Edom#Classical Idumaea

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".{{bibleverse|Genesis|25:25|9|Genesis 25:25}} As a young adult, he sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a portion of "red pottage".{{bibleverse|Genesis|25:29-34|9|Genesis 25:29-34}} The Tanakh describes the Edomites as descendants of Esau.{{bibleverse||Genesis|36:9|NKJV}}: This is the genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites

{{Further|Ancient history of the Negev|History of Jordan}}

{{Hiero|jdwmꜥ

Edom{{cite book |last1=Gauthier |first1=Henri |title=Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques |volume=1 |date=1925 |page=126 |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1925_1/page/n69}}|i-A2-d:W-G20-qmA-xAst|align=left|era=nk}}

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.Redford, Egypt, Canaan and Israel in Ancient Times, Princeton Univ. Press, 1992. p.228, 318. The earliest Iron Age settlements—possibly copper mining camps—date to the 11th century BC.{{sfn|Crowell|2021|p=47}} 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.{{sfn|Tebes|2022|p=651}}

Edom is mentioned in Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions in the form {{lang|akk|𒌑𒁺𒈪}} {{Transliteration|akk|Údumi}} and {{lang|akk|𒌑𒁺𒈬}} {{Transliteration|akk|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.Müller, Asien und Europa, p. 135.

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."{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Israeli-researchers-identify-biblical-kingdom-of-Edom-602158|title=Israeli researchers identify biblical kingdom of Edom - Israel News - Jerusalem Post|website=www.jpost.com|date=19 September 2019 |access-date=2019-09-23}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/bible-era-nomadic-edomite-tribesmen-were-actually-hi-tech-copper-mavens/|title=Bible-era nomadic Edomite tribesmen were actually hi-tech copper mavens|last=Amanda Borschel-Dan|website=www.timesofisrael.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-23}}{{Cite journal|last1=Levy|first1=Thomas E.|last2=Najjar|first2=Mohammad|last3=Tirosh|first3=Ofir|last4=Yagel|first4=Omri A.|last5=Liss|first5=Brady|last6=Ben-Yosef|first6=Erez|date=2019-09-18|title=Ancient technology and punctuated change: Detecting the emergence of the Edomite Kingdom in the Southern Levant|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=14|issue=9|pages=e0221967|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0221967|pmid=31532811|pmc=6750566|bibcode=2019PLoSO..1421967B|issn=1932-6203|doi-access=free}}

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.Ptolemy, "Geography," v. 16 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,Strabo, Geography Bk.16.2.34 a view not necessarily shared by modern scholarly works.{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herod-king-of-Judaea|title=Herod {{!}} Biography & Facts|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2018-10-13|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uq2_tK0L2g4C&q=edomites|title=The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads|last=Retso|first=Jan|date=2013-07-04|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136872891|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YrrRaeP5po0C&pg=PA44 |title=The Myth of a Gentile Galilee|last=Chancey|first=Mark A.|date=2002-05-23|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139434652|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W4H97SA6pMAC&q=Idumaeans|title=Rome and the Arabs: A Prolegomenon to the Study of Byzantium and the Arabs|last1=Shahid|first1=Irfan|last2=Shahîd|first2=Irfan|date=1984|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks|isbn=9780884021155|language=en}}

File:Edom.PNG

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.{{Bibleverse||Deuteronomy|1:2}}; {{Bibleverse||Deuteronomy|2:1–8}} On the north of Edom was the territory of Moab.{{Bibleverse||Judges|11:17–18}}; {{bibleverse|2|Kings|3:8–9}}

File:Wadi Zered.JPG|250px]]

