The Moabites: An Essay

Though Moab claimed a small territory, it is notable in the Bible: the words ‘Moab’ and ‘Moabite’ appear nearly 200 times in the Old Testament, and King David’s great-grandmother Ruth was a Moabite woman. The ‘Moabites’ lived in the geographical land of Moab from the end of the Late Bronze Age until the end of the Iron Age (about 1300 to 600 BC). The Moabites lost their autonomy in the 6th century BC when they were conquered by King Nebuchadrezzar (the biblical Nebuchadnezzar) of Babylon. After this conquest the Moabites never reappeared, and with the arrival of new peoples with their own cultures, religions, and languages – most notably the Nabatean Arabs – Moabite identity corroded. 

The Bible tells us in Genesis 19.37 that the Moabites descended from Moab, the son of Lot and his older daughter. The land that Moab’s descendants settled hadn’t always been available: in Deuteronomy 2.10-11 we’re told that a frightful, terrible people (the ‘Emim’ or ‘Emites’) lived in the land before being defeated by King Chedorlaomer and his military coalition (Genesis 14.15). These ‘frightful ones’ were seen as ‘giants,’ but after their defeat the land became available for resettlement. The descendants of Moab took the bait and thrust roots into the vacated property. This may sound like nothing short of fantasy, but archaeological digs indicate that it may be the truth. It’s evident that the Moabite plateau sheltered a significant population and culture in the third millennium BC during the Early Bronze Age. Between 1900 and 1300 BC, during the Middle Bronze Age and the first part of the Late Bronze Age, there was a steep decline in population (or, perhaps, a shift away from a sedentary lifestyle). This ‘emptying’ of the land may have been a consequence to Chedorlaomer’s victorious coalition. 

King Chedorlaomer fought against 'giants' in the territory of later Moab

A new people, the ‘Moabites,’ emerged in the area around 1300 BC. This Moabite culture was an amalgam of Canaanite practices with influences from the Shasu Bedouin, the Syrians, and the Midianites. The Moabites’ chief national deity was Kemosh (or ‘Chemosh’), and they were so devoted to their god that the Moabites are called ‘the people of Kemosh’ in both Numbers 21.29 and Jeremiah 48.46. The Moabites sought divine guidance via diviners and oracles, and they had a priesthood, temples, and a sacrificial system. The Moabites spoke an extinct Canaanite language and wrote using a variant of the Phoenician alphabet. Moabite appearance in the 1300s is attested in two Egyptian sources, both dating to around 1250 BC during the reign of Rameses II. These inscriptions, found at Karnak, are the earliest non-biblical references to Moab. 

Overlooking the Plains of Moab

The western border of Moab was the Arabah, part of a major geological fault that slices across the Levant into eastern Africa; the eastern boundary was the Arabian Desert; and the southern border was fixed upon the biblical Brook Zered (modern Wadi el-Hesa). The northern boundary was in flux: in periods of strength, Moab’s control reached as far north as Heshbon, but in periods of weakness it retreated to the Moabite heartland. Moab’s western neighbor was Judah, its southern neighbor Edom, and its northern neighbors were Ammon and Aram-Damascus. Biblical writers referred to northern Moab as ‘the tableland,’ and Madaba was the major town in the region. The ‘Plains of Moab’ attached to the tableland. 

a Moabite ravine emptying into the western
Dead Sea

Much of Moab was rolling tableland cut by numerous streams that drained the plateau; these streams cut deep ravines through the plateau’s limestone bedrock, and the major streams emptied into the Dead Sea canyon on the western border with Judah. Mount Nebo, the location of Moses’ death, lies in this part of Moab. The western portion of the plateau had higher elevation than the lower desert to the east; receiving more rainfall, the western plateau was better suited to agriculture. The limestone hills that formed the treeless plateau are steep but fertile, and in the spring they’re covered with grass. Despite hot summers, this part of Moab was cooler than the area west of the Jordan River and often sees snowfall in winter and spring. It was in this fertile land that the Moabites became famous for their pasturage; 2 Kings 3.4 tells us that King Mesha was a sheep breeder who sent 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams to King Ahab as tribute; this may seem like an exaggeration, but Moab’s prowess at pasturage makes this likely. In addition to pasturage, this area’s climate and rainfall permitted the growing of wheat, barley, fruit trees, and vineyards. Nevertheless, this fertile strip of land was narrow, sandwiched between the Dead Sea and the desert; most of Moab was craggy desert wilderness. 

