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{{short description|Geographical place mentioned in the Torah}}▼
{{About|a region or people referred to in the Bible and Quran}}
{{redirect|Jabal Hubaysh, Saudi Arabia|the Yemeni mountain|Jabal Hubaysh, Yemen}}
▲{{short description|Geographical place mentioned in the Torah}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Midian
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'''Midian''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɪ|d|i|ən}}; {{lang-he|מִדְיָן}} ''Mīḏyān''
According to the [[Book of Genesis]], the '''Midianites''' were the descendants of [[Midian, son of Abraham|Midian]],
Traditionally, knowledge about Midian and the Midianites' existence was based solely upon Biblical and classical 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
== Land or tribal league? ==
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
Later writers have questioned the identified sanctuary
{{
William J. Dumbrell, Midian: A Land or a League?, ''Vetus Testamentum'', Vol. 25, Fasc. 2, No. 2a. Jubilee Number (May, 1975), p. 32.</ref>}}
== Metallurgy ==
The area of [[Timna valley]] contains large deposits of copper that had been mined from the prehistoric times onward. Copper was mined here by the Egyptians during the reign of Pharaoh [[Seti I]] at the end of the 14th century BCE.<ref>Jacob Edward Dunn 2015, [https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/dunn_jacob_e_201505_ma.pdf ‘A Land Whose Stones Are Iron And From Whose Hills You May Mine Copper’: Metallurgy, Pottery, And The Midianite-Qenite Hypothesis.] Thesis, University of Georgia. 129 pages</ref>
== Religion ==
{{see also|Kenite hypothesis}}
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 [[Polytheism|worshipped a multitude]], including [[Baal-peor]] and
The Midianite connections to metallurgy at Timna have been noted by many scholars. Large amounts of Midianite ceramic ware has been discovered at these mining sites.<ref>Rothenberg, Beno. The Egyptian Mining Temple at Timna. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies London: Thames and Hudson, 1988</ref>
An Egyptian temple of [[Hathor]] at Timna (Site 200) was first discovered during the [[Beno Rothenberg]]'s excavations.<ref>{{cite book|first=Beno |last=Rothenberg |title=Timna: Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines |location=London |publisher=[[Thames and Hudson]] |date=1972}}</ref>
:"Rothenberg’s excavation of Site 200 revealed a number of Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions including those of: Seti I, Ramesses II, Merneptah, Seti II, and Queen Twosret of the Nineteenth Dynasty, as well as Ramesses III, Ramesses IV, and Ramesses V of the Twentieth Dynasty (pp. 163–166)."<ref>Jacob Edward Dunn 2015, [https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/dunn_jacob_e_201505_ma.pdf ‘A Land Whose Stones Are Iron And From Whose Hills You May Mine Copper’: Metallurgy, Pottery, And The Midianite-Qenite Hypothesis.] Thesis, University of Georgia. 129 pages. Note 200, page 54</ref>
The site also continued to be used during the Midianite occupation in the area, which is usually dated to 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.
== In religious scripture ==
=== In the Bible ===
[[File:Figures Five Kings of Midian Slain by Israel.jpg|thumb|Five kings of Midian slain by Israel (illustration from the 1728 ''Figures de la Bible'')]]
Midian was the son of [[Abraham]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|25:1–2|HE}}</ref> Abraham's great
[[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 (
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
During the time of the [[Book of Judges|Judges]], Israel was oppressed by Midian for seven years<ref>{{bibleverse||Judges|6:1–6|NKJV}}</ref> until [[Gideon]] defeated Midian's armies.<ref>{{bibleverse||Judges|6:7–9|NKJV}}</ref> [[Isaiah]] speaks of camels from Midian and [[Ephah]] coming to "cover your land", along with the gold and frankincense from [[Sheba]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Isaiah|60:6|NKJV}}</ref> This passage, taken by the [[Gospel of Matthew]] as a foreshadowing of the [[Biblical Magi|Magi]]'s gifts to the infant [[Jesus]], has been incorporated into the [[Christmas]] liturgy.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}
=== In the Quran ===
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=
Surah 9 ([[Al-Tawbah]]), verse 70 says "Has not the story reached them of those before them? – The people of Nūḥ (Noah), [[ʿĀd]] and [[Thamud]], the people of Ibrahim (Abraham), the dwellers [literally, comrades] of Madyan (Midian) and the cities overthrown [i.e. the people to whom Lūt (Lot) preached], to them came their Messengers with clear proofs. So it was not [[Allah]] who wronged them, but they used to wrong themselves."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Muhammad Taqi-Ud-Din al-Halali and Muhammad Muhsin Khan's Translation |date=July 2009 |url=https://www.alquranenglish.com/quran-surah-at-taubah-70-qs-9-70-in-arabic-and-english-translation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004222525/https://www.alquranenglish.com/quran-surah-at-taubah-70-qs-9-70-in-arabic-and-english-translation|archive-date=October 4, 2023}}</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>
▲Surah 9 ([[Al-Tawbah]]), verse 70 says "Has not the story reached them of those before them? – The people of Nūḥ (Noah), [[ʿĀd]] and [[Thamud]], the people of Ibrahim (Abraham), the dwellers [literally, comrades] of Madyan (Midian) and the cities overthrown [i.e. the people to whom Lūt (Lot) preached], to them came their Messengers with clear proofs. So it was not [[Allah]] who wronged them, but they used to wrong themselves."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Muhammad Taqi-Ud-Din al-Halali and Muhammad Muhsin Khan's Translation |date=July 2009 |url=https://www.alquranenglish.com/quran-surah-at-taubah-70-qs-9-70-in-arabic-and-english-translation}}</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> 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]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}
== Pottery ==
[[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 ==
{{See also|Geography of Saudi Arabia|Geology of Saudi Arabia|List of mountains in Saudi Arabia|Geography of Jordan|Geology of Jordan}}
{{Infobox mountain
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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. |
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* [[ʿĀd]]
* [[Balak]]
* [[
* [[Ishmaelites]]
* [[Qedar|Kedar]]
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== References ==
{{reflist}}
===Bibliography===
* Clines, David and John Sawyer, eds. "Midian, Moab and Edom: The History and Archaeology of Late Bronze and Iron Age Jