Ammon
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| Kingdom of Ammon | ||||
| Kingdom | ||||
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| Capital | Rabbath Ammon (Amman)1 | |||
| Language(s) | Ammonite, Moabite | |||
| Religion | Milkomite | |||
| Government | Monarchy | |||
| King | ||||
| - Around 1000 BC | Hanun | |||
| - 740-720 BC | Sanipu | |||
| - 680–640 BC | Amminadab I | |||
| Historical era | Iron Age | |||
| - Kingdom of Ammon flourishes | 10th century BC | |||
| - Battle of Qarqar against the Assyrians | 853 BC | |||
| - Invasion by Alexander the Great | 332 BC | |||
| - Rabbath Ammon renamed to Philadelphia | 248-282 BC | |||
| Today part of |  Jordan |
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Ammon (Hebrew: עַמּוֹן, Modern Ammon Tiberian ʻAmmôn ; "People"; Arabic: عمّون; Transliteration: ʻAmmūn), also referred to as the Ammonites and children of Ammon, was an ancient nation described in the Old Testament to be located east of the Jordan River, Gilead, and the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan.[1][2][3] The chief city of the country was Rabbah or Rabbath Ammon, site of the modern city of Amman, Jordan's capital. Milcom and Molech (who may be one and the same) are named in the Bible as the gods of Ammon.[4]
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[edit] In the Bible
According to the biblical account, Genesis 19:37-38, Ammon and Moab were born to Lot and Lot's younger and elder daughters, respectively, in the aftermath of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible refers to both the Ammonites and Moabites as the "children of Lot". Throughout the Bible, the Ammonites and Israelites are portrayed as mutual antagonists. During the Exodus, the Israelites were prohibited by the Ammonites from passing through their lands.[5] In the Book of Judges, the Ammonites work with Eglon, king of the Moabites against Israel. Attacks by the Ammonites on Israelite communities east of the Jordan were the impetus behind the unification of the tribes under Saul.[6]
According to both 1 Kings 14:21-31 and 2 Chronicles 12:13, Naamah was an Ammonite. She was the only wife of King Solomon to be mentioned by name in the Tanakh as having borne a child. She was the mother of Solomon's successor, Rehoboam.[7]
The Ammonites presented a serious problem to the Pharisees because many marriages with Ammonite (and Moabite) wives had taken place in the days of Nehemiah.[8] The men had married women of the various nations without conversion, which made the children not Jewish.[9] The legitimacy of David's claim to royalty was disputed on account of his descent from Ruth, the Moabite.[10]
[edit] Relation to Assyria
Ammon maintained its independence from the Assyrian empire through tribute to the Assyrian king, at a time when nearby kingdoms were being raided or conquered.[11] Inscriptions describe the Ammonite king Baasha ben Ruhubi's army fighting alongside Ahab of Israel and Syrian allies against Shalmaneser III at the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC, possibly as vassals of Hadadezer, the Aramaean king of Damascus. In 734 BC the Ammonite king Sanipu was a vassal of Tiglath-Pileser III, and Sanipu's successor Pudu-ilu held the same position under Sennacherib and Esarhaddon. An Assyrian tribute-list exists from this period, showing that Ammon paid one-fifth of Judah's tribute.[12]
Somewhat later, the Ammonite king Amminadab I was among the tributaries who suffered in the course of the great Arabian campaign of Assurbanipal. Other kings attested to in contemporary sources are Barakel (attested to in several contemporary seals) and Hissalel, the latter of whom reigned about 620 BCE. Hissalel is mentioned in an inscription on a bottle found at Tel Siran, Jordan along with his son, King Amminadab II, who reigned around 600 BCE.
