Chemosh

The origin of the Moabite deity Chemosh is unclear, although he might possibly have been the same as the Bronze Age-period god from Ebla named 𒀭𒂵𒈪𒅖 (ᴰKamiš), whose existence has been attested from around c. 2300 BC, thus suggesting that Chemosh might have been an ancient Semitic deity. The significant gap between the attestation of the Eblaite Kamiš during the 23rd century BC and that of the Moabite Chemosh in the 9th century BC, with an absence of any reference to either of these deities in Amorite names from the 21st to the 15th centuries BC, nevertheless make this identification between Kamiš and Chemosh very uncertain.[4][1]

In the 9th century BC, Chemosh was the principal god of the Canaanite kingdom of Moab, whose worship was characteristic of the Moabites. The cult of Chemosh appears to have been limited to the Moabites, and his name does not appear in contemporary Ancient North Arabian inscriptions.[4][1]

During this period itself, Chemosh was identified with 𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓 (ʿAštar), who was the Moabite adaptation of the North Arabian god ʿAṯtar, himself a form of the Semitic deity of the planet Venus, ʿAṯtar, in the combined form of 𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤊𐤌𐤔‎ (ʿAštar-Kamōš).[7] The astral role of ʿAštar itself is attested by his mention along with the Moon-God Šaggar in the Deir Alla Inscription, the subject of which is largely the Sun-goddess Šamāš, thus forming a triad of the Sun, Moon, and Venus similarly to the one attested in South Arabia, and suggesting a South Arabian religious influence in Moab.[7]

During the 9th century BC, the kingdom of Moab had been subdued by the kingdom of Israel during the rule of the latter state's kings Omri and Ahab. The 9th century BC Moabite king Mesha (Mōšaʿ‍), who ascended to the Moabite throne during the reign of Ahab, wrote in his inscriptions that the Israelites had been able to subdue Moab because Chemosh was angry with his people, that is the Moabites.[7]

Mesha soon rebelled against Israelite suzerainty and embarked on an expansionist policy against the Israelites, which he carried out as holy war performed as a ritual to Chemosh.[2] After Mesha had captured the Gadite city of Ataroth (ʿAṭārōt), he slaughtered all of its inhabitants as an accomplishment of a vow he had made to Chemosh and to the population of Moab, and he brought the warden of Ataroth, the Gadite chief Uriel, to Kirioth, where Mesha sacrificed him to Chemosh.[1] When, following his capture of Ataroth, Mesha conquered the town of Nebo, he sacrificed the whole Israelite population of the town to ʿAštar-Chemosh, likely because of ʿAštar's function as an avenger deity who was invoked in curses against enemies, and he brought all the lambs of the sanctuary of Yahweh, at Nebo to the sanctuary of Chemosh, where he sacrificed them to Chemosh.[7]

Mesha recorded in his victory stela that he had built a high place dedicated to Chemosh in the citadel of the Moabite capital of Ḏaybān to thank the god for assuring his triumph in his military campaign against the Israelites.[1]

Chemosh was still worshipped after the Moabite kingdom came to an end, and his name was used as a theophoric element by individuals of Moabite descent living in Egypt and Babylonia. An Aramaic inscription from Al-Karak, and dated from the 3rd century BC, mentions Chemosh.[4]

During the periods of Hellenistic and Roman rule in Moab, Chemosh was identified with the Greek god of war, Arēs, due to which Graeco-Roman records called the city of Rabbat Mōʾāb as Αρεοπολις (Areopolis), Αρσοπολις (Arsopolis), and Αρσαπολις (Arsapolis), all meaning "City of Arēs."[1]

Chemosh is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, where he is wrongly called the god of the Ammonites at one point, although he is later correctly referred to as לִכְמוֹשׁ֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י מוֹאָ֔ב (Kəmōš ʾelohē Mōʾāb, lit. 'Chemosh, the God of Moab'), and later called שִׁקֻּ֣ץ מוֹאָ֔ב (šiqqūṣ Mōʾāb, the lit. 'abomination of Moab').[2]

According to the Biblical narrative, the Israelite king Solomon introduced the cults of Astarte, Chemosh and Milcom in east Jerusalem for his foreign concubines, and the later Judahite king Josiah later destroyed the high places of these deities during his reform of the cult of his kingdom.[2]

In the Books of Kings of the Bible, the Moabite king Mesha (Mōšaʿ in Moabite) is alleged to have sacrificed his own son to Chemosh on the wall of his city when faced with a difficult situation in war, after which Chemosh rewarded Mesha by immediately starting to destroy the kingdom of Israel. The claim that Mesha sacrificed his son to Chemosh has so far remained unverifiable and is not attested in any Moabite inscription.[2]

The 6th-century BC Judahite prophet Jeremiah later announced that Chemosh as well as his priests and his princes would be exiled.[2]

Chemosh had a martial role, due to which the Moabite king Mesha called him "the subduer of the enemies of Moab", and ascribed to Chemosh his own military victories,[2] and, due to his identification with 𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓 (ʿAštar), who was the Arab deity of the planet Venus, Chemosh appears to also have had an astral aspect.[7]

As the patron god of Moab, the Moabites believed that the anger of Chemosh against them would result in their subjugation, and his favour would ensure their independence and victory in war.[1]

Based on the assumption that his name might have been the same as the epithet 𒀭𒅗𒄠𒈲 (ᴰKammuš) of the Mesopotamian god of the underworld, Nergal, the Moabite god Chemosh might also have had a chthonic aspect.[2]

Mesha Stele, erected c. 840 BC in honor of Chemosh

The main sanctuary of Chemosh in Moab was likely located in the important Moabite city of Kirioth, which is presently a site on a high hill where Iron Age I to II period Moabite remains, including potsherds, have been discovered.[1] An inscription of the Moabite king Mesha mentions the existence of a 𐤁𐤕 𐤊𐤌𐤔 (Bēt Kamōš, lit. 'House (Temple) of Chemosh').[2]

Mesha recorded in his victory stela that he had built a high place dedicated to Chemosh in the citadel of the Moabite capital of Ḏaybān to thank the god for assuring his triumph in a military campaign against the Israelites. Hence, Chemosh was referred to as 𐤊𐤌𐤔 𐤁𐤒𐤓𐤇𐤄 (Kamōš b-Qrḥh, lit. 'Chemosh dwelling in the citadel') in the inscription.[1]

Mesh also claimed to have rebuilt the site of 𐤁𐤕 𐤁𐤌𐤕 (Bēt-Bāmōt), whose name means "House of High Places" and which is called Bamoth-Baal (בָּמֹ֣ות בַּ֔עַל Bāmōt-Baʿal, lit. 'High Places of Baʿal') in Israelite texts such as the Hebrew Bible, thus suggesting that a sanctuary with seven altars existed at this place. This sanctuary's remains have however not yet been discovered, and it is unknown whether the cult of Chemosh was performed there.[1]

Chemosh was equated with the Semitic high god 𐤀𐤋 (ʾĒl) in the personal name 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤀𐤋 (Kamōš-ʾĒl), meaning "Chemosh is ʾĒl."[8]

Chemosh was identified with 𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓 (ʿAštar), who was the Moabite adaptation of the North Arabian god ʿAṯtar, himself a form of the Semitic deity of the planet Venus, ʿAṯtar, in the combined form of 𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤊𐤌𐤔‎ (ʿAštar-Kamōš).[7] The astral role of ʿAštar itself is attested by his mention along with the Moon-God Šaggar in the Deir Alla Inscription, the subject of which is largely the Sun-goddess Shamash, thus forming a triad of the Sun, Moon, and Venus similarly to the one attested in South Arabia, and suggesting a South Arabian religious influence in Moab.[7]

In earlier scholarship from the late 19th century, Ashtar-Chemosh was inaccurately considered to be an independent deity existing separately from Chemosh, and was identified as a form of the Canaanite goddess 𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤕 (ʿAštart), although the masculine form of ʿAštar in the god's name shows that ʿAštar-Chemosh was a male deity.[9]

The Al-Balu' Stele, depicting a god, possibly Chemosh, handing a scepter to a Moabite king wearing a Shasu headdress.[10][1]

Chemosh was likely the masculine deity represented in the Baluʿa Stele, in which he is depicted as handing a sceptre to a Moabite king.[1]

The masculine figure represented on a Moabite stele from Shihan wearing a shendyt and holding a spear might also have been a depiction of Chemosh.[1]

Chemosh might also have been represented in Hellenistic period Moabite coins as an armed figure standing between two torches.[2]

The Moabites considered human sacrifice to Chemosh to be necessary to obtain the favour of Chemosh in critical situations, as attested by those performed by the Moabite king Mōšaʿ.[9]

One form of human sacrifice to Chemosh was performed by Moabite kings to thank him for the accomplishment of a vow made to him in a military context, that is, in exchange of the Moabites' victory in war, the enemy population defeated in the said war was killed in the name of Chemosh. This is attested when Mesha had embarked on a policy of conquest of Israelite territories in the 9th century BC, and he slaughtered all of the inhabitants of the Gadite city of Ataroth as an accomplishment of a vow he had made to Chemosh.[1]

Enemy populations defeated in war were also directly sacrificed to Chemosh, such as when, following his capture of Ataroth, Mesha conquered the town of Nebo, he sacrificed the whole Israelite population of the town to Ashtar-Chemosh, likely because of ʿAštar's function as an avenger deity who was invoked in curses against enemies.[7][1]

The Hebrew Bible claims that Mesha sacrificed his own son to Chemosh on the wall of his city when faced with a difficult situation in war, after which Chemosh rewarded Mesha by immediately starting to destroy the kingdom of Israel. The claim that Mesha sacrificed his son to Chemosh has so far remained unverifiable and is not attested in any Moabite inscription.[2]

After Mesha conquered Nebo, he brought all the lambs of the sanctuary of Yahweh, the god of his Israelite enemies, at Nebo to the sanctuary of Chemosh, where he sacrificed them to Chemosh.[7][1]

Moabite kings built sanctuaries for Chemosh to thank him once they had obtained his favour,[9] as attested in the victory stela of Mesha recording that he had built a high place dedicated to Chemosh in the citadel of the Moabite capital of Ḏaybān to thank the god for assuring his triumph in his military campaign against the Israelites.[1]

The name of Chemosh appears as a theophoric element in the name of several Moabite kings, such as 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤉𐤕 (Kamōš-ayat or Kamōš-yaton), 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤍𐤃𐤁 (Kamōš-nadab), and 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤏𐤔 (Kamōš-ʿaśa), as well as in several Moabite personal names recorded in inscriptions, such as:[11][1][2][12][13]

• 𐤊𐤌𐤔‎, romanized as: Kamōš, lit. '[the one of] Chemosh'
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤀𐤋, romanized as: Kamōš-ʾĒl, lit. 'Chemosh is ʾĒl' or lit. 'Chemosh is God'
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤀𐤓, romanized as: Kamōš-ʾūr, lit. 'Chemosh is [my] light'
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤃𐤍, romanized as: Kamōš-dān, lit. 'Chemosh is strong' or lit. 'Chemosh has given justice'
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤇𐤎𐤃, romanized as: Kamōš-ḥāsād, lit. 'Chemosh has shown loyalty [to me]'
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤉𐤇𐤉‎, romanized as: Kamōš-yĕḥî, lit. 'Chemosh may live' or lit. 'O Chemosh, may it stay alive!'
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤉𐤎𐤏, romanized as: Kamōš-yasūʿ, lit. 'Chemosh is [my] salvation'
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤌𐤀𐤔, romanized as: Kamōš-mūʾaš, lit. 'Given by Chemosh'
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤍𐤕𐤍, romanized as: Kamōš-nātān, lit. 'Chemosh has given'
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤏𐤆, romanized as: Kamōš-ʿoz, lit. 'Chemosh is [my] protection'
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤏𐤌, romanized as: Kamōš-ʿam, lit. 'Chemosh is the [divine] uncle'
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤐𐤋𐤈‎, romanized as: KMŠ-PLṬ, lit. 'Chemosh has saved'
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤑𐤃𐤒‎, romanized as: Kamōš-ṣādāq, lit. 'Chemosh is righteous' or lit. 'Chemosh has given justice')
• 𐤊𐤌𐤔𐤅𐤏, romanized as: Kamōš-šūāʿ, lit. 'Chemosh is [my] salvation'
• 𐤔𐤒𐤑𐤊𐤌𐤔‎, romanized as: Šiqquṣ-Kamōš