Text, Stele of Mesha, king of Moab

Stele of Mesha, king of Moab, commemorating his victory over the kings of Israel of the dynasty of Omri. Basalt. Iron Age II (c. 810 BC). Diban (Jordan). Inscription in Moabite, West Semitic dialect, close to Phoenician and Hebrew. Copied and stamped (see AO 5020 and AO 5019) before being taken to pieces. Main fragments brought back by Ch. Clermont-Ganneau in 1873, supplemented by fragments donated by the Palestine Exploration Fund and the Deutsche Morgenlandische Gesellschaft (prof. Schlottmann bequest).