Moabite Stone (Mesha Stele)

This round-topped black stone was set up by Mesha, king of Moab, in the 9th century BC. It stood at Dibon, east of the Dead Sea, where F. A. Klein, a German missionary, was shown it in 1868. As European consuls bargained for it, locals heated the stone in a fire and poured water on it, and it broke into pieces. A paper impression of the writing, taken just before, later helped to fit most pieces back together. The stone is now in the Louvre in Paris.

The text, in the Moabite language and an alphabet very close to early Hebrew, praises Chemosh, the god of Moab. Mesha says that Omri, king of Israel, oppressed Moab for many days, and his son after him, but that Mesha triumphed; he also lists his building works. The Bible tells of the same revolt from Israel’s side (2 Kings 3:4–27). The “son” is read in two ways: by one view Ahab, Omri’s son; by another a grandson such as Jehoram, since “son” can mean descendant. Some scholars read a damaged line near the end as “house of David”; others think too little of it survives to be sure.