KAI 004

1 - זבני𐤟 : Z- is a proclitic relative pronoun found only in archaic Byblian royal inscriptions (Krahmalkov 2000, 166). 2 - הות : HWT is an oblique form of the 3ms pronoun. It has a parallel in Ugaritic. Krahmalkov observes that it may serve to emphasize the referent, though it does not appear at all in Tyro-Sidonian Phoenician(2000, 157). Gibson notes also how only HWˀ appears in Biblical Hebrew, but the Dead Sea Scrolls contain a longer HWˀH form (1982, 19). 2 - הבתמ: Gibson points this out as the earliest attestation for the definite article in Phoenician, used here when the noun is followed by a demonstrative. It does not also attach to the demonstrative, or appear on an adjective (KDŠM) with a definite noun in line 7 of this inscription. It is absent from ˀAḥiram 11441, the earliest of the Byblian royal inscriptions (1982, 19). 3 - ובעל : The T is missing for "Baˁalt of Byblos." Following Gibson here, that this is a mistake on the part of the mason and the letter was accidentally omitted. There is plenty of space at the end of the line for the T, which is clearly not written, but this brings it into line with deity name found in the royal inscriptions of ˀAbibaˁal (11445), ˀElibaˁal (11446), and Šipiṭbaˁal (11447) (1982, 18-19). 7 - קדשמ𐤟 הא: There seems to be just enough space for this restoration. I see the DŠM less confidently than Gibson, who marks them as uncertain and partially reconstructed. The Q is clear and traces of the D may be visible. The rest of the word is reconstructed from its appearance earlier in the inscription, and Gibson notes that Hˀ is reconstructed on the basis of a similar formula in the later Yeḥawmilk inscription (11450) from Byblos in line 9 (1982, 18-19).