According to the [[Book of Genesis]], the '''Midianites''' were the descendants of [[Midian, son of Abraham|Midian]], who was a son of [[Abraham]] and his wife [[Keturah]]: "Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah" ([[Genesis (Hebrew Bible)|Genesis]] 25:1–2, [[Authorized King James Version|King James Version]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+25%3A1-2&version=KJV|title= Genesis 25:1–2 |version=King James Version |website=[[Bible Gateway]]}}</ref>
NeitherTraditionally, knowledge about Midian'snorand the Midianites' existence arewas attestedbased insolely antiquityupon outsideBiblical ofand Biblicalclassical sources.,<ref>{{cite book |last=Bryce |first=Trevor |author-link=Trevor R. Bryce |date=2009 |title=The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: From the Early Bronze Age to the Fall of the Persian Empire |page=472 |url= |location=[[London]], [[United Kingdom]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-39485-7 }}</ref> but more recently a reference to Midian has been identified in an Arabic inscription dated to before the 9th century BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Une première mention de Madyan dans un texte épigraphique d’Arabie |journal=Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_2017_num_161_1_96407 |last=Robin |first=Christian |issue=1 |volume=161 |pages=363-396 |last2=Al-Ghabban |first2=Ali |doi=10.3406/crai.2017.96407 |year=2017 |language=fr}}</ref>