He also appears as a chthonic deity in Neo-Assyrian texts (c. 8th century BCE). Much more have to be discovered to confirm the existence of the great King David, the founder of the ruling dynasty of Judah, the "House of David". The artifact was a bluish basalt stone, about 4 feet high (about 142cm) and 2 feet wide, and 14 inches thick. The Moabite Stone was discovered 1868 CE at Dhibān, amidst a time in which scholars sought for any inscriptions and other proofs for the historicity of the Bible. His son succeeded him, and he too said, I will oppress Moab” (Gibson 1971). The inscription also tells that king ordered repairs of the walls, built a palace and water tanks. Brown, William. In my days he did so, but I looked down on him and on his house, and Israel has gone to ruin, yes, it has gone to ruin for ever! Also, it provides us with information not stated explicitly in scripture—how Moab repossessed the land that was for so long controlled by David and Solomon. My father was king over Moab for thirty years, and I was king after my father. According to the Mesha Inscription, The Mesha Inscription not only mentions Mesha, king of Moab, known in the Bible, but also Omri, one of the most power… Detail, Moabite Stoneby Mbzt 2012 (CC BY). Na’aman suggests that the cult stand of the god Daudoh was an object originally belonging to Moab, an object which a king of Israel had previously captured (Na’aman 1997). the Moabite Stone (2007-05-19T14-10-19.jpg) . The next section of text describes various things which Mesha claims to have accomplished for the greater good: rebuilding towns, building cisterns for water, mending roads, and providing land for shepherds (lines 22-31). License. The history of the discovery of this stele in 1868 and its arrival at the Louvre is a colorful one. Moab (מואב) was a Transjordan tribe, situated east of the Jordan river (that’s what “Transjordan” means!) It is also so with the Moabite Stone. Subsequently, Joram, son of Ahab, attacked Moab: “When the Moabites came to Israel’s camp, the Israelites rose up and struck down the Moabites. TRANSLATION by K. C. Hanson (Adapted from Albright 1969:320-21) I am Mesha, son of Kemosh[-yatti], the king of Moab, the Dhibanite. Moab was located east of ancient Israel and Judah across the Dead Sea. To understand the purpose of the text, we will briefly consider the function of the Moabite Stone. 33 lines of writing are legible on the stone. The Moabite Stone includes the similar timeline: “Omri, king of Israel, had oppressed Moab many days, for Chemosh was angry with his land. In other words, Mesha appears to have attempted to make Moab a stronger political entity during his reign. It describes the destruction of Israelite temples in Ataroth and Nebo and the deportation of cultic equipment or symbols of Yahweh. Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization. [13] And Horonaim, there lived [...]. The Mesha Stele (also known as the "Moabite Stone") is a stele (inscribed stone) set up around 840 BCE by King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan). Similar rhetoric is present in texts like the Tel Dan inscription by an Aramaic King and 1 Samuel 23:2, both of which illustrate how kings needed to justify their military campaigns before their respective deities and subjects. Elongated Skulls: Did Intentional And Intriguing Ancient Tradition Originate In China? This stele was written during the Elijah drought by either by Dibon's chief priest or governor. The Mesha Inscription, or Moabite Stone, is an Iron Age text in a language related to Hebrew inscribed on a large stone near Dhiban in Jordan (ancient Dibon). Brown, William. "I am Mesha, son of Chemosh[-yatti], the king of Moab, the Dibonite. 853 BC, so Mesha's revolt must have taken place some time after 853 BC. In the Hebrew Bible, the tetragrammaton occurs 6828 times,:142 as can be seen in the Biblia Hebraica and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. The inscription opens by describing who Mesha is. The inscription commemorates Mesha’s achievement in liberating Moab from Israelite rule and in finishing a number of building projects through the country. Written by William Brown, published on 11 February 2019 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. 16, ln. In the first half of the ninth century BCE, Israel was a mighty kingdom. Word: "Israel" is mentioned several times and so is "Yahweh" in verse 18: Importantly, though, this interpretation is subject to change, as the studies on ancient Moabite archaeology are problematic and few in number. Likewise, 2 Kings does not detail how Mesha seized Israelite territory. "Moabite Stone [Mesha Stele]." And his son succeeded him, and he said - he too - "I will oppress Moab!" We now know that King Mesha wrestled con… Moreover, he mentions two times that Chemosh, the primary Moabite deity, commanded him to go and take the cities of Nebo and Horonaim. At the same time, the Moabite Stone fails to mention how Omri, Ahab, and Joram went on campaigns against the Moabites. In the text of the Moabite Stone, he is mentioned ten times as the primary Moabite deity. groups of Moabites as opposed to the Moabite political entity). Related Content The Arab Bedouins … It appears that king Mesha knew about the Israelite God Yahweh and says he took "the vessels of Yahweh and presented them before the face of Chemosh", the god of the Moabites, according to the Hebrew Bible. