The Moses Legacy

Chapter 27

‘This is the famous Mernepteh stele,’ said Mansoor. ‘Made of granite, it was by far the largest inscribed stone ever found, not just by Flinders Petrie, but by anyone. The stone was actually stolen by Mernepteh from the mortuary temple of another pharaoh who had already used the other side. But it was the proclamation that Mernepteh inscribed on it that makes it one of the most famous monuments of ancient Egypt.’

Daniel stood there staring at the huge stone monument in awe, flanked by Mansoor and Gabrielle. His lips moved, but no words came out of his mouth. It was as if there were no words that could describe the magnificence of what he beheld. Lit by special lighting in an otherwise dark area of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, it stood more than ten feet high and five feet wide, dwarfing those who stood in its imposing presence.

Daniel craned his neck to look up to the graphic image at the top. It showed the pharaoh and his consort standing with various others in attendance.

‘You feel it, don’t you?’ said Mansoor.

Daniel saw a mocking smile on the Egyptian’s face and he knew exactly what he meant.

‘Yes,’ said Daniel, subconsciously muting his voice in token of the humility that he felt before this imposing monument.

‘Mernepteh used this stone to proclaim his victories over Libya.’

‘Or his father’s victories,’ Gabrielle added.

‘True,’ Mansoor confirmed. ‘Considering that his father, Ramesses the Second, ruled for sixty-six years and lived for ninety, it’s far more likely that the father was the architect of the victories commemorated in this stele than his son, who ruled for no more than ten.’

Mansoor started reading out loud. ‘He drove back the Libyans who walked in Egypt, Fear of Egypt is great in their hearts… Their best fighters were left abandoned, Their legs made no stand except to flee, Their bowmen abandoned their bows.’

‘I notice it’s written right to left,’ said Daniel.

The normal way to write hieroglyphics was left to right, but they could be written either way.

‘I didn’t know you could read them,’ said Mansoor.

‘I can’t. But I can tell from the way the figures are facing.’

Mansoor nodded approvingly. Hieroglyphic animals and human forms always face the beginning of the line.

‘And do you attribute any significance to that fact?’ asked Mansoor.

‘Only that Semitic languages are written right to left. And I understand that this monument contains the first known reference to Israel.’

‘That is true.’

‘I assume that this has something to do with the reason you’re showing it to me.’

‘Oh yes,’ said Mansoor. ‘When this stone was found, Flinders Petrie called in a German linguist and philologist by the name of Wilhelm Spiegelberg to translate it. As Spiegelberg was nearing the end of his translation, he became confused by something he read. In just two lines close to the end, the inscription switches from Mernepteh’s military victories against Libya, in the west, to his purported triumphs in the east. The text goes something like this: ‘Canaan is captured in misery. Ashkelon is defeated, Gezer is taken, Yanoam is destroyed; Israel is laid waste, nought of seed.’

‘Nought of seed?’ Daniel echoed.

‘It’s a standard formula in the context of ancient war,’ Mansoor explained. ‘You destroy the enemy’s grain supply to weaken them economically.’

‘And it actually says “Israel”?’ asked Daniel.

‘The word that Spiegelberg read out phonetically was actually Isrir.’

‘But there’s a problem with that timeframe, isn’t there?’ said Daniel. ‘I mean, the stone dates from 1208 or 1209 BC. And according to the archaeological record, Israelite settlement in Canaan didn’t begin until shortly after that.’

‘Yes, but nowhere on this stone does it say that Isrir was in Canaan.’

‘No, but hold on a minute. All those other places were: Ashkelon, Gezer, Yanoam. And Isrir is mentioned right after them, implying that it was in the same general location.’

‘Ah, now it’s interesting that you mention that,’ Mansoor replied, obviously in his element. ‘Because the text actually distinguishes between those other places and Isrir. Ashkelon, Gezer and Yanoam are all followed by a throwstick symbol and three mountains. Those symbols represent a city state. In other words, each of those places was a city state. But the name Isrir, on the other hand, is followed by a throwstick followed by the figures of a man and a woman. And those symbols represent a foreign people rather than a city state. So, in effect, the text is telling us that Isrir was a people without a country.’

‘But what about the fact that it says they were destroyed?’ asked Daniel. ‘Evidently the Israelites weren’t destroyed because they were still around later.’

‘No, but you have to understand that mighty though the ancient Egyptians were, they were not averse to a touch of hyberbole. They were politicians after all.’

‘You said that a papyrus was found at the same site as this.’

‘Yes. It’s in the archives.’

Mansoor led them once again to the basement archives and showed Daniel and Gabrielle a papyrus fragment containing ancient script. Daniel sat down and stared at it for a long time, referring to his concordance to check each word.

‘Can you translate it?’ Mansoor asked encouragingly.

Daniel peered at the papyrus again before struggling with the words out loud. ‘He killed the women who drew forth the sons, but spared them the daughters.’

‘That doesn’t make sense,’ said Gabrielle.

‘No, of course not,’ said Mansoor. ‘The women who drew forth the sons – presumably that means the midwives. But they would have had the same midwives for sons and daughters.’

‘Wait a minute, I think I can solve it. They’re using the causative case. It’s not “He killed,” it’s “He caused to kill.” In other words, “He caused the women who drew forth the sons to kill them, but made them spare the daughters.”’

As soon as the words were out of Daniel’s mouth he turned to Gabrielle with a look of amazement on his face.

‘The killing of the sons!’ they blurted out in unison.

‘Are you sure?’ asked Mansoor.

‘Absolutely,’ Daniel followed up. ‘In the Bible, it says that Pharaoh decreed that all male babies of the Israelites be thrown into the river – hence Moses being hidden in the bulrushes to save him. And on the Mernepteh stele it says, “Israel is laid waste, nought of seed .” It couldn’t be clearer.’

Daniel had mixed feelings. He was making monumental progress in deciphering ancient texts that played an import ant part in Jewish history. But he felt like he was treading water when it came to finding the papyrus that Harrison had purportedly translated in his elusive paper.