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The Linkage of Ammon and Moab with Pre-Islamic Arabs and Muslims in Jewish Sources — Prevalence and Motives∗

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The Linkage of Ammon and Moab with Pre-Islamic Arabs and Muslims in Jewish Sources — Prevalence and Motives∗ Haggai MAZUZ School of International Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, China THE LINKAGE OF AMMON AND MOAB WITH PRE-ISLAMIC ARABS AND MUSLIMS IN JEWISH SOURCES — PREVALENCE AND MOTIVES∗ ABSTRACT Jewish sources commonly refer to Muslims as “Ishmaelites” and to Islamdom as “the Kingdom of Ishmael” due to an alleged biblical genealogy that both Jews and Muslims accept. Other classic Jewish sources, however, associate pre-Islamic Arabs as well as Muslims with two other biblical nations, Ammon and Moab, even when, and even though, the “standard” appellations are at hand. The Ammon and Moab nexus is mentioned in academic literature but without much elaboration. This article investigates several Jewish mentions of the nexus — most of Hispano-Jewish prov- enance — and proposes five explanations for its use. RÉSUMÉ Les sources juives qualifient généralement les musulmans d’Ismaélites et le domaine de l’Islam en tant que “royaume d’Ismaël”, et ce au nom de généalogies bibliques reconnues autant par les juifs que par les musulmans. D’autres sources juives clas- siques, cependant, rattachent les Arabes préislamiques ainsi que les musulmans à deux autres nations mentionnées dans la Bible, Ammon et Moab, même quand elles tiennent aussi compte de la traditionnelle appellation d’Ismaélites. Jusqu’à présent, le lien avec Ammon et Moab n’a été que sommairement évoqué dans la littérature scientifique. La présente étude examine plusieurs sources juives, pour la plupart d’origine hispanique, évoquant un pareil lien, et propose cinq explications de ce lien. Introduction In Judaeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, writes Israel Eph῾al, the words “Arabs” and “Ishmaelites” are generally associated with the same group of ∗ I would like to thank the anonymous readers of this article, as well as Professors Ephraim Hazan, Joseph Yahalom, and Yosef Yuval Tobi for their invaluable comments and assistance. Revue des études juives, 177 (1-2), janvier-juin 2018, pp. 23-36. doi: 10.2143/REJ.177.1.3284866 24 AMMON AND MOAB IN JEWISH SOURCES people and may even be considered synonymous.1 Indeed, Jewish sources commonly refer to Muslims as “Ishmaelites” (Išma‘elīm) and Islamdom as “the Kingdom of Ishmael” (malkhūt Išma‘el), evidently conflating Islam with Arabs. Other Jewish sources, however — few in number and obscure in some cases — associate Ammon and Moab with pre-Islamic Arabs as well as with Muslims. This is of research interest because some Midrashim, in compilations such as Siphre Deḇarīm, 395-397 (343) and Mekhilta de-Rabbi Išma῾el, Jethro 5, present Ammon and Moab as entities separate from the sons of Ishmael. Moreover, later (eighth century CE) sources such as Pirqe de-Rabbi Eli῾ezer (hereinafter: PRE) 40 and Targum Pseudo-Jon- athan, Deuteronomy 33:2, omit Ammon and Moab but retain the sons of Ishmael (and Esau).2 Therefore, the return of these biblical nations as sur- rogates for contemporary entities and the aforementioned connection between them and pre-Islamic Arabs and Muslims in even later sources is surprising. This linkage is occasionally mentioned in the academic literature but without much elaboration — by Moritz Steinschneider, Dov Jarden, and Yonah David, who noted the occurrence of such use in liturgical poetry,3 and by Bernard Septimus, who focused on Petrus Alfonsi’s description of the Meccan cult (discussed below).4 The only scholar who attempted to explain it was Norman Roth, who did so briefly and in reference to only one work — a poem by Judah Ha-Levi — meaning that this was not his focus.5 To fill in this research lacuna, this article presents Jewish poetic and polemi- cal sources that invoke the linkage of Ammon and Moab with pre-Islamic Arabs as well as with Muslims, suggesting explanations that add as much historical and/or social context as possible and discussing the factors that may have prompted the authors of these sources to draw the connection. 1. I. EPH῾AL, “‘Ishmael’ and ‘Arab(s)’: A Transformation of Ethnological Terms”, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 35/4 (1976), p. 225. 2. See H. MAZUZ, “Tracing Possible Jewish Influence on a Common Islamic Commentary on Deuteronomy 33:2”, Journal of Jewish Studies 67/2 (2016), p. 293. 3. M. STeINsCHNeIDeR, Polemische und apologetische Literatur in arabischer Sprache, Leipzig, 1877, p. 294; The Liturgical Poetry of Rabbi Yehuda Halevi: Based on Manuscripts and Printed Volumes, D. JARDeN (ed.), Jerusalem, 1986, vol. 3, p. 656 (no. 267), n. 13; Y. DAVID, Lexicon of Epithets in Hebrew Liturgical Poetry, Jerusalem, 2001, p. 154. 4. B. SePTImUs, “Petrus Alfonsi on the Cult at Mecca”, Speculum 56/3 (1981), p. 517-533. 