The boundary between Moab and Edom was the Zered, now called Wadi al-Hasa.{{Bibleverse||Deuteronomy|2:13–18}} The ancient capital of Edom was Bozrah, now Busaira, Jordan.{{Bibleverse||Genesis|36:33}}; {{Bibleverse||Isaiah|34:6}}, {{Bibleverse||Isaiah|63:1}}, et al. According to the Book of Genesis, Esau's descendants settled in the land after they had displaced the Horites.{{cite book |last=Tobi |first=Yosef Yuval |author-link=:he:יוסף טובי |editor-last1=Polliack |editor-first1=Meira |editor-last2=Brenner-Idan |editor-first2=Athalya |title=Jewish Biblical Exegesis from Islamic Lands |contribution=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)|publisher=Society of Biblical Literature (SBL Press) |pages=101–120|date=2019|url=https://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/pubs/066702P-front.pdf|doi=10.2307/j.ctvrs8z1w |s2cid=243304416 |language=en}} 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,{{bibleverse|2|Kings|14:7}} Eilat and Ezion-Geber its seaports.{{bibleverse|1|Kings|9:26}}

File:Bazra.JPG archaeological site, the former capital Bozra of Edom]]

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

{{blockquote|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.{{cite web |title=Genesis 36:31-43 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.36.31-43?lang=en&aliyot=0 |website=www.sefaria.org}}}}

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,{{cite web |last=Gordon |first=Bruce R. |title=Edom (Idumaea) |work=Regnal Chronologies |url=http://ellone-loire.net/obsidian/Holyland.html#Edom |access-date=2006-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060429152200/http://ellone-loire.net/obsidian/Holyland.html#Edom |archive-date=2006-04-29 |url-status=usurped }} perhaps elective.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Edom, Idumaea |encyclopedia=The Jewish Encyclopedia |volume=3 |pages=40–41 |author=Richard Gottheil, Max Seligsohn |publisher=Funk and Wagnalls |date=1901-06-19 |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view_page.jsp?artid=45&letter=E&pid=1 |access-date=2005-07-25 |lccn=16014703 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070921164021/http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view_page.jsp?artid=45&letter=E&pid=1 |archive-date=2007-09-21 }} The first book of Chronicles mentions both a king and chieftains.{{Bibleverse|1 Chronicles|1:43–54}} 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.{{Bibleverse||Numbers|20:14-20|KJV}}, King James Version 1611 Accordingly, they detoured around the country because of his show of force{{Bibleverse||Numbers|20:21}} or because God ordered them to do so rather than wage war ({{Bibleverse||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 ({{bibleverse|1|Samuel|14:47|NIV}}). Forty years later King David and his general Joab defeated the Edomites in the "Valley of Salt" (probably near the Dead Sea; {{bibleverse|2|Samuel|8:13–14}}; {{bibleverse|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).{{bibleverse|2|Samuel|9:14–22}}; Josephus, Jewish Antiquities viii. 7, S 6 From that time Edom remained a vassal of Israel. David placed over the Edomites Israelite governors or prefects,{{bibleverse|2|Samuel|8:14}} 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{{bibleverse|2|Kings|3:9–26}} 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 ({{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|20:10–23}}). Edom revolted against Jehoram and elected a king of its own ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|8:20–22}}; {{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|21:8}}). Amaziah attacked and defeated the Edomites, seizing Selah, but the Israelites never subdued Edom completely ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|14:7}}; {{bibleverse|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 ({{Bibleverse||Psalms|137:7}}; {{Bibleverse||Obadiah|1:11–14}}). Some believe that it is for this reason the prophets denounced Edom ({{Bibleverse||Isaiah|34:5–8}}; {{Bibleverse||Jeremiah|49:7–22}}; Obadiah passim). Evidence also suggests that at that time Edom may have engaged in a treaty betrayal of Judah.{{Cite journal|last=Dykehouse|first=Jason|date=2013|title=Biblical Evidence from Obadiah and Psalm 137 for an Edomite Treaty Betrayal of Judah in the Sixth Century B.C.E.|url=https://repositorio.uca.edu.ar/handle/123456789/6726|journal=Antiguo Oriente|volume=11|pages=75–122}} The people of Edom would be dealt with during the Messiah's rulership, according to the prophets.{{Cite web|title=Bible Gateway passage: Numbers 24:14, Numbers 24:17-18, Isaiah 11:14, Amos 9:11-12 - New American Standard Bible|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2024%3A14%2CNumbers%2024%3A17-18%2CIsaiah%2011%3A14%2CAmos%209%3A11-12&version=NASB|access-date=2021-11-08|website=Bible Gateway|language=en}} 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".{{Cite web|title=Bible Gateway passage: Jeremiah 49:17-18 - New American Standard Bible|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2049%3A17-18&version=NASB|access-date=2021-06-29|website=Bible Gateway|language=en}}

