This inscribed axehead was among the first inscribed objects discovered at Ras Shamra. The inscribed text has a few interesting features. The vertical incision at the beginning (left) may be the Personenkeil determinative that marks a personal name. Notice also how the engraver placed the final letter below the preceding letter. This and the other inscribed axeheads played a role in the decipherment of the alphabetic Ugaritic writing system.
Click through to the TEXT EDITION with bibliography. Notable bibliography items are the 1929 newspaper article featuring in situ photographs of the excavation and also the article by Peggy Day establishing the history of the decipherment of alphabetic Ugaritic.
(The photograph below was taken by Dennis Pardee, edited for contrast by Miller Prosser.)
