Misplaced Pages

Latest revision as of 21:35, 16 January 2025

Kingdom of Edom𐤀𐤃𐤌
c. 13th century BC–c. 553 BC
A theoretical map of the region around 830 BC (Edom shown in yellow)
Status	Monarchy
Capital	Bozrah
Common languages	Edomite
Religion	Canaanite religion
Demonym(s)	Edomites
History
• Established	c. 13th century BC
• Conquered by the Babylonian king Nabonidus	c. 553 BC
Today part of	Jordan Israel

Part of a series on the
History of Jordan
Prehistory
'Ain Ghazal Ghassulians
Ancient history
Amorites Ammon Edom Israel Moab Qedarites
Classical period
Nabataeans Hasmoneans Arabia Petraea Tanukhids Salihids Christian Ghassanids
Islamic era
Bilad al-Sham Jund al-Urdunn Umayyad Caliphate Abbasid Caliphate Fatimid Caliphate Oultrejordain (Kingdom of Jerusalem) Ayyubid dynasty Mamluk Sultanate Ottoman Empire
Emirate and mandate
Hashemites Arab Revolt Sykes–Picot OETA and Arab Kingdom Interregnum Establishment of the Emirate Trans-Jordan memorandum Emirate of Transjordan Kura rebellion Adwan Rebellion Ikhwan raids
Post-independence
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 1948 War 1967 War Black September Israel–Jordan peace treaty 2011–12 protests
Jordan portal
v t e

Edom (/ˈiːdəm/; Edomite: 𐤀𐤃𐤌 ʾDM; Hebrew: אֱדוֹם ʾĔḏōm, lit.: "red"; Akkadian: 𒌑𒁺𒈪 Údumi, 𒌑𒁺𒈬 Údumu; Ancient Egyptian: jdwmꜥ) was an ancient kingdom that stretched across areas in the south of present-day Jordan and Israel. Edom and the Edomites appear in several written sources relating to the late Bronze Age and to the Iron Age in the Levant, including the list of the Egyptian pharaoh Seti I from c. 1215 BC as well as in the chronicle of a campaign by Ramesses III (r. 1186–1155 BC), and the Tanakh.

Archaeological investigation has shown that the nation flourished between the 13th and the 8th centuries BC and was destroyed after a period of decline in the 6th century BC by the Babylonians. After the fall of the kingdom of Edom, the Edomites were pushed westward towards southern Judah by nomadic tribes coming from the east; among them were the Nabataeans, who first appeared in the historical annals of the 4th century BC and had already established their own kingdom in what used to be Edom by the first half of the 2nd century BC. More recent excavations show that the process of Edomite settlement in the southern parts of Judah and parts of the Negev down to Timna had started already before the destruction of the kingdom by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587/86 BC, both by peaceful penetration and by military means and taking advantage of the already-weakened state of Judah.

Once pushed out of their territory, the Edomites settled during the Persian period in an area comprising the southern hills of Judea down to the area north of Be'er Sheva. The people appear under a Greek form of their old name, as Idumeans or Idumaeans, and their new territory was called Idumea or Idumaea (Greek: Ἰδουμαία, Idoumaía; Latin: Idūmaea), a term that was used in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, also mentioned in the New Testament. During the 2nd century BC, the Edomites were forcibly converted to Judaism by the Hasmoneans and were incorporated into the Jewish population. Other scholars believe that the assimilation was voluntary.

Edom and Idumea are two related but distinct terms; they relate to a historically-contiguous population but to two separate, if adjacent, territories which the Edomites/Idumeans occupied in different periods of their history. The Edomites first established a kingdom ("Edom") in the southern area of modern-day Jordan and later migrated into the southern parts of the Kingdom of Judah ("Idumea", modern-day Mount Hebron) when Judah was first weakened and then destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC.

Name

The Hebrew word Edom means "red", and the Hebrew Bible relates it to the name of its founder Esau, the elder son of the Hebrew patriarch Isaac, because he was born "red all over". As a young adult, he sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a portion of "red pottage". The Tanakh describes the Edomites as descendants of Esau.

History

Edom

jdwmꜥ Edom in hieroglyphs
Era: New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC)

The Edomites may have been connected with the Shasu and Shutu, nomadic raiders mentioned in Egyptian sources. Indeed, a letter from an Egyptian scribe at a border fortress in the Wadi Tumilat during the reign of Merneptah reports movement of nomadic "shasu-tribes of Edom" to watering holes in Egyptian territory. The earliest Iron Age settlements—possibly copper mining camps—date to the 11th century BC. Settlement intensified by the late 8th century BC, and the main sites so far excavated have been dated between the 8th and 6th centuries BC. The last unambiguous reference to Edom is an Assyrian inscription of 667 BC. Edom ceased to exist as a state when it was conquered by Nabonidus in the 6th century BC.

Edom is mentioned in Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions in the form 𒌑𒁺𒈪 Údumi and 𒌑𒁺𒈬 Údumu; three of its kings are known from the same source: Kaus-malaka at the time of Tiglath-pileser III (c. 745 BC), Aya-ramu at the time of Sennacherib (c. 705 BC), and Kaus-gabri at the time of Esarhaddon (c. 680 BC). According to the Egyptian inscriptions, the "Aduma" at times extended their possessions to the borders of Egypt.