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".{{Bibleverse||Psalms|60:8}} and {{Bibleverse||Psalms|108:9}} According to the Torah,{{Bibleverse||Deuteronomy|23:8–9}} 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 excludedYevamot 76b 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.{{Cite journal |last=Levin |first=Yigal |date=2020-09-24 |title=The Religion of Idumea and Its Relationship to Early Judaism |journal=Religions |volume=11 |issue=10 |pages=487 |doi=10.3390/rel11100487 |issn=2077-1444 |doi-access=free}} 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.{{Cite book |last1=Kloner |first1=Amos |title=Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E. |last2=Stern |first2=Ian |publisher=Penn State University Press |year=2007 |isbn=9781575065809 |editor-last=Lipschits |editor-first=Oded |editor-link=Oded Lipschits |pages=139–143 |chapter=Idumea in the Late Persian Period (Fourth Century B.C.E.) |author-link=Amos Kloner |editor-last2=Knoppers |editor-first2=Gary N. |editor-link2=Gary N. Knoppers |editor-last3=Albertz |editor-first3=Rainer}} 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{{clarify|WHERE? In Idumea (southern Judaea), or did such elements also persist east of the Rift Valley?|date=April 2024}}.

During the Hellenistic period, both Jews and Idumeans spoke Aramaic and used it for literary and legal documents.{{Citation |title=Theoretical Considerations: Nationalism and Ethnicity in Antiquity |date=2006 |work=Elements of Ancient Jewish Nationalism |pages=21–22 |editor-last=Goodblatt |editor-first=David |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/elements-of-ancient-jewish-nationalism/theoretical-considerations-nationalism-and-ethnicity-in-antiquity/CB4441D91310FB3557F79891F6AE8564 |access-date=2024-06-14 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511499067.002 |isbn=978-0-521-86202-8|url-access=subscription }} An Idumean marriage contract from Maresha, dating from 176 BCE, closely resembles the ketubbot used by Jews.{{Cite journal |last1=Eshel |first1=Esther |last2=Kloner |first2=Amos |date=1996 |title=An Aramaic Ostracon of an Edomite Marriage Contract from Maresha, Dated 176 B.C.E. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27926413 |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=46 |issue=1/2 |pages=1–22 |jstor=27926413 |issn=0021-2059}} 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.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

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.Josephus, "Ant." xii. 8, § 6 About 50 years later, Judeans under John Hyrcanus I again attacked Marisa and the nearby Adoraim: according to JosephusJosephus, "Ant." xiii. 9, § 1; xiv. 4, § 4 and Ammonius Grammaticus,Ammonius, [https://archive.org/details/greeklatinauthor0001unse/page/356/mode/1up 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." Hyrcanus conquered the cities of Marisa and Adoraim, forcibly converted all Idumaeans to Judaism and incorporated them into the Jewish nation:{{Cite journal |last=Weitzman |first=Steven |date=1999 |title=Forced Circumcision and the Shifting Role of Gentiles in Hasmonean Ideology |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1510155 |journal=The Harvard Theological Review |volume=92 |issue=1 |pages=37–59 |doi=10.1017/S0017816000017843 |jstor=1510155 |s2cid=162887617 |issn=0017-8160|url-access=subscription }}

{{blockquote|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.Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.257-58}}

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.{{refn|group=nb|In detail:

