Moab and the Mesha Stele

A black basalt slab found in 1868 at Dibon, east of the Jordan, carries thirty-four lines in the voice of the Moabite king Mesha. He tells how his land was subjugated by Omri, king of Israel, and how the god Chemosh restored Moab's freedom and cities. It is one of the oldest extended narratives in a language almost indistinguishable from biblical Hebrew, and it names both Israel and the four-letter Name of Israel's God. The Second Book of Kings tells of the same events from the other side—a rare case where both versions of one conflict survive.