#moabite

[theoldstone]

The Mesha Stele, sometimes also called the Moabite Stone, is a smooth block of basalt measuring 1 meter tall, dating from around 840 BCE.

Erected by King Mesha of Moab – modern day Jordan – the stone tells of how Chemosh, the god of Moab, was angry with his people for allowing themselves to be conquered by Israel. But Chemosh returned and helped Mesha restore the lands of Moab. It also describes a series of building projects and has the earliest reference to the Israelite God, Yahweh (aka – the Kingdom of Judah) and is the most extensive inscription to date that refers to the kingdom of Israel (aka – “The House of Omri”).

Aside from its biblical importance, the Mesha stel is also the longest Iron Age inscription ever found in the region and offers key insights for the Moabite language, but also the relationships between various Middle Eastern Kingdoms at this one specific time period. For this reason, and others, Jordan has since requested its removal from the Louvre so that it can be repatriated.

While there is no authoritative full translation of the inscription, one translation reads as follows:

I am Mesha, son of Chemosh-gad,[20] king of Moab, the Dibonite. My father reigned over Moab thirty years, and I have reigned after my father. And I have built this sanctuary for Chemosh in Karchah, a sanctuary of salvation, for he saved me from all aggressors, and made me look upon all mine enemies with contempt. Omri was king of Israel, and oppressed Moab during many days, and Chemosh was angry with his aggressions. His son succeeded him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab. In my days he said, Let us go, and I will see my desire upon him and his house, and Israel said, I shall destroy it for ever. Now Omri took the land of Madeba, and occupied it in his day, and in the days of his son, forty years. And Chemosh had mercy on it in my time. And I built Baal-meon and made therein the ditch, and I built Kiriathaim. And the men of Gad dwelled in the country of Ataroth from ancient times, and the king of Israel fortified Ataroth. I assaulted the wall and captured it, and killed all the warriors of the city for the well-pleasing of Chemosh and Moab, and I removed from it all the spoil, and offered it before Chemosh in Kirjath; and I placed therein the men of Siran, and the men of Mochrath. And Chemosh said to me, Go take Nebo against Israel, and I went in the night and I fought against it from the break of day till noon, and I took it: and I killed in all seven thousand men, but I did not kill the women and maidens, for I devoted them to Ashtar-Chemosh; and I took from it the vessels of Jehovah, and offered them before Chemosh. And the king of Israel fortified Jahaz, and occupied it, when he made war against me, and Chemosh drove him out before me, and I took from Moab two hundred men in all, and placed them in Jahaz, and took it to annex it to Dibon. I built Karchah the wall of the forest, and the wall of the Hill. I have built its gates and I have built its towers. I have built the palace of the king, and I made the prisons for the criminals within the wall. And there were no wells in the interior of the wall in Karchah. And I said to all the people, ‘Make you every man a well in his house.’ And I dug the ditch for Karchah with the chosen men of Israel. I built Aroer, and I made the road across the Arnon. I took Beth-Bamoth for it was destroyed. I built Bezer for it was cut down by the armed men of Daybon, for all Daybon was now loyal; and I reigned from Bikran, which I added to my land. And I built Beth-Gamul, and Beth-Diblathaim, and Beth Baal-Meon, and I placed there the poor people of the land. And as to Horonaim, the men of Edom dwelt therein, on the descent from old. And Chemosh said to me, Go down, make war against Horonaim, and take it. And I assaulted it, And I took it, for Chemosh restored it in my days. Wherefore I made.... ...year...and I...

