Douïmès medallion

The Douïmès medallion is a small gold medallion found in 1894 in the Douïmès Necropolis of ancient Carthage. It is the oldest known Phoenician-Punic inscription found in North Africa.^[1] It has been described by Donald Harden as the “earliest Punic text at Carthage of any consequence - perhaps the earliest of all”.^[2] It is currently at the Carthage National Museum.

Createdc. 700 BC

Discovered1894
Tunisia

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Douïmès medallion
Carthaginian medallion from Lidzbarski's Handbuch der Nordsemitischen Epigraphik Table II (cropped)
Created	c. 700 BC
Discovered	1894 Tunisia

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The inscription, known as KAI 73, includes a reference to pgmlyn, understood as Pygmalion of Tyre, although scholars have "expressed disbelief" given the archaeological context. It has been assumed to have been produced earlier than its archaeological context.^[3]

The medallion's inscription reads:

(1)	L‘ŠTR-	To Astar-
(2)	-T LPGMLYN	-te (and) to Pygmalion,
(3)	YD‘MLK BN	YD‘MLK, son of
(4)	PDY ḤLṢ	Padi, delivers
(5)	’Š ḤLṢ	that which he delivers
(6)	PGMLYN	Pygmalion.