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 [[WesternWest 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 fourteen14 inhabited sites during the [[Bronze Age|Late Bronze]] and [[Iron Age|early Iron Ages]].{{sfn|Graf|2016|p=428}}

Some scholars have suggested that the name "Midian" does not refer to geographic places or to a specific tribe,<ref>William J. Dumbrell, Midian: A Land or a League?, ''Vetus Testamentum'', Vol. 25, Fasc. 2, No. 2a. Jubilee Number (May, 1975), pp. 323–37</ref><ref>[[Geoffrey W. Bromiley|Bromiley Geoffrey W.]] ''The [[International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]]''. Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996. {{ISBN| 978-0-8028-3783-7}}. p. 350.</ref> but to a confederation or "league" of tribes brought together as a collective for [[worship]] purposes. [[Paul Haupt]] first made this suggestion in 1909,<ref>{{cite journal|first=Paul |last=Haupt |url=http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/dmg/periodical/pageview/55820 |title=Midian und Sinai |trans-title=Midian and Sinai |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151217025653/http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/dmg/periodical/pageview/55820 |archive-date=2015-12-17 |journal=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft |volume=63 |date=1909 |page=56 |language=de |postscript=; |access-date=1 August 2015}} quoted in Dumbrell</ref> describing Midian as a "cultic collective" ({{lang-de | Kultgenossenschaft}}) or an [[wikt:amphictyony|amphictyony]], meaning "an association ({{lang-de | Bund}}) of different tribes in the vicinity of a [[sanctuary]]". [[Elath]], on the northern tip of the [[Gulf of Aqaba]] was suggested{{by whom|date=January 2021}} as the location of the first [[shrine]], with a second sanctuary located at [[Kadesh (Syria)|Kadesh]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Later writers have questioned the identified sanctuary- locations but supported the thesis of a Midianite league. [[George E. Mendenhall|George Mendenhall]] suggestedsuggests that the Midianites were a non-[[Semitic languages|Semitic]] confederate group,<ref>"The Incident at Beth Baal Peor", ''The Tenth Generation: The Origins of the Biblical Tradition'', 1973</ref> and [[William Dumbrell]] maintainedmaintains the same case:

It is uncertain which deities the Midianites worshipped. Through their apparent religio-political connection with the [[Moabites]]<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|22:4, 7|HE}}</ref> they are thought to have worshipped a multitude, including [[Baal-peor]] and the [[Astarte|Queen of Heaven, Ashteroth]]. According to [[Karel van der Toorn]], "By the 14th century BC, groups of Edomites and Midianites worshipped [[Yahweh]] as their God;" this conclusion is based on identification between Midianites and the [[Shasu]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Karel van der |last=Toorn |title=Family Religion in Babylonia, Ugarit, and Israel: Continuity and Change in the Forms of Religious Life |location=Leiden |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |page=283}}</ref>

An Egyptian temple of [[Hathor]] at [[Timna valleyValley|Timna]] continued to be used during the Midianite occupation of the site (terminal Latelate Bronze Age / Earlyearly Iron Age); the Midianites transformed the Hathor mining temple into a desert tent-shrine. 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 (Biblebiblical 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 [[promisedPromised landLand]] because of his local knowledge, but Hobab preferred to return to his homeland.<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|10:29–31|HE}}</ref>

During the [[Heresy of Peor#Baal-Peor|Baal-Peor episode]], when Moabite women seduced Israelite men, [[Zimri (prince)|Zimri]], the son of a [[Tribe of Simeon|Simeonite]] chief, got involved with a Midianite woman called [[Cozbi]]. The couple were speared by [[Phinehas]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|25:6–8, 14–15|HE}}</ref> War against Midian followed. [[Numbers 31]] reports that all but the virgin females were slain, and their cities burned to the ground.<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|25:17|HE}} and {{bibleverse||Numbers|31|HE}}</ref> Some commentators, for example the [[Pulpit Commentary]] and [[John Gill (theologian)|Gill]]'s ''Exposition of the Bible'', have notednote that God's command focused on attacking the Midianites and not the Moabites,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://biblehub.com/numbers/25-17.htm |title=Pulpit Commentary and Gill's Exposition of the Bible |website=BibleHub |access-date=1 July 2015}}</ref> and similarly Moses in [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]] directed that the Israelites should not harass the Moabites.<ref>{{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|2:9|HE}}</ref> A modern-day movement, the [[Phineas Priesthood]], has interpreted this story as a prohibition against [[miscegenation]], despite the Midianites being closely related to the Israelites as descendants of Abraham, and Moses being married to a Midianite.

