Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the Land of Edom;" and hence, if Ezion-geber was on the shore of the Red Sea and also in the country of Edom, the Idumean dominions must have extended to the Arabian Gulf, or Red Sea, which gives us the true origin of that name, already noticed. It was not until a later period that the country south of Palestine was called the Land of Edom, from which it appears that the Edomites took advantage of the depressed state of the Jews, when attacked by the Assyrian and Babylonian monarchs, to extend themselves westward from their mountains towards the Mediterranean Sea, and ultimately to encroach upon a consider able part of the southern province of Palestine itself.

From these geographical statements it appears that Strabo is accurate in dividing Edom into two parts, or Eastern and Southern Idumea, with reference to the situation of the country from Palestine, one of which comprehended the whole inountainous range of Seir and the neighbouring plain; the capital of Eastern Idumea being Bozrah or Bossra, and that of Southern Idumea being the celebrated Petra, nearer the Red Sea, designated Selah and Joktheel by the inspired historian, 2 Kings xiv. 7. The latter city is described in ancient history as the capital of the Nabathæans, so called from Nebaioth or Nebajoth, Gen. xxxvi. 3, for those Edomites who remained in Seir, after a large colony had departed to occupy the south of Judea during the captivity of the Jews, joined themselves with the descendants of that Nebaioth, the son of Ishmael, whose full sister, Bashemath, Esau had married; and they were ever afterwards called Nabathæans. After this the Land of Edom, and what was exclusively known to the Greeks and Romans as Idumea, must be understood as referring to the Edomite territory on the south of Palestine. The reader will thus perceive the distinction between the Edomites south of Judea, and those Edomites mixed and identified with the Nabathæans in the mountainous region

of Seir.

As thus distinguished, those two branches of the Edomites flourished under the Babylonian monarchs and the successors of Alexander the Great; and it will be observed that the Edomites, previous to the Jewish Captivity, were those who occupied Mount Seir, while the Edomites of the after period were those to the south of Judea.

Edom contained those provinces anciently called Uz, Dedan, Teman, &c. Although a hot, dry, and mountainous region of Arabia Petræa, now extremely barren, exhibiting dreadful rocks and caverns, and inhabited by tribes of wild Arabs, it was at one time well cultivated in some of its districts, and very populous. Before the time of Volney it had not been visited by any traveller, but the Arabs of Kakir and the inhabitants of Gaza, who had frequently traversed the road of the pilgrims to Maan and Kerek, were accustomed to relate that within three days' journey to the south-east of the Dead Sea there were upwards of thirty ruined towns absolutely deserted; and that, although upon rare occasions the Arabs used those buildings as places of refuge for their cattle, they generally avoided them, on account of the enormous scorpions with which they swarmed. This was the country of those Edomites who had joined themselves to the descendants of Nebaioth, the son of Ishmael, previously mentioned, whose mutual descendants were designated Nabathæans, who were the most powerful of the Arabians, and who, at the destruction of Jerusalem, were almost as numerous as the Jews. Josephus informs us, that at the first rumour of the march of Titus against that capital, twenty thousand of them instantly assembled and threw themselves into the city for its defence-a number of efficient soldiers presupposing a considerable population. Edom possessed some very populous and wealthy seaports, which were occasionally seized by the Jews; and the Idumeans are said to have rivalled even the Tyrians in commercial enterprise, enjoying a large proportion of the trade of Arabia and India.

The Edomites were acquainted with the arts of mining, by which they obtained gold, silver, and iron. They were skilful workmen in brass, and set a high value upon the topaz of Ethiopia; coral, pearls, and rubies; crystal, the onyx, sapphire, and other precious stones; and they traded in the gold of Ophir-a port supposed to have been situated on the African coast of the Red Sea. They produced oil and wine, and, as we learn from the Book of Job, their soil was deemed of sufficient value to be divided by land-marks. "They were acquainted," says Laborde, "with the extremes of both poverty and wealth, and amused themselves with dancing to the sound of the timbrel, harp, and organ. They had regular tribunals for the trial and punishment of offences. They understood the use of money. They had even advanced so far in the ways of luxury as to have ointments, to wear gold ear-rings, and to possess looking-glasses formed of polished metals. They had a clear idea of a future world of happiness and of punishment; and among no people do we find such sublime descriptions of the works and majesty of the Omnipotent as among the Idumeans." See the 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 19th, 21st, 24th, 26th, 28th, 41st, and 42d chapters of the Book of Job.

