The Key Phrases: Can You See the Letters?
The key phrases on the Mesha stela are highlighted in these photographic details and on the drawing of the text (above). “King of Israel” (mlk ysr’l) appears in line 5 and in two other places on the stela. “House of David” (bt[d]wd) appears in line 31 (photos below). The top photo focuses on the critical letters of line 31. The small drawing shows the reading, from right to left, of the letters bt wd (the dotted lines represent restorations of damaged areas). In the bottom photo, a tint highlights the letters as they appear on the stela. The t eluded scholars until the German scholar Mark Lidzbarski tentatively identified it in 1900. Professor Lemaire has confirmed the reading of the t and has restored the missing d on the basis of the squeeze and the sense of the text. (The drawing at top, produced by Lidzbarski, has been corrected by Professor Lemaire.)
