Byblos altar inscription
Phoenician inscription found in Byblos
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.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Byblos altar inscription” is phoenician inscription found in Byblos. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Byblos, altar and inscription, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “phoenician inscription found in Byblos” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 10, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q110555146. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1923 and 1924.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Byblos altar inscription”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Byblos altar inscription primary sources, Byblos altar inscription archive and Byblos research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Byblos altar inscription”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Byblos altar inscription” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.