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Mesha Stele - Moabite Stoneby Henri Sivonen (CC BY). Image: Bible History. It was accidentally discovered among the ruins of Dhiban (Biblical "Dibon," capital of Moab), 20 miles east of the Dead Sea, by … The oldest known inscription of the Tetragrammaton dates to 840 BCE: the Mesha Stele mentions the Israelite god Yahweh. Although Moabite leaders are mentioned in Neo-Assyrian documents in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE after the reign of Mesha, the strong, independent, political entity imaged in the Moabite stele failed to materialize nonetheless. My father was king over Moab for thirty years, and I became king after my father. As a chthonic (underworld) deity, Chemosh shows up in texts as early as the late 3rd millennium BCE in Ebla, Syria. Discovered in 1868 at Dhiban, Jordan (biblical "Dibon," the capital of Moab), the inscription of 34 lines is the most extensive document ever recovered referring contemporaneously to ancient Israel. ", Parker, S. "Did the Authors of the Books of Kings Make Use of Royal Inscriptions?. 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Books While his personality is rather obscure, he left a clear message on to the stone, which gives us a glimpse of historical events, which were important for the Moabite Kingdom. First, he claims to have defeated ancient Israel on many fronts, capturing or reclaiming many cities and slaying the inhabitants. As such, it can be extremely useful for reconstructing history. Though the son is not mentioned by name, he is most likely the offspring of Omri, namely Joram. Mesha ruled from about 850 BCE until the late 9th century BCE. That is to say, the Moabite Stone and its inscription are essentially a form of propaganda by Mesha, intended to justify his actions to both deities and people. The drought is being blamed on improper and inconsistent trimming of the divine network by the eagle-vultures of the goddess Ayu (Inanna, Ishtar, Athena) who is the feminine power of … (2 Kings 3:4-27). First, the primary deity of Moab, namely Chemosh, is said to have been the cause for Moab’s oppression and Israel’s success in war and politics: “Omri, king of Israel, had oppressed Moab many days, for Chemosh was angry with his land” (Gibson 1971). The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a stele dated around 840 BCE containing a significant Canaanite inscription in the name of King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan).Mesha tells how Chemosh, the god of Moab, had been angry with his people and had allowed them to be subjugated to Israel, but at length, Chemosh returned and assisted Mesha to throw off the … [3] Omri was the king of Israel, and he oppressed Moab for many days, for Kemoš was angry with his land. Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. Finally, two pressing issues will be discussed: the Moabite deity Chemosh and the representation of religion and politics in the Moabite Stone. Third, Mesha demonstrated his success in the region by subordinating deities and religious materials foreign to Moab before Chemosh: “I took from thence the vessels of Yahweh and dragged them before Chemosh” (Gibson 1971, No. It was extremely important because of the drought in Moab, (now west-central Jordan), which in Biblical times was the kingdom of the Moabites (14th century BC to 582 BC), who were closely related to the Israelites but frequently in conflict with them. In doing so, Mesha provided divine justification for the wars that he waged against Israel. The Mesha Stele is now stored in the Louvre of Paris and its copy is in the British Museum in London. To the south of Moab was Edom and to the north of Moab was Ammon. 1:1) simply states, Ahab, father of Joram, died in ca. [Mesha Stele]: I am Mesha, son of Kemosh[-yatti], the king of Moab, the Dhibanite. The artifact was discovered in 1868 about 20 miles east of the Dead Sea. Considered a valuable and spectacular find, the stele became an object of great interest of the Berlin Museum and the French Consulate at Jerusalem. They hang it on a rope and repeatedly dipped it in fire and water until it fell apart. Building temples to deities as a means of showing commitment to the deity and securing divine favor was common throughout the ancient Near East. I went down [...] and Kemoš restored it in my days. The Moabite Stone - The Mesha Stele was discovered in 1868 about 20 miles east of the Dead Sea. between Ammon to the north and Edom to the south. The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a black basalt monument bearing an inscription by the ninth century B.C.E. Prehistoric House Of The Dead Discovered In Wiltshire – Is This The Burial Place Of Ancestors Of Stonehenge Builders? The Moabite Stone, otherwise known as the Mesha Stele, contains an ancient inscription by Mesha, King of Moab during the late 9th century BCE, elements of which match events in the Hebrew Bible. The first person made a copy of the text. They went forth into the land, slaughtering the Moabites” (2 Kings 3:24). Ancient History Encyclopedia, 11 Feb 2019. by Jeffrey W. Hamilton. These biases can result in a skewed understanding of history. