Logos Library System Page 1 MOAB (PLACE) [Heb mo<aµb (ba;m;); moÆ<aµb (ba;wmo)]. MOABITES. In ancient times, the region immediately east of the Dead Sea and the people who occupied that region. Most of the ancient references to Moab are provided by the Hebrew Bible which seems to use the term primarily in reference to the people (Num 22:4). ——— A.The Name B.The Land C.Archaeological Explorations in Moab 1.Nineteenth-Century Explorers 2.Developments in the 1930s 3.Archaeological Investigations Since the 1930s 4.Some Implications of the Archaeological Evidence D.Moab and Moabites in Ancient Texts 1.Moab in Egyptian Sources 2.The Mesha Inscription and Other Moabite Fragments 3.Moab in the Assyrian Texts 4.Moab and Moabites in the Hebrew Bible E.Moabite History 1.Moabite Origins 2.Early Moabite Monarchy? 3.Mesha’s Kingdom 4.Moab under the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians 5.Moab during Classical Times F.Moabite Place Names 1.Northern Moab 2.Plains of Moab 3.The Southern Plateau G.Moabite Religion ——— A.The Name None of the various etymologies that have been proposed for this name is entirely convincing. Gen 19:37 attributes it to the unusual circumstances of the birth of two brothers, Moab and Ben-ammi, who are said to have become the ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites respectively. The narrative records that Lot’s two daughters conceived through their father and that the elder daughter named her son “Moab” saying he is “from my father” (Heb meµ<aµbéÆ). G. A. Smith connected the name Moab with the Hebrew verb ya<ab (“to desire”); this moÆ<béÆ would be the participial form of the verb meaning “the desirable” land or people (1914: col. 3166). Others have attempted to explain the name on the basis of Arabic cognates; e.g., ma<aÆb which can mean “(the land of) the sunset.” In this case, the name Moab would have been coined by Bedouin tribes of the desert for whom the land of Moab would have been the land of the sunset (Vollers). A recent proposal connects the name Moab with that of a prince of “Upper Shûtu,” Shemu<abu(m), known from the Egyptian Execration Texts. The Egyptians knew the Shûtu as a Heb Hebrew; Epistle to the Hebrews Heb Hebrew; Epistle to the Hebrews col. column e.g. exempli gratia (for example) PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com Logos Library System Page 2 nomadic people who inhabited parts of Palestine, so “Upper Shûtu” may have included the region of ancient Moab. Note also in this regard that Num 24:17–18 identifies the Moabites as “the sons of Sheth.” Except for the initial šîn, on the other hand, the consononts of Shemu-<abu(m) correspond to those of Moab. According to the proposal, therefore, Shemu-<abu(m) was a dynastic name which came to be applied to the region east of the Dead Sea and the people who inhabited the region. The šîn would have been dropped along the way for some reason or other (Grohman 1958: 39–48). B.The Land The settled population of ancient Moab was concentrated on the narrow strip of cultivable land sandwiched between the ragged and steep Dead Sea escarpment and the Arabian desert (approximately 90 km/60 miles N–S by 25 kms/15 miles E–W). For the most part this is rolling plateau about 1,000 m (3,000 feet) in elevation or 1,300 m (4,300 feet) above the Dead Sea. It is bisected by the steep WaµdéÆ el-Muµjib river canyon (the River Arnon of biblical times), and is bounded on the S by another major canyon, WaµdéÆ el-H\esaµ (the River Zered of biblical times). Both the Muµjib and the H\esaµ emerge from the desert side of the Moabite plateau and drain W to the Dead Sea. Less prominent wadis along the entire length of the Dead Sea escarpment create the ragged effect mentioned above. The soils of the Moabite plateau tend to be thin; there are relatively few springs; and the waters of the Muµjib and the H\esaµ are virtually inaccessible due to their steep canyon walls. The plateau is, however, well watered by winter rains, and the soil is porous enough to hold this moisture for cereal crops and pasturage for sheep and goats. Places where the soil is deeper and springs are available (especially along the wadis which cut into the plateau from the Dead Sea escarpment) support fruit trees and vineyards. Thus, despite its deficiencies, Moab is reasonably good agricultural land and accordingly is strewn with ruins of settlements from ancient times. Moab’s favorable agricultural situation is presupposed by the biblical story of