The KNMY inscription (KAI 79 or CIS I 3785) is an inscription in the Punic language from Carthage that is believed to record a so-called "molk" child sacrifice.[1] The text is inscribed on a 55 cm high stela that was discovered in 1922.[2]
In this inscription KNMY, a Carthaginian slave (or "servant"), says that he "vowed" (nador) "his flesh" (BŠRY, cf. Hebrew beśarō) to the two major gods of Carthage, Tinnīt-Phanebal and Ba‘al-Ḥammon, which is understood to mean that he sacrificed a child of his (Krahmalkov translates BŠRY as "
The name rendered in Punic as KNMY is not otherwise known. It is not Semitic, but probably Libyan or Berber.[4] The inscription ends with a curse for those who might remove or damage the stela.
The inscription reads:[5] [6] [7]
| (line 1) | LRBT LTNT PN B‘L | (Dedicated) to the Lady (to) Tinnīt-Phanebal | |
| (2) | WL’DN LB‘L ḤMN | and to the Lord (to) Ba‘al-Ḥammon, | |
| (3) | ’Š NDR KNMY | is (the sacrifice) that KNMY vowed, | |
| (3-5) | ‘/BD ’ŠMN‘MS / BN B‘LYTN | —the sl/ave of Esmûnamos / son of Ba‘alyaton—: | |
| (5-6) | BŠ/RY | his fl/esh. | |
| (6) | TBRK’ | May you (Tinnīt-Phanebal and Ba‘al-Ḥammon) bless him (KNMY)! | |
| (6-8) | WK/L ’Š LSR T ’B/N Z | And any/one who (= if anyone) shall remove this st/one | |
| (8) | BY PY ’NK | without the permission of myself | |
| (8-10) | W/BY PY ’DM BŠ/MY | and / without the permission of someone in my n/ame, | |
| (10-11) | WŠPṬ TNT PN / B‘L BRḤ ’DM H’ | then Tinnīt-Phanebal will condemn / the intent of that person! |