The existence of the Kingdom of Edom was asserted by archaeologists led by Ezra Ben-Yosef and Tom Levy, by using a methodology called the punctuated equilibrium model in 2019. Archaeologists mainly took copper samples from Timna Valley and Faynan in Jordan’s Arava valley dated to 1300-800 BC. According to the results of the analysis, the researchers thought that Pharaoh Shoshenk I of Egypt (the Biblical "Shishak"), who attacked Jerusalem in the 10th century BC, encouraged the trade and production of copper instead of destroying the region. Tel Aviv University professor Ben Yosef stated "Our new findings contradict the view of many archaeologists that the Arava was populated by a loose alliance of tribes, and they’re consistent with the biblical story that there was an Edomite kingdom here."

Idumaea

After the conquest of Judah by the Babylonians, Edomites settled in the region of Hebron. They prospered in this new country, called by the Greeks and Romans "Idumaea" or "Idumea", for more than four centuries. Strabo, writing around the time of Jesus, held that the Idumaeans, whom he identified as of Nabataean origin, constituted the majority of the population of western Judea, where they commingled with the Judaeans and adopted their customs, a view not necessarily shared by modern scholarly works.

Hebrew Bible

The Edomites' original country, according to the Hebrew Bible, stretched from the Sinai Peninsula as far as Kadesh Barnea. It reached as far south as Eilat, the seaport of Edom. On the north of Edom was the territory of Moab.

The boundary between Moab and Edom was the Zered, now called Wadi al-Hasa. The ancient capital of Edom was Bozrah, now Busaira, Jordan. According to the Book of Genesis, Esau's descendants settled in the land after they had displaced the Horites. It was also called the land of Seir; Mount Seir appears to have been strongly identified with them and may have been a cultic site. According to biblical narrative, at the time of King Amaziah of Judah (838 BC), Selah was its principal stronghold, Eilat and Ezion-Geber its seaports.

Genesis 36:31-43 lists the kings of Edom "before any Israelite king reigned":

These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites.

Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah, from Bozrah, succeeded him as king.
When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king.
When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king; the name of his city was Avith.
When Hadad died, Samlah of Masrekah succeeded him as king.
When Samlah died, Saul of Rehoboth-on-the-river succeeded him as king.
When Saul died, Baal-hanan son of Achbor succeeded him as king.
And when Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, Hadar succeeded him as king; the name of his city was Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred daughter of Me-zahab.

These are the names of the clans of Esau, each with its families and locality, name by name: the clans Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth, Aholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, and Iram. Those are the clans of Edom—that is, of Esau, father of the Edomites—by their settlements in the land which they hold.

The Hebrew word translated as leader of a clan is aluf, used solely to describe the dukes of Edom and Moab in the Torah. However, beginning in the books of the later prophets, the word is used to describe Judean generals; for example, in the prophecies of the Book of Zechariah twice (9:7, 12:5–6), it had evolved to describe Jewish captains. The word is also used multiple times as a general term for teacher or guide, for example, in Psalm 55:13.

If the account may be taken at face value, the kingship of Edom was, at least in early times, not hereditary, perhaps elective. The first book of Chronicles mentions both a king and chieftains. Moses and the Israelite people twice appealed to their common ancestry and asked the king of Edom for passage through his land, along the "King's Highway", on their way to Canaan, but the king refused permission. Accordingly, they detoured around the country because of his show of force or because God ordered them to do so rather than wage war (Deuteronomy 2:4–6). The king of Edom did not attack the Israelites, though he prepared to resist aggression.

Nothing further is recorded of the Edomites in the Tanakh until their defeat by King Saul of Israel in the late 11th century BC (1 Samuel 14:47). Forty years later King David and his general Joab defeated the Edomites in the "Valley of Salt" (probably near the Dead Sea; 2 Samuel 8:13–14; 1 Kings 9:15–16). An Edomite prince named Hadad escaped and fled to Egypt, and after David's death he returned and tried to start a rebellion but failed and went to Syria (Aramea). From that time Edom remained a vassal of Israel. David placed over the Edomites Israelite governors or prefects, and this form of government seems to have continued under Solomon. When Israel divided into two kingdoms Edom became a dependency of the Kingdom of Judah. In the time of Jehoshaphat (c. 870 – 849 BC) the Tanakh mentions a king of Edom who was probably an Israelite deputy appointed by the King of Judah. It also states that the inhabitants of Mount Seir invaded Judea in conjunction with Ammon and Moab, and that the invaders turned against one another and were all destroyed (2 Chronicles 20:10–23). Edom revolted against Jehoram and elected a king of its own (2 Kings 8:20–22; 2 Chronicles 21:8). Amaziah attacked and defeated the Edomites, seizing Selah, but the Israelites never subdued Edom completely (2 Kings 14:7; 2 Chronicles 25:11–12).

In the time of Nebuchadnezzar II the Edomites may have helped plunder Jerusalem and slaughter the Judaeans in 587 or 586 BCE (Psalms 137:7; Obadiah 1:11–14). Some believe that it is for this reason the prophets denounced Edom (Isaiah 34:5–8; Jeremiah 49:7–22; Obadiah passim). Evidence also suggests that at that time Edom may have engaged in a treaty betrayal of Judah. The people of Edom would be dealt with during the Messiah's rulership, according to the prophets. Despite this, many Edomites peacefully migrated to southern Judea, which continued even during the reign of Nabonidus.Regarding the territory of Edom, the book of Jeremiah states that "no one will live there, nor will anyone of mankind reside in it".

