Ammonites, or children of Ammon
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Gen. 19:38) — were descendants of Ben-ammi, son of Lot, born of his incest with his younger daughter. He was born near Zoar, and his descendants spread northward and occupied the hill country of Gilead, between the streams Arnon and Jabbok. Originally their territory bordered on the north by the stream Jabbok, on the west by the Jordan, on the south by the Arnon, and extended eastward into Arabia. The Amorites, under their king Sihon, drove the Ammonites from the most fertile part of their territory, lying between the two rivers; but Moses took this land from the Amorites and divided it between the tribes of Reuben and Gad. As a result the western border of the Ammonites became one of the streams of the river Jabbok, by which stood their chief city, Rabbah, or Rabbath-ammon.
The mountains of Gilead formed the eastern boundary of the land of Ammon, and the land of Moab its southern boundary. The children of Ammon gave themselves over to deep idolatry (Judg. 10:6). Their chief idol was Molech, thought to be the same deity as Baal.