Abishemu obelisk


The Abishemu obelisk or the Abichemou obelisk is a 1.25 meter limestone obelisk dedicated to the Phoenician king Abishemu I of Byblos. The obelisk is decorated with two lines of inscriptions in Egyptian hieroglyphics. It was created in c.1800 BCE, and was unearthed in the 1950s by Maurice Dunand in the Temple of the Obelisks.
Although only approximately a dozen words long, the obelisk contains:
The obelisk is the only example of a complete obelisk with a true pyramidion found in the Temple of the Obelisks; most of the others were rough steles. It consists of a square plinth at the bottom, a tapering shaft and with a pyramidion at the top.

Inscription

Transcribed:

mry Ḥr-š·f ḥ:ty-' n Kpny 'b-šmw wḥm 'nḥ
...f Kwkwn ś: Rwqq m:' ḥrw

Translated:

Beloved of Arsaphes , Abishemu, prince of Byblos, renewed in life, his
..., Kukun, son of 'the Lycian' justified.

Edition princeps