Difference between revisions of "Realia:Midyan/0"
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<h1>Midyan</h1> | <h1>Midyan</h1> | ||
− | <div style="text-align:center"> | + | <div style="text-align:center;font-weight:bold;margin-bottom:7px;" class="header"><a href="http://www.hatanakh.com/map/%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%A5-%D7%9E%D7%93%D7%99%D7%9F" class="btn" style="color:#832525">Hatanakh.com Map</a></div> |
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<h2>Overview</h2> | <h2>Overview</h2> | ||
− | + | <p>As Tanakh does not provide accompanying maps, we must piece together different textual and archaeological clues in order to identify geographic locations. The case of Midyan is particularly intriguing because the evidence points in three different directions, to places which today are located in three separate countries (Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan).</p> | |
− | + | <p>The stories of Moshe and Yitro appear to place Midyan in close proximity to Mount Sinai, which would support a site south of Israel. In contrast, most of the other Biblical stories which mention Midyan connect them to Moav and Central Israel, suggesting a more northeastern location. Finally, extra-biblical evidence points to a southeastern locale, near the Gulf of Aqaba.</p> | |
− | + | <p>This apparent contradiction can be resolved by positing either that the Midianites were a nomadic people which settled in different areas at various points in history, or that the Midianites were a broad confederation of tribes which lived in several regions simultaneously under assorted foreign rulers.<fn>See Tanchuma Matot 3 cited below.</fn></p></div> | |
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<approaches> | <approaches> | ||
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<category>Possible Locations | <category>Possible Locations | ||
− | + | <p>Below is the evidence for a Midianite presence in the various possible regions:</p> | |
− | + | <opinion name="Sinai Desert"> | |
− | + | <span style="color:purple; font-weight:bold;">A Midyan located south of Israel</span>, in the southern region of the Sinai Desert. | |
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− | <opinion name="Sinai Desert"><span style="color:purple; font-weight:bold;">A Midyan located south of Israel</span>, in the southern region of the Sinai Desert. | ||
<point><b>Moshe's flight from Egypt</b> – A southern location would allow Moshe to escape to a relatively nearby land.</point> | <point><b>Moshe's flight from Egypt</b> – A southern location would allow Moshe to escape to a relatively nearby land.</point> | ||
<point><b>Midyan and Mount Sinai</b> – Yitro was the <i>kohen</i> of Midyan, and Moshe shepherds Yitro's sheep at Mt. Sinai (<a href="Shemot3-1" data-aht="source">Shemot 3:1</a>). If Mt. Sinai is situated in the Sinai Desert<fn>The location of Mount Sinai itself is the subject of debate. This approach would assume that it is identical with Jebel Musa of today, in the southern region of the Sinai Peninsula. Such a location for Mt. Sinai works well with the route taken by the nation when leaving Egypt and their intended entry into Israel from the South. See below for an alternative location, and see <a href="Realia:Mt. Sinai" data-aht="page">Mount Sinai</a>.</fn>, this would argue for a similar placement of Midyan.<fn>Ramban Shemot 18:1 and Abarbanel Bemidbar 10 advocate for a Midyan close to Mt. Sinai. However, R. Avraham b. HaRambam disagrees. It should be noted that nomadic shepherds, even in modern times, sometimes cover distances of tens of miles in search of greener pastures.</fn></point> | <point><b>Midyan and Mount Sinai</b> – Yitro was the <i>kohen</i> of Midyan, and Moshe shepherds Yitro's sheep at Mt. Sinai (<a href="Shemot3-1" data-aht="source">Shemot 3:1</a>). If Mt. Sinai is situated in the Sinai Desert<fn>The location of Mount Sinai itself is the subject of debate. This approach would assume that it is identical with Jebel Musa of today, in the southern region of the Sinai Peninsula. Such a location for Mt. Sinai works well with the route taken by the nation when leaving Egypt and their intended entry into Israel from the South. See below for an alternative location, and see <a href="Realia:Mt. Sinai" data-aht="page">Mount Sinai</a>.</fn>, this would argue for a similar placement of Midyan.<fn>Ramban Shemot 18:1 and Abarbanel Bemidbar 10 advocate for a Midyan close to Mt. Sinai. However, R. Avraham b. HaRambam disagrees. It should be noted that nomadic shepherds, even in modern times, sometimes cover distances of tens of miles in search of greener pastures.</fn></point> | ||
