Moabite
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Who were the Moabite people?
The Moabites were a West-Semitic people inhabiting the highlands east of the Dead Sea, in what is now west-central Jordan. They flourished around the 9th century BC and are known from the Old Testament and the Moabite Stone.
The Moabites were believed to share ethnic origins with the Israelites, tracing back to Moab, the son of Lot and nephew of Abraham. Their national god was Chemosh, akin to Yahweh for the Israelites.
From the 13th century BC, the Moabites were in conflict with the Israelites. They were conquered by the Babylonians in 582 BC, after which they disappeared from historical records. Later, Nabataeans resettled their territory. The Moabite language, religion, and culture closely resembled those of the Israelites.
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Where did the Moabite people live?
The Moabites were a West-Semitic people who inhabited the highlands east of the Dead Sea, in what is now west-central Jordan. Their territory was bounded by Edom and the land of the Amorites. They flourished around the 9th century BC, and are known from the Old Testament and the Moabite Stone. The ancient capital of Moab was Dibon, located north of the Arnon River. The Moabites disappeared from history after being conquered by the Babylonians in 582 BC, and their territory was resettled by the Nabataeans.
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What language did the Moabite people speak?
The Moabites, an ancient West-Semitic people, inhabited the highlands east of the Dead Sea. Their language, Moabite, closely resembled Hebrew, differing only dialectally. It belongs to the Canaanite language group, which also includes Hebrew and Phoenician.
The Moabite Stone, discovered in 1868, features a 34-line inscription in the Moabite alphabet, a variant of the early Semitic alphabet. Written by King Mesha in the 9th century BCE, the text uses a Canaanite alphabet similar to contemporary Hebrew and provides valuable insight into the Moabite language. By the late 8th century BCE, the Moabites became tributaries of Assyria and were later conquered by the Babylonians in 582 BCE.
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How were the Moabite people related to ancient Israel?
The Moabites were closely related to the Israelites, sharing the same ethnic stock, according to accounts in the Old Testament. Their ancestral founder, Moab, was the son of Lot, who was a nephew of the Israelite patriarch Abraham.
Like the Israelites, whose national God was Yahweh, the Moabites worshipped Chemosh. The Moabite language was a dialect of Hebrew, and their religion and culture were closely related to those of the Israelites. Despite these connections, the two peoples were frequently in conflict. The Old Testament notes instances of the 11th-century King Saul of Israel fighting the Moabites. David, who would later become king, was given asylum by the Moabites. However, David later fought against them and exacted heavy tribute.
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What were the main beliefs and customs of the Moabite people?
The Moabites were a West Semitic people inhabiting the highlands east of the Dead Sea, in what is now west-central Jordan. They were closely related to the Israelites, often in conflict with them.
The Moabite's chief deity was Chemosh, and like the Israelites with Yahweh, they considered Chemosh the protector of their nation. According to the Old Testament, King Solomon erected a shrine to Chemosh near Jerusalem, but it was later destroyed. The Moabite language was dialectically similar to Hebrew, and their religion and culture were closely related to those of the Israelites.
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How do we know about the Moabite people today and what archaeological evidence has been found?
The Moabites were a West-Semitic people who inhabited the highlands east of the Dead Sea, in what is now west-central Jordan. Knowledge of the Moabite people primarily comes from the Old Testament and the Moabite Stone, also known as the Mesha Stele.
The Moabite Stone, discovered in Dibon (modern Dhiban, Jordan) in 1868, is a black basalt stone with a 34-line inscription written in a Canaanite alphabet similar to contemporary Hebrew. The inscription commemorates King Mesha's victory over the Israelites in the 9th century BCE, which reestablished Moab's independence.
Excavations at Dibon have revealed remains of city walls, a square tower, and numerous buildings, with pottery dating from the Early Bronze Age (c. 3200āc. 2300 BCE) to the Early Arabic period (c. 7th century CE).
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Moabite, member of a West-Semitic people who lived in the highlands east of the Dead Sea (now in west-central Jordan) and flourished in the 9th century bc. They are known principally through information given in the Old Testament and from the inscription on the Moabite Stone. The Moabitesā culture is dated by scholars from about the late 14th century bc to 582 bc, when, according to the Jewish historian Josephus (1st century ad), they were conquered by the Babylonians.
In Old Testament accounts (e.g., Genesis 19:30ā38), the Moabites belonged to the same ethnic stock as the Israelites. Their ancestral founder was Moab, a son of Lot, who was a nephew of the Israelite patriarch Abraham. The god-protector of their nation was Chemosh, just as Yahweh was the national God of the Israelites. The Moabites were in conflict with the Israelites from the 13th century. They are noted several times in the Old Testament. King Saul of Israel in the 11th century fought against the Moabites (1 Samuel 14:47), who later granted asylum to the family of the young rebel and future king David (1 Samuel 22:3ā4). David in turn fought against the Moabites and forced them to pay heavy tribute (2 Samuel 8:2). Davidās great-grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabite (Ruth 4:17ā22), and his son Solomon, as a sign of his authority, obtained Moabite princesses for his harem (1 Kings 11:1ā8) and erected near Jerusalem a shrine dedicated to Chemosh.
King Omri of Israel (reigned c. 884āc. 872 bc), who is mentioned in 1 Kings 16:23ā28, reconquered Moabite lands that had been lost since Solomonās death in 922 bc, when Israel split into two kingdoms. Omriās reconquest is known from the Moabite Stone, a stela that the Moabite king Mesha erected about 40 years later in the city of Dibon (modern Dhiban, Jordan). This black basalt stone, 1.1 m (44 inches) high, was discovered at Dhiban in 1868 and is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The stoneās text of 34 lines, written in a Canaanite alphabet similar to contemporary Hebrew, is the only written document of any length that survives from Moab and the only royal stela known from Israelās neighbours. In its inscription, Mesha (fl. c. 870 bc) tells of King Omriās reconquest of Moab and ascribes the renewed Israelite domination over Moab to the anger of Chemosh. Mesha then describes his own successful rebellion against Israel, which probably occurred during the reign of Omriās successor, Ahab.
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Moab had become a tributary of Assyria by the late 8th century bc and was conquered by the Babylonians in 582 bc, upon which the Moabites disappeared from history. Their territory was resettled by the Nabataeans in the 4thā3rd century bc.
The Moabite language differed only dialectally from Hebrew, and Moabite religion and culture were very closely related to those of the Israelites. Nevertheless, Moabites were excluded from the Jewish community (Deuteronomy 23:3ā6), where the name Moab became a typical denomination for the enemies of God (Isaiah 25:10).