Wednesday, June 05, 2019

Balak in the Mesha Stele?

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY: Smashed Ancient Tablet Suggests Biblical King Was Real. But Not Everyone Agrees (Laura Geggel, Live Science).

It seems that while I was away, Israel Finkelstein and colleagues have argued that the Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone) inscription mentioned the biblical king Balak. Balak appears in association with the pagan prophet Balaam in Numbers 22-24.

The argument is based on restoring a broken word that began with the letter Bet (B). It looks speculative to me. But this article tells you more and it links to the article by Finkelstein, Na’aman, and Römer. Have a look and see what you think.

For many past posts on the Mesha Stele, start here and follow the links.

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