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Chemosh (; ) is a Canaanite deity worshipped by Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples who occupied the region known as Moab, in modern-day Jordan east of the Dead Sea, during the Bronze Age and Iron Age Ages.
Chemosh was the supreme deity of the Canaanite state of Moab and the Tutelary deity of its population, the Moabites, who in consequence were called the "People of Chemosh". The name and significance of Chemosh are historically attested in the Moabite language inscriptions on the Mesha Stele, dated ca. 840 Common Era. Chemosh is also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
The name of Chemosh is of yet uncertain origin, and it is unclear whether it was related to the name of the deity (), or the divine name () or (), or an epithet of the Mesopotamian god Nergal which might have meant "bull", ().
According to one hypothesis which assumes that the names and , and and were the same, the first two variants of the name might have been -type substantival participles of B-stem and the latter two variants might have been -type verbal adjectives of D-stem, both meaning "conqueror" and "subduer," thus being related to the Akkadian terms (/) and ()/ (), meaning "to submit to an overlord or to a deity" and "to bend," as well as to the Old South Arabian term (), meaning "to crush."
Chemosh is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible under the name (כְּמוֹשׁ, vocalized as: ), which was vowelled following to the Hebrew word (בְּאשׁ), . The Hebrew form was itself later Romanised as (vocalized in English as: ) in translations of the Bible, while the accurate pronunciation of the name of the god, reflecting the Moabite pronunciation , is more accurately recorded in the Septuagint as () and the Vulgate as Chamos.
During this period itself, Chemosh was identified with (), 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 (). 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 Shapash, 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.
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, who ascended to the Moabite throne during the reign of Ahab, wrote in his inscriptions (including the Mesha Stele) that the Israelites had been able to subdue Moab because Chemosh was angry with his people, that is the Moabites.
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. After Mesha had captured the Gadite city of Khirbat Ataruz 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. When, following his capture of Ataroth, Mesha conquered the town of Nebo, he Human sacrifice 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.
Mesha recorded in his victory stela that he had built a high place dedicated to Chemosh in the citadel of the Moabite capital of Dhiban to thank the god for assuring his triumph in his military campaign against the Israelites.
During the periods of Hellenistic and Ancient Rome rule in Moab, Chemosh was identified with the Greek god of war, Ares, due to which Graeco-Roman records called the city of Rabba as (), (), and (), all meaning "City of Ares."
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.
In the Books of Kings of the Bible, the Moabite king Mesha 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 6th-century BC Judahite prophet Jeremiah later announced that Chemosh as well as his priests and his princes would be exiled.
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.
Based on the assumption that his name might have been the same as the epithet () of the Mesopotamian god of the underworld, Nergal, the Moabite god Chemosh might also have had a chthonic aspect.
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 (), in the inscription.
Mesha also claimed to have rebuilt the site of (), whose name means "House of High Places" and which is called Bamoth-Baal () 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.
In earlier scholarship from the late 19th century, ʿAštar-Chemosh was inaccurately considered to be an independent deity existing separately from Chemosh, and was identified as a form of the Canaanite goddess Astarte (), although the masculine form of ʿAštar in the god's name shows that ʿAštar-Chemosh was a male deity.
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.
Chemosh might also have been represented in Hellenistic period Moabite coins as an armed figure standing between two torches.
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.
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 Human sacrifice 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.
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.
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