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Moab's capital fortress — site of Mesha's grim child-sacrifice that broke the Israelite siege
MoabHistorically Verified
Modern Kerak in Jordan — site of the famous Crusader castle. The steep plateau matches the biblical descriptions, and the Mesha Stele was discovered at nearby Dibon.
The capital of Moab — a steep fortress city also called Kir-haraseth, Kir of Moab, or simply Kir. When King Mesha of Moab rebelled against Israel, Jehoram of Israel, Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of Edom besieged him at Kir-hareseth. Faced with destruction, Mesha sacrificed his own firstborn son on the city wall in full view of the besieging armies; the besiegers were so disturbed that they withdrew (2 Kings 3:25-27). Both Isaiah and Jeremiah named Kir-hareseth in their oracles against Moab, weeping for its ruins (Isaiah 16:7, 11; Jeremiah 48:31, 36).
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