The Ammonites
After a period of nomadic existence, the Ammonites settled north of the Moabite kingdom in the 13th
century BCE and founded their capital
city Rabbath Ammon (present day Amman). Like their neighbors to the south,
the Ammonites often attacked the newly settled Jewish empire in Canaan.
Similarly, after the destruction of the First
Temple, Ammonite king Baalis instigated the murder of Gedaliah, ensuring
the downfall of the Jewish nation. The Ammonites were also involved in
the Hasmonean conflict,
in which Judah the Maccabee defeated
Syrian and Ammonite forces.
Sources: Bridger, David. Ed. The
New Jewish Encyclopedia. NY: Behrman House, Inc. 1976.
Schreiber, Mordecai (ed.). The
Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia. Shengold Books. 1998.
Telushkin, Joseph. Jewish
Literacy. William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1991. |