Although the Idumaeans controlled the lands to the east and south of the Dead Sea, their peoples were held in contempt by the Israelites. Hence the Book of Psalms says "Moab is my washpot: over Edom will I cast out my shoe". According to the Torah, the congregation could not receive descendants of a marriage between an Israelite and an Edomite until the fourth generation. This law was a subject of controversy between Shimon ben Yohai, who said it applied only to male descendants, and other Tannaim, who said female descendants were also excluded for four generations. From these, some early conversion laws in halacha were derived.

Classical Idumaea

Persian period

Compared to the neighboring Moabites and Ammonites, the name "Edom" completely disappeared from the area east of Arabah. The Qedarites controlled the territory, followed by the Nabateans, thus ensuring the end of Iron Age Edom. According to ostraca from sites in Idumaea, i.e. southern Judah after the fall of the kingdom to the Babylonians, dating mainly to the 4th century BCE, a diverse population of Arabs, Edomites as well as Judeans and Phoenicians inhabited the area during the late Persian period. Strabo identifies Idumeans with the Nabateans who were expelled to southern Judea after committing sedition. However, there is evidence for cultural continuity between the Iron Age Edom and Idumea, based on settlement patterns and religious practices.

Hellenistic period

During the Hellenistic period, both Jews and Idumeans spoke Aramaic and used it for literary and legal documents. An Idumean marriage contract from Maresha, dating from 176 BCE, closely resembles the ketubbot used by Jews. However, despite these cultural similarities, some Jews maintained a distinct boundary between themselves and the Idumeans. This is evident in Ben Sira 50:25–26, which expresses disdain for three "nations," including "the inhabitants of Se'ir", referring to the Edomites/Idumeans.

During the revolt of the Maccabees against the Seleucid kingdom (early 2nd century BC), II Maccabees refers to a Seleucid general named Gorgias as "Governor of Idumaea"; whether he was a Greek or a Hellenized Idumean is unknown. Some scholars maintain that the reference to Idumaea in that passage is an error altogether.

According to Josephus, the Judeans under Judas Maccabeus first defeated the Idumaeans in the two Idumaean border towns of Hebron and Marisa and plundered them around 163 BC. About 50 years later, Judeans under John Hyrcanus I again attacked Marisa and the nearby Adoraim: according to Josephus and Ammonius Grammaticus, Hyrcanus conquered the cities of Marisa and Adoraim, forcibly converted all Idumaeans to Judaism and incorporated them into the Jewish nation:

Hyrcanus also captured the Idumean cities of Adora and Marisa and after subduing all the Idumeans, permitted them to remain in their country as long as they had themselves circumcised and were willing to observe the laws of the Jews. And so, out of attachment to the land of their fathers, they submitted to circumcision and to make their manner of life conform in all other respects to that of the Jews. And from that time onward they have continued to be Jews.

However, since the late 1980s, scholars have increasingly questioned the traditional account of Idumaea's conquest and forced conversion by the Hasmoneans. Several reasons have been proposed for this skepticism. As a result, historians have toned down the Hasmonean history of Idumaea as recounted by Josephus in several ways:

(a) Traditional account: Some historians still maintain that the events happened largely as Josephus describes.

(b) Moderated Conquest: This view was first moderated by the assumption that only Maresha and Adoraim, located on Idumaea's northern border, were actually conquered, while other Idumeans voluntarily aligned themselves with the Judeans. The reports of forced conversions, in this view, are either anti-Hasmonean propaganda or, conversely, Hasmonean propaganda, which Josephus (mistakenly) incorporated into his historical work.

(c) Fictional Conquest: Atkinson takes this further by considering the entire account of the conquest to be fictional. He also believes that "many Idumeans never fully embraced Judaism."

(d) No Annexation: However, while Atkinson still maintains that archaeology suggests "the region south of Judea was annexed without any significant conflict," Berlin and Kosmin now argue that even the annexation of Idumea and the Idumeans into the Judean state is fictional, noting that, as corroborated by archaeology, after most Idumaeans left Idumaea, Judeans did not settle in this abandoned area. In line with this interpretation, it is now often assumed that Idumaea was not annexed by the Hasmoneans at all. Instead, the remaining Idumeans may have entered into an alliance with the Judeans, within which the Idumaean religion could continue to be practiced.

This reinterpretation leaves the prior depopulation of Idumaea as an open question, comparable to the simultaneous depopulation of Galilee and Philistia.

Herodian dynasty

Antipater the Idumaean, the progenitor of the Herodian dynasty along with Judean progenitors that ruled Judea after the Roman conquest, was of Idumean origin. Under Herod the Great, the Idumaea province was ruled for him by a series of governors, among whom were his brother Joseph ben Antipater and his brother-in-law Costobarus.

Overall, Herodian influence on Judea, Jerusalem and the Temple was significant. However, this was obsfucated by later variants of Second Temple Judaism and Rabbinic Judaism . For example, a minority of contemporary Jews argued Herod could not be Jewish because of his genealogical origins. These beliefs were promoted by works such as Jubilees and 4QMMT, which were of Essene, Hasidean or Sadducee origin. These Jews did not openly express their views because Herod violently suppressed critics. Evie Gassner believed the sages disparaged Herod because he supported the Sadducees, who opposed the Pharisees.