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<point><b>Midyan and Moav</b> – This possibility does not account for all of the stories which connect Midyan and Moav (see below).</point> | <point><b>Midyan and Moav</b> – This possibility does not account for all of the stories which connect Midyan and Moav (see below).</point> | ||
</opinion> | </opinion> | ||
− | + | <opinion name="Jordan"> | |
− | <opinion name="Jordan"><span style="color:red; font-weight:bold;">A Midyan situated on the eastern side</span> of the Jordan River, near Moav. | + | <span style="color:red; font-weight:bold;">A Midyan situated on the eastern side</span> of the Jordan River, near Moav. |
<point><b>Keturah's descendants</b> – <a href="Bereshit25-1" data-aht="source">Bereshit 25:1-6</a> lists Midyan as one of the children of Keturah who were sent "to the east" by Avraham.</point> | <point><b>Keturah's descendants</b> – <a href="Bereshit25-1" data-aht="source">Bereshit 25:1-6</a> lists Midyan as one of the children of Keturah who were sent "to the east" by Avraham.</point> | ||
<point><b><a href="Bereshit36-35" data-aht="source">Bereshit 36:35</a></b> speaks of Hadad b. Bedad smiting Midyan in the field of Moav.</point> | <point><b><a href="Bereshit36-35" data-aht="source">Bereshit 36:35</a></b> speaks of Hadad b. Bedad smiting Midyan in the field of Moav.</point> | ||
<point><b>Midyan and Moav</b> – In both the stories of Bilam in <a href="Bemidbar22-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 22-24</a> and of Baal Peor in <a href="Bemidbar25-1" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 25</a>, the Midianites and Moabites work in tandem against Israel. See <multilink><a href="TanchumaMatot3" data-aht="source">Tanchuma</a><a href="TanchumaMatot3" data-aht="source">Matot 3</a><a href="Tanchuma" data-aht="parshan">About the Tanchuma</a></multilink> which raises the possibility that Midyan in these stories is located near Moav, and is not the same place to which Moshe fled.</point> | <point><b>Midyan and Moav</b> – In both the stories of Bilam in <a href="Bemidbar22-2" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 22-24</a> and of Baal Peor in <a href="Bemidbar25-1" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 25</a>, the Midianites and Moabites work in tandem against Israel. See <multilink><a href="TanchumaMatot3" data-aht="source">Tanchuma</a><a href="TanchumaMatot3" data-aht="source">Matot 3</a><a href="Tanchuma" data-aht="parshan">About the Tanchuma</a></multilink> which raises the possibility that Midyan in these stories is located near Moav, and is not the same place to which Moshe fled.</point> | ||
<point><b>Sichon's Midianite vassals</b> – <a href="Yehoshua13-21" data-aht="source">Yehoshua 13:21</a> records that the "princes of Midyan" were vassals of Sichon and lived in the territory on the Eastern side of the Jordan which the Israelites had conquered from Sichon (who had previously captured it from Moav).<fn>This explains why the request of the tribes of Gad and Reuven to settle the land of Sichon came only after the battle with Midyan which cleared the land of hostile inhabitants, and not immediately after the conquest of Sichon. See <a href="BEM32$" data-aht="page">Bemidbar 32</a>.</fn></point> | <point><b>Sichon's Midianite vassals</b> – <a href="Yehoshua13-21" data-aht="source">Yehoshua 13:21</a> records that the "princes of Midyan" were vassals of Sichon and lived in the territory on the Eastern side of the Jordan which the Israelites had conquered from Sichon (who had previously captured it from Moav).<fn>This explains why the request of the tribes of Gad and Reuven to settle the land of Sichon came only after the battle with Midyan which cleared the land of hostile inhabitants, and not immediately after the conquest of Sichon. See <a href="BEM32$" data-aht="page">Bemidbar 32</a>.</fn></point> | ||
− | <point><b>Gidon's battle with Midyan</b> – In the story of Gidon in <a href="Shofetim6-1" data-aht="source">Shofetim 6-8</a>, the Midianites plunder the land of | + | <point><b>Gidon's battle with Midyan</b> – In the story of Gidon in <a href="Shofetim6-1" data-aht="source">Shofetim 6-8</a>, the Midianites plunder the land of Ephraim and Menashe (on the western side of the Jordan). Zevach and Zalmuna, the two Midianite kings, seek refuge from Gidon in Karkor (<a href="Shofetim6-1" data-aht="source">Shofetim 8:10</a>), which is identified as a city in the Great Desert, near Moav.</point> |
