The Merneptah Stele is an Egyptian stone monument standing about 10½ feet tall, with 28 lines of hieroglyphic inscription describing victorious campaigns of Pharaoh Merneptah against Libya and Canaan in the late 13th century BC.
In the topmost image, Merneptah is shown with the Egyptian gods Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. In the section referring to events in Canaan that took place in year five of his reign (around 1219 BC), a portion of the text translates as “Canaan has been plundered into every of woe. Ashkelon has been overcome. Gezer has been captured. Yano’am is made nonexistent. Israel is laid waste and its grain [exists no more].”
This 13th century BC official Egyptian text, commemorating victories of the pharaoh, is the earliest widely acknowledged inscription mentioning the name Israel. The hieroglyphs and the context clearly demonstrate that it refers to the people Israel of the Bible, which is the only known “Israel” in ancient history.
This is further substantiated by the intentional contrast in terms used to describe that which has been subdued. The record on the stele begins with three cities (proceeding from south to central to north) and ends with a people that inhabited the land. The inscription spells out the name Israel with Egyptian hieroglyphs, followed by a symbol that signifies that the word refers to a people, not a location.
The fact that Israel is the only reference to people living in the region demonstrates that the Israelites were the dominant group in Canaan in the late 13th century BC. It also shows that they had been present in the region for a significant amount of time prior to the campaign of Merneptah.
Since historians have debated the question of when the Israelites arrived and settled in Canaan, then the Merneptah Stele is an important key to unlocking the answer to that question.
Summary
If the Israelites began to settle Canaan after 1400 BC as the Biblical books of Joshua and Judges describe, then by the time of Merneptah they would have been the main occupants of the land rather than the Canaanites, just as the stele indicates.
