In the 1920s, archaeologist Pierre Monte, who was conducting excavations at the site of the ancient city of Byblos, accidentally stumbled upon the richly decorated sarcophagus of King Ahiram. This find is recognized as invaluable by scientists around the world, and the inscription on its walls is a unique document. But with all this, it is still not possible to determine who King Ahiram himself was and when he lived.
Behind the Lebanese mountains, on a narrow strip of the Mediterranean coast, in ancient times there were large trading cities of the Phoenicians - Tire, Sidon, Byblos. All of them are repeatedly mentioned in the Bible. A small country located near the sea has left an indelible mark on the history of mankind. It is believed that it was the Phoenicians who invented the sound writing and the alphabet, they had the most advanced ships and the most courageous sailors. They were famous throughout the then world for the production of luxurious fabrics, and no one could learn the Phoenician secret of how to get such an amazing purple color. Historians discovered Phenicia in the middle of the 19th century, when Joseph Renan identified the ruins of ancient Byblos in the village of Jubeil.
Treasure in the mine
In the spring of 1923, after several years of relatively hopeless excavations in the residential areas of Jubeil, local residents, hired by him as excavators, came running to Monte. It was
early morning, barely dawn. The Arabs frantically gesticulated, grabbed the archaeologist by the sleeve and tried to take him somewhere by force. Sleepily, he barely realized that in the harbor, after a heavy night shower, a piece of the coast had collapsed and suddenly the entrance to the cave, which had long been hidden under the sand, opened. Monte did not yet know that the landslide occurred exactly on the site of the ancient city, the very Byblos, which the archaeologist was looking for and did not find, having dug up almost all the wastelands of Jubeil.
Archaeologists began to explore the cave and realized that it had a man-made character. And then the finds went. Nine tombs were found. The first four turned out to be empty - they were plundered in ancient times. One was robbed in 1851 by an unknown Englishman. But the rest of the burials survived. Of course, the sarcophagi of Byblos could not compare with the Egyptian burial chambers. Pharaohs were buried with much greater luxury. But here archaeologists have discovered amazingly beautiful obsidian vases, set in gold, silver, bronze and earthenware, silver mirrors, silver and gold jewelry. And also a golden shield, clearly presented by the Egyptians, since it had an image of a falcon and two portraits of the pharaoh in profile …
Promotional video:
One burial literally shook Monte. Firstly, it was a huge (2.3 meters long) sarcophagus. Secondly, it was all ornamented. It was supported by a composition of four lying lions, on whose backs a stone coffin rested. The four sides of the sarcophagus were entwined with a pattern of lotuses, and on each one depicted some kind of funeral scene. On one relief, a procession with gifts stretched to the royal throne, on the other, mourners raised their hands.
It was clear how it was possible to lower the sarcophagus into a deep 11-meter shaft: it was first cut in stone, and then covered with sand, on which the sarcophagus was installed. Then, little by little, they began to select the sand, until the stone coffin sank to the very bottom. And in the end they lowered the two-ton stone lid on the coffin.
On the lid, the relief depicted two men in the form of seated lions. According to scientists - the father and his son-heir. But the most surprising thing was that on the sarcophagus there was an inscription: “The tomb that Ittobal, son of Ahiram, king of Gval [Byblos], made for his father for his abode in eternity. And if any king or other ruler or any military leader attacks and opens the tomb, let his imperious scepter break, let his royal throne turn over, and let the world leave Gwal; as for him, let not even an inscription remain from him."
Ruler Byblos
Sarcophagus of King Ahiram The Bible mentions King Hiram (or Ahiram) the Great, who ruled over Tire and Byblos during the time of David and Solomon (X century BC). It is known that his father was Avibaal, that he ruled for 34 years and lived 53. During his reign, the Phoenician Tire reached its prime. The king built a lot - he erected the temples of Astarte and Melkart, installed golden columns in the temple of Zeus-Vaalsamid, erected a powerful bastion to protect Phenicia.
Although the biblical authors were not very fond of the pagan neighbors, they reported that this king sent his master builders to the court of David and a supply of cedar wood to build a palace in Jerusalem. This Akhiram pursued the same policy under Solomon. Tourists are shown today the tomb of Ahiram on the road from Tire to Cana. However, the biblical Hiram or Ahiram has nothing to do with the dead man from the sarcophagus.
Judging by the inscription on the sarcophagus, Ahiram's father was not a king by birth and, most likely, usurped power and seized the throne. Otherwise, according to the Phoenician tradition, it would have been written "Ahiram, son of such and such." Since the father's name had to be hidden, it means that something was wrong with him. And although his son was already a full-fledged heir in power, the ancient texts do not know the name of Ittoba (a) l. At the same time, the very existence of the sarcophagus proves the existence of both - father and son!
Scientists have come to the conclusion that one should not look for Ahiram in the Bible and identify him with King Hiram - too. Akhiram could live in a huge time interval - from the 13th to the 7th century BC. Such a spread is given by the artifacts found in the tomb. Moreover, next to the Phoenician products there are Egyptian things. And some artifacts directly copy Egyptian gizmos. At the same time, the Phoenician masters get confused in the correct spelling of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Among the finds are artifacts from Cyprus dating back to the 7th century BC, and artifacts from the Mycenaean culture dating from the 14th-13th centuries BC.
These oddities in the set of burial utensils are thought-provoking. Moreover, as it turned out, the sarcophagus was used a second time. Simply put, the first deceased was thrown out of it, the inscriptions were cleaned up - and King Ahiram was buried in a strange coffin. With Egyptian mourners, Egyptian lions, Egyptian lotuses and Egyptian griffins. How the kings of Byblos got the set of Egyptian coffins is unknown. But the kings of Byblos were definitely not Egyptians, although they were very dependent on Egypt for some time.
Humble your spirit
The only way to find the most reliable period of time was to study the inscription. Monte was sure that he had discovered the most ancient inscription, not just made in Phoenician sound writing, but in general one in which letters correspond to sounds. He dated the inscription to the XIII-XI centuries BC. This dating found both many adherents and many opponents. The most radical ones shifted it to the upper limit of the dating of artifacts. But everyone noted that the style does not correspond to the deep archaic, and of the 22 letters of the Phoenician alphabet, 19 have a traditional look, which cannot be if the inscription is so old.
You can, of course, try to clarify at least the lifetime of the first owner of the coffin, but the erased inscription is practically unreadable. Moreover, it interferes with the correct reading of the text applied at Ittoba (a) le. Most researchers share the opinion of Charles Torrey, who dated the text on the sarcophagus to the 10th century BC. But then again the question arises whether the sarcophagus belonged to Ahiram the Great! There is something to despair of!
A close study of the tomb brought an unexpected discovery. On the southern wall, exactly half the distance from the surface of the cave to the bottom of the mine, archaeologists saw another inscription made at the same time as the inscription on the sarcophagus (the same slope and outline of letters). The caption read: "Regarding knowledge: humble your spirit (yourself) here and now, in this dungeon."
Experts also recommend breaking the text on the sarcophagus into two parts. The upper part indicates the name of the deceased and the one who sent him on his last journey: "This coffin was made by Ittoba (a) l, the son of Ahiram, king of Byblos, for Ahiram, his father, and here he laid it in solitude."
The lower part is the standard formula for cursing those who disturb the dead. If we exclude the ritual formula on the wall and the protective one on the lid of the sarcophagus, then only a cursory mention will remain of King Ahiram - he was the king of Byblos and the father of Ittoba (a) la. Nothing else is known about him!
Nikolay KOTOMKIN