science

Kerak Inscription

Kerak Inscription is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kerak Inscription rather than just read about it. In short: The Kerak Inscription, also known as the Kemoshyat inscription, was discovered in 1958 in Jordan, near Wadi el-Kerak. It is a basalt inscription fragment measuring 12.5 centimeters (4.9 in) high by 14 centimeters (5.5 in) wide.

Key takeaways

Kerak Inscription belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kerak Inscription to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kerak Inscription from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Kerak Inscription, also known as the Kemoshyat inscription, was discovered in 1958 in Jordan, near Wadi el-Kerak. It is a basalt inscription fragment measuring 12.5 centimeters (4.9 in) high by 14 centimeters (5.5 in) wide. The inscription has been dated to the late ninth century BC. The inscription is known as KAI 306. The fragment shows a belt, a pleated skirt, and a navel; along the mid-line of the fragment are three lines of Canaanite inscription. The artifact is also known as the El-Kerak / Al-Karak / Karak Inscription.

Discovery The stone was acquired by the Jordan Archaeological Museum in 1958. It was reportedly found by Falah Qaddur (or Fallah el-Baddour), a bedouin from the Tafilah Governorate. According to Reed and Winnett, Qaddur stated that he had found the stone "in a foundation trench that had been cut for the construction of a new building in Al Karak." A letter from Awni Dajani, then the head of antiquities at the Jordan Archaeological Museum, stated that the stone was found by Odeh Subh el-Khwalideh (a relative of Qaddur) in the house of Suleiman el-Mubayyedin, near the Roman Pool east of Kerak.

Inscription The inscription contains 3 incomplete lines, comprising 8 complete words and fragments of 5 more, all written in the Moabite language known primarily from another artifact - the Mesha Stele. The text of the inscription looks like that of the Mesha Stele, but there is one special feature: the letter He has four horizontal strokes going to the left from the vertical stroke, while a typical He in tenth to fifth century BC northwest Semitic inscriptions contains only three strokes to the left. This letter is present in the inscription at least 3 times, and each time it appears with 4 horizontal strokes. Another difference between the Mesha Stele and the Kerak inscription is the separation between the words. In the Mesha Stele there are dots, and in the Kerak inscription there are small lines.

Transliteration and translation Provided below is a transcription of the inscription, its transliteration in Hebrew letters, as well as an English translation. Words in brackets are not preserved in the inscription, but reconstructed, partly by comparison with the Mesha Stele.

Further reading A Fragment of an Early Moabite Inscription from Kerak, William L. Reed and Fred V. Winnett, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 172 (Dec., 1963), pp. 1–9 A Moabite-Inscribed Statue Fragment from Kerak: Egyptian Parallels Author(s): Heather Dana Davis Parker and Ashley Fiutko Arico; Source: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 373 (May 2015), pp. 105–120; Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kerak Inscription

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kerak Inscription claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kerak Inscription before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kerak Inscription ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kerak Inscription

In research: Kerak Inscription appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kerak Inscription in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kerak Inscription is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1958 archaeological discoveries, 9th-century BC inscriptions, Ancient Israel and Judah, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kerak Inscription outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kerak Inscription in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kerak Inscription means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kerak Inscription out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kerak Inscription in simple terms?

Why does Kerak Inscription matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kerak Inscription?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kerak Inscription.