Work on the cippi now focused on a fuller understanding of Phoenician grammar, as well as the implications of the discovery of Phoenician texts in Malta.
Johann Joachim Bellermann believed that the Maltese language was a distant descendant of Punic.
 This was refuted by Wilhelm Gesenius, who like Abela before him, held that Maltese was a dialect of Arabic.
Further studies on the Melitensis prima text followed developments in the study of Phoenician grammar, comparing Punic specimens closely with Hebrew texts.
In 1772, Francisco Pérez Bayer published a book detailing the previous attempts at understanding the text, and provided his own interpretation and translation.

In 1782, Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, Grand Master of the Order of Malta, presented one of the cippi to Louis XVI.
The cippus was placed at the Académie des Inscriptions et des Belles Lettres, and then moved to the Bibliothèque Mazarine between 1792 and 1796.
  In 1864, the orientalist Silvestre de Sacy, suggested that the French cippus should be moved to the Louvre.
Work on the cippi now focused on a fuller understanding of Phoenician grammar, as well as the implications of the discovery of Phoenician texts in Malta. Johann Joachim Bellermann believed that the Maltese language was a distant descendant of Punic.  This was refuted by Wilhelm Gesenius, who like Abela before him, held that Maltese was a dialect of Arabic. Further studies on the Melitensis prima text followed developments in the study of Phoenician grammar, comparing Punic specimens closely with Hebrew texts. In 1772, Francisco Pérez Bayer published a book detailing the previous attempts at understanding the text, and provided his own interpretation and translation.
In 1782, Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, Grand Master of the Order of Malta, presented one of the cippi to Louis XVI. The cippus was placed at the Académie des Inscriptions et des Belles Lettres, and then moved to the Bibliothèque Mazarine between 1792 and 1796.   In 1864, the orientalist Silvestre de Sacy, suggested that the French cippus should be moved to the Louvre.
Cippi of Melqart