Ruth, which has as its setting a time of famine of Judah. According to the story, Naomi and her family emigrated temporarily to Moab where food was still available (Ruth 1:1, 6). It is useful to distinguish between the main Moabite plateau (the region between the Muµjib and the H\esaµ) and N Moab (the region N of the Muµjib). The main plateau is somewhat isolated by the geographical barriers mentioned above—WaµdéÆ el-Muµjib on the N, WaµdéÆ el-H\esaµ on the S, the Dead Sea escarpment on the W, and the Arabian desert on the E. Northern Moab is more open to the outside world, on the other hand, and was much better known to the biblical writers. It corresponds roughly to km kilometer(s) N north(ern) S south(ern) km kilometer(s) E east(ern); or “Elohist” source W west(ern) m meter(s) m meter(s) S south(ern) W west(ern) N north(ern) N north(ern) N north(ern) S south(ern) W west(ern) E east(ern); or “Elohist” source PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com Logos Library System Page 3 what they called the “tableland” (Heb mêšor), or the “tableland of Medeba” after the chief city in N Moab (Deut 3:10; 4:43; Josh 13:9, 16–17, 21; 20:8). Among other towns in N Moab were Heshbon, Elealeh, and those mentioned in Jer 48:21–24. The openness of N Moab made it more vulnerable to encroachment also, especially by the Israelites and the Ammonites. It often changed hands, and the local population very likely had mixed loyalties. This situation is well illustrated by an inscription from the reign of King Mesha who ruled Moab in the 9th century B.C. (see below). While the inscription assumes that the region N of the Muµjib belonged historically to Moab and credits Mesha with recovering it from Israelite control, it also mentions Israelite elements in the local population, elements which had been there as long as anyone could remember: “And the men of Gad had dwelt in the land of Ataroth always and the king of Israel built Ataroth for them, . .” (lines 10–11). Several biblical passages seek to establish an Israelite claim to this valuable tableland (Num 21:21–31; 32; Deut 2:26–37; Judg 11:12–28). It is maintained in these passages that the Arnon/Muµjib was the true N boundary of Moab, that Moses conquered all of the region N of the Arnon from an Amorite king named Sihon, and that Moses then assigned all of the conquered tableland to the tribes of Gad and Reuben. These passages contrast with others, however, and with the general terminology of the Hebrew Bible, which assume that Moab extended as far N as Heshbon and Elealeh (see Num 21:20, for example, and the oracles concerning Moab in Isaiah 15–16 and Jeremiah 48). In fact, even part of the Jordan Valley—the area immediately NE of the Dead Sea, between the Jordan River and the W slopes of the “tableland”—is occasionally referred to in the Bible as the “Plains (Heb >arboÆt) of Moab” (Num 22:1). C.Archaeological Explorations in Moab 1. Nineteenth-Century Explorers. During the 19th century, local Bedouin tribes dominated the area between the Muµjib and the H\esaµ, and outsiders who entered this region did so essentially at their own risk. Among the few daring travellers who traversed the whole Moabite plateau prior to 1870 and whose published observations deserve special mention were Ulrich Seetzen, who passed through the Moabite region in 1806, Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812, Charles Irby and James Mangles in 1818, and F. de Saulcy in 1851. Typically the travellers of this period commented on the numerous ruins from ancient times scattered throughout the Moabite plateau, but the circumstances rarely allowed them to investigate. De Saulcy’s 1851 discovery of the so-called Shé÷h\aµn Stele at Rujm el->Abd was an exception. Rujm el->Abd, a stone heap long since dismantled, was located at the site of the village school of present-day Faquµ>. The stele is a basalt stone (1.03 × .58 m) which presents in bas-relief a male figure in helmet and short skirt holding a spear. At his left is an animal, possibly a lion. Comparative study indicates close Heb Hebrew; Epistle to the Hebrews N north(ern) N north(ern) N north(ern) B.C. before Christ N north(ern) N north(ern) N north(ern) N north(ern) NE northeast(ern) W west(ern) Heb Hebrew; Epistle to the Hebrews m meter(s) PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com Logos Library System Page 4 parallels with the monumental art of the “neo-Hittite” cities of N Syria and suggests an Iron Age date (Warmabol 1983).