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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

MOABITE STONE*

Longest literary source outside the OT dealing with the history of the region of Palestine and Transjordan during the period of 1300–600 BC. It is a particularly important source for the history of the Moabites, a people who lived in an area east of the Dead Sea. The stone was discovered in the 1860s and has a fairly complete narrative of the reign of Mesha, a Moabite king in the middle of the ninth century BC. When found, the stone was a hard slab with rounded top and 39 lines of Hebrewlike writing three feet, ten inches (1.2 meters) high by two feet (.6 meter) wide by two and a half inches (6.4 centimeters) thick.

On August 19, 1868, F. Klein, a German employed by the Church Missionary Society, saw the stele and reported its existence. When the German and French consuls showed an interest in the stone, the Arabs who had discovered it wanted to get the best price they could from the two governments. The Arabs then began to quarrel among themselves over how much to charge the foreigners, and the dispute became so bitter that one group heated the stone over a fire and then poured water on it, causing the stone to break into pieces. The Arabs then distributed the various pieces among the granaries of the countryside. There they were to act as a blessing or offering for a good harvest. Fortunately, a messenger from the French Consulate had obtained an impression of the writing on the stone. But the impression began to break apart as the messenger returned to the consulate on horseback. Impressions were also taken of the larger sections when they could be gathered at a later date. Finally, many of the other, smaller pieces were located, and the whole stone was put back together as closely as possible. Although parts were missing, the stone did contain a clear description of the history of the Moabites.

The text begins with a dedication to Chemosh, the god of the Moabites. Mesha, the king of the Moabites for 30 years, states that in gratitude for being delivered “from all the kings and letting” him see his “desire over all . . . enemies” he had erected a high place for the god. The place where the stele was found may also have been the location of the high place.

As the text continues, a short sketch of the history of the Moabites appears that can be related to the OT narrative. “Omri, king of Israel,” had oppressed Moab for many days because Chemosh was angry with his land [Moab]. Omri’s son “succeeded him and he too said, ‘I will oppress Moab.’ In my [Mesha’s] time he said [this] but I triumphed over him and over his house, while Israel has perished for ever.” The 40-year domination of Israel over Moab must involve the reigns of Omri (885–874 BC; 1 Kgs 16), his son Ahab (874–853 BC), Ahaziah (853–852), and the first half of Jehoram’s reign (852–841). Thus the son mentioned in the text would be Omri’s grandson. That would be more consistent with Scripture, which states that Jehoram (NLT, niv “Joram”) had tried to destroy Moabite rebels (2 Kgs 3:4-27). The rest of the text describes the victories over the Israelites, Mesha’s public works, and the call of the god Chemosh for Mesha to fight the Hauranites.