Editing Moab (section)

==History==
{{History of Jordan}}
{{See also|Shutu|Shasu}}
[[File:Moabite Sarcophagus.jpg|thumb|200px|Moabite sarcophagus in Jordan Archaeological Museum in [[Amman]]]]
[[File:mesha stele.jpg|150px|thumb|The [[Mesha stele]] describes King [[Mesha]]'s wars against the [[Israelites]]]]
[[File:Al-Balu' Moabite Stele on display at the Jordan Museum.jpg|thumb|[[Al-Balu' Stele]] on display at the [[Jordan Museum]].]]

===Bronze Age===
The existence of the Kingdom of Moab prior to the rise of the [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|Israelite state]] has been deduced from a [[colossal statue]] erected at [[Luxor]] by pharaoh [[Ramesses II]], in the 13th century BCE. The statue lists ''Mu'ab'' among a series of nations conquered during a campaign.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kitchen|first=K. A.|date=December 1964|title=Some New Light on the Asiatic Wars of Ramesses II|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3855742|journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology|volume=50|pages=47–70|doi=10.2307/3855742|jstor=3855742|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Ramesses II, Egypt's Ultimate Pharaoh |last=Brand |first=Peter J. |publisher=Lockwood Press |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-948488-49-5 |pages=191–192 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yeOyEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA191}}</ref> The nucleus of the early Moabite state appears to have been located in several settlements between [[Wadi el-Wale]] and [[Wadi Mujib|Wadi Mojib]] which originated in the [[Late Bronze Age]].<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception: Midrash and Aggada – Mourning |last=Zwickel |first=Wolfgang |publisher=De Gruyter |year=2021 |isbn=978-3-11-031336-9 |pages=486–490 |editor-last=Furey |editor-first=Constance M. |volume=19 |chapter=Moab, Moabite I. Ancient Near East and Hebrew Bible/Old Testament |editor-last2=LeMon |editor-first2=Joel |editor-last3=Matz |editor-first3=Brian |editor-last4=McKenzie |editor-first4=Stephen L. |editor-last5=Römer |editor-first5=Thomas |editor-last6=Schröter |editor-first6=Jens |editor-last7=Dov Walfish |editor-first7=Barry |editor-last8=Ziolkowski |editor-first8=Eric J. |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/90107612}}</ref>{{rp|487}}

Four inscriptions from the time of Ramesses II mention ''Mw-i-bw'' as a rebellious place that refuses to recognize Egypt's control over [[Canaan]] and, together with the [[Shasu]] of [[Mount Seir]], conducted raids in Egypt. [[Pharaoh]] sent troops to the area and suppressed the rebellion - in the inscriptions of Ramesses II, the inhabitants are shown as having hairstyles identical to those of neighboring [[Canaanites]] (long hair collected and arranged) and not a braided hairstyle like the Shasu from later reliefs that contained the name Moab; a possible explanation is that ''Mw-i-bw'', if it was indeed the land of Moab, was at that time inhabited by a pre-Moabite population, whereas the historical Moabites settled in the area only in the 12th century BCE. [[Nadav Na'aman|Na'aman]] argued, however, that the identification of ''Mw-i-bw'' with the biblical land of Moab can no longer be upheld; the former was more likely well to the north.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Na'aman |first=Nadav |title=Did Ramesses II Wage Campaign against the Land of Moab?|journal= Göttinger Miszellen|volume=209|url=https://www.academia.edu/13512764|year=2006|pages= 63–69}}</ref> [[Kenneth Kitchen]] later responded to Na'aman, reasserting the identification of ''Mw-i-bw'' with Moab.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kitchen |first=Kenneth |title=Moab in Egyptian and Other Sources: Fact & Fantasy|journal= Göttinger Miszellen|volume=212|year=2007|pages=119–128}}</ref>

===Iron Age===
The 9th century BCE [[Mesha Stele]] recounts that King [[Mesha]] built up an open sanctuary in Qeriho (cultic area of [[Dibon]]), conquered the Israelite territory north of Wadi el-Wale with the cities of [[Medeba]], [[Khirbat Ataruz|Ataroth]] and [[Nebo (biblical town)|Nebo]] as well as [[Jahaz]] (east of Moab) and rebuilt the towns of [[Baal-meon]], Kirjaton, [[Aroer]], Beth-bamoth, [[Bezer]], Medeba, Diblaton and his hometown Dibon.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|488}}

