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Safatba'al inscription

Phoenician inscription found in Byblos

Safatba'al inscription
Created	c. 900 BC
Discovered	1936 Byblos, Keserwan-Jbeil, Lebanon
Present location	Beirut, Beirut Governorate, Lebanon

The Safatba'al inscription or the Shipitbaal inscription is a Phoenician inscription (KAI 7, TSSI III 9) found in Byblos in 1936,^[1] published in 1945.^[2][3]

It is at the National Museum of Beirut.

Text of the inscription[edit]

The inscription reads:^[4]

QR

Z

BNY

ŠPṬB‘L

MLK

QR Z BNY ŠPṬB‘L MLK

This wall was built by Safatbaal, king

GBL

BN

’LB‘L

MLK

GBL

GBL BN ’LB‘L MLK GBL

of Byblos, son of Elibaal, king of Byblos,

BYḤMLK

MLK

GBL

LB‘LT

BYḤMLK MLK GBL LB‘LT

son of Yehimelk, king of Byblos, for Baalat

GBL

’DTW

T’RK

B‘LT

GBL

GBL ’DTW T’RK B‘LT GBL

Gebal, his Lady. May Baalat Gebal prolong

YMT

ŠPṬB‘L

WŠNTW

‘L

GBL

YMT ŠPṬB‘L WŠNTW ‘L GBL

the days of Safatbaal and his years over Byblos.

Bibliography[edit]

• 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.
• Vriezen, Theodoor Christiaan (1951). Palestine Inscriptions. Brill Archive. GGKEY:WGXUQKP9C87.

References[edit]