The national god of Moab, named in the Heshbon ballad at Numbers 21:29, where Moab is addressed as ‘the people of Chemosh’. ⭐ He is not only a biblical figure: the ninth-century Mesha Stele, found at Dhiban in 1868 and now in the Louvre, is a victory inscription in which King Mesha of Moab credits Chemosh with his wars in almost exactly the register this ballad uses — Chemosh was angry with his land, Chemosh drove out the king of Israel, Mesha devotes a captured town to Chemosh using the same word Israel uses for cherem. ⚠ 2 Kings 3:27 reports Mesha sacrificing his own eldest son on the wall during a siege; 1 Kings 11:7 records Solomon building a high place for Chemosh outside Jerusalem, which Josiah later destroys.