A remarkable artifact dating back more than 3,200 years is drawing renewed attention for containing one of the earliest known references to the people of Israel outside of Biblical texts.

Known as the Merneptah Stele, the massive ancient Egyptian monument was inscribed during the reign of Pharaoh Merneptah in approximately 1208 BCE and is today housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

The inscription primarily records Egyptian military victories. Near its conclusion, however, it names “Israel” among the peoples encountered during an Egyptian campaign in Canaan. Scholars widely regard the inscription as the earliest undisputed extra-Biblical textual reference to Israel.

The wording is particularly significant to historians because the Egyptian hieroglyphic notation treats Israel as a people, rather than identifying it as a city or geographical territory. The inscription therefore provides ancient Egyptian evidence that a people known as Israel was recognized in the region more than three millennia ago.

In newly circulated footage, author and speaker Frank Turek highlights the towering stele at the Egyptian Museum and discusses its significance in connection with the Biblical account and the history of Bnei Yisrael.

The stele was discovered in 1896 by British archaeologist Flinders Petrie at the ruins of Pharaoh Merneptah's mortuary temple in Thebes.