The Moabite tribes settled on the eastern bank of the Jordan River around the 14th century BC. They were subject to the kingdom of Israel, to which they had paid tribute since the time of David, and had frequent conflicts with neighboring tribes to the west. Chemos was the national deity of the ancient Moabites, whose name probably meant “destroyer,” “ruler,” or “fish god.” Although he is associated with the Moabites, according to the Old Testament of the Bible, Judges 11:24, he also seems to have been the deity of the tribes .ammonites. His presence in the Old Testament world was well known, since his cult was imported to Jerusalem by King Solomon, the last monarch of the united people of Israel. The Hebrew contempt for the worship of this deity was evident in a curse embodied in the scriptures: “The abomination of Moab” (1 Kings 11:7). The information in the ancient books reports a series of reforms carried out by King Josiah of Judah in order to destroy the Israelite branch that worshiped Chemos and other deities (2 Kings 23).
Evidence about the nature of Chemos
Information about Quemos is scarce, although archeology and found texts can offer a clearer image of the deity. In 1868, an archaeological discovery at the ancient town of Dibon, Jordan, provided scholars with further clues about the nature of Quemos. The find, known as the Moabite Stone or Mesha Stele, is a black basalt stone monument erected by King Mesha around 860 BC, with an inscription written in ancient Hebrew recording the king’s victory and efforts. Moabites to overthrow Israelite rule over Moab. Vassalage had existed since the reign of David (2 Samuel 8:2), but the Moabites revolted at the death of Israel’s king Ahab (2 Kings 1).
The Moabite Stone or Mesa Stela
The Moabite Stone is an invaluable source of information about Chemos. In the text engraved on the rock he is mentioned up to twelve times. He also names Mesha, king of Moab, as the son of Chemosh. King Mesha makes it clear that he understands Chemosh’s anger and why he allowed the Moabites to fall under Israel’s rule. The location in which Mesha placed the stone monument, in a high place, is also an indicator that he was paying homage to the god Chemos. The synopsis of the text indicates that King Mesha realized that Quemos tried to recover the autonomy of the kingdom of Moab at a given moment, for which he was grateful.
Human sacrifices as an offering to Chemos
The information obtained in 2 Kings 3:27 indicates human sacrifice as a habitual ritual offered to Quemos. This practice, while gruesome, was certainly not unique to the Moabites, as such rites were common in the various Canaanite religious cults, including those of the gods Baal and Moloch. Mythologists and other scholars suggest that such activity may be due to the fact that Chemosh and other Canaanite gods such as Baal and Moloch, as well as Thammuz and Baalzebub were all personifications of the sun or the sun’s rays. They represented the cruel, unavoidable and often lethal heat of the summer sun, an element necessary for life but often deadly as well. There is an analogy of these aspects with other civilizations, such as the cult of the sun by the Aztecs, which also involved rituals with human sacrifices.
The background of the text on the Moabite stone seems to reveal something of the nature of religion in the Semitic regions of the time. In fact, it indicates that the goddesses were secondary and in many cases dissolved into or combined with male deities. There are inscriptions on the Moabite stone in which Chemos is referred to as “Astor-Khemos”. Such an account reveals the masculinization of Astarte, a Canaanite goddess worshiped by the Moabites and other Semitic peoples. Scholars also note that Chemosh’s role in the Moabite stone inscription is analogous to that of Yahweh in the Bible’s Old Testament Book of Kings. Thus, it can be interpreted that the Semitic regard for the respective national deities operated in a similar way from one region to another.
Sources
Bible. The old testament . (NIV translation) Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991.
Burton, Judd H. “Chemosh: Ancient God of Moabites.” ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/chemosh-lord-of-the-moabites-117630.
Chavel, Charles B. “David’s War Against the Ammonites: A Note on Biblical Exegesis” . The Jewish Quarterly Review 30.3 (January 1940): 257-61.
Easton, Thomas. The Illustrated Bible Dictionary . Thomas Nelson, 1897.
Emerton, J.A. “The value of the Moabite stone as a historical source”. Vetus Testamentum 52.4 (Oct 2002): 483-92.
Hanson, KC. KC Hanson’s Collection of West Semitic Documents.
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
Olcott, William Tyler. Knowledge of the sun of all ages . New York: G. P. Putnam’s, 1911.
Sayce, OH. “Polytheism in Early Israel” . The Jewish Quarterly Review 2.1 (Oct 1889): 25-36.
