The Baal Lebanon inscription, known as KAI 31, is a Phoenician inscription found in Limassol, Cyprus in eight bronze fragments in the 1870s. At the time of their discovery, they were considered to be the second most important finds in Semitic palaeography after the Mesha stele.
It was purchased in 1874âÂÂ75 by a Limassol merchant named Laniti from a scrap metal dealer, who did not know of their previous provenance. A copy was passed to Julius Euting, and after Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau secured its acquisition by the Cabinet des Médailles, the inscription was published in full by Ernest Renan in 1877.
It is particularly notable for having mentioned Hiram II. It is the only Phoenician inscription to suggest a "colonial" system amongst the Phoenician domains.
Ernest Renan assigned each of the eight fragments of a letter to aid him in the reconstruction of the entire inscription: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H. In his opinion, the reconstructed inscription was sequenced E, F, A, B, C, D â he could not find a place for fragments G and H. The fragments are transcribed as the following:
Therefore, per Renan's reckoning (E+F+A+B+C+D), the inscription reads, "...and governor of Carthage, servant of Hiram, king of Sidonians, has dedicated to Ba'al-Lebanon, his Lord, good brass...", with fragments G and H having no certain placement within the overall structure.