Bodashtart inscriptions
[2] Subsequently, two series of inscriptions were found in the early 20th century at the Temple of Eshmun, near Sidon in Lebanon, immediately before and during the excavations there.
[16] This group of inscriptions, each with text similar to the others, was published together in the Répertoire d'Épigraphie Sémitique as RES 767.
[25] A fourth Bodashtart inscription, comprising eleven lines, was described by Paolo Xella and José-Ángel Zamora in 2004.
But Xella and Zamora succeeded in tracking down Chéhab's photographs, and they conclude that the inscription probably refers to the construction of a water channel to bring water from the Awali river to the Eshmun temple complex northeast of Sidon, with its ritual ablution basins.
It reads:[6] The chronology of Bodashtart's inscriptions and of his reign have been sketched by P. Xella and J.Á.
[30] In fact, they suggest that sources are now abundant enough that we may be on the threshold of being able to write Bodashtart's biography.
In the intervening five years Bodashtart had finished an extensive building program at the Eshmun temple, and probably also in the three urban districts mentioned in the inscription.
In this inscription Bodashtart for the first time mentions his son Yatonmilk, whom he explicitly calls a legitimate successor to the throne.
Face A: three blocks, each bearing an inscription, Together, they formed a stele about 2 x 1.5m, which gave the impression of the inscription continuing from one to the other. Upper stone (α) is AO 3553 (2 1/2 lines). Middle stone (β) is AO 3552 (4 1/2 lines). Lower stone (γ) is in two fragments (4 1/2 lines).
Face Β: Two inscriptions on two undivided blocks
Face C: One inscription (2 1/2 lines)
