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Moab
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:''This article is about a location in Jordan. For other instances of '''Moab''', see
Moab (disambiguation).''
'''Moab''' ('''מוֹאָב''',
Standard Hebrew '''Moʾav''',
Tiberian Hebrew '''Môʾāḇ'''
Greek language Greek '''Μωάβ''';
Assyrian language Assyrian '''Mu'aba''', '''Ma'ba''', '''Ma'ab''';
Egyptian language Egyptian '''Mu'ab''') is the historical name for a mountainous strip of land in modern-day
Jordan running along the eastern shore of the
Dead Sea. In ancient times, it was home to the kingdom of the '''Moabites''', a people often in conflict with their Israelite neighbors to the west. The Moabites were a historical people, whose existence is attested to by numerous archeological findings, most notably the
Mesha Stele, which describes the Moabite victory over an unnamed son of
monarch King Omri of
Kingdom of Israel Israel (see
Books of Kings 2 Kings 3). Their capital was Ar, in the valley of Arnon (Hertz 1936).
Etymology
The etymology of the word is very uncertain. The earliest gloss is found in the
Septuagint, Gen. xix. 37, which explains the name, in obvious allusion to the account of Moab's parentage, as á¼?κ τοῦ πατÏ?ός μου. Other etymologies which have been proposed regard it as a corruption of = "seed of a father," or as a participial form from = "to desire," thus connoting "the desirable (land)."
Fritz Hommel ("Verhandlungen des Zwölften Internationalen Orientalisten-Congresses," p. 261, Leyden, 1904) regards "Moab" as an abbreviation of "Immo-ab" = "his mother is his father."
Geography
Moab occupied a
plateau about 3,000 feet above the level of the
Mediterranean, or 4,300 feet above the
Dead Sea, and rising gradually from north to south. It was bounded on the west by the Dead Sea and the southern section of the
Jordan River; on the east by
Ammon (nation) Ammon and the
Arabian desert, from which it was separated by low, rolling
hills; and on the south by
Edom. The northern boundary varied, but in general it may be said to have been represented by a line drawn some miles above the northern extremity of the Dead Sea. In
Book of Ezekiel Ezek. xxv. 9 the boundaries are given as being marked by
Beth-jeshimoth (north),
Baal-meon (east), and
Kiriathaim (south). That these limits were not fixed, however, is plain from the lists of cities given in
Isaiah xv.-xvi. and
Jeremiah xlviii., where
Heshbon,
Elealeh, and
Jazer are mentioned to the north of
Beth-jeshimoth;
Madaba,
Beth-gamul, and
Mephaath to the east of
Baalmeon; and
Dibon,
Aroer,
Bezer,
Jahaz, and
Kirhareseth to the south of
Kiriathaim. The principal rivers of Moab mentioned in the
Bible are the
Arnon, the Dimon or Dibon, and the
Nimrim. The
limestone hills which form the almost treeless plateau are generally steep but fertile. In the spring they are covered with
Poaceae grass; and the table-land itself produces
grain. In the north are a number of long, deep
ravines, and
Mount Nebo, famous as the scene of the death of Moses (
Deuteronomy xxxiv. 1-8). The rainfall is fairly plentiful; and the climate, despite the hot summer, is cooler than the area west of the Jordan river, snow falling frequently in winter and in spring. The plateau is dotted with hundreds of rude dolmens, menhirs, and stone-circles, and contains many ruined villages, mostly of the
Roman Empire Roman and
Byzantine Empire Byzantine periods. The land is now occupied chiefly by
Bedouin, though it contains such towns as
al-Karak.
The territory occupied by Moab at the period of its greatest extent, before the invasion of the Amorites, divided itself naturally into three distinct and independent portions: The enclosed corner or canton south of the Arnon (referred to as "field of Moab." (
Book of Ruth Ruth 1:1,2,6), the more open rolling country north of the Arnon, opposite
Jericho, and up to the hills of Gilead, (called the "land of Moab" (Deuteronomy 1:5; 32:49), and the district below
sea level in the tropical depths of the Jordan valley. (Numbers 22:1)
History
Origins
The Moabites were likely pastoral nomads settling in the trans-Jordanian highlands. They may have been among the nomadic raiders referred to as
habiru by the
Ancient Egypt Egyptians. Whether they were among the nations referred to in the
Ancient Egyptian language as ''
Shutu'' or ''
Shasu'' is a matter of some debate among scholars.