1. While Strabo also reports that the Idumeans "joined the Judeans and shared in the same customs with them,"Strabo, Geographica [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/16B*.html 16.2.34] he makes no mention of coercion, which was generally rare in antiquity.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
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.{{cite journal |author=Ian Stern |title=Ethnic Identities and Circumcised Phalli at Hellenistic Maresha |journal=Strata |volume=30 |year=2012 |url=https://aias.org.uk/vol-30/ |pages=63–74}}{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
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.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Stern |first=Ian |title=The Evolution of an Edomite Idumean Identity. Hellenistic Period Maresha as a Case Study |editor-last1=Hensel |editor-first1=Benedikt |editor-last2=Ben Zvi |editor-first2=Ehud |editor-last3=Edelman |editor-first3=Diana V. |encyclopedia=About Edom and Idumea in the Persian Period. Recent Research and Approaches from Archaeology, Hebrew Bible Studies and Ancient Near Eastern Studies |year=2022 |location=Sheffield / Bristol |publisher=Equinox |pages=12–13 |url=https://www.academia.edu/114450458}} Paginazion according to linked Open Access version.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
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.{{cite book |author=Itzhaq Beit-Arieh, Liora Freud |title=Tel Malḥata. A Central City in the Biblical Negev. Volume I |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2015 |pages=17 f}}{{cite book |last=Atkinson |first=Kenneth |year=2016 |title=A History of the Hasmonean State. Josephus and Beyond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrfMDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |pages=68–69|isbn=978-0-567-66903-2 }}{{cite encyclopedia |author=Débora Sandhaus |title=Settlements and Borders in the Shephelah from the Fourth to the First Centuries BCE |editor=Andrea M. Berlin, Paul J. Kosmin |encyclopedia=The Middle Maccabees. Archaeology, History, and the Rise of the Hasmonean Kingdom |location=Atlanta |publisher=SBL Press |year=2021 |url=https://www.academia.edu/108756866 |pages=89}}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. {{cite journal |last=Finkielsztejn |first=Gerald |year=1998 |title=More Evidence on John Hyrcanus I's Conquests: Lead Weights and Rhodian Amphora Stamps |url=https://www.academia.edu/331038 |journal=Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society |volume=16 |pages=47–48}}; {{cite book |last1=Faust |first1=Avraham |last2=Ehrlich |first2=Adi |date=2011 |title=The Excavations of Khirbet er-Rasm, Israel. The changing faces of the countryside |location=Oxford |publisher=BAR Publishing |pages=251–252}}; {{cite book |last=van Maaren |first=John |year=2022 |title=The Boundaries of Jewishness in the Southern Levant, 200 BCE–132 CE. Power, Strategies, and Ethnic Configurations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LpZuEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA115 |location=Berlin / Boston |publisher=de Gruyter |pages=115|isbn=978-3-11-078745-0 }}; {{cite book |last=Shatzman |first=Israel |year=1991 |title=The Armies of the Hasmonaeans and Herod. From Hellenistic to Roman Frameworks |location=Tübingen |publisher=J. C. B. Mohr |pages=55–56}}; {{cite journal |last=Herzog |first=Ze'ev |year=2002 |title=The Fortress Mound at Tel Arad: An Interim Report |journal=Tel Aviv |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=12–13, 76|doi=10.1179/tav.2002.2002.1.3 }}
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| image1 = [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Achim-Lichtenberger/publication/325795663/figure/fig12/AS:638041827840007@1529132434292/figure-fig12.png Altar of Qos in Mamre]{{cite journal |author=Achim Lichtenberger |title=Juden, Idumäer und "Heiden". Die herodianischen Bauten in Hebron und Mamre |journal=Herodes und Rom |editor=Linda-Marie Günther |publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag |year=2007 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325795663 |pages=78, fig. 14}}}}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.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Magen |first=Y. |year=2003 |title=Mamre. A Cultic Site from the Reign of Herod |editor1-last=Bottini |editor1-first=G. C. |editor2-last=Disegni |editor2-first=L. |editor3-last=Chrupcala |editor3-first=L. D. |encyclopedia=One Land – Many Cultures. Archaeological Studies in Honour of St. Loffreda OFM |location=Jerusalem |publisher=Franciscan Printing Press |pages=245–257}}{{cite encyclopedia |author=Vlastimil Drbal |title=Pilgrimage and multi-religious worship. Palestinian Mamre in Late Antiquity |editor=Troels M. Kristensen, Wiebke Friese |encyclopedia=Excavating Pilgrimage. Archaeological Approaches to Sacred Travel and Movement in the Ancient World |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |pages=250 f., 255–257}}{{cite journal |author=Michał Marciak |title=Idumea and the Idumeans in Josephus' Story of Hellenistic-Early Roman Palestine (Ant XII–XX) |journal=Aevum |volume=91 |issue=1 |year=2017 |url=https://www.ieam.ulaval.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Marciak-Idumea-and-the-Idumeans-in-Josephus-2017.pdf |pages=185 f}}{{cite journal |last=Cornell |first=Collin |year=2020 |title=The Costobar Affair: Comparing Idumaism and early Judaism |url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:33687/ |journal=Journal of the Jesus Movement in Its Jewish Setting |volume=7 |pages=97–98}}{{cite journal |author=Katharina Heyden |title=Construction, Performance, and Interpretation of a Shared Holy Place. The Case of Late Antique Mamre (Rāmat al-Khalīl) |journal=Entangled Religions |volume=11 |issue=1 |year=2020 |url=https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/8557}}

