The Arslan Tash amulets are talismans found at Arslan Tash, literally meaning "Stone Lion" (Turkish; Arslan - Lion, Taş - Stone) in northwest Syria, the site of ancient Hadatu. They are to be distinguished from larger finds such as the Arslan Tash reliefs.
Contents
In 1933 Count Robert du Mesnil du Buisson purchased from a peasant two inscribed limestone plaques "Arslan Tash 1" ("AT1") and the smaller "Arslan Tash 2" ("AT2") which are now in the Museum of Aleppo. His drawings and photographs of AT1 were published in 1939. Count du Mesnil du Buisson made gypsum casts of the tablets, though these are now lost. Since the small rectangular plaque had a hole in one end it was identified as an amulet. On the obverse is a winged lion with a human head (a talismanic figure) standing over a she-wolf with a scorpion's tail (a demonic figure) devouring a male or female figure. On the reverse is a marching god with late-Assyrian headgear carrying an axe instead of the expected lightning bolt.
Translations
Working from du Mesnil du Buisson's photographs, and in some cases casts, the text on the plaque "AT1" was translated by Dupont-Sommer (1939), Albright (1939), Gaster (1942) (1947) Torczyner (1947) Cross and Saley (1970) Texidor (1971) Caquot (1973), and Röllig (1974). Albright introduced some readings which have now been shown to be incorrect; modern scholarship now follows Caquot.
The text includes a broken word lly- which with the addition of -t could possibly be analogous to the Hebrew Lilith, or ll wyn "night and day".
Mesnil du Buisson and Caquot published AT2 in 1971. It shows a male demon, "m-z-h".
Authenticity
The authenticity of the amulets AT1 and AT2 has been questioned, particularly by J. Teixidor and P. Amiet (1983) who examined the originals in the National Museum of Aleppo. However Jacobus van Dijk (1992) defends the tablets as genuine. Dennis Pardee (1998) leaves the matter open to question.