AMMONITES. A people allied to the Mo ahites, and also (though in a minor degree) to the Hebrews, whose settlements were on the edge of the Syrian Desert. According to Genesis (xix : 3S) they were descendants of Ben-Anuni, the son of Lot, and while this account is fanciful, there is no reason to doubt the relationship implied between Ammonites and Moahites. The Ammonites inhabited the country east of the Jordan, between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok, i.e., the desert country east of Gad. Their chief city was Rabbath Ammon(Deuteronomy iii : 11: Ezekiel xxi : 20), known as Philadelphia in the Greek occupation. The relations between the Ammonites and the Hebrews were almost contin uously hostile. Jephthab defeated them with great slaughter (Judges xi : 4-33; xii : 28 may be a later interpolation) : they were also over come by Saul (I. Samuel xi : I-11), and by David (11. Samuel xii : 26-31). After the king dom was divided, the Ammonites attacked Gil ead, perhaps together with the Assyrians (H. Rings xv : 29; 1. Chronicles v : 26), for which they arc denounced by the prophets Amos i : 13), Zephaniah (xxviii, xxix). Jeremiah (xlix : 1-7), and Ezekiel (xxi : 28-32). In the days of Jehoshaphat, the Ammonites made an abortive attempt to attack Judah (11. Chronicles xx 1-30), and later they were defeated by King Jothani ( II. Chronicles xxvii : 5). After the
captivity they recommenced their feuds with the .Yews (Nehemiah iv : I-15), but in the days of Judas the Ammonites. together with their Syrian allies, were thoroughly routed by the Jews (T. Maccabeus v : 6). Justin Martyr affirms that in his day (about 150 A.n.) the Ammonites were still numerous. The chief deity %vorsItipped by the Ammonites was which signifies "king" (I. Kings xi : 5, 7-33), who bore the same relation to his subjects as Chemosh did to the Moabites and Yahweh to the Hebrews. He was the natural protector to whom the people looked for succor in distress. Of the rites of the Ammonites we know nothing beyond the prejudiced references in the writings of the Hebrew prophets, but the supposition seems reasonable that the worship was similar to that of the Moabites as well as to that of the Hebrews in the early stages of their history. The Am monitish language, likewise, was practically iden tical with Moabitish and ancient Hebrew, the differences between them being merely of a dia lectical order. See the commentaries on Genesis xix : 38, Dillmann, Delitzseh, Onnkel, and Hol zinger.