Building of the temple of Eshmoun by King Eshmunazar II and his mother, Queen Regent Amashtart

« Moi, Eshmounazor, roi des Sidoniens, et ma mère, Amashtart, prêtresse d'Ashtart, notre maîtresse, la reine fille du roi Eshmounazor, roi des Sidoniens, nous avons construit les temples des dieux, le temple d'Ashtart dans la Sidon maritime [...] et c'est nous qui avons construit un temple pour l'Eshmoun du territoire sacré de la source YDLL sur la colline. »

1. In the month of Bul, in the fourteenth year of the royalty of King Eshmunazar, King of the two Sidons,

2. son of King Tabnit, King of the two Sidons, King Eshmunazar, King of the two Sidons, said as follows: I am carried away,

3. before my time, the son of (few) days, an orphan, the son of a widow. And I am lying in this coffin, and in this tomb,

4. in the place which I have built. Whoever you are, of royal race or an ordinary man, may he not open this resting-place, and

5. may he not search after anything, for nothing whatsoever has been placed into it. May he not move the coffin in which I am resting, nor carry

6. me away from this resting-place to another resting-place. Whatever a man may tell thee, do not listen to him: For every royal race and

7. every ordinary man, who will open this resting-place or who will carry away the coffin where I repose, or who will carry me

8. away from this resting-place: may they not have any funeral couch with the shades (the Rephaïm), may they not be buried in a grave, and may there not be a son or offspring

9. to succeed to them, and may the sacred gods abandon them to a mighty ruler who (might) rule them, in order

10. to exterminate that royal race or man who will open this resting-place or who will take away

11. this coffin, and also the offspring of this royal race, or of that ordinary man. There shall be to them no root below, nor

12. fruit above, nor living form under the sun. For I am carried away, before my time, the son of

13. (few) days, an orphan, the son of a widow. For I, Eshmunazar, King of the two Sidons, son of

14. King Tabnit, King of the two Sidons, the grandson of King Eshmunazar, King of the two Sidons, And my mother Amoashtart,

15. the Priestess of Astarte, our mistress, the Queen, the daughter of King Eshmunazar, King of the two Sidons: It is we who have built the temple of

16. the gods, and the temple of Astaroth, on the seaside Sidon,[nb 3] and have placed there (the image of) Astaroth in Shamem-Addirim. And it is we

17. who have built a temple for Eshmun, the holy prince, at the purpleshells N'yddl River on the mountain, and have established him in Shamem-Addirim. And it is we who have built the temples

18. for the gods of the two Sidons, in the seaside Sidon, tile temple of Baal-Sidon and the temple of Ashtart-Shem-Baal. Moreover, the Lord of Kings[nb 4] gave us

19. Dor and Joppa, the mighty lands of Dagon, which are in tile plain of Sharon, in accordance with the important deeds which I did. And we annexed them

20. to the boundary of the land, that they would belong to the two Sidons for ever. Whoever you are, of royal race or ordinary man, may he not open it

21. and may he not uncover me and may he not carry me away from this resting-place. Otherwise,

22. the sacred gods shall abandon them and exterminate this royal race and this ordinary man and their offspring for ever.

Translation based on the translation of Julius Oppert, amended with the help of a more recent translation in Prichard & Fleming as quoted in Wikipedia.