This ancient monument was discovered by the Rev. F. Klein in 1868 at Diban
(the Dibon of the O.T.) in Moab.
The inscription consists of thirty-four lines (the last two being
undecipherable), and was written by Mesha king of Moab to commemorate
his successful revolt from the yoke of Israel, recorded in 2Kings 1:1
and chapter 3; and to honor his god Chemosh, to whom he ascribed his
successes.
The writing is in the ancient Hebrew characters, which continued in
use down to quite 140, 139 B.C., but was gradually replaced by the
modern square Hebrew characters which are in use to-day.
The inscription is proved to be genuine by the Bible account, the two
throwing light on each other. See the notes on 2Kings 3.
The following translation, by Dr. Neubauer, is taken from Records
of the Past (New Series), Vol. II, pp. 200, &c. :
1. "I, Mesha son of Chemosh-Melech king of Moab, the Di-
2. bonite. My father reigned over Moab thirty years and I
reign-
3. ed after my father. I made this monument to Chemosh at
Korkhah. A monument of sal-
4. vation, for he saved me from all invaders, and let me see my
desire upon all my enemies. Om-
5. ri [was] king of Israel, and he oppressed Moab many days,
for Chemosh was angry with his
6. land. His son followed him, and he also said : I
will oppress Moab. In my days Che[mosh] said;
7. I will see my desire on him and his house. And Israel
surely perished for ever. Omri took the land of
8. Medeba (*1) and [Israel] dwelt in it during his days and
half the days of his son (*2), altogether forty years. But there
dwelt in it
9. Chemosh in my days. I built Baal-Meon (*3) and made
therein the ditches; I built
10. Kirjathaim (*4). The men of Gad dwelt in the land of
Ataroth (*5) from of old, and built there the king of
11. Israel Ataroth; and I made war against the town and seized
it. And I slew all the [people of]
12. the town, for the pleasure of Chemosh and Moab : I
captured from thence the Arel (*6) of Dodah and tore
13. him before Chemosh in Kerioth (*7) : And I placed
therein the men of Sh(a)r(o)n, and the men
14. of M(e)kh(e)rth. And Chemosh said to me : Go,
seize Nebo (*8) upon Israel; and
15. I went in the night and fought against it from the break of
dawn till noon : and I took
16. it, and slew all, 7,000 men, [boys?], women, [girls?]
17. and female slaves, for to Ashtar-Chemosh I devoted them.
And I took from it the Arels (*6) of Yahveh, and tore them before
Chemosh. And the king of Israel built
18. Jahaz (*9), and dwelt in it, while he waged war against me;
Chemosh drove him out before me. And
19. I took from Moab 200 men, all chiefs, and transported them
to Jahaz, which I took,
20. to add to it Dibon. I built Korkhah, the wall of the
forests and the wall
21. of the citadel : I built its gates, and I built its
towers. And
22. I built the house of Moloch, and I made sluices of the
water-ditches in the middle
23. of the town. And there was no cistern in the middle
of the town of Korkhah, and I said to all the people, Make for
24. yourselves every man a cistern in his house. And I
dug the canals for Korkhah by means of the prisoners
25. of Israel. I built Aroer (*10), and I made the road
in [the province of] the Arnon. [And]
26. I built Beth-Bamoth (*11), for it was destroyed. I
built Bezer (*12), for in ruins
27. [it was. And all the chiefs] of Dibon were 50, for
all Dibon is subject; and I placed
28. one hundred [chiefs] in the towns which I added to the land
: I built
29. Beth-Medeba and Beth-diblathaim (*13), and Beth-Baal-Meon
(*14), and transported thereto the [shepherds]?...
30. and the pastors] of the flocks of the land. And at
Horonaim (*15) dwelt there
31. ...And Chemosh said to me, Go down, make war upon Horonaim.
I went down [and made war]
32. ...And Chemosh dwelt in it during my days. I went up
from thence..."
