Yatonmilk (, YTNMLK, Romanized also as Yatanmilk, Yaton Milk, Yatan-Milk) was a Phoenician

King of Sidon The King of Sidon was the ruler of Sidon, an ancient Phoenician city in what is now Lebanon. Scholars have pieced together the fragmented list from various archaeological finds since the 19th century. Egyptian period * c.1700s BC Zimrida * c. 13 ...

and a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

to the

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...

king of kings Darius I ( 515–486 BC).Elayi 2006, p.31

Epigraphic sources

Yatonmilk's name was attested on many building stone-incised dedications dubbed the

Bodashtart inscriptions The Bodashtart inscriptions are a well-known group of between 22–24 Phoenician inscriptions from the 6th century BC referring to King Bodashtart.Bordreuil, 1990, "L'exemple le plus impressionnant est certainement celui des nombreuses dedicaces de ...

that were found at the

Temple of Eshmun The Temple of Eshmun ( ar, معبد أشمون) is an ancient place of worship dedicated to Eshmun, the Phoenician god of healing. It is located near the Awali river, northeast of Sidon in southwestern Lebanon. The site was occupied from the ...

in the hinterland of the city of

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

in Lebanon. Despite being mentioned in the inscriptions, nothing is known about his reign due to the lack of further material or epigraphic evidence.Elayi 2018, p.234Kelly 1987, p.52 Bodashtart, Yatonmilk's father who is dubbed the 'builder king', carried out an extensive expansion and restoration project of the Temple of Eshmun; he left more than thirty dedicatory inscriptions at the temple site. The first phase of the works involved adding a second podium at the base of the temple.Elayi 2006, p.5 During this construction phase inscriptions were carved on the added podium's foundation stones around 530 BC, these inscriptions known as KAI 15, do not mention Yatonmilk.Elayi 2006, p.7Xella 2005, p.119 A second set of inscriptions (KAI 16) were placed on restoration ashlar stones; these stones mention Yatonmilk and emphasize his legitimacy as heir, associate him with the reign of his father,Elayi 2006, p.7Xella 2005, p.119 and assign a share of credit to Yatonmilk for the construction project.Halpern 2016, p.19 One example of the Bodashtart's inscriptions reads: "The king Bodashtart and his legitimate heir Yatonmilk, king of the Sidonians, grandson of king Eshmunazar, king of the Sidonians, built this temple to his god

Eshmun Eshmun (or Eshmoun, less accurately Esmun or Esmoun; phn, 𐤀𐤔𐤌𐤍 '; akk, 𒅀𒋢𒈬𒉡 ''Yasumunu'') was a Phoenician god of healing and the tutelary god of Sidon. History This god was known at least from the Iron Age period at ...

, the Sacred Prince".Xella 2005, p.121 Another translation reads: "King Bodashtort, and his pious son (or legitimate successor), Yatonmilk, king of the Sidonians, descendants (''bn bn)'' of King Eshmunazor, king of the Sidonians, this house he built to his god, to Eshmun, lord/god of the sanctuary."Halpern 2016, p.20 Some scholars misidentified Yatonmilk as the father of Bodashtart;Bordreuil 1990, p.496 this was successfully contested by later epigraphists.Elayi 2006, p.5,7Bonnet 1995, p.216

Etymology

The Latinized form Yatonmilk comes from the Phoenician 𐤉𐤕𐤍𐤌𐤋𐤊‎ (YTNMLK), meaning "the king gives" from 𐤉𐤕𐤍 (''Yaton'', "to give") and 𐤌𐤋𐤊 (''Milk'', "king").Guzzo 2015, p.338Benz 1972, p.329 Marvin Pope posited that the epithet ''mlk'' may be an abbreviation of the name of the Phoenician god Melkart (melk-qart) which means the king of the city.Pope 1955, p.25-27

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Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{Achaemenid rulers Kings of Sidon 6th-century BC rulers 6th-century BC Phoenician people Rulers in the Achaemenid Empire