Son of Safatba'al inscription

Son of Safatba'al inscription

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.

Text of the inscription

Three parts of the inscription are extant. The largest, fragment A (six lines), reads: ^{[2] [3]}

(A1a)

[’NK

***

B]N

ŠPṬB‘L

MLK

GBL

[’NK *** B]N ŠPṬB‘L MLK GBL

[I, *** (name unknown), ^[4] the so]n of Safatbaal, King of Byblos,

(A1b)

P‘LT

LY

HMŠKB

ZN

[...

P‘LT LY HMŠKB ZN [...

I made for myself this resting-place (tomb) [...

(A2a)

...]BYTK

BL

T[QM

LŠT]

’RN

‘LT

’RN

...]BYTK BL T[QM LŠT] ’RN ‘LT ’RN

...] your tomb (?). You shall not per[sist in placing] coffin upon coffin.

(A2b)

‘L

KN

P‘L[T

LY

HMŠKB

ZN

...

‘L KN P‘L[T LY HMŠKB ZN ...

For this reason have I mad[e for myself this resting-place ...

(A3a)

...

WP‘L

’NK

’RN

ZN

L]Y

BMŠKB

ZN

’Š

’NK

ŠKB

BN

... 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.

(A3b)

WBMQM

[ZN

...

WBMQM [ZN ...

And in [this] place [...

(A4)

...]LY

’N[K

..]TY

BRBM

WYTN

’NK

’[...

...]LY ’N[K ..]TY BRBM WYTN ’NK ’[...

...] for myself I [...] among the generals. And I gave [...

(A5)

...

’L

TPT]Ḥ

‘[LT

HMŠKB]

ZN

LRGZ

‘ṢMY

’[M...

... ’L TPT]Ḥ ‘[LT HMŠKB] ZN LRGZ ‘ṢMY ’[M...

... you shall not ope]n this [resting-place] to disturb my bones. [...

(A6)

...(?)ŠM]Š

‘L[M...

...(?)ŠM]Š ‘L[M...

... Ete]rnal Se[mes (Sun-goddess) (?) ...

Composite picture of fragments B and C

Two smaller fragments, B and C, have been joined together and are now known as fragment B. It reads:

(B1)

...]H[...

...]H[...

...

(B2)

...

’L

TP‘L

LK

MŠK]B

’ṢL

HMŠK[B

ZN

...

... ’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! ...

(B3)

...]QR

HMŠKB

’Š

TP[TḤ...

...]QR HMŠKB ’Š TP[TḤ...

...]QR(?) the resting-place that you op[en ...

(B4)

...

’L

YŠT

’Y]T

’RNW

‘LT

’RN

’N[K...

... ’L YŠT ’Y]T ’RNW ‘LT ’RN ’N[K...

... Let him not place] his coffin upon a coffin. I[...

(B5)

...

B‘LŠM]M

WB‘L

’DR

WB‘LT

WKL

’[LN

GBL

...

... 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 ...

(B6)

...]B‘LT

WKL

[’L

...

...]B‘LT WKL [’L ...

...] Baalat and all the [gods ...

Bibliography

• Christopher Rollston, "The Dating of the Early Royal Byblian Phoenician Inscriptions: A Response to Benjamin Sass." MAARAV 15 (2008): 57–93.
• Benjamin Mazar, The Phoenician Inscriptions from Byblos and the Evolution of the Phoenician-Hebrew Alphabet, in The Early Biblical Period: Historical Studies (S. Ahituv and B. A. Levine, eds., Jerusalem: IES, 1986 [original publication: 1946]): 231–247.
• William F. Albright, The Phoenician Inscriptions of the Tenth Century B.C. from Byblus, JAOS 67 (1947): 153–154.

References

1. Dunand, Maurice (1939). Fouilles de Byblos: Tome 1er, 1926-1932 [The Byblos excavations, Tome 1, 1926–1932]. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique (in French). Vol. 24. Paris: Librarie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner. and Dunand, Maurice (1937). Fouilles de Byblos, Tome 1er, 1926–1932 (Atlas) [The Byblos excavations, Tome 1, 1926–1932 (Atlas)]. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique (in French). Vol. 24. Paris: Librarie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner – via Bibliothèque nationale de France.
2. Donner, Herbert; Röllig, Wolfgang (2002). Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften (5 ed.). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. p. I, 2.
3. Krahmalkov, Charles R. (2000). Phoenician-Punic Dictionary. Leuven: Peeters / Departement Oosterse Studies. ISBN   90-429-0770-3.
4. Possibly Urimilk II.
5. Ba‘al ’Iddīr or ’Addīr: Powerful, Great, or Mighty Baal.