<point><b>Midyan and Mount Sinai</b> – This approach does not account for the proximity of Midyan to Mt. Sinai (see above).</point> | <point><b>Midyan and Mount Sinai</b> – This approach does not account for the proximity of Midyan to Mt. Sinai (see above).</point> | ||
<point><b>Geographical works</b> – Eusebius in his <a href="Onomasticon" data-aht="source">Onomasticon</a> notes that there are ruins of a site called Midyan near Arnon (in the land of Moav).<fn><multilink><a href="TanchumaMatot3" data-aht="source">Tanchuma</a><a href="TanchumaMatot3" data-aht="source">Matot 3</a><a href="Tanchuma" data-aht="parshan">About the Tanchuma</a></multilink> uses similar language to describe a Midyan site located near Moav. This was noted by Shemuel Klein, "Zur Geographie Palästinas in der Zeit der Mischna," MGWJ 61 (1917): 133-152.</fn></point> | <point><b>Geographical works</b> – Eusebius in his <a href="Onomasticon" data-aht="source">Onomasticon</a> notes that there are ruins of a site called Midyan near Arnon (in the land of Moav).<fn><multilink><a href="TanchumaMatot3" data-aht="source">Tanchuma</a><a href="TanchumaMatot3" data-aht="source">Matot 3</a><a href="Tanchuma" data-aht="parshan">About the Tanchuma</a></multilink> uses similar language to describe a Midyan site located near Moav. This was noted by Shemuel Klein, "Zur Geographie Palästinas in der Zeit der Mischna," MGWJ 61 (1917): 133-152.</fn></point> | ||
<point><b>Archaeological evidence</b> – For a survey of some of the possible sites for Midian in the land of Moav, see ‏ח' בן דוד, 'אתרי "מדינה" על יובלי הארנון – "מדיין שבצד מואב"?!', בתוך: בהר ובשפלה ובערבה, ירושלים תשס"ח, עמ' 88-78‏.</point> | <point><b>Archaeological evidence</b> – For a survey of some of the possible sites for Midian in the land of Moav, see ‏ח' בן דוד, 'אתרי "מדינה" על יובלי הארנון – "מדיין שבצד מואב"?!', בתוך: בהר ובשפלה ובערבה, ירושלים תשס"ח, עמ' 88-78‏.</point> | ||
</opinion> | </opinion> | ||
− | + | <opinion name="Arabian Desert"> | |
− | <opinion name="Arabian Desert"><span style="color:green; font-weight:bold;">A Midyan lying to the southeast of Israel</span>, in the Arabian Desert, on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. | + | <span style="color:green; font-weight:bold;">A Midyan lying to the southeast of Israel</span>, in the Arabian Desert, on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. |
<point><b>Historical sources</b> – <multilink><a href="Artapanus" data-aht="source">Artapanus</a><a href="Artapanus" data-aht="source">Eusebius Ch. 27</a><a href="Artapanus" data-aht="parshan">About Artapanus</a></multilink> (cited by Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica, Ch. 27) places Midyan in Arabia.<fn><multilink><a href="Josephus2-11" data-aht="source">Josephus</a><a href="Josephus2-11" data-aht="source">Antiquities 2:11:1</a><a href="Josephus" data-aht="parshan">About Josephus</a></multilink> also locates Midyan on the coast of the Red Sea, but it is hard to determine to which coast he refers – see <a href="Realia:Geography of Yam Suf" data-aht="page">Yam Suf</a>.</fn></point> | <point><b>Historical sources</b> – <multilink><a href="Artapanus" data-aht="source">Artapanus</a><a href="Artapanus" data-aht="source">Eusebius Ch. 27</a><a href="Artapanus" data-aht="parshan">About Artapanus</a></multilink> (cited by Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica, Ch. 27) places Midyan in Arabia.<fn><multilink><a href="Josephus2-11" data-aht="source">Josephus</a><a href="Josephus2-11" data-aht="source">Antiquities 2:11:1</a><a href="Josephus" data-aht="parshan">About Josephus</a></multilink> also locates Midyan on the coast of the Red Sea, but it is hard to determine to which coast he refers – see <a href="Realia:Geography of Yam Suf" data-aht="page">Yam Suf</a>.</fn></point> | ||
<point><b>Geographical works</b> – Ptolemy<fn>In his Geography Vol.6, Chapter 7.</fn> mentions a place called Madiana in the Arabian Desert, and Eusebius' <a href="Onomasticon" data-aht="source">Onomasticon</a> identifies Biblical Midyan as the city of Madian in Arabia. A site called Madyan, associated with the prophet Shu'aib (identified with Yitro – see <a href="Comparative Religion – Shemot 18" data-aht="page">Yitro in Other Religions</a>) is referred to in Arabic sources as a rest stop on the way from Eilat to Mecca and Medina (a five day journey from Eilat). This site has been identified with the ruins in the Caves of Shu'aib, east of the Gulf of Aqaba.<fn>The earliest sources cited above supporting a location for the Midyan in the Arabian Desert all predate Islam, but they worked well for Mohammed's view of Moshe's fleeing to Midyan as a precursor of his own flight to Medina – see <a href="Comparative Religion – Shemot 18" data-aht="page">Yitro in Islam</a>.