1. Furthermore, the parallel account of the conquest and forced conversion of the Itureans is now widely considered fictional,Cf. {{cite book |last=Leibner |first=Uzi |date=2009 |title=Settlement and History in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Galilee. An Archaeological Survey of the Eastern Galilee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bsxkXam_QzwC&pg=PA321 |location=Tübingen |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |page=321|isbn=978-3-16-149871-8 }}{{cite encyclopedia |last=Aviam |first=Mordechai |year=2013 |title=People, Land, Economy, and Belief in First-Century Galilee and Its Origins: A Comprehensive Archaeological Synthesis |editor-last1=Fiensy |editor-first1=David A. |editor-last2=Hawkins |editor-first2=Ralph K. |encyclopedia=The Galilean Economy in the Time of Jesus |location=Atlanta |publisher=Society of Biblical Literature |pages=13 |isbn=978-1-58983-758-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5itCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |access-date=26 September 2024}}{{cite journal |last=Atkinson |first=Kenneth |year=2020 |title=Josephus's Use of Scripture to Describe Hasmonean Territorial Expansion |url=https://jewish-faculty.biu.ac.il/sites/jewish-faculty/files/shared/JSIJ19/atkinson.pdf |journal=Jewish Studies, an Internet Journal |volume=19 |pages=22, FN 69}} with even clearer archaeological evidence than in the case of Idumaea.Cf. on the clearly continuous pagan character of the Iturean region also {{cite encyclopedia |last=Aliquot |first=Julien |title=Sanctuaries and villages on Mt Hermon during the Roman Period |editor=Kaizer, Ted |encyclopedia=The variety of local religious life in the Near East in the Hellenistic and Roman periods |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden / Boston |year=2008 |volume=164 |pages=73–96 |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004167353.i-396.21 |url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00306502 |isbn=978-90-04-16735-3}} See esp. the map on Plate IX. Similarly, in other regions, where Josephus reports a conquest without conversion, archaeology also fails to support Josephus's narrative.E.g. Transjordan. Cf. {{cite journal |last=Berlin |first=Andrea |year=1997 |title=Between Large Forces: Palestine in the Hellenistic Period |url=https://www.academia.edu/381507 |journal=Biblical Archaeologist |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=30–31|doi=10.2307/3210581 |jstor=3210581 }}; {{cite journal |last=Atkinson |first=Kenneth |year=2020 |title=Josephus's Use of Scripture to Describe Hasmonean Territorial Expansion |url=https://jewish-faculty.biu.ac.il/sites/jewish-faculty/files/shared/JSIJ19/atkinson.pdf |journal=Jewish Studies, an Internet Journal |volume=19 |pages=22 FN 68}}}} As a result, historians have toned down the Hasmonean history of Idumaea as recounted by Josephus in several ways. Some historians still maintain that the events happened largely as Josephus describes.E.g. {{cite book |last=Goodman |first=Martin |year=1994 |title=Mission and Conversion. Proselytizing in the Religious History of the Roman Empire |url=https://archive.org/details/missionconversio0000good/page/75/mode/1up |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |pages=75–76|isbn=978-0-19-814941-5 }}E.g. {{cite journal |last=Chapman |first=Honora H. |year=2006 |title=Paul, Josephus, and the Judean Nationalistic and Imperialistic Policy of Forced Circumcision |url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/ILUR/article/view/ILUR0606110131A/26188 |journal='Ilu. Revista de Ciencias de las Religiones |volume=11 |pages=138–143}}E.g. {{cite book |last=van Maaren |first=John |year=2022 |title=The Boundaries of Jewishness in the Southern Levant, 200 BCE–132 CE. Power, Strategies, and Ethnic Configurations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LpZuEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA114 |location=Berlin / Boston |publisher=de Gruyter |pages=114–118|isbn=978-3-11-078745-0 }}

