3rd-century BC Phoenician inscription
| Masub inscription |
|---|
 The inscription at the Louvre |
| Writing | Phoenician |
|---|
| Created | c. 222 BC |
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| Discovered | 1887 |
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| Present location | Louvre |
|---|
The Masub inscription is a Phoenician inscription found at Khirbet Ma'sub (also Masoub) near Al-Bassa/Betzet.[1] The inscription is from 221 BC.[1] It is also known as KAI 19.[2]
It is considered to originate from Umm al-Amad, Lebanon, around 6 km to the north, on the basis of the reference to the temple in the inscription.[3] In Dunand and Duru's catalogue of Umm al Amad inscriptions, it is number iv.[4]
Inscription
The inscription is given as:[5][6]
(1)
‘RPT KBRT MṢ’ ŠMŠ WṢ
The great colonnade of (the side of) the sunrise, and its nor-
(2)
PLY ’Š BN H’LM ML’K MLK
-th (side), which the ʾElim (gods), the envoys of (the divine couple) Milk-
(3)
‘ŠTRT W‘BDY B‘L ḤMN
ʿAshtart and the servants of Baʿal Ḥammon (dedicated)
(4)
L‘ŠTRT B’ŠRT ’L ḤMN
to ʿAshtart, in the holy courtyard of the god Ḥammon
(5)
BŠT 20 3 3 LPTLMYS ’DN
in the 26th year of Ptolemy, lord
(7)
LMYS W’RSN’S ’LN ’[Ḥ]
-lemy and Arsinoë, the divine A[del]-
(8)
YM ŠLŠ ḤMŠM ŠT L‘M [ṢR]
-phoi (literally "the gods-brothers"), (in the) three-(and)-fiftieth year of the people of [Tyre],
(9)
KM’Š BN ’YT KL ’ḤRY [HMQ]
as also they built all of the other tem-
(10)
[DŠ]M ’Š B’RṢ LKN LM L[SKR]
-ples which are in the land, to be to them for [memory]
(11)
[WŠM N‘M ‘D] ‘LM
[and good name for] eternity.
