Karatepe Bilingual Inscription (Azatiwada Inscription)
Azatiwada, a Luwian-speaking vassal ruler in Cilicia, proclaims in parallel Phoenician and Hieroglyphic Luwian texts that he founded the fortress of Azatiwataya and secured peace and abundance for his kingdom, cursing any successor who erases his name.
- royal foundation inscription in the res gestae mold
- prestige use of Phoenician by a Luwian-speaking dynasty
- key bilingual evidence for deciphering Hieroglyphic Luwian
- curse formula against erasure of the king's name
Carved on the gate orthostats of a Cilician fortress discovered in 1946, this is the longest Phoenician inscription found in Anatolia, set beside a Hieroglyphic Luwian version telling essentially the same story. Azatiwada, a subordinate ruler installed by Awariku, king of the Neo-Hittite state of Que at Adana, recounts founding the stronghold of Azatiwataya, defeating enemies, and filling storehouses so completely that there was food in abundance in his days, crediting the storm god and Baal for his success. The text closes with curses against any future ruler who defaces the monument. Because the Luwian text could be checked word for word against the already legible Phoenician, this bilingual was decisive evidence in the 20th-century decipherment of Hieroglyphic Luwian.
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