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Merneptah Stele

c. 1208 BCE · 13th century BCE · Also known as Israel Stele

The Merneptah Stele is an inscribed granite slab of the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah, set up around 1208 BCE and found at Thebes in 1896. It records his victory over the Libyans and their allies and closes with a hymn listing defeated places in Canaan, including Ashkelon, Gezer and Yenoam. It contains the earliest known mention of Israel and is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Merneptah Stele
Image: 𐰇𐱅𐰚𐰤 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Gezer

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Merneptah Stele. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/merneptah-stele
MLA
“Merneptah Stele.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/merneptah-stele. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Merneptah Stele.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/merneptah-stele.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Merneptah Stele’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/merneptah-stele (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