[edit] In the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman eras
Little mention is made of the Ammonites through the Persian and early Hellenistic periods. Their name appears, however, during the time of the Maccabees. The Ammonites, with some of the neighboring tribes, did their utmost to resist and check the revival of the Jewish power under Judas Maccabaeus.[13]
The last notice of the Ammonites is in Justin Martyr (second century) Dialogue with Trypho (§ 119), where it is affirmed that they were still a numerous people, concentrated in the south of Palestine.[citation needed]
[edit] Language
The few Ammonite names that have been preserved also include Nahash and Hanun, both from the Bible. The Ammonites's language is believed to be Semitic, closely related to Hebrew and Moabite. Ammonite may have incorporated certain Aramaic influences, including the use of ‘bd, instead of commoner Biblical Hebrew ‘śh, for "work". The only other notable difference with Biblical Hebrew is the sporadic retention of feminine singular -t (e.g. ’šħt "cistern", but ‘lyh "high (fem.)".)[14]
[edit] Economy
Like its sister-kingdom of Moab, Ammon was the source of numerous natural resources, including sandstone and limestone. It had a productive agricultural sector and occupied a vital place along the King's Highway, the ancient trade route connecting Egypt with Mesopotamia, Syria, and Asia Minor. As with the Edomites and Moabites, trade along this route gave them considerable revenue. Circa 950 BCE Ammon showed rising prosperity, due to agriculture and trade, and built a series of fortresses. Its capital was located in what is now the Citadel of Amman.[11]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Ancient Texts Relating to the Bible: Amman Citadel". University of Southern California. http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp/educational_site/ancient_texts/Citadel.shtml. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
- ^ MacDonald, Burton; Randall W. Younker (1999). Ancient Ammon. BRILL. p. 1. ISBN 9004107622, 9789004107625. http://books.google.com/books?id=5Sm7BOubDYcC&pg=PA1&lpg=PP1&output=html.
- ^ Levy, Tom; Øystein S. LaBianca and Randall W. Younker (1998). The archaeology of society in the Holy Land. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 399. ISBN 0826469965, 9780826469960. http://books.google.com/books?id=-etsKv-4V2oC&pg=PA399&lpg=PR6&vq=ammon&output=html.
- ^ 1 Kings 11:05-33; 2 Kings 23:13
- ^ Deuteronomy 23:4 NIV
- ^ 1 Samuel 11:1-15
- ^ "The Jewish Encyclopedia". http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1&letter=N. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
- ^ Nehemiah 13:23 NIV
- ^ The identity of those particular tribes had been lost during the mixing of the nations caused by the conquests of Assyria. As a result, people from those nations were treated as complete gentiles and could convert without restriction.[citation needed]
- ^ The Babylonian Talmud points out that Doeg the Edomite was the source of this dispute. He claimed that since David was descended from someone who was not allowed to marry into the community, his male ancestors were no longer part of the tribe of Judah (which was the tribe the King had to belong to). As a result, he could neither be the king, nor could he marry any Jewish woman (since he descended from a Moabite convert). The Prophet Samuel wrote the Book of Ruth in order to remind the people of the original law that women from Moab and Ammon were allowed to convert and marry into the Jewish people immediately.[citation needed]
- ^ a b "The Old Testament Kingdoms of Jordan". http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/his_testament.html. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
- ^ See Schrader, K.A.T. pp. 141 et seq.; Delitzsch, Paradies, p. 294; Winckler, Geschichte Israels, p. 215.
- ^ 1 Maccabees 5:6; cf. Josephus Jewish Antiquities xii. 8. 1.
- ^ Cohen, D (ed) (1988). "Les Langues Chamito-semitiques". Les langues dans le monde ancien et modern, part 3. Paris: CNRS.Aufrecht, WE (1989). A Corpus of Ammonite Inscriptions. Lewiston: E. Mellen Press. ISBN 0-88946-089-2.
[edit] External links
- Muller, Max and Kaufman Kohler. "Ammon, Ammonites." Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906.
- Hertz J.H. (1936) The Pentateuch and Haftoras. Deuteronomy. Oxford University Press, London.
- Ammon on Bruce Gordon's Regnal Chronologies (also at [1])
This article incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication now in the public domain.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jewish Encyclopedia. 1901–1906.
