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Material : Granitic Rock
Width : 163 CM Height : 318 CM
Found in : Thebes , Temple of the Millions of Years (1896)
Period : The New Kingdom
Reign of : Merenptah
Belonged_to: Merenptah
Archeologist : W . M . F PETRIE
The stela was discovered in the Temple of Merenptah , successor of Ramsses III , which was constructed using parts from the destroyed the temple of Amenhotep III . It was established to celebrate the king's victory in the fifth year of his reign against the invasion of the coalition between the Libyan people and "Sea Peoples"; Libu , Meshuesh , and other Indo-European peoples from Anatolia and the islands of the Aegean .
The stela encloses some hieroglyphic inscriptions indicating that Merenptah managed to defeat these troops and captured a large number of them . There are two engraved scentes indicating the pharaoh wearing ceremonial dress and offers Amun-Ra the reaping hook that symbolizes victory and the scepters of royalty . In one of these scenes , Merenptah is followed by the the goddess Mut and in the other by the god Khonsu , members of the Theban triad of gods with Amunra .
This stela is known as the "Stela of Israel" because it contains the only known reference to Israel in Egyptian sources . The name is mentioned with other names of troops that were defeated by the pharaoh including Gezer , Canaan , Yenoam , and Syria but in fact the king had not undertaken any military action in Asia and these names might have been only cited as a deterrent against those countries . Moreover "Israel" in this fragment does not refer to any place , but is used to refer to a group of people .
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