kingdom · Anatolia and the Levant
Moab
Origins
Moab took shape in the Iron Age on the plateau east of the Dead Sea, between the Arnon and Zered gorges. Egyptian texts mention the land in the 13th century BCE, and by the 9th century BCE it was a kingdom with its capital at Dibon.
Rule and society
Moabite kings ruled a land of wheat fields and sheep pastures under the protection of the god Chemosh. The Mesha Stele, found at Dhiban in 1868, tells how Mesha freed Moab from the Kingdom of Israel after Ahab's dynasty had held it, building towns and reservoirs. Its language was close to Hebrew.
Decline and legacy
Moab became a vassal of the Assyrian Empire in the 8th century BCE and later of the Chaldean Empire. A Babylonian campaign in 582 BCE ended its independence, and Arab tribes and later the Nabataean Kingdom took over the region.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (3)
- Moab was a vassal of Kingdom of Israel880 BCE – 840 BCE
- Moab was a vassal of Assyrian Empire734 BCE – 612 BCE
- Moab was conquered by Chaldean Empire582 BCE
More states of Anatolia and the Levant →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Moab. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/moab
- MLA
- “Moab.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/moab. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Moab.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/moab.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Moab’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/moab (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