So Called Yehimilk of Byblos Stone 850 BCE

For translation methodology see: How to Translate Alphabetic Akkadian Texts

So Called Yehimilk of Byblos Stone Blames Astrological Powers for 850 Elijah Drought.

(December 18, 2023) The Yehimilk inscription (KAI 4 or TSSI III 6) was found in Byblos in what is now Lebanon. Its letter style is typical of the 850 BCE Levant. It is now in the museum of Byblos Castle. It was first published but not fully translated in Maurice Dunand's Excavations of Byblos  (volume I, 1926–1932). It's language is Akkadian and it reads:

  1. The zodiac-houses'  |  emanations are not good.  |  Yahu's  fertility-fluids are weak.  |  Fertility-fluids are lacking involvement with life-manifestations.  |  Nourishment's are lacking.
  2. Revealing that is astrology-magic  |  Hu is dead.  |  Emotional-Constraints on fertility-fluids split-off the openings.  |  The sky-shell is life-cursed.
  3. Are we not lacking?  |  Energize  life-priest involvement.  |  The nest (life-network) is lacking.  |  Activate the fertility-fluids.  |  Waters of the nest are lacking
  4. Nourishments are lacking.  |  Make rainstorms from the openings. |  Hu's  setting (of the network at sunset) is lacking.  |  Alu  can activate the nourishments which are lacking.
  5. The life-threads manifesting dehydration  |  are being emotionally-triggered by  astrology-powers.  |  Ejection of fertility-fluids is lacking.  |  Involvement and activity can be  nourished the pasture (night sky full of stars)
  6. Expulsions of nourishments are lacking.  |  The involvement of fertility-fluids is weak  |  Astrology-magic is confirmed  |  Rain-storms are lacking involvement
  7. [word]  life-powers  |  Life-manifestations  can be opened by declining  to nourish the herd (of stars).

Reference


Dunand, Maurice (1930) NOUVELLE INSCRIPTION PHÉNICIENNE ARCHAIQUE Revue Biblique (1892-1940) Vol. 39, No. 3 (1er JUILLET 1930), pp. 321-331 (12 pages). Online at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44102431
Dunand, Maurice (1926-1932)   Fouilles de Byblos (volume I, 1926–1932. Online at: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9107356n/f65.item#

Yehimilk Phoenician Inscription in the Byblos Castle Museum. From Wikimedia Commons at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yehimilk_Phoenician_Inscription_in_the_Byblos_Castle_Museum.png#mw-jump-to-license

As copied from page 71 of Maurice Dunand (1926-1932)   Fouilles de Byblos (volume I, 1926–1932. Online at: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9107356n/f65.item#. 

Translation in Akkadian

(December 18, 2023)  Short vertical lines in the text are phrase dividers.

Translation of Lines 1 and 2 in Akkadian (Lev Text 66)

(read left to right. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Vowels are italic bold) 
  1. BeTu  |   Zu  BaNu  Ya  |  YaḪu  Mu  LaKu  |  Mu  Lu  Ku  Du  |  Bu  Lu (Lev 66.1)
  2. Nu  A  Tu  |  Ḫu  UGu  |  KaLu  Mu  Pu  LaTu  |  EBu  TaMu (Lev 66.2)
(Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration)

In English

  1. The zodiac-houses'  |  emanations are not good.  |  Yahu's  fertility-fluids are weak.  |  Fertility-fluids are lacking involvement with manifestations.  |  Nourishment's are lacking.
  2. Revealing that is astrology-magic  |  Hu is dead.  |  Emotional-Constraints on fertility-fluids split-off the openings.  |  The sky-shell  is life-cursed

(December 18, 2023)  Short vertical lines in the text are phrase dividers.

Translation of Lines 3 and 4 in Akkadian (Lev Text 66)

(read left to right. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Vowels are italic bold) 
  1. Yu  Lu  |  Gi  ABu  Ku  |  Ba'u  Lu  |  Ṣu  Mu  |  MaWu  Ba'u  Lu (Lev 66.3)
  2. Bu  Lu  |  UMu  Pu.  |  Ḫu  ReTu  Lu  |  ALu  Ṣu  BeLu (Lev 66.4)
(Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration)

In English

  1. Are we not lacking?  |  Energize  life-priest involvement.  |  The nest (life-network) is lacking.  |  Activate the fertility-fluids.  |  Waters of the nest are lacking
  2. Nourishments are lacking.  |  Make stormy the openings. |  Hu's  setting (of the network at sunset) is lacking.  |  Alu  can activate the nourishments which are lacking.

(December 19, 2023)  Short vertical lines in the text are phrase dividers.

