{"id":63268,"date":"2019-09-22T13:50:45","date_gmt":"2019-09-22T10:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=63268"},"modified":"2023-04-17T08:53:57","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T05:53:57","slug":"now-king-mesha-of-moab-was-a-sheep-breeder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/now-king-mesha-of-moab-was-a-sheep-breeder\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNow King Mesha of Moab Was a Sheep Breeder\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[555,444,798],"acf":{"old_id":"63268","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"312","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"And we have the archaeological proof","content":"

In this chapter, we encounter a historical figure: Mesha, King of Moab. Not that Ben Hadad of Aram (see 1 Kings 20) was unhistorical, but Mesha is unique in respect of the fact that we have concrete evidence of his existence in the form of a monumental inscription called The Mesha Stele. Comprising 30 lines of text inscribed on a black basalt stone, it describes Mesha\u2019s victories over Israel\u2014particularly those that occurred after the death of King Ahab of Israel\u2014just as recounted here.<\/span><\/p>\n

An endearing feature of the stele is its accessibility. Written in the Moabite language and in the same script that served Hebrew in the biblical period, it can be read by anyone who has a reasonable acquaintance with biblical Hebrew. Here, for example (and in transliteration), are its opening words: <\/span>anokhi mesha` ben kemosh melek moab hadiboni<\/span><\/em>.<\/em>\u00a0“I am Mesha (v.4), son of Kemosh, the national god of Moab” (Numbers 21:29, Judges 11:24), king of Moab, the Dibonite, the capital of Moab (Numbers 21:30, Joshua 13:9). In the continuation, Mesha referred directly to \u201cthe king of Israel,\u201d writing: <\/span>umelekh yisrael bana\u2019 et yahatz, vayeshev bah behiltahamoh bi, vayegarshehu kemosh mipanai<\/em> <\/span>(l. 18-19). \u201cThe king of Israel built Yahatz (Num. 21:23, Deut. 2:32) and dwelt there while he fought against me, [however] Kemosh chased him out before me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The inscription was discovered in Diban, Jordan, in 1868. It was deciphered by the French Consul, Clermont Ganeau, an avid archaeologist, who was then able to put it back together after the Bedouin, who discovered it, broke it into pieces to prevent it falling into the hands of the infidel Christians. It was transferred to the Louvre in Paris where it remains.<\/span><\/p>\n

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