Archæology and the Bible

by George A. Barton

Tribute of Jehu, son of Omri: silver, gold, a bowl (?) of gold, a basin (?) of gold, cups of gold, pails (?) of gold, bars of lead, scepters (?) for the hand of the king and balsam wood I received from him.

A fifth expedition is thus briefly described:[508]

In the 21st year of my reign (839 B. C.), the river Euphrates I crossed, against the cities of Hazael of Damascus I went. Four of his cities I captured. The tribute of the Tyrian, of the Sidonian, and of the Gebalite I received.

In still another inscription, which gives a summary of his wars, Shalmaneser compresses the account of his various wars in the west as follows:[509]

At that time Hadadidri of the land of Damascus, together with 12 princes, his helpers,—their defeat I accomplished. 29,000 mighty warriors I prostrated like a simoom (?). The rest of his soldiers I cast into the river Orontes. They fled to save their lives. Hadadidri forsook his land. Hazael, son of a nobody, seized the throne. He summoned his numerous soldiers and came to make war and battle with me. With him I fought, I accomplished his defeat. The wall of his camp I seized. He fled to save his life. I pursued him to Damascus, his capital city.

7. The Moabite Stone.

This stone, which bears an inscription of Mesha, King of Moab, a contemporary of King Ahab, was erected at Dibon (the modern Diban) on the north shore of the Arnon, where it was found in the last century. The upper portion of it was first seen by a Prussian clergyman, Rev. F. A. Klein, in the year 1868. Reports of its existence had previously reached the French scholar, Clermont-Ganneau, who was then in Jerusalem, and a squeeze of it was afterward taken by an Arab for this French scholar. Both the French and Prussian governments were desirous of obtaining it, and the Arabs, conceiving that they could obtain more money for it by selling it in parts, broke it up, thus greatly mutilating the inscription. Afterward the French obtained it, putting the pieces together again, and it may now be seen in the Louvre at Paris; (see [Fig. 300]). The inscription is as follows:[510]

I am Mesha, son of Chemoshmelek, King of Moab, the Dibonite. My father ruled over Moab thirty years, and I ruled after my father. And I made this high place to Chemosh in Qarhah (?) because of the deliverance of Mesha, because he saved me from all the kings and because he caused me to see [my desire] upon all who hated me. Omri, king of Israel—he oppressed Moab many days, because Chemosh was angry with his land. And his son succeeded him, and he also said I will oppress Moab. In my day he spoke according to [this] word, but I saw [my desire] upon him and upon his house, and Israel utterly perished forever. Now Omri had possessed all the land of Medeba and dwelt in it his days and half the days of his son, forty years, but Chemosh restored it in my day. And I built Baal-meon and I made in it the reservoir (?), and I built Kiryathaim. And the men of Gad had dwelt in the land of Ataroth from of old and the king of Israel had built for himself Ataroth. And I fought against the city and took it, and I slew all the people of the city, a sight [pleasing] to Chemosh and to Moab. And I brought back from there the altar-hearth of Duda and I dragged it before Chemosh in Kiryoth. And I caused to dwell in it the men of Sharon (?) and the men of Meharoth (?). And Chemosh said to me: “Go take Nebo against Israel”; and I went by night and fought against it from break of dawn till noon, and I took it and slew all, seven thousand men, boys (?), and women, and girls, for I had devoted it to Ashtar-Chemosh. And I took from there the altar-hearths of Yahweh (Jehovah), and I dragged them before Chemosh. And the king of Israel built Jahaz and dwelt in it while he fought with me and Chemosh drove him out from before me. And I took from Moab two hundred men, all its chiefs, and I led them against Jahaz and took it to add unto Dibon. And I built Qarhah (?), the wall of the forests and the wall of the hill; and I built its gates and I built its towers, and I built the king’s house, and I made the sluices (?) for the reservoir of water in the midst of the city. And there was no cistern in the midst of the city, in Qarhah (?); and I said to all the people: “Make you each a cistern in his house;” and I cut the cuttings for Qarhah (?) with the help of the prisoners of Israel. I built Aroer and I made the highway by the Arnon. And I built Beth-bamoth, for it had been destroyed. And I built Bezer, for it was in ruins .......... [Chi]efs of Dibon were fifty, for all Dibon was obedient. And I ruled a hundred .........., in the cities which I had added to the land. And I built [Mede]ba and Beth-diblathan. And [as for] Beth-baal-meon, there I placed sheep-raisers ........... sheep of the land. And [as for] Horonaim there dwelt in it ...... and .......... Chemosh said unto me: “Go down, fight against Horonaim,” and I went down and ........... Chemosh in my day, and from there .................... and I ..........

The author of this inscription is the Mesha mentioned in 2 Kings 3:4. He is there said to have been a “sheep-master” (Hebrew, nōqēdh). Mesha appears to say in line 30 (the word is broken) that he placed noqĕdhim, “sheep-raisers,” or, “sheep-masters,” in Beth-baal-meon. The nōqēdh was a raiser of a peculiar breed of sheep. Moab is excellent grazing land and raised a great many.

In general the inscription supplements the Biblical narrative. It mentions persons and places well known from the Bible, and gives us an account of a series of events of which the Bible makes no mention. The Biblical account says nothing of Mesha’s revolt, while Mesha in his turn says nothing of the campaign described in 2 Kings 3. Neither document implies that the events described in the other did not occur; the two are written from two different points of view and their authors selected the events which suited the purpose of the respective writers. In spite of this consideration there are some differences of statement which are perplexing.