Mesha, King of Moab (830-805 BC), had this victory stele erected. The rubbing of the inscription was executed and published in 1869 by one of Clermont-Ganneau's collaborators, Selim al-Qari, an Arab from Jerusalem. Interestingly, Clermont-Ganneau later denounced Al-Qari for having commissioned a series of fake moabites, sold in the market places of Jerusalem. Al-Qari's work was valuable for reconstituting the stele at the Louvre after it had been broken in several pieces.