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Cited by 23Biblical Studies and InterpretationAncient Egypt and ArchaeologyAncient Near East History

Israel in the Merneptah Stela

Hasel, Michael G.·1994·Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
DOI 10.2307/1357179
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Abstract

The name Israel in the Merneptah stela of ca. 1207 B. C. has entered a new phase of discussion and debate in recent reconstructions of the origin of ancient Israel. Some of the issues involved include the translation of the name Israel and the location and nature of the entity Israel. Attempts to resolve some of these concerns have included linguistic analyses of the designation Israel; structural analyses of the final hymnic-poetic unit; and some attempts to identify archaeological correlations with Merneptah's campaign in Palestine. This study assesses a number of linguistic analyses indicating that the Egyptian designation is properly translated as Israel. Our new structural analysis reveals that Israel is located within the region of Canaan and Hurru, designations that stand parallel to each other. Israel is an agricultural/sedentary socioethnic entity. The term "seed," Egyptian prt, based on contextual relations in other military texts, means "grain," supporting the identification of Israel as a largely agricultural, noncity-state entity.

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Authors
Hasel, M. G.
Corresponding author
Hasel, Michael G.
Venue
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Published
1994-11
Volume
296
Pages
45-61
ISSN
  • 0003-097X (ISSN-L)
  • 2161-8062
DOI
10.2307/1357179
OpenAlex
W2332863934
Semantic Scholar
dede08eccc528e94a63a4dc92dc5a7165dbadd23
Cited by
23
References
62
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
FWCI
17.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Biblical Studies and Interpretation
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Ancient Egypt and Archaeology
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Ancient Near East History
Keywords
Canaan, agricultural societies, Late Bronze Age

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