Information AboutAmmon |
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Ammon or '''Ammonites''' (), also referred to in the Bible as the "children of Ammon," were a people (also known from Assyrian and other records) living east of the Jordan River whose origin the Old Testament traces to Lot , the nephew of the patriarch Abraham , as with the Moabites . The Ammonites were regarded by Hebrews as close relatives of the Israelites and Edomites . TERRITORY The ancient kingdom of Ammon was located in northwestern Arabia east of (Gen. 14:5) with this nation may be connected with the history of Ammon. When the Israelites invaded Canaan, they passed by the frontier of the Ammonites.Num. 21:24; Deuteronomy 2:19, 37; Josh. 13:25). From their original territory, the Ammonites are supposed to have been expelled by and other nomadic tribes. The chief city of the country was '' is located on roughly the same site. The country to the south and east of Amman is distinguished by its fertility; and ruined towns are scattered thickly over it, attesting that it was once occupied by a population that, however fierce, was settled and industrious; a fact indicated also by the tribute of grain paid annually to Jotham .2 Chr. 27:5 IN THE TORAH , JOSHUA AND JUDGES Descent According to the pedigree given in character. But the above passage indicates also the contempt and hatred for the Ammonites felt by the Hebrews. Deuteronomy 23:4 The Torah excludes the progeny of Ammonites from the assembly of the Lord.but cf. Deuteronomy 2:19, 37, in which the consciousness of relationship seems to be at the root of the regard shown to Ammon. Both the Ammonites and Moabites are sometimes spoken of under the common name of the children of Lot. 19:38 the Ammonites and the Israelites, throughout the Old Testament and recorded history, were antagonists. Role in the Israelite Exodus When the Israelites of the Exodus paused before their territory, the Ammonites prohibited them from passing through their lands. For this act, they were denied entry into "the congregation of the Lord" until ten generations had passed.Deuteronomy 23:3 Sometimes a slight distinction only seems to be made between the Ammonites and their southern brothers, the Moabites. Deuteronomy 23:4, 5, for instance, states that the Ammonites and Moabites hired Balaam to curse the Israelites, while in Numbers 22:3ff Moab alone is mentioned. Some authorities overcome this discrepancy by the help of the emended text of Numbers 22:5, according to which Balaam came "from the land of the children of Ammon." This is the reading of most ancient versions; the Septuagint, however, has it like the present Hebrew text: "the children of his people" ("ammo"). In the time of the Judges In Judges, 3:13, the Ammonites appear as furnishing assistance to King upon the frontier city Jabesh Gilead was easily repulsed by Saul . I Samuel 6, 14:47 DURING THE KINGDOMS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH Attacks by the Ammonites on Israelite communities east of the Jordan were the impetus behind the unification of the tribes under Saul , who defeated them. 1 Samuel 11:11 From Samuel II 10:2, it may be concluded that Nahash assisted David out of hatred for Saul; but his son Hanun provoked David by ill-treating his ambassadors, and brought about the defeat of the Ammonites, despite assistance from their northern neighbors in Aram .ibid. 10:13 Their capital Rabbah was captured,''ibid.'' 7:29 and numerous captives were taken from "all the cities of the children of Ammon." In 2 Samuel 12:31, King David is described slaughtering Ammonites: And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under Axe s of iron, and made them pass through the Brick - Kiln : and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. David's treatment of the captives''ibid.'' 12:31 was not necessarily barbarous; the description may be interpreted to mean that he employed them as laborers in various public works. Some scholars claim that these passages recount symbolic gestures of submission common to the times rather than actual reports of massacres. The Chronicler, however, takes it in the most cruel sense.I Chron. 20:3 The Ammonites, themselves, had a reputation for exceeding cruelty in warfare.I Sam. 11:2; 12:13 After this, hostilities again broke out, under Jehoshaphat ,II Chron. xx. Jeroboam II Amos, i. 13, and under Jotham , who subjected the Ammonites.II Chron. xxvii. 