Bible Archeology Discoveries

The Berlin Pedestal is a stone inscription acquired in 1913. It was probably part of a pedestal base. Three captives are displayed, tied together at the neck, and depicted in the classic Egyptian West Asiatic form (a general depiction of Middle Easterners). The first ring on the left clearly reads “Ashkelon,” referring to the coastal city generally occupied by the Philistines. The middle ring clearly reads “Canaan.” The broken name ring on the right is less clear. One of the chief translators of the slab, Prof. Manfred Görg believed it to be a vulture symbol. Additional research has provided as-good-as-certain evidence that this hieroglyph is indeed the vulture. The final hieroglyphs are best translated as an “L” sound.Based on this, Görg, as well as later researchers concluded that the hieroglyphic name is best translated as “Israel.”

One of the strongest proofs that this is the correct and most logical translation is simply the other two names on the pedestal: Ashkelon and Canaan. Both of these territories are in the same general proximity, within the Promised Land. The dating of the Berlin Pedestal is difficult to pin down. Some have speculated that the pedestal dates to around the same time as the Merneptah Stele. However, the spelling suggests otherwise, with the spelling for the regions on the Berlin Pedestal actually contains a fair number of differences to the Merneptah Stele.

 The writing closely parallels that of the early to middle 18th dynasty, around the time of Amenhoteps ii to iii (c. 1427–1351). If this is correct, then that places the “Israel” of the Berlin Pedestal up to as many as two centuries before Merneptah’s Israel. The significance of such an inscription is clear. The Berlin Pedestal helps provide evidence for Israel’s establishment in the land decades—if not centuries—before suggested by the Merneptah Stele. According to biblical chronology, Israel’s entry into Canaan would have taken place c. 1406 b.c.e. The Berlin Pedestal—as well as the Merneptah Stele—both fit well with this date. Joshua 13:3 affirms that portions of the Promised Land were held by Israelites, by Ashkelonites, and by Canaanites—the three exact peoples directly paralleled on these artifacts!

Per usual, with the Merneptah Stele as well as the Berlin Pedestal, the biblical account is shown to be accurate. It is the scholarly revisionists who are forced to continually revise their theories as the Bible continues to be vindicated.