Stela of Merneptah

Merneptah ruled Egypt from 1213 to 1203 BCE. This stela, dated to the fifth year of his reign (ca. 1208 BCE), commemorates his victory in the Libyan campaign. It mentions places in the Levant that he had defeated previously, including Israel. This is the earliest extra-biblical mention of Israel. The name “Israel” appears in the second line from the bottom of the text (see the highlighted symbols in the detail). It is preceded by a group of hieroglyphic symbols indicating that the name refers to an ethnic group rather than a region or place; the symbols are a woman, a man, and a bent throw stick, with three vertical strokes beneath the woman and the man. This indicates that Israel was an identifiable ethnic group (albeit without its own country) in or near Canaan at this time.