Bible Synapse
Mesha Stele
Inscription · c. 840 BC · Israel and Judah · also called Moabite Stone
See it on the map and timeline
- Date
- c. 840 BC (the stele’s carving)
- Found
- Dhiban, Jordan, 1868. Shown to the missionary F. A. Klein at Dhiban in August 1868. Local people broke it apart in 1869; Charles Clermont-Ganneau gathered the pieces and rebuilt it with the help of a paper squeeze taken beforehand. It has been in the Louvre since 1873.
- Now
- Louvre, Paris (AO 5066)
- Passages
- 2 Kings 3:4–27
What it is
A black basalt stone about 1.2 metres high as restored, carved with 34 lines in the Moabite language. King Mesha of Moab tells how Omri, king of Israel, and his son oppressed Moab for many years, and how Mesha threw off Israel’s rule, captured towns such as Nebo and Ataroth from Israel, and dedicated the victory to his god Chemosh.
How it connects to the Bible
2 Kings 3 tells the same revolt from Israel’s side: “Mesha king of Moab” paid tribute to Israel and rebelled after Ahab died. The stele names Omri, and it names Israel’s God, YHWH; no earlier mention of the name outside the Bible is certain. The two accounts tell the conflict differently: the stele speaks only of Mesha’s victories, while 2 Kings 3 describes a campaign by Israel, Judah and Edom that ended when the allies withdrew.
What scholars debate
Line 31 is damaged; some scholars read “House of David” there, others a different name, such as Balak.