A Building Inscription for the Blemmyan King Kabantia

Abstract

This article publishes a new Greek dedicatory inscription that was found during excavations in 2020 in the port city of Berenike on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. The dedication, which was carved above the entrance to a shrine, attests a previously unknown fifth-century Blemmyan king named Kabantia. It is the second such inscription referencing a Blemmyan king to be discovered in recent years in the so-called Northern Complex of the site. The other is a dedication found in 2019 that was made for the Blemmyan king Isemne. In addition to giving the text of the new inscription, the article describes its archeological and architectural context, as well as its importance to our understanding of Blemmyan rulers in Late Antiquity.