Image Details

The Kition plaque. This mid-fifth century B.C. limestone plaque was discovered in 1869 in Kition, Cyprus, once a great Phoenician port. Inscribed in black ink in Phoenician, both sides of the plaque list personnel associated with the temples of Astarte, the goddess of fertility, and the lesser-known plague and healing god Mukol. Included among the temple personnel listed are klbm (dogs) and grm, a much-disputed term. Author Stager believes the latter means puppies and argues that the Kition plaque provides an account contemporaneous to the Ashkelon dog cemetery of dogs and puppies employed in a Phoenician healing cult.