The Tel Dan Stele is a primary ancient Aramaic victory inscription, found in fragments in 1993 and 1994; the atlas records no publisher and no exact publication year because it is an excavated artifact rather than a published text, and gives its author only as an unnamed king of Aram-Damascus since the inscription itself is fragmentary. Its strength is that it is independent, non-biblical epigraphic evidence containing the phrase bytdwd, house of David, a reading accepted by the great majority of epigraphers working on the inscription. Its limit is the ordinary one for any fragmentary inscription: parts of the text are damaged or missing, and its precise historical context beyond the accepted reading remains debated among specialists.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Reliability tier 1: a primary ancient inscription, independent non-biblical epigraphic evidence whose accepted reading is shared by the great majority of specialists working on it, though parts of the fragmentary text remain damaged or debated. NotesAramaic victory inscription in fragments, found 1993-94, containing the phrase bytdwd, house of David. Ninth century BCE; the reading is accepted by the great majority of epigraphers.
Citation
AuthorAnonymous (a king of Aram-Damascus)
Source Typeprimary-text
Connections
Associated With
This source names Damascus directly: "author only as an unnamed king of Aram-Damascus since the inscription itself is fragmentary."
Source Tel Dan steleAnonymous (a king of Aram-Damascus)
This source names King David directly: "containing the phrase bytdwd, house of David, a reading accepted by the great majority of epigraphers working on the inscription."
Source Tel Dan steleAnonymous (a king of Aram-Damascus)
Claims Backed By This Source (8 claims)
This source backs 8 claims across the atlas. As facts: 5 well-attested. As cited relationships: 2 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 7 claims: 5 well-attested, 2 holds.
- Figures, 1 claims: 1 general references.
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