[German version]

(Hebrew môāb; Egyptian mb; Akkadian ma--a-ba, ma-a-ba, mu-a-ba; LXX Μωαβ/Mōab; Jos. Ant. Iud. 1,205 Μώαβος/Mṓabos; Ios. passim Μωαβῖται/Mōabîtai). Term for a land, state and people to the east of the Dead Sea between Ammon [2] in the north and Edom in the south. The earliest evidence is found in Egyptian texts of Ramses II, in a relief with inscription at the Temple of  Luxor, and then primarily in the OT, in inscriptions of the Moabite king Meša (KAI 181) and in Neo-Assyrian sources. The etymology of the name is doubtful.

Settlement has been proved as early as t…