The people of Midian are mentioned extensively in the [[Quran]]. The word 'Madyan' appears 10 times in it. The people are also called {{lang|ar-latn|ʾaṣḥabu l-ʾaykah}} ({{lang-ar|أَصْحَابُ ٱلْأَيْكَة|lit=Companions of the Wood}}).<ref>{{qref|15|78-79|b=yl}}</ref><ref>{{qref|26|176-189|b=yl}}</ref><ref>{{qref|38|13-15|b=yl}}</ref><ref>{{qref|50|12-14|b=yl}}</ref> The lands of Midian are mentioned in sura [[Al-Qasas]] (The Stories), verses 20–28, of the Quran as the place where Moses escaped upon learning of the chiefs conspiring to kill him.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Surah Al-Qasas - 20-28 |url=https://quran.com/28/20-28 |access-date=May 19, 2021 |website=The Noble Quran}}</ref>

[[Midianite pottery]], also called Qurayyah Painted Ware (QPW), is found at numerous sites stretching from the southern [[Levant]] to NW Saudi Arabia, the [[Hejaz]]; Qurayyah in NW Saudi Arabia is thought to be its original location of manufacture.<ref>B. Rothenberg and J.Glass, "The Midianite Pottery," in ''Midian, Moab, and Edom: The History and Archaeology of the Late Bronze and Iron Age Jordan and North-West Arabia,'' JSOT Supplement Series 24, ed. John F.A. Sawyer and David J.A. Clines (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1983), pp. 65–124.</ref> The pottery is bichrome / polychrome style and it dates as early as the 13th century BC; its many geometric, human, and animal motifs are painted in browns and dark reds on a pinkish-tan slip. "Midianite" pottery is found in its largest quantities at metallurgical sites in the southern Levant, especially Timna.<ref>Tebes, "Pottery Makers and Premodern Exchange in the Fringes of Egypt: An Approximation to the Distribution of Iron Age Midianite Pottery," ''Buried History'' 43 (2007), pp. 11–26.</ref> Because of the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] motifs on Midianite pottery, some scholars including George Mendenhall,<ref>George Mendenhall, "Qurayya and the Midianites," in ''Studies in the History of Arabia'', Vol. 3, ed. A. R. Al-Ansary (Riyadh: King Saud University), pp. 137–45</ref> Peter Parr,<ref>Peter J. Parr, "Further Reflections on Late Second Millennium Settlement in North West Arabia," in ''Retrieving the Past: Essays on Archaeological Research and Methodology'', ed. J. D. Seger (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1996), pp. 213–18.</ref> and Beno Rothenberg<ref>Rothenberg, "Egyptian Chariots, Midianites from Hijaz/ Midian (Northwest Arabia) and Amalekites from the Negev in the Timna Mines: Rock drawings in the Ancient Copper Mines of the Arabah – new aspects of the region's history II," ''Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies'', newsletter no. 23 (2003), p. 12.</ref> have suggested that the Midianites were originally [[Sea Peoples]] who migrated from the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] region and imposed themselves on a pre-existing Semitic stratum. The question of the origin of the Midianites still remains open.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

== Midian Mountains ==

The Midian Mountains ({{lang-ar|جِبَال مَدْيَن|Jibāl Madyan}}) are a [[mountain range]] in northwestern [[Saudi Arabia]]. They are considered to be either contiguous with the [[Hijaz Mountains]] to the south,<ref name="GhazanfarFisher2013">{{cite book |last1=Ghazanfar |first1=Shahina A. |last2=Fisher |first2=Martin |title=Vegetation of the Arabian Peninsula |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]] |chapter=4 |pages=71–94 |isbn=978-9-4017-3637-4 |location=[[Sultan Qaboos University]], [[Muscat]], [[Oman]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uc_tCAAAQBAJ&q=Midian |date=2013-04-17}}</ref> or a part of them.<ref name="Scoville1979">{{cite book |last=Scoville |first=Sheila A. |title=Gazetteer of Arabia: a geographical and tribal history of the Arabian Peninsula |volume=2 |chapter=3 |page=288 |publisher=Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AH8YAQAAMAAJ&q=midian |isbn=0-7614-7571-0 |year=2006}}</ref> The Hijaz are themselves treated as part of the [[Sarawat Mountains|Sarawat range]], ''[[sensu lato]]''.<ref name="Mandal1990">{{cite book |last=Mandal |first=Ram Bahadur |title=Patterns of Regional Geography: World regions |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |chapter=VI: A Regional Geography |page=354 |isbn=8-1702-2292-3 |location=[[New Delhi]], [[India]] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XWwCHWwgKt0C&q=sarawat+mountains&pg=PA354 |year=1990 }}</ref><ref name="Nasr2013">{{cite book |last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein |author-link=Hossein Nasr |title=Mecca the Blessed, Medina the Radiant: The Holiest Cities of Islam |publisher=[[Tuttle Publishing]] |chapter=1: The Holiest Cities of Islam |isbn=978-1-4629-1365-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4RvQAgAAQBAJ&q=sarat+mountains |year=2013}}</ref>