The Merneptah Stele is the reverse of a stela erected by Amenhotep III written by Merneptah. The stele was made to commemorate a victory in a campaign against the Libyans, but a short portion of the text is devoted to a campaign in the Levant. It is also known as the "Israel stela", as it is the first—and only—Egyptian document to mention "Israel", thus becoming the first known documentation of Israel. It was discovered at his mortuary temple at Thebes and now sits in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, but a copy of the Stele was also found at Karnak. It stands some ten feet tall, and its text is mainly a prose report with a poetic finish, mirroring other Egyptian New Kingdom steles at the time. Stele is also a concept in plant biology. ... Amenhotep III, Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin The northern Colossus of Memnon Amenhotep III (called Nibmu(`w)areya in the Amarna letters) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the XVIIIth dynasty. ... Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt (1213- 1203 BC), being the 4th ruler of the 19th Dynasty. ... The Great Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or Libya (Arabic: ليبيا) is a country in North Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, located between Egypt on the east, Sudan on the southeast, Chad and Niger on the south and Algeria and Tunisia to the west. ... The Levant is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in Southwest Asia south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and the north Arabian Desert and Mesopotamia to the east. ... The State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, transliteration: ; Arabic: دَوْلَةْ اِسْرَائِيل, transliteration: ) is a country in the Middle East on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. ... For the ancient capital of Boeotia, see Thebes, Greece. ... Main entrance of the Egyptian Museum The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt — strictly, the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities — is home to the most extensive collection of pharaonic antiquities in the world. ... View of the modern citys skyline. ... Karnak is a village in Egypt that was once part of the ancient capital of Egypt, Thebes. ... The New Kingdom period of Egyptian history is the period between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasty of Egypt. ...

Because of the fact it mentions "Israel" and is the first known record of "Israel" in history, the stele has gained some fame. Some scholars have dubbed it the "Israel stela" because of this, however, this title is an erroneous one, as the stele is clearly not about Israel at all. In fact, the stele contains only one line about Israel—"Israel is wasted, bare of seed"—and very little about the region of Palestine as a whole, as Merneptah inserts just a single stanza to the Canaanite campaigns and multiple stanzas to his defeat of the Libyans. Palestine is the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the banks of the Jordan River, plus various adjoining lands to the east. ... This article is about the land called Canaan. ...

There are two debates by scholars surrounding the details of the Stele. For one, there is disagreement over whether or not Merneptah actually did campaign in Canaan and didn't just merely recount what was there, mirroring later Assyrian documents that could never admit that Assyria could lose. This argument holds some weight, as a stele by Merneptah's predecessor, Ramesses II about the Battle of Qadesh, indicates firm control of the Levant, making it strange that Merneptah had to reconquer it—unless Merneptah had in fact lost it. On the flip side, if taken literally, Merneptah may have faced a revolt that he crushed, meaning that regardless Merneptah's rule over Caanan was most likely precarious at best. Assyria, a country named after its original capital city, Asshur on the Tigris, was originally a colony of Babylonia, and was ruled by viceroys from that kingdom. ... Ramesses II, Abu Simbel Ramesses II (also known as Ramesses the Great and alternatively transcribed as Ramses and Rameses) was an Egyptian pharaoh. ... The Hittite (red) and Egypt (green) spheres of influence overlapped at Kadesh The Battle of Kadesh (also spelled Qadesh) took place between Egypt and the Hittite forces of Muwatallis, on the Orontes River, during the reign of Ramesses II (1304 – 1237 BC). ...

The other debate surrounds "Israel". As the stele mentions just one line about Israel it is difficult for scholars to draw any information at all about Israel. The stele does point out that Israel, at this stage, refers to a people since a determinative for "country" is absent regarding Israel (whereas the other areas had a determinative for "country" applied to them). However, after that there is not much else that can be drawn about Israel at this time. A theory by Donald Redford states that "Israel" was a band of Bedouin-like wanderers known to Egyptians as "Shasu". Redford notes that among the Shasu in a 15th century BC list is one labelled "Yhw- in the land of the Shasu", thus providing a possible explanation for the origin of Israel. As far as what "Israel" became after that, there is little that can be drawn. The next extra-Biblical source about Israel, detailing a campaign against Moab by Omri, appears some 300 years later in the Mesha Stele, and Biblically-speaking, the 200 years between the Stele and the foundation of the Kingdom of Israel by Saul in c.1000 BC are treated in a rather cursory manner, leaving much in the air over how Israel became a kingdom. Regardless, the Stele becomes an important source for Israelite history simply because it is the first official record in history of an "Israel", even if this record does not explain much. Bedouin resting at Mount Sinai Bedouin, derived from the Arabic badawi بدوي, a generic name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Sahara via the Western Desert, Sinai, and Negev to the eastern coast of the Arabian desert. ... Moab (מוֹאָב Seed of father/leader, Standard Hebrew Moʾav, Tiberian Hebrew Môʾāḇ) is the historical name for a mountainous strip of land in Jordan running along the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. ... Omri (Hebrew עָמְרִי, Standard Hebrew ʿOmri, Tiberian Hebrew ʿOmrî; short for Hebrew עָמְרִיָּה The LORD is my life, Standard Hebrew ʿOmriyya, Tiberian Hebrew ʿOmriyyāh) was king of Israel and father of Ahab. ... The stele as photographed circa 1891 The Mesha Stele (popularized in the 19th century as the Moabite Stone) is a black basalt stone, bearing an inscription by the 9th century BC Moabite King Mesha, discovered in 1868. ... The Kingdom of Israel (Hebrew מַלְכוּת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Standard Hebrew Malḫut Yisraʾel, Tiberian Hebrew Malḵûṯ Yiśrāʾēl) according to the Bible, was the nation formed around 1021BC from the descendants of Jacob, son of Isaac, who was given the name Israel, meaning Struggles With God. ... Saul or Shaul (שָׁאוּל Demanded, Standard Hebrew Šaʾul, Tiberian Hebrew Šāʾûl) was the first king of Israel according to the Old Testament of the Bible, as taught in Judaism. ...

References

• Donald Redford, "Egypt, Caanan and Israel in Ancient Times"
• David Noel Freedman, "The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 'Merneptah'"
• Miriam Lictheim, "Ancient Egyptian Literature: Volume II: The New Kingdom"
• James Pritchard, ed., "Ancient Near East Texts"
• George Arthur Buttrick, ed. "The Interpreter's Dictionary of The Bible, Vol. 3"