44 ANCIENT EGYPT August/September 2019 M erneptah (or Merenptah), the thirteenth son of Ramesses II, succeeded his father in 1213 BC. His Victory Stela of 1205 BC has become famous for the first mention of ‘Israel’ outside of the Judeo-Christian Bible. The primary focus of the text is Merneptah’s campaign and victories against Egypt’s enemies in Year 5 of his reign. At the end of the 66-year reign of his father, Egypt faced rebellion, revolt and instability which required the battle skills of a warrior pharaoh. Merneptah fought many successful battles: against ‘Sea Peoples’ (dis- tinct groups of invaders from the Aegean) in the Northern Delta of the country and in the Sinai; against Libyan nomads and their chief Merey in the Western desert; and against Nubian rebels in Kush at Egypt’s Southern border. Like his predecessors, Merneptah recorded accounts of his victories in at least two sites. The Victory Stela (right) was erected at his mortuary temple at Qurna, in Western Thebes (opposite, bottom right). It was carved on the back of a stela removed from Amenhotep III’s mor- tuary temple (and discov- ered by Petrie in the ruins of Merneptah’s mortuary tem- ple in 1896). An identical account with accompanying battle reliefs is inscribed in a part of the outer western wall of the Amun Temple in Karnak, known as the Cour [courtyard] de la Cachette. It is variously named ‘The Great Karnak Inscription’, the ‘Victory Stela’, the ‘Poetical Stela’, and the ‘Israel Stela’. Egyptological sources often use the term Victory Stela when referring to the text and Great Karnak Inscription when the reliefs are being analysed. The Stela Inscription Text The inscription supported two mythical and religious concepts of the pharaonic rule: continuity and stability (Maat), enabled by the vic- tories of warrior kings and support from the gods. This compact protected the ‘Black Land’ from ‘ Isfet ’ (chaos) and from enemies in the eastern and western desert ‘Red Lands’. The text’s presence in the Amun Temple at Karnak high- lights the importance placed by the Nineteenth Dynasty on the power of Amun-Ra to enable this effort. The Stela text begins with titular information: “Year 5, 3 rd Month of Summer, Day 3, under the Majesty of Horus: Mighty Bull, Rejoicer in Maat; the King of Upper and Lower Egypt; Banera-meramun; the Son of Ra: Merneptah, Content with Maat, magnified with power, exalted by the strength of Horus, Strong Bull who smites the Nine Bows [Egypt’s Enemies], whose name is given to eternity forever”. Following a declaration of Merneptah’s power and glory, a narrative-free verse poem then describes the Libyan campaign, empha- sising the hard-fought rout of the treacherous Libyan leader Meryey and the con- federate bands of Sea Peoples, with the aid of the gods Shu and Tjenen. Unfortunately, the account lacks the detailing of the battle that Ramesses provided in his inscriptions of the Battle of Kadesh. Instead there is a trumpet- ing of Pharaoh’s power; for example, from the sec- ond ‘stanza’: ISRAEL AND THE MERNEPTAH STELA: A CONFUSING COMBINATION Kim Masters investigates this enigmatic monument and its significance to the peoples of ancient Egypt and Caanan. ABOVE: The Merneptah Stela, also known as the Victory or Israel stela. The name ‘Israel’ appears towards the base of the monument, behind the protective glass. Photo: Alyssa Bivins CC BY-SA 4.0 AE115MastersMerenptah_Harp.qxd 06/12/2021 09:34 Page 44