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{{cite book |last=Kasher |first=Aryeh |year=1988 |title=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) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gw5BswLtBsAC&pg=PA46 |location=Tübingen |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |pages=46–48|isbn=978-3-16-145240-6 }} or, conversely, Hasmonean propaganda, which Josephus (mistakenly) incorporated into his historical work. Atkinson takes this further by considering the entire account of the conquest to be fictional.{{cite book |last=Atkinson |first=Kenneth |year=2016 |title=A History of the Hasmonean State. Josephus and Beyond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrfMDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |pages=67–69|isbn=978-0-567-66903-2 }} He also believes that "many Idumeans [...] never fully embraced Judaism."{{cite book |last=Atkinson |first=Kenneth |year=2016 |title=A History of the Hasmonean State. Josephus and Beyond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrfMDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA95 |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |pages=95|isbn=978-0-567-66903-2 }}

However, while Atkinson still maintains that archaeology suggests "the region south of Judea [including Maresha] was annexed without any significant conflict,"{{cite book |last=Atkinson |first=Kenneth |year=2016 |title=A History of the Hasmonean State. Josephus and Beyond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrfMDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA69 |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |pages=69|isbn=978-0-567-66903-2 }} 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.{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Berlin |first1=Andrea M. |last2=Kosmin |first2=Paul J. |year=2021 |title=Conclusion: The Maccabean Rise to Power, in Archaeological and Historical Context |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wusmEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA404 |editor1-last=Berlin |editor1-first=Andrea M. |editor2-last=Kosmin |editor2-first=Paul J. |encyclopedia=The Middle Maccabees. Archaeology, History, and the Rise of the Hasmonean Kingdom |location=Atlanta |publisher=SBL Press |page=404|isbn=978-0-88414-504-2 }} 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.{{cite book |last=Cohen |first=Shaye J. D. |year=1999 |title=The Beginnings of Jewishness. Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vX8moleho2kC&pg=PA116 |location=Berkeley / Los Angeles / London |publisher=University of California Press |pages=116–117|isbn=978-0-520-21141-4 }}{{cite encyclopedia |last=Pasto |first=James |year=2002 |title=Origin, Impact, and Expansion of the Hasmoneans in Light of Comparative Ethnographic Studies (and Outside of its Nineteenth Century Context) |editor1-last=Davies |editor1-first=Philip R. |editor2-last=Halligan |editor2-first=John M. |encyclopedia=Second Temple Studies III. Studies in Politics, Class and Material Culture |location=London / New York |publisher=Sheffield Academic Press |url=https://www.academia.edu/10245284 |pages=197–198}}{{cite encyclopedia |last=Eckhardt |first=Benedikt |year=2012 |title="An Idumean, That Is, a Half-Jew". Hasmoneans and Herodians between Ancestry and Merit |encyclopedia=Jewish Identity and Politics between the Maccabees and Bar Kokhba |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |url=https://www.academia.edu/1606562 |pages=100–102}}

