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
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 in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.^[6] Most of its former territory is now divided between present-day southern Jordan and Israel. Edom appears in written sources relating to the late Bronze Age and to the Iron Age in the Levant.

Edomites are related in several ancient sources 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.^[6] 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.^[6] 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 Arab 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.^[6] More recent excavations show that the process of Edomite settlement in the southern parts of the Kingdom 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.^[7][8]

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.^[9][10] 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.^[11][12] During the 2nd century BC, the Edomites were forcibly converted to Judaism by the Hasmoneans, and were incorporated into the Jewish population.^[13] Other scholars believe that the assimilation was voluntary. ^[14]

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.^[15][16]