Balu'a Stele

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Al-Balu' Stele
Al-Balu' Moabite Stele on display at the Jordan Museum.jpg
Al-Balu' Stele on display at the Jordan Museum
Material Basalt
Writing Egyptian language [1]
Created1309-1151 BCE [1]
Discovered1930
Present location Jordan Museum

The Balu'a Stele is a basalt stele (inscribed stone) with a near completely unreadable Egyptian hieroglyphic inscription and relief panel. It was discovered in 1930 at the Khirbet al-Balu'a site north of the city of Karak and is thought to date to 1309-1151 BCE. [1] The finding site is on the territory of the land of Moab, but the ethnical identity of the person who has carved it cannot be asserted. [2] The iconography contains Canaanite elements, while the overall composition strictly conforms to Egyptian canons. [2] It has bern interpreted as representing two deities investing a Canaanite king, whom Egyptians would have seen as "Asiatic" and probably Shasu. [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Department of Antiquities of Jordan The Balu'a Stele: A New Transcription With Palaeographical And Historical Notes Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 08/9 http://publication.doa.gov.jo/Publications/ViewChapterPublic/635
  2. 1 2 3 Routledge, Bruce; Routledge, Carolyn (1 January 2009). "The Balu'a Stele Revisited" . Retrieved 28 January 2020.