Tel Dan Stele
The Tel Dan Stele is a broken inscribed stone that was discovered in 1993 and 1994 in Northern Israel. The first fragment, Fragment A, was found in 1993, and the second, Fragment B, was found in 1994. The language in which the Tel Dan Stele is inscribed in is Aramaic and describes the victory of a king or Aram over Israel and Judah. The major thing that amazes many is that it refers to Judah as the “House of David”, which caused confusion because it was thought that David appeared in a non-biblical document. This inscription mentioning David is also found on the Shishak inscription in the Temple of Amun in Karnak.
The words on the Stele are as follows, Aramaic, then the English translation, the line number is included:
1.[ ]א]מר.ע[ ]וגזר ]
2.[ ]אבי.יסק[.עלוה.בה]תלחמה.בא--- ]
3.וישכב.אבי.יהך.אל[.אבהו]ה.ויעל.מלכי[ יש]
4.ראל.קדם.בארק.אבי[.ו]יהלך.הדד[.]א[יתי]
5.אנה.ויהך.הדד.קדמי[.ו]אפק.מן.שבע[ת---]
6.י.מלכי.ואקתל.מל[כן.שב]ען.אסרי.א[לפי.ר]
7.כב.ואלפי.פרש.[קתלת.אית.יהו]רם.בר[אחאב.]
8.מלך.ישראל.וקתל[ת.אית.אחז]יהו.בר[יהורם.מל]
9.ך.ביתדוד.ואשם.[אית.קרית.הם.חרבת.ואהפך.א]
10.ית.ארק.הם.ל[ישמן ]
11.אחרן.ולה[... ויהוא.מ]
12.לך.על.יש[ראל... ואשם.]
13.מצר.ע[ל. ]
1'. [ ]...[ ] and cut [ ]
2'. [ ] my father went up [ ] he fought at [...]
3'. And my father lay down; he went to his [fathers]. Now the king of I[s]/rael had penetrated
4'. into my father's land before. [But then] Hadad made me king,
5'. And Hadad marched before me. So I went forth from [the] seven[...]/s
6'. of my rule, and I killed [seve]nty kin[gs] who had harnessed thou[sands of cha]/riots
7'. and thousands of cavalry. [And I killed ...]ram son of [...]
8'. the king of Israel, and I killed [...]yahu son of [... the ki]/ng of
9'. the House of David. And I made [their towns into ruins and turned]
10'. their land into [a desolation ...]
11'. others and [...Then...became ki]/ng
12'. over Is[rael...And I laid]
13'. siege against [...]
The only problem with the Stele is that the beginning part is completely missing, which means that the king that commissioned the production of this stele is unknown. But when Fragment B was found, it contained parts of the names of kings that they conquered Joram, son of Ahab, who was the king of Israel from 852 to 841 BC, and Ahaziah, who was the son of Jehoram, king of Judah also known as the House of David in 841 BC. With this information archaeologists are able to accurately determine that the king that commissioned this stele was Hazael, who was the king of Aram-Damascus. The importance of the Tel Dan Stele is just that it mentions 8 kings, but that it also gives an in-depth account of the Bible and helps give credibility to the account of Biblical Record
Sources:
- "The Tel Dan Stela and the Kings of Aram and Israel." The Tel Dan Stela and the Kings of Aram and Israel. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <https://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2011/05/04/The-Tel-Dan-Stela-and-the-Kings-of-Aram-and-Israel.aspx>.
- "Tel Dan Stele." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 May 2013. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Dan_Stele>.