[mostlydeadlanguages]

The Mesha Stele

“Like a lucky actress or singer, it took us by storm.  Not in the universities only, but in the metropolis — not in learned circles merely, but in fashionable ones — it was the topic of the day.  Politicians, lawyers, statists, men of business, nay ladies — ladies, moreover, never previously suspected of having in their mental colouring the faintest tint of blue — talked of it, discussed it, argued about it, expressed opinions as to its age and its contents, and smiled if they met with any one who confessed to complete ignorance on the subject.” (Rawlinson, 1870, on “The Moabite Stone”)

The Mesha Stele (also called the Moabite Inscription) attracted enormous attention after an Anglican missionary in modern Jordan saw it in 1868.  England, France, and Prussia all fought to buy it from its Bedouin owners, and when the Ottoman Empire began to interfere, the Bedouin broke it into fragments and hid them, rather than hand it over.  When the inscription was deciphered, thanks to a copied impression of the stone and the recovery of some fragments, it proved hugely important to the field of biblical studies.

Moab was one of Israel’s closest neighbors, and King Mesha himself, subject of the inscription, appears in the Hebrew Bible.  The Mesha Inscription thus both supported the Bible’s historicity and diminished its uniqueness.  Like the Israelite god YHWH, Kemosh watched over Moab as his special nation, and their military success was based on his favor or displeasure.  Like the biblical histories, King Mesha’s account of his triumphs serves as propaganda, using a bit of creative license and hyperbole to achieve a positive spin.

I am Mesha [1], son of Kemoshyat, king of Moab, the Daibonite. My father ruled over Moab for thirty years.

But then I ruled after my father. I made this shrine [2] for Kemosh in Qarḥoh. (It is) a shr[ine of deli]verance, [3]        because he delivered me from every king (?),        and because he raised me above all my enemies. [4]

Omri was the king of Israel,        and he oppressed Moab for a long time,        because Kemosh was angry at his nation. Then his son succeeded him,        and he declared, “I will oppress Moab,” too. He said that during my reign, but I rose above him and his family. Israel was destroyed — completely destroyed! — even though Omri had conquered the land as far as Mehadaba. He stayed there through his reign and half his son’s reign,        forty years,        but Kemosh returned it during my reign.

I built Baalmaon,        and I made a reservoir in it,        and I built Qiryaten.

The population of Gad had always lived in the nation of Aṭarot,        and the king of Israel had built up Aṭarot. But I attacked the city and seized it. I killed the city’s entire population as tribute (?) for Kemosh and Moab; I plundered the altar of its patron god [5],        and I relocated it (to be) before Kemosh in Qiryat. I settled the populations of Sharon and Maḥarat in (Aṭarot).

Kemosh then said to me, “Go and seize Nabo from Israel.” So I went out at night, and I fought with them        from the break of dawn until past noon. I seized it, and I killed everyone —        seven thousand male citizens, male immigrants,        female citizens, female immigrants, and fertile girls — [6] because I had devoted them to destruction for Ashtar-Kemosh. [7] Then I took the vessels of YHWH from there,        and I relocated them (to be) before Kemosh.

The king of Israel had built Yahaṣ,        and he stayed there while he was fighting with me. But Kemosh drove him out for me. I took two hundred men from Moab — their entire unit. I brought (the unit) up to Yahaṣ,        and I seized it to enrich Daibon.

I am the one who built up Qarḥoh, [8]        the garden’s walls and the citadel’s walls. I am the one who built its gates,        and I am the one who built its towers. I am the one who built the palace,        and I am the one who made the retaining walls of the reservoir        for the spring in the city center. (There had been no cistern in the city center of Qarḥoh,        so I told all the people,        “Each household should make their own cistern.”) I am the one who dug ditches for Qarḥoh,        using the captives from Israel. I am the one who built Aro’er,        and I am the one who made the road by the Arnon River,        and I am the one who built up Bet Bamot after it was destroyed. I am the one who built Beṣer back from rubble,        using the population of Daibon —        for everyone in Daibon obeyed me. I am the one who ruled over hundreds        in the cities I added to the nation. I am the one who built Mehadaba, Bet Diblaten, and Bet Baalmaon,        and I brought up there the l[ambs? …]        […] sheep (?) of the nation.

(As for) Ḥawronen, the House of David had lived in [it …] Then Kemosh told me, “Go out to fight Hawronen.” So I went out and [attacked the city, and I seized it,        and it was restored by] Kemosh during my reign.

