122 paolo merlo
nurses anoint their breasts and nurse a young boy, and may he not have
his fill.. .”).45
the tell fekheriye inscription also includes some futility curses that
make clear the literary theme of eating without being filled: “should one
hundred cows suckle a lamb, but it may not be satisfied; should one
hundred women suckle a child, but it may not be satisfied.. .” (Kai 309:
20–21).
another example of this literary form comes from the fragments of the
ca.-700-B.c. Bukan stele found in iran. the extant lines contain only the
curses uttered against those who would take away the stele: “Whoever
will remove this stele... may seven cows nurse one calf, but may it not
be sated; may seven women bake in one oven, but may they not fill it.. .”
(Kai 320: 5–8).
5.5 Prophetic Storiesthe 8th-century-B.c. Balaʿam plaster inscription (Kai 312)46 from tell
Deir ʿalla—a settlement on the eastern side of the Jordan valley near the
river Zerqa—seems to be a copy of a true literary text. unfortunately, the
inscription is very damaged and it is not possible to read much of it. More-
over, scholars disagree about the sequence of the many fragments of the
inscription. although it is not possible to grasp accurately the whole con-
tent of this inscription, the heading is very elucidatory: “Script of [Balaʿam,
son of Be]or, seer of gods.” the inscription relates how Balaʿam is visited
by the gods during a night vision. the gods tell Balaʿam that they gathered
and decided to order a goddess (probably the sun goddess) to cover the
heavens with darkness and give up light from the earth as punishment.
the next morning Balaʿam arises weeping, and tells the divine message to
his countrymen. One could suppose that in the last part of the inscription,
whose translation remains mostly obscure, Balaʿam would save his land
from that calamity.
the literary character of the tell Deir ʿalla inscriptions is underscored
by the existence of a similar literary tradition in the biblical book of Num-
bers (Num 22–24).47 the biblical Balaʿam and the homonymous figure
from tell Deir ʿalla share many literary outlines: both come from aram
(Num 22: 7), both obtain a night vision from the god (Num 22: 8, 9, 20),
45 cf. hillers 1964.
46 cf. hoftijzer – van der Kooij 1976 and iid. 1991.
47 cf. Levine 2000: 137–275.