Archaeology
Merneptah Stele
- Era
- c. 1207 BC
- Location
- Thebes, Egypt
- Discovered
- 1896
The earliest known extra-biblical mention of "Israel" — on a victory stele of Pharaoh Merneptah — placing Israel's presence in Canaan in the late 13th century BC.
The find
Discovered by Flinders Petrie at the mortuary temple of Merneptah, the stele lists peoples Merneptah defeated. Among the entries is "Israel," with the determinative for a people-group (not a city or land). The date is firmly around 1207 BC.
Why it matters
It confirms that a people called Israel really did exist in Canaan during the very period the Bible places them there — a direct rebuke to the late-date "minimalist" claim that biblical Israel was a Persian-era invention.
Cross-linked Scripture
Doctrine check
Sources
- ·Hasel, M.G. (1994). Israel in the Merneptah Stela. BASOR 296
- ·Kitchen, K.A. (2003). On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Eerdmans
- ·Merneptah Stele (Wikipedia)
Image: Egyptian Museum, Cairo · Photo: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
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