Why was this text written in the Phoenician alphabet? By the way, what is the language of the text -- Phoenician, Hebrew, or something else?
Why was this text written in the Phoenician alphabet? By the way, what is the language of the text -- Phoenician, Hebrew, or something else? If you read the accounts of the construction of the temple in both I Kiings and II Chronicles, you will note the critical role King Hiram's Phoenicians played in its contsruction. He lent artisans (particularly stonemasons and woodworkers (Phoenicia had many shipwrights)) and provided much of the material, particularly Lebanese Cedar.
KI1 5:6 Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians. CH2 2:8 Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,
The cedar can't be replicated BTW, there are only 370 of those old growth trees left.