The Son of Safatba'al inscription is a Phoenician inscription (KAI 9) dated to c. 500-475 BCE.
It was published in Maurice Dunand's Fouilles de Byblos (volume I, 1926–1932, numbers 1143, plate XXXIII). [1]
It is currently at the National Museum of Beirut.
Three parts of the inscription are extant. The largest, fragment A (six lines), reads: [2] [3]
P‘LT
LY
HMŠKB
ZN
[...
I made for myself this resting-place (tomb) [...
...]BYTK
BL
T[QM
LŠT]
’RN
‘LT
’RN
...] your tomb (?). You shall not per[sist in placing] coffin upon coffin.
‘L
KN
P‘L[T
LY
HMŠKB
ZN
...
For this reason have I mad[e for myself this resting-place ...
...
WP‘L
’NK
’RN
ZN
L]Y
BMŠKB
ZN
’Š
’NK
ŠKB
BN
... and I made this coffin for mys]elf in this resting-place that I (am) lying in.
WBMQM
[ZN
...
And in [this] place [...
...]LY
’N[K
..]TY
BRBM
WYTN
’NK
’[...
...] for myself I [...] among the generals. And I gave [...
...
’L
TPT]Ḥ
‘[LT
HMŠKB]
ZN
LRGZ
‘ṢMY
’[M...
... you shall not ope]n this [resting-place] to disturb my bones. [...
...(?)ŠM]Š
‘L[M...
... Ete]rnal Se[mes (Sun-goddess) (?) ...
Two smaller fragments, B and C, have been joined together and are now known as fragment B. It reads:
...]H[...
...
...
’L
TP‘L
LK
MŠK]B
’ṢL
HMŠK[B
ZN
...
... You shall not make for yourself a resting-pla]ce (tomb) adjacent to [this] resting-pla[ce! ...
...]QR
HMŠKB
’Š
TP[TḤ...
...]QR(?) the resting-place that you op[en ...
...
’L
YŠT
’Y]T
’RNW
‘LT
’RN
’N[K...
... Let him not place] his coffin upon a coffin. I[...
...
B‘LŠM]M
WB‘L
’DR
WB‘LT
WKL
’[LN
GBL
...
... Baalsame]m and Baal ’Iddīr [5] and Baalat and all the god[s of Byblos ...
...]B‘LT
WKL
[’L
...
...] Baalat and all the [gods ...
Byblos, also known as Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl, is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The area is believed to have been first settled between 8800 and 7000 BC and continuously inhabited since 5000 BC. During its history, Byblos was part of numerous cultures including Egyptian, Phoenician, Assyrian, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Genoese, Mamluk and Ottoman. Urbanisation is thought to have begun during the third millennium BC and it developed into a city making it one of the oldest cities in the world. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Baalat Gebal, also known as Bēltu ša Gubla and Baaltis, was the tutelary goddess of the city of Byblos. While in the past it was often assumed her name is only an epithet, presently researchers assume that it is a proper name, meant to highlight her close connection to the corresponding city. She was identified with Hathor and later possibly with Isis by ancient Egyptians, and with Aphrodite by ancient Greeks. Philo of Byblos instead refers to her as "Dione", though the reasons behind this choice remain unknown. She was the main goddess in the local pantheon of Byblos, and a temple dedicated to her, which remained in use from the third millennium BCE to the Roman period, was located in the center of this city. She was venerated by the kings of Byblos, with a large number of references to her found in letters sent by Rib-Addi as a part of the Amarna correspondence. There is also evidence that she was worshiped by Egyptians, both in Byblos and in Egypt. She is mentioned in a number of literary texts, including the so-called Letter of Hori, the writings of Philo of Byblos, and Lucian's De Dea Syria.
The Byblos script, also known as the Byblos syllabary, Pseudo-hieroglyphic script, Proto-Byblian, Proto-Byblic, or Byblic, is an undeciphered writing system, known from ten inscriptions found in Byblos, a coastal city in Lebanon. The inscriptions are engraved on bronze plates and spatulas, and carved in stone. They were excavated by Maurice Dunand, from 1928 to 1932, and published in 1945 in his monograph Byblia Grammata. The inscriptions are conventionally dated to the second millennium BC, probably between the 18th and 15th centuries BC.