Translation of Lines 5 and 6 in Akkadian (Lev Text 66)

(read left to right. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Vowels are italic bold) 
  1. Qu  Du  ṢaMu  |   IMu  Tu  |  ḪaḪu  Mu  Lu  |  Ku  U  Ṣu  Bu  TaWu (Lev 66.5)
  2. ' Ṣu  Bu  Lu  |  Ku  Mu  LaKu  |  Tu  DuQu  |  UMu  Lu  Ku (Lev 66.6)
(Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration)

In English

  1. Life-threads manifesting  dehydration  |  are being emotionally-triggered by  astrology-powers.  |  Ejection of fertility-fluids is lacking.  |  Involvement and activity can be  nourished the pasture (night sky full of stars)
  2. Expulsions of nourishments are lacking.  |  The involvement of fertility-fluids is weak  |  Astrology-magic is confirmed  |  Rain-storms are lacking involvement

(December 19, 2023)  Short vertical lines in the text are phrase dividers.

Translation of Line 7 in Akkadian (Lev Text 66)

(read left to right. Capital letters on object. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Vowels are italic bold) 
  1. [word]  ṢeRu  |  Du  Pu  ŠaṢu  Bu  IQu (Lev 66.7)
(Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration)

In English

  1. [word]  life-powers  |  Life-manifestations  can be opened by declining  to nourish the herd (of stars).

A simple inspection of the translation with the claimed letters shows this is a fake translation.

Previous Translation Attempt

The Yehimilk inscription was claimed to be a unique language of Old Byblian, an early Phoenician dialect used primarily in the city of Byblos. This claim allowed them to invent a translation which has no consistency with any other translation. Also notice that sentences overlap the individual lines which is normally not seen in accurate translations.

The previous translations use Hebrew derived word meanings. Here is the first one by Maurice Dunand (1930) who merges the lines into one paragraph.

In French:

Finalement, voici la traduction que nous proposons pour l'ensemble du texte :

In English

Finally, here is the translation we propose for the whole of the text: 

Here is a recent one copied from Wikipedia but originally in Donner 2002. He also combines some lines instead of keeping them separate:


(1) BT  Z  BNY  YḤMLK  MLK  GBL[This is] the temple that he has built, Yehimilk, king of Byblos.
(2-3) H’T  ḤWY  KL  MPLT  HBTM  /  ’LIt was he who restored all these ruins of temples.
(3-4) Y’RK  B‘L-ŠMM  WB‘L(T)  /  GBLMay they [the gods] prolong —Baalsamem, and Ba'al(at) Gebal,
(4-5) WMPḤRT  ’L  GBL  /  QDŠM and the assembly of the holy gods of Byblos—
(5-6)  YMT  YḤMLK  WŠNTW  /  ‘L  GBL [may these gods prolong] Yehimilk's days and his years over Byblos,
(6-7)  K  MLK  ṢDQ  WMLK  /  YŠR because [he is] a just king and a righteous king
(7) LPN  ’L  GBL  QDŠM  [H’]  before the holy gods of Byblos, he.

References

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehimilk_inscription
Donner, Herbert; Rölig, Wolfgang (2002). Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften (5 ed.). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. p. I, 1.
Dunand, Maurice (1930) NOUVELLE INSCRIPTION PHÉNICIENNE ARCHAIQUE Revue Biblique (1892-1940) Vol. 39, No. 3 (1er JUILLET 1930), pp. 321-331 (12 pages). Online at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44102431

As copied from page 71 of  Maurice Dunand (1926-1932)  Fouilles de Byblos (volume I, 1926–1932. This is on the same page as the Yehimilk inscription. Online at: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9107356n/f65.item#. 

While some letters can be identified some better images are needed to bring out enough letters for a translation. The letter syle is mostly Aegean Island dating it to around 500 BCE.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byblos_bronze_spatulas

Levant Letter Style 850 BCE

Just need a better picture to do a good translation.
From page 73 of Dunand, Maurice (1926-1932)   Fouilles de Byblos (volume I, 1926–1932. Online at: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9107356n/f65.item#

Levant Letter Style 850 BCE

This side looks like it was used to practice carving letters.
From page 73 ofDunand, Maurice (1926-1932)   Fouilles de Byblos (volume I, 1926–1932. Online at: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9107356n/f65.item#

Aegean Island Letter Style to around 500 BCE

Just need a better picture to do a good translation.
From page 73 ofDunand, Maurice (1926-1932)   Fouilles de Byblos (volume I, 1926–1932. Online at: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9107356n/f65.item#

Aegean Island Letter Style to around 500 BCE

Just need a better picture to do a good translation.
From page 73 ofDunand, Maurice (1926-1932)   Fouilles de Byblos (volume I, 1926–1932. Online at: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9107356n/f65.item#