and dwd, and other translations have been proposed. The Tel Dan stele is one of four known inscriptions made during a roughly 400-year period (1200-800 BCE) containing the name "Israel", the others being the Merneptah Stele, the Mesha Stele, and the Kurkh Monolith. The Tel Dan inscription generated considerable debate and a flurry of articles, debating its age, authorship, and authenticity; however, the stele is generally accepted by scholars as genuine and a reference to the House of David. Text The following is the transcription using Hebrew letters provided by Biran and Naveh. Dots separate words (as in the original), empty square brackets indicate damaged/missing text, and text inside square brackets is reconstructed by Biran and Naveh: Romanized: The 1995 translation by Biran reads; [ ]...[...] and cut [...] [...] my father went up him when fought at [...] and my father lay down, he went to his [ancestors (viz. became sick and died)]. And the king of rael entered previously in my father's land, [and] Hadad made me king, And Hadad went in front of me, [and] I departed from the seven [...-] s of my kingdom, and I slew , who harnessed riots and thousands of horsemen (or: horses). king of Israel, and [I] killed g of the House of David, and I set towns into ruins and turned ] their land into ] other [... and Jehu led over and I laid] siege upon [ ] Other scholars have presented alternate translations. For example, Andre Lemaire's 1998 translation reads; [.....]..[.............] and cut [..............] [.....] my father went up And my father lay down, he went to his [fathers]. And the kings of rael penetrated into my father's Hadad made me - myself - king And Hadad went in front of I departed from .... [....] of my kings. And I killed two who harnessed two riots and two thousand horsemen. king of Israel, and I killed of the House of David. And I set [......] their land [.......] other ...[............ and Jehu led over ............] siege upon [.......] The main differences are on line 6 and 7; Lemaire suggests that two kings, rather than seventy, were killed and that they possessed two thousand chariots and horsemen. Content In the second half of the 9th century BCE (the most widely accepted date for the stele), the kingdom of Aram, under its ruler Hazael, was a major power in