AMMONITES. – A people (Hebrew Bénê-Ammôn “sons of Ammon,” twice [1 Sam 11:11; Ps 83 Heb., 8] only ‘Ammôn, gentilic adjective ‘ammônî; Septuagint always ‘Ammôn and ‘Ammôn; Num 21:24; ‘Ammôn’ goes; Assyrian Bit-Ammoni) AMMONITI (v.), thus a brother of the Moabites, with whom it is closely associated in its history and culture, and related to Israel. The ethnographic affinity of the Ammonites with the Moabites and Hebrews is confirmed by the analogy with the Moabite-Hebrew language of the proper names (personal and geographical) of the Ammonites, preserved for us in the Bible or in Assyrian monuments. The name survives in that of the present capital of Transjordan, ‘Ammân, on the site of the Ammonite capital Rabbah (“great”), a name identical to that of the capital of Moab. The kingdom of the Ammonites lay to the north of that of Moab. The Ammonites first occupied the region to the northeast of the Dead Sea, more or less between the two rivers Jabbok and Arnon (Judg 11:13, 26), inhabited previously by the giant Zamzummim whom they exterminated (Deut 2:19-21). But the strip adjoining the Jordan and the Dead Sea was taken from them by the Amorites, led by King Sihon, who drove them further east, and then taken from the Amorites by the Israelites, who divided it among the tribes of Reuben and Gad (Judg 11:19-22; Num 21:25 ff.; Josh 13:15-28).
Desiring to reconquer that territory, the Ammonites were in continual conflict with the Hebrews. Although Israel was forbidden by divine command (Deut 2:19, 37) to fight against or plunder them, the envy and hatred of the Ammonites toward Israel was unceasing, and Israel reciprocated (Deut 23:3-6: “do not admit them even to the tenth generation”). They had obstructed Israel during the Exodus (Deut 23:4 ff.), and Balaam came from their land (Num 22:5). In the time of the Judges, after having supported the Moabite invasion and carried out various raids in Judah and Ephraim, they invaded Gilead but were routed by Jephthah (Judg 3:13; 10:7-11, 36). Later, their king Nahash (Vulgate: Naas) was defeated by Saul (1 Sam 11). David, who had been favored by King Nahash (2 Sam 10:2), sent friendly ambassadors to his son and successor Hanun; but the latter provoked, by his outrages, a long and bitter war that ended with the capture of Rabbah-Ammon and severe reprisals (2 Sam 10-12). At the division of the kingdom of Israel, the Ammonites resumed, with full independence, their designs for revenge. They frequently attacked the kingdom of Judah, but were defeated first by Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 20), then by Uzziah (ibid., 26:7-8) and by his son Jotham (ibid., 27:5), of whom they were tributaries for three years. Thus they rejoiced in the misfortunes of Israel (Zeph 2:8) and in the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 9:24 ff.; Ezek 21:33-37; 25:1-7), indeed they cooperated in it under Jehoiakim (2 Kings 24:2), and their king Baalis had Gedaliah killed (v. ibid., 25:25 and Jer 40:14-41:2); they realized their ancient dream by occupying the Gad area (Jer 49:1). At the return of the Jews from exile, they joined the Samaritans in hindering the restoration of Jerusalem (Neh 4:2-8).
During the exile and even more afterward, the Ammonites attempted to unite with the Jews in order to absorb them (Jer 40:14-41:15; Ezra 9:1; Neh 6:17-18; 13:4). Their leader, at the time of Nehemiah, was Tobiah, called “the servant” (Neh 2:10, 19) because he was a vassal of the Persian king. They themselves were absorbed by the Arabs (bênê-qedem “sons of the east”: Ezek 25:4), with whom they already appear mixed in the 5th century B.C. (Neh 2:19; 4:7). After the Macedonian conquest, their territory is called ‘Aμμāvāntēs (Flavius Josephus, Ant. Jud., IV, 5, 3; cf. H. Vincent, in Rev. Bibl., 29 [1920], pp. 182-88). In the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C., the Ammonites were ruled by various Tobiahs (Zenon papyri, 259/8 B.C.; inscription of ‘Arāq el-Emir, ca. 175 B.C.; Flavius Josephus, Ant. Jud., XII, 4, 2-11; 2 Macc 3:11); it was a dynasty (Tobia) descended, it seems, from the Tobiah of the 5th century (Neh 2:10-13, 4).
The Ammonites killed the Jews dwelling among them at the time of the Maccabees, but were severely punished by Judas, who defeated their leader Timothy (1 Macc 5:1-8; 2 Macc 8:30), who was routed and killed (2 Macc 10:24-37). Ptolemy, son-in-law and murderer (134 B.C.) of Simon Maccabee, took refuge with the prince of the Ammonites, Zenon Cotylas (Flavius Josephus, Ant. Jud., XIII, 8, 1). Their capital Rabbah was then called Philadelphia, because it was restored by Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285/4-246 B.C.); but alongside this official name the ancient one survived: ‘Paβaδā or ‘Paβ-βaτāμμāvā (Zenon papyrus no. 616, Flavius Josephus, Stephanus of Byzantium), Paββaτāμμāvā (Polybius, V, 71).
Even by the Assyrian kings the Ammonite nation (Assyrian māt bit amman “land of the house of Ammon”) suffered various defeats (E. Schrader, Die keilinschrift. Bibliothek, I, Berlin 1889, p. 172; II, ibid. 1890, pp. 20, 90, 148, 240) and was subjected to tribute by them. The Ammonite king Baasha was defeated at Qarqar (854 B.C.) by Shalmaneser II, King Puduliu (701 B.C.) was a vassal of Sennacherib, and King Amminadab (Ammi-nadab) was a vassal of Ashurbanipal (d. 626 B.C.). The Ammonites then successively passed under Persian, Greek, Ptolemaic-Seleucid, and Roman domination (in 64 B.C. their territory was incorporated into the Roman province of Syria). St. Justin (C. Tryph., 119) still mentioned them as a numerous people (mid-2nd century A.D.). They disappeared in the 3rd century A.D., absorbed by the Arabs (Origen, In Iob, I, 1; cf. Flavius Josephus, Ant. Jud., I, 11, 5; XIII, 9, 1).
The Ammonites preceded Israel in political organization and economic prosperity. Besides Rabbah, they had various cities (Judg 11:33 “twenty”), including Minith (Vulgate: Mennith) and ‘Ābel-Kē-rāmīm (v. ABELE, 5), whose name attests to the fertility of the soil. They boasted of their fertile valleys (Jer 49:4). But they were idolaters and were noted for their cruelty (Amos 1:13-15). Their religion centered on the cult, conducted by influential priests (Jer 49:3), of the national god Milcom, whose image at Rabbah was covered with gold and gems (1 Chron 20:2 [Septuagint Mazior]; 2 Sam 12:30, where the Vulgate, as in the two passages in the Masoretic text, reads “their king,” Septuagint Mazior). Milcom is the Babylonian Malkum, venerated by the eastern Semites since the 24th century B.C. Solomon maintained an altar to Milcom to the right of the Mount of Olives (1 Kings 11:5, 7-33; 2 Kings 23:13).
An Italian archaeological mission, directed by G. Guidi (1927) and R. Bartoccini (1929 ff.), carried out important excavations at Amman.