Josephus divides Idumsea into two provinces, Goboli- tis and Amalekitis (.4 «^ ii, 1, 2). The former embraced Iilum^a Proper, being identical, as the name woidd in- dicate, with "Mount Seir;" the other embraced a por- tion of Sonthcru Palestine, with the desert plain south of it, which was originally occupied by the Amalekites (Numb, xiii, 29), and subsequently, as we shall see, by the Edomites. Pliny places Idumiea to the south of Palestine, bordering upon Egypt {Hist. Xat. v, 14). Strabo (xvi, 2, 30, p. 700) states that the Idumajans Vvere originally Nabathajans, but, being driven out thence, they joined themselves to the Jews. See Smith, Diet, of Class. Geog. s. v.
3. History — The first mention of Mount Seir is in
Gen. xiv, G, where the confederate kings are said to have smitten the " Horites in their Mount Seir." B.C. cir. 2080. These Horites appear to have been a tribe of the gigantic aborigines of Western Asia, so called from dwelling in caves ((ien. xxxvi, 20-30). They were a pastoral people, divided into tribes like the mod- em Bedawin, having independent chiefs called Alluph (q!l^X, ver. 29). Esau's marriage with the daughters of Canaan alienated him from his parents, and he then obtametl a settlement among the Horites, where he ao- qmred power and wealth as early as the time of Ja- cob's return from Padan-aram (Gen. xxvii, 4G). Prob- ably his close alliance with Ishmael tended to increase his infiuence in his adopted country (xxviii, 9 ; xxxii, 3 sq.). Though then established in Edom, Esau had still some part of his flocks m Western Palestine, in con- nection with those of his father; but on the return of Jacob he removed aU his property from Canaan and dwelt in Mount Seir (xxxvi, G-8). He gradually sub- dued and finally exterminated, or perhaps rather sup- planted, the Horites (Deut. ii, 12, 22), and a distinct tribe of his descendants, the Amalekites, leaving Edom, took possession of the desert plateaus south of Canaan (Gen. xxxvi, 12 ; Exod. viii, 14 sq.). The earUest form of government among the Edomites was, like that of the Horites, by chiefs (in the A. V. rendered " dukes," but manifestly the same as the modern Arab sheiks), exercising independent authority over distinct tribes (Gen. xxxvi, 15-19). It appears, however, that the va- rious tribes were, at least in times of general war, united under one leader, to whom the title of king (~S"5) ^^^s given. The names of eight of these kings (only one of whom is spoken of as related to any other, Anah, the son of Zibeon) are mentioned in Gen. xxxvi, 31-39, who are said to have reigned in Edom " before there reigned any king over the children of Israel," that is, apparent- ly before the time of Closes (see Deut. xxxiii, 5 ; Exod. xviii, 16-19). Most of the large nomad tribes of Ara- bia have now an acknowledged chief, who is styled emir, and who takes the lead in any great emergency, while each division of the tribe enjoys independence under its own sheik on all ordinary occasions. Such would seem to have been the case with the Edomites, and this af- fords an easy solution of the apparent confusion in the account given by Moses, Gen. xxxvi, 31-43; and again in Exod. xv, 15, where it is said "the dukes of Edom shall be amazed," and Judg. xi, 17, where iMoses is rep- resented as having sent " messengers from Kadesh imto the king of Edom." The primitive and pastoral char- acter of the people is incidentally brought out by the circumstance that this Anah, though a chieftain's son, was in the habit of tending his father's asses (Gen. xxxvi, 24), It was when thus employed that he found in the wilderness B'?*!^, ha-yemim, rendered in the Eng. Vers, by " the mules," but meaning more probably "the hot springs." There is in the country to the south-east of the Dead Sea (which formed part of the Seirite possessions) a place, Callirhoe, celebrated among the Greeks and Romans for its warm baths, which has been visited by modern travellers (Josephus, War, i, 33, I 5 ; Pliny, Hist. Nat. v, 5, 17 ; Legh's Travels').
Though the IsraeUtes and Edomites were closely re- lated, and though the former were commanded " not to abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother" (Deut. xxiii,7), yet the bitterest enmity appears to have existed be- tween them at everv period of their history, as a per- petuation of the unbrotherly feud between their pro- genitors. AVhcn the Israelites asked permission to pass through the territory of Edom on their way to Canaan, they were rudely refused. B. C. 1619. The road by which it -yvas sought to penetrate the countrj' was term- ed "the king's highway" (ver. 17), supposed by Dr. Robinson (Researches, ii, 556 ; but see a different expla- nation in De Saulcy's Narrative, i, 392 ; comp. 273, 276) to be wady el-Ghuweir, for it is almost the only valley that aifords direct and easy passage tlurough those
IDUM^A
488
IDUM^A