Ammonite, any member of an ancient Semitic people whose principal city was Rabbath Ammon, in Palestine. The “sons of Ammon” were in perennial, though sporadic, conflict with the Israelites. After a long period of seminomadic existence, the Ammonites established a kingdom north of Moab in the 13th century bc. With difficulty, their fortress capital was captured by Israel’s King David. An Ammonite woman, one of many foreigners taken into Israel’s King Solomon’s harem, was responsible for inducing the king to worship the Ammonite god Malcom.

During the reign of Jehoiakim (6th century bc), the Ammonites allied themselves with the Chaldeans, Syrians, and others in an attack on Judah and also harassed the Israelites when they attempted to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem after the Babylonian Exile. In the 2nd century bc they were defeated by Judas Maccabeus.