The Israelite God, Y-H-V-H, Enters History on the Moabite Stone

The Name of the G-d of Israel, King Omri, and his son appears on the Moabite Stone, 880 BCE

1 Kings 16:23

In the thirty-first year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri became king of Israel.

In this picture is the Moabite Stone, also called the Mesha Stele Inscription. The Stele is made of black basalt and stands nearly four feet tall.

The inscription begins in the common fashion of Ancient Near Eastern royal monumental inscriptions by speaking in the name of the king, proclaiming, “I am Mesha, King of Moab”. It continues to describe the triumph of Moab’s rebellion against the dominion of the kingdom of Israel. Part of the inscription reads:

“Omri was the king of Israel, and he oppressed Moab… His son (Ahab) succeeded him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab. . . And I (King Mesha of Moab) took the Vessels of G-d.” [ spelling out Yud and Hey and Vav and Hey]

Located in Transjordan, roughly opposite the territory of Judah, east of the Dead Sea, the Moabites were somewhat closely related to the Israelites, one of their many territorial adversaries.

The Mesha Stele provides direct textual evidence that corroborates a story in the Bible (2 Kings 3-4–27). Even though the Bible and the Mesha Stele provide different accounts of the ongoing troubles between Israel and Moab, the fact that both sides describe a struggle indicates that it did in fact occur.

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