Egyptian inscriptions Three
Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions are known, all of which bear the
cartouche of
Ramses II. This was first identified by
Karl Richard Lepsius. At least one of these is thought to have been placed during the Pharaoh's first campaign in the Levant, and set the
Nahr al-Kalb as the border between
Egypt's province of
Canaan and the possessions of the
Hittites. Scholars such as
Edward Robinson connected the Ramses II inscriptions to
Sesostris, the Egyptian Pharaoh mentioned by
Herodotus, in reference to Herodotus's note that "The pillars which Sesostris of Egypt set up in the various countries are for the most part no longer to be seen extant; but in Syria Palestine I myself saw them existing with the inscription upon them which I have mentioned and the emblem." Currently, only two Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions remain; the third (shown on the left) was remodified by
Napoleon III when he visited the site, with the original text wiped out and written over in French. The two other inscriptions, however, are so damaged that only the outlines of
Ramesses II smiting an unknown enemy, presumably a
Hittite, can be seen, along with an Egyptian god standing beside him. In one stelae, a god with a round disk on his head,
Horus, stands next to
Ramesses II and in the other stelae,
Amun-Re stands beside
Ramesses II. The inscriptions written from top to bottom on both the left and right side of the stelae in the image on the right are exact copies of each other, with both being translated as follows:
ḥr.w kꜢ-nḫt mri.y Mꜣꜥ.t Horus Name: The Strong Bull, Beloved of
Maat,
nsw.bꞽ.ty nb tꜣ.wy Wsr-Mꜣꜥt-Rꜥ.w stp n(.y) Rꜥ.w King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands, User-maat-re (
Ramesses II), chosen of
Ra,
sꜣ Rꜥ.w nb ḫꜥ.w Rꜥ.w-msꞽ-s mrꞽ.y Ꞽmn.w ḏꞽ ꜥnḫ mꞽ Rꜥ.w Son of
Ra, Lord of Appearances:
Ramesses II Mery Amun (Beloved of
Amun), given life like Ra.
Assyrian and Babylonian inscriptions and
Esarhaddon. Six
cuneiform Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian inscriptions are known. The Esarhaddon stele refers to
Esarhaddon's seizure of
Memphis from Egyptian Pharaoh
Taharqa in 671 BC. The passage is badly damaged, but is understood to include reference to the cities of
Ashkelon and
Tyre, as well as
Taharqa and 22
vassal kings. One inscription is attributed to
Nebuchadnezzar II. A
plaster cast of one of the Assyrian inscriptions became the first relic of the ancient Assyrian empire to be brought to the
United Kingdom, having been prepared by
Joseph Bonomi the Younger in 1834.
Classical antiquity inscriptions A number of
Greco-Roman inscriptions were carved at the site. The most significant of these is attributed to the
Legio III Gallica of Roman Emperor
Caracalla (211–217 AD), who was of
Punic and
Syrian descent and whose official name was "Marcus Aurelius Septimius Bassianus Antoninus". The inscription is related to the road his forces built at the site. The inscription includes the words "Lyco Flumen", which provided scholars such as
Edward Robinson to conclude that the Nahr el-Kalb was the ancient Lycus river. Two of the inscriptions are in Greek, one of which still can be read as commemorating road or engineering work left by
Proclus, Byzantine governor of Phoenicia in 382 AD in the
4th century in Lebanon under
Theodosius I (379–395 AD).
Colonial inscriptions The first colonial memorial is dedicated to
Napoleon III's
1860–61 intervention in Lebanon.
Lebanese inscription In 1946, a monument was erected in celebration of the
independence of Lebanon from France, which came in 1943. ==UNESCO Memory of the World==