This reinterpretation leaves the prior depopulation of Idumaea 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.{{Cite journal|last=Marshak|first=Adam Kolman|date=2012-01-01|title=Rise of the Idumeans: Ethnicity and Politics in Herod's Judea|url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004218512/B9789004218512_008.xml|journal=Jewish Identity and Politics Between the Maccabees and Bar Kokhba|language=en|pages=117–129|doi=10.1163/9789004218512_008|isbn=9789004218512|url-access=subscription|doi-access=free}} 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 .{{Cite journal |last=Levin |first=Yigal |date=2020 |title=The Religion of Idumea and Its Relationship to Early Judaism |journal=Religions |volume=11 |issue=10 |page=487 |doi=10.3390/rel11100487 |doi-access=free }} 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.{{Cite journal |last=McGuire |first=J. Amanda |date=2011 |title=Sacred Times: The Book of Jubilees at Qumran |url=https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=papers |journal=Papers |volume=2 |via=Digital Commons @ Andrews University}}Schiffman, Lawrence H., Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls: their True Meaning for Judaism and Christianity, Anchor Bible Reference Library (Doubleday) 1995. These Jews did not openly express their views because Herod violently suppressed critics.{{Cite book |last=Thiessen |first=Matthew |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/5287/chapter/148016316?login=true#273599969 |title=Contesting Conversion: Genealogy, Circumcision, and Identity in Ancient Judaism and Christianity |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199914456 |pages=87–110}} Evie Gassner believed the sages disparaged Herod because he supported the Sadducees, who opposed the Pharisees.{{Cite web |last=Gassner |first=Evie |date=2019 |title=How Jewish Was Herod? |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/how-jewish-was-herod |website=TheTorah.com}}

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.Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War) IV, 514 (Wars of the Jews [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D4%3Awhiston+chapter%3D9%3Awhiston+section%3D5 4.9.3]) and De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War) IV, 529 (Wars of the Jews [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D4%3Awhiston+chapter%3D9%3Awhiston+section%3D7 4.9.7]) It was part of his wider plan to attack Jerusalem and seize authority for himself.Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book IV 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.Josephus, The Jewish War iv. 4, § 5 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.

Josephus, when referring to Upper Idumaea, speaks of towns and villages immediately to the south and south-west of Jerusalem,{{cite journal |last=Marciak|first=Michael|author-link=|title=Idumea and the Idumeans in Josephus' Story of Hellenistic-Early Roman Palestine (Ant. XII-XX)|journal=Aevum|publisher=Vita e Pensiero|volume=91 |issue=1|pages=171–193|date=2017|jstor=26477573|language=en }} 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.),{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1856|url=https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc02smitgoog#page/n4/mode/2up |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, and in the Adjacent Regions. Journal of Travels in the Year 1838|location=London / Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc02smitgoog/page/66/mode/2up?view=theater 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.). 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.{{cite book|last1=Ameling|first1=Walter|last2=Cotton |first2=Hannah M. |last3=Eck |first3=Werner |author-link3=Werner Eck |last4=Ecker |first4=Avner |last5=Isaac |first5=Benjamin |author-link5=Benjamin Isaac |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae / Palaestinae |volume=4 (Iudaea / Idumaea) |year=2018|location=Berlin/Munich|publisher=De Gruyter |page=939 |isbn=9783110544213 }} The Gospel of Mark states that the Idumeans joined Judeans, Jerusalemites, Tyrians, Sidonians and east Jordanians in meeting Jesus by the Sea of Galilee.Mark 3:8 The Mishnah refers to Rabbi Ishmael's dwelling place in Kfar Aziz as being "near to Edom."Mishna Kilaim 6:4; Ketuvot 5:8

{{Further|Canaanite religion}}

File:Edomite goddess, Qitmit. Israel Museum, Jerusalem.JPG]]

