Tabnit ( Phoenician: 𐤕𐤁𐤍𐤕 ''TBNT'') was the

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...

King of Sidon The King of Sidon was the ruler of Sidon, an ancient Phoenician city in what is now Lebanon. Scholars have pieced together the fragmented list from various archaeological finds since the 19th century. Egyptian period * c.1700s BC Zimrida * c. ...

549–539 BC. He was the father of King

Eshmunazar II Eshmunazar II ( Phoenician: 𐤀𐤔𐤌𐤍𐤏𐤆𐤓 ', a theophoric name meaning 'Eshmun helps') was the Phoenician King of Sidon (). He was the grandson of king Eshmunazar I, and a vassal king of the Achaemenid Empire. He reigned after his f ...

. He is well known from his sarcophagus, decorated with two separate and unrelated inscriptions – one in

Egyptian hieroglyphics Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1, ...

and one in

Phoenician script The Phoenician alphabet is an alphabet (more specifically, an abjad) known in modern times from the Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions found across the Mediterranean region. The name comes from the Phoenician civilization. The Phoenician a ...

. It was created in the 6th century BC, and was unearthed in 1887 by

Osman Hamdi Bey Osman Hamdi Bey (30 December 1842, in Istanbul 24 February 1910) was an Ottoman administrator, intellectual, art expert and also a prominent and pioneering painter. He was also an accomplished archaeologist, and is regarded as the pioneer of th ...

at the Ayaa Necropolis near

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast ...

together with the

Alexander Sarcophagus The Alexander Sarcophagus is a late 4th century BC Hellenistic stone sarcophagus from the necropolis near Sidon, Lebanon. It is adorned with bas-relief carvings of Alexander the Great and scrolling historical and mythological narratives. The wor ...

and other related sarcophagi. Tabnit's body was found floating in the original

embalming fluid Embalming chemicals are a variety of preservatives, sanitising and disinfectant agents, and additives used in modern embalming to temporarily prevent decomposition and restore a natural appearance for viewing a body after death. A mixture of thes ...

and almost perfectly preserved, save for the face and neck which were not submerged, but Bey's men spilled all the fluid and left the body to rot in the desert sun, at which point it quickly decomposed to little more than bones and withered viscera. Both the sarcophagus and Tabnit's decomposed skeleton are now in the

Istanbul Archaeology Museums The Istanbul Archaeology Museums ( tr, ) are a group of three archaeological museums located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, near Gülhane Park and Topkapı Palace. The Istanbul Archaeology Museums consists of three museums: #Ar ...

.İstanbul Archaeological Museums
/ref> The sarcophagus, together with the

Eshmunazar II sarcophagus The Eshmunazar II sarcophagus is a 6th-century BC sarcophagus unearthed in 1855 in the "Phoenician Necropolis", a hypogeum (underground tomb) complex in the southern area of the city of Sidon in modern-day Lebanon. The sarcophagus was discover ...

, were possibly acquired by the Sidonians following their participation in the

Battle of Pelusium (525 BC) The Battle of Pelusium was the first major battle between the Achaemenid Empire and Egypt. This decisive battle transferred the throne of the Pharaohs to Cambyses II of Persia, marking the beginning of the Achaemenid Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egyp ...

, and served as models for later Phoenician sarcophagi.

Dating

Both the Tabnit sarcophagus and the

are thought to originally date from the

Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXVI, alternatively 26th Dynasty or Dynasty 26) dynasty was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC (although others followed). The dynasty's reign (664–525 ...

, which had its capital at

Sais Sais ( grc, wikt:Σάϊς, Σάϊς, cop, Ⲥⲁⲓ) was an ancient Egyptian city in the Western Nile Delta on the Canopus, Egypt, Canopic branch of the Nile,Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. "Saïs." ''Webster's Dictionary#The Collegiate ...

. This is partially due to their resemblance to similar sarcophagi such as the

Psamtik II Psamtik II ( Ancient Egyptian: , pronounced ), known by the Graeco-Romans as Psammetichus or Psammeticus, was a king of the Saite-based Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (595 BC – 589 BC). His prenomen, Nefer-Ib-Re, means "Beautiful s theHeart ...

-era Horkhebit sarcophagus from

Saqqara Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphi ...

, now in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

. File:Osman Hamdi Bey. Squelette du roi Tabuit. Paris, 1892.jpg, Skeleton of king Tabnit File:Osman Hamdi Bey. Crâne du roi Tabnit (№ 1). 2 sides. Paris, 1892.jpg, Head of king Tabnit

Notes

References

* * (

editio princeps In classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' ( plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts, which could be circulated only after being copied by hand. ...

) * ( Plates) * * * * * * 6th-century BC rulers in Asia Kings of Sidon Rulers in the Achaemenid Empire 6th-century BC Phoenician people {{Rulers of the Ancient Near East