Mesha and Questions of Historicity

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 ca...