It was discovered by Robert Hamilton Lang in his excavations at the Temple of Idalium (modern Dali, Cyprus), whose work there had been inspired by the discovery of the Idalion Tablet in 1850.

[5] Lang wrote of his discovery:[6] The most valuable monument uncovered by my excavations is unquestionably the bilingual inscription in Cyprian and Phoenician, engraved on marble; an inscription which, I feel confident, will ultimately prove the means of enabling philologists to decipher the Cyprian alphabet ...

The bilingual inscription proves also that, the two alphabets, Phoenician and Cyprian, had a contemporaneous existence.It is currently in the archives of the British Museum, with identification number 125320.

Subsequently, Egyptologist Samuel Birch (1872), numismatist Johannes Brandis (1873), philologists Moritz Schmidt, Wilhelm Deecke, Justus Siegismund (1874) and dialectologist H. L. Ahrens (1876) all built on Smith's decipherment of the stone.

[8] ]]''𐠞𐠪𐠐𐠵𐠩pa-si-le-wo-se''𐠖𐠑𐠌𐠅𐠰𐠜𐠩mi-li-ki-ja-to-no-se''𐠋𐠯𐠃𐠚ke-ti-o-ne''𐠊𐠁𐠭𐠑𐠃𐠚ka-e-ta-li-o-ne''𐠞𐠪𐠐𐠄pa-si-le-u] ' 𐠞𐠪𐠐𐠵𐠩 ' 𐠖𐠑𐠌𐠅𐠰𐠜𐠩 ' 𐠋𐠯𐠃𐠚 ' 𐠊𐠁𐠭𐠑𐠃𐠚 ' 𐠞𐠪𐠐𐠄] ' pa-si-le-wo-se ' mi-li-ki-ja-to-no-se ' ke-ti-o-ne ' ka-e-ta-li-o-ne ' pa-si-le-u[In the fourth year] of King Milkyaton, reigning over Kition and Idalion,]𐠕𐠙𐠚]-me-na-ne''𐠰𐠟𐠞𐠕𐠦𐠚to-pe-pa-me-ro-ne''𐠚𐠵𐠫𐠭𐠭𐠩ne-wo-so-ta-ta-se''𐠰𐠙𐠯𐠥𐠅𐠭𐠚to-na-ti-ri-ja-ta-ne''𐠰𐠮𐠊𐠮𐠩𐠭𐠩to-te-ka-te-se-ta-se''𐠃𐠲𐠙𐠸o-wa-na-kse]𐠕𐠙𐠚 ' 𐠰𐠟𐠞𐠕𐠦𐠚 ' 𐠚𐠵𐠫𐠭𐠭𐠩 ' 𐠰𐠙𐠯𐠥𐠅𐠭𐠚 ' 𐠰𐠮𐠊𐠮𐠩𐠭𐠩 ' 𐠃𐠲𐠙𐠸]-me-na-ne ' to-pe-pa-me-ro-ne ' ne-wo-so-ta-ta-se ' to-na-ti-ri-ja-ta-ne ' to-te-ka-te-se-ta-se ' o-wa-na-kse[on the last (day)] of the period of five intercalary days, the prince]𐠃𐠀𐠠𐠯𐠖𐠑𐠍𐠚]-o-a-pi-ti-mi-li-ko-ne''𐠰𐠀𐠡𐠒𐠛to-a-po-lo-ni''𐠰𐠀𐠘𐠍𐠒𐠂to-a-mu-ko-lo-i''𐠀𐠡𐠂𐠵𐠂a-po-i-wo-i''𐠭𐠩ta-se''𐠁𐠄𐠍𐠏𐠩e-u-ko-la-se]𐠃𐠀𐠠𐠯𐠖𐠑𐠍𐠚 ' 𐠰𐠀𐠡𐠒𐠛 ' 𐠰𐠀𐠘𐠍𐠒𐠂 ' 𐠀𐠡𐠂𐠵𐠂 ' 𐠭𐠩 ' 𐠁𐠄𐠍𐠏𐠩]-o-a-pi-ti-mi-li-ko-ne ' to-a-po-lo-ni ' to-a-mu-ko-lo-i ' a-po-i-wo-i ' ta-se ' e-u-ko-la-se[Baalrom son o]f Abdimilk, has dedicated this statuette to Apollo Amyklos, from whom he has obtained the accomplishment of his wish.