| rdfs:comment | - The stela has gained much notoriety and fame for being the only Egyptian document generally accepted as mentioning "Israel". It is also, by far, the earliest known attestation of Israel. For this reason, many scholars refer to it as the "Israel stele". This title is perhaps somewhat erroneous as the stela is clearly not about Israel—it mentions it only in passing. There is only one line about Israel—"Israel is wasted, bare of seed" or "Israel lies waste, its seed no longer exists"—and very little about the region of Canaan as a whole, as Merneptah inserts just a single stanza to the Canaanite campaigns and multiple stanzas to his defeat of the Libyans.
- The Merneptah Stele (also known as the Israel Stele or Victory Stele of Merneptah) is the reverse of a stele originally erected by the Ancient Egyptian king Amenhotep III, but later inscribed by Merneptah in the thirteenth century BCE. The stela was made to commemorate a victory in a campaign against the Labu and Meshwesh Libyans and their Sea People allies, but a short portion of the text is devoted to a campaign in the Levant. It was discovered at Merneptah's mortuary temple at Thebes and is now in the collection of the Egyptian Museum at Cairo; a copy of the stela was also found at Karnak. It stands some ten feet tall, and its text is mainly a prose report with a poetic finish, mirroring other Egyptian New Kingdom stelae of the time. The stela is dated to Year 5 3rd month of Shemu (summ
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| abstract | - The Merneptah Stele (also known as the Israel Stele or Victory Stele of Merneptah) is the reverse of a stele originally erected by the Ancient Egyptian king Amenhotep III, but later inscribed by Merneptah in the thirteenth century BCE. The stela was made to commemorate a victory in a campaign against the Labu and Meshwesh Libyans and their Sea People allies, but a short portion of the text is devoted to a campaign in the Levant. It was discovered at Merneptah's mortuary temple at Thebes and is now in the collection of the Egyptian Museum at Cairo; a copy of the stela was also found at Karnak. It stands some ten feet tall, and its text is mainly a prose report with a poetic finish, mirroring other Egyptian New Kingdom stelae of the time. The stela is dated to Year 5 3rd month of Shemu (summer) day 3, and begins with a laudatory recital of Merneptah's achievements in battle. The stela has gained much notoriety and fame for being the only Egyptian document generally accepted as mentioning "Israel". It is also, by far, the earliest known attestation of Israel. For this reason, many scholars refer to it as the "Israel stele". This title is perhaps somewhat erroneous as the stela is clearly not about Israel—it mentions it only in passing. There is only one line about Israel—"Israel is wasted, bare of seed" or "Israel lies waste, its seed no longer exists"—and very little about the region of Canaan as a whole, as Merneptah inserts just a single stanza to the Canaanite campaigns and multiple stanzas to his defeat of the Libyans.
- The stela has gained much notoriety and fame for being the only Egyptian document generally accepted as mentioning "Israel". It is also, by far, the earliest known attestation of Israel. For this reason, many scholars refer to it as the "Israel stele". This title is perhaps somewhat erroneous as the stela is clearly not about Israel—it mentions it only in passing. There is only one line about Israel—"Israel is wasted, bare of seed" or "Israel lies waste, its seed no longer exists"—and very little about the region of Canaan as a whole, as Merneptah inserts just a single stanza to the Canaanite campaigns and multiple stanzas to his defeat of the Libyans.
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