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Melqart stele
Ancient stele / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Melqart stele, also known as the Ben-Hadad or Bir-Hadad stele is an Aramaic stele which was created during the 9th century BCE and was discovered in 1939 in Roman ruins in Bureij Syria (7 km north of Aleppo).[2] The Old Aramaic inscription is known as KAI 201; its five lines reads:
“The stele which Bar-Had-
-ad, son of [...]
king of Aram, erected to his Lord Melqar-
-t, to whom he made a vow and who heard his voi-
-ce.”
Melqart stele | |
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![]() The stele | |
Writing | Aramaic inscription |
Created | 9th century BCE |
Period/culture | Aramaean |
Discovered | 1939 |
Place | Burayj, 7km north of Aleppo, Syria[1] |
Present location | National Museum of Aleppo |
Identification | AO 8185 |
According to William Foxwell Albright, the stele should be attributed to Ben-Hadad I, an Aramean king mentioned in the First Book of Kings.[3] However, Kenneth Kitchen disagrees and states that there is no actual evidence that connects the Melqart stele to Ben-Hadad I.[4] a recent re-analysis of the stele indicated that the Ben-Hadad referred to is actually the king of Arpad.[5]