 Both Crouch and Lauren Monroe, professor of Near Eastern studies at Cornell, agree this means the "ḥerem" type of total war was not strictly an Israelite practice but was a common approach to war for many Near Eastern people of the Bronze and Iron Ages.For example, the Mesha Stele says that King Mesha of Moab fought in the name of his god Chemosh and that he subjected his enemies to "ḥerem".Violence against women appears throughout the Old Testament.