The existence of Moab prior to the rise of the
Israelite polity can be seen from the colossal statues erected at
Luxor by
Pharaoh Ramesses II. On the base of the second statue in front of the northern pylon of Rameses' temple, ''Mu'ab'' is listed among a series of nations conquered by the pharaoh.
Biblical Narrative (through the conquest by Israel)
The conflict between the Israelites and the Moabites is expressed in the biblical narrative describing the Moabites' incestuous origins. According to the story, Moab was the son of
Lot (biblical) Lot, through his eldest daughter, with whom he had a child after the destruction of
Sodom. The Bible then explains the etymology of ''Moab'' as meaning "of his father". Nevertheless, there was considerable interchange between the two peoples, and the
Bible in the
Book of Ruth traces King
David's lineage to a Moabite woman.
According to
Genesis xix. 30-38, Moab was the son of
Abraham's nephew
Lot (biblical) Lot by his elder daughter, while
Ben Ammi was Moab's
half-brother by a similar union of Lot with his younger child. The close ethnological affinity of Moab and Ammon which is thus attested (comp. also
Book of Judges Judges iii. 13;
II Chronicles xx. 22; Isa. xi. 14; Jer. xxvi. 21) is confirmed by their subsequent history, while their kinship with the
Israelites is equally certain, and is borne out by the linguistic evidence of the
Moabite Stone. They are also mentioned in close connection with the
Amalekites (Judges iii. 13), the inhabitants of
Mount Seir (II Chron. xx. 22; Ezek. xxv. 8), the
Edomites (Ex. xv. 15; Ps. lx. 10 [A. V. 8]; Isa. xi. 14; Jer. xxv. 21), the
Canaanites (Ex. xv. 15), the
Sethites (Num. xxiv. 17), and the
Philistines (
Psalms lx. 10 [A. V. 8]; Isa. xi. 14). The story of Moab's incestuous conception may be intended to relegate the Moabites to a lesser status than that of the Israelites.
The Moabites first inhabited the rich highlands at the eastern side of the chasm of the Dead Sea, extending as far north as the mountain of
Gilead, from which country they expelled the
Emim, the original inhabitants, (
Deuteronomy 2:11) but they themselves were afterward driven southward by warlike tribes of
Amorites, who had crossed the
river Jordan. These Amorites, described in the Bible as being ruled by King
Sihon, confined the Moabites to the country south of the river Arnon, which formed their northern boundary. (
Book of Numbers Numbers 21:13;
Book of Judges Judges 11:18).
The Israelites, in entering the promised land, did not pass through the Moabites, (Judges 11:18) but conquered Sihon's kingdom and his capital at Heshbon. After the conquest of
Canaan the relations of Moab with Israel were of a mixed character, sometimes warlike and sometimes peaceable. With the tribe of Benjamin they had at least one severe struggle, in union with their kindred the Ammonites and the Amalekites. (Judges 3:12-30) The Benjaminite
shofet Ehud ben Gera assassinated the Moabite king
Eglon and led an Israelite army against the Moabites at a ford of the Jordan river, killing many of them.
The story of Ruth, on the other hand, testifies to the existence of a friendly intercourse between Moab and
Bethlehem, one of the towns of the
tribe of Judah. By his descent from Ruth,
King David David may be said to have had Moabite blood in his veins. He committed his parents to the protection of the king of Moab (who may have been his kinsman), when hard pressed by
King Saul. (1 Samuel 22:3,4) But here all friendly relations stop forever. The next time the name is mentioned is in the account of David's war, who made the Moabites tributary (
Books of Samuel 2 Samuel 8:2;
Books of Chronicles 1 Chronicles 18:2). Moab may have been under the rule of an Israelite governor during this period; among the exiles who returned to Judea from
Babylonia were a clan descended from
Pahath-Moab, whose name means "ruler of Moab".
The capital of Moab was Kir-Hareshet (modern day
Kerak).
Reassertion of Independence
Image:Levant 800.png Levant.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|400px|right|Map of the southern [[Levant, c.
800 BCE Moabite territory indicated in beige/dark yellow..html" title="Meaning of 400px|right|Map of the southern [[Levant">thumb|400px|right|Map of the southern [[Levant, c.
800 BCE Moabite territory indicated in beige/dark yellow.">400px|right|Map of the southern [[Levant">thumb|400px|right|Map of the southern [[Levant, c.
