And for this cause has the Lord of Kings given us Dor and Joppa, and the fertile cornlands which are in the plains of Sharon, as a reward for the great things which I have done, and added them to the boundaries of the land, that they may belong to the Sidonians for ever.
I adjure every royal personage, and every man whatsoever, that they open not this my chamber, nor empty my chamber, nor build aught over this my chamber, nor remove the coffin from this my chamber, lest the Holy Gods deliver them up, and destroy the royal personage, or the men [who shall do so], and their offspring for ever."[1320] The inscription on the tomb of Tabnit, Esmunazar's father, found near Beyrout in 1886, is shorter, but nearly to the same effect.

It has been thus translated:--"I, Tabnit, priest of Ashtoreth, and king of Sidon, lying in this tomb, say--I adjure every man, when thou shalt come upon this sepulchre, open not my chamber, and trouble me not, for there is not with me aught of silver, nor is there with me aught of gold, there is not with me anything whatever of spoil, but only I myself who lie in this sepulchre.

Open not my chamber, and trouble me not; for it would be an abomination in the sight of Ashtoreth to do such an act.

And if thou shouldest open my chamber, and trouble me, mayest thou have no posterity all thy life under the sun, and no resting-place with the departed."[1321] A stele of a Byblian king, Jehavmelek, probably somewhat more ancient than these,[1322] bears an inscription of a different kind, since it is attached to a votive offering and not to a sepulchre.

The king represents himself in a bas-relief as making an offering to Beltis or Ashtoreth, and then appends an epigraph, which runs to fifteen long lines,[1323] and is to the following effect:--"I am Jehavmelek, king of Gebal, the son of Jahar-baal, and the grandson of Adom-melek, king of Gebal, whom lady Beltis of Gebal has made king of Gebal; and I invoke my lady Beltis of Gebal, because she has heard my voice.