Tel Dan Stele / “House of David” inscription

Evidence state: documented fact

Ninth-century BCE Aramaic basalt victory-stele fragments from Tel Dan, including the widely read phrase “House of David.” Cataloged as epigraphic/historical evidence rather than as a proof-text for any single biblical narrative.

Release Introduced

v50

Curation State

CURATED_CATALOG_ENTITY

Short Title

Tel Dan Stele

Evidence Classification

documented fact

Date Range

{
    "start_bce": 850,
    "end_bce": 800,
    "label": "9th century BCE",
    "certainty": "museum/exhibition dating"
}

Languages

[
    "Aramaic"
]

Tradition Contexts

[
    "ANCIENT_NEAR_EASTERN_CONTEXT",
    "JEWISH_CONTEXT"
]

Identifiers

[
    {
        "scheme": "Israel Antiquities Authority",
        "value": "1996-125 / 1993-3162"
    }
]

Provenance Note

Fragments were discovered at Tel Dan in the early 1990s and are in the Israel Antiquities Authority collection; museum exhibition material places them in an Aramean victory-monument context.

Source Ids

[
    "SRC_JEWISH_MUSEUM_TEL_DAN"
]

Rights

{
    "image_state": "LINK_ONLY",
    "inscription_text_state": "METADATA_ONLY_PENDING_EDITION_REVIEW",
    "local_host_state": "METADATA_ONLY"
}

Evidence Boundary

The stele is independent epigraphic evidence for a dynastic phrase commonly read as “House of David.” It does not by itself verify every narrative or chronology associated with David in Scripture.