Nea Paphos Token Text Cyprus 300 BCE

This token is made of siltstone, 39.41 x 41.32 x 4.81mm.

Translation

(February 19, 2025) This token was discovered in the summer of 2011 (3rd July – 6th August 2011) by archaeologists at the Paphos Agora Project during the first excavation campaign (Śliwa, J. 2013). It was discovered in trench II, area 2 (room 5), in the center of the Agora. Its find layer was identified as late Roman dated to the 500's CE partially due to the presence of ceramic objects of the Cypriot Red Slip Ware type. Yet the letter style of this token indicates it was written much earlier around 300 BCE during the early Hellenistic era. Its theme is also Druid Pagan indicating it could not have been written during the Christian era.

The text is about the conflict between the powers of fate versus the correcting emotion magic of the priests. The priests do not always win. It reads:


  1. Is not this being shed?
  2. Nourishments are the result of impressions (conscious thoughts of emotion magic) making-ineffective the fate-revelations of the Supervisor (Alu)
  3. Emotion-powers (Awen) can emotionally-affect the threading of all-high-powers.  Control the energies.
  4. Involving fate-revelations does not make-sticky those-powers. Shifting attention is ineffective.
  5. That stickiness of the Moon-eye (Su) can involve the astrological-fate-powers of Alu.
  6. Envy can reveal the fate-curse on the ineffective fertility-fluids.
  7. Fate-revelations are making ineffective the spirit-channeling of the priest-parent's activities. (they integrate life and motion powers).

Previously Attempted Translation by Silwa

The letter assignments are shown below. These were forced to fit a palindrome letter pattern which anyone can see just by looking at the token does not exist.


  1. IAEW
  2. ΒΑΦΡΕΝΕΜ 
  3. ΟΥΝΟΘΙΛΑΡΙ 
  4. ΚΝΙΦΙΑΕΥΕ 
  5. ΑΙΦΙΝΚΙΡΑΛ 
  6. ΙΘΟΝΥΟΜΕ 
  7. ΝΕΡΦΑΒW 
  8. ΕΑΙ

Which is claimed to read:

“Yahweh is the bearer of the secret name, the lion of Re secure in his shrine”

Comment: First the letter assignments are way wrong as one can see from the translation justification below. Second, the translation is Greek is just ludicrous.

References

Paphos Agora Project. https://paphos-agora.archeo.uj.edu.pl/en_GB

Śliwa, J. (2013) Magical amulet from Paphos with the iaew - palindrome, Studies in Ancient Art and Civilization 17, 293-301. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/14185465/Magical_Amulet_from_Paphos_with_the_%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%B5%CF%89_palindrome_2013_

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paphos_Archaeological_Park

Paphos Map

Scan by Vitaliia Pavlyshyn via Wikimedia Commons at: 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antiquity_mapa2.jpg

Backside of Paphos Token

This image is a mix of Egyptian and Greek themes. It shows Herakles with his club among the heavens (star and crescent moon) being attacked by a snake associated with the boat of death ferrying a body across the sky-shell. The bird behind the boat is likely an eagle-vulture. At the very bottom is the Egyptian crocodile protective god Sobek. The crocodile and mummified body are Egyptian themes while Herakles is Greek.

Translation of Lines 1 and 2 in Akkadian (Med Text 74)

(read right to left. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verbs are italic bold. Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration.
Runic Letter Style is Mostly Aegean with some later Hellenistic. Letter Chart Used: Levant Lineage
  1. Ya  A  EṢu  
  2. Bu  A  ṬaRu  E  Nu  EMu

In English

  1. Is not this being shed?
  2. Nourishments are the result of impressions making-ineffective the fate-revelations of the Supervisor

Translation of Lines 3 and 4 in Akkadian (Med Text 74)

(read right to left. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verbs are italic bold. Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration.
Runic Letter Style is Mostly Aegean with some later Hellenistic. Letter Chart Used: Levant Lineage
  1. AWu  Ne'u  Qu  ILu.  ARu  Gi
  2. Ku  Nu  IṬu  Ya  A.  EWu  E

In English

  1. Emotion-powers (Awen) can emotionally-affect the threading of all-high-powers.  Control the energies.
  2. Involving revelations (of fate) does not make-sticky those-powers. Shifting attention is ineffective.

Translation of Lines 5 and 6 in Akkadian (Med Text 74)

(read right to left. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verbs are italic bold. Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration.
Runic Letter Style is Mostly Aegean with some later Hellenistic. Letter Chart Used: Levant Lineage
  1. A  IṬu  INu  Ku  IRu  ALu
  2. Qi'u  Nu  U'a  M  E 

In English

  1. That stickiness of the Moon-eye (Su) can involve the astrological-fate-powers of Alu.
  2. Envy can reveal the fate-curse on the ineffective fertility-fluids.

Translation of Line 7 in Akkadian (Med Text 74)

(read right to left. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verbs are italic bold. Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration.
Runic Letter Style is Mostly Aegean with some later Hellenistic. Letter Chart Used: Levant Lineage
  1. Nu  E  ReṬu  ABu  Ṣu

In English

  1. Fate-revelations are making ineffective the spirit-channeling of the priest-parent's activities. (they integrate life and motion powers)