two lines of Phoenician writing were found engraved upon the chest of the royal personage — king Ash- manezer II — whom it represents. A smaller, abbre- viated inscription runs round the neck. The age of this monument has variously been conjectured as of the 11th century B.C. (Ewald ), which is unques- tionably' wrong; further, as of the 7th, 6th, or 4th respectively by Hiizig, the due de Lnynes, Levy, and others. The inscriptions contain principally a solemn injunction, or rather an adjuration, noi to disturb the royal remains. Besides this, tliere is an ciuiineration of the temples erected by the defunct in honor of the gods. This sarcophagus is now in the Nineveh division of the sculptures in the Louvre. At first sight the ma- terial of which it is comjiosed may be easily mistaken, and it has been supposed to be black marble. On the authority, however, of M. Suchard of Paris, who has ex- amined it very closely, it may be stated that the sarcoph- agus is of black syenite, which, as far as is known, is more abundant in Egypt than elsewhere. It may be added that the features of the countenance on the lid arc decidedly of the Egyptian type, and the head-dress is Egyptian, with the head of a bird scidptured on what might seem the i)lace of the right and left shoulder. There can therefore be little reason to doubt that this sarcophagus was either made in Egypt and sent thence to Zidon, or that it was made in Pha-nicia in imitation of similar works of art in Egypt. The inscriptions themselves are the longest Phoenician inscriptions which 'have come down to our times. A translation of them was published by Prof. Dietrich at Marburg in 1855, and by Ewald at Gottingen in 1856. The king's title is " king of the Zidonians;" and,as is the case with Ethbaal, men- tioned in the book of Kings (1 Kings xvi, 31), there must remain a certain doubt whether this was a title ordinarily assumed by kings of Zidon, or whether it had a wider signification. We learn from the inscription that the king's mother was a priestess of Ashtoreth.
The following is a portion of the most remarkable (larger) inscription divided into words (there is no di- vision even of the letters in the original) according to the sense — in some instances merely conjectured — and transcribed into Hebrew characters, to which is subjoin- ed a translation, principally following Munk and Levy, but occasionally differing from either :
"'zb'ab I III— 1 rs^xi -IDS r3u;s bn n-ii3 i.
-iT:-3T2'rx -bn i^n nDi:j -h-Q r:::n -jbn p 2.
riTSD 1^X5 C2n2 -5-q ria bx 'a nr"i m tn ct^i -!d^ i^ Tr hi 3.
cnx
Xt'"'
bn
r=b:
^:pm 1 rbra -;:n ::r'i-i : hzi rn^-Qtp rsa rx o^.^n 4. 1 t n:c^ rr^x nrsi bx d:-2 p mri ■'x = n:^ •■,: u.-p^-' bx 5. r"i bxi inrn-^ nbn r^x crix ex nx ircj nrir-a rh-j t iz-czi 'p g.
1 r=b?2n bD D 0313 r^irn bx -3-12T1 XTT'i u;x ex t nz'i-^ nbs nrsi t'x mx b: 7.
rn "orri u;x ex ^iz^ri nbn nix lip-^ bxi CX2-I nx nzr^a cb )z-' bx t nru; 8,
v-iv. -p nb -,=1 bxi -ispa "inx -bn cnx B;::"ipn oysun cj-^sdii CDnnn 9.
pb CDD by;i2 ^;x nbr nns"i rx xn tix ox nzbrn n^x cinis 10.
nix xri i"x ex T 2r"r^ ■n-an-o eix ex xn r[z]b-2^ vt n^xi t nbn 11. 1 -Jib ;r-."r eb ',=1 bx . . . t'-c'i-n nnn cina 'xni hv^h "12 12.
ZIDONIAN
109<
ZUvLAG
{\.) In the month of Bui, in the yenr 14 (XIV) of my reij^niiii:, [I,] kim: AshmMnezei-, kiiiir ol'ilie Ziiloiiiiins, (i) son of king Tahnitli, kini: of tlio Ziiloniiins: spake kiufr Ashmaiiezer, kiuj: of tlie Zidonians, sayini:, " I nave lieen stolen away (3) before my time— a son of the llood (?) of days. The" whilom Great is dnml) — the Son of (Jod is dead. And 1 rest in this grave, even in this tomb, (-1) in the place which I have built. >Iy ailjiiration to all the ruling powers and all men : Let no one open this resting- place, and (5> not search with ns for treasure, for there is no treasure with us; and /<■/ him not bear airaii the couch ofmij rext, and not trouble (0) us on this resting-place by disturbing the couch of my slumbers. Kven if people should persuade thee, do not listen to their speech. For all the ruling powers and (7) all men who should open the tomb of this my rest, or any man who slnuild carnj awaii the couch of mil rcM, or any man who troubles me or ("^) this my couch, unto them there shall be no rest with the departed; they shall not be buried in a grave, and there shall be to them neither son nor seed (It) in their stead, and the holy gods will send over them a mighty king who will rule over them, and (10) cut them off with their dy- nasty. If any human being should open this resting- {)lace, and any man should carry away (11) this tomb— be le of royal seed or a man of the people— there shall be nnto them neither root, below nor (V2) fruit above, uor honor among the living under the sun. . . ."