Social:Son of Safatba'al inscription

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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]

(line A1a) [’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 [... I made for myself this resting-place (tomb) [...
(A2a) ...]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 ... 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 ... and I made this coffin for mys]elf in this resting-place that I (am) lying in.
(A3b) WBMQM [ZN ... And in [this] place [...
(A4) ...]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... ... you shall not ope]n this [resting-place] to disturb my bones. [...
(A6) ...(?)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:

(line B1) ...]H[... ...
(B2) ... ’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(?) the resting-place that you op[en ...
(B4) ... ’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 ... ... Baalsame]m and Baal ’Iddīr[5] and Baalat and all the god[s of Byblos ...
(B6) ...]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) (in fr). Fouilles de Byblos: Tome 1er, 1926-1932. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique. 24. Paris: Librarie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner. https://books.google.com/books?id=cYIeAAAAMAAJ.  and Dunand, Maurice (1937) (in French). Fouilles de Byblos, Tome 1er, 1926–1932 (Atlas). Bibliothèque archéologique et historique. 24. Paris: Librarie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9107356n/f1.item. 
  2. Donner, Herbert; Rölig, 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.