By 66 CE, during the First Jewish–Roman War, the Zealot leader Simon bar Giora attacked the Jewish converts of Upper Idumaea and brought near complete destruction to the surrounding villages and countryside in that region. It was part of his wider plan to attack Jerusalem and seize authority for himself. According to Josephus, during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE by Titus, 20,000 Idumaeans, under the leadership of John, Simon, Phinehas, and Jacob, joined the Zealots as they besieged the Temple. Idumean zealotry arguably reflected their attempts to 'prove' their Jewishness. After the Jewish–Roman wars, the Idumaean people disappear from written history, though the geographical region of "Idumea" is still referred to at the time of Jerome.

Borders

Josephus, when referring to Upper Idumaea, speaks of towns and villages immediately to the south and south-west of Jerusalem, such as Hebron (Antiq. 12.8.6,Wars 4.9.7), Halhul, in Greek called Alurus (Wars 4.9.6), Bethsura (Antiq. 12.9.4), Begabris (Wars 4.8.1.), Dura (Adorayim) (Antiq. 13.9.1, Wars 1.2.5), Caphethra (Wars 4.9.9), Bethletephon (Wars 4.8.1), Teqoa (Wars 4.9.5), and Marissa (Antiq. 13.9.1, Wars 1.2.5), the latter being a principal city of Idumaea after the influx of Idumaeans into the Hebron Hills, shortly after the demise of the kingdom of Judah and the Judean exile in the 6th-century BC. Strabo describes western Judea as being populated by Idumeans, who commingled with Judeans and adopted their customs.

Archaeological records gleaned from Maresha, though largely of Idumaean origin, attest to the region being under the influences of Hellenistic culture, as well as that of Nabatean/Arab, Phoenician, Palmyrene and Jewish culture. The Gospel of Mark states that the Idumeans joined Judeans, Jerusalemites, Tyrians, Sidonians and east Jordanians in meeting Jesus by the Sea of Galilee. The Mishnah refers to Rabbi Ishmael's dwelling place in Kfar Aziz as being "near to Edom."

Religion

The nature of Edomite religion is largely unknown before their conversion to Judaism by the Hasmoneans. Epigraphical evidence suggests that the national god of Edom was Qaus (קוס) (also known as 'Qaush', 'Kaush', 'Kaus', 'Kos' or 'Qaws'), since Qaus is invoked in the blessing formula in letters and appear in personal names found in ancient Edom. As close relatives of other Levantine Semites and Arabs, they seem to have worshiped such gods as El, Baal and 'Uzza. In some Jewish tradition stemming from the Talmud, the descendants of Esau are the Romans (and to a larger extent, all Europeans).

Juan Manuel Tebes argues that Qaus is a similar god to Yahweh. Qaus seems to have descended from a cultural heritage common between Edomites and Jews, with the worship of both the Edomite Qaus and the God of the Israelites being described by Egyptians. Qaus's popularity during the Persian and Hellenistic periods appears, according to Tebes, to have forced the purportedly pro-Yahwist authors of the Book of Chronicles to portray several Edomite persons as 'pious Levites'. Clues about their Edomite heritage appear to be hidden in their theophoric names.

Josephus states that Costobarus was descended from the priests of "the Koze, whom the Idumeans had formerly served as a god". Victor Sasson describes an Edomite text that parallels the Book of Job, which provides insight on the language, literature, and religion of Edom.

Economy

Khirbat en-Nahas is a large-scale copper-mining site excavated by archaeologist Thomas Levy in what is now southern Jordan. The scale of mining on the site is regarded as evidence of a strong, centralized 10th century BC Edomite kingdom.

See also

• Edomite language
• ʿApiru
• List of rulers of Edom
• Gerim

Notes

1. In detail:
   1. While Strabo also reports that the Idumeans "joined the Judeans and shared in the same customs with them," he makes no mention of coercion, which was generally rare in antiquity.
   2. The Idumeans most probably did already practice circumcision, like most Arab peoples, a fact that has been corroborated archaeologically through the discovery of circumcised stone phalli excavated at Maresha.
   3. Recent archaeological findings have revealed that Mikvaot (ritual baths), long considered evidence that the Idumeans indeed adopted Jewish customs after conversion, were actually used by the Idumeans even earlier than by the Judeans. This suggests that, rather than the Idumeans adopting Jewish laws, the influence may have flowed in the opposite direction. Additionally, other practices, such as the use of ritually purified vessels, specific burial customs, pork avoidance, and cultic aniconism further support this idea.
   4. Excavations indicate that nearly all Idumaean settlements were not conquered, nor did the Idumeans remain in their land "out of attachment for it," as Josephus claims. Instead, nearly all Idumaean sites were abandoned during the Hasmonean period, mostly without evidence of conflict.

   5. External image
      Altar of Qos in Mamre

      Both archaeological and historical evidence – namely, Josephus' report of an Idumaean named Costobarus, from a family of Qos priests, whom Herod appointed as governor of Idumaea and Philistia, but who purportedly rebelled against Herod by promoting the Qos faith, and the presence of a Herodian Qos sanctuary in Mamre – suggest that the Idumeans were not fully integrated into Judaism even after the Hasmonean era, but that the Idumeans who repopulated Idumaea after the Hasmonean period continued to practice the Idumean religion.
   6. Furthermore, the parallel account of the conquest and forced conversion of the Itureans is now widely considered fictional, with even clearer archaeological evidence than in the case of Idumaea. Similarly, in other regions, where Josephus reports a conquest without conversion, archaeology also fails to support Josephus's narrative.