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.Ahituv, Shmuel. Echoes from the Past: Hebrew and Cognate Inscriptions from the Biblical Period. Jerusalem, Israel: Carta, 2008, pp. 351, 354 As close relatives of other Levantine Semites and Arabs, they seem to have worshiped such gods as El, Baal and 'Uzza.{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IK1VDwAAQBAJ&q=%22YhWH%27s+provenance+from+the+south%22&pg=PT123|author=M. Leuenberger|chapter=YHWH's Provenance from the South|title=The Origins of Yahwism|editor1=J. van Oorschot|editor2=M. Witte|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|location=Berlin/Boston|year=2017|isbn=9783110447118}} In some Jewish tradition stemming from the Talmud, the descendants of Esau are the Romans (and to a larger extent, all Europeans).{{Cite web|url=https://asknoah.org/faq/edom-magdiel-rome|title=Did the Edomite tribe Magdiel found Rome? | AskNoah.org|date=January 13, 2011}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/people/edomites/ |title=Edomites |quote=in rabbinical sources, the word "Edom" was a code name for Rome}}{{Cite web |title=Esau the Ancestor of Rome - TheTorah.com |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/esau-the-ancestor-of-rome |access-date=2023-09-06 |website=www.thetorah.com}}

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.{{Cite web |last=Tebes |first=Juan Manuel |date=2022 |title=Why the Bible Is Mute about Qos, the Edomite God |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/why-the-bible-is-mute-about-qos-the-edomite-god |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223054039/https://www.thetorah.com/article/why-the-bible-is-mute-about-qos-the-edomite-god |archive-date=February 23, 2024 |website=TheTorah.com |ref=none}}

Josephus states that Costobarus was descended from the priests of "the Koze, whom the Idumeans had formerly served as a god".Antiquities of the Jews, Book 15, chapter 7, section 9 Victor Sasson describes an Edomite text that parallels the Book of Job, which provides insight on the language, literature, and religion of Edom.{{cite journal |last1=Victor Sasson |title=An Edomite Joban Text, with a Biblical Joban Parallel |journal=Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft |date=2006 |volume=117 |issue=4 |doi=10.1515/zatw.2006.117.4.601|s2cid=170594788 }}

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.[https://web.archive.org/web/20101121073705/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/12/david-and-solomon/draper-text/1 Kings of Controversy] Robert Draper National Geographic, December 2010.

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

{{reflist|group=nb}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite book |title=The Ancient Israelite World |last=Tebes |first=Juan Manuel |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-000-77324-8 |pages=639–654 |editor-last=Keimer |editor-first=Kyle H. |chapter=Edom and the Southern Jordan in the Iron Age |editor-last2=Pierce |editor-first2=George A. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4beREAAAQBAJ&dq=the+ancient+israelite+world+edom&pg=PA639}}
• {{Cite book |title=Edom at the Edge of Empire: A Social and Political History |last=Crowell |first=Bradley L. |publisher=SBL Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-88414-528-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1HxEEAAAQBAJ}}
• {{JewishEncyclopedia |article= Edom |url= http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=45&letter=E&search=Edom}}
• {{cite book |editor-last= Negev |editor-first= Avraham |editor-link= Avraham Negev |editor-last2= Gibson |editor-first2= Shimon |editor-link2= Shimon Gibson |title= Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land |year= 2001 |location= New York and London |publisher= Continuum |isbn=0-8264-1316-1 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=l3JtAAAAMAAJ |access-date= 26 July 2021}}

{{Commons category|Edom}}

• {{cite news |last1=Spencer |first1=Richard |title=Scientists find state of Edom which they thought was a Bible story |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/e070f2d4-de4f-11e9-9f61-dcefea5f5359?jobid=emailplatformpipeline-als-section-limit-c4726bf2-77cc-4530-8f38-d62b2a3129bc |access-date=24 September 2019 |work=The Times |date=24 September 2019}}
• [http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/soc/EDOM.asp UCSD article on age of Edom]

{{Ancient states and regions of the Levant |state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:States and territories established in the 13th century BC

Category:States and territories disestablished in the 2nd century BC

Category:Torah places

Category:Semitic-speaking peoples

Category:Groups who converted to Judaism

Category:Aqaba

Category:Former kingdoms

Category:Transjordan (region)

Category:Canaanite people