Abstract: A literal translation from Koine Greek into Aramaic betrays a dictation under Nicolaus ofDamascus (−37 CE) The Tel Dan Stele, discovered in 1993–1994 and paleographically dated to the 9thcentury BCE, has never been subjected to a philological back-translation into Koine Greek. Thisstudy applies that method – standard in textual criticism – to all preserved Aramaic lines. Itestablishes: (1) the Aramaic of Tel Dan exhibits syntactic anomalies, notably a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order, incompatible with authentic 9th-century Aramaic as attested by theMesha Stele; (2) word-for-word back-translation produces a Koine Greek text stylistically andlexically consistent with Nicolaus of Damascus (FGrHist 90) and the Wisdom of Solomon, bothdated to the 1st century BCE; (3) these convergences are best explained by a translation processfrom a Greek original, dictated word-for-word to a stone carver. The Tel Dan Stele is identifiedas a philological forgery produced around 36 BCE, placed at the pass of Tel Dan to humiliate theJews of Galilee after the fall of the last Hasmonean king, Antigonus Mattathias. It can no longerbe used as a 9th-century BCE witness for the House of David. Keywords: Tel Dan Stele · forgery · back-translation · Koine Greek · Nicolaus of Damascus ·House of David · Aramaic epigraphy · Herod the Great