800 BCE Moabite territory indicated in beige/dark yellow.
At the disruption of the kingdom under the reign of
Rehoboam, Moab seems to have absorbed into the northern realm. It continued in vassaldom to the
Kingdom of Israel until the death of
Ahab, when the Moabtes refused to pay tribute and asserted their independence, making war upon the kingdom of Judah. (
Books of Chronicles 2 Chronicles 22:1)
After the death of
Ahab the Moabites under
Mesha rebelled against
Jehoram, who allied himself with
Jehoshaphat, King of
Kingdom of Judah, and with the King of Edom. According to the Bible, the prophet
Elisha directed the Israelites dug a series of ditches between themselves and the enemy, and during the night these channels were miraculously filled with water which was as red as
blood. Deceived by the crimson color into the belief that their opponents had attacked one another, the Moabites became overconfident and were entrapped and utterly defeated at Ziz, near
En Gedi (
II Kings iii.;
II Chronicles xx., which states that the Moabites and their allies, the Ammonites and the inhabitants of Mount Seir, mistook one another for the enemy, and so destroyed one another). According to Mesha's inscription on the
Mesha Stele, however, he was completely victorious and regained all the territory of which Israel had deprived him. The battle of Ziz is the last important date in the history of the Moabites as recorded in the Bible. In the year of Elisha's death they invaded Israel (II Kings xiii. 20), and later aided Nebuchadnezzar in his expedition against Jehoiakim (ib. xxiv. 2).
Although allusions to Moab are frequent in the prophetical books (e.g., Isa. xxv. 10; Ezek. xxv. 8-11;
Amos ii. 1-3;
Zephaniah ii. 8-11), and although two chapters of Isaiah (xv.-xvi.) and one of Jeremiah (xlviii.) are devoted to the "burden of Moab," they give little information about the land. Its prosperity and pride, which the Israelites believed incurred the wrath of
God, are frequently mentioned (Isa. xvi. 6; Jer. xlviii. 11, 29; Zeph. ii. 10); and their contempt for Israel is once expressly noted (Jer. xlviii. 27).
Image:mesha_stele.jpg Mesha stele.html" title="Meaning of left left|thumb|The [[Mesha stele as photographed circa 1891. The stele describes King
Mesha's wars against the
Israelites..html" title="Meaning of thumb|The [[Mesha stele">left|thumb|The [[Mesha stele as photographed circa 1891. The stele describes King
Mesha's wars against the
Israelites.">thumb|The [[Mesha stele">left|thumb|The [[Mesha stele as photographed circa 1891. The stele describes King
Mesha's wars against the
Israelites.
In the
Nimrud clay inscription of
Tiglath-pileser III the Moabite king
Salmanu (perhaps the Shalman who sacked
Beth-arbel in
Hosea x. 14) is mentioned as tributary to
Assyria.
Sargon II mentions on a clay prism a revolt against him by Moab together with
Philistia, Judah, and Edom; but on the
Taylor prism, which recounts the expedition against
Hezekiah, Kammusu-Nadbi (
Chemosh-nadab), King of Moab, brings tribute to Sargon as his suzerain. Another Moabite king,
Muẓuri ("the Egyptian" ?), is mentioned as one of the subject princes at the courts of
Esarhaddon and
Assurbanipal, while
Kaasḥalta, possibly his successor, is named on cylinder B of Assurbanipal.
Decline and Fall
Sometime during the
Persian Empire Persian period Moab disappears from the extant historical record. Its territory was subsequently overrun by waves of tribes from northern
Arabia, including the
Kedarites and (later) the
Nabataeans. In
Nehemiah iv. 7 the
Arabs instead of the Moabites are the allies of the Ammonites (comp. I Macc. ix. 32-42; Josephus, "Ant." xiii. 13, § 5; xiv. 1, § 4). Their country, however, continued to be known by its biblical name for some time; when the
Crusaders occupied the area, the castle they built to defend the eastern part of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem was called
Krak des Moabites.
Economy
The country of Moab was the source of numerous natural resources, including limestone,
salt and
balsam from the
Dead Sea region. The Moabites occupied a vital place along the
King's Highway (ancient) King's Highway, the ancient trade route connecting Egypt with
Mesopotamia,
Syria, and
Anatolia. Like the Edomites and Ammonites, trade along this route gave them considerable revenue.
