Have the Tel Dan Stele fragments been mis-assembled?

NORTHWEST SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY AND PALEOGRAPHY: Has the Tel Dan Stele Been Reconstructed Incorrectly? New Research Suggests Yes. A compelling new study reveals the three chunks of the famous stele to be the work of two scribes. (CHRISTOPHER EAMES, Armstrong Institute of Biblical History).

Now, [Prof. Michael] Langlois has turned his attention to the very “House of David” inscription itself—the Tel Dan Stele. It’s an artifact that has become arguably the most famous piece in the world of biblical archaeology. And in the latest issue of the Israel Exploration Journal (Vol. 74, No. 2), Langlois has produced a consequential new assessment of it.

No, the new analysis doesn’t change anything about the reading of the “House of David” phrase on the stele. Rather, it reinterprets how the three main fragments of the stele go together—or, perhaps more accurately, how they don’t go together.

The article in the current issue of IEJ is available only to subscribers.

The Tel Dan Stele is current on exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York. Earlier this year it was exhibited at Armstrong College in Oklahoma. For many posts on the stele, start here and follow the links. For a brief introduction to the stele and its inscription, see here

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