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The original 1869 “Squeeze” of the Mesha Stele before it was shattered. This is the closes record of the full stone as it had survived until its discovery in 1868. Musée du Louvre.
The original 1869 “Squeeze” of the Mesha Stele before it was shattered. This is the closes record of the full stone as it had survived until its discovery in 1868. Musée du Louvre.
Transcription of the Mesha Stele from Ginsburg’s book, The Moabite Stone (1871). In my copy a prior reader translated four lines in red ink.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images – Creative Commons
Transcription of the Mesha Stele, done from the squeeze before the stele was shattered. This is the folding frontispiece in Ginsburg’s book, The Moabite Stone (1871). In my copy a prior reader translated four lines in red ink.
Detail map of Jordan, Dhiban, Madaba Governorate Overview map of Jordan, Dhiban, Madaba Governorate
A: Jordan, Dhiban, Madaba Governorate
The Mesha Stele, or Moabite Stone, a Non-Biblical Text, Confirms Some Events in the Biblical Book of Kings
Circa 840 BCE
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The Mesha Stele or Moabite Stone as it was restored from the fragments. Louvre museum.
Image Source: en.wikipedia.org
The Mesha Stele or Moabite Stone as it was restored from the fragments. Louvre museum.
In 1868 Anglican missionary Frederick Augustus KleinOffsite Link discovered the Mesha Stele or Moabite StoneOffsite Link in DibonOffsite Link (now Dhiban), Jordan. It was the first “Canaanite inscriptionOffsite Link found in the region of PalestineOffsite Link, and the longest Iron AgeOffsite Link inscription ever found in the region, constitutes the major evidence for the Moabite languageOffsite Link, and is a “corner-stone of Semitic epigraphy”,[6]Offsite Link and history.[7]Offsite Link The stele, whose story parallels, with some differences, an episode in the Bible’s Books of KingsOffsite Link (2 Kings 3:4Offsite Link–8), provides invaluable information on the Moabite language and the political relationship between Moab and Israel at one moment in the 9th century BCE.[8]Offsite Link It is the most extensive inscription ever recovered that refers to the kingdom of IsraelOffsite Link (the “House of OmriOffsite Link”); it bears the earliest certain extrabiblical reference to the Israelite god YahwehOffsite Link. André LemaireOffsite Link reconstructed a portion of line 31 to read “House of DavidOffsite Link” which would mean it might contain the earliest extra-Biblical witness to David.[3]Offsite Link Lemaire’s reading is contested, with others now reading ‘BalakOffsite Link’, a Moabite king mentioned at NumbersOffsite Link 22–24, in its place.[9]Offsite Link[10]Offsite Link It is also one of four known contemporary inscriptions containing the name of Israel, the others being the Merneptah SteleOffsite Link, the Tel Dan SteleOffsite Link, and the Kurkh MonolithOffsite Link.[11]Offsite Link[12]Offsite Link[13]Offsite Link Its authenticity has been disputed over the years, and some biblical minimalistsOffsite Link suggest the text was not historical, but a biblical allegory, but the stele is regarded as genuine and historical by the vast majority of biblical archaeologistsOffsite Link today. (Wikipedia article on Meshah Stele, accessed 9-2020).
The inscribed stone was set in place around 840 BCE by King MeshaOffsite Link of MoabOffsite Link (a kingdom located in what is now JordanOffsite Link). In the inscription Mesha told how ChemoshOffsite Link, the god of Moab, had been angry with his people and had allowed them to be subjugated to Israel, but at length, Chemosh returned and assisted Mesha to throw off the yoke of Israel and restore the lands of Moab. Mesha describes his many building projects. Some say the stele was written in the Phoenician alphabetOffsite Link, but others say it is written in the Old Hebrew scriptOffsite Link, which is closely related. The stele is preserved in the Louvre.
When Klein discovered the Mesha Stele amateur explorers and archaeologists were scouring the Levant for evidence proving the Bible’s historicity. News of the finding set off a race between France, Britain, and Germany to acquire the stone. A “squeezeOffsite Link” (a papier-mâchéOffsite Link impression) had been obtained by a local Arab on behalf of Charles Simon Clermont-GanneauOffsite Link, an archaeologist based in the French consulate in Jerusalem. The next year, the stele was smashed into several fragments by the Bani HamidaOffsite Link tribe in an act of defiance against the Ottoman authorities who had pressured the Bedouins to hand over the stele so that it could be given to Germany. Clermont-Ganneau later managed to acquire most of the fragments and piece together 613 of the original letters of about a thousand letters original cut into the stone, thanks to the impression made before the stele’s destruction.
Various translations of the Stele were made within a year or two of the discovery. Christian Ginsburg’s book, The Moabite StoneOffsite Link (1871) reproduced the text of the Stele from the “squeeze” and various differing translations by different scholars.
Timeline Themes
Survival of Information / Philology
Archaeology
Writing / Palaeography / Calligraphy / Epigraphy
Last updated April 26th, 2023 Pacific Time
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