Batnoam sarcophagus



The Batnoam inscription is a Phoenician inscription (KAI 11 and TSSI III 26) on a sarcophagus. It is dated to c. 450-425 BCE.

It was published in Maurice Dunand's Fouilles de Byblos (volume I, 1926-1932, numbers 1142, plate XXVIII).

Text of the inscription
The inscription reads:




 * B’RN ZN ’NK BTN‘M || In this coffin I, Batno‘am,
 * ’M MLK ‘ZB‘L MLK GBL ||  mother of King Azbaal, King of Byblos,
 * BN PLṬB‘L KHN B‘LT ||    son of Pilletbaal, Priest of Baalat
 * ŠKBT ||      lie, 
 * BSWT WMR’Š ‘LY || wearing a garment and a head-piece on me,
 * WMḤSM ḤRṢ LPY ||  and a muzzle of gold on my mouth
 * KM ’Š LMLKYT ’Š KN LPNY ||    like those of the queens who were before me.
 * }
 * ŠKBT ||      lie, 
 * BSWT WMR’Š ‘LY || wearing a garment and a head-piece on me,
 * WMḤSM ḤRṢ LPY ||  and a muzzle of gold on my mouth
 * KM ’Š LMLKYT ’Š KN LPNY ||    like those of the queens who were before me.
 * }
 * KM ’Š LMLKYT ’Š KN LPNY ||    like those of the queens who were before me.
 * }
 * }