An undeciphered alphabetic stele found in Ördek-Burnu, 20 km south of Sam'al (8 miles south of Zinjirli) in what is now northern Syria, dates to the 9th century BCE. The language of the inscription is difficult to interpret. It contains Semitic words but is not grammatically Semitic, and may be a mixture of Luwian and a Semitic language. It is kept in Istanbul. Bibliography Mark Lidzbarski: VI. Die Stele von Ördek-burnu. Ephemeris für Semitische Epigraphik III. Giessen 1915, pp. 192–206, pls. 13–15. André Lemaire and Benjamin Sass: The Mortuary Stele with Sam’alian Inscription from Ördekburnu near Zincirli, in: BASOR 369, 2013, pp. 57–136. References 9th-century BC steles Archaeological sites in Southeastern Anatolia Ancient Near East steles Luwian language Aramaic inscriptions Unclassified languages of Asia