Moab

Moab , ancient nation located in the uplands E of the Dead Sea, now part of Jordan. The area is unprotected from the east, hence its history is a chain of raids by the Bedouin. The Moabites were close kin to the Hebrews, and the language of the Moabite stone is practically the same as biblical Hebrew. The relations of Moab with Judah and Israel are continually mentioned in the Bible. As a political entity, Moab came to an end after the invasion (c.733 BC) of Tiglath-pileser III. Its people were later absorbed by the Nabataeans. The Moabite religion was much like that of Canaan. Archaeological exploration in Moab has shown that settlements first occurred in the 13th cent. BC

Moab an ancient region east of the Dead Sea, the inhabitants of which, the Moabites, were said to be incestuously descended from Moab, son of Lot and Lot's daughter. There was regular contact between the Israelites and Moabites, and Naomi's daughter-in-law Ruth was a Moabitess.

In 19th-century slang, Moab was used for a kind of turban-shaped hat; the reference being to Psalms 40:8, ‘Moab is my washpot’ referring to the shape of the hat.
Moabite Stone a monument erected by Mesha, king of Moab, in c.850 bc which describes (in an early form of the Hebrew language) the campaign between Moab and ancient Israel (2 Kings 3), and furnishes an early example of an inscription in the Phoenician alphabet. It is now in the Louvre in Paris.

Moab The plain of Moab lay east of the Dead Sea, south of the River Arnon. According to a scurrilous story (Gen. 19: 30–7) the Moabites owed their origin to an incestuous union between Lot and his first-born daughter. There were regular contacts between Moabites and Israelites, and Ruth the Moabitess became David's greatgrandmother (Ruth 4: 17). There were conflicts with Moab during the reigns of Saul and David (2 Sam. 8: 2). In the 8th and 7th cents. the Moabites were under the power of the assyrians and suffered defeat when the babylonians triumphed in the 6th cent. Moabites worshipped the god Chemosh (Jer. 48: 46), who did not save them, and any future rehabilitation would be seen as the work of Yahweh (Jer. 48: 47).