**7. Ethnic Affiliation and Coalitional Processes**

While there is precious little information from which we can reconstruct the role of religion in ethnic affiliation and coalitional processes among the Ammonites, there is little doubt that religion did play some role. It is a well-known part of ancient societies to have a state god that was understood to support the ruler, especially in military matters. For the Ammonites, this god was, in all likelihood Milkom (see above § 4.1), a position that is also understood from the biblical author's perspective when listing Milkom as the "god of the Ammonites", along with "Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians" and "Chemosh the god of Moab" (1 Kings 11:33). Whether the Ammonites or other peoples of the Transjordan had groups within them that argued for exclusive devotion to the state god, as some did in Judah, cannot be determined at present. Nonetheless, as one salient aspect of individual and group identity, devotion to or acknowledgement of a particular deity—whether exclusive or not—is a likely aspect of Ammonite sociopolitical formation, even if only at the level of the ruling elite. What we do not know is whether the sons of Ammon were the only tribal or kinship group in Ammon, or if they were the ascendant or apical tribe for whom a coalition of tribes was known. If it is the latter, it is possible that part of what bound the group together was Milkom's place as the state god, who represented the political regime and aided the Ammonites in their military ventures.
