Kfar Veradim Ritual Bowl In Israel (650 BCE)

For translation methodology see: How to Translate Alphabetic Akkadian Texts

Original picture from Sass (2005). Letter assignments by Olmsted

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Original picture from Sass (2005). Letter assignments by Olmsted

The Kfar Varadim Bronze Ritual Bowl.  Iron Age II, 9th century BCE, H: 3; Diam: 14 cm, Israel Antiquities Authority Accession number: IAA 1999-842. (from  http://museum.imj.org.il/imagine/galleries/viewItemE.asp?case=14&itemNum=375137)

Above map copied from Nijboar (2008) 

Mauzizao Sannibale says this about this rare silver fluted bowl in his review of the artistic similarities between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean:
"The fluted bowl is another example of a ceremonial vase of eastern origin, adopted and reproduced in Etruria. Used only by the king and his officials in the Assyrian court, it became a symbol of rank in aristocratic Etruscan banquets and was employed symbolically in banquets of the dead and of the ancestors. The few imported examples can be identified by the dense fluting that became less pronounce and more widely spaced in the locally produced versions. In the Regoline-Galassi tomb, apart from an (this) example in silver there were also eleven bronze fluted bowls attached with nails to the walls of the main burial chamber and  possibly the antechamber. " (photo and quote from Sannibale 2016) 

Translation

(Feb 12, 2023) This bowl was found in 1995 within an early Iron Age II archaeological layer in a burial cave. This cave was located in northern Galilee 10 miles (17 km) northeast of Acre and a few miles north of the Jezreel valley (Alexandre 2002a). In 1997 this bowl was cleaned and it was found to contain an inscription (Alexandre 2002b).  The bowl’s deposit layer of Iron Age II dates it to between 1000 and 600 BCE.  The Etruscans exported these sorts of ritual bowls between 750 and 600 BCE.

The letters on this bronze fluted serving bowl are a mix of Philistine and Israelite meaning it was written locally on a ritual bowl imported from Eturia. The language of the text is Akkadian. It reads: 

Translation in Akkadian

(Read right to left. Capital letters on bowl. Small letters are inferred inner vowels. Verbs in bold italic)
  1. U  SeLu  E  ḪaBu  Nu,  Ṣu  Mu  Le'u (Levant Text 3)

In English. 

  1. When Selu (Selene) is not bringing passions for revelations, activate the fertility-fluids with astrological-powers

Selu  is the Motion source goddess who represents the spark of animation (soul) as the source of emotions/motions and the glow of the heavenly bodies. Her masculine complement is the full moon god Su. Her better known name is "Selene" which with the /n/ suffix means "powers of Selu" in Akkadian.

The "revelations" mentioned in the text are the manifestations of invisible life forms provided by the life powers. For a form to be manifested it must be triggered by fertility fluids which in turn must be pushed though the channels of the life network either by emotion magic or astrological powers.

References

Sass, B. (2005) The Alphabet at the Turn of the Millennium. Tel Aviv. Emery and Claire Yass Publications in Archeology

Alexandre Y. (2002a) The Iron Age Assemblage from Cave 3 at Kefar Veradim. In Gall 2002:53-63

Alexandre Y. (2002b) A Fluted Bronze Bowl with a Canannite – Early Phoenician Inscription from Kefar Veradim. in Gal 2002:65-74

Israel Museum - Online at http://museum.imj.org.il/imagine/galleries/viewItemE.asp?case=14&itemNum=375137

 Nijboar, A.J. (2008) Italy and the Levant during the late Bronze and Iron Ages (1200-750/700 BCE) Online at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288952305_Italy_and_the_levant_during_the_late_bronze_and_iron_age_1200-750700_B_C

Sannibale, Mauzizao (2016) The Etruscan Orientalizing: The View from the Regolini-Galassi Tomb, In Assyrian to Iberia – Art and Culture in the Iron Age. Joan Aruz and Michael Seymour editors. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/36162300/The_Etruscan_Orientalizing_The_View_from_the_Regolini_Galassi_Tomb_in_Assyria_to_Iberia_Art_and_Culture_in_the_Iron_Age_edited_by_Joan_Aruz_and_Michael_Seymour_The_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art_Symposia_New_York_The_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art_2016_pp_296_315?email_work_card=title

(Obsolete) Olmsted, D. (Dec 3, 2020) Late Philistine/Phoenician Kfar Veradim Ritual Bowl Text Mentions How Astrological Fate is Overcoming Emotion Magic (730 BCE). Online at: https://www.academia.edu/44626186/Late_Philistine_Phoenician_Kfar_Veradim_Ritual_Bowl_Text_Mentions_How_Astrological_Fate_is_Overcoming_Emotion_Magic_730_BCE