Midian: Difference between revisions

'''Midian''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɪ|d|i|ən}}; {{lang-he|מִדְיָן}} ''Miḏyān''; {{lang-ar|مَدْيَن|Madyan}}; {{lang-grc-gre|Μαδιάμ}}, ''Madiam''){{Efn | Also {{lang|grc|Μαδιανίτης}} for "Midianite".}} is a geographical region in [[West Asia]] mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible]] and [[Quran]]. [[William G. Dever]] states that biblical Midian was in the "northwest [[Arabian Peninsula]], on the east shore of the [[Gulf of Aqaba]] on the [[Red Sea]]",<ref>{{citation |last= Dever |first= W. G. |author-link= William G. Dever |title=Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.]] |date=2006 |isbn= 978-0-8028-4416-3 |page=34}}</ref> an area which contained at least 14 inhabited sites during the [[Bronze Age|Late Bronze]] and [[Iron Age|early Iron Ages]].{{sfn|Graf|2016|p=428}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Luciani |first=Marta |title=Archaeology in the Land of Midian: Excavating the Qurayyah Oasis |journal=Biblical Archaeology Review |date=November–December 2023 |volume=49 |issue=4 |url=https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/archaeology-in-the-land-of-midian-excavating-the-qurayyah-oasis/}}</ref>

An Egyptian temple of [[Hathor]] at [[Timna Valley|Timna]] continued to be used during the Midianite occupation of the site (terminal late Bronze Age / early Iron Age); the Midianites transformed the Hathor mining temple into a desert tent-shrine.<ref>{{cite book |title=Unearthing the Wilderness: Studies on the History and Archaeology of the Negev and Edom in the Iron Age |last=Avner |first=Uzi |publisher=Peeters |year=2014 |isbn=978-90-429-2973-9 |pages=103–162 |editor-last=Tebes |editor-first=Juan Manuel |chapter=Egyptian Timna – Reconsidered |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q9g1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA103}}</ref> In addition to the discovery of post-holes, large quantities of red and yellow decayed cloth with beads woven into it, along with numerous copper rings/wire used to suspend the curtains, were found all along two walls of the shrine. [[Beno Rothenberg]],<ref>{{cite book|first=Beno |last=Rothenberg |title=Timna: Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines |location=London |publisher=[[Thames and Hudson]] |date=1972}}</ref> the excavator of the site, suggested that the Midianites were making offerings to Hathor, especially since a large number of Midianite votive vessels (25%) were discovered in the shrine. However, whether Hathor or some other deity was the object of devotion during this period is difficult to ascertain. A small bronze snake with gilded head was also discovered in the naos of the Timna mining shrine, along with a hoard of metal objects that included a small bronze figurine of a bearded male god, which according to Rothenberg was Midianite in origin. Michael Homan observes that the Midianite tent-shrine at Timna is one of the closest parallels to the biblical [[Tabernacle]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Michael M. |last=Homan |title=To Your Tents, O Israel!: The Terminology, Function, Form, and Symbolism of the Tents in the Bible and the Ancient Near East |journal=Culture and History of the Ancient Near East |volume=12 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |date=2002 |page=118}}</ref>

[[Moses]] spent 40 years in voluntary exile in Midian after killing an Egyptian.<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|2:11–15|HE}}</ref> There, he married [[Zipporah]], the daughter of Midianite priest [[Jethro (biblical figure)|Jethro]]<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|2:21|HE}}</ref> (also known as [[Reuel]]). Jethro advised Moses on establishing a system of delegated legal decision-making.<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|18|HE}}</ref> Moses asked [[List of minor biblical figures, A–K#Hobab|Hobab]], the son of Reuel, to accompany the Israelites travelling towards the [[Promised Land]] because of his local knowledge, but Hobab preferred to return to his homeland.<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|10:29–31|HE}}</ref> A number of scholars have proposed that the biblical description of devouring fire on Mount Sinai refers to an erupting volcano in the land of biblical Midian identified as [[Hala-'l Badr]] in northwestern [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dunn |first=Jacob E. |date=2014 |title=A God of Volcanoes: Did Yahwism Take Root in Volcanic Ashes? |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309089214536484 |journal=Journal for the Study of the Old Testament |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=387–424 |doi=10.1177/0309089214536484 |issn=0309-0892}}</ref>

In Surah 7 ([[Al-A'raf|Al-ʾAʿrāf]]), Madyan is mentioned as one of several peoples who were warned by prophets to repent lest judgment fall on them. The story of Madyan is the last, coming after that of [[Lot (Bible)|Lot]] preaching to his people (referring to the destruction of the [[Cities of Sin|Cities of the Plain]]). Madyan was warned by the prophet [[Shuaib|Shuʿaib]] to repent of practicing polytheism, using false weights and measures and lying in wait along the road. But they rejected Shuʿayb, and consequently were destroyed by a tremor (''rajfa'', v. 91). [[Abdullah Yusuf Ali]] in his commentary (1934) writes, "The fate of the Madyan people is described in the same terms as that of the Thamūd in verse 78 above. An earthquake seized them by night, and they were buried in their own homes, no longer to vex Allah's earth. But a supplementary detail is mentioned in [Quran] 26:189, 'the punishment of a day of overshadowing gloom,' which may be understood to mean a shower of ashes and cinders accompanying a volcanic eruption. Thus a day of terror drove them into their homes, and the earthquake finished them."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ali |first1=Abdullah Yusuf |title=The Holy Quran – English Translation of the Meaning and Commentary |publisher=King Fahd Holy Qur-an Printing Complex |url=https://archive.org/stream/TheHolyQuranEnglishTranslationoftheMeaningandCommentary/The%20Holy%20Quran%20-%20Abdullah%20Yusuf%20Ali%20IFTA_djvu.txt |access-date=4 March 2017}}</ref> AExcavations numberat the oasis of scholars[[Al-Bad']], identified as the city of Midian mentioned in classical and Islamic sources, have proposeduncovered evidence of an occupation spanning thatfrom the biblical4th descriptionmillennium ofBC.<ref>{{Cite devouringjournal fire|last=Charloux on|first=Guillaume Mount|last2=Ahmed SinaiSahlah refers|first2=Samer to|last3=Badaiwi an|first3=Waleed eruptingAli volcano|date=January in2021 |title=Madian revealed? Assessing the landhistory ofand biblicalarchaeology Midianof identifiedthe asoasis [[Halaof al-'l Badr]]Badʿ in northwestern [[SaudiArabia Arabia]]|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1484/j.sec.5.129522 |journal=Semitica et Classica |volume=14 |pages=97–141 |doi=10.1484/j.sec.5.129522 |issn=2031-5937}}</ref><ref>{{CitationCite web needed|url=https://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/en/al-bad |title=Al-Badʿ - Archéologie - culture.fr |access-date=March2023-10-27 2021|website=archeologie.culture.gouv.fr}}</ref>