Tel Dan stele

The Tel Dan Stele The Tel Dan Stele is a black basalt stele discovered during excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel . It was erected by an Aramaean king and contains an Aramaic inscription commemorating victories over local ancient peoples including " Israel " and the " House of David ." Its author is unknown, but may be a king of Damascus , Hazael or one of his sons. The inscription generated excitement among biblical scholars and biblical archaeologists because the letters 'ביתדוד' are identical to the Hebrew for " house of David ." If these letters refer to the Davidic line then this is the first time the name " David " has been recognized at any archaeological site. The scholarly consensus among archaeologists and epigraphers is that the fragment is an authentic reference to the Biblical King David . Like the Mesha stele , the Tel Dan Stele seems typical of a memorial intended as a sort of military propaganda, which boasts of Hazael's or his son's victories. Some epigraphers think that the phrase " house of David " also appears in a partly broken line in the Mesha stele . 'On the "positivist" side of the controversy, regarding the authenticity of the inscription, we now have published opinions by most of the world's leading epigraphers (none of whom is a "biblicist" in Thompson's sense): the inscription means exactly what it says.' William Dever, 2004, 'What Did The Biblical Authors Know, And When Did They Know It?', pages 128-129

The Tel Dan Stele is a broken stele (inscribed stone) discovered in 1993–94 during excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel . It consists of several fragments making up part of a triumphal inscription in Aramaic , left most probably by Hazael of Aram-Damascus , an important regional figure in the late 9th century BCE. Hazael (or more accurately, the unnamed king) boasts of his victories over the king of Israel and his ally the king of the "House of David" ( b y t d w d ), the first time the name David had been found outside of the Bible. It is also only one of only four known ancient inscriptions interpreted to mention the term "Israel", the others being the Merneptah Stele , the Mesha Stele , and the Kurkh Monolith . The Tel Dan inscription generated considerable debate and a flurry of articles, debating its age, authorship, and even some accusations of forgery. Grabbe "it is now widely regarded (a) as genuine and (b) as referring to the Davidic dynasty and the Aramaic kingdom of Damascus." It is currently on display in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The name of Israel was found in only a very limited number of inscriptions, one from Egypt, another separated by at least 250 years from the first, in Transjordan. A third reference is found in the stele from Tel Dan - if it is genuine, a question not yet settled. The narrow links between the Tel Dan inscription and these two inscriptions are of a kind that has persuaded at least one major specialist into believing that the inscription is a forgery. This cannot be left out of consideration in advance, because some of the circumstances surrounding its discovery may speak against its being genuine.

Broken stele (inscribed stone) discovered in 1993–94 during excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel The Tel Dan Stele is a fragmentary stele , discovered in 1993 in Tel-Dan by Gila Cook, a member of an archaeological team lead by Avraham Biran , the pieces having been used to construct an ancient stone wall that survived into modern times. The stele is in several pieces and contains several lines of Aramaic , closely related to Hebrew and historically a common language among Jews . The surviving inscription, which dates to 9th century BCE, details that an individual killed Jehoram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel and the king of the house of David. These writings corroborate passages from the Bible , as the Second Book of Kings mentions that Jehoram , also Joram, is the son of an Israelite king, Ahab , by his Phoenician wife, Jezebel . Applying a Biblical viewpoint to the inscription, the likely candidate for having erected the stele is Hazael , an Aramean king, whose language would have been Aramaic, who is mentioned in Second Book of Kings as having conquered the Land of Israel , though he was unable to take Jerusalem . The stele is currently on display at the Israel Museum , and is known as KAI 310. "Stone Tablet Offers 1st Physical Evidence of Biblical King David : Archeology: Researchers say 13 lines of Aramaic script confirm the battle for Tel Dan recounted in the Bible, marking a victory by Asa of the House of David" . Los Angeles Times . 14 August 1993 . Center for Online Judaic Studies .

Fragmentary stele containing a Canaanite inscription The Tel Dan Stele is a fragmentary stele containing a Canaanite inscription which dates to the 9th century BCE. It is notable for possibly being the most significant and perhaps the only extra-biblical archaeological reference to the house of David . The Tel Dan Stele was discovered in 1993 in Tel-Dan by Gila Cook, a member of an archaeological team led by Avraham Biran . Its pieces were used to construct an ancient stone wall that survived into modern times. The stele contains several lines of Aramaic , closely related to Hebrew and historically a common language among Jews . The surviving inscription details that an individual killed Jehoram of Israel , the son of Ahab and king of the house of David. These writings corroborate passages from the Bible , as the Second Book of Kings mentions that Jehoram , also Joram, is the son of an Israelite king, Ahab , by his Phoenician wife, Jezebel . Applying a Biblical viewpoint to the inscription, the likely candidate for having erected the stele is Hazael , an Aramean king (whose language would have thus been Aramaic) who is mentioned in the Second Book of Kings as having conquered the Land of Israel , though he was unable to take Jerusalem . The stele is currently on display at the Israel Museum , and is known as KAI 310. Center for Online Judaic Studies . "Stone Tablet Offers 1st Physical Evidence of Biblical King David : Archeology: Researchers say 13 lines of Aramaic script confirm the battle for Tel Dan recounted in the Bible, marking a victory by Asa of the House of David" .

Fragmentary stele containing a Canaanite inscription The Tel Dan Stele is a fragmentary stele containing an Aramaic inscription which dates to the 9th century BCE. It is the earliest known extra-biblical archaeological reference to the house of David . The stele was discovered in 1993 in Tel-Dan by Gila Cook , a member of an archaeological team led by Avraham Biran . Its pieces were used to construct an ancient stone wall that survived into modern times. The stele contains several lines of ancient Hebrew . The surviving inscription details that an individual killed Jehoram, King of Israel-Samaria , the son of Ahab , and Ahaziah of Judah , a king of the house of David. The stele is on display at the Israel Museum , It is known as KAI 310. These writings corroborate passages from the Hebrew Bible , as the Second Book of Kings mentions that Jehoram is the son of an Israelite king, Ahab, by his Phoenician wife Jezebel . The likely candidate for having erected the stele, according to the Hebrew Bible, is Hazael , king of Aram-Damascus , whose language would have been Old Aramaic . He is mentioned in 2 Kings 12 :17–18 as having conquered Israel-Samaria but not Jerusalem: At that time, King Hazael of Aram came up and attacked Gath and captured it; and Hazael proceeded to march on Jerusalem. Thereupon King Joash of Judah took all the objects that had been consecrated by his predecessors, Kings Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah of Judah, and by himself, and all the gold that there was in the treasuries of the Temple of GOD and in the royal palace, and he sent them to King Hazael of Aram, who then turned back from his march on Jerusalem. Center for Online Judaic Studies . "Stone Tablet Offers 1st Physical Evidence of Biblical King David : Archeology: Researchers say 13 lines of Aramaic script confirm the battle for Tel Dan recounted in the Bible, marking a victory by Asa of the House of David" .