Edom

Edom was an ancient kingdom that stretched across areas in the south of present-day Israel, Jordan, and Palestine. 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 Hebrew Bible. 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.…

Edom was an ancient kingdom that stretched across areas in the south of present-day Israel, Jordan, and Palestine. 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 Hebrew Bible. 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 Hasmoneans, the Edomites either began or resumed following Jewish law and were subsumed into the larger Jewish population; Herod the Great was of Edomite origin. Whether this conversion was voluntary or forced is a matter of debate among scholars, as is the relationship between Edomite religion and Judaism, which were closely related. Edom and Idumea are two related but distinct terms; they relate to a historically-contiguous population but to two separate, though 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 Semitic root of Edom is dm meaning "man" (whence "Adam") and "red". Its semantic extensions include "earth" (adam-at) and "deserts". The Hebrew Bible writes of Esau, the elder son of the Hebrew patriarch Isaac, that 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. ==Ancient history== ===Edom=== 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 and ; 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." 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. ===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 shared by some modern scholarly works, which consider these Idumaeans as of Arab, possibly Nabataean, stock. This claim has been challenged by historians, however, as many also argue the Edomites not Arab through various different markers, most notably in how the Edomite language was most similar to Biblical Hebrew and Moabite than Classical or Nabataean Arabic, with the Nabataean Arabs having displaced rather than absorbed or originated the Edomites. The Idumean onomasticon catalogued in ostraca found in southern Palestine and dated to the 4th century BCE reveals a preponderance of Arabic names ending in waw and characterized as "proto-Nabataean". == Classical Idumaea== ===Persian period=== In the late 5th century BC, the Qedarite confederacy, headed by Geshem the Arab, were prominent players in the administration of the territory of southern Judea and Transjordan. Compared to the neighboring Moabites and Ammonites, the name "Edom" completely disappeared from the area east of Arabah. The Qedarite king of the Arabs had allied with Egyptian forces during their campaign into Palestine and Phoenicia in 387, challenging Persian dominance in the region. A Persian counterattack launched in 385 ended with the dissolution of the Qedarite kingdom and the creation of truncated province of Idumea by 365. 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. ==Religion== ]] The nature of Edomite religion is largely unknown before their conversion to Judaism by the Hasmoneans. Edomite and Israelites religious practices evolved in parallel and were closely related as part of the larger Semetic religious landscape. At times Edomites seem to have been accepted as part of the Jewish community and followed similar customs, such as circumcision, while at other times they were considered separate. 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. Unlike the gods of other nearby nations, Quaus is never mentioned in the Hebrew bible. Some scholars explain this as Qaus being such similar god to Yahweh, it made rejection of the former difficult. Both gods descend from a common cultural heritage, and may have orginated as nationalized versions of the same deity. Qaus's popularity during the Persian and Hellenistic periods may have forced the authors of the Book of Chronicles to portray several Edomite characters as 'pious Levites', to normalize the presence of Edomite worship at the Jerusalem temple. Clues about their Edomite heritage are 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. ===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. |250px]] 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 (796–769 BC), Selah was its principal stronghold, Eilat and Ezion-Geber its seaports. archaeological site, the former capital Bozra of Edom]] Genesis 36:31–43 lists the kings of Edom "before any Israelite king reigned": 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 ( ). 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 ( ). Forty years later King David and his general Joab defeated the Edomites in the "Valley of Salt" (probably near the Dead Sea; ; ). 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 ( ). Edom revolted against Jehoram and elected a king of its own ( ; ). Amaziah attacked and defeated the Edomites, seizing Selah, but the Israelites never subdued Edom completely ( ; ). In the time of Nebuchadnezzar II the Edomites may have helped plunder Jerusalem and slaughter the Judaeans in 587 or 586 BCE ( ; ). Some believe that it is for this reason the prophets denounced Edom ( ; ; 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. ==See also== Edomite language ʿApiru List of rulers of Edom Gerim ==References== ===Bibliography=== ==External links== UCSD article on age of Edom

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