Byblos altar inscription

The Byblos altar inscription is a Phoenician inscription on a broken altar discovered around 1923 during the excavations of Pierre Montet in the area of the Byblos temples. It was discovered outside the temples and tombs, a few meters from the hypocausts, in a modern wall.

A four-line Phoenician inscription is engraved on one side. The inscription has been translated as follows: The form of a number of the letters, particularly the he and the let was different from any that had been found the Lebanon previously, closer to neopunic, so it was originally dated to the Roman era. It was later redated to 200-100 BCE by Brian Peckham. As such it is considered to be of great importance as a "limiting case" of Phoenician inscriptions from Byblos.

The altar is 36cm in height, and has the inscription on only one of its faces.

It was first published in 1924-25 by René Dussaud, and is held in the National Museum of Beirut.

It is known as KAI 12, and is one of thirteen significant inscriptions discovered in Byblos.