Moabite Stone & the Lachish Letters

Non-Biblical sources point to everyday use of the divine name in ancient times was The Moabite Stone which was one of the earliest discoveries of importance in the area East of the Jordan. Found in 1868 by the German missionary F. A. Klein and later became known as The Moabite Stone at Dhiban, North of the Arnon Valley, it presents Moabite King Mesha’s version of his revolt against Israel. (Compare 2 Ki 1:1; 3:4, 5.) In part the inscription says: “I (am) Mesha, son of Chemosh-[. . .], king of Moab, the Dibonite . . . As for Omri, king of Israel, he humbled Moab many years (lit., days), for Chemosh [the god of Moab] was angry at his land. And his son followed him and he also said, ‘I will humble Moab.’ In my time he spoke (thus), but I have triumphed over him and over his house, while Israel hath perished for ever! . . . And Chemosh said to me, ‘Go, take Nebo from Israel!’ So I went by night and fought against it from the break of dawn until noon, taking it and slaying all . . . And I took from there the [vessels] of YHWH (Yahweh, later known in English as Jehovah) dragging them before Chemosh.” (Ancient Near Eastern Texts, edited by J. B. Pritchard, 1974, p. 320) Thus the stone not only mentions the name of King Omri of Israel but also, in the 18th line, contains God’s name in the form of the Tetragrammaton.

The Moabite Stone also mentions numerous places referred to in the Bible: Ataroth and Nebo (Nu 32:34, 38); the Arnon, Aroer, Medeba, and Dibon (Jos 13:9); Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon, Jahaz, and Kiriathaim (Jos 13:17-19); Bezer (Jos 20:8); Horonaim (Isa 15:5); Beth-diblathaim and Kerioth. (Jer 48:22, 24) It thus supports the historicity of all these places. Most of the pieces were recovered. The stone is now preserved in the Louvre, Paris, with a copy in the British Museum, London.



The Lachish Letters. The famous fortress city of Lachish is mentioned more than 20 times in the Bible. It was located 27 miles [44 km] west-southwest of Jerusalem. The ruins have been extensively excavated. In 1935, in a guardroom of the double gatehouse, there were found 18 ostraca, or pieces of pottery inscribed with writing (3 more were found in 1938). These turned out to be a number of letters written in ancient Hebrew characters. This collection of 21 is now known as the Lachish Letters. Lachish was one of the last strongholds of Judah to hold out against Nebuchadnezzar, being reduced to a pile of charred ruins during the period of 609-607 B.C.E. The letters reflect the urgency of the times. They appear to be letters written from remaining outposts of Judean troops to Yaosh, a military commander at Lachish. One of these (letter number IV) reads in part: “May YHWH [Tetragrammaton, for “Jehovah”] let my lord hear even now tidings of good. . . . we are watching for the fire signals of Lachish, according to all the signs which p. 335 my lord gives, because we do not see Azekah.” This is a striking confirmation of Jeremiah 34:7, which mentions Lachish and Azekah as the last two fortified cities left remaining. This letter apparently indicates that Azekah had now fallen. The divine name, in the form of the Tetragrammaton, appears frequently in the letters, showing that the name Jehovah enjoyed everyday usage among the Jews at that time.

Another letter number III commences as follows: “May YHWH [that is, Jehovah] cause my lord to hear tidings of peace! . . . And it has been reported to your servant saying, ‘The commander of the army, Coniah son of Elnathan, has come down in order to go into Egypt and to Hodaviah son of Ahijah and his men he has sent to obtain [supplies] from him.’” This letter appears to confirm that Judah went down to Egypt for assistance, in violation of Jehovah’s command and to her own destruction. (Isa. 31:1; Jer. 46:25, 26) The names Elnathan and Hoshaiah, appearing in the complete text of this letter, are also found at Jeremiah 36:12 and Jeremiah 42:1. Three other names mentioned in the letters are also found in the Bible book of Jeremiah. They are Gemariah, Neriah, and Jaazaniah.—Jer. 32:12; 35:3; 36:10.*

The Nabonidus Chronicle. In the latter half of the 19th century, excavations near Baghdad produced many finds of clay tablets and cylinders that threw much light on the history of ancient Babylon. One of these was the very valuable document known as the Nabonidus Chronicle, which is now in the British Museum. King Nabonidus of Babylon was the father of his coregent, Belshazzar. He outlived his son, who was killed on the night that troops of Cyrus the Persian took Babylon, October 5, 539 B.C.E. (Dan. 5:30, 31) The Nabonidus Chronicle, a remarkably well-dated record of the fall of Babylon, helps to establish on what day this event occurred. Following is a translation of a small part of the Nabonidus Chronicle: “In the month of Tashritu [Tishri (September-October)], when Cyrus attacked the army of Akkad in Opis on the Tigris . . . the 14th day, Sippar was seized without battle. Nabonidus fled. The 16th day [October 11, 539 B.C.E., Julian, or October 5, Gregorian] Gobryas (Ugbaru), the governor of Gutium and the army of Cyrus entered Babylon without battle. Afterwards Nabonidus was arrested in Babylon when he returned (there). . . . In the month of Arahshamnu [Marchesvan (October-November)], the 3rd day [October 28, Julian], Cyrus entered Babylon, green twigs were spread in front of him—the state of ‘Peace’ (sulmu) was imposed upon the city. Cyrus sent greetings to all Babylon. Gobryas, his governor, installed (sub-)governors in Babylon.”*

It may be noted that Darius the Mede is not mentioned in this chronicle, and thus far, no mention has been found of this Darius in any non-Biblical inscription, nor is he mentioned in any secular historical document prior to the time of Josephus (Jewish historian of the first century C.E.). Some have therefore suggested that he might be the Gobryas mentioned in the above account. While the information available concerning Gobryas seems to parallel that regarding Darius, such identification cannot be considered conclusive.* In any event, secular history definitely establishes that Cyrus was a key figure in the conquest of Babylon and that he thereafter ruled there as king. There are picture images of these letters online, but nothing that I found yet are worthy of posting, but here's what I found for now:


The Cyrus Cylinder. Some time after he began ruling as king of the Persian World Power, Cyrus’ capture of Babylon in 539 B.C.E. was recorded on a clay cylinder. This outstanding document is also preserved in the British Museum. A part of the translated text follows: “I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, legitimate king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four rims (of the earth), . . . I returned to [certain previously named] sacred cities on the other side of the Tigris, the sanctuaries of which have been ruins for a long time, the images which (used) to live therein and established for them permanent p. 336sanctuaries. I (also) gathered all their (former) inhabitants and returned (to them) their habitations.”*

The Cyrus Cylinder thus makes known the king’s policy of restoring captive peoples to their former places. In harmony with this, Cyrus issued his decree for the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the house of Jehovah there. Interestingly, 200 years previously, Jehovah had prophetically named Cyrus as the one who would take Babylon and bring about the restoration of Jehovah’s people.—Isa. 44:28; 45:1; 2 Chron. 36:23.