RYTorHYTin Line 12 of the Mesha Inscription: A New Examination of the Stele and the Squeeze, and the Syntactic, Literary, and Cultic Implications of the Reading

Abstract

This article presents arguments in favor of reading ryt in line 12 of the Mesha Inscription. A new examination of the stele and squeeze at the Musee du Louvre has yielded results that can offer, in my opinion, more evidence in favor of ryt over hyt. Within this article, I highlight the difficulties associated with the reading hyt on both the stele and the squeeze, and I provide new photographs that seem to more adequately support ryt. I also briefly discuss how ryt fits into the inscription from a syntactic, literary, and cultic perspective, thus eliminating some of the criticisms often attached to its elusive etymology. The conclusions reached in this study suggest that we should have more reservations about accepting hyt, as there is not a lot of evidence to support it.