Moabite Stone

Moabite Stone
   A basalt stone, bearing an inscription by King Mesha, which was discovered at Dibon by Klein, a German missionary at Jerusalem, in 1868. It was 3 1/2 feet high and 2 in breadth and in thickness, rounded at the top. It consisted of thirty-four lines, written in Hebrew-Phoenician characters. It was set up by Mesha as a record and memorial of his victories. It records (1) Mesha's wars with Omri, (2) his public buildings, and (3) his wars against Horonaim. This inscription in a remarkable degree supplements and corroborates the history of King Mesha recorded in 2 Kings 3:4-27.
   With the exception of a very few variations, the Moabite language in which the inscription is written is identical with the Hebrew. The form of the letters here used supplies very important and interesting information regarding the history of the formation of the alphabet, as well as, incidentally, regarding the arts of civilized life of those times in the land of Moab.
   This ancient monument, recording the heroic struggles of King Mesha with Omri and Ahab, was erected about B.C. 900. Here "we have the identical slab on which the workmen of the old world carved the history of their own times, and from which the eye of their contemporaries read thousands of years ago the record of events of which they themselves had been the witnesses." It is the oldest inscription written in alphabetic characters, and hence is, apart from its value in the domain of Hebrew antiquities, of great linguistic importance.

Easton's Bible Dictionary. . 1897.

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  • Moabite stone — Mo ab*ite stone (Arch[ae]ol.) A block of black basalt, found at Dibon in Moab by Rev. F. A. Klein, Aug. 19, 1868, which bears an inscription of thirty four lines, dating from the 9th century b. c., and written in the Moabite alphabet, the oldest… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Moabite Stone — a slab of black basalt bearing an inscription recording the victory of Mesha, the king of Moab, over the Israelites, about 860 B.C. Also called Mesha Stele. [1865 70] * * * Moabite stone noun A basalt slab found (1868) at Dibon in Moab, with a… …   Useful english dictionary

  • MOABITE STONE —    a stone 4 ft. high and 2 ft. broad found by Dr. Klein in 1868 among the ruins of Dhiban, a town in Moab, now in the Louvre at Paris, describing a victory of the Moabites over the Israelites; it was broken by the Arabs, but the fragments have… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Moabite Stone — Discovered in 1868 and broken into pieces by local tribesmen when they realized its value; but reassembled and now in Paris. The inscription, dated about 830 BCE, in a language related to biblical Hebrew, records military successes against Israel …   Dictionary of the Bible

  • Moabite Stone — a slab of black basalt bearing an inscription recording the victory of Mesha, the king of Moab, over the Israelites, about 860 B.C. Also called Mesha Stele. [1865 70] * * * …   Universalium

  • Moabite — /moh euh buyt /, n. 1. an inhabitant or native of Moab. 2. an extinct language of Moab, in the Canaanite group of Semitic languages. adj. 3. Also, Moabitic /moh euh bit ik/, Moabitish /moh euh buy tish/. of or pertaining to the ancient kingdom of …   Universalium

  • Moabite alphabet —       eastern subdivision of the Canaanite branch of the early Semitic alphabet, closely related to the early Hebrew alphabet. The best known example of the Moabite alphabet is from the Meshaʿ, or Moabite, Stone (Louvre, Paris), which was… …   Universalium

  • Moab — This article is about a location in Jordan. For other uses, see Moab (disambiguation). Moabite sarcophagus in Jordan Archaeological Museum in Amman Moab (Hebrew: מוֹאָב, Modern  …   Wikipedia

  • Mesha Stele — in the Louvre Museum. The Mesha Stele (popularized in the 19th century as the Moabite Stone ) is a black basalt stone bearing an inscription by the 9th century BC ruler Mesha of Moab in Jordan. The inscription was set up about 840 BC as a… …   Wikipedia

  • biblical literature — Introduction       four bodies of written works: the Old Testament writings according to the Hebrew canon; intertestamental works, including the Old Testament Apocrypha; the New Testament writings; and the New Testament Apocrypha.       The Old… …   Universalium

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