| Yehimilk inscription | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created | c. 955 BC |
| Discovered | before 1931 Byblos, Keserwan-Jbeil, Lebanon |
| Present location | Byblos, Keserwan-Jbeil, Lebanon |
The Yehimilk inscription is a Phoenician inscription (KAI 4 or TSSI III 6) published in 1930, currently in the museum of Byblos Castle.
It was published in Maurice Dunand's Fouilles de Byblos (volume I, 1926–1932, numbers 1141, plate XXXI).
It is dated to the 10th century BCE, and contains the earliest known Phoenician reference to Baalshamin.
Text of the inscription
The inscription reads:
(1)BT
Z
BNY
YḤMLK
MLK
GBL
BT Z BNY YḤMLK MLK GBL
the temple that he has built, Yehimilk, king of Byblos.
(2-3)H’T
ḤWY
KL
MPLT
HBTM
/
’L
H’T ḤWY KL MPLT HBTM / ’L
It was he who restored all these ruins of temples.
(3-4)Y’RK
B‘L-ŠMM
WB‘L(T)
/
GBL
Y’RK B‘L-ŠMM WB‘L(T) / GBL
May they prolong —Baalsamem, and Ba'al(at) Gebal,
(4-5)WMPḤRT
’L
GBL
/
QDŠM
WMPḤRT ’L GBL / QDŠM
and the assembly of the holy gods of Byblos—
(5-6)YMT
YḤMLK
WŠNTW
/
‘L
GBL
YMT YḤMLK WŠNTW / ‘L GBL
Yehimilk's days and his years over Byblos,
(6-7)K
MLK
ṢDQ
WMLK
/
YŠR
K MLK ṢDQ WMLK / YŠR
because a just king and a righteous king
(7)LPN
’L
GBL
QDŠM
LPN ’L GBL QDŠM
before the holy gods of Byblos, he.
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 ): 231–247.
- William F. Albright, The Phoenician Inscriptions of the Tenth Century B.C. from Byblus, JAOS 67 (1947): 153–154.
- Corinne Bonnet. Existe-t-il un B'l gbl. à Byblos. À propos de l'inscription de Yehimilk (KAI 4). Ugarit-Forschungen, 1993, 25, pp.25-34. ⟨hal-01865311⟩
References
- Maurice Dunand, Nouvelle Inscription Phénicienne Archaique, RB 39 (1930): 321–331.
- "Middle East Kingdoms- Ancient Central Levant States". Kessler Associates. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- 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 Gallica.
- van der Toorn, K.; Becking, B.; van der Horst, P.W. (1999). Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-8028-2491-2. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
- Donner, Herbert; Rölig, Wolfgang (2002). Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften (5 ed.). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. p. I, 1.
- Krahmalkov, Charles R. (2000). Phoenician-Punic Dictionary. Leuven: Peeters / Departement Oosterse Studies. pp. 106, 129, 179, 218. ISBN 90-429-0770-3.