References

1. Levin, Yigal (2015). "The Formation of Idumean Identity". Aram. 27. London: 187–202.
2. "Edom". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
3. churchofjesuschrist.org: "Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide" (retrieved 2012-02-25), IPA-ified from «ē´dum»
4. ^ Parpola, Simo (1970). Neo-Assyrian Toponyms. Kevaeler: Butzon & Bercker. pp. 364–365.
5. ^ Gauthier, Henri (1925). Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques. Vol. 1. p. 126.
6. Wöhrle, Jakob (2019). "Edom / Edomiter". WiBiLex. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
7. ^ Negev, Avraham; Gibson, Shimon (2001). "Edom; Edomites". Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land (Revised and updated ed.). New York / London: Continuum. pp. 149–150.
8. Prof. Itzhaq Beit-Arieh (December 1996). "Edomites Advance into Judah". Biblical Archaeology Review. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
9. Jan Gunneweg; Th. Beier; U. Diehl; D. Lambrecht; H. Mommsen (August 1991). "'Edomite', 'Negbite'and 'Midianite' pottery from the Negev desert and Jordan: instrumental neutron activation analysis results". Archaeometry. 33 (2). Oxford, UK: Oxford University: 239–253. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1991.tb00701.x. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
10. Negev & Gibson (ed.), 2001, Idumea, pp. 239–240
11. Ben-Yosef (1979), p. 25
12. Charles Léon Souvay, ed. (1910). "Idumea". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
13. "Edom". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
14. ^ Levin, Yigal (2020-09-24). "The Religion of Idumea and Its Relationship to Early Judaism". Religions. 11 (10): 487. doi:10.3390/rel11100487. ISSN 2077-1444.
15. Levin, Yigal (2020-09-24). "The Religion of Idumea and Its Relationship to Early Judaism". Religions. 11 (10): 487. doi:10.3390/rel11100487. ISSN 2077-1444.
16. ^ Lepinski, Nadav (n.d.). "Tell Maresha". In Ben-Yosef, Sefi (ed.). Israel Guide - Judaea (A useful encyclopedia for the knowledge of the country) (in Hebrew). Vol. 9. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, in affiliation with the Israel Ministry of Defence. p. 325. OCLC 745203905.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
17. Eph'al, Israel (1998). "Changes in Palestine during the Persian Period in Light of Epigraphic Sources". Israel Exploration Journal. 48 (1/2): 115. JSTOR 27926503.
18. Genesis 25:25
19. Genesis 25:29–34
20. Genesis 36:9: This is the genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites
21. Redford, Egypt, Canaan and Israel in Ancient Times, Princeton Univ. Press, 1992. p.228, 318.
22. Crowell 2021, p. 47.
23. Tebes 2022, p. 651.
24. Müller, Asien und Europa, p. 135.
25. "Israeli researchers identify biblical kingdom of Edom - Israel News - Jerusalem Post". www.jpost.com. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
26. Amanda Borschel-Dan. "Bible-era nomadic Edomite tribesmen were actually hi-tech copper mavens". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
27. Levy, Thomas E.; Najjar, Mohammad; Tirosh, Ofir; Yagel, Omri A.; Liss, Brady; Ben-Yosef, Erez (2019-09-18). "Ancient technology and punctuated change: Detecting the emergence of the Edomite Kingdom in the Southern Levant". PLOS ONE. 14 (9): e0221967. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1421967B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221967. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6750566. PMID 31532811.
28. Ptolemy, "Geography," v. 16
29. Strabo, Geography Bk.16.2.34
30. "Herod | Biography & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
31. Retso, Jan (2013-07-04). The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads. Routledge. ISBN 9781136872891.
32. Chancey, Mark A. (2002-05-23). The Myth of a Gentile Galilee. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139434652.
33. Shahid, Irfan; Shahîd, Irfan (1984). Rome and the Arabs: A Prolegomenon to the Study of Byzantium and the Arabs. Dumbarton Oaks. ISBN 9780884021155.
34. Deuteronomy 1:2; Deuteronomy 2:1–8
35. Judges 11:17–18; 2 Kings 3:8–9
36. Deuteronomy 2:13–18
37. Genesis 36:33; Isaiah 34:6, Isaiah 63:1, et al.
38. Tobi, Yosef Yuval (2019). "The Bible as History: Sa'adia Gaon, Yefet ben 'Eli, Samuel ben Ḥofni, and Maimonides on the Genealogy of Esau and the Kingdom of Edom (Genesis 36)". In Polliack, Meira; Brenner-Idan, Athalya (eds.). Jewish Biblical Exegesis from Islamic Lands (PDF). Society of Biblical Literature (SBL Press). pp. 101–120. doi:10.2307/j.ctvrs8z1w. S2CID 243304416.
39. 2 Kings 14:7
40. 1 Kings 9:26
41. "Genesis 36:31-43". www.sefaria.org.
42. Gordon, Bruce R. "Edom (Idumaea)". Regnal Chronologies. Archived from the original on 2006-04-29. Retrieved 2006-08-04.
43. ^ Richard Gottheil, Max Seligsohn (1901-06-19). "Edom, Idumaea". The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. Funk and Wagnalls. pp. 40–41. LCCN 16014703. Archived from the original on 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2005-07-25.
