Mesha Stele

Mesha Stele in the Louvre Museum.

The Mesha Stele (popularized in the 19th century as the "Moabite Stone") is a black basalt stone bearing an inscription by the 9th century BC ruler Mesha of Moab in Jordan.

The inscription was set up about 840 BC as a memorial of Mesha's victories over "Omri king of Israel" and his son, who had been oppressing Moab. It is the most extensive inscription ever recovered that refers to ancient Israel (the "House of Omri"). It bears what is generally thought to be the earliest extra-biblical Semitic reference to the name Yahweh (YHWH), whose temple goods were plundered by Mesha and brought before his own god Kemosh. French scholar André Lemaire has reconstructed a portion of line 31 of the stele as mentioning the "House of David".^[1]

The stone is 124 cm high and 71 cm wide and deep, and rounded at the top. It was discovered at the site of ancient Dibon (now Dhiban, Jordan), in August 1868, by Rev. Frederick Augustus Klein (1827–1903), a German CMS missionary. Local villagers smashed the stone during a dispute over its ownership, but a squeeze (a papier-mâché impression) had been obtained by Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau, and most of the fragments were later recovered and pieced together by him.^[2] The squeeze (which has never been published) and the reassembled stele (which has been published in many books and encyclopedias) are now in the Louvre Museum.

Description

The stele measures 44"x27".^[3] Its 34 lines describe:

1. How Moab was oppressed by "Omri King of Israel," as the result of the anger of the god Chemosh
2. Mesha's victories over Omri's son (not named) and the men of Gad at Ataroth, and at Nebo and Jehaz;
3. His building projects, restoring the fortifications of his strong places and building a palace and reservoirs for water; and
4. His wars against the Horonaim.

Language

It is written in Moabite language in the old Phoenician alphabet,^[4] and is "very close" to Standard Biblical Hebrew.^[5]

Importance

A clearer photo of the Louvre stela (less glare).

The inscription has strong consistency with the historical events recorded in the Bible. The events, names, and places mentioned in the Mesha Stele correspond to those mentioned in the Bible. For example, Mesha is recorded as the King of Moab in 2 Kings 3:4: “Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he had to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams.”^[6] Kemosh is mentioned in numerous places in the Bible as the national god of Moab (1 Kings 11:33, Numbers 21:29 etc.).^[7] The reign of Omri, King of Israel, is chronicled in 1 Kings 16,^[8] and the inscription records many places and territories (Nebo, Gad, etc.) that also appear in the Bible.^[9] Finally, 2 Kings 3 recounts a revolt by Mesha against Israel, to which Israel responded by allying with Judah and Edom to suppress the revolt:

“[4] Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he had to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. [5] But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. [6] So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. [7] And he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to battle against Moab?" And he said, "I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." [8] Then he said, "By which way shall we march?" Jehoram answered, "By the way of the wilderness of Edom." [9] So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. … [26] When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. [27] Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.”^[10]

Some scholars have argued that an inconsistency exists between the Mesha Stele and the Bible regarding the timing of the revolt.^[11] The argument rests upon the assumption that the following section of the inscription necessarily refers to Omri’s son Ahab: “Omri was the king of Israel, and he oppressed Moab for many days, for Kemosh was angry with his land. And his son replaced him; and he said, "I will also oppress Moab."… And Omri took possession of the whole land of Madaba; and he lived there in his days and half the days of his son: forty years: And Kemosh restored it in my days”. In other words, these scholars argue that the inscription indicates that Mesha’s revolt occurred during the reign of Omri’s son Ahab. Since the Bible speaks of the revolt taking place during Jehoram’s reign (Omri’s grandson), these scholars have argued that these two accounts are inconsistent.

