Edom

Kingdom of Edom 𐤀𐤃𐤌
c. 13th century BC–c. 553 BC[1]
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[1]
Today part of	Jordan Israel

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Edom (/ˈiːdəm/;^[2][3] Edomite: 𐤀𐤃𐤌 ʾDM; Hebrew: אֱדוֹם ʾĔḏōm, lit.: "red"; Akkadian: 𒌑𒁺𒈪 Údumi, 𒌑𒁺𒈬 Údumu;^[4] Ancient Egyptian: jdwmꜥ)^[5] was an ancient kingdom that stretched across areas in the south of present-day Jordan and Israel.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[7] 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.^[7] 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.^[8][9]

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.^[10][11] 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.^[12][13] During the 2nd century BC, the Edomites were forcibly converted to Judaism by the Hasmoneans and were incorporated into the Jewish population.^[14] Other scholars believe that the assimilation was voluntary.^[15]

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)^{[dubious – discuss]} when Judah was first weakened and then destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC.^[16][17]

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".^[18] As a young adult, he sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a portion of "red pottage".^[19] The Tanakh describes the Edomites as descendants of Esau.^[20]

jdwmꜥ Edom[5] 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.^[21] The earliest Iron Age settlements—possibly copper mining camps—date to the 11th century BC.^[22] 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.^[23]

Edom is mentioned in Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions in the form 𒌑𒁺𒈪 Údumi and 𒌑𒁺𒈬 Údumu;^[4] 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.^[24]

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."^[25][26][27]

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.^[28] 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,^[29] a view not necessarily shared by modern scholarly works.^{[30][31][32][33]}

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, which was the seaport of Edom.^[34] On the north of Edom was the territory of Moab.^[35] The boundary between Moab and Edom was the brook of Zered.^[36] The ancient capital of Edom was Bozrah.^[37] According to Genesis, Esau's descendants settled in the land after they had displaced the Horites.^[38] 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 Amaziah (838 BC), Selah was its principal stronghold,^[39] Eilat and Ezion-geber its seaports.^[40]

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

These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom before a king ruled the children of Israel. And Bela ben Beor ruled in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. And Bela died, and Jobab ben Zerah from Bozrah ruled in his place. And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani ruled in his place. And Husham died, and Hadad ben Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, ruled in his place, and the name of his city was Avith. And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah ruled in his place. And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth on the river ruled in his place. And Saul died, and Baal-hanan ben Achbor ruled in his place. And Baal-hanan ben Achbor died, and Hadar ruled in his place, and the name of his city was Pau, and his wife's name was Mehetabel bat Matred bat Mezahab. And these are the names of the clans of Esau by their families, by their places, by their names: clan Timnah, clan Alvah, clan Jetheth, clan Aholibamah, clan Elah, clan Pinon, clan Kenaz, clan Teman, clan Mibzar, clan Magdiel, clan Iram.^[41]

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 Zachariah twice (9:7, 12:5–6) it had evolved to describe Jewish captains, the word also is used multiple times as a general term for teacher or guide for example in Psalm 55:13.^[42] Aluph as it is used to denote teach or guide from the Edomite word for duke is used 69 times in the Tanakh.

If the account may be taken at face value, the kingship of Edom was, at least in early times, not hereditary,^[43] perhaps elective.^[44] The first book of Chronicles mentions both a king and chieftains.^[45] 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.^[46] Accordingly, they detoured around the country because of his show of force^[47] 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).^[48] From that time Edom remained a vassal of Israel. David placed over the Edomites Israelite governors or prefects,^[49] 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^[50] 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.^[51] The people of Edom would be dealt with during the Messiah's rulership, according to the prophets.^[52] Despite this, many Edomites peacefully migrated to southern Judea, which continued even during the reign of Nabonidus.^[53]Regarding the territory of Edom, the book of Jeremiah states that "no one will live there, nor will anyone of mankind reside in it".^[54]

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".^[55] According to the Torah,^[56] 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^[57] for four generations. From these, some early conversion laws in halacha were derived.

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.^[53] 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.^[58] 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^{[clarification needed]}.^[53]

During the Hellenistic period, both Jews and Idumeans spoke Aramaic and used it for literary and legal documents.^[59] An Idumean marriage contract from Maresha, dating from 176 BCE, closely resembles the ketubbot used by Jews.^[60][59] 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.^[59]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[61] About 50 years later, Judeans under John Hyrcanus I again attacked Marisa and the nearby Adoraim: according to Josephus^[62] and Ammonius Grammaticus,^[63] Hyrcanus conquered the cities of Marisa and Adoraim, forcibly converted all Idumaeans to Judaism and incorporated them into the Jewish nation:^[64][44]

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.^[65]

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.^{[nb 1]} 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.^[84][85][86]

(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^[87] or, conversely, Hasmonean propaganda,^[88] 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.^[89] He also believes that "many Idumeans [...] never fully embraced Judaism."^[90]

(d) No Annexation: However, while Atkinson still maintains that archaeology suggests "the region south of Judea [including Maresha] was annexed without any significant conflict,"^[91] 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.^[92] 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.^[93][94][95]

This reinterpretation leaves the prior depopulation of Idumaea^[69][70][71] as an open question, comparable to the simultaneous depopulation of Galilee and Philistia.

Antipater the Idumaean, the progenitor of the Herodian dynasty along with Judean progenitors that ruled Judea after the Roman conquest, was of Idumean origin.^[96] 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 .^[97] 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.^[98][99] These Jews did not openly express their views because Herod violently suppressed critics. ^[100] Evie Gassner believed the sages disparaged Herod because he supported the Sadducees, who opposed the Pharisees.^[101]

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.^[102] It was part of his wider plan to attack Jerusalem and seize authority for himself.^[103] 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.^[104] Idumean zealotry arguably reflected their attempts to 'prove' their Jewishness.^[100] 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.^[44]

Josephus, when referring to Upper Idumaea, speaks of towns and villages immediately to the south and south-west of Jerusalem,^[105] 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.),^[106] Dura (Adorayim) (Antiq. 13.9.1, Wars 1.2.5), Caphethra (Wars 4.9.9), Bethletephon (Wars 4.8.1), Tekoa (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 Mount Hebron region, shortly after the demise of the kingdom of Judah and the Judean exile in the 6th-century BC.^[16] Strabo describes western Judea as being populated by Idumeans, who commingled with Judeans and adopted their customs.^[107]

Archaeological records gleaned from Maresha, though largely of Idumaean origin, attest to the region being under the influences of Greek culture, as well as that of Nabatean/Arab, Phoenician, Palmyrene and Jewish culture.^[108] The Gospel of Mark states that the Idumeans joined Judeans, Jerusalemites, Tyrians, Sidonians and east Jordanians in meeting Jesus by the Sea of Galilee.^[109] The Mishnah refers to Rabbi Ishmael's dwelling place in Kfar Aziz as being "near to Edom."^[110]

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.^[111] As close relatives of other Levantine Semites and Arabs, they seem to have worshiped such gods as El, Baal and 'Uzza.^[14][112] In some Jewish tradition stemming from the Talmud, the descendants of Esau are the Romans (and to a larger extent, all Europeans).^{[113][114][115]}

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.^[116]

Josephus states that Costobarus was descended from the priests of "the Koze, whom the Idumeans had formerly served as a god".^[117] Victor Sasson describes an Edomite text that parallels the Book of Job, which provides insight on the language, literature, and religion of Edom.^[118]

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.^[119]

• Edomite language
• Habiru
• List of rulers of Edom

• 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.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edom.

• 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