William Mathew Flinders Petrie (3 June 1853-28 July 1942) was an English Egyptologist who excavated many archaeological sites in Egypt in conjunction with his wife, Hilda Petrie.
One of his most famous discovery is the 'Mer'Neptah Stele' also known as the 'Israel Stele,' discovered in 1896 at the ancient Egyptian capital ofThebes, and now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The stele was found in Mer'Neptah's funerary chapel, on the West bank of the Nile. On the opposite bank is the Temple of Karnak, where the fragmentary copy was found.
The stele is a black granite slab, over 3m/10ft high, and the inscription says it was carved in the 5th year of Mer'Neptah (reign: 1213-1203 BC) of the 19th dynasty.
Most of the text glorifies the victories of the king over the enemies from Libya and their Sea People allies, but the last 3 of the 28 lines deal with an apparently separate campaign in the East, where it seems that some of the Canaanite cities had revolted, Canaan, then, part of Egypt's imperial possessions, where Mer'Neptah says he defeated and destroyed Ash'Kalon, Gezer, Yanoam, and Israel:
"The princes are prostrate, saying, 'Peace!'. Not one is raising his head among the 'Nine Bows.'
Now that Te'Henu (Libya) has come to ruin, Hatti is pacified; the Canaan has been plundered into every sort of 'Woe': Ash'Kelon has been overcome; Gezer has been captured; Yano'Am is made non-existent. Israel is laid waste and his seed is not; Hurru is become a widow because of Egypt."
Traditionally the Egyptians had concerned themselves only with cities, so the problem presented by Israel must have been something new. Mer'Neptah and Ramesses III fought off their enemies, but it was the beginning of the end of Egypt's control over the people of Canaan. The last evidence of an Egyptian presence in the area is the name of Ram'Esses VI (1141-33 CE) inscribed on a statue base from Meg'Iddo.
The use of the determinative for a people rather than land implies that Israel had neither a king nor a kingdom at this time. The other Canaanite groups fought by Egypt :Ash'Kelon, Gezer, and Yano'Am, are in contrast described in the stele as nascent states.
William Petrie called upon Wilhelm Spiegel'Berg, a German Egyptologist in his team, to translate the inscription. He was specialized in analyses of Demotic (writing used for more than a 1000 years by the Egyptians) and hieratic (priestly) text. Spiegel'Berg was puzzled by one symbol towards the end, that of a people or tribe whom Mer'Neptah had victoriously smitten. Petrie quickly suggested that it read"Israel!" Spiegel'Berg agreed that the translation was correct. Petrie remarked: "Won't the reverends be pleased?" At dinner that evening, Petrie who realized the importance of the find said: "This stele will be better known in the world than anything else I have found." The news of its discovery made headlines when it reached the English papers.
In Spiegel'Berg's inscriptions chapter of Petrie's 1897 publication "6 Temples at Thebes," Spiegel'Berg described the 'stele' as 'engraved on the rough back of the 'Stele of Amen'Hotep III,' which was removed from his temple, and placed back outward, against the wall, in the forecourt of the temple of Mer'Neptah. The scene at the top retained its original coloring of yellow, red, and blue. Amen'Hotep is shown giving a sword to the king, who is backed by Mut (ancient Egyptian mother goddess) on one side and by Khonsu (ancient Egyptian god of the moon).
"Mut" was the title of the primordial waters of the cosmos, and she was considered the mother from which the cosmos emerged. The hieroglyph for Mut's name, and for 'mother' itself, was that of a 'vulture', which the Egyptians believed were very maternal creatures. Since Egyptian vultures have no significant differing markings between female and male of the species, being without sexual dimorphism, the Egyptians believed they were all females, who conceived their offspring by the wind herself.
Khonsu, god of the moon, along with Thot, marked the passage of time. Khonsu was instrumental in the creation of new life in all living creatures. At Thebes he formed part of a family triad (the Theban triad) with Mut as his mother and Amun his father. His name reflects the fact that the Moon travels across the night sky, for it means 'traveller', and also had the titles 'Embracer', 'Pathfinder', and 'defender', as he watched overnight travelers. As the god of light in the night, Khonsu was invoked to protect against wild animals, and aid with healing. It was said that when Khonsu (Lah in Egyptian) caused the crescent moon to shine, women conceived, cattle became fertile, and all nostrils and every throat was filled with fresh air.
The majority of scholars translate a set of hieroglyphs on line 27 as "Israel,"representing the 1st documented instance of the name Israel in the historical record, and the only mention in Ancient Egypt. It is also one of the only four known ancient inscriptions interpreted to mention the term "Israel," the others being the 'Mesha Stele,' the 'Tel Dan Stele,' and the 'Kurkh Monolith.'
In the 1970s Frank Yurko announced that some of the reliefs at Karnak which had been thought to depict events in the reign of Ram'Esses II, Mer'Neptah's father, in fact belonged to Mer'Neptah.
The four reliefs show the capture of 3 cities, one of them labelled as Ash'Kelon. Frank Yurco suggested that the other 2 were Gezer and Yano'Am. The fourth relief shows a 'Battle in an open Hill Country' against an enemy shown as Canaanite. Frank Yurco suggested that this scene was to be equated with the Israel of the stele.
While the idea that Mer'Neptah's Israelites are to be seen on the walls of the temple has had an influence on many theories regarding the significance of the inscription, not all Egyptologists accept Frank Yurko's ascription of the reliefs to Mer'Neptah.
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