The Abdmiskar cippus is a white marble

cippus A () was a low, round, or rectangular pedestal set up by the Ancient Romans for purposes such as a milestone or a boundary post. They were also used for somewhat differing purposes by the Etruscans and Carthaginians. Roman cippi Roman cippi w ...

in obelisk form discovered in

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, dated to 300 BCE. Discovered in 1890 by Joseph-Ange Durighello (son of the discoverer of the

Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II The sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II is a 6th-century BC sarcophagus unearthed in 1855 in the grounds of an ancient necropolis southeast of the city of Sidon, in modern-day Lebanon, that contained the body of Eshmunazar II ( Phoenician: , ), Phoe ...

). It contains a two line

Phoenician inscription The Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, also known as Northwest Semitic inscriptions, are the primary extra-Biblical source for understanding of the societies and histories of the ancient Phoenicians, Hebrews and Arameans. Semitic inscriptions may ...

, stating that it represents an "offering made by Abdmiskar, son of Baalsillekh, to his lord Salman." It measures 105cm x 30cm x 30cm. It has been compared to the obelisks in the Temple of the Obelisks in Byblos. Today it is on display at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

(AO 1759 + 1762).AO 1759
/ref> The inscription is known as KAI 282, RES 930, or the "fourth Sidonian".

Gallery

File:Abdmiskar cippus - 200-150 BCE - Sidon (Saïda, Libanon) - Louvre - AO 1759 et AO 1762. - picture 01.jpg, The cippus File:Abdmiskar cippus.jpg, The cippus File:Abdmiskar cippus inscription close up.jpg, The inscription File:Abdmiskar cippus - 200-150 BCE - Sidon (Saïda, Libanon) - Louvre - AO 1759 et AO 1762. - detail.jpg, The inscription

Bibliography

* Clermont-Ganneau Charles
Le cippe phénicien du Rab Abdmiskar
In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 42^e année, N. 3, 1898. pp. 403–408. DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.1898.71201 * Chatonnet, F. and Catherine Apicella.
Réflexions à propos de l'inscription d'Abdmiskar
" (2008), Escapades au Levant, editor: C. Roche * Renan, Ernest. "INSCRIPTION PHÉNICIENNE INÉDITE DE SIDON." Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie Orientale 2, no. 3 (1891): 75–77. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23275681.

References

{{Louvre Museum Phoenician inscriptions Ancient Lebanon Near Eastern and Middle Eastern antiquities in the Louvre Phoenician steles KAI inscriptions Funerary steles 3rd-century BC artifacts Archaeological discoveries in Lebanon 1890 archaeological discoveries 3rd-century BC inscriptions Inscriptions of Lebanon