Balu'a Stele

The Balu'a Stele is a basalt stele (inscribed stone) with a near completely unreadable Egyptian hieroglyphic inscription and relief panel. It was discovered in 1930 at the Khirbet al-Balu'a site north of the city of Karak and is thought to date to 1309–1151 BCE.^[1] The finding site is on the territory of the land of Moab, but the ethnical identity of the person who has carved it cannot be asserted.^[2] The iconography contains Canaanite elements, while the overall composition strictly conforms to Egyptian canons.^[2] It has been interpreted as representing two deities investing a Canaanite king, whom Egyptians would have seen as "Asiatic" and probably Shasu.^[2]

Al-Balu' Stele
Al-Balu' Stele on display at the Jordan Museum
Material	Basalt
Writing	Egyptian language[1]
Created	1309–1151 BCE[1]
Discovered	1930
Present location	Jordan Museum

References

1. Department of Antiquities of Jordan The Balu'a Stele: A New Transcription With Palaeographical And Historical Notes Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 08/9 http://publication.doa.gov.jo/Publications/ViewChapterPublic/635
2. Routledge, Bruce; Routledge, Carolyn (1 January 2009). "The Balu'a Stele Revisited". Studies on Iron Age Moab and Neighbouring Areas in Honour of Michele Daviau. Retrieved 28 January 2020.

Further reading

• Schroer, Silvia (2011). Die Ikonographie Palastinas/Israels und der Alte Orient: eine Religionsgeschichte in Bildern, Band 3: Die Spätbronzezeit (in German). Academic Press Fribourg. p. 324. ISBN 978-3-7278-1671-0.