Phoenician inscriptions discovered in Cyprus in 1879
The Kition Tariffs are two important Phoenician inscriptions found in Kition (Larnaka), Cyprus in 1879.[1][2] The longer of the two has been described as "Among the longest and most important Phoenician inscriptions from Cyprus".[3]
Discovery
They were excavated in 1879 from a mound known as the Bamboula, by a team led by Lieutenant Hugh Montgomery Sinclair (1855 – 1927) of the Royal Engineers. They were presented to the British Museum in 1880, where they remain on display.[4]
Sinclair was assisted in his works by Demetrios Pieridis; Sinclair's 5 July 1879 report described: "2 Phoenician inscriptions have been found written in some sort of paint on stone & being (according to Mr. Pierides) accounts of wages."[4] The finds were brought to the attention of the British Museum in 1880 in a report from Charles Thomas Newton, forwarding a letter from Charles Abbott, 3rd Baron Tenterden on behalf of Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville. Newton's report stated:[5]
Near Larnaka is a mound of rubbish close to a stagnant pool of salt water which is believed to be the site of the ancient harbour of Kition. This stagnant pool, which contributed to the unhealthiness of Larnaka during the summer months, has been filled up by levelling the mound of rubbish under the direction of Lieut. Sinclair R.E. whose report of these operations is enclosed herewith. Irregular foundation walls of various epochs were discovered in the mound which are shown in the tracing annexed to Lieut. Sinclair's Report... Among the antiquities found here the most interesting are two pieces of calcareous stone on one of which are 17 lines of Phoenician inscription on one side and 12 lines in the same character written in black.
^ abKrahmalkov, Charles R. (2000). Phoenician-Punic Dictionary. Leuven: Peeters / Departement Oosterse Studies. ISBN90-429-0770-3.
^Schmitz, Philip C. “The Spr š Lḥ ‘Tablet Scribe’ at Phoenician Kition (‘CIS’ I 86 A 14).” Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 129, no. 3, 2009, pp. 499–501. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20789425. Accessed 2 Jun. 2022.