1. _Moab._ (2 Sam. 8:2.) It is stated by Josephus, that the cruel treatment of the Moabites (though fully in accord with the customs of Oriental war in that day) was in revenge for the slaughter of David's parents by the king of Moab, an event not mentioned in the Bible. 2. _Zobah_ (2 Sam. 8:3, 4), at that time the principal state between Damascus and the Euphrates. 3. _Damascus_ (2 Sam. 8:5-12), in alliance with Zobah, and the largest city in Syria. 4. _Edom_ (2 Sam. 8:13, 14), south of the Dead Sea. The word "Syrians," in verse 13, should undoubtedly be "Edomites." The battle was fought at the "valley of salt," an unknown place, but probably near Sela, or Petra, the capital of Edom. 5. _Ammon._ (2 Sam. 10-13.) This was the longest of David's wars, and was waged not against the Ammonites only, but against the allied forces of several small Syrian kingdoms, as Zobah (already conquered, but not subjugated), Maachah, Rehob and Tob, districts on the north and east of Israel. Three great battles were fought; the first near Medeba; the second at Helam, an uncertain locality (if it be the name of a place, which is questioned, as the word means "host," or "army"); and the third, the siege and capture of Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites, which ended the war. During this war occurred the crime of David with Bathsheba, and the murder of Uriah. (2 Sam. 11.) This completed the series of conquests, and made the throne of David supreme from the Red Sea to the Euphrates. One fact which made these conquests possible was that the tribes around Israel were not united into strong nations, as afterward in the cases of Syria and Assyria, but were independent principalities, easily overcome in turn by the trained warriors of David. As a result of these wars the kingdom of David, which he transmitted to his son Solomon, was the largest in the Oriental world at that time. The Assyrian empire had not arisen, the great kings of Egypt had passed away, and the East was broken up into small principalities, among which Israel easily rose to power. COMPARATIVE AREA OF PALESTINE AT DIFFERENT PERIODS.