jan 1, 1213 BC - Merneptah (Egypt)

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Merneptah was the thirteenth son of Ramesses II and came to the throne already elderly, facing invasions from Libya and the first waves of the Sea Peoples. His victory stele, discovered in 1896, contains the phrase Israel is laid waste, his seed is not, the earliest known mention of Israel in any text outside the Bible. The determinative sign attached to the name marks Israel as a people rather than a city state, unlike the other Canaanite entities listed alongside it. This single line places an entity called Israel in Canaan by roughly 1208 BCE and anchors the entire debate over Israelite origins.

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