) and RÉS 1213.[1][2]
They were displayed at the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition,[3] and were acquired by the British Museum from Warren via antiquities dealer Rollin & Feuardent in 1892.
- ^ BM 125321
- ^ BM 125322
- ^ Letter from Professor Wright, 15 December, 1886; in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology: "Among the objects from Cyprus exhibited during the past summer at the Colonial Exhibition were two bilingual inscriptions, Phoenician and Cypriote, the property of Colonel F. Warren, R.A., who discovered them during his excavations at Frangissa... The longer and better preserved of these has been translated and published by the well known archaeologist M. D. Pierides, though without the Phoenician text... The smaller of Colonel Warren's two bilinguals is not nearly so well preserved, especially as regards the upper or Phoenician portion. I have sent a squeeze of it to Professor Euting, who will no doubt succeed in deciphering it with Dr. Deecke's help."