Abischemu

Abischemu in hieroglyphics
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Abischemu was a king of Byblos who lived around 1800 BC. Ruled.

Abischemu is best known from his grave (No. I) in the royal necropolis of Byblos. The grave was found largely untouched and still contained a number of valuable objects. The ruler's large undecorated sarcophagus , which was carved from white limestone , stood in the burial chamber . Various additions were arranged around the sarcophagus, including mainly clay vessels. In the sarcophagus there were other additions, including gold-plated weapons and jewelry and a partly gold-plated obsidian vase with the name of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenemhet III. A silver vessel may come from the Aegean region. There were no more remains of the corpse.

The name of the ruler was not found directly in the grave, but appears in the adjacent grave of his son and successor Ipschemuabi, which is connected to it by a passage . Here he bears the Egyptian title ḥ3.tj-ˁ - Mayor . Through the additions Abischemu is a contemporary of Amenemhet III. datable. Its rich tomb decorations show strong Egyptian influence and testify to the close ties between Byblos and Egypt at that time, which can also be seen from the fact that byblos was using the Egyptian script at that time . He is also known from an Egyptian seal on which he bears the title of Mayor of Byblos .

See also: List of the kings of Byblos

literature

• Geoffery T. Martin: Egyptian Administrative and Private Name Seals. Oxford 1971, p. 14, no.105 (the seal)
• Pierre Montet: Byblos et l'Egypte, Quatre Campagnes des Fouilles 1921–1924. Paris 1928 (reprint Beirut 1998: ISBN 2-913330-02-2 ): 143-148, 155-204