An 8th-century BCE inscription seems to indicate that the Kingdom of Moab expanded into the eastern part of the [[Jordan Valley]] after a successful campaign against the [[Ammon|Ammonites]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=New Moabite inscriptions and their historical relevance |journal=Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages |url=https://opus.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/opus4/files/94554/94554.pdf |last=Gass |first=Erasmus |issue=1 |volume=38 |pages=45–78 |year=2012 |issn=0259-0131 |hdl=10520/EJC126353}}</ref>

In the [[Nimrud]] clay inscription of [[Tiglath-pileser III]] (r. 745–727 BCE), the Moabite king [[Salmanu]] (perhaps the Shalman who sacked [[Beth-arbel]] in [[Hosea]] {{Bibleverse||Hosea|10:14|1000|10:14}}) is mentioned as tributary to [[Assyria]]. [[Sargon II]] mentions on a [[Sargon II's Prism A|clay prism]] a revolt against him by Moab together with [[Philistia]], [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], and [[Edom]]; but on the [[Taylor prism]], which recounts the expedition against [[Hezekiah]], [[Kammusu-Nadbi]] (Chemosh-nadab), King of Moab, brings tribute to Sargon as his suzerain.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|489}}

Musuri, King of Moab, paid too a tribute to [[Assarhaddon]] at the same time as [[Manasseh of Judah]], [[Kaus-gabri|Qosgabar of Edom]] and other kings of the [[Levant]]. They send building materials to [[Nineveh]]. Moab militarily supported [[Assurbanipal]] during his campaign against Egypt and the pharaoh [[Taharqa]]. The status of [[vassal]] of Assyria allows Moab to benefit in return from the support of Assyria against the nomadic tribes of the [[Arabian Desert|Arabian desert]], and in particular against the Qedarites. King [[Kamas-halta]] seemed to have defeated Ammuladi, king of [[Qedar]].<ref>James B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 1969</ref>

=== Decline ===
After the [[Roman Republic|Roman]] conquest of the Levant by [[Pompey]] in 63 BCE,<ref name="roman2">{{Cite book |last1=Parker |first1=Samuel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PVZfx3Y6o5IC&pg=PA573 |title=The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan: Final Report on the Limes Arabicus Project |last2=Betlyon |first2=John |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks |year=2006 |isbn=9780884022985 |page=573 |access-date=3 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410044112/https://books.google.com/books?id=PVZfx3Y6o5IC&pg=PA573 |archive-date=10 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> Moab lost its distinct identity through assimilation{{what?|date=February 2025}}.<ref name="AEM">{{cite conference |last1=LaBianca |first1=Oystein S. |last2=Younker |first2=Randall W. |date=1995 |title=The Kingdoms of Ammon, Moab, and Edom: The Archaeology of Society in Late Bronze/Iron Age Transjordan (ca. 1400–500 BCE) |url=https://www.academia.edu/744029 |publisher=Leicester University Press |page=411 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809031715/https://www.academia.edu/744029 |archive-date=9 August 2021 |access-date=16 June 2018 |book-title=The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land |editor=Thomas Levy |url-status=live}}</ref>

===19th-century travellers===
Early modern travellers in the region included [[Ulrich Jasper Seetzen]] (1805), [[Johann Ludwig Burckhardt]] (1812), [[Charles Leonard Irby]] and [[James Mangles (Royal Navy officer)|James Mangles]] (1818), and [[Louis Félicien de Saulcy]] (1851).<ref>{{cite book |editor1=George Ernest Wright |editor2=Frank Moore Cross |editor3=Edward Fay Campbell |title=The Biblical Archaeologist |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vcslAQAAIAAJ |year=1997 |publisher=American Schools of Oriental Research |chapter=Ancient Moab: Still Largely Unknown |first=Max |last=Miller |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=194–204 |doi=10.2307/3210621 |jstor=3210621 |s2cid=163824020 |quote=Among the travellers who traversed the whole Moabite plateau including Moab proper prior to 1870 and whose published observations deserve special mention are Ulrich Seetzen (1805), Ludwig Burckhardt (1812), Charles Irby and James Mangles (1818), and Louis de Saulcy (1851). Both Seetzen and Burckhardt died during the course of their travels, and their travel journals were edited and published posthumously by editors who did not always understand the details. Burckhardt's journal was published first, in 1822, and served as the basis for the Moab segment of Edward Robinson's map of Palestine published in 1841. |access-date=2018-03-19 |archive-date=2020-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806033730/https://books.google.com/books?id=vcslAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>