For the first time in over 240 years, two ancient pillars - which are to Phoenician script what the Rosetta Stone is to Egyptian hieroglyphics - have been reunited on Maltese soil.As the article notes, the pillars were also reunited in an exhibition in Abu Dhabi in 2023.The Cippi of Malta are two marble pillars from the second century BC, that are historically significant due to the bilingual Phoenician and Greek inscriptions carved into them.
These inscriptions tell the story of two brothers making a sacred offering to the Phoenician God Melqart. Importantly, they were instrumental in deciphering the Phoenician alphabet, a breakthrough French scholar Jean-Jacques Barthélemy achieved in 1758.
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For detailed accounts of the decipherment of Phoenician using the Cippi pillar inscriptions, see here. And see also here.
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