Information AboutEdom |
|
ESAU AS EDOM The Book Of Genesis mentions "red" a number of times when describing Esau, and has been alternate name in describing him:
THE EDOMITES The Bible refers to Esau's descendents as "''Edomim''" or "Edomites". The Edomite people are known from history to have been a Semitic-speaking tribal group inhabiting the Negev Desert and the Aravah valley of what is now southern Israel and Jordan . According to Genesis, Esau's descendents were said to have settled in this land after displacing the Horites . The reddish Sandstone of the region may be an alternative explanation for the nation's name to that found in Genesis. Their homeland was also called the land of Seir ; Mount Seir appears to have been strongly identified with them and may have been a cultic site. The Edomites may have been connected with the '' Shasu '' and '' Shutu '', nomadic raiders mentioned in Egypt ian 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. (Redford, ''Egypt, Canaan and Israel in Ancient Times'', Princeton Univ. Press, 1992. p.228, 318.) In the Bible Their original country, according to the its Seaport s (I Kings 9:26). Genesis 36 is dedicated to chronicling the history of Esau's family and of the kings of Edom: These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom before a king ruled the children of Israel. And , clan Alvah , clan Jetheth , clan Aholibamah , clan Elah , clan Pinon , clan Kenaz , clan Teman , clan Mibzar , clan Magdiel , clan Iram . (Genesis 36:31-43) If the account may be taken at face value, it appears that the kingship of Edom was, at least in early times, Elective rather than Hereditary . Deuteronomy mentions both a king and Chieftain s. When the King of Edom refused to allow the Israelites to pass through his land on their way to the land of Canaan the Israelites were expressly ordered not to wage war upon the Edomites, but to go around their country ( Num. 20:14-21; Deut. 2:4-6); neither did the King of Edom attempt hostilities against the Israelites, though he prepared to resist aggression. Nothing further is recorded of the Edomites in the Bible until their defeat by 25:11-12). In the time of 49:7-22; Obad. passim). According to the 76b). Economy The Kingdom of Edom drew much of its livelihood from the caravan trade between Egypt, the Levant , Mesopotamia , and southern Arabia , along the Incense Route. Astride the King's Highway , the Edomites were one of several states in the region for whom trade was vital due to the scarcity of arable land. Edom's location on the southern highlands left it with only a small strip of land that received sufficient rain for farming. Edom probably exported Salt and Balsam (used for perfume and Temple incense in the ancient world) from the Dead Sea region. Post-Biblical Times Edom is mentioned in from their ancestral lands to the south and east. During the revolt of the conquered their territory for a time in around 163 BCE (Josephus, "Ant." xii. 8, §§ 1, 6). They were again subdued by John Hyrcanus (c. 125 BCE), by whom they were forced to observe Jewish rites and laws (ib. xiii. 9, § 1; xiv. 4, § 4). They were then incorporated with the Jewish nation. The Hasmonean official Antipater The Idumaean was of Edomite origin. He was the progenitor of the Herodian Dynasty that ruled over Judea after its conquest by the Romans. Under Herod The Great Idumaea was ruled for him by a series of governors, among whom were his brother Joseph Ben Antipater and his brother-in-law Costobarus . Immediately before the siege of Jerusalem by Titus 20,000 Idumaeans, under the leadership of John, Simeon, Phinehas, and Jacob, appeared before Jerusalem to fight in behalf of the Zealots who were besieged in the Temple (Josephus, "B. J." iv. 4, § 5). After the Jewish Wars the Idumaeans ceased to be a separate people, though the geographical name "Idumea" still existed at the time of St. Jerome . Edomite religion The nature of Edomite religion is largely unknown. As close relatives of other Levantine Semites , they may have worshipped such gods as El , Baal , Asherah , and possibly even YHWH . A national god named Kaus (possibly analogous with the Moabite god Chemosh ) is known from personal names and from an altar inscription discovered near Mamre . Identification with Rome Later in Jewish history, it was the Roman Empire that came to be identified with Esau and "Edom". In medieval Rabbinic writing, "Edom" is used to refer to the Byzantine Empire and Christendom in general (cf. the use of " Ishmael " to refer to the Islamic world). See extended discussuion of this aspect under Esau . CONTROVERSY For over a century, archeologists specializing in the Middle East maintained that there was no evidence of an organized state society in Edom earlier than the 800's or 700's BCE. Biblical Minimalists touted this fact as one piece of evidence of the Bible's Myth ical nature and ultimate unreliability as a historical source. (Redford 305) Recently, however, excavations such as the 2004-2004 UCSD dig at Khirbat An-Nahas in Jordan have shed new light on the history of Edom, unearthing artifacts and evidence of settled state society as early as the tenth century BC( 1 , 2 ), although whether and to what extent these sites reflect Edomite statehood is debated.( 3 ) MODERN USE OF "ALUF" Since their formation in 1948, the Israeli Defence Forces are using, to denote the ranks of their senior officers, the above-mentioned Edomite title "Aluf" (plural "Alufim"). As noted, in its original context the term has been variously translated as "clans", "chiefs", "generals" or "dukes". See Aluf . SEE ALSO RESOURCES
|
|
|