Masub inscription
The inscription at the Louvre
Created	221 BC in Umm al-Amad, Ptolemaic Kingdom
Discovered	1887 Northern Israel
Present location	The Louvre
Language	Phoenician

The Ma'sub inscription is a Phoenician-language inscription found at Khirbet Ma'sub (French: Masoub) near Al-Bassa. ^[1] The inscription is from 222/21 BC. ^{[2] [1]} Written in Phoenician script, ^[3] it is also known as KAI 19. ^[4]

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. ^{[2] [5]} 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. ^[2] In Dunand and Duru's catalogue of Umm al-Amad inscriptions, it is number iv. ^[6]

Inscription

The inscription is given as: ^{[7] [8]}

Notes

References

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