[The remaining couple of lines are very fragmentary.]

[1] Mesha and his antagonism with Israel appear in 2 Kings 3 in the Bible.  His name probably comes from the same root as Joshua and Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew) — “to save, rescue, deliver” — but as an active participle: “the rescuer.”

[2] “Shrine” is bamah, a common word in the Bible for both literal hilltops and the “high places” that were sites of worship in Canaanite religion.  Eventually it came to mean a sacred place of worship and sacrifice; the frequency with which the Bible condemns them indicates their widespread popularity.

[3] “Shrine of deliverance” is a guess, following Schniedewind’s suggestion; only the first two and last two letters of the phrase are preserved.

[4] Literally: “because he helped me look down on my haters.”

[5] “Altar of its patron god”: this phrase (ᐣrᐣl dwdh) has been obscure for the history of the inscription.  “Altar” might instead be “warrior,” “lion figurine,” or even a personal name Arel; “its patron god” (which I derive from dod, “uncle,” along the lines of ḥam) could be “its David [i.e. chieftain]” or “its beloved.”

[6] “Fertile girls” is, literally, “wombs.”  Most scholars translate these as “servant girls” or “concubines,” but separate words exist for those categories, and this is not a common word for a class of women.  I see instead a connection to Judges 5:30, another passage about the spoils of war, that mentions “one womb, (even) two wombs per man.”  The blunt implication is that after conquering a city, young fertile women would be part of the soldiers’ plunder, literally reduced in value to their sex organs.  In this case, Mesha clarifies, even the women who might have been raped were instead killed with their neighbors.  (Of course, as with the genocidal biblical tales in Joshua, the account may exaggerate the breadth of the violence for the sake of storytelling.)

[7] The ḥerem, referenced here, appears several times in the Bible; it’s a religious concept that involves dedicating something (usually an entire city) to a deity for the purpose of utter destruction, thereby ruling out looting, intermarriage, etc.  Ashtar-Kemosh is perhaps the female consort (as in Ishtar/Astarte) of Kemosh.

[8] Like the Hebrew Bible, this inscription generally uses a narrative sequence to indicate the main action of the story.  (Think of old Bible translations that started every sentence with “And…”)  Here, though, we begin a series of non-sequential statements that emphasize the first word “I.”  I’ve represented this focus using the longer phrase “I am the one who.”  It creates a somewhat redundant series, but that does reflect the original composition.

[swabona100]

Day 6 Research topic is #moabite #Moorish #moor

[heartofashepherd]

https://youtu.be/HtEllLan_kU?si=v91oqDxoKELIp7za Today’s second Bible study focuses on Isaiah 15. Here we find the first half of a prophecy about the Assyrian invasion and destruction of Moab, an ancient nation east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.

[thejudahite]

"Who are the #Chinese and #Japanese according to the Bible?

[lanreobey]

3 words.... knowledge is power.🇲🇦 . . . . . . . . . #jew #youwish #moabite #moor #antisemitism #jesuskiller #christconsciousness #27thletters #27thletterspodcast https://www.instagram.com/p/CkdKoUcuCAU/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[lanreobey]

🗣Protect Ye!!!!🎯 . . . “Money's worthless, real power is people Real strength is in the streets where everybody's equal Fuck jewelry, fuck rims; let's spend on our protection Get armor, get cameras, get with' it lil nigga this man's shit Real power is people Real strength is in the streets where everybody's equal”- P . . . . #ripprince #ripprodigy #ripmichaeljackson #protectkanye #moabite #youwish #jew #27thletters #27thletterspodcast https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj1gNm1MWAd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[leroge]

#GiveMoorLove (Learn to love instead of hate). #Islam #Islamism #PeaceAndLove #Moabite #Circle7 #Moor (Who named you...?)🤚🏾🧘🏾‍♂️🧠♥️🇲🇦🇺🇸☪️👑 (at The Keeper of the Plains) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNVtmp9hA8t/?igshid=18pv84c5z8kjl