Religion
References to the religion of Moab are scanty. Most of the Moabites were
polytheists like the other early
Semites; and they induced the Israelites to join in their
sacrifices (Num. xxv. 2; Judges x. 6).Their chief god was
Chemosh (Jer. xlviii. 7, 13), so that the Israelites sometimes referred to them rhetorically as the "people of Chemosh" (Num. xxi. 29; Jer. xlviii. 46). At times, especially in dire peril,
human sacrifices were offered to him, as by Mesha, who gave up his son and heir to him (II Kings iii. 27). Nevertheless,
King Solomon built, for this "abomination of Moab," on the hill before Jerusalem, a "high place" (I Kings xi. 7) which was not destroyed until the reign of
Josiah (II Kings xxiii. 13). The Moabite Stone also mentions (line 17) a female counterpart of Chemosh,
Ashtar-Chemosh, and a god
Nebo (line 14), probably the well-known Babylonian divinity
Nabu. The cult of
Baal-peor (Num. xxv. 5; Ps. cvi. 28) or Peor (Num. xxxi. 16; Josh. xxii. 17) seems to have been marked by sexual rites, though this may be exaggeration.
In Jewish law
Since the Moabites had opposed the invasion of
Canaan, they, like the Ammonites, were excluded from the congregation unto the tenth generation (Deut. xxiii. 3-4; comp. Neh. xiii. 1-3). This law was violated during the Exile, however; and Ezra and Nehemiah sought to compel a return to the ancient custom of exclusion (Ezra ix. 1-2, 12; Neh. xiii. 23-25). The
Diaspora usage had had royal sanction; the harem of Solomon included Moabite women (I Kings xi. 1).
On the other hand, the fact that the marriages of the
Bethlehem Ephrathites (of the
tribe of Judah)
Chilion and
Mahlon to the Moabite women
Orpah and
Book of Ruth Ruth (Ruth i. 2-4), and the marriage of the latter, after her husband's death, to
Boaz (ib. iv. 10, 13), who was the great-grandfather of
David, are mentioned with no shade of reproach. This can show that the law had fallen into abeyance at a comparatively early period and had become a mere priestly restriction. The Orthodox explanation, though, is that the language of the law only applies to Moabite and Ammonite '''men''' (Hebrew, like all Semitic languages, is gendered).
See also
*
Canaanite language
*
Children of Eber
*
Habiru
*
Moabite language
*
Nabataea
*
Oultrejordain
Bibliography
*Tristram, ''The Land of Moab'', London, 1874;
*George Adam Smith, ''Historical Geography of the Holy Land'', ib. 1897;
*Clermont-Ganneau, ''Recueil d'Archéologie Orientale'', ii. 185-234, Paris, 1889;
*Baethgen, ''Beiträge zur Semitischen Religionsgeschichte'', Berlin, 1888;
*Smith, ''Rel. of Sem.'' Edinburgh, 1894. J. L. H. G.
*Hertz, J.H., "The Pentateuch and Haftoras. Deuteronomy", Oxford, 1936, Oxford University Press.
Resources
-
Moabite rulers on Bruce Gordon's Regnal Chronologies (also at [http://www.hostkingdom.net/jordan.html])
-
Gutenberg E-text of ''Patriarchal Palestine'' by Archibald Henry Sayce (1895)
-
Moab entry in ''[[Smith's Bible Dictionary]'']
-
Moab on Nabataea.net
-
Jewish Encyclopedia article on Moab
-
Moab on Ancientroute.com
-
The Ancient Biblical Moabites of Jordan
-
Book of Judges article (Jewish Encyclopedia)
-
The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran (Fundamentalist reconstruction of chronology for Israel's Period of the Judges 1412 BCE to 1039 BCE)
Category:Ancient peoples
Category:Moab *
Category:Torah peopleCategory:Torah places
{{JewishEncyclopedia}}
ca:Moab
de:Moab (Bibel)
fr:Moab
he:מו×?ב
ja:モアブ
pt:Moabitas
zh:摩押人
see
GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb
see
Monoclonal antibodies
See also
*Nations:
Amalek,
Ammon (nation),
Amorites,
Assyria,
Edom,
Ancient Egypt Egypt,
Children of Eber,
Habiru,
Hebrews,
Kingdom of Israel Israel,
Kingdom of Judah Judah,
Kedar,
Nabataea,
Midianites,
Philistines,
Shasu,
Shutu.
*People:
Ahab,
Balaam,
Ehud ben Gera,
David,
Omri,
Sihon,
Solomon.
*Places:
Dead Sea,
Gilead,
Jordan,
King's Highway (ancient).
Category:Ancient peoples
Category:Ancient Near East
Category:History of Jordan
Category:Ancient Israel and Judah
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