Moab thus retained its independence, even harrying Israel with marauding bands (2 Kings xiii. 20), while Ammon was perpetrat ing cruelties upon Gilead (Am. i. 13 sqq.). But under Jeroboam II. (q.v.) Israelite territory was extended to the Wadi of the eArabah or wilderness (probably south end of the Dead sea), and again Moab suffered. If Isa. xv. seq. is to be referred to this age, its people fled southwards and appealed for protection to the over lord of Edom (see UzzIAH). During the Assyrian supremacy its king Salamannu paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III., but joined the short-lived revolt with Judah and Philistia in 712. When Sen nacherib besieged Jerusalem in 700, Kamus (Chemosh)-nadab also submitted; and subsequently both Esarhaddon and Assur bani-pal received tribute from the Moabite king Musuri ("the Egyptian"). During the reign of Assur-bani-pal Moab helped to repulse the invasion of the Nabayati and nomads of Kedar, a movement which made itself felt from Edom nearly as far as Damascus. It had its root in the revolt of Shamash-shum-ukin of Babylonia, and, coming at a time immediately preceding the dis integration of the Assyrian empire, had important consequences for Judah and the east of the Jordan.
Later, Moab joined the coalition against Babylonia (Jer. xxvii. 3), and if it is condemned for its joy at the fall of Jerusalem (Isa. xxv. 9 seq.; Jer. xlviii. ; Ezek. xxv. 8-11; Zeph. ii. 8–io), it har boured fugitive Jews (Jer. xl. I I) : the dates of the most signifi cant passages are unfortunately uncertain. If Sanballat the Horon ite was really a native of the Moabite Horonaim, he finds an appropriate place by the side of Tobiah the Ammonite and Gash mu the Arabian among the strenuous opponents of Nehemiah. Still later we find Moab part of the province of Arabia in the hands of fresh tribes from the Arabian desert (Jos. Ant. xiii. 13, 5) ; and, with the loss of its former independent power, the name survives merely as a type (Dan. xi. 41).
As Mesha's inscription proves, Moab had reached a high state of civilization by the 9th century B.C. Its language differed only
dialectically from Hebrew; its religion and culture were very closely akin to the Israelite. The relation of Chemosh, the national god, to his "children" (Num. xxi. 29) was that of Yahweh to Israel (Judges xi. 24). Apart from the religious cult suggested in the name Mount Nebo, there were local cults of the Baal of Peor and the Baal of Meon ; and Mesha's allusion to 'Ashtar-Chemosh, a compound deity, has been taken to point to a corresponding con sort whose existence might naturally be expected upon other grounds (see ASTARTE). The fertility of Moab, the wealth of wine and corn, the temperate climate, and the enervating heat supply conditions which directed the form of cult. Nature-worship, as in Israel, prevailed, and the impure rites of Shittim and Baal Peor (Num. xxxi. 16; Ps.cvi. 28) would not materially differ from practices which Israelite prophets condemn. The kinship of Israel with the external states (Moab, Edom, and Ammon) is entirely justified. It extends intermittently throughout the history. But Israel remained a great power while Moab disappeared. It is true that Moab was continuously hard pressed by desert hordes; the exposed condition of the land is emphasized by the chains of ruined forts and castles which even the Romans were compelled to construct. But the explanation is to be found within Israel itself, and especially in the work of the prophets.