Merneptah Stele
Merneptah Stele 1. What type of object is the Stele? How will this affect interpretation of what is written in it (e.g the genre of the text, implications of that for understanding it as a source for history)? 2. The stele is of importance for its mention of “Israel”. What can the stele tell us about Israel?
The Merneptah Stele is an enticing inscription by the Ancient Egyptian king Merneptah discovered in 1896 at Thebes by Flinders Petrie. The inscriptions are put down on a ten foot high piece of black granite. The text contained in these inscriptions is mainly an account of the king’s victories in battle during the last decade of the thirteenth century B.C.E. It is of important archeological significance due to the last few lines in the inscription which is the first known non-biblical reference to Israel.
Some scholars believe that it is significant in that it shows where Israel was and what type of people they were, whereas other believes it “reveals little other than that it locates Israel somewhere in the vicinity of Palestine” (Miller & Hayes 4). Due to the conventions of the time, specific hieroglyphic symbols placed next to the descriptive factors of Israel within this text identifies Israel as a people, not necessarily a place. Whilst there is a lot of scholarly debate on the exact meaning of the inscription, it is believed that perhaps too much is being read into this inscription and it is really just an account of Pharaoh Merneptah’s victories and that the scribe mentioned to Israel people to add extra weight to these victories.
Despite these variations in opinion on the validity of the inscriptions historical significance, the Merneptah Stele does suggest some interesting details about early Israel.
Part of the inscription reads “Israel is laid waste, his seed is no more” (Rainey 63). It has been suggested that, according to other writings of the time, “seed” normally refers to grain (not descendants) which therefore suggests that
The Merneptah Stele is an enticing inscription by the Ancient Egyptian king Merneptah discovered in 1896 at Thebes by Flinders Petrie. The inscriptions are put down on a ten foot high piece of black granite. The text contained in these inscriptions is mainly an account of the king’s victories in battle during the last decade of the thirteenth century B.C.E. It is of important archeological significance due to the last few lines in the inscription which is the first known non-biblical reference to Israel.
Some scholars believe that it is significant in that it shows where Israel was and what type of people they were, whereas other believes it “reveals little other than that it locates Israel somewhere in the vicinity of Palestine” (Miller & Hayes 4). Due to the conventions of the time, specific hieroglyphic symbols placed next to the descriptive factors of Israel within this text identifies Israel as a people, not necessarily a place. Whilst there is a lot of scholarly debate on the exact meaning of the inscription, it is believed that perhaps too much is being read into this inscription and it is really just an account of Pharaoh Merneptah’s victories and that the scribe mentioned to Israel people to add extra weight to these victories.
Despite these variations in opinion on the validity of the inscriptions historical significance, the Merneptah Stele does suggest some interesting details about early Israel.
Part of the inscription reads “Israel is laid waste, his seed is no more” (Rainey 63). It has been suggested that, according to other writings of the time, “seed” normally refers to grain (not descendants) which therefore suggests that
Bibliography: Miller & Hayes. A History of Ancient Israel and Judah. 2nd ed 2006 Provan & Long. A Biblical History of Israel. 2003 Rainey, ‘Scholars Disagree: Can You Name the Panel with the Israelites?’ Biblical Archaeology Review (17.06), November/December 1991 Wylen, Stephen. The Jews in the Time of Jesus: An Introduction 1999