MESA (Heb. Měša', II Reg. 3; stele: Meša'). — King of Moab, son of Kēmōš [bānāh?], a native of Dibon; enterprising and tenacious, he is famous for the stele in which he described his exploits. His father, AMORI (v.), paid Israel an annual tribute of 100,000 lambs and as many wool-bearing rams (II Reg. 3:4; cf. stele, lines 4 f., 7 f.). At the death of Achab (854 B.C.), M. rebelled against Israel (II Reg. 1:1), taking advantage of Ochozia’s precarious situation. Together with the Ammonites and the inhabitants of Maon, he launched a surprise attack against Iosaphat, king of Judah, already an ally of Achab; but they were routed by an intervention of the Lord (II Par. 20:1-30). From the stele (lines 10-21) we learn that M. succeeded in winning independence. He liberated the entire region from Nebo to the Arnon. He conquered the Moabite cities of Medaba and Baalmeon, and the Israelite cities of Ataroth and Nebo. He fortified Baalmeon, Cariathaim, and Kerak south of the Arnon. He killed the population of Nebo (7,000 persons), devoted to death (herem) in honor of the goddess 'Aštar-Kēmōš, carrying to the feet of Chamos the cult objects that were there.
Ioram, king of Israel (853-842 B.C.), at war with the Syrians and unable to intervene, for the moment placed a garrison at Iahas, which was to serve as a bridgehead for the future attack; but he had to withdraw it, and M. occupied the place with 200 men (lines 18-21). Finally, somewhat freer in the north, Ioram decided to strike decisively at M. With the help of Iosaphat, king of Judah, and with the Edomites, around 840 B.C. he marched against Moab from the south, crossing the desert of Edom and going around the southern tip of the Dead Sea. After, through the intervention of the prophet Eliseo, overcoming their thirst, the allies defeated the Moabites, devastated the entire country of Moab south of the Arnon, and besieged Harešeth, present-day Kerak, which M., because of its elevated position (about 1,000 m above sea level), had begun to fortify, choosing it as his residence. Seeing that it was impossible to sustain a prolonged siege, M. attempted a sortie with 700 men in order to open a passage toward the north and join the Syrians of Damascus; but, driven back by the besiegers, he resorted as a last expedient to the sacrifice of his firstborn and heir, immolating him to Chamos on the city wall, both to impress the attackers and to consecrate the walls with that blood. “And there broke out a great anger (on the part of Jahweh; cf. Num. 1:53; 18:5; etc.) against the Israelites, who withdrew from him (M.) and returned to their own land” (II Reg. 3:4-27). However this mysterious phrase may be explained, it attests the failure of Ioram’s campaign and the deliverance of M., who remained independent.
There is therefore complete agreement with what is narrated in the stele; although it does not describe the devastations, the initial setback, and the siege, as naturally occurs in courtly documents, which exalt victories and remain silent about defeats, it contains sufficiently significant references (lines 3-4, 21-26). The preparations made by M. at Keral, especially for the provisioning of water, are entirely analogous to those carried out by Ezechia at Jerusalem under the imminent threat of Sennacherib (II Par. 32).
The stele that made M. so famous was seen in August 1868 at Dibon by the German F. A. Klein; Ch. CLERMONT-GANNEAU, CHARLES (v.) had casts made of it and then succeeded (1869) in acquiring its pieces, for in the meantime the Bedouins had smashed II. It is currently in the Louvre, together with the casts that made possible and facilitated its reconstruction and reading. It is a basalt stele, 1 m × 0.60 m; originally it was (Klein) 1.13 m × 0.70 m, with a thickness of 0.30 m. The upper part is rounded. It was probably written after the destruction of the dynasty of Amri carried out by Iehu (cf. line 7); it is in the Moabite language, which differs very little from Hebrew; the form of the letters is that of the ancient Phoenician alphabetic script. It is the oldest Semitic document discovered in Palestine; it is noteworthy for history (customs and religion), language, and writing.