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Although the exact etymology and pronunciation of YHWH remain unknown, “some scholars trace it through the Phoenicians, as an appellation for the sun.”1466 In Jerusalem, scholars were competing in a feverish quest for inscriptions and material proofs relating to the Bible, which encoura… ", Na'aman, N. "The Contribution of Royal Inscriptions for a Re-Evaluation of the Book of Kings as a Historical Source. and another source is the Hebrew Bible: "Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he regularly paid the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Mesha Stele, which is also known as the Moabite Stone, is one of the most valuable Biblical artifacts. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Mesha Stele, which is also known as the Moabite Stone, is one of the most valuable Biblical artifacts. And I am the king over hundreds in the towns which I have added to the land. Another Moabite inscription, for example, is a brief dedicatory inscription, wherein Mesha claims to have built and dedicated a temple to Chemosh. The Ancient History Encyclopedia logo is a registered EU trademark. The Mesha Stele (also known as the "Moabite Stone") is a stele (inscribed stone) set up around 840 BCE by King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan).Mesha tells how Chemosh, the god of Moab, had been angry with his people and had allowed them to be subjugated to Israel, but at length Chemosh returned and assisted Mesha to throw off the yoke of Israel and restore the lands of Moab. I have built Bezer, for it lay in ruins. He is proficient in Hebrew, Akkadian, and Greek, and has published a few articles in academic journals and Ancient History Encyclopedia. When French scholar Andre Lemaire (who spent seven years studying it) was investigating the inscription, he determined that the same phrase appeared there in line 31. Mysterious Gosford Glyphs: Remarkable Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs Discovered In Australia Could Re-Write History. Similar sentiments are expressed throughout the Hebrew Bible, Assyrian inscriptions, and Babylonian inscriptions. The site is currently located in the modern country of Jordan. Such an action illustrates how his attempt to establish political rule over ancient Israel was accomplished through means of subordinating the primary deity of ancient Israel to the primary deity of Moab. The text is a reminder of Mesha's heroic struggles with King of Israel, Omri and his son Ahab and how he got freed from the influence of Israel after many years of captivity. Ancient History Encyclopedia. So far he is mentioned in the Mesha Stele and on the pages of the Bible. Mystery Of The Coso Artifact: A Spark Plug Or A Genuine Example Of Advanced Antediluvian Technology? Having identified the function of the Moabite Stone in history, we will consider how it sheds light on the broader history of the region. Unfortunately, the last five lines of the inscription are broken. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of AncientPages.com. Moab was located east of ancient Israel & Judah across the Dead Sea. For unknown reasons, his second intermediary aroused … Its measurements are 1.15 metres high and 60-68 centimeters wide. And I have taken it in order to add it to Dibon. The local Bedouin tribe was in possession of the artifact, but fearing the loss of it, decided to destroy it. My father (had) reigned over Moab for thirty years, and I reigned after my father. Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University and Michigan State University and University of Missouri. 2 Kings 3:5 (cf. According to 2 Kings 3:4, Mesha was subjugated under Ahab. And I went in the night, and I fought against it from the break of dawn until noon, and I took it, and I killed its whole population, seven thousand male citizens and aliens, female citizens and aliens, and servant girls; for I had put it to the ban of Aštar Kemoš. Moabite King Mesha. Unfortunately, poorly planned archaeological digs at Dhibān, along with the problematic recovery of the Moabite Stone, make it difficult to identify how the Moabite Stone functioned in the broader, archaeological context. In 1868, a stone monument was found at the ancient site of Dibon, once the capital of Moab. Moreover, our readings of such ancient inscriptions should be careful not to strongly distinguish between “politics” and “religion.” As has been demonstrated, these categories were more intertwined in the ancient world than they are in our own world. In the Moabite