Cutting through western Moab was the infamous King’s Highway, the prime international highway that traversed the Transjordanian plateau end-to-end and which connected eastern Africa with northwestern Asia. Moab was able to reap a pretty penny by taxing the trade caravans and travelers who cut through Moab on the highway. The highway is mentioned in Numbers 20.17 and 21.22, and though it used to be believed that it ran along the same route as the later Roman road – the Via Nova Traina – modern archaeologists suspect that the King’s Highway ran along a different route. The highway likely wasn’t settled; Moabite settlements sprouted less along the caravan routes and more around arable farmland and water. 

The Moabites step onto the biblical scene as the Israelites are preparing for their entry into the Promised Land; in Numbers 20-21 we learn that they met hard opposition from Edomite, Moabite, and Amorite kings before entering Canaan. After the Conquest, the Moabite king Eglon oppressed the Israelites only to be assassinated by the judge Ehud in Judges 3.12-30. Northern Moab suffered again under a later of Israel’s judges, Jephthah, when it came under Israelite control in Judges 11.26. Despite the strains of hostility throughout the biblical episodes, there was at least one period of peace; this is recounted in the Book of Ruth, which takes place before the formation of the Israelite monarchy under King Saul.

Ehud slays Eglon, the fat king of Moab

During the days of Israel’s first king, Israel and Moab were again at odds with one another. When David was being hunted by King Saul, he sent his parents to find sanctuary in Moab (remember that David’s father’s grandmother was Moabite, so they had kinsmen there). Israel was the stronger of the two nations, and this continued into Solomon’s reign: in 1 Kings 11 we learn that Solomon had Moabite women in his harem, and according to ancient custom he built them a ‘high place’ in Jerusalem where they could worship their god Kemosh. After the kingdom split in two, the Moabites sought to monopolize on the weakness of the divided kingdom. Moabite ambitions were temporarily thwarted under the Israelite King Omri in the 9th century, who brought the Moabites to heel and made them pay a substantial yearly tribute to Israel’s coffers (which no doubt helped Omri build the new Israelite capital at Samaria). Moabite subjugation didn’t last long, however, for King Mesha of Moab rebelled against Israelite control during the reign of Omri’s son Ahaziah. The Moabite Stone, dating to around 830 BC, commemorates Mesha’s rebellion against Israel and his securing of Moabite autonomy. The Moabite Stone confirms that the biblical writers weren’t entertaining fantastical notions when recording history. After throwing off the Israelite yoke, Mesha reestablished his capital at Dibon. Much of the Moabite Stone emphasizes the ‘mighty deeds’ of Kemosh who worked through Mesha. Following Moabite independence, Moab continued in conflict with her neighbors – Israel, Judah, and Edom – before becoming a vassal of the Assyrian Empire. Four Moabite kings are mentioned in Assyrian records – Shalamanu, Kamoshnadab, Musuri, and Kamoshasa – though there are no details nor chronologies of their reigns. The Moabite kingdom was eventually brought to an end by the Babylonians in 582 when Nebuchadrezzar conquered them. 

When Persia overthrew New Babylon, Moab became a settling ground for a huge influx of Arabian peoples. The Nabatean Arabs became the dominant people group of the region by the fourth century BC, but by this point they had no competition: Moabite ‘culture’ had corroded under foreign influences. Today the geographical region of Moab is dotted with hundreds of megalithic tombs, prehistoric upright stones, stone circles, and a handful of ruined villages from the Roman and Byzantine periods. Today the land is occupied mainly by the Bedouin, though there are a few towns such as al-Karak. 

the fortress town of al-Karak in the territory of ancient Moab