The Ahiram sarcophagus was the sarcophagus of a Phoenician King of Byblos, discovered in 1923 by the French excavator Pierre Montet in tomb V of the royal necropolis of Byblos.
Stéphane Gsell was a French historian and archaeologist. He was a specialist in ancient Africa and Roman Algeria. His main work is L'Histoire ancienne de l'Afrique du Nord (1913-1929).
The Temple of the Obelisks, also known as the L-shaped Temple and Temple of Resheph was an important Bronze Age temple structure in the World Heritage Site of Byblos. It is considered "perhaps the most spectacular" of the ancient structures of Byblos. It is the best preserved building in the Byblos archaeological site.
The Byblos figurines or Phoenician statuettes are approximately 1,500–2,000 ex-voto statuettes found in ancient Phoenician temples in Lebanon, primarily in Byblos, but also in Kamid al lawz. The statuettes date to the second millennium BC and are made of bronze, silver, or copper alloy. The Byblos figurines are considered to represent the best example of their kind across the Levant.
The Osorkon Bust, also known as the Eliba'l Inscription is a bust of Egyptian pharaoh Osorkon I, discovered in Byblos in the 19th century. Like the Tabnit sarcophagus from Sidon, it is decorated with two separate and unrelated inscriptions – one in Egyptian hieroglyphics and one in Phoenician script. It was created in the early 10th century BC, and was unearthed c. 1881, very likely in the Temple of Baalat Gebal.
The Abishemu obelisk or the Abichemou obelisk is a 1.25 meter limestone obelisk dedicated to the Phoenician king Abishemu I of Byblos. The obelisk is decorated with two lines of inscriptions in Egyptian hieroglyphics. It was created c. 1800 BCE, and was unearthed in the 1950s by Maurice Dunand in the Temple of the Obelisks. It is the world's third-oldest obelisk, and by far the oldest obelisk found outside Egypt.
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The Yehawmilk stele, de Clercq stele, or Byblos stele, also known as KAI 10 and CIS I 1, is a Phoenician inscription from c.450 BC found in Byblos at the end of Ernest Renan's Mission de Phénicie. Yehawmilk, king of Byblos, dedicated the stele to the city’s protective goddess Ba'alat Gebal.
The Byblos Necropolis graffito is a Phoenician inscription situated in the Royal necropolis of Byblos.
The royal necropolis of Byblos is a group of nine Bronze Age underground shaft and chamber tombs housing the sarcophagi of several kings of the city. Byblos is a coastal city in Lebanon, and one of the oldest continuously populated cities in the world. The city established major trade links with Egypt during the Bronze Age, resulting in a heavy Egyptian influence on local culture and funerary practices. The location of ancient Byblos was lost to history, but was rediscovered in the late 19th century by the French biblical scholar and Orientalist Ernest Renan. The remains of the ancient city sat on top of a hill in the immediate vicinity of the modern city of Jbeil. Exploratory trenches and minor digs were undertaken by the French mandate authorities, during which reliefs inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphs were excavated. The discovery stirred the interest of western scholars, leading to systematic surveys of the site.
The Byblos marble inscription is a Phoenician inscription on a white marble fragment of a sarcophagus discovered around 1957 in the courtyard of Byblos Castle in the area where the east wall of the tower was located. It has been dated to 550-450 BCE, the period of the Achaemenid Empire; line 3 of the inscription is thought to refer to a Persian king. The inscription also refers to myrrh.
The Safatba'al inscription or the Shipitbaal inscription is a Phoenician inscription found in Byblos in 1936, published in 1945.
The Yehimilk inscription is a Phoenician inscription published in 1930, currently in the museum of Byblos Castle.
The Abda sherd graffito is a Phoenician inscription on a two small connecting fragment of a large vase, dating to c. 900 BC.
The Batnoam inscription is a Phoenician inscription on a sarcophagus. It is dated to c. 450-425 BCE.
The Byblos bronze spatulas are a number bronze spatulas found in Byblos, two of which were inscribed. One contains a Phoenician inscription and one contains an inscription in the Byblos syllabary.
The Byblos clay cones inscriptions are Phoenician inscriptions on two clay cones discovered around 1950.