Stone, Mesha accomplishes this by noting that Israel had suppressed Moab. And the king of … [9] I have built Karchoh, the wall of the woods and the wall of the citadel, and I have built its gates, and I have built its towers, and I have built the house of the king, and I have made the double reservoir for the spring, in the innermost of the city. This stele is important for several reasons (early mentions of Yahweh and David, historical correlation with 2nd Kings) so let’s us take a look-see. Omri's son Ahab (873-852) … Unfortunately, the final five lines of the text are unclear and broken. The Mesha Stele portrays Moab's victory much more positively, and also attributes it to the Moabite god Chemosh. Moabite 101. Subsequently, a brief summary of the Moabite stone, along with a full translation, will be presented. Cite This Work True? The Moabite Stone, an ancient tablet dating to around 850 BCE... Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, Kaplan, J. The incursions of Moabites as small groups rather than a single, unified political entity by the end of the 9th century BCE can be corroborated with archaeological evidence, which suggests that Dhibān “shows little evidence from excavations of being a royal establishment” during the 9th century BCE (Dever 2016). Dibon excavations. The name of God, “Yahweh”, engraved on the Mesha stele in the Moabite language. The adversary is specified as Israel, for King Omri of Israel had captured portions of Moab. In Hess’s first response to my review of Copan’s book, he argued that line 17 of the Mesha Stele, which uses the term herem, does not constitute sufficient evidence to prove that herem referred to a sacrifice to a deity. Moreover, line 31 is very significant because it bears the phrase the "House of David". In doing so, Mesha ritually subordinated Yahweh to Chemosh. 17-18). For unknown reasons, his second intermediary aroused the anger of villagers. This treasure is significant for the Jude o-Christian world as it not only mentions Israel, but also has the earliest certified extra-biblical inscriptions of the name of their God, Yahweh… [11] And the men of Dibon stood in battle-order, for all Dibon, they were in subjection. [12] And I have built the House of Medeba and the House of Diblathaim, and the House of Ba'al Meon, and I brought there [...] the flocks of the land. He later appears in Ugarit texts around the 13th century BCE. Second, one of the ways that Mesha established his political rule over ancient Israel was through employing symbolic, religious actions. As we remember, the Bible gives the Messiah a similar story (2 Kings 3) but it is not clear, however, whether it describes the same battle as the Mesha Stele does. In the Moabite Stone, Mesha employs the same imperial strategies as other ancient Near Eastern kings: “A king must convince his god(s) and his subjects that his military acts have just causes in order to gain both divine and public support” (Na’aman 1997). Some Rights Reserved (2009-2021) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Around the time when the son of Omri was king (c. 850 BCE), Mesha began to re-capture lost territory, rebuilding, slaying inhabitants, and taking Israelite slaves (lines 7-21). "…And from there I took the vessels of Yahweh, and I presented them before the face of Chemosh..." ", Miller, M. "Ancient Moab: Still Largely Unknown. The inscription describes two aspects of how Mesha lead Moab into victory against ancient Israel. Most of the inscriptions, over thirty verses, were later reconstructed from the recovered fragments and assembled by Charles Clermont Ganneau, a renowned French Orientalist and archaeologist. The Mesha Stela. It also mentions Yahweh the god of Israel. The Moabite Stone was discovered 1868 CE at Dhibān, amidst a time in which scholars sought for any inscriptions and other proofs for the historicity of the Bible. This stele is notable because it mentions the 'House of Omri' or the 'House of Israel. William Brown runs The Biblical Review and is the Review Manager for Ancient History Encyclopedia. The black basalt stele is a record of King Mesha of Moab recounting his rebellion against Israel. Image credit: Bible Places.com. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/Moabite_Stone_[Mesha_Stele]/. It was written in Paleo-Hebrew alphabet (a variant of the Phoenician alphabet). Of the same century are two pottery sherds found at Kuntillet Ajrud with inscriptions mentioning "Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah" and "Yahweh of Teman and his Asherah". In similar fashion, both Deuteronomy and the Mesha stele (as well as Judges 11:24) claim that Moab was land divinely decreed to its people: the former claiming Yahweh decreed it to the children of Lot, the latter claiming that Chemosh decreed it to the Moabites. It was erected and inscribed by Moabite King Mesha. What is most amazing is that it mentions "Israel," "Yahweh" and the "House of David." DiscoveryBack to top ↑ The history of its discovery in 1869 is a bewildering and amazing story. The Moabites fled from