Moabite stone [key], ancient slab of stone erected in 850 b.c. by King Mesha of Moab; it contains a long inscription commemorating a victory in his revolt against Israel. It was discovered at Dibon, Jordan (1868), by F. A. Klein, a German clergyman. Although it was later broken when Klein tried to purchase it, most of the fragments were recovered. They are in the Louvre. The language of the Moabites is a Phoenician dialect that represents an early form of Hebrew.
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