Arabia Petræa was scarcely known to the ancient Greek authors, and we have little or no information respecting it from their geographers and historians. In the neighbourhood of Mount Hor many parts of the country are covered with a fertile soil, the herbage indicating the possibility of cultivation; and small stones were observed which had been collected at intervals, evidently the ancient boundaries of fields, and belonging probably to that remote age when Nabathæan agriculture flourished. The ruins of villages are numerous, and patches of earth occur of extraordinary fertility in the midst of a sterile country, which powerfully remind the traveller that Edom was at one period pros. perous and happy, before a powerful and irresistible hand pressed heavily against the posterity of Esau. Large grapes are

also produced, which prove that there is no exaggeration in the inspired narrative respecting those which the spies of Moses brought from the places they visited in the Promised Land. "At the present day, in this land of malediction," says a late traveller, "nothing but the extreme misery of the inhabitants could urge themto cultivate the earth with such persevering industry as they do, seeing the many annoyances to which they are always subject. First come the Bedouins, a rapacious race, who are perpetually claiming from the poor agriculturist a portion of his produce, under the pretence of a lawful impost in return for his precarious protection-a most unjust demand, but exacted with too much authority to be resisted. Next appears the locust, who, despising the idea of an impost, approaches with his troops, and lays waste the whole country, spreading, as it were, the winding-sheet of death over every tract on which he lights." See JOKTEEL or PETRA, Mount Hor, Mount Seir, and MOUNT SINAI.

EDOMITES, or IDUMEANS, the descendants of Esau, who first located him-self in Mount Seir, of whom a few notices are given in the preceding description of the Land of Edom, were a very powerful and numerous nation long posterior to the delivery of the remarkable prophecies recorded concerning them in the Scriptures; and the wealth possessed by Job, an inhabitant of the country, at a time probably still more remote than the visit of the Israelites, proves that Idumea had been early settled and cultivated. It has been already observed, that Esau retired with his family to Mount Seir, and that at a subsequent period his posterity extirpated the Horites, and occupied their country. We learn from the Book of Genesis, that the Edomites were first governed by emirs or chiefs of Esau's more immediate descendants, called "dukes" in our translation of the Scriptures, and that afterwards they established a monarchy so early, that their "kings reigned in the Land of Edom before there reigned any king over the

Children of Israel," Gen. xxxvi.31. There were eight of those princes, Bela, whose capital city was Dinhabah; Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah; Husham, of the country called Temani; Hadad, "who smote Midian in the field of Moab," and whose capital city was Avith; Samlah of Masrekah; Saul "of Rehoboth by the river;" Baal-hanan; and Hadar, whose capital city was Pau, Gen. xxxvi. 31–39. But although Moses mentions the circumstance of the Edomites having kings before the Israelites, when he had previously recorded the Divine promise given to Jacob that "kings should come out of his loins," his meaning may also be, that the princes whose names he gives were kings in Edom before his own time," because he was himself, to a certain extent, the first king of Israel, and exercised royal authority over the Israelites. It is true he did not reign, in the sense in which the kingly rule is generally understood, the constitution of the Israelites not being monarchical at the time; but he was, under God, their supreme governor, leader, and prince, which is the meaning of the passage in the Book of Deuteronomy (xxxiii. 5), that "he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together." The change in the government of the Edomites, from that of the patriarchal emirs, rulers of families, or dukes, to that of kings, seems to have taken place with a view to their greater security against the hostile attacks of invaders during the journey of the Israelites in the Wilderness. They appear, however, to have again reverted to the ducal authority, and the names of the dukes who were descended directly from Esau are given by the inspired historian, who were designated from their territorial possessions"according to their habitations in the land of their possession"Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth, Aholibamah, so called from one of Esau's wives, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, and Iram, which may be said to designate so many provinces or districts of Edom. The dukes of Edom are noticed as being

"amazed," in the song of triumph written and sung by Moses and the Israelites, after their deliverance from the Egyptian army and passage through the Red Sea, Exod. xv. 15.