before them. The main problem in correlating the Mesha Inscription with the Bible has to do with synchronizing the chronology of the two sources. Mesha Stele: YHWH, the god of Israelites as mentioned in the Moabite inscription in line 18 (context: and I took from there t[he ves]sels (or [altar he]arths) of YHWH and I dragged them before the face of … King Mesha of Moab is mentioned in 2 Kings as paying a tribute to the king Yisra’el 2Kings 3:4 And Meysha sovereign of Mo’aḇ was a sheep-breeder, and he paid the sovereign of Yisra’el one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. And Kemoš said to me: "Go down, fight against Horonaim!" Currently, the original Moabite Stone is housed at the Louvre Museum in Paris. So, scholars are unsure exactly how the Moabite Stone ends. In what follows, we will first consider how the Moabite stone was discovered. The Mesha Stele provides us with a remarkable extrabiblical reference to the dynasty of David, a view into the political and military climate of the nineth century BC, the names of surrounding cities; Dibon, Aron, Madada and Aroet and personal names mentioned in scripture; Yahweh, Mesha, Omri and Omri’s son (Ahab). "The Mesha Inscription and Iron Age II Water Systems. I have built Beth Bamoth, for it had been destroyed. 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[1] I am Mesha, the son of Kemoš-yatti, the king of Moab, from Dibon. The Moabite Stone is written in the 1st person, the speaker being Mesha, King of Moab. The Mesha Stele One of the most important early discoveries in Biblical Archaeology was of the “Mesha Stele” in what is now modern-day Jordan. [2] And in Karchoh I made this high place for Kemoš [...] because he has delivered me from all kings, and because he has made me look down on all my enemies. And I built Ba'al Meon, and I made in it a water reservoir, and I built Kiriathaim. The Mesha Stele of the Moabites, containing the oldest extra-biblical reference to Yahweh Credit: RMN-GP (Musée du Louvre) / Mathieu Rabeau That treasure was a nearly 3,000-year-old inscription in which the king of Moab boasts of his victories against … There is a lot of discussion among scholars as to the comparison between the two accounts. Lemaire was able to identify a previously faint letter as a "d" in the phrase "House of David." Instead, the Moabite Stone needs to be corroborated with other historical texts, inscriptions, and archaeological data in order to identify the degree to which the Moabite stone reflects broader regional conflicts and the degree to which the Moabite stone reflects personal biases. The existence of King David has been long questioned by scholars. And I cut out the moat for Karchoh by means of prisoners from Israel. ", Na'aman, N. "King Mesha and the Foundation of the Moabite Monarchy. This resulted in the shattering of the Moabite stone. And I made this high place for Chemosh in Qarcho … because he has delivered me from all kings, and because he has made me triumph over all my enemies…." But it happened, when Ahab died, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel." ". Throughout the ancient Near East, religion and politics were inseparable. And from there, I took the vessels of YHWH, and I hauled them before the face of Kemoš. The first person made a copy of the text. The inscription has 34 lines, and it is the most extensive inscription ever recovered that refers to ancient Israel. [4] Omri had taken possession of the whole land of Medeba and he lived there in his days and half the days of his son, forty years, but Kemoš restored it in my days. We have also been recommended for educational use by the following publications: Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. Mesha Stele Translation : Sometimes called the Moabite Stone, this 9th century BC inscription by the Moabite king Mesha is a memorial of Mesha's victories over "Omri king of Israel" and his son, who had been oppressing Moab. Ancient History Encyclopedia. The sacred name or tetragrammaton יהוה YHWH has been found in paleoHebrew on the Mesha stele (c. 840 BCE) and on ostraka or potsherds from Israel dating to the ninth century BCE. In other words, the Moabites were suppressed by ancient Israel during the reigns of Omri (c. 885-874 BCE), Ahab (874-853 BCE), and Joram (854-841 BCE). In addition, on the margins there are notes (masorah) indicating that in 134 places the soferim (Jewish scribes) altered the original Hebrew text from YHWH to Adonai and 8 … And [...] from there [...], (from “The Stela of Mesha,” at Livius.org). [10] I have built Aroer, and I made the military road in the Arnon. 25 Jan 2021. Researchers and missionaries were only just beginning to access the inland areas of the Holy Land. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Beyond the Moabite Stone, scholars know that Chemosh was important to Moabites on the basis of other archaeological sites and Moabite royal names in Neo-Assyrian texts. As such, it demonstrates how returning religious materials to their proper place was a way of demonstrating political might.