Tabnit sarcophagus
The Tabnit sarcophagus is the sarcophagus of the Phoenician King of Sidon Tabnit (ruled c. 549–539 BC), the father of King Eshmunazar II. It is decorated with two separate and unrelated inscriptions – one in Egyptian hieroglyphs and one in the Phoenician alphabet. The latter contains a curse for those who open the tomb, promising impotency and loss of an afterlife.
| Tabnit sarcophagus | |
|---|---|
The sarcophagus, Istanbul Archaeology Museums | |
| Material | Basalt |
| Writing | Phoenician |
| Created | c.500 BC |
| Discovered | 1887 |
| Present location | Istanbul Archaeology Museums |
It has been dated to early fifth century BC, and was unearthed in 1887 by Osman Hamdi Bey at the Royal necropolis of Ayaa east of Sidon together with the Alexander Sarcophagus and other related sarcophagi. Tabnit's body was found floating perfectly preserved in the original embalming fluid. Both the sarcophagus and Tabnit's decomposed skeleton are now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums.
The sarcophagus, together with the Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, were possibly acquired by the Sidonians following their participation in the Battle of Pelusium during the First Achaemenid conquest of Egypt, and served as models for later Phoenician sarcophagi. The Phoenician text is considered to have a "remarkable" similarity to that of the Shebna inscription from Jerusalem.