as a land of lofty mountains and fertile
river-plains. Its wadis were coveted by the tribes of the desert; the
well-watered valley of the Arnon attracted more powerful foes. When the
Israelites encamped in "the plain of Moab," Balak, the Moabite king,
sent in terror to Balaam, the seer of Pethor. He had indeed cause for
alarm. The Amorites had already robbed him of the fairest portion of his
dominions; Moab north of the Arnon had fallen into their hands. The
Amorite song of triumph has been preserved in the Book of Numbers. "Come
unto Heshbon," it said; "let the city of Sihon be built and fortified.
For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon;
it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the Baalim of the high-places of Arnon.
Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: [Chemosh] hath
given his sons that escaped [the battle], and his daughters, into
captivity unto Sihon, King of the Amorites."[9]

Moab was avenged by Israel. The Amorites were crushed by the Israelitish
forces, though the lands they had taken from Moab were not restored to
their original owners. The conquerors settled in them, and a mixed
Israelitish and Moabite population was the result. The Moabites, in
fact, were powerless to resist. The southern portion of the kingdom had
been overrun by Midianite hordes; the enemy with whom the Israelites had
to contend on Moabite soil was Midianite and not Moabite. Those who
corrupted Israel on the high-place of Peor were Midianites in race.

The Midianites seem to have continued in occupation of Moabite territory
for several generations. Reuben was enabled to pasture his flocks in
peace in its valleys, and it is probable that it was not till Hadad, the
King of Edom, "smote Midian in the plain of Moab" that Midianitish
supremacy came finally to an end. It may be that Gideon's success
against the Midianite oppressors of Gilead was one of the results of
their overthrow by the Edomite prince.

At the same time, Midianitish supremacy did not mean the destruction of
the Moabite kingdom. Moab was still governed by its own kings, tributary
vassals though they were to the foreigner. One of them, Eglon, made
himself master of southern Palestine shortly after the Israelitish
conquest of the country, and was murdered by the Benjamite Ehud. Between
Moab and Judah there was, as might be expected from their geographical
position, constant intercourse. A Moabitess was the ancestress of David,
and it