(in Gr. Ἰδουμαία, in Hebrew Edom). The name is derived from Isaac's son Edom, or Esau, the elder twin-brother of Jacob. It signifies red, and seems first to have been suggested by his appearance at his birth, when "he came out all red" (i.e., covered with red hair), and was afterwards more formally and permanently imposed on him on account of his unworthy disposal of his birth-right for a mess of red lentils. The region which came to bear his name, is the mountainous tract on the E. side of the great valleys El Ghor and El Arab, extending between the Dead Sea and the Elanitic Gulf of the Red Sea. Before the time of Esau this district had been called Mount Seir, a name indeed which it never entirely lost. The word seir means hairy, and, when applied to a country, rugged, mountainous; and so Josephus says that "Esau named the country 'Roughness' from his own hairy roughness." But another etymon derives the word from Seir, an earlier occupant of the place.

The first mention made of Mount Seir in Scripture is in Gen. xiv. 6, where Chedorlaomer and his confederates are said to have smitten "the Horim in their Mount Seir." Among the earliest human habitations were caves, either formed by nature or easily excavated, and for the construction of these the mountains of Edom afforded peculiar facilities. Hence the designation given to the aboriginal inhabitants—Horim, i.e., cave-dwellers, an epithet of similar import with the Greek Trogloodytes. The extermination of the Horim by the Esauites was, like that of the Canaanites by Israel, very gradual and slow. This much, however, we learn of the political constitution of the Seirite aborigines, that, like the Esauites and Israelites, these Horim were divided into tribes, and these tribes were subdivided into families—the very polity which still obtains among the Arabs by whom Idumea is now peopled. Each tribe had its own Alluf, or leader. The primitive and pastoral character of the people is incidentally brought out by the circumstance that one of these chiefs was in the habit of tending asses.

Esau first married into two Canaanitish families of the Hittite and Hivite tribes; but anxious to propitiate his offended parents, he next formed a matrimonial alliance with one of the race of Abraham, viz., Mahalath, otherwise called Bashemath, daughter of Ishmael, and sister of Nebaioth, whose descendants, the Nabathaean, by a singular coincidence, obtained in after times possession of the land of Edom. Esau's first-born (by Adah or Bashemath, of the daughters of Heth) was Eliphaz, whose son Teman gave name to a district of the country. The Temanites were renowned for their wisdom. The chief speaker in the Book of Job is another Eliphaz, a Temanite—which is one of the circumstances that have led many to place the scene of that story in the land of Edom. The name of Teman was preserved to the days of Eschibius in that of Thaiman, a small town five Roman miles from Petra.

As a modern Arab sheikh is often found to exercise influence far beyond the sphere of his hereditary domain, so in the list of the Edomite emirs preserved by Moses we have perhaps only the names of the more distinguished individuals who acquired more or less authority over all the tribes. This oligarchy appears gradually to have changed into a monarchy, for, in addition to the above-mentioned lists, both of Horite and Esauite leaders, we have, at Gen. xxxvi. 31, a catalogue of eight kings (Bela, Jobab, Husham, Hadad, Samlah, Saul, Basal-hanan, Hadar or Hadad) who "reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel." The period when this change to regal government took place in Idumaea can only be matter of conjecture. In the Song of Moses it is said that at the tidings of Israel's triumphant passage of the Red Sea the rulers or princes (Alluf) of Edom trembled with affright, but when, some forty years afterwards, application had to be made by the Israelites for leave to traverse the land of Edom, it was to the king (Melek) that the re- quest was addressed. The road by which it was sought to penetrate the country was termed "the king's highway," supposed by Robinson to be the Wady el-Ghuweir, for it is almost the only valley that affords a direct and easy passage through those mountains. It further appears that the monarchy was not hereditary, but elective (for no one is spoken of as the son or relative of his predecessor); or probably that chieftain was acknowledged as sovereign who was best able to vindicate his claim by force of arms. Every successive king appears to have selected his own seat of government; the places mentioned as having enjoyed that distinction are Dinhabah, Avith, Pagu or Pai. Even foreigners were not excluded from the throne, for the successor of Samlah of Masrekah was Saul, or Shaul, "of Rechoboth, on the river."

