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The Amorites

The people whose two Transjordan kingdoms — Sihon’s at Heshbon and Og’s in Bashan — Israel takes in Numbers 21. ⚠ The Bible uses the name two ways and it is worth keeping them apart: sometimes for this specific Transjordan population, and sometimes as a broad label for the pre-Israelite inhabitants of Canaan generally, roughly interchangeable with ‘Canaanite’ (Genesis 15:16 waits for ‘the iniquity of the Amorite’ to be complete). Outside the Bible, Amurru is a well-attested Bronze Age term in Akkadian sources for the west and its peoples, which is where the name comes from; it is a label applied from the outside, not necessarily one they used of themselves.

▶ No films on the shelf yet — archaeology and geography videos get added here as Mr. Librarian finds good ones.