The Merneptah Stele, also known as the Israel Stele or the Victory Stele of Merneptah, is an inscription by Merneptah, a pharaoh in ancient Egypt who reigned from 1213 to 1203 BCE. Discovered by Flinders Petrie at Thebes in 1896, it is now housed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The stele in 2023
The stele in the Egyptian Museum in 2022, with tourists shown for scale
The reverse side of the stele
Reverse side, top, close up
Merneptah or Merenptah was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on 2 May 1203 BC, according to contemporary historical records. He was the first royal-born pharaoh since Tutankhamun of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
Granodiorite bust of Merneptah, Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Portrait of Pharaoh Merneptah
Limestone block showing a pair of unfinished cartouches of Merenptah (Merneptah) I, 19th dynasty of Egypt, Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London
Merneptah makes an offering to Ptah on a column