However, as other scholars have pointed out, the inscription need not necessarily refer to Omri’s son Ahab.^[12] In modern English, the word “son” typically refers to a male child in relation to his parents. In the ancient Near East, however, the word was commonly used to mean male descendant.^[13] Consequently, “son of Omri” was a common designation for any male descendant of Omri and would have been used to refer to Jehoram. Assuming that “son” means “descendant,” an interpretation consistent with the common use of language in the ancient Near East, the Mesha Stele and the Bible are consistent. Generally though the designation of "descendant of Omri" at that time was "bît Humri", as confirmed by Assyrian records.^[14]

Reconstruction of [D]VD in line 31 and interpretation of )R)L DVDH in line 12

In 1994, after examining both the Mesha Stele and the paper squeeze in the Louvre Museum, the French scholar André Lemaire reported that line 31 of the Mesha Stele bears the phrase "the house of David" (in Biblical Archaeology Review [May/June 1994], pp. 30–37). Lemaire had to supply one destroyed letter, the first "D" in [D]VD, "of [D]avid," to construct the wording. The complete sentence in the latter part of line 31 would then read, "As for Horonen, there lived in it the house of [D]avid," וחורננ. ישב. בה. בת[ד]וד. (Brackets [ ] enclose letters or words supplied where letters were destroyed or were on fragments that are still missing.) Most scholars find that no other letter supplied there yields a reading that makes sense.^{[citation needed]} Baruch Margalit has attempted to supply a different letter: "m," along with several other letters in places after that, giving the reading: "Now Horoneyn was occupied at the en[d] of [my pre]decessor['s reign] by [Edom]ites."^[15] Margalit's reading has not attracted any significant support in scholarly publications^{[citation needed]}. In 2001 another French scholar, Pierre Bordreuil, reported (in an essay in French) that he and a few other scholars could not confirm Lemaire's reading.^[16] If Lemaire is right, there are now two early references to David's dynasty, one in the Mesha Stele (mid-9th century)^[17] and the other in the Tel Dan Stele (mid-9th to mid-8th century).

In 1998, another scholar, Anson Rainey, translated a puzzling two-word phrase in line 12 of the Mesha Stele, אראל. דודה, as a further reference to David. The line in question reads: "I (i.e. Mesha) carried from there (the city of Ataroth) the ariel of its DVD (or: its ariel of DVD) and I dragged it before Kemosh in Qeriot". The meanings of both "ariel" and "DWDH" are unclear. "Ariel" might be etymologically derived from either "lion of god" or "altar-hearth"; "DWDH" means literally "its beloved", but could also signify "its (X) of David". The object seized by Mesha from the Israelite city might therefore be "the lion-figure of its/their beloved (god)", understanding "ariel" as the cultic lion associated with the "beloved" god of Ataroth;^[18] or, following Rainey's reading, "its Davidic altar-hearth."^[19]

The identification of David in the Mesha stele remains controversial, at least partly from the fragmentary state of line 31.

Translation

In the original text some words run on from one line to the next. Where possible, this translation reflects this writing. Brackets indicate reconstructed text, and dots represent missing and unreconstructed or disputed portions.^{[citation needed]}

