Funerary plaque with bilingual inscription, Greek and Phoenician

A bilingual Phoenician-Greek inscription, dating from the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, tells the story of contacts and exchanges between Greeks and Phoenicians around the Mediterranean. This inscription marked the tomb of Heracleides/Abdelmelqart, a Phoenician merchant who lived in the Greek island of Rhodes. Heracleides was from Kition, the biggest Phoenician town in Cyprus. The Greek text mentions the name and origin of the merchant, while the Phoenician text mentions his name and those of his father, Abdsasom, and his grandfather, Tgnṣ̌. More than a personal history, this inscription provides a record of a very important ancient usage, namely the translation of divine names, which is at the heart of Greco-Roman polytheism. Since the god of Tyre, Melqart, is identified in the Greek world with Heracles, the Phoenician name for the deceased Abdelmelqart (which translates to ’servant of Melqart’) is not transliterated, but is appropriately translated as Heracleides (meaning ‘descendant of Heracles’).

Inscription ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΔΗΣ ΚΙΤΙΕΥΣ Translation: Herakleides from Kition