4.1 THE TEL DAN INSCRIPTION

4.1.1 Introduction

As indicated in Chapter 3, strata VI—IV at Dan correspond to a phase when Dan belonged to the Aramaean kingdom of Beth Ma'acha and then to the Aramaean kingdom of Beth-Rehob. This phase ended with the Omrides' conquest of the city, under the reign of Omri, at the first half of the ninth century, and then Hazael's re-conquest of it around the mid-ninth century BCE.

Dan III represents the period of Hazael's occupation of the city, which became the largest city of the area during the second half of the ninth century. Dan II corresponds to the Israelite occupation of the city when it was conquered by Joash or Jeroboam II around the second quarter of the eighth century BCE. Dan I represents the Assyrian occupation of the city.

The Tel Dan Inscription can now be reconsidered on the basis of this new sequence of Iron Age

Dan. So far, three fragments from the inscription have been recovered. Despite intense efforts to find more, there is little hope of finding other fragments in the near future. The three fragments were published immediately by A. Biran and J. Naveh. They contain ancient Aramaic letters inscribed with a chisel on the surface of a flat basalt stone (Lemche 2003: 53).