Tel Dan Stele

Oct 6

“Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the House of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David…” 2 Chronicles 21:7

The famous Tel Dan stele is currently on display in the United States as part of the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archeology’s Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered exhibit (Edmond, Oklahoma). The stele is on loan from The Israel Museum through November 25th.

In 1993, archeologists discovered the pieces of the Tel Dan stele within a stone wall at Tel Dan, Israel. On the stele is an inscription in old Aramaic recounting a victory over the King of Israel and the King of the “House of David”. Many scholars agree that the stele describes the situation in 2 Kings 9-12 and is the oldest known extra biblical attestation to the “House of David”. The stele dates to the 9th century BC.

Another fascinating item in the exhibit is the Ophel Pithos inscription discovered by Dr. Elat Mazar in 2012. The Ophel is an area between the Southern wall of Temple Mount and the City of David in Jerusalem. This pithos (large storage jar) has an inscription from the 10th century BC which is thought to be written in Ancient South Arabian script from that time frame. The inscription labels the jar as containing a spice - a spice that Bible lists as one of 4 necessary components of the temple incense mixture.

The Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered exhibit will continue through January 2025 and there is a virtual tour on-line at: exhibit-tour.armstronginstitute.org

The Tel Dan Stele, on loan to the Armstrong Institute's "Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered" exhibit.

Tel Dan Stele - using that handy iPhone feature to extract an object from its background.

Rim of a pathos (storage jar) found in the Ophel area of Jerusalem. The writing labels the jar as containing one of the spices that were needed for temple incense.

The exhibit has a wonderful model of the city of David as envisioned from the time of David and Solomon.

Limestone shrine model dating to the 10th century BC - depiction of the wooden cross beam construction in set of three called a triglyph - seen in Greek architecture 400 years later.