Moabite Stone
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Summary
Date: 830 B.C.E.
The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a 9th-century BCE inscription commissioned by King Mesha of Moab. Discovered in Dhiban, Jordan in 1868, it is written in Moabite, a Northwest Semitic language closely related to Hebrew. The stele records Mesha’s account of Moab’s rebellion against Israel, attributing his victories to the Moabite god Chemosh. It provides one of the earliest non-biblical references to YHWH and Israel, and is a key artifact for understanding the political and religious landscape of the Iron Age Levant.
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