During the long journey of the Israelites in the Wilderness, the Edomites were a very powerful nation. The former requested permission to pass through their territories, as they were expressly commanded to abstain from all hostilities with the descendants of Esau-" thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother," Deut. xxiii. 7-and they accordingly sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, who were instructed to remind the Edomite prince of his near relationship to the Israelites-"Thus saith thy brother Israel”—and to inform him of their residence in Egypt, the ty ranny of the Egyptians, their remarkable deliverance, all of which they presumed he knew, and also acquainting him that they were then at Kadesh, a city on his frontier; with a solemn pledge that their march through Edom would be peaceful, and that they would abstain from violence, and defray their own charges: "Let us, I pray thee, pass through thy country; we will not pass through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells; we will go by the king's highway; we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed through thy borders," Numb. xx. 17. The Edomite monarch, however, positively refused them a free passage, and warned them not to attempt it, "lest he came out against them with the sword." A second embassy was sent, renewing the request in a manner even more respectful than the former, declaring that they would literally go by the highway-that if they and their cattle drank of the water they would pay for it-and that, as it is minutely expressed, they would only, "without doing any thing else, go through on their feet." The practice of paying for the water drank in Eastern countries is not unusual on the coasts of the Red Sea, in Egypt, and even in Turkey; and Niebuhr records it as a circumstance worthy of notice, that at

Cairo and Constantinople there were in his time several elegant houses in which fresh water was liberally given free to travellers. But the king of Edom was still peremptory in his refusal, and actually took the field at the head of a considerable force to oppose them. The consequence was, that the Israelites were necessitated to make a large circuit round his dominions, to avoid any inimical collision with him. It neverthe less appears that he afterwards relented, and although he would not allow them to pass through his territory, he presented them for money with such supplies as his time at the country afforded, Deut. ii. 6, 28, 29.

As no hostilities took place between the kindred nations until the reign of Saul, we find nothing recorded of them either during the wars of Joshua or the government of the Judges. The Edomites occupied that interval by extending their dominions, and, applying themselves to trade and commerce, they gained the complete command of the Red Sea. Some of the commodities in which they trafficked are mentioned in the preceding article. But in the height of their prosperity their country was invaded by the victorious arms of Israel, and Edom began to feel the literal effects of Isaac's prophecy, that "the elder should serve the younger." Balaam, in his remarkable prediction respecting the future glory of Jacob, declared that "Edom shall be a possession; Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies, and Israel shall do valiantly," Numbers xxiv. 18. David, after having conquered the Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, turned his arms against the Edomites, whom he entirely subdued, and placed garrisons in their country, 2 Sam. viii. 14. Even the mountains and fastnesses of Seir could not defend the Idumeans from the Jewish king, who mentions his triumphs in two of his Psalms (lx. 8; cviii. 9). The victories of David were attended with a great havoc of the Edomites, and Joab, his general, is recorded to have remained six months in their country with the Hebrew army,

"until he had smitten every male in Edom," 1 Kings xi. 15, 16. Hadad, their king, being then a minor, was carried into Egypt by a party of his father's servants, and the young prince was kindly received by the Egyptian monarch, who supported him with the dignity becoming his rank, and latterly gave him his queen's sister in marriage, 2 Kings xi. 18, 19. Whilst Hadad made his way into Egypt, others of the fugitive Edomites, to escape David's vengeance, took different routes; some fled to the Philistines and the seaports, and fortified Azotus or Ashdod. They contributed to improve the inhabitants of those towns and districts in navigation and commerce, and are reported to have laid the foundation of the future celebrity of the Phoenicians, who are known to have migrated from the Red Sea about the time that David conquered and dispersed the Edomites; and hence the Philistines designated many places Erythra, in memory of the Erythræans or Edomites who came from the Erythræan or Red Sea; Edom, Erythra, and Phonicia signifying, according to some etymologists, the same thing, and denoting a red colour. It is also conjectured that those Edomites who fled from David and settled on the sea-coasts of Syria, from Egypt to Sidon, instead of retaining their own appellative distinction of Edomites or Erythræans, designated themselves. Phoenicians in the Syrian language, and gave the name Phoenicia to that district of sea-coast exclusively. Others of them who dealt in shipping escaped the rage of the conqueror by taking a longer route, and migrating towards the Persian Gulf. They dispersed themselves, in a word, throughout all parts, when they found they had no security in their own country.