44. 1 Chronicles 1:43–54
45. Numbers 20:14–20, King James Version 1611
46. Numbers 20:21
47. 2 Samuel 9:14–22; Josephus, Jewish Antiquities viii. 7, S 6
48. 2 Samuel 8:14
49. 2 Kings 3:9–26
50. Dykehouse, Jason (2013). "Biblical Evidence from Obadiah and Psalm 137 for an Edomite Treaty Betrayal of Judah in the Sixth Century B.C.E." Antiguo Oriente. 11: 75–122.
51. "Bible Gateway passage: Numbers 24:14, Numbers 24:17-18, Isaiah 11:14, Amos 9:11-12 - New American Standard Bible". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
52. ^ Levin, Yigal (2020-09-24). "The Religion of Idumea and Its Relationship to Early Judaism". Religions. 11 (10): 487. doi:10.3390/rel11100487. ISSN 2077-1444.
53. "Bible Gateway passage: Jeremiah 49:17-18 - New American Standard Bible". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
54. Psalms 60:8 and Psalms 108:9
55. Deuteronomy 23:8–9
56. Yevamot 76b
57. Kloner, Amos; Stern, Ian (2007). "Idumea in the Late Persian Period (Fourth Century B.C.E.)". In Lipschits, Oded; Knoppers, Gary N.; Albertz, Rainer (eds.). Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E. Penn State University Press. pp. 139–143. ISBN 9781575065809.
58. ^ Goodblatt, David, ed. (2006), "Theoretical Considerations: Nationalism and Ethnicity in Antiquity", Elements of Ancient Jewish Nationalism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 21–22, doi:10.1017/cbo9780511499067.002, ISBN 978-0-521-86202-8, retrieved 2024-06-14
59. Eshel, Esther; Kloner, Amos (1996). "An Aramaic Ostracon of an Edomite Marriage Contract from Maresha, Dated 176 B.C.E." Israel Exploration Journal. 46 (1/2): 1–22. ISSN 0021-2059. JSTOR 27926413.
60. Josephus, "Ant." xii. 8, § 6
61. Josephus, "Ant." xiii. 9, § 1; xiv. 4, § 4
62. Ammonius, De Adfinium Vocabulorum Differentiae 243, possibly quoting Ptolemy: "Jews and Idumaeans differ, as Ptolemy states . The Idumaeans, on the other hand, were not originally Jews, but Phoenicians and Syrians; having been subjugated by the Jews and having been forced to undergo circumcision, so as to be counted among the Jewish nation and keep the same customs, they were called Jews."
63. Weitzman, Steven (1999). "Forced Circumcision and the Shifting Role of Gentiles in Hasmonean Ideology". The Harvard Theological Review. 92 (1): 37–59. doi:10.1017/S0017816000017843. ISSN 0017-8160. JSTOR 1510155. S2CID 162887617.
64. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.257-58
65. Strabo, Geographica 16.2.34
66. ^ Ian Stern (2012). "Ethnic Identities and Circumcised Phalli at Hellenistic Maresha". Strata. 30: 63–74.
67. Stern, Ian (2022). "The Evolution of an Edomite Idumean Identity. Hellenistic Period Maresha as a Case Study". In Hensel, Benedikt; Ben Zvi, Ehud; Edelman, Diana V. (eds.). About Edom and Idumea in the Persian Period. Recent Research and Approaches from Archaeology, Hebrew Bible Studies and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Sheffield / Bristol: Equinox. pp. 12–13. Paginazion according to linked Open Access version.
68. ^ Itzhaq Beit-Arieh, Liora Freud (2015). Tel Malḥata. A Central City in the Biblical Negev. Volume I. Eisenbrauns. pp. 17 f.
69. ^ Atkinson, Kenneth (2016). A History of the Hasmonean State. Josephus and Beyond. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-0-567-66903-2.
70. ^ Débora Sandhaus (2021). "Settlements and Borders in the Shephelah from the Fourth to the First Centuries BCE". In Andrea M. Berlin, Paul J. Kosmin (ed.). The Middle Maccabees. Archaeology, History, and the Rise of the Hasmonean Kingdom. Atlanta: SBL Press. p. 89.
71. Exceptions: Khirbet er-Rasm, possibly Maresha and Lachish (where, however, at least Josephus's chronology is incorrect according to Finkielsztejn); all at Idumaea's northern border. Probably not Arad (in the south): Both Faust (followed by van Maaren), who suggests a Hasmonean conquest of Stratum IV, and Shatzman, who speculates that the unfinished construction project started in Stratum IV could have been a Hasmonean endeavor, fail to take into account Herzog's latest excavation report, which attributes the destruction of the 3rd century Stratum IV to an earthquake, as suggested by the damaged water systems here and in the surrounding area. Cf. Finkielsztejn, Gerald (1998). "More Evidence on John Hyrcanus I's Conquests: Lead Weights and Rhodian Amphora Stamps". Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society. 16: 47–48.; Faust, Avraham; Ehrlich, Adi (2011). The Excavations of Khirbet er-Rasm, Israel. The changing faces of the countryside. Oxford: BAR Publishing. pp. 251–252.; van Maaren, John (2022). The Boundaries of Jewishness in the Southern Levant, 200 BCE–132 CE. Power, Strategies, and Ethnic Configurations. Berlin / Boston: de Gruyter. p. 115. ISBN 978-3-11-078745-0.; Shatzman, Israel (1991). The Armies of the Hasmonaeans and Herod. From Hellenistic to Roman Frameworks. Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr. pp. 55–56.; Herzog, Ze'ev (2002). "The Fortress Mound at Tel Arad: An Interim Report". Tel Aviv. 29 (1): 12–13, 76. doi:10.1179/tav.2002.2002.1.3.
