Beisan steles

The Beisan steles are five Ancient Egyptian steles from the period of Seti I and Ramesses II discovered in what was then known as Beisan, Mandatory Palestine by Alan Rowe in the late 1920s and early 1930s.[1][2][3][4]

"First stele" of Seti I, Rockefeller Archeological Museum
"Second stele, of Seti I, Rockefeller Archeological Museum
Ramesses II stele, Penn Museum
The three triumphal steles

First stele and second stele

They are known as

  • "First Stele": COS 2.4B[5] / ANET 253-254 (A Campaign of Seti I in Northern Palestine)
  • "Second Stele": COS 2.4D[6] A badly damaged and weathered stele / ANET 255 (Stelae of Seti I and Ramses II)
  • Ramesses Stele: ANET 255 (Stelae of Seti I and Ramses II)

The First Stele of Seti I has been described as "the most impressive find from Egypt’s rule over Canaan".[7]

The first stele is considered to testify to the presence of a Hebrew population: the Habiru, which Seti I protected from an Asiatic tribe.[8][9]

Today they are in the Penn Museum,[10] Philadelphia, and the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum, East Jerusalem.

Other Egyptian / Canaanite steles

Two other important steles from the same period were found in the same area. Today these are both at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.[11]

Mekal Stele
Limestone Stele of Canaanite God Mekal, 13th C. BCE

One of the steles, discovered in 1928,[12] states that the temple was dedicated to “Mekal, the god, the lord of Beth Shean”;[13] an otherwise unknown Canaanite god – the stele itself is our main source of knowledge about Mekal.[14]

Mekal is seated on a throne, receiving lotus flowers from the builder Amenemapt and his son Paraemheb, holding an ankh and was-sceptre.

Lion Stele
Canaanite relief in basalt depicting a lion and a lioness at play, 14th century BC

A Canaanite stele showing a lion and lioness at play was found in the excavation of the "governor's house".

See also

Citations
  1. Higginbotham, C.R. (2022). Egyptianization and Elite Emulation in Ramesside Palestine: Governance and Accommodation on the Imperial Periphery. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East. Brill. p. 235. ISBN 978-90-04-49364-3. Retrieved 2023-04-23. A number of Stelae or Stele fragments derive from LB IIB-Iron IA Palestine. Five came from Beth Shan, four from Deir el-Balah, and two from sites on the east bank of the Jordan. All were made of local stone basalt, kurkar (sandstone), or limestone. Three of the Beth Shan Stelae contain lengthy inscriptions, which were discussed in chapter 2 in the sections on the reigns of Seti I
  2. "The Two Royal Stelæ of Beth-Shan". The Museum Journal. 2023-04-15. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  3. Levy, Eythan (2018). "A FRESH LOOK AT THE MEKAL STELE". Ägypten und Levante / Egypt and the Levant. Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. 28: 359–378. ISSN 1015-5104. JSTOR 26664996. Retrieved 2023-04-15 – via JSTOR.
  4. Černý, J.; צ'רני, י. (1958). "אסטילת רעמסס השני מבית-שאן / STELA OF RAMESSES II FROM BEISAN". Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies / ארץ-ישראל: מחקרים בידיעת הארץ ועתיקותיה. Israel Exploration Society. ה: 75*–82*. ISSN 0071-108X. JSTOR 23612473. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  5. Context of Scripture: FIRST BETH-SHAN STELA, YEAR 1 (2.4B) (Palestine Archaeological Museum, Jerusalem, S.884) "On his campaign in Year 1 (1294 or 1290 BCE), Sethos I probably penetrated as far as Phoenicia. Then on his return southward, he found disturbances in the Beth-Shan district, just south of the Sea of Galilee. The local chiefs of Hammath and Pella (W and E of the Jordan) had blockaded nearby Rehob and seized the important center of Beth- Shan. So the pharaoh sent out three strike-forces: against rebel Hammath, the captured Beth-Shan, and neighboring Yenoam. Beth-Shan is Tell Husn (at modern Beisan), where this stela was found."
  6. Context of Scripture: SECOND BETH-SHAN STELA, [YEAR LOST] (2.4D) (Palestine Archaeological Museum, Jerusalem, S.885A/B) "Regrettably, the year-date is broken away on this monument, but is likely to have been [Year 2 or later]. Again, on his way back south, the king was obliged to quell dissidents, seemingly in Lower Galilee, as his troops "turned back" to deal with the matter. The Apiru are here given the determinative of an armed man; so they were regarded in this case as armed bands by the Egyptians."
  7. "Uncovering the Bible's Buried Cities: Beth Shean". ArmstrongInstitute.org. 2023-03-23. Retrieved 2023-04-16. One stele discovered from Seti i is called the "Large Stele" and is considered the most impressive find from Egypt's rule over Canaan.
  8. Albright, W. F. (1952). "The Smaller Beth-Shan Stele of Sethos I (1309-1290 B. C.)". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. American Schools of Oriental Research (125): 24–32. ISSN 0003-097X. JSTOR 1355937. Retrieved 2023-04-15 – via JSTOR.
  9. T. J. Meek (Feb 1936). Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem. American Schools of Oriental Research (61): 18 https://books.google.com/books?id=jO8SAAAAIAAJ. The stela of Seti I discovered at Beisan indicates that the Apiru or Hebrews were certainly in the neighbourhood at that time, c. 1300 B.C. and they seem to have come from the East of Jordan. This is not absolutely certain because the words on the stela are partly obliterated, but it would seem to be confirmed by the second stela of Seti I found at the same site, which distinctly refers to an invasion from the east side of Jordan. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. "Stela - 29-107-958 - Collections". Penn Museum. 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  11. "Standing stone depicting the Canaanite god Mekal". The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  12. Mallon, Alexis (1928). "Une nouvelle stèle égyptienne de Beisan (scythopolis)". Syria (in French). PERSEE Program. 9 (2): 124–130. doi:10.3406/syria.1928.3283. ISSN 0039-7946.
  13. Rowe 11
  14. Thompson, H.O. (1970). Mekal: The God of Beth-Shan. E. J. Brill. p. 6. ISBN 978-90-04-02268-3. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
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