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“House of David” Restored in Moabite Inscription

A new restoration of a famous inscription reveals another mention of the “House of David” in the ninth century B.C.E.

By André Lemaire

The recent discovery at Tel Dan of a fragment of a stela containing a reference to the “House of David” (that is, the dynasty of David) is indeed sensational and deserves all the publicity it has received.a The Aramaic inscription, dated to the ninth century B.C.E., was originally part of a victory monument erected at Dan, apparently by an enemy of both the “King of Israel” (also referred to in the fragment) and the “[King of the] House of David.” The inscription easily establishes the importance of Israel and Judah on the international scene at this time—no doubt […]

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Footnotes

1.

“‘David’ Found at Dan,” BAR 20:02.

2.

Incidentally, this supports a conclusion I reached several years ago that the territory of Edom was organized as a kingdom only in about 846 B.C.E., as indicated by 1 Kings 22:48 (“There was no king in Edom”) and 2 Kings 8:20 (“Edom revolted against Judah and set up its own king”) (“Hadad l’Edomite ou Hadad l’Araméen?” Biblische Notizen 43 (1988), pp. 14–18; “Les territoires d’Ammon, Moab et Edom dans la deuxieme moitié du IXe s. av. n. è.,” in Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan IV, ed. S. Tell (Amman, Jordan, 1992), pp. 209–214).

Endnotes

1.

See M. Patrick Graham, “The Discovery and Reconstruction of the Mesha Inscription,” in Studies in the Mesha Inscription and Moab, ed. J.A. Dearman, Archaeology and Biblical Studies 02 (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989), pp. 41–92; compare also Siegfried Horn, “The Discovery of the Moabite Stone,” in The Word of the Lord Shall Go Forth, Essays in Honor of D. N. Freedman, eds. Carol L. Meyers and M. O’Connor (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1983), pp. 497–505.

2.

Charles Clermont-Ganneau, La stèle de Dhiban ou stèle de Mesa roi de Moab 896 av. J.-C., Lettres a M. le Cte de Vogue (Paris, 1870), also in Revue Archéologique (1870), pp. 184–207, 357–386.

3.

Clermont-Ganneau, “La Stèle de Mésa,” Revue critique (Sept. 11, 1875), pp. 166–174.

4.

Die Inschrift des Königs Mesa von Moab für akademische Vorlesungen Herausgegeben (Freiburg im Brisgau, 1886).

5.

Clermont-Ganneau, “La Stèle de Mésa, examen critique du texte,” Journal Asiatique 9 (8th series, 1887), p. 72.

6.

Clermont-Ganneau, “La Stèle de Mésa, examen critique du texte,” pp. 110–111.

7.

See, for instance, K. G. A. Nordlander, Die Inschrift des Königs Mesa von Moab (Leipzig, 1896); R. Dussaud, Les monuments palestiniens et judaiques (Musee du Louvre) (Paris, 1912), pp. 4–20; D. Sidersky, La stèle de Mésha, index bibliographique (Paris, 1920); H. Michaud, “Sur la pierre et l’argile,” Cahiers d’archéologie biblique 10 (1958), pp. 29–45.

8.

Clermont-Ganneau, “La Stèle de Mésa,” p. 173; and “La Stèle de Mésa, examen critique du texte,” p. 107.

9.

Mark Lidzbarski, “Eine Nachprüfung der Mesainschrift,” in Ephemeris für semitische Epigraphik I (Giessen, 1900), pp. 1–10.

10.

Dussaud, Les monuments palestiniens et judaiques p. 5; compare also D. Sidersky, La stèle de Mésha, p. 11; A.H. Van Zyl, The Moabites (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960), Addendum I.

11.

Clermont-Ganneau, “La Stèle de Mésa, examen critique du texte,” p. 112.

12.

André Lemaire, “Epigraphie palestinienne: nouveaux documents I. Fragment de stèle araméenne de Tell Dan (IXe s. av. J.-C.),” forthcoming in Henoch 16 (1994).