The Beisan steles are five Ancient Egyptian steles from the period of Seti I (reigned c. 1294âÂÂ1279 BC) and Ramesses II (reigned c. 1279âÂÂ1213 BC) discovered in what was then known as Beisan, Mandatory Palestine by Alan Rowe in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
The first stele of Seti is considered to testify to the presence of a population of Hebrews: the Habiru, which Seti I protected from an Asiatic tribe.
They are known as
The First Stele of Seti I has been described as "the most impressive find from EgyptâÂÂs rule over Canaan".
The first stele is considered to testify to the presence of a Hebrew population: the Habiru, which Seti I protected from an Asiatic tribe.
Today they are in the Penn Museum, Philadelphia, and the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum, Jerusalem.
Two other important steles from the same period were found in the same area. Today these are both at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
One of the steles, discovered in 1928, states that the temple was dedicated to âÂÂMekal, the god, the lord of Beth SheanâÂÂ; an otherwise unknown Canaanite god â the stele itself is our main source of knowledge about Mekal.
Mekal is seated on a throne, receiving lotus flowers from the builder Amenemapt and his son Paraemheb, holding an ankh and was-sceptre.
A Canaanite stele showing a lion and lioness at play was found in the excavation of the "governor's house".