</fn></point> | <point><b>Geographical works</b> – Ptolemy<fn>In his Geography Vol.6, Chapter 7.</fn> mentions a place called Madiana in the Arabian Desert, and Eusebius' <a href="Onomasticon" data-aht="source">Onomasticon</a> identifies Biblical Midyan as the city of Madian in Arabia. A site called Madyan, associated with the prophet Shu'aib (identified with Yitro – see <a href="Comparative Religion – Shemot 18" data-aht="page">Yitro in Other Religions</a>) is referred to in Arabic sources as a rest stop on the way from Eilat to Mecca and Medina (a five day journey from Eilat). This site has been identified with the ruins in the Caves of Shu'aib, east of the Gulf of Aqaba.<fn>The earliest sources cited above supporting a location for the Midyan in the Arabian Desert all predate Islam, but they worked well for Mohammed's view of Moshe's fleeing to Midyan as a precursor of his own flight to Medina – see <a href="Comparative Religion – Shemot 18" data-aht="page">Yitro in Islam</a>.</fn></point> | ||
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</opinion> | </opinion> | ||
</category> | </category> | ||
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<category>Related Topics | <category>Related Topics | ||
− | + | <p><b>Midyan and Kushan</b> – <a href="Chavakkuk3-7" data-aht="source">Chavakkuk 3:7</a> sets up a parallel between Kushan and Midyan, implying that the two are identical. There are different identifications of Kushan which support the different possible locations of Midian. Albright<fn>BASOR 83 (1941), p.34, n.8.</fn> cites Egyptian texts that refer to the Kushu tribes which lived near the Shutu tribes, an ancient name for Moav. Others disagree, identifying Kushan instead with a place named Derom Kushu lying on the southwest outskirts of Israel.<fn>The different identifications of Kushan and Midyan have interesting ramifications for reconstructing the background for Moshe taking a Kushite wife in <a href="Bemidbar12-1" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 12:1</a>. If the terms Kushite and Midianite are interchangeable, it is possible that the verse is referring to Zipporah herself and not a new wife. Alternatively, if Kushan was on the southern outskirts of Israel, it would be close to Kadesh Barnea where the Israelites were camped in the subsequent chapters of Bemidbar. It would then be possible that Moshe had married a local woman at the time of the story in Bemidbar 12.</fn></p> | |
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Latest revision as of 03:05, 23 September 2019
Midyan
Exegetical Approaches
Overview
As Tanakh does not provide accompanying maps, we must piece together different textual and archaeological clues in order to identify geographic locations. The case of Midyan is particularly intriguing because the evidence points in three different directions, to places which today are located in three separate countries (Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan).
The stories of Moshe and Yitro appear to place Midyan in close proximity to Mount Sinai, which would support a site south of Israel. In contrast, most of the other Biblical stories which mention Midyan connect them to Moav and Central Israel, suggesting a more northeastern location. Finally, extra-biblical evidence points to a southeastern locale, near the Gulf of Aqaba.
This apparent contradiction can be resolved by positing either that the Midianites were a nomadic people which settled in different areas at various points in history, or that the Midianites were a broad confederation of tribes which lived in several regions simultaneously under assorted foreign rulers.1
Possible Locations
Below is the evidence for a Midianite presence in the various possible regions:
A Midyan located south of Israel, in the southern region of the Sinai Desert.
A Midyan situated on the eastern side of the Jordan River, near Moav.
A Midyan lying to the southeast of Israel, in the Arabian Desert, on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba.
Related Topics
Midyan and Kushan – Chavakkuk 3:7 sets up a parallel between Kushan and Midyan, implying that the two are identical. There are different identifications of Kushan which support the different possible locations of Midian. Albright10 cites Egyptian texts that refer to the Kushu tribes which lived near the Shutu tribes, an ancient name for Moav. Others disagree, identifying Kushan instead with a place named Derom Kushu lying on the southwest outskirts of Israel.11