Bodashtart

Bodashtart was a prolific builder, and his name is attested on some 30 eponymous inscriptions found at the Temple of Eshmun and elsewhere in the hinterland of the city of Sidon in Lebanon.

This inscription dates back to the first year of Bodashtart's accession to the throne of Sidon and commemorates the building of a temple to the goddess Astarte.

A comprehensive examination of the dates of the reigns of these Sidonian kings has been presented by the French historian Josette Elayi who shifted away from the use of biblical chronology.

Elayi used all the available documentation of the time and included inscribed Tyrian seals and stamps excavated by the Lebanese archaeologist Maurice Chehab in 1972 from Jal el-Bahr, a neighbourhood in the north of Tyre,[10][11][12][13][14] Phoenician inscriptions discovered by the French archaeologist Maurice Dunand in Sidon in 1965,[15] and the systematic study of Sidonian coins, which were the first dated coins in antiquity, bearing minting dates corresponding to the specific years of the reigns of the Sidonian kings.

The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) conquered the Lebanon mountain range and its coastal cities, including Sidon.

[28] During the first phase of Achaemenid rule, Sidon flourished and reclaimed its former standing as Phoenicia's chief city, and the Sidonian kings began an extensive program of mass-scale construction projects, as attested in the Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II and Bodashtart inscriptions.

[28][29][30] Bodashtart was a prolific builder who carved his eponymous inscriptions found at the Temple of Eshmun and elsewhere in the hinterland of the city of Sidon in Lebanon.

The KAI 16 inscriptions mention Bodashtart and his son Yatonmilk, emphasize the latter's legitimacy as heir,[note 2][29][37] and assign him a share of credit for the construction project.

[40] According to the American archaeologist and historian Charles Torrey and the Polish biblical scholar Józef Milik, the Bodashtart's KAI 15 inscriptions commemorate the building of the Eshmun temple and indicate the names of the quarters and territories of the Kingdom of Sidon.

[47] Another in situ inscription was recorded in the 1970s by Maurice Chéhab on the Bostrenos River bank 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) upstream from the Temple of Eshmun.

The inscription credits Bodashtart with the building water installations to supply the temple and dates the work to the seventh year of his reign, which indicates that he ruled for at least this length of time.

An image of symbols etched on three block of stones.
Three of the Bodashtart inscriptions , currently on display at the Louvre
A black and white image showing two metallic plaques bearing the images of multiple persons standing in line and holding a variety of objects.
Two bronze fragments from an Assyrian palace gate depicting the collection of tribute from the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon (859–824 BC). British Museum .
A wall made at its lower part of tightly packed white limestone stone blocks surmounted by a wall constructed of very large rusticated ashlar.
The ashlar podium at the Temple of Eshmun , Bustan el-Sheikh (near Sidon)
alt= Phoenician writing from right to left. First line reads: Mēm Lāmedh Kaph Bēth Dāleth ʼAyin Šin Tāw Rēš Tāw Nun Bēth Nun ṣādē Dāleth Qōph Yōdh Tāw Nun Mēm Lāmedh Kaph Mēm Lāmedh Kaph ṣādē Dāleth Nun Mēm. Second line reads: Bēth Nun Bēth Nun Mēm Lāmedh Kaph ʼĀleph Šin Mēm Nun ʼAyin Zayin Rēš Mēm Lāmedh Kaph ṣādē Dāleth Nun Mēm ʼĀleph Yōdh Tāw Hē Bēth Tāw Zayin. Third line reads: Bēth Nun Lāmedh ʼĀleph Lāmedh Yōdh Lāmedh ʼĀleph Šin Mēm Nun Šin Rēš Qōph Dāleth Šin
Phoenician inscription of King Bodashtart found on the Temple of Eshmun 's podium. Bustan el-Sheikh, Sidon , 6th century BC. [ 38 ] It belongs to the KAI 16 group of Bodashtart inscriptions that mention both the King and his heir Yatonmilk.