The Tel Dan Stele - First back-translation into Koine-Greek

Abstract:

A literal translation from Koine Greek into Aramaic betrays a dictation under Nicolaus of
Damascus (−37 CE)

 The Tel Dan Stele, discovered in 1993–1994 and paleographically dated to the 9th
century BCE, has never been subjected to a philological back-translation into Koine Greek. This
study applies that method – standard in textual criticism – to all preserved Aramaic lines. It
establishes: (1) the Aramaic of Tel Dan exhibits syntactic anomalies, notably a Subject-Verb-
Object (SVO) word order, incompatible with authentic 9th-century Aramaic as attested by the
Mesha Stele; (2) word-for-word back-translation produces a Koine Greek text stylistically and
lexically consistent with Nicolaus of Damascus (FGrHist 90) and the Wisdom of Solomon, both
dated to the 1st century BCE; (3) these convergences are best explained by a translation process
from a Greek original, dictated word-for-word to a stone carver. The Tel Dan Stele is identified
as a philological forgery produced around 36 BCE, placed at the pass of Tel Dan to humiliate the
Jews of Galilee after the fall of the last Hasmonean king, Antigonus Mattathias. It can no longer
be used as a 9th-century BCE witness for the House of David.

Keywords: Tel Dan Stele · forgery · back-translation · Koine Greek · Nicolaus of Damascus ·
House of David · Aramaic epigraphy · Herod the Great