Hadad remained in Egypt during the reign of David, where a son was born to him named Genubath, who was educated along with the sons of Pharaoh. But when he heard that his victorious enemy was dead, and that the formidable Joab was also numbered with his fathers, he obtained his dismission from the Egyptian

court and returned to Edom, where he made several ineffectual attempts to recover his dominions. He was "stirred up" to annoy Solomon during the idolatrous days of that prince. There are several indications that the Edomites submitted to the yoke of the Jews with considerable impatience, and they did not omit the opportunity afforded by the revolt of the Ten Tribes, and the division of the Hebrew nation, to attempt the recovery of their independence. After that division, the dominion over the Edomites remained with Judah, and they were governed by deputies or viceroys appointed by the Jewish kings of the house of David. Their troops assisted Jehoshaphat against the Moabites, and it appears that the latter soon after invaded their country, violated the sepulchres of their kings, and burnt their bones. They joined the grand alliance against Jehoshaphat, but were subsequently attacked by their allies, the Moabites and Ammonites, who put many of them to the sword. They continued under the dominion of the kings of Judah until the reign of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, when the whole nation rose, assassinated or expelled the viceroy, appointed themselves a king, and asserted their ancient liberty, 2 Kings viii. 21; 2 Chron. xxi. 8. They at first gained some considerable advantages over Jehoram, but they were afterwards defeated by that prince with great slaughter, and compelled to retire within their entrenchments. Nevertheless they succeeded in regaining their national independence, and they remained secure from any attempts against them for about sixty years.

Thus was fulfilled, nearly nine hundred years afterwards, the prediction uttered by Isaac to his son Esau in person, whom Jacob had supplanted in the blessing originally intended for him: "By the sword shalt thou live, and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck," Gen. xxvii. 40. This character of the Edomites by the venerable Patriarch, the father of their great ancestor, is remarkably illustrated

by their history. They lived upon spoil, and were always distinguished for their violence and martial spirit. Josephus describes them as a "turbulent and disorderly nation, always ready for commotions and rejoicing in changes; beginning war at the least adulation of those who request them, and hastening to battle as it were to a feast."

About sixty-five years after the revolt in the reign of Jehoram, which the Jews were never able to repress notwithstanding all their efforts, King Ahaziah, to revenge the cruelty of some Edomites, who had bought a number of Jews and devoted them to slavery, invaded their country, took Petra their capital, destroyed ten thousand of them by the sword, and hurled ten thousand more from the rocks which environed their city, 2 Kings xiv. 7; 2 Chron. xxv. 12. Edom was successively invaded by Uzziah, king of Judah, and the Assyrians, who ravaged their territories, and slew many of them in the field. The Idumeans at length became subject to the Babylonians, and when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, they were present, encouraging him in his undertaking, taking an active part in the sack of the city, and dealing severely with those who made any resistance. They retaliated upon the Jews with ample vengeance the sufferings which their nation had endured in the reign of David; they cut off many of them who were endeavouring to make their escape, consumed with fire the remains of the Temple after the Babylonians had withdrawn; and they even attempted to level the whole city with the ground. Their conduct is specially mentioned by the author of the 137th Psalm, in which the miseries of the Jews are the themes of sorrow and lamentation

"Remember, O Lord, the Children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof." The Prophet Obadiah, who is supposed to have lived shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian king, threatens them with dreadful vengeance for their conduct on that occasion. "Shall I not in that day, saith