Page:The Inscription on the Stele of Méša commonly called the Moabite Stone.djvu/3

 PREFACE

text adopted in this edition is that of the late Dr. Driver's Hebrew transcription in the Appendix to the Introduction of his Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of Samuel, 2nd edition, 1913, by the kind permission of the Delegates of the Clarendon Press, Oxford.

The Moabite (Phœnician) re-transcription has been made from the above-mentioned text. This feature of the present edition—new in such works—may, it is hoped, be of use to persons beginning the study of Semitic palaeography. It should be noted that the type used represents a more or less standardized Phœnician script, and is not a facsimile of that of the Inscription, several letters of which (e.g. y, k, q, s, t) represent a more ancient fashion of writing.

I wish to acknowledge indebtedness to Dr. Driver's translation and commentary, Dr. W. H. Bennett's The Moabite Stone (1911), and the Tafel in Smend and Socin: Die Inschrift des Königs Méša von Moab (1886).

H. F. B. C.

Jan. 22, 1919.