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 Jbeil or Jubayl, is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 8800 and 7000 BC and continuously inhabited since 5000 BC, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. During its history, Byblos was part of numerous civilisations, including Egyptian, Phoenician, Assyrian, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Fatimid, Genoese, Mamluk and Ottoman. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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.
René Dussaud was a French Orientalist, archaeologist, and epigrapher. Among his major works are studies on the religion of the Hittites, the Hurrians, the Phoenicians and the Syriacs. He became curator of the Department of Near Eastern Antiquities at the Louvre Museum and a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. One notable student was pioneering Jewish archaeologist Judith Marquet-Krause.
Maurice Dunand was a prominent French archaeologist specializing in the ancient Near East, who served as director of the Mission Archéologique Française in Lebanon. Dunand excavated Byblos from 1924 to 1975, and published a Byblos syllabary in his monograph Byblia Grammata in 1945. The Neolithic of Lebanon was divided by Dunand into three stages based on the stratified levels of Byblos. From 1963 onwards, Dunand also thoroughly excavated the site of the Temple of Eshmun near Sidon.
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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.
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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.
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