72. Achim Lichtenberger (2007). Linda-Marie Günther (ed.). "Juden, Idumäer und "Heiden". Die herodianischen Bauten in Hebron und Mamre". Herodes und Rom. Franz Steiner Verlag: 78, fig. 14.
73. Magen, Y. (2003). "Mamre. A Cultic Site from the Reign of Herod". In Bottini, G. C.; Disegni, L.; Chrupcala, L. D. (eds.). One Land – Many Cultures. Archaeological Studies in Honour of St. Loffreda OFM. Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press. pp. 245–257.
74. Vlastimil Drbal (2017). "Pilgrimage and multi-religious worship. Palestinian Mamre in Late Antiquity". In Troels M. Kristensen, Wiebke Friese (ed.). Excavating Pilgrimage. Archaeological Approaches to Sacred Travel and Movement in the Ancient World. Routledge. pp. 250 f., 255–257.
75. Michał Marciak (2017). "Idumea and the Idumeans in Josephus' Story of Hellenistic-Early Roman Palestine (Ant XII–XX)" (PDF). Aevum. 91 (1): 185 f.
76. Cornell, Collin (2020). "The Costobar Affair: Comparing Idumaism and early Judaism". Journal of the Jesus Movement in Its Jewish Setting. 7: 97–98.
77. Katharina Heyden (2020). "Construction, Performance, and Interpretation of a Shared Holy Place. The Case of Late Antique Mamre (Rāmat al-Khalīl)". Entangled Religions. 11 (1).
78. Cf. Leibner, Uzi (2009). Settlement and History in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Galilee. An Archaeological Survey of the Eastern Galilee. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. p. 321. ISBN 978-3-16-149871-8.
79. Aviam, Mordechai (2013). "People, Land, Economy, and Belief in First-Century Galilee and Its Origins: A Comprehensive Archaeological Synthesis". In Fiensy, David A.; Hawkins, Ralph K. (eds.). The Galilean Economy in the Time of Jesus. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-58983-758-4. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
80. Atkinson, Kenneth (2020). "Josephus's Use of Scripture to Describe Hasmonean Territorial Expansion" (PDF). Jewish Studies, an Internet Journal. 19: 22, FN 69.
81. Cf. on the clearly continuous pagan character of the Iturean region also Aliquot, Julien (2008). "Sanctuaries and villages on Mt Hermon during the Roman Period". In Kaizer, Ted (ed.). The variety of local religious life in the Near East in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Vol. 164. Leiden / Boston: Brill. pp. 73–96. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004167353.i-396.21. ISBN 978-90-04-16735-3. See esp. the map on Plate IX.
82. E.g. Transjordan. Cf. Berlin, Andrea (1997). "Between Large Forces: Palestine in the Hellenistic Period". Biblical Archaeologist. 60 (1): 30–31. doi:10.2307/3210581. JSTOR 3210581.; Atkinson, Kenneth (2020). "Josephus's Use of Scripture to Describe Hasmonean Territorial Expansion" (PDF). Jewish Studies, an Internet Journal. 19: 22 FN 68.
83. E.g. Goodman, Martin (1994). Mission and Conversion. Proselytizing in the Religious History of the Roman Empire. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 75–76. ISBN 978-0-19-814941-5.
84. E.g. Chapman, Honora H. (2006). "Paul, Josephus, and the Judean Nationalistic and Imperialistic Policy of Forced Circumcision". 'Ilu. Revista de Ciencias de las Religiones. 11: 138–143.
85. E.g. van Maaren, John (2022). The Boundaries of Jewishness in the Southern Levant, 200 BCE–132 CE. Power, Strategies, and Ethnic Configurations. Berlin / Boston: de Gruyter. pp. 114–118. ISBN 978-3-11-078745-0.
86. Kasher, Aryeh (1988). Jews, Idumaeans, and Ancient Arabs. Relations of the Jews in Eretz-Israel with the Nations of the Frontier and the Desert During the Hellenistic and Roman Era (332 BCE-70 CE). Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 46–48. ISBN 978-3-16-145240-6.
87. Weitzman, Steven (1999). "Forced Circumcision and the Shifting Role of Gentiles in Hasmonean Ideology". The Harvard Theological Review. 92 (1): 37–59. doi:10.1017/S0017816000017843. ISSN 0017-8160. JSTOR 1510155. S2CID 162887617.
88. Atkinson, Kenneth (2016). A History of the Hasmonean State. Josephus and Beyond. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 67–69. ISBN 978-0-567-66903-2.
89. Atkinson, Kenneth (2016). A History of the Hasmonean State. Josephus and Beyond. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-567-66903-2.
90. Atkinson, Kenneth (2016). A History of the Hasmonean State. Josephus and Beyond. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-567-66903-2.
91. Berlin, Andrea M.; Kosmin, Paul J. (2021). "Conclusion: The Maccabean Rise to Power, in Archaeological and Historical Context". In Berlin, Andrea M.; Kosmin, Paul J. (eds.). The Middle Maccabees. Archaeology, History, and the Rise of the Hasmonean Kingdom. Atlanta: SBL Press. p. 404. ISBN 978-0-88414-504-2.
92. Cohen, Shaye J. D. (1999). The Beginnings of Jewishness. Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties. Berkeley / Los Angeles / London: University of California Press. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-0-520-21141-4.