5 From the Assyria n inscriptions, we learn that the Ammonite king Ba'sa (Baasha) son of Ruhubi , with 1000 men, joined Ahab and the Syrian allies against Shalmaneser III at the Battle Of Qarqar in 853 BC . They may at this time have been Vassal s of Bar-Hadad II , the Aramaean king of Damascus . In 734 their king Sanipu was a vassal of Tiglath-Pileser III and his successor, Pudu-ilu , held the same position under Sennacherib and Esarhaddon . An Assyrian Tribute -list from this period, showing that Ammon paid one-fifth of Judah's tribute, gives evidence of the scanty extent and resources of the country.see Schrader, ''K.A.T.'' pp. 141 et seq.; Delitzsch, ''Paradies,'' p. 294; Winckler, ''Geschichte Israels,'' p. 215. Somewhat later, their 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 who reigned about 620 BCE (and who is mentioned on an inscription on a bottle found at Tel Siran , Jordan along with his son, King Amminadab II, who reigned around 600 BCE.) With the neighbouring tribes, the Ammonites under King army, Ezekiel 21:20 they do not appear to have suffered greatly. SUBSEQUENT HISTORY , c. 830 BCE .]] In the time of , instigated the murder of Gedaliah , the Babylonians' Jewish governor of Jerusalem and its environs.ibid. 40:14, 41:15 At the time of the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Ezra and 8:69, and elsewhere. Little mention is made of the Ammonites through the '' Jewish Antiquities '' xii. 8. 1. It is stated desert.''cf.'' Neh. 2:19, 4:7, Josephus, "Ant." xiii. 9, § 1. The last notice of the Ammonites themselves is in Justin Martyr , ''Dialogue with Trypho'' (§ 119), where it is affirmed that they were still a numerous people. LANGUAGE ''Main Article: Ammonite Language '' The few Ammonite names that have been preserved (Nahash, , closely related to the Hebrew Language and the Moabite Language . RELIGION Of the customs, religion, and social structure of the Ammonites, little is known. The frequent assumption that, living on the borders of the desert, they remained more pastoral than the Moabites and Israelites, is unfounded.Ezek. 25:4, II Chron. 27:5 The environs of Rabbah, at least, were fertile and were tilled. In regard to other cities than Rabbah, see . From the names of their kings, it seems logical that the Cult of the Baal im probably coexisted in Ammon, as, possibly, that of El . The name Tobiah suggests that YHWH may have been worshipped in Ammon as well; possibly this was an import from the era of Israelite domination. Other inscriptions and names suggest the possibility that such gods as the Edomite deity Kaus had Ammonite cults. 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 Anatolia . As with the Edomites and Moabites, trade along this route gave them considerable revenue. IN JEWISH LAW The Ammonites, still numerous in the south of Yebamot 76b, 77a; Ruth Rabba to ii. 5 that in the days of King Saul the legitimacy of David's claim to royalty was disputed on account of his descent from Ruth, the Moabite; whereupon Ithra , the Israelite II Sam. xvii. 25; compare I Chron. ii. 17 girt with his sword, strode like an Ishmaelite into the schoolhouse of Jesse , declaring upon the authority of Samuel , the prophet, and his Bet Din (court of justice), that the law excluding the Ammonite and Moabite from the Jewish congregation referred only to the men—who alone had sinned in not meeting Israel with bread and water—and not to the women. The story reflects actual conditions in pre-Talmudic times, conditions that led to the fixed rule stated in the Mishnah Yeb. viii. 3: "Ammonite and Moabite men are excluded from the Jewish community for all time; their women are admissible." Later it was held that the prohibition no longer applies in practice, as Sennacherib had so mixed up the races by his practice of deportation that the current residents of Ammon and Moab could not be identified with the Biblical peoples of those names. The fact that Rehoboam , the son of King Solomon, was born of an Ammonite womanI Kings, xiv. 21-31 also made it difficult to maintain the Messianic claims of the House Of David ; but it was adduced as an illustration of divine Providence which selected the "two doves," Ruth , the Moabite, and Naamah, the Ammonite, for honorable distinction. Bava Kamma 38b. SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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