Ahiram Sarcophagus Inscription

commissioned by King Ittobaal for his father Ahiram · c. 1000 BC (contested; the inscription itself is usually placed in the 11th-9th century BC - proposals reaching the 13th century BC apply to the sarcophagus as an object, not to the text) · Byblos (Lebanon) · other

One of the earliest substantial inscriptions in the Phoenician alphabet survives as a curse protecting a king's tomb from removal or erasure, rather than as a trade record or building dedication.