93. Pasto, James (2002). "Origin, Impact, and Expansion of the Hasmoneans in Light of Comparative Ethnographic Studies (and Outside of its Nineteenth Century Context)". In Davies, Philip R.; Halligan, John M. (eds.). Second Temple Studies III. Studies in Politics, Class and Material Culture. London / New York: Sheffield Academic Press. pp. 197–198.
94. Eckhardt, Benedikt (2012). ""An Idumean, That Is, a Half-Jew". Hasmoneans and Herodians between Ancestry and Merit". Jewish Identity and Politics between the Maccabees and Bar Kokhba. Leiden: Brill. pp. 100–102.
95. Marshak, Adam Kolman (2012-01-01). "Rise of the Idumeans: Ethnicity and Politics in Herod's Judea". Jewish Identity and Politics Between the Maccabees and Bar Kokhba: 117–129. doi:10.1163/9789004218512_008. ISBN 9789004218512.
96. Levin, Yigal (2020). "The Religion of Idumea and Its Relationship to Early Judaism". Religions. 11 (10): 487. doi:10.3390/rel11100487.
97. McGuire, J. Amanda (2011). "Sacred Times: The Book of Jubilees at Qumran". Papers. 2 – via Digital Commons @ Andrews University.
98. Schiffman, Lawrence H., Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls: their True Meaning for Judaism and Christianity, Anchor Bible Reference Library (Doubleday) 1995.
99. ^ Thiessen, Matthew (2011). Contesting Conversion: Genealogy, Circumcision, and Identity in Ancient Judaism and Christianity. Oxford University Press. pp. 87–110. ISBN 9780199914456.
100. Gassner, Evie (2019). "How Jewish Was Herod?". TheTorah.com.
101. Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War) IV, 514 (Wars of the Jews 4.9.3) and De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War) IV, 529 (Wars of the Jews 4.9.7)
102. Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book IV
103. Josephus, The Jewish War iv. 4, § 5
104. Marciak, Michael (2017). "Idumea and the Idumeans in Josephus' Story of Hellenistic-Early Roman Palestine (Ant. XII-XX)". Aevum. 91 (1). Vita e Pensiero: 171–193. JSTOR 26477573.
105. Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1856). Biblical Researches in Palestine, and in the Adjacent Regions. Journal of Travels in the Year 1838. Vol. 2. London / Boston: Crocker & Brewster. p. 67 (note 7). OCLC 425957927., citing Reland who cites in turn Tyrannius Rufinus in his Latin translation of Josephus' The Jewish War (4.8.1.).
106. Strabo, Geography Bk.16.2.34
107. Ameling, Walter; Cotton, Hannah M.; Eck, Werner; Ecker, Avner; Isaac, Benjamin (2018). Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae / Palaestinae. Vol. 4 (Iudaea / Idumaea). Berlin/Munich: De Gruyter. p. 939. ISBN 9783110544213.
108. Mark 3:8
109. Mishna Kilaim 6:4; Ketuvot 5:8
110. Ahituv, Shmuel. Echoes from the Past: Hebrew and Cognate Inscriptions from the Biblical Period. Jerusalem, Israel: Carta, 2008, pp. 351, 354
111. M. Leuenberger (2017). "YHWH's Provenance from the South". In J. van Oorschot; M. Witte (eds.). The Origins of Yahwism. Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110447118.
112. "Did the Edomite tribe Magdiel found Rome? | AskNoah.org". January 13, 2011.
113. "Edomites". in rabbinical sources, the word "Edom" was a code name for Rome
114. "Esau the Ancestor of Rome - TheTorah.com". www.thetorah.com. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
115. Tebes, Juan Manuel (2022). "Why the Bible Is Mute about Qos, the Edomite God". TheTorah.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024.
116. Antiquities of the Jews, Book 15, chapter 7, section 9
117. Victor Sasson (2006). "An Edomite Joban Text, with a Biblical Joban Parallel". Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft. 117 (4). doi:10.1515/zatw.2006.117.4.601. S2CID 170594788.
118. Kings of Controversy Robert Draper National Geographic, December 2010.

Bibliography

• Tebes, Juan Manuel (2022). "Edom and the Southern Jordan in the Iron Age". In Keimer, Kyle H.; Pierce, George A. (eds.). The Ancient Israelite World. Taylor & Francis. pp. 639–654. ISBN 978-1-000-77324-8.
• Crowell, Bradley L. (2021). Edom at the Edge of Empire: A Social and Political History. SBL Press. ISBN 978-0-88414-528-8.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Edom". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
• Negev, Avraham; Gibson, Shimon, eds. (2001). Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land. New York and London: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-1316-1. Retrieved 26 July 2021.

External links

• Spencer, Richard (24 September 2019). "Scientists find state of Edom which they thought was a Bible story". The Times. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
• UCSD article on age of Edom

• Edom
• States and territories established in the 13th century BC
• States and territories disestablished in the 2nd century BC
• Torah places
• Semitic-speaking peoples
• Groups who converted to Judaism
• Aqaba
• Former kingdoms
• Transjordan (region)
• Canaanite people