Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/303

 All these passages show that the land of Madian must be located beyond the rift valley of al-ʻAraba and preferably to the east and southeast of the present settlement of al-ʻAḳaba at the former harbor of Ajla (Elath), for thither passed the important transport routes guarded by the southern Arabian garrison, whose headquarters were the settlements of Dedan (al-ʻEla’) and Maʻôn (Maʻân).

That this is the true situation of Madian is attested by 1 Kings, 11: 18, where it is narrated that the guardians of Ḥadad, the prince of Edom, fled before Joab from Madian to Pârân, where they took people with them to guide and protect them, and then proceeded to Egypt (see above, ). Whether Madian denotes the territory of the tribe or the settlement, we cannot locate it elsewhere than to the south or southeast of Edom. The southern border of Edom is formed by the southern ridge of aš-Šera’, or the ancient Seʻîr. Thence Joab was spreading havoc northward with his army. The servants, wishing to save Ḥadad, did not flee with him either to the northeast or east of Edom but only to the south, for they knew that thence alone could they reach Egypt in the quickest and safest manner by the route rounding the Gulf of al-ʻAḳaba. They therefore endeavored to reach that route and, hiring guides at Pârân (which I identify either with Êl Pârân (Elath) or with the rift valley in which this settlement is situated), hastened with them to Egypt. These considerations show that the Madianites must be located to the east, or rather to the southeast, of Pârân (Elath), for at any distance north of Elath the servants could not have crossed al-ʻAraba, if they did not I wish to fall into the hands of Joab’s soldiers.

The Biblical and Assyrian accounts of the various Madianite clans, or at least of those related to the Madianites, point to their habitat to the south of Edom (Seʻîr).

Genesis, 25: 1–2, mentions among the descendants of Abraham by Keturah the names of Zimran, Joḳšan, Medan, Madian, Jišbaḳ, and Šûaḥ. According to verse 3 of this chapter, the descendants of Joḳšan are Šeba’ and Dedan. From the latter are descended Aššûrîm, Leṭûšîm, and Le’ummîm. In verse 4 it is stated that the sons of Madian are ʻÊfa’, ʻEfer, Ḥanok, Abîdaʻ, and Eldaʻa. Genesis, 10: 7, mentions Šeba’ and Dedan also among the descendants of Kush, and in Genesis, 10: 28–29, Šeba’ is mentioned, together with Ḥawîla, among the Semitic sons of Joḳṭan. From these statements we may suppose that Dedan and Šeba’ were in touch not only with Kushite Eastern Africa—or the modern Somaliland, Abyssinia, and the northern Sûdân—but also with northwestern Arabia and southern Syria, where Abraham’s kindred dwelt; and it may further be assumed that Šeba’ exerted a considerable influence also in the interior of Arabia: the ancient Ḥawîla or the modern Neǧd.

This view is frequently corroborated both by the Biblical and the Assyrian accounts. In the second half of the eighth century before Christ the Assyrian kings endeavored to extend their sway to the great trade route leading through western Arabia from south to north towards Egypt, Damascus, and the Phoenician harbor towns. Tiglath Pileser IV subjugated the extensive surroundings of the modern Ḥawrân, encroached also farther