Mesha and Questions of Historicity

Abstract

The inscription's celebration of the fullness of Mesha's reign identifies Mesha's accord with Chemosh' divine will and does not indicate that the inscription was written late in or at the end of Mesha's life. The stele, itself, and its dedication to a sanctuary built for Chemosh supports the historicity of such a shrine at Karchoh. The legitimation clause gives witness to Mesha as king of Moab. Although the narrative sets Chemosh' patronage of Moab in contrast to the former presence of Omri in Moab, the name Omri is used figuratively and possibly eponymously for Israel and can not be assumed to necessarily refer to Omri, who is king of Israel in biblical narrative. The holy-war rhetoric of the victories over Ataroth and Nebo is theologically oriented and should not be read literally. The theme of piety is too dominated by hyperbole and political propaganda to be useful in terms of the historicity of events, though it is very important for the history of ideas. Similarly, the historicity of the specific causes in the past for hostility with Israel cannot be asserted on the basis of the inscription, though the text does support the existence of antagonism and perhaps competing regional territorial claims. The mythic and plot orientation of Mesha's campaign of re-conquest and ethnic cleansing undermine the historicity of the details of this campaign in general, though military conflict between Israel and Moab is not to be excluded. While the thematic elements illustrating the king's effort at fame have no claim on historicity beyond the existence of the stele itself, the building projects, given confirmation, are quite open to a judgment of historicity and might be considered useful for a social-history of the period, though the specific geographical locations may be dependent on a literary tradition. Numbers related to chronology and events in the narrative are mythic motifs and have no claim on historicity. Similarly, the mythic substance of the theme of transcendent peace undermines the use of its illustrations for historical reconstruction.