City of Moab

Leaving the pavement of the "King's Highway" in southern Jordan, we took to dirt roads in search of Balu, the biblical City of Moab. We rummaged down numerous dead ends, hiked winding rabbit trails, and stared off into rocky ravines for the better half of a day before we found a site with distinct remains of an ancient massive wall. For as far as one could see across the treeless plain, there was no other sign of human existence except for a small house sitting adjacent to the ruins separated by a gulch in the earth. An elderly Arab man standing in front of the house watching his sheep looked surprised to see someone pull into his "yard". To his wife's dismay, he forgot about his flock in the excitement of having company. She began yelling at him and throwing rocks at the sheep to keep them from wandering off. Once the commotion died down, they verified for us that the large pile of rubble in their back yard was indeed Balu, the largest Iron Age site south of the Arnon Valley.

The City of Moab is mentioned in Numbers 21:28 during the Israelite conquest of Trans-jordan. The Moabite king at that time was Balak who hired the prophet Balaam to curse Israel (Numbers 22-24). Each time Balaam opened his mouth to curse God's people, God caused him to speak a blessing instead. The city is mentioned again in Isaiah 15:1 when Isaiah prophecies it's destruction because of it's pagan worship of Chemosh and it's mistreatment of Israel.

Once our hosts realized we were interested in the tel, the couple began bringing artifacts out of their home that they had found around the ruins. The most interesting thing they showed us was an alabaster potsherd with a large Egyptian cartouche engraved on it's surface. We took several photos of it not knowing what the significance might be.

When we returned to the states, we had an egyptologist translate the piece for us. Boy, were we amazed when we heard his assessment. The cartouche was that of Thutmose III (reigned 1479-1425 B.C.), whom many believe to be the pharaoh of the exodus! There are several arguments for dating the exodus to this pharaoh, but the two most convincing to me are in I Kings 6:1 and Judges 11:26. According to our first passage, Solomon began the temple construction in the fourth year of his reign (965 B.C.). The same verse also tells us that it was 480 years after the exodus. This would place the exodus around 1445 B.C. The second passage tells us that Jephthah (1100 B.C.) announced to the Ammonite king that Israel had already dwelt in the land for 300 years. Again, that places the exodus around 1440 B.C. 

If you would like additional information on the cartouche, Biblical Illustrator magazine will have more on this alabaster fragment in upcoming issues. If you are unfamiliar with Biblical Illustrator, go to www.lifeway.com/biblicalillustrator for sample articles and information on how to order.