| Abishemu obelisk | |
| Material: | Limestone |
| Size: | 1.45 meters (1.25 meters above the plinth) |
| Writing: | Egyptian hieroglyphs |
| Created: | 1800 BC |
| Location: | National Museum of Beirut |
| Id: | DGA 17917 |
| Discovered Date: | 1950 |
| Discovered By: | Maurice Dunand |
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 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.
Although only approximately a dozen words long, the obelisk contains:
The obelisk is the only example of a complete obelisk with a true pyramidion found in the Temple of the Obelisks; most of the others were rough steles. It consists of a square plinth at the bottom, a tapering shaft and with a pyramidion at the top.
Transcribed:
mry Ḥr-š·f ḥꜣty-ʻ n Kpny ʼb-šmw wḥm ʻnḫTranslated:[...]f Kwkwn śꜣ Rwqq mꜣʻ ḫrw
Beloved of Arsaphes [also translated Herishef], Abishemu, prince of Byblos, renewed in life, his
..., Kukun, son of 'the Lycian' justified (i. e., deceased).