1. I am Mesha, son of KMSYT (Kemosh[-yat]), the king of Moab, the Di-
2. -bonite. My father was king of Moab thirty years, and I reign-
3. -ed after my father. And I built this high-place for Kemosh in QRH ("the citadel"), a high place of [sal-]
4. -vation because he saved me from all the kings (or "all the attackers"), and because let me be victorious over all my adversaries. Omr-
5. -i was king of Israel and he oppressed Moab for many days because Kemosh was angry with his
6. land. And his son replaced him; and he also said, "I will oppress Moab". In my days he spoke thus.
7. But I was victorious over him and his house. And Israel suffered everlasting destruction, And Omri had conquered the lan-
8. -d of Madaba, and he dwelt there during his reign and half the reign of his son, forty years. But Kemosh
9. returned it in my days. So I [re]built Baal Meon, and I the water reservoir in it. And I bu[ilt]
10. Qiryaten. The man of Gad had dwelt in Ataroth from of old; and the king of Israel
11. built Ataroth for him. But I fought against the city and took it. And I slew all the people [and]
12. the city became the property of Kemosh and Moab. And I carried from there the altar of/for its DVD ("its Davidic altar"?) and I
13. dragged it before Kemosh in Qerioit, and I settled in it men of Sharon m[en]
14. of Maharit. And Kemosh said to me, "Go! Seize Nebo against Israel." so I
15. proceeded by night and fought with it from the crack of dawn to midday, and I to-
16. -ok it and I slew all of them: seven thousand men and boys, and women and gi-
17. and maidens because I had dedicated it to Ashtar Kemosh I took [the ves-]
18. -sels of Yahweh, and I dragged them before Kemosh. And the king of Israel had built
19. Yahaz, and he dwelt in it while he was fighting with me, but Kemosh drove him out before me. so
20. I took from Moab two hundred men, all his captains. And I brought them to Yahaz, And I seized it
21. in order to add (it) to Dibon. I (myself) have built the 'citadel', 'the wall(s) of the forest' and the wall
22. of the 'acropolis'. And I built its gates; And I built its towers. And
23. I built a royal palace; and I made the ramparts for the reservo[ir for] water in the mid-
24. -st of the city. But there was no cistern in the midst of the city, in the 'citadel,' so I said to all the people, "Make [for]
25. yourselves each man a cistern in his house". And I hewed the shaft for the 'citadel' with prisoner-
26. -s of Israel. I built Aroer, and I made the highway in the Arnon.
27. I built Beth-Bamot, because it was in ruins. I built Bezer, because it was
28. a ruin [with] the armed men of Dibon because all of Dibon was under orders and I ru-
29. -led [ove]r [the] hundreds in the towns which I have annexed to the land. And I bui-
30. -lt Medeba and Beth-Diblaten and Beth-Baal-Meon, and I carried there [my herdsmen]
31. [to herd] the small cattle of the land, and Horonain, in it dwelt the house of [D]VD...
32. [and] Kemosh [s]aid to me, "Go down, fight against Horonain". And I went down [and I fou-
33. -ght with the city and I took it and] Kemosh [re]turned it in my days. Then I went up from there te[n...]
34. [...a high] place of justice and I [...]

The finding of the stele^[20]

Charles M. Doughty, in his account published in 1888, describes being told that the Sheikh of Kerak, Mohammed Mejelly had sold the stone to "Franks" in Jerusalem and that the Beni Haneydy, the clan on whose land Dibon was, approached Mejeely for a share of the sale. When they were refused, the Beni Haneydy attacked the party transporting the stone to Jerusalem, killing five of the escort and losing three of their own men. They took the stone back to their own territory. Doughty was also told that the Franks sent forty pounds compensation for the five men killed.^[21]

Six years later Rev. A H Sayce describes the French Consulate in Jerusalem hearing of Rev. F. Klein's discovery and, a year later, their dragoman Clemont-Ganneau sending Selim el-Qari to make a squeeze and to offer 375 pounds for the stone. Unfortunately an agreement had already been made with the Prussians to sell the stone for eighty pounds. Hearing of the stone's increase in value the Governor of Nablus threatened to take possession of it. Rather than get nothing at all the stone was heated and then shattered by pouring cold water over it. The pieces went to different families who put them in their granaries to "act as charms in protecting the corn from blight".^[22]

In 1958 the remains of an inscription in a simillar script was found near Al Karak.

