Merneptah Stele
also known as the Israel Stele
Egypt's enemies abroad, named one by one, have already been permanently subdued, and among them, almost as an aside, stands the earliest known reference to Israel outside its own scriptures.
- the earliest known extra-biblical reference to Israel
- victory rhetoric listing subdued Canaanite powers
- a grammatical determinative used to debate Israel's political form
- a stele originally carved for Amenhotep III and reinscribed
A victory inscription of Pharaoh Merneptah, primarily commemorating a campaign against Libyan invaders, that closes with a poetic survey of subdued foreign powers in Canaan, including the line Israel is laid waste, its seed is not, the earliest known non-biblical reference to a people called Israel. The grammatical determinative used marks Israel as a people or tribal group rather than an established city-state, a detail central to debates over Israel's earliest historical form. The stele itself was reused, having been originally carved for Amenhotep III.
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