Baalshamem inscription explained

Created:	132 BC
Material:	Alabaster
Height:	29 cm
Discovered Date:	1860–1861
Discovered Place:	Umm al-Amad, Lebanon, South, Lebanon
Location:	Paris, Ile-de-France, France
Width:	32 cm

The Baalshamem inscription is a Phoenician inscription discovered in 1860–61 at Umm al-Amad, Lebanon, the longest of three inscriptions found there during Ernest Renan's Mission de Phénicie.^[1] All three inscriptions were found on the north side of the hill;^[2] this inscription was found in the foundation of one of the ruined houses covering the hill.^[1]

The inscription is on an alabaster slab about 32 x 29cm. The writing is not deeply engraved and is not considered to be of monumental character; it was found almost intact except for the beginning, consisting of eight letters, which scholars were able to reconstruct partly from the traces present and partly from the content of the inscription.^[1]

The inscription is known as KAI 18 or CIS I 7. Today it is on display at the Louvre, with ID number AO 4831.^[3]

The inscription

The Phoenician characters read from right to left; characters inside brackets denote a filled in lacuna:^{[4] [5]}

(line 1)	Phoenician:		[L’DN L]B‘L-ŠMM ’Š NDR ‘BD’LM	[(This monument is dedicated) to the Lord, to] Ba‘l-samêm! He who vowed (the monument) (was) ‘Abd’ilim,
(2)	Phoenician:		BN MTN BN ‘BD’LM BN B‘LŠMR	son of Mittun, son of ‘Abd’ilim, son of Ba‘alsamor,
(3)	Phoenician:		BPLG L’DK ’YT HŠ‘R Z WHDLHT	from the district of Laodicaea (Beirut). This gate and the doors
(4)	Phoenician:		’Š L P‘LT BTKLTY BNTY BŠT 120(+)	that I made for it, I built at my own expense in the year 180
(5)	Phoenician:		(+)60 L’DN MLKM 143 ŠT L‘M	of the Lord of Kings, (that is) year 143 of the people of
(6)	Phoenician:		ṢR LKNY LY LSKR WŠM N‘M	Tyre, that it might be for me a memorial and (a monument to) my good name,
(7)	Phoenician:		TḤT P‘M ’DNY B‘L-ŠMM	under the feet of (i.e., showing my fealty to) my Lord Ba‘al-samêm.
(8)	Phoenician:		L‘LM YBRKN	May he bless me forever!

The title "Lord of Kings" in line 5 (’DN MLKM, ’adōn malkîm) was used by the Ptolemies^[6] who reigned Egypt as Pharaohs since 305 BCE. This would suggest the year 125 BCE as the date of the inscription. A slightly different date, 132 BCE, follows from the "people of Tyre" dating, that is reckoned from the year 275 BCE when the city abandoned the concept of monarchy and instead became a republic.^[7] If the reign of the first Ptolemy is counted from the First Battle of Gaza in 312 BCE, then both dates agree.

Bibliography

• Editio Princeps: Ernest. Renan. Ernest Renan. Trois Inscriptions Phéniciennes Trouvées à Oum-El-Awamid. Journal asiatique: Ou recueil de mémoires d'extraits et de notices relatifs à l'histoire, à la philosophie, aux sciences, à la littérature et aux langues des peuples orientaux . Société Asiatique . 20 . 1862 . fr.
• Renan . Ernest . Addition au mémoire de M. Renan sur les inscriptions d'Oum-el-Awamid . Journal Asiatique . Société asiatique. . Nov. -Dec. 1863. 517 . 1863 . fr.
• Ledrain, Eugène, Notice sommaire des monuments phéniciens du Musée du Louvre, Musée du Louvre, Paris, Librairies des imprimeries réunies, 1888, p. 60, n° 126
• Book: Clermont-Ganneau, C. . Nouvel essai d'interprétation de la première inscription phénicienne D’Oumm El-Awamid. Études d'archéologie orientale . F. Vieweg . Bibl. de l'École des Hautes Études, Sci. philol. et hist . v. 1 . 1895 . https://books.google.com/books?id=vZsWAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA37 . fr . 2022-02-06.
• Bargès . J. J. L. . Observations sur les inscriptions phéniciennes du musée Napoléon III . Journal Asiatique . Société asiatique. . 1863 . fr . 161–195.
• Book: Levy, M.A. . Phönizische studien. Drei inschriften von Umm-el-Awamid . F. E. C. Leuckart . 1864 . https://books.google.com/books?id=K7tFAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA31 . de . 31-.

Notes and References

1. Levy, 1864: "Die umfangreichste der drei Inschriften liest man auf einer Alabaster-Platte von ungefähr 32 Centimeter Länge und 29 Centimeter Breite. Der Stein wurde in dem Fundamente eines der verfallenen Häuser gefunden, welche den Hügel bedecken. Die Schrift ist nicht tief eingegraben und hat keinen monumentalen Charakter. Der Stein ist fast unversehrt, bis auf den Anfang, aus acht Buchstaben bestehend, der sich theils durch die vorhandenen Spuren, theils durch den Inhalt der Inschrift wieder herstellen lässt."
2. Renan, 1862, “Ces trois inscriptions ont été trouvées sous terre, sur le côté nord du mamelon surmonté de colonnes ioniques et couvert de ruines qu'on appelle Oumm el-Awamid'. Les originaux sont déposés au musée Napoléon III.”
3. https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010123299 AO 4830
4. Book: Donner . Herbert . Rölig . Wolfgang . Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften . 2002 . Harrassowitz . Wiesbaden . I, 4 . 5.
5. Book: Krahmalkov . Charles R. . Phoenician-Punic Dictionary . 2000 . Peeters / Departement Oosterse Studies . Leuven . 90-429-0770-3.
6. Drouin . E. . Les légendes des monnaies Sassanides . Revue Archéologique . 1898 . 3rd Series, 32 . Jan.–June . 62-84: p. 71 . 41732062 . 13 May 2022.
7. Krause, Günter (1985). Begleitheft zur Ausstellung Tyros, Hafenstadt Phöniziens. Duisburg-Ruhrort: Museum der Deutschen Binnenschifffahrt. pp. 1–5, 12–14.