Eshmunazar
Encyclopedia
Eshmunazar was the name of several Phoenicia
n kings of Sidon
.
The sarcophagus
of Eshmunazar II, which is now in the Louvre
, was unearthed in 1855 in a site near Sidon
, and contains an inscription - known as KAI-14 , in Phoenician
Canaanite
, inscribed using the Phoenician alphabet
. Now located in the Louvre Museum in Paris, the sarcophagus was created in the early 5th century BCE. The inscription identifies the king inside and warns people not to disturb him. The translation below is based on the translation of Julius Oppert, amended with the help of a more recent translation in Prichard & Fleming.
The text of the 22 line inscription, on the front side of the sarcophagus, follows, with one-to one transliteration into the Hebrew alphabet
. The original text contains no word breaks; these are merely suggested; numbers appear in the original inscription in an Egyptian standard.
The language used in this inscription is a Canaanite dialect
, mutually intelligible with Biblical Hebrew. As in other Phoenician insriptions, the text seems to use no, or hardly any, matres lectionis. As in Aramaic
, the preposition 'אית' is used as an accusative
marker, while 'את' is used for 'with'.
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n kings of Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
.
The sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
of Eshmunazar II, which is now in the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, was unearthed in 1855 in a site near Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
, and contains an inscription - known as KAI-14 , in Phoenician
Phoenician languages
Phoenician was a language originally spoken in the coastal region then called "Canaan" in Phoenician, Arabic, Hebrew, and Aramaic, "Phoenicia" in Greek and Latin, and "Pūt" in Ancient Egyptian. Phoenician is a Semitic language of the Canaanite subgroup; its closest living relative is Hebrew, to...
Canaanite
Canaanite languages
The Canaanite languages are a subfamily of the Semitic languages, which were spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region, including Canaanites, Israelites and Phoenicians...
, inscribed using the Phoenician alphabet
Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet, called by convention the Proto-Canaanite alphabet for inscriptions older than around 1050 BC, was a non-pictographic consonantal alphabet, or abjad. It was used for the writing of Phoenician, a Northern Semitic language, used by the civilization of Phoenicia...
. Now located in the Louvre Museum in Paris, the sarcophagus was created in the early 5th century BCE. The inscription identifies the king inside and warns people not to disturb him. The translation below is based on the translation of Julius Oppert, amended with the help of a more recent translation in Prichard & Fleming.
The text of the 22 line inscription, on the front side of the sarcophagus, follows, with one-to one transliteration into the Hebrew alphabet
Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet , known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, or more historically, the Assyrian script, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two...
. The original text contains no word breaks; these are merely suggested; numbers appear in the original inscription in an Egyptian standard.
- בירח בל בשנת עסר וארבע 14 למלכי מלכ אשמנעזר מלכ צדנמ
- בנ מלכ תבנת מלכ צדנמ דבר מלכ אשמנעזר מלכ צדנמ לאמר נגזלת
- בל עתי בנ מסכ יממ אזרמ יתמ בנ אלמת ושכב אנכ בחלת ז ובקבר ז
- במקמ אש בנת קנמי את כל ממלכת וכל אדמ אל יפתח אית משכב ז ו
- אל יבקש בנ מנמ כ אי שמ בנ מנמ ואל ישא אית חלת משכבי ואל יעמ
- סנ במשכב ז עלת משכב שני אפ אמ אדממ ידברנכ אל תשמע בדנמ כ כל ממלכת ו
- כל אדמ אש יפתח עלת משכב ז אמ אש ישא אית חלת משכבי אמ אש יעמסנ במ
- שכב ז אל יכנ למ משכב את רפאמ ואל יקבר בקבר ואל יכנ למ בנ וזרע
- תחתנמ ויסגרנמ האלנמ הקדשמ את ממלכ(ת) אדר אש משל בנמ לק
- צתנמ אית ממלכת אמ אדמ הא אש יפתח עלת משכב ז אמ אש ישא אית
- חלת ז ואית זרע ממלת הא אמ אדממ המת אל יכנ למ שרש למט ו
- פר למעל ותאר בחימ תחת שמש כ אנכ נחנ נגזלת בל עתי בנ מס
- כ יממ אזרמ יתמ בנ אלמת אנכ כ אנכ אשמנעזר מלכ צדנמ בנ
- מלכ תבנת מלכ צדנמ ומי אמ עשתרת
- כהנת עשתרת רבתנ המלכת בת מלכ אשמנעזר מלכ צדנמ אמ בננ אית בת
- אלנמ אית (...)ת בצדנ ארצ ימ וישרנ אית עשתרת שממ אדרמ ואנחנ
- אש בננ בת לאשמנ (?)ר קדש ענידלל בהר וישבני שממ אדרמ ואנחנ אש בננ בתמ
- לאלנ צדנמ בצדנ ארצ ימ בת לבעל צדנ ובת לעשתרת שמ בעל ועד יתנ לנ אדנ מלכמ
- אית דאר ויפי ארצת דגנ האדרת אש בשד שרנ למדת עצמת אש פעלת ויספננמ
- עלת גבל ארצ לכננמ לצדנמ לעל(?) קנמי את כל ממלכת וכל אדמ אל יפתח עלתי
- ואל יער עלתי ואל יעמסנ במשכב ז ואל ישא אית חלת משכבי למ יסגרנמ
- אלנמ הקדשמ אל ויקצנ הממלכת הא והאדממ המת וזרעמ לעלמ
The language used in this inscription is a Canaanite dialect
Canaanite languages
The Canaanite languages are a subfamily of the Semitic languages, which were spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region, including Canaanites, Israelites and Phoenicians...
, mutually intelligible with Biblical Hebrew. As in other Phoenician insriptions, the text seems to use no, or hardly any, matres lectionis. As in Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
, the preposition 'אית' is used as an accusative
Accusative case
The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
marker, while 'את' is used for 'with'.
