Canaanite & Ugaritic · Moabite · c. 840 BCE
The Mesha Stele (the Moabite Stone)
Mesha, king of Moab
A king's own account of a war the Hebrew Bible also records, from the losing side of that account. Chemosh appears throughout as the god who was angry with his land, gave victory, and commanded the slaughter — the same theology of defeat and favour the biblical writers use, in the mouth of the enemy. It carries the earliest mention of the god of Israel outside the Bible.
Read The Mesha Stele (the Moabite Stone) in full at the linked edition →What this text attests · 1
| Name here | Rank given | # | Powers described |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | The god of Moab, described by Moab rather than by its enemies. Mesha credits Chemosh with being angry at his land, with giving him victory over Israel, and with commanding the destruction of a town and its people. The Hebrew Bible records the same war from the other side, so the corpus holds both accounts of one campaign, each attributing the outcome to its own god. |
