The famous Tel Dan Stele has been loaned by the Israel Museum to Herbert W. Armstrong College in Edmond, Oklahoma, and will be on display to the public from September 22 to November 25. It will be the centerpiece of the “Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered” exhibit. The stele dates to the ninth century BC and is part of a victory monument set up at Tel Dan by a Syrian king, likely Hazael. It is one of the most important artifacts in biblical archaeology, as it affirms the historicity of five Hebrew kings. The key part of the inscription has been reconstructed to read, “I killed Jehoram, son of Ahab, king of Israel and I killed Ahaziahu, son of Jehoram, king of the House of David” (brackets in the original have been omitted). 1 Hazael’s boast of killing both Jehoram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah is contrary to the biblical record, which explicitly states that Jehu killed both kings (2 Kings 9). While Hazael would hardly be the first king in history to take credit for another’s accomplishments, he could actually claim some credit. Scholars note that the word “kill” on the Tel Dan Stele can also be translated “strike” or “defeat.”2 Since Jehoram was at Jezreel recovering from wounds he had received in battle against the Syrians when Jehu killed him, Hazael could rightly take some credit for the king’s death.
ENDNOTES:
1 Avraham Biran and Joseph Naveh, “The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment,” Israel Exploration Journal 45, no. 1 (1995): 13.
2 Todd Bolen, “The Aramean Oppression of Israel in the Reign of Jehu” (PhD diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 2013), 56, https://www.academia.edu/6097624.
OFF-SITE LINKS:
- https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/world-famous-biblical-artifact-israel-130000660.html
- https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-817593
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