According to the Scripture, Mo'Ab and Amm'On were born to Lot, Abraham's nephew, and Lot's elder and younger daughter, respectively. Lot settled in the city of Sodom. When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorr'Ah because of their wickedness, Lot and his daughters fled to the hill country on the Southern end of the Dead Sea. The daughters, thinking they were the only people left on earth, got their father drunk and had incestuous relations with him to produce children. The older daughter had a son named Mo'Ab (from father) and the younger gave birth to Ben-Ammi (son of my people). The Ammonites, descendants of Ben-Ammi, were a nomadic people who occupied the Northern Central Trans-Jordania Plateau from the latter part of the 2nd millennium BC to at least the 2nd century CE. The name of the modern capital city, Amm'An, reflects the name of those ancient inhabitants.
In the time of Moses, the fertile plains of the Jordan River valley were occupied by the Amor'Ites, Ammon'Ites and Moab'Ites. When Israel left Egypt, the Ammon'Ites refused to assist them in any way, and god punished them for their lack of support (Deuteronomy 23). Later, however, as the Israelites entered the Promised Land, God instructed them, "When you approach the territory of the people of Amm'On, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Amm'On as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession"(Deut. 2). The Israelites tribes of Gad, Reuben, and half of Manas'Seh claimed the Amor'Ite territory bordering that of the Ammon'Ites.
Moloch, god of the Ammonites, a deity of perverted cruelty, was a fire-god with the face of a calf. He was also known by the names Molech, Milcom, Malcham, and for the Moab'Ites he was the god named Chemosh. Moloch was worshiped in Tophet, a city nearby Jerusalem. Moloch was honored with human sacrifices. His images had arms outstretched to receive the babies who were sacrificed to him. People would burn their children in fire as a form of sacrifice while others would let their infants pass through the fire as a form of dedication. Like their god, the sons of the Ammonites were cruel. When Nah'Ash the Ammon'Ite was asked for terms of a treaty (1Sam11) he proposed gouging out the right eye of each Israelite man. Amos 1 says that the Amon'Ites would rip open pregnant women in the territories they conquered.
God commanded the Israelites not to marry these people, because intermarriage would lead His people to worship false gods. Solomon disobeyed and married Naam'Ah (1Kings 14)and, as God had warned, he was drawn to idolatry (1Kings 11).
1 Kings 11: 5 "King Solomon followed other gods like Ash'Toreth of Sid'On and Moloch of Amm'On.
1 King 11:33 "King Solomon's kingdom torn down for worshiping other gods like Ash'Toreth of Sidon and Chemosh of Moab and Moloch of Amm'On and for disobedience with the Laws and Decrees that David, his father, had kept."
Amos 5:26 and Acts 7:43 says, "People were reminded to repent of worshiping the tabernacle of Moloch and Chiun as their persona of God, which they made to themselves."
Leviticus 20:2 "Members of the community are to stone to death any Israelites or residents of Israel who surrenders their children to Moloch."
Under King Saul's leadership, Israel defeated the Ammon'Ites and made them vassals. David continued that sovereignty over Ammon and later besieged the capital city to solidify his control. After the split of Israel and Judah, the Ammon'Ites began to ally themselves with the enemies of Israel. Ammon regained some sovereignty in the 7th BC, until Nebuchadnezz'Ar conquered them about 100 years later. By the new Testament times, Jews had settled in the area, and it was known as Perea. Sometime during Roman period, the Ammon'Ites seem to have been absorbed into Arab society.
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