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Panamuwa Inscription

This statue Bar-Rakib has set up for his father, Panamuwa, son of Barṣūr, king of Ya’di, in the year of his death. My father, Panamuwa— Because of the loyalty of his father, the gods of Ya’di delivered him from destruction which was in the house of his father. And the god Hadad stood with him.⁠ He set his throne. He destroyed the house of his father. He killed his father Barṣūr and seventy brothers of his father.⁠ But my father mounted a chariot and ruled. He pierced Panamuwa. He filled the prisons. He made ruined cities more numerous than inhabited ones. He gave rulership to Panamuwa, son of Qarli. “If you cause bloodshed in my house, and you also kill one of my sons, then I will make bloodshed in the land of Ya’di.” Panamuwa, son of Qarli, was destroyed in the land. There was ewe, cow, wheat, and barley. A part stood at a shekel; A measure of onions or wine at a shekel; Two-thirds of a mina of oil at a shekel. Then my father, Panamuwa, son of Barṣūr, brought a gift to the king of Assyria. He made him king over the house of his father. He removed the stone of destruction from the house of his father. He reclaimed the treasuries of the houses of Ya’di. He opened the prisons and released the captives of Ya’di. He arose and released the women. He restored the house of the women who had died. He buried them. He seized the palace of his father. He made it better than before. It abounded with wheat, barley, ewe, and cow. The land prospered. The price was cheap. In the days of my father Panamuwa, he appointed lords of villages and lords of chariots. He was esteemed among mighty kings from east to west. My father possessed silver and gold. Because of his wisdom and loyalty, he was seated with his lord, the mighty king of Assyria. He lived under the king of Assyria. Ya’di also lived. His lord, the king of Assyria, positioned him over powerful kings. He ran at the wheel of his lord, the king of Assyria, in campaigns from east to west and north to south over the four quarters of the earth. He relocated populations from east to west and west to east. My father prospered more than all other kings. His lord, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, added cities to his territory from the land of Gurgum. My father Panamuwa died while following his lord Tiglath-Pileser in the campaigns. Tiglath-Pileser wept for him. His kinsmen and all the army of the king of Assyria wept for him. The king of Assyria took his spirit to eat and drink. He set up a memorial for him. He brought my father from Damascus to Assyria. I am Bar-Rakib, son of Panamuwa. Because of the loyalty of my father and my own loyalty, my lord Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, has caused me to reign on the throne of my father, Panamuwa, son of Barṣūr. I have set up this statue to Panamuwa. I placed it before the tomb of my father. May Hadad, El, Rakib-El, lord of the house, Šamaš, and all the gods of Ya’di show favor to the son of Panamuwa. May Rakib-El show favor to me before gods and before men.

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Compare Numbers 11:16 and Panamuwa Inscription

Hebrew Bible · Ancient Near East, Northwest Semitic

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Summary

The Panamuwa Inscription and Numbers 11 use the number 70 in symbolic reference, following a common tradition used throughout the ancient Near East. This use of 70 often symbolizes completeness, prominence, or royal status.

Passages

Numbers 11:16

Hebrew Bible
15 But if you are going to deal with me like this, then kill me immediately. If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.” 16 The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you. 17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the Spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it all by yourself.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

Panamuwa Inscription

Ancient Near East, Northwest Semitic
My father, Panamuwa— Because of the loyalty of his father, the gods of Ya’di delivered him from destruction which was in the house of his father. And the god Hadad stood with him. He set his throne. He destroyed the house of his father. He killed his father Barṣūr and seventy brothers of his father. But my father mounted a chariot and ruled. He pierced Panamuwa. He filled the prisons. He made ruined cities more numerous than inhabited ones.
733 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Panamuwa Inscription

References

"... Moses will be able to choose seventy elders who will assist him. Yahweh will take of the spirit that is on Moses – that is undoubtedly the spirit of Yahweh – and put it on these elders so as to share in carrying the burden of the people. The number seventy is well attested in the ancient Near East and should in many cases be considered symbolic. It can be used of a family group, including the “seventy sons of Athirat” in the Ugaritic pantheon, seventy “brothers” of Barrakab king of Yaudi (located in northern Syria) in the eighth century BCE who were murdered, the seventy descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt (Genesis 46:7; Exodus 1:5), of Jerubbaal and his seventy sons (Judges 9:5), and on other occasions (Judges 1:7; 2 Kings 10:6). The leading members of Emar (late second millennium BCE) are referred to as “the seventy sons of Emar”. The number seventy, if not the institution of elders described here, also survived in the seventy-member Sanhedrin, which was the supreme political, religious and legal body at the time of Jesus ..."
Pekka Pitkänen, A Commentary on Numbers: Narrative, Ritual, and Colonialism, Routledge Studies in the Biblical World (Abingdon: Routledge, 2018), 109.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Numbers 11:16 and Panamuwa Inscription

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