What is "shutu"

Shutu or Sutu is the name given in ancient Akkadian language sources to certain nomadic groups of the Trans-Jordanian highlands, extending deep into Mesopotamia and Southern Iraq. Many scholars have speculated that "Shutu" may be a variant of the Egyptian phrase shasu.

An Egyptian execration text of the 17th century BCE refers to an "Ayyab" (possibly a variant form of the name Job) as king of the Shutu. Some scholars have tenuously identified the Shutu as the progenitors of the Moabites and Ammonites.