The mason offered the stones to the director of the museum, who immediately purchased them for ten francs.

The French newspapers announced that the text discovered was of such perfect preservation and of such length that no other Phoenician epigraphic monuments then known could compete in importance with this one.

The inscription reads:[7][8] The Marseille Tariff has often been compared with the Jewish rules for sacrifices as given in the Bible book Leviticus 1-7.

[12][13] As Van den Branden has said, "No one will deny that Israel in developing its religious cult has derived elements from Canaanite rites".

In the Leviticus rules, the provisions stating what is due to the priests make up only an extremely minor part (Leviticus 7:30-34), while its extensive subdivision into half a dozen religious categories of offences and corresponding offerings, is completely missing from the Marseille Tariff.

Also missing from the Marseille Tariff are meticulous regulations as to how the offerings shall be performed, as in Leviticus 6 and 7.