5. N. ROTH, “Polemic in Hebrew Religious Poetry of Medieval Spain”, Journal of Semitic Studies 34/1 (1989), p. 164; Idem, Jews, Visigoths, and Muslims in Medieval Spain: Coopera- tion and Conflict, Leiden, New York, Köln, 1994, p. 223. AMMON AND MOAB IN JEWISH SOURCES 25 1. Liturgical Poems As far as I can ascertain, the Ammon/Moab-Pre-Islamic Arabs/Muslims nexus occurs in several sources, most of which appear to be of Spanish provenance. (1) In the first, R. Judah Ha-Levi’s (1075-1141 CE) poem (piyyūṭ) So῾ara ῾Aniyya (O afflicted one, tossed with tempest), the following lines appear: Edom and“) ”ואדום ומואב תמכו בהבליהם אדאגה ואדאב מראות פליליהם.“ Moab shored up their vanities, I am troubled and saddened by the sight of their misdeeds”).6 Jewish (and Islamic) tradition links Esau and Edom with Christianity and Christendom.7 Thus, the context of these verses suggests plausibly that Moab denotes Islamdom. (2) Ha-Levi also uses Moab and Ammon to denote Muslims in another poem: Yōd῾ai Hephīṣūnī (Those who know me have scattered me). One of the stanzas reads: ושמי אשר היה להגיון נהפך בפי זרים לבזיון! מתפארים עלי בחזיון הגרי ומואבי ועמוני, / בוזים דבר קדוש ופלמוני ואל נבי- / אי שקר יטוני My name, having become a pronouncement Has become a contempt in strangers’ mouths! Boast against me in vision Hagarite, Moabite, and Ammonite, Despising the word of the holy one and of one another and Turning me toward the false prophets.8 While Jefim Schirmann explains “Hagarite, Moabite, and Ammonite” as a general reference to enemies in the exile,9 Roth argues that the text under discussion “is surely an allusion to Islam” and that Hagarite, Moabite, and 6. The Liturgical Poetry of Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, vol. 3, p. 656 (no. 267). 7. On the connection of Edom with Rome/Christianity, see G. D. COHeN, “Esau as Symbol in Early Medieval Thought”, in A. ALTmANN (ed.), Jewish Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Cambridge, 1967, p. 19-48. See further, MAZUZ, “Tracing Possible Jewish Influence”, p. 291-304. 8. Hebrew Poetry in Spain and Provence, J. SCHIRmANN (ed.), Jerusalem, 1960, vol. 1/b, p. 482 (205) [in Hebrew]. The texts in this article, with the exception of those from the Epistle to Yemen, were translated by the author. 9. Ibid., n. 11. 26 AMMON AND MOAB IN JEWISH SOURCES Ammonite stand for the Berbers particularly.10 I agree with Roth because the words “holy one” (qadōš) and “one another” (palmōnī) are borrowed from Daniel 8:13 and the chapter, like its previous one, speaks of the vision of the four kingdoms and mentions “the great horn” (ha-qeren ha-gedōla) and “a little horn” (qeren ’aḥat mi-ṣe῾īra) — all topics that some Jewish sages associated with the rise of Islamdom.11 In addition, it seems by impli- cation that Ha-Levi is referring to a polemical issue with Islam: Jews, believing that prophecy ceased after the destruction of the First Temple, reject Muḥammad as a prophet.12 Ha-Levi’s choice of the phrase “Hagarite, Moabite, and Ammonite” may have been inspired by Psalms 83, which mentions the Hagarites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites in proximity. The Hagarites, in turn, are prob- ably related to or descended from the Ishmaelites, given that they are named for Hagar, Ishmael’s mother.13 Ishmaelites, as mentioned, commonly denote Muslims in medieval Jewish literature. Support for this line of reasoning may be found in Ha-Levi’s use elsewhere of the word Philistines (Pelīštīm), who also appear in Psalms 83, for the Almoravids.14 One may ask why Ha-Levi had to mention all three ancient peoples instead of the Ishmaelites or the Hagarites only. No obvious answer suggests itself, but Septimus offers a hypothesis: “Possibly Ha-Levi had in mind distinct Muslim groups.”15 Ha-Levi’s use of “Philistines” for the Almoravids may be of assistance here, too, by demonstrating that he distinguished among the different Muslim entities in his milieu and used biblical surrogate for each. (3) The penitential liturgy (selīḥōt) of the Eastern Jews includes supplica- tions (teḥīnōt) for each day. The supplication for Sundays speaks of the difficulties of life in exile, beseeches God for the unification of the people of Israel, and complains that the Jews have nowhere to escape. It also speaks of the suffering that Edom and Moab have caused the Jews and on their plots. The author concludes by expressing the hope that God will eliminate his enemies, after which the rest of the world will acknowledge God’s exclu- sive dominion on earth and the unity of his name: 10. ROTH, “Polemic in Hebrew Religious Poetry”, p. 164; Idem, Jews, Visigoths, and Muslims in Medieval Spain, p. 223. 11. See e.g., R. SA῾ADYA GAON, Translation and Commentary of Daniel, Y. Qāfiḥ (trans. and notes), Jerusalem, 1981, p. 131 (7:8). 12. In this matter, see H. MAZUZ, The Religious and Spiritual Life of the Jews of Medina, Leiden, 2014, p. 76-78. 13. They are also mentioned in proximity to the sons of Ishmael in I Chronicles 5:19.
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