Abishemu obelisk

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Abishemu obelisk
The obelisk in its current location
MaterialLimestone
Size1.45 meters (1.25 meters above the plinth)
WritingEgyptian hieroglyphs
Createdc. 1800 BC
Discoveredc. 1950
Discovered byMaurice Dunand
Present locationNational Museum of Beirut
IdentificationDGA 17917

The Abishemu obelisk or the Abichemou obelisk is a 1.25 meter

Egyptian hieroglyphics. It was created c. 1800 BCE, and was unearthed in the 1950s by Maurice Dunand in the Temple of the Obelisks. It is the world's third-oldest obelisk
, and by far the oldest obelisk found outside Egypt.

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.

plinth at the bottom, a tapering shaft and with a pyramidion at the top.[4]

Inscription

The inscription close up

Transcribed:[4]

mry Ḥr-š·f ḥꜣty-ʻ n Kpny ʼb-šmw wḥm ʻnḫ

[...]f Kwkwn śꜣ Rwqq mꜣʻ ḫrw

Translated:[4]

Beloved of

Arsaphes
[also translated Herishef], Abishemu, prince of Byblos, renewed in life, his
..., Kukun, son of 'the Lycian' justified (i. e., deceased).

See also

Notes

  1. S2CID 161428632
    .
  2. .
  3. ^ Münnich 2013, p. 120-121.
  4. ^ a b c d Albright 1959, p. 33.

References

Editio princeps

  • Maurice Dunand, Fouilles de Byblos, volume 2, p. 878, no. 16980; and plate XXXII number 2

Secondary sources