References

1. ^ Biblical Archaeology Review [May/June 1994], pp. 30–37
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ 1920 World Book, Volume VI, page 3867
4. ^ Jackson, Kent P. “The Language of the Mesha Inscription,” from Studies in the Mesha Inscription and Moab, Edited by Andrew Dearman, Scholars Press, Atlanta, Georgia 1989, pp
5. ^ Ian Young Diversity in pre-exilic Hebrew - p34 1993 "There can be no dispute that the language of the Mesha Stone is very close to Standard Biblical Hebrew."
6. ^ BibleGateway.com
7. ^ BibleGateway.com
8. ^ BibleGateway.com
9. ^ Driver, Samuel. (1890), Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of Samuel, [2]
10. ^ BibleGateway.com
11. ^ Driver, Samuel. (1890), Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of Samuel, [3]
12. ^ Davis, John. (1891), The Moabite Stone and the Hebrew Records; see also Christiananswers.net [4]
13. ^ Ibid
14. ^ Lemaire, André (2007), "The Mesha Stele and the Omri Dynasty" in Crabbe, Lester L. "Ahab Agonistes: The Rise and Fall of the Omride Dynasty" (T&T Clark)
15. ^ Baruch Margalit, "Studies in NWSemitic Inscriptions," Ugarit-Forschungen 26, p. 275).
16. ^ Pierre Bordreuil, "A propos de l'inscription de Mesha': deux notes," in P. M. Michele Daviau, John W. Wevers and Michael Weigl [Eds.], The World of the Aramaeans III, pp. 158-167, especially pp. 162-163 [Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001]
17. ^ Lawrence J. Mykytiuk, _Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200–539 B.C.E._, Academia Biblica series, no. 12 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2004), pp. 265-277
18. ^ K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst, "Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible", pp.88-9
19. ^ (Anson F. Rainey, "Mesha and Syntax," in _The Land That I Will Show You_, edited by J. Andrew Dearman and M. Patrick Graham, Supplement Series, no. 343 [Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001], pp. 300-306).
20. ^ See M. Patrick Graham, "The Discovery and Reconstruction of the Mesha' Inscription" in J. Andrew Dearman, ed., Studies in the Mesha Inscription and Moab (Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1989), pp. 41-92.
21. ^ Doughtey, Charles M. (1888), Travels in Arabia Deserta. Cambridge University Press. Jonathan Cape edition (1936) page 65. He was told that the escort were all Christian.
22. ^ Sayce, A.H. (1894), The Higher Criticism and the Monuments. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Pages 364, 365.

External links

• Louvre collection - includes a large modern photo of the stele
• Translation from Northwest Semitic Inscriptions
• III.--The Basalt of the Moabite Stone - A mineralogical analysis of the Moabite Stone, by T.G. Bonney (1902)

Further reading

• Davies, Philip R. (1992, 2nd edition 1995, reprinted 2004). In Search of 'Ancient Israel' Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.
• Dearman, J. Andrew (Ed.) (1989). Studies in the Mesha Inscription and Moab. Archaeology and Biblical Studies series, no. 2. Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press. ISBN 1-55540-357-3.
• Lemaire, André (1994). "'House of David' Restored in Moabite Inscription." Biblical Archaeology Review 20 (3) May/June, pp. 30–37.
• Margalit, Baruch ("1994"). "Studies in NWSemitic Inscriptions," Ugarit-Forschungen 26. Page 317 of this annual publication refers to "the recent publication (April, 1995) of two additional fragments" of another stele, therefore, the 1994 volume was actually published sometime after April 1995. On the Mesha stele inscription, see p. 275.
• Mykytiuk, Lawrence J. (2004). "Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E." Atlanta, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature. See pp. 95–110 and 265-277. ISBN 1-58983-062-8.
• Mykytiuk, Lawrence J. (2009),"Corrections and Updates to 'Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E.,' " Maarav 16/1, pp. 49–132.
• Parker, Simon B. (1997). Stories in Scripture and Inscriptions: Comparative Studies on Narratives in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions and the Hebrew Bible. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511620-8. See pp. 44–46 for a clear, perceptive outline of the contents of the inscription on the Mesha stele.
• Rainey, Anson F. (2001). "Mesha and Syntax." In J. Andrew Dearman and M. Patrick Graham (Eds.), The Land That I Will Show You, pp. 300–306. Supplement Series, no. 343. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 1-84127-257-4.
• Salibi, Kamal (1985) The Bible Came from Arabia, London, Jonathan Cape,ISBN 0-224-02830-8

See also

• Tel Dan Stele
• Merneptah Stele