The unbrotherly feud which arose between Esau and Jacob was prolonged for ages between their posterity. The Israelites, indeed, were commanded "not to abhor an Edomite, for he was their brother;" but a variety of circumstances occurred to provoke and perpetuate the hostility. The first time they were brought into direct collision was when the Edomites, though entreated by their "brother Israel," refused the latter a passage through their territories; and they had consequently to make a retrograde and toilsome march to the Gulf of Elath, whence they had to "compass the land of Edom" by the mountain desert on the east. We do not again hear of the Edomites till the days of Saul, who waged against them with partial success; but their entire subjugation was reserved for David, who first signalily vanquished them in the Valley of Salt (supposed to be in the Ghôr, beside Usdum, the Mountain of Salt); and finally, placed garrisons in all their country. Solomon created a naval station at Ezion-geber, at the head of the Gulf of Elath, the modern Akaba. Towards the close of his reign an attempt was made to restore the independence of the country by the Idumean prince, Hadad, who, when a child, had been carried into Egypt at the time of David's invasion, and had there married the sister of Talpias the queen. If Edom then succeeded in shaking off the yoke, it was only for a season, since in the days of Jehoshaphat, the fourth Jewish monarch from Solomon, it is said, "there was no king in Edom; a deputy was king;" i.e., he acted as viceroy for the king of Judah. For that the latter was still master of the country is evident from the fact of his having fitted out, like Solomon, a fleet at Ezion-geber. Yet there seems to have been a partial revolt of the Edomites, or at least of the mountaineers of Seir, even in the reign of Jehoshaphat; and under his successor, Jehoram, they wholly rebelled, and "made a king over themselves." It is probable that, after this date, the Jewish dominion was never completely restored. Amaziah, indeed, invaded the country, and took the chief city, Selah or Petra, and his successor, Uzziah, retained possession of Elath. But in the reign of Ahaz, hordes of Edomites made incursions into Judah, and carried away captives (2 Chron. xxviii. 17). About the same period Rezin, king of Syria, expelled the Jews from Elath, which was thenceforth occupied by the Edomites. It appears from various incidental expressions in the later prophets, that the Edomites employed their recovered power in the enlargement of their territory in all directions. They spread as far south as Dedan in Arabia, and northward to Bozrah in the Hhsauran. When the Chaldeans invaded Judah, under Nebuchadnezzar, the Edomites became their willing auxiliaries, and triumphed with fiendish malignity over the ruin of their kinsmen the Jews, of whose desolated land they hoped to obtain a large portion to themselves. Their hereditary hatred of the Jews was kindled in greater fury than ever, and many dire denunciations of the "daughter of Edom" were made from heaven through the lips of the Hebrew prophets. From the language of Malachi, and also from the accounts preserved by Josephus, it would seem that the Edomites did not wholly escape the Chaldean scourge; but instead of being carried captive, like the Jews, they not only retained possession of their own territory, but became masters of the south of Judah, as far as Hebron. Here, however, they were, in course of time, successfully attacked by the Maccabees, and about B.C. 125, were finally subdued by John Hyrcanus, who compelled them to submit to circumcision and other Jewish rites, with a view to incorporate them with the nation. The amalgamation, however, of the two races seems never to have been effected, for we afterwards hear of Antipater, an Idumean by birth, being made by Caesar procurator of all Judaea; and his son, commonly called Herod the Great, was at the time of Christ's birth, king of Judaea, including Idumaea; and hence Roman writers often speak of all Palestine under that name. Not long before the siege of Jerusalem by Titus 20,000 Idumaeans were called in to the defence of the city by the Zealots; but both parties gave themselves up to rapine and murder. This is the last mention made of the Edomites in history. The author of a work on Jotb, once ascribed to Origen, says that their name and language had perished, and that, like the Ammonites and Moabites, they had all become Arabs. In the second century Ptolemy limits the name Idumaea to the country west of the Jordan.

From the era of the Crusades down to the present century the land of Esau was, to Europeans, a terra incognita. Its situation was laid down on the best maps more than 100 miles from the true position, and as if lying in a direction where it is now known there is nothing but a vast expanse of desert. Volney had his attention drawn towards it, when at Gaza, by the vague reports of the Arabs, and in 1807 the unfortunate Scoetzen penetrated a certain way into the country, and heard of the wonders of the Wady Musa; but the first modern traveller who "passed through the Land of Edom" was Burckhardt, in the year 1812. And it has been well remarked by Dr Robinson (Amer. Bibl. Reposit., vol. iii., p. 250), that "had he accomplished nothing but his researches in these regions, his journey would have been worth all the labour and cost expended on it, although his discoveries thus sliced their strongest light upon subjects which were not comprehended in the plan or purpose either of himself or his employers." Burckhardt entered Idumaea from the north, and in the year 1818 he was followed in the same direction by Messrs Legu, Banakes, Irby, and Mangles. In 1828 Lahoride and Linant found access from the south; and since then it has been visited and described by so many that the names of its localities have become familiar as household words.

The limit of the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert was the brook Zered, after crossing which they found themselves in the territory of Moab (Deut. ii., 13-18). This brook is supposed to be identical with the Wady el-Asay, which, rising near the Castle el-Asay, on the route to Mecca of the Syrian caravan upon the high eastern desert, penetrates through the whole chain of mountains to near the S.E. corner of the Dead Sea. It was thus the southern border of Moab and the northern of Edom, whence the latter region extended southwards as far as to Elath, on the Red Sea. The valley which runs between the two seas consists first of El-Ghor, which is comparatively low, but gradually rises into the more elevated plain of El-Arabah to the south. The country lying east of this great valley is the land of Idumaea. It is a mountain tract, consisting at the base of low hills of limestone or of argillaceous rock, then lofty mountains of porphyry forming the body of the range; above these, sandstone, broken up into irregular ridges and grotesque groups of cliffs; and again, farther back, and higher than all, long elevated ridges of limestone without precipices. East of all these stretches off indefinitely the high plateau of the great eastern desert. Robinson and Smith estimated the height of the porphyry cliffs at about 2000 feet above the Arabah; the elevation of Wady Musa above the same is, perhaps, 2000 or 2200 feet, while the limestone ridges further back probably do not fall short of 3000 feet. The whole breadth of the mountainous tract between the Arabah and the eastern desert does not exceed 15 or 20 geographical miles. Of these mountains the most remarkable is Mount Hor, near the Wady Musa. While the mountains on the west of the Arabah, though less elevated, are wholly barren, those of Idumaea seem to enjoy a sufficiency of rain, and are covered with tufts of herbs and occasional trees. The wadys, too, are full of trees and shrubs and flowers, while the eastern and higher parts are extensively cultivated, and yield good crops. Hence Robinson thinks its appearance fulfils the promise made to Esau (Gen. xxviii. 39), "Thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above." Yet many critics are of opinion (e.g., Vater, De Wette, Geddes, Von Bohlen), that יָדְעַת should there be rendered "from," i.e., "far away from, or destitute of," the fatness of the earth, &c.; and it is immediately added, "for thou shalt live by thy sword;" and it does not appear that Idumaea was ever particularly noted for its fertility. This mountainous region is at present divided into two districts. The northern bears the name of Jebel, i.e., "The Mountain," the Gebal of the Hebrews (Ps. lxxxi. 7), and the Gebalene of the Greeks and Romans. Commencing at Wady el-Ahsy, it terminates, according to Burckhardt, at Wady el-Ghuweir, the largest place in it being Tuflekh, perhaps the Tophel of Deut. i. 1. The southern district is Esh-Sherah, extending as far as Akabah, and including Shobak, Wady Musa, Maan, &c. Burckhardt mentions a third district, Jebal Hesma; but Robinson says that though there is a sandy tract, el-Hisnah, with mountains around it, on the east of Akabah, it does not constitute a separate division.

The whole of this region is at present occupied by various tribes of Bedouin Arabs. The chief tribe in the Jebal is the Hejaya, with a branch of the Kaabineh, while in Esh-Sherah they are all of the numerous and powerful tribe of the Haweitat, with a few independent allies. The Bedouins in Idumaea have of late years been partially subject to the Pasha of Egypt, paying an annual tribute, which, in the case of the Beni Sukhr, is one camel for two tents. The fellahin, or peasants, are half Bedouin, inhabiting the few villages, but dwelling also in tents; they too pay tribute to the Egyptian government, and furnish supplies of grain.

Could the scene of the Book of Job be with certainty fixed in Idumaea, we should then possess much curious and valuable information respecting both the country and people soon after it had been colonized by the descendants of Esau. (See Mason Good, Wemys, and others, upon Job.) But all that we learn directly of the ancient Edomites from the historical books of Scripture represents them as nor, indeed, neglecting agriculture or trade, yet, on the whole, as a warlike and predatory race, who, according to the prediction of their progenitor Isaac, "lived by their sword." The situation of the country afforded peculiar facilities for commerce, which seems to have been prosecuted from a very early period. "Bordering," says Volney, "upon Arabia on the E. and S., and Egypt on the S.W., and forming, from N. to S., the most commodious channel of communication between Jerusalem and her dependencies on the Red Sea, through the continuous valleys of El-Ghor and El-Araba, Idumaea may be said to have long formed the emporium of the commerce of the East." The era of its greatest prosperity was after the Nabateans had become masters of the country, and founded the kingdom of Arabia Petraea, of which the renowned metropolis was Petra. The religion of the early Edomites was, perhaps, comparatively pure; but in process of time they embraced idolatry. In 2 Chron. xxv. 20, we read of the "gods of Edom," one of whom, according to Josephus (Antiq. xv. 7, 9), was called Ketz. With respect to the striking fulfillment of the prophetic denunciations upon Edom, we need only refer the reader to the well-known work of Keith, who perhaps errs, however, in straining the sense of prophecy beyond its legitimate import, as well as in seeking out too literally minute an accomplishment. (On Idumaea generally, see C. B. Michaelis' Diss. de Antiquiss. Idumeror. Hist. in Pott and Rupertii's Sylloge Comment. Theologica, part vi., p. 121; J. D. Michaelis' Comment. de Troglodytis Sciritis, in the Syntagma Comment., part i., p. 191; but especially, Sketches of Idumaea and its present Inhabitants, by Dr E. Robinson, in the Amer. Bib. Repository for April 1833, p. 247; and the Bib. Researches of the same writer, vol. i., p. 551.)