The Tel Dan Stele is a fragmentary basalt inscription in Aramaic, discovered at the site of Tel Dan in northern Israel and dated to the ninth century BCE. It records a military victory by an Aramean king, generally identified with Hazael of Damascus, over neighboring kings and contains the phrase widely read as House of David. The inscription is significant as the earliest known reference outside the Hebrew Bible to the dynasty of King David.
Facts
Document TypeStele (fragmentary inscription) 1 Current Location Original Language Classification
Medium or Support Document Type
Document Type (category) FAQs
Does the Tel Dan Stele really say House of David?
Most scholars accept the reading; some skeptics argued it names a place.
Most biblical scholars and archaeologists accepted the House of David reading. Some skeptics resisted it. Philip Davies argued that the Hebrew term bytdwd named a specific place, like bytlhm for Bethlehem, and not the ancestral dynasty of David.
Connections
In Era
Source Tel Dan Stele, Wikipedia
In the Other Atlases
Used In
Also in Language Atlas: which uses this subject.
Sources
1. Tel Dan Stele, Wikipedia
Lead paragraph 1, sentence 1, document type
The Tel Dan Stele is a fragmentary stele
Lead paragraph 1, sentence 1, language clause
with an Old Aramaic inscription written in the Phoenician script
Lead paragraph 1, last sentence
Currently, it is on display at the Israel Museum.
Tel Dan Stele: Medium
The Tel Dan Stele is a fragmentary basalt inscription in Aramaic, discovered at the site of Tel Dan in northern Israel and dated to the ninth century BCE.
Lead
is a fragmentary stele with an Old Aramaic inscription
View the SourceReader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.