The sarcophagus was found following a landslide in the cliffs surrounding Byblos (in now modern-day Lebanon) in late 1923, which revealed a number of Phoenician royal tombs.

[6] Its low relief carved panels make it "the major artistic document for the Early Iron Age" in Phoenicia.

[15][16] Arguments for a mid-9th to 8th century BC date for the sarcophagus reliefs themselves—and hence the inscription, too—were made on the basis of comparative art history and archaeology by Edith Porada,;[17] and on the basis of paleography among other points by Ronald Wallenfels,[18] An inscription of 38 words is found on parts of the rim and the lid of the sarcophagus.

[25]) The formulas of the inscription were immediately recognised as literary in nature, and the assured cutting of the archaic letters suggested to Charles Torrey[5] a form of writing already in common use.

Halfway down the burial shaft another short inscription was found incised at the southern wall, the Byblos Necropolis graffito.

The three-line graffito reads:[26] It is usually interpreted as a warning not to proceed further:[27][28] Recently it has been proposed that it is part of some initiation ritual which remains unknown in detail:[29] Concerning knowledge: here and now be humble (you yourself!)

It is said that he was succeeded by his son Ithobaal I who is the first to be explicitly entitled King of Byblos,[30] which is due to an old misreading of a text lacuna.