Yehawmilk Stele

File:Stele Yehawmilk AO 22368.jpg

The stele, today listed at AO 22368 at the Louvre.

The Yehawmilk stele, de Clercq stele, or Byblos stele, also known as KAI 10 and CIS I 1, is a Phoenician inscription from c.450 BC found in Byblos at the end of Ernest Renan's Mission de Phénicie. Yehawmilk (Phoenician 𐤉𐤇𐤅𐤌𐤋𐤊 ), king of Byblos, dedicated the stele to the city’s protective goddess Ba'alat Gebal.

It was first published in full by Melchior de Vogüé in 1875. In the early 1930s, the bottom right corner of the stele was discovered by Maurice Dunand. The main part of the stele is in the Louvre, whilst the bottom right part is in the National Museum of Beirut.

Text of the inscription

The inscription reads:

(line 1-2)	’NK YḤWMLK MLK GBL BN YḤRB‘L BN BN ’RMLK MLK / GBL	I am Yehawmilk, King of Byblos, the son of Yeharbaal, grandson of Urimilk, King of Byblos,
(2)	’Š P‘LTN HRBT B‘LT GBL MMLKT ‘L GBL	whom the Lady Baalt of Byblos made king of Byblos.
(2-3)	WQR’ ’NK / ’T RBTY B‘LT GBL WŠM‘ [H’] QL	I call to my Lady of Byblos, and [She] hears (my) voice.
(3-4)	WP‘L ’NK LRBTY B‘LT / GBL HMZBḤ NḤŠT ZN ’Š BḤ[ṢR]H Z	I built for my Lady Baalt of Byblos that bronze altar that is in this cou[rt-temple] of Hers,
(4-5)	WHPTḤ ḤRṢ ZN ’Š / ‘L PN PTḤY Z	and that gold engraving that is opposite this inscription of mine,
(5)	WH‘PT ḤRṢ ’Š BTKT ’BN ’Š ‘L PTḤ ḤRṢ ZN	and that gold bird that is on the stone «TKT» (pillar?) that is next to that gold engraving,
(6)	WH‘RPT Z’ W‘MDH WHR[’]ŠM ’Š ‘LHM WMSPNTH	and that portico and its columns, and the ca[pi]tals upon them, and its ceiling.
(6-7)	P‘L ’NK / YḤWMLK MLK GBL LRBTY B‘LT GBL	I, Yehawmilk, King of Byblos, made (this work) for my Lady Baalt of Byblos.
(7-8)	KM ’Š QR’T ’T RBTY / B‘LT GBL WŠM‘ QL WP‘L LY N‘M	When I call to my Lady Baalt of Byblos, She hears my voice, and does good things to me.
(8-9)	TBRK B‘LT GBL ’YT YḤWMLK / MLK GBL	May Baalt of Byblos bless Yehawmilk, King of Byblos.
(9)	WTḤWW WT’RK YMW WŠNTW ‘L GBL	And may She grant him long life, and may She prolong his days and years (as king) over Byblos.
(9)	K MLK ṢDQ H’	For he is a righteous king.
(9-10)	WTTN / [LW HRBT B]‘LT GBL ḤN L‘N ’LNM WL‘N ‘M ’RṢ Z	May [the Lady Ba]alt of Byblos grant [him] favor in the eyes of the gods and in the eyes of the people of this land,
(10-11)	WḤN ‘M ’R-Ṣ / Z [WḤN L‘N] KL MMLKT	and may She grant favor to the people of this land, [and favor in the eyes of] the whole kingdom.
(11-12)	WKL ’DM ’Š YSP LP‘L ML’KT ‘LT MZ-BḤ / ZN	And as for any person who shall continue to work on this altar
(12)	[W‘LT PT]Ḥ ḤRṢ ZN W‘LT ‘RPT Z’	[and on] this gold [engrav]ing and on this portico,
(12-13)	ŠM ’NK YḤWMLK / MLK GBL [TŠT ’T]K ‘L<T> ML’KT H’	my name, «Yehawmilk, King of Byblos», [will you place, together with] your own (name), upon that work.
(13-14)	W’M ’BL TŠT ŠM ’TK W’M TS-R / M[L’]KT Z’	If you do not place my name with yours (upon it), or if you remove this w[or]k,
(14)	[WTS]G ’T [PTḤY] Z DL YSDH ‘LT MQM Z	[or if you mo]ve this [inscription of mine] and its base from this spot,
(14-15)	WTGL / MSTRW	or if you reveal its hiding-place,
(15)	TSRḤ[W] HRBT B‘LT GBL ’YT H’DM H’ WZR‘W	the Lady Baalt of Byblos shall make that man and his progeny stink
(16)	’T PN KL ’LN G[BL]	before all the gods of By[blos] (i.e., She will make them disgusted by the gods).

References

• Melchior de Vogüé, Stèle de Yehawmelek, roi de Gebal; Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 19ᵉ année, N. 1, 1875. pp. 24–49. DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.1875.68196
• L'Art Phénicien, La sculpture de tradition phénicienne, catalogue du musée du Louvre, Département des Antiquités Orientales, A. Caubet, E. Fontan, E. Gubel, 2002, Ed. de la Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, p. 64–65.