Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/717

MOA. 639 MOABITE STONE. and these perhaps may liave had some vestiges of wiug-boiies; but the hirger iiioas were not only wingless, but entirely destitute of any shoul- der-girdle whatever. The largest and most typi- cal were of the genus Dinornis, and these had long and comparatively slender leg bones and large depressed skulls. Some of these were taller than any ostriches, estimates varying from 10 to 12 feet. The leg of the tallest species (Dinor- nis maximus) was considerably longer than that of a horse. In the genus Paehyornis, on the other hand, the leg bones were short, massive and extremely powerful, so that these are called the 'elephant-footed' moas. Their eggs were greenish in color. One (of the giant moa, measuring 10% by 6% inches) was found unbroken in the grave of a ilaori, with whom it had been buried un- known centuries ago. Consult: Owens, Extinct Birds of Xeic Zealand (London, 1879) ; Newton, Dictionary of Birds (New York, 1803-90) ; and Lucas, Animals of the Past (New York, 1901). See .^5pyoR>is; Extinct Animals; Extinction OF Species. MO'AB. The name given to a people occupy- ing the high table-land east of the Dead Sea and the southern section of the .Jordan. The soutliern boundary was Edom, the eastern. Amnion and the desert; the northern boundary shifted from time to time, but in general was marked by a line some miles beyond the northern extremity of the Dead Sea. This land of Moab is a plateau about 3000 feet above the Mediterranean Sea. The western slopes are generally steep and the aspect of tlie Moabite Mountains rising to the plateau is bar- ren. In the spring the hills are covered with grass and portions of the plateau are now sown with corn. It has streams in aliundance; besides the Arnon, which divides the plateau, springs and brooks intersect the country. To the east the plateau is separated from the desert by low roll- ing hills. Numerous ruins testify to the former prosperity of the district, while the hundreds of rude stone monuments (stone-circles, dolmens, cairns), show that it was densely settled in very early days. According to the biblical account, Moab, the eponiTnous ancestor of the Moabites, was a son of Lot by one of his daughters (Gen. xix. 37). This story, which traces both Moab and Ammon to an incestuous connection, may be a bit of tribal slander by Hebrew writers to throw discredit on their hated rivals and foes. (See Lot.) The close affiliation, however, be- tween Hebrews and Moabites, which is indicated by the story, is correct. Not only was the lan- guage of Moab practically identical with Hebrew, but Moabites and Hebrews belong to the same branch of the Semitic stock, and for an in- definite period Hebrew and Moabitish history form an inseparable unit. The story of the sepa- ration of Abraham and Lot embodies a remin- iscence of a union once existing between Hebrew and Moabitish clans which was dissolved by a quarrel over land — to this day a common cause for hostility among Bedouin clans. The land of Moab was included in the Egyptian su]uem- acy over Western Asia in the period from the seventeenth to the thirteenth century B.C., and the name INIoali occurs in a list of con- quests inscribed by Rameses IT. (c. 1300 B.C.) on one of his moninients at T.uxor. The rela- tions between Moab and Israel during the por- tion of Hebrew history known to us were gen- erally hostile, and tliis hostility is traced back by tradition to the days of the K.xodus (cf. Deut. xxiii. 4-,J I , l>ut the oldest document we have re- garding Moab is a fragment of a song (Num. xxi. 21-30), recalling a victory of the Ammonites over Moab and the subsequent defeat of the Am- monites by the Hebrews. The song, which bears marks of antiquity, may date from the early struggles of the Hebrews, anteiior to the at- tempts of the latter to conquer Canaan to the west of the Jordan. On the other luind, the story of the endeavor of lialak, King of iloab, to secure the services of Balaam to curse Israel (Num. xxii.-xxiv. ) is to be looked upon as a Midrash based upon the persistent hostility between Israel and Moab and illustrating the invincible character of the former. Coming to a period for which the historical traditions are less uncertain, we find that after the conquest of Canaan the Hebrews were frequently at the mercy of the JIo- abites, as well as of Ammonites and Amalekites. We learn of a King Eglon of Moab, who held the Hebrews in subjection for eighteen years (.Judges iii.), from which they were freed by Ehud, a Benjamite. Saul appears to have held the Moab- ites in cheek, while under David they actually became tributary to the Hebrews; and this con- dition continued after the separation of the South- ern Hebrews until the days of Ahab, when Moab began to resist and finally, on the death of Ahab, threw off the yoke. This hapjiened during the reign of King Mesha, who describes his victories over Israel on the monument known as the Moabite Stone (q.v. ). When the advance of the Assyrian power threatened the independence of the various Palestinian principalities, we find the !Moabites occasionally in alliance with the Hebrews against the common foe, but subsequently we find them on the side of Babylonia and alietting the de- struction of the Southern Hebrew kingdom. Moab was saved from extinction, but of course became tributary to Babylonia. In post-exilic sections ot the Books of Isaiah and Jeremiah we find refer- ences to Moab which jioint to the continued ex- istence and in a measure prosperity of the coun- try, but otherwise throw no light upon its his- tory. The name lingered on into the Christian era. During the Roman occupancy of Palestine the land of Moab was still densely inhabited, as the Roman and Greek remains show, but gradu- ally the Arabs of the desert overran it, and what culture once existed there came to an end. It remained for modern travelers like Seetzen and Burckhardt to rediscover it, but it is still one of those districts of Palestine in which it is dangerous to travel. The chief god of the Moabites was Chemosh (q.v.) and their religion. so far as Vie know it, bore the characteristic marks of early Semitic cults. Consult : Robert- son Smith, Relif/ion of the Semites, pp. 370 and 400 (Edinburgh', 1894) ; Tristram. fAind of Moab (New Y'ork, 1874) : Conder. lleth and }toab (London. 18S3) : George .dam Smith, Historiral (Icographi/ of the Uoli/ Land (London, 1897); (Jlermont-Ganneau, Kccneil d'archi'ologie orien- Irile, vol. ii.. pp. 18.5-234 (1889). MOABITE STONE, The, A stone bearing an inscripliim nf 34 lines in the Moabitish language, (li-icovered by the (icrman missionary V. Klein, at Diban. in Moab, in ISOS. The negotiations set on foot for its purchase by M. Clermont-Ganneau, attache of the French consulate at Jerusalem,