The Kilamuwa Stela is a 9th century BC stele

Stele

A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...

 of King Kilamuwa, from the Kingdom of Sam'al. He claims to have succeeded where his ancestors had failed, in providing for his kingdom.

The Kilamuwa Stele was discovered by German archaeologist at the end of the nineteenth century and is located in the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin

Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin

The Vorderasiatisches Museum is an archaeological museum in Berlin. It is in the basement of the south wing of the Pergamon museum and has one of the world's largest collections of Southwest Asian art. 14 halls distributed across 2000 square meters of exhibition surface display southwest Asian...

.

Description of the stele

The stele is a 16-line text in Phoenician. King Kilamuwa is shown standing on the upper left and addressing four god-insignias-(Canaanite

Canaanite religion

Canaanite religion is the name for the group of Ancient Semitic religions practiced by the Canaanites living in the ancient Levant from at least the early Bronze Age through the first centuries of the Common Era....

 gods) with his right arm and finger. His left hand is draped at his left side holding a wilted lotus flower

Lotus (plant)

Lotus identifies various plant taxa:* Nelumbo, a genus of aquatic plants with showy flowers** Nelumbo nucifera, the Sacred or Indian lotus** Nelumbo lutea, the American or Yellow lotus...

, a symbol of a king's death. He is dressed in king's regalia with hat, and his figure stands at the beginning of the first nine lines of the text.

Translation

The translation of the stele:

"I am Kilamuwa, the son of King Haya'. King Gabar reigned over Ya'diya-(Sam'al

Sam'al

Sam'al was a Hittite and Aramaean city located at Zincirli Höyük in the Anti-Taurus Mountains of modern Turkey's Gaziantep Province.-History:thumb|200px|right|Historical map of the Neo-Hittite states, ca...

) but achieved nothing.

Then came Bamah, and he achieved nothing.

My own father, Haya', did nothing with his reign.

My brother, Sha'il, also did nothing.

It was I, Kilamuwa...who managed to do what none of my ancestors had.

My father's kingdom was beset by powerful, predatory kings, all holding out their hands, demanding to be fed.

But I raged amongst them like a fire, burning their beards and consuming their outstretched hands.

Only the Danunian kings overmastered me; I had to call on the King of Assyria to assist me...

I, Kilamuwa, the son of Haya', ascended my father's throne.

Under their previous kings, the [people] had howled like dogs.

But I was a father, a mother and a brother to them.

I gave gold, silver and cattle to men who had never so much as seen the face of a sheep before.

Those who had never even seen linen all their lives I clothed in byssus

Byssus

Byssus means both a silky filament by which certain molluscs attach themselves to hard surfaces, and a rare fabric, also called sea silk and its fibre source.-Word:...

-cloth from head to foot.

I took the [people] by the hand and in their souls they looked to me just as the orphan looks to his mother."

"Whoever of my sons comes after me and interferes with this inscription, may he be dishonoured among the people...

And if anyone should damage this inscription,

Let Gabar's god Ba'al-Samad destroy his head,

And let Bamah's god Ba'al Hamon destroy his head..."

Together with Reχub-ʾEl, the Lord of the Palace.

External links

• Photo of stele-(close-up of king and insignias); (translated from Italian)