Part of the inscription appears to mention bronze that was pillaged after King Mesha’s conquest of the ancient city of Ataroth, a war explicitly mentioned in the texts of the Hebrew Bible.
Adam BeanThe 2,800 - year - old stone Lord’s table and its inscription appear to bring up the pillaging of ancient Ataroth by King Mesha of Moab .
A find in the ancient city of Ataroth — now known as Khirbat Ataruz — in Jordan may shed light on an ancient warfare described in the bible . According toLive Science , a 2,800 - class - old inscribed stone altar was found in a Moabite chancel in the city .
researcher believe that the altar date back to a time after Mesha , king of Moab , successfully led a rising against the Kingdom of Israel and stamp down ancient Ataroth which was then under Israel ’s rule .
Adam BeanThe 2,800-year-old stone altar and its inscriptions appear to mention the pillaging of ancient Ataroth by King Mesha of Moab.
The altar that was uncovered usher two distinct inscriptions : one is a text in the ancient Moabite linguistic process , which is very exchangeable to Hebrew , and the other is number pen in Hieratic , an ancient Egyptian writing organization . Archaeologists conceive that these inscriptions may describe the events of the Mesha - led rebellion .
The 2,800 - year - old inscriptions are still being deciphered by archaeologist , but research worker consort that one of the two penning on the ancient altar seems to be about bronze gem that were pillaged after Mesha ’s takeover of Ataroth .
“ One might job that quantity of bronze looted from the conquered city of [ Ataroth ] at some recent date were gift as an offering at the shrine and recorded on this altar , ” researcher noted in the theme about the altar ’s discovery that waspublished in the journalLevant .
Wikimedia CommonsThe ancient Mesha Stele tablet that also has inscriptions written in Moabite on it.
The second part of the inscriptions leaven more difficult to show by scientists , but the interlingual rendition seems to write that “ 4,000 extraneous man were dot and abandoned in great number . ” Another part of the textual matter write in Moabite cites “ the desolate metropolis , ” perhaps a consultation to the fallen Ataroth .
The uncovering of the etched ancient Lord’s table is significant given that the rebellion and subsequent conquest of Ataroth by King Mesha is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible .
In it , King Mesha is said to have been obligate to provide the Kingdom of Israel a tribute of thousands of Elia along with vast quantities of ram wool . Eventually , King Mesha rise against the Kingdom of Israel ’s control and seized Ataroth .
Moab was an ancient kingdomlocated in the southerly part of modern - day Jordan .
Wikimedia CommonsThe ancient Mesha Stele tablet that also has inscriptions write in Moabite on it .
The first fundamental interaction between Moab and the Kingdom of Israel is trust to have occurred in 1452 BC . Later , the Kingdom of Moab , under the rule of King Eglon , attacked the Israelites , chair to eighteen yr of Israel pay tribute to Moab . It was n’t until Israel ’s King David conquered Moab that the latter would have to give tribute to the Kingdom of Israel instead .
Incredibly , the ancient Lord’s table , which had been originally discovered on the archeological site site of Khirbat Ataruz back in 2010 , is not the first diachronic token unearth by scientist that refer King Mesha ’s insurrection .
In 1868 , an ancient relic known as theMesha Stele — an inscribed three - foot - tall black basalt stone pad that dates back to ninth century B.C. — was dug up in Dhiban , Jordan . Since its discovery , researchers have been seek to decode the ancient writing on the tablet which is also in Moabite .
Some archaeologist claim that the inscriptions on the Mesha Stele talk of the town about how King Mesha ravage the metropolis ’s inhabitants during his conquest of Ataroth , and the existence of a scriptural figure known as King Balak . However , the wicked scathe on the ancient tablet has caused much of the authorship on it to be illegible , so historians and biblical expert have tempered interpreting of the Mesha Stele .
Similarly , researchers involved in learn the ancient Harlan F. Stone altar note that much “ remains undecipherable about this dedication . ” Nevertheless , the new discovered inscriptions , the cogitation recognize , bring home the bacon “ a fresh important historical attestor ” to the time of kingdoms past .
Now that you ’ve read about the find of the 2,800 - twelvemonth - old scratch altar that hash out a scriptural warfare , learn howscientists uncovered the descendants of the ancient Canaaniteswho were thought to have been wiped up . Next , take aboutthe legend of the existent sword in the stoneand the person it belonged to .
