Ma'sub inscription

The Ma'sub inscription is a Phoenician-language inscription found at Khirbet Ma'sub near Al-Bassa. The inscription is from 222/21 BC. Written in Phoenician script, it is also known as KAI 19.

Provenance

It is considered by the Louvre to originate from Umm al-Amad, Lebanon, around 6-7 km to the northwest of Kh. Ma'sub, on the basis of the reference to an Astarte temple in the inscription; such a temple has been excavated at the Lebanese site. This theory is contra the original provenance statement by Clermont-Ganneau and has also been recently contested by Friedman and Ecker, who see no reason to construe a new provenance and suggest that a second Astarte temple, a twin to the northern one from Umm al-Amad, was built at the southern entrance to the Ladder of Tyre pass, i.e. at or near Ma'sub, thus creating a ritual "bracket" for the pass. In Dunand and Duru's catalogue of Umm al-Amad inscriptions, it is number iv.

Inscription

The inscription is given as: