- 75-
- Dibonite. My father reigned over Moab thirty years and I reign-
- ed after my father. And I erected this stone to Chemosh at Kirkha [a stone of]
- [sa] lvation, for he saved me from all despoilers, and made me see my desire upon
all my enemies, upon Om- - [r] i, king of Israel. He afflicted Moab many days, for Chemosh was angry with his
count- - [r] y. His son succeeded him, and he also said, I will afflict Moab. In my days he
said [Let us go] - And I will see my desire on him and his house. And Israel [said], I will destroy
with an everlasting destruction. Now Omri took (had taken) the land - Medeba and....^148 occupied it.... the days of his son, forty years. And Chemosh
[had mercy] - on it in my days, and I built Baal Meon, and made therein the tank, and I [built]
We cannot here continue this quotation, interesting as are the issues involved. What
follows describes the reconquest by Mesha of various towns in the north of Moab,
formerly occupied by Israel, their reconstruction and the dedication of captive
women to "Ashtar-Chemosh" (Astarte-Chemosh), and of what are described as
"vessels of Jehovah," to Chemosh - both at the taking of Nebo, in the northernmost
part of Moab.
In lines 1-9, first clause of the inscription, Mesha relates the subjugation of Moab by
Omri, the father of Ahab, and the deliverance of that country, which he ascribes to
Chemosh. This we suppose to have been connected with the retreat of the allied
armies from Kir-haraseth, and their evacuation of the country (2 Kings 3:25).^149
From all this we infer that the land of Moab, which had apparently recovered its
independence during, or immediately after, the reign of Solomon, was, at least in
part, reconquered by the warlike Omri. And from the list of towns which in other
parts of the inscription Mesha mentions as having been retaken, we conclude that
Omri had invaded Moab from the north, while afterwards the allied armies entered it
from the south. Accordingly a number of places are named as such which the king of
Israel had fortified and Mesha recaptured. All these towns are north of the Arnon.
The deep gorge, and the rapid current of that river, would render its passage by a
hostile army extremely difficult. Hence the invading army of Omri seems to have
been arrested by that obstacle, and Jahaz, which lay north of the Arnon, is the most
southern point mentioned in the inscription, as held and fortified by the king of
Israel.
But while Northern Moab was thus occupied by Israel, the southern part of the
country seems to have preserved its independence during the reign both of Omri and
of Ahab. After the death of the latter, "Moab rebelled" (2 Kings 3:5), under the
(^)