1. "I, Mesha son of Chemosh-Melech king
of Moab, the Di-
2. bonite. My father reigned over Moab
thirty years and I reign-
3. ed after my father. I made this
monument to Chemosh at Korkhah. A monument of sal-
4. vation, for he saved me from all
invaders, and let me see my desire upon all my enemies. Om-
5. ri [was] king of Israel, and he
oppressed Moab many days, for Chemosh was angry with his
6. land. His son followed him, and he
also said : I will oppress Moab. In my days Che[mosh] said;
7. I will see my desire on him and his
house. And Israel surely perished for ever. Omri took the land
of
8. Medeba (*1) and [Israel] dwelt in it
during his days and half the days of his son (*2), altogether
forty years. But there dwelt in it
9. Chemosh in my days. I built Baal-Meon
(*3) and made therein the ditches; I built
10. Kirjathaim (*4). The men of Gad
dwelt in the land of Ataroth (*5) from of old, and built there
the king of
11. Israel Ataroth; and I made war
against the town and seized it. And I slew all the [people of]
12. the town, for the pleasure of Chemosh
and Moab : I captured from thence the Arel (*6) of Dodah and
tore
13. him before Chemosh in Kerioth (*7) :
And I placed therein the men of Sh(a)r(o)n, and the men
14. of M(e)kh(e)rth. And Chemosh said to
me : Go, seize Nebo (*8) upon Israel; and
15. I went in the night and fought
against it from the break of dawn till noon : and I took
16. it, and slew all, 7,000 men, [boys?],
women, [girls?]
17. and female slaves, for to
Ashtar-Chemosh I devoted them. And I took from it the Arels
(*6) of Yahveh, and tore them before Chemosh. And the king of
Israel built
18. Jahaz (*9), and dwelt in it, while he
waged war against me; Chemosh drove him out before me. And
19. I took from Moab 200 men, all chiefs,
and transported them to Jahaz, which I took,
20. to add to it Dibon. I built Korkhah,
the wall of the forests and the wall
21. of the citadel : I built its gates,
and I built its towers. And
22. I built the house of Moloch, and I
made sluices of the water-ditches in the middle
23. of the town. And there was no
cistern in the middle of the town of Korkhah, and I said to all
the people, Make for
24. yourselves every man a cistern in his
house. And I dug the canals for Korkhah by means of the
prisoners
25. of Israel. I built Aroer (*10), and
I made the road in [the province of] the Arnon. [And]
26. I built Beth-Bamoth (*11), for it was
destroyed. I built Bezer (*12), for in ruins
27. [it was. And all the chiefs] of
Dibon were 50, for all Dibon is subject; and I placed
28. one hundred [chiefs] in the towns
which I added to the land : I built
29. Beth-Medeba and Beth-diblathaim
(*13), and Beth-Baal-Meon (*14), and transported thereto the
[shepherds]?...
30. and the pastors] of the flocks of the
land. And at Horonaim (*15) dwelt there
31. ...And Chemosh said to me, Go down,
make war upon Horonaim. I went down [and made war]
32. ...And Chemosh dwelt in it during my
days. I went up from thence..."
