So Called Kilamuwa Inscription Blames Astrological Powers for 850 BCE Elijah Drought 

Kilamuwa Online Sources

(December 12, 2023) 

Online at: https://recherche.smb.museum/detail/1744119/stele-des-f%C3%BCrsten-kilamuwa?language=de&limit=15&sort=relevance&controls=none&conditions=AND%2Btitles%2B%22Stele+des+F%C3%BCrsten+Kilamuwa%22&collectionKey=VAM*&objIdx=0

Interactive photo at museum sited which was used to aid in letter identification: https://recherche.smb.museum/detail/1744119/stele-des-f%C3%BCrsten-kilamuwa?language=de&limit=15&sort=relevance&controls=none&conditions=AND%2Btitles%2B%22Stele+des+F%C3%BCrsten+Kilamuwa%22&collectionKey=VAM*&objIdx=0

Online at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pergamonmuseum_-_Vorderasiatisches_Museum_046.JPG

(December 9, 2023)   The Assyrian's (c. 700 BC) called this site Sam'al which probably derives from the Akkadian word meaning "Where dehydration is Lacking." from  Ṣamā’u.Lu (SM'.L) based on this city's location in the Syrian valley. The Syrian valley east of the Nur Mountains is unique in that it does not have a central navigable river. It is fertile land crisscrossed by small streams which eventually empty into the Orontes river to the south in Lebanon. That these texts speak of draught shows the severity of the 850 BCE Elijah drought.

The Ceyhan river's economic region is split by the Amanu's Mountians which today are called the Nur Mountains. One of the two main passes through the mountains is located just west of Zincirli (Ancient Sam'al). The other if further south across from the coastal city of Iskenderunand is called the Belen Pass.

The site of Sam'al was occupied in the Early Bronze Age III/IV (c. 2700–2100 BC), and Middle Bronze Age II (c. 2000-1550 BC) when it was sacked, probably by Hittite king Hattusili I. 

The site covers an area of about 40 hectares. It was visited by archaeologist Osman Hamdi Bey in 1882. In 1883 three German travelers collected and took photographs there. It was excavated in 1888, 1890, 1891, 1894 and 1902 during expeditions led by Felix von Luschan and Robert Koldewey. Each of the expeditions was supported by the German Orient Committee, except for the fourth (1894), which was financed with monies from the Rudolf-Virchow-Stiftung and private donors. 

They found a walled heavily fortified teardrop-shaped citadel accessed by the outer citadel gate, which was surrounded by the as yet unexcavated town and a further enormous 2.5 kilometer long double fortification wall with three gates (most notably the southern city gate) and 100 bastions. Finds from the excavations are held in the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin and the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. The Louvre holds a carved orthostat and two sphinx protomes and some minor sculptures are held at museums in Adana and Gaziantep. During the 1902 excavation at Zincirli Höyük the Kilamuwa Stela (Zincirli 65) was found.

In August 2006, the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago together with the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies of the University of Tübingen began a new long-term excavation project at the site of Zincirli under the directorship of David Schloen and Virginia Herrmann. Eleven seasons of excavation were conducted ending in 2017. Finds included the Kuttamuwa stele found in 2008.

The German excavations on the citadel recovered large numbers of relief-carved orthostats, along with inscriptions in Aramaic, Phoenician, and Akkadian. These are on exhibit in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin, and Istanbul. Also found was the notable Victory stele of Neo-Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon celebrating his victory over Egyptian pharaoh Taharqa in 671 BC.

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam%CA%BEal

Droughts According to Drought Chart

1. 1180-1140 BCE - Great Drought
2. 980 BCE
3. 845-840 BCE - Elijah Drought
4. 732 BCE - led to Assyrian invasion  
5. 605 BCE - led to Babylonian invasion 

Diagnostic Letter Shapes For Dating

1. 605 BCE - "A" has square peak. "L" has hooked appendage.
2. 732 BCE - "A" has pointed peak.  "L" has flat appendage.

References

The first Bible based fake history translation was done in 1911 and it has not changed much since then. The following fake translation is from 1982:

"I am Kilamuwa, the son of King Chaya.

King Gabar reigned over Ya'diya but achieved nothing.

Then came Bamah, and he achieved nothing. Then there was my father Chaya, but he accomplished nothing. Then there was my brother

Sha'il, but he also accomplished nothing. But I Kilamuwa, the son of TML,[13] what I accomplished

not (even) their predecessors accomplished. My father’s house was in the midst of powerful kings,

and each put forth his hand to eat it; but I was in the hand(s) of the kings like a fire that consumes

the beard or like a fire that consumes the hand. The king of the Danunians overpowered me, but I

hired against him the king of Assyria. He gave me a maid for the price of a sheep, and a man for the price of a garment.

I, Kilamuwa, the son of Chaya, sat upon my father’s throne. In face of the former

kings the MSHKBM used to whimper like dogs. But I – to some I was a father, and to some I was a mother, and to some I was a brother. Him who had never seen the face of a sheep I made owner of a flock; him who had never seen the face of an ox, I made owner of a herd, and owner of silver and owner of gold; and him who had never seen linen from his youth, in my days they covered

with byssus. I grasped the MSHKBM by the hand, and they behaved (towards me) like an orphan towards (his) mother. Now, if any of my sons.who shall sit in my place does harm to this inscription, may the MSHKBM not honour the B’RRM, not the B’RRM" honour the MSHKBM! And if anyone smashes this inscription, may Baal-Tzemed who belongs to Gabar smash his head, and may Baal-Hammon who belongs to BMH and Rakkabel, lord of the dynasty, smash his head!

Reference

John C. L. Gibson (1982) in Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions. Vol. III. Phoenician Inscriptions, Including Inscriptions in the Mixed Dialect of Arslan Tash.  pp. xx, 187, 8 pl. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1982.