RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Moab
Omri, when the northern kingdom began to reconquer the territory north of the Arnon, and the Moabite Stone tells of the progressive success of Israel until the time of Mesha, who recovered his territory with considerable losses to the Hebrews (cf. II Kings i. 1, iii. 5). The story is told in II Kings iii. of a new attempt to subject Moab made by Jehoram of Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah, which was brought to an end by the sacrifice of the Moabitic king's eldest son upon the walls of the stronghold into which the Moabites had retreated, this bringing about the retirement of the allied forces, though the exact way in which this operated is not told (cf. Moloch, Melech, § 7). It is debated whether II Chron. xx. details an independent event or is a restatement of II Kings iii. II Kings xiv. 25 (cf. Amos vi. 14) does not necessitate the renewal of Israel's hegemony over Moab, and Amos ii. 1 implies the independence of Moab. During the Assyrian period Moab figures in the cuneiform inscriptions, sometimes as bringing tribute to the Assyrians (so in the time of Tiglath-Pileser III.), as contributing to the materials being gathered for the erection of Assyrian palaces (so under Esarhaddon), as joining in combinations against the Assyrian power (as under Sargon), at another time as relying upon Assyrian help to repulse the attacks of nomadic Arabs. The hostility of Moab to Judah is stated in II Kings xxiv. 2; Jer. xxvii. 2 involves projected common action by Moab, Ammon, Phenicia, and Judah against the Babylonians ; Ezek. xxv. 8 suggests national hostility against Judah on the part of Moab, though Jer. xl. 11 involves that in Moab fugitives from Judah found refuge.
In postexilic times little is heard of the Moabites. Among the foreign wives of the people whose children did not speak pure Hebrew Moabites are mentioned (Neh. xiii. 23; cf. Ezra ix. 1-2), though whether Nehemiah's foe Sanballat was a Moabite is not satisfactorily made out. Quiet 4. History possession by the Moabites of their after land was disturbed by the Nabatsean
586 B.C. migration in the period between Nehemiah and the Maccabean rising. By the time of Josephus the occupation by the Nabatseans of the territory of Moab and the whole district across the Jordan was so complete that he regarded Moabites and Gileadites as Arabs, and cities once deemed Moabitic were said to be in Arabia. A Nabatsean kingdom was founded with capital at Petra, and to this the greater part of the territory east of the Jordan was subject. No important conclusions can be drawn from Dan. xi. 41 or Ps. lxxxiii. 6, since these passages employ the old prophetic terminology. John Hyrcanus appears as the friend of the Nabataaans and as the foe of " children of Bsean " and " children of Jambri " (I Mace, v. 4-5, ix. 35 sqq.), and this shows a disintegration of the old national forces in the region. Alexander Jannseus fought against the Nabataeans and took the old Moabitic fortresses of Medeba, Horonaim, Eglaim and Soar, also Heshbon, which by this time was a Hellenistic city. Nabatsean kings contemporary with Alexander were Obodas I. and Rabilos I., both of whom fought Antiochus Dionysius of Antioch. Hyrcanus, son of Alexander,
promised to restore to the Nabatsean Aretas I., the cities captured by Alexander, but Heshbon must have remained Judaic, since it belonged to Herod the Great. The district of Moabitis, with the Arnon as the northern boundary, remained in the possession of the Nabatseans till their rule was overthrown in 106 a.d., when it became a part of the province of Arabia. Later it belonged to Palcestina tertia. Under Roman rule the land must have become quite populous, as is attested by the large number of Roman ruins and the remains of Roman roads. Christianity entered later, and among the ruins are those of a considerable number of churches. The first assault of the Mohammedans upon the region was repulsed, but soon after Mohammed's death the old land of Moab became Mohammedan territory. See Nabataeans.
The beginnings of Moabitic national life were doubtless not unlike those of their neighbors across the Jordan. The people came in from the desert and settled and developed in general along lines like the Hebrews. One important difference, however, was that the latter were shielded 5. Prod- from the inroads of Arabs, to which ucts, Cul- the Moabites were constantly exposed. ture, and The history of the land reflects this Religion, condition, since there were recurrent periods when it sank into the position of the resort of Bedouins. On the other hand, the native productivity of the soil made it natural to develop a settled population and the culture which goes with it. The Moabite Stone and II Kings iii. 4 imply rich results from pasturage, and this is corroborated by the reports of Doughty in modern times; II Kings iii. 25 and Ezek. xxvii. 17 involve also abundant returns from agricultural pursuits; similarly Isa. xvi. 8 implies a celebrated wine as one of the products. Though small in extent, the land must have had a considerable population. This fact is corroborated by the large number of cities mentioned as Moabitic in the Old Testament. The existence of the Moabitic Stone is rich in implications respecting the cultural development of the people. The art of writing must have been advanced before they could use a material so refractory as basalt, and culture sufficient to permit the reading of it by at least a part of the people is also a postulate. Moabites knew well how to build fortresses; commerce was cared for, and provision made for water supply. Light is thrown upon the religion both by the Old Testament and the Moabite Stone. The chief deity of the land was Chemosh (q.v.), and the Moabites ascribed to his anger with his people their subjection to the Israelites. He was a war deity, before whose altar the foes were slain. He had high places in at least two cities, and Mesha's language in the Moabite Stone involves also an oracle which was consulted. The inscription speaks also of a deity who must have been feminine (the form corresponds to Ashtar or Ishtar) whose character must have been similar to that of Chemosh. A Baal-peor, " Lord of Peor," is mentioned (Num. xxv. 1-5), who may have been identical with Chemosh or with some other deity. The name of Nebo attached to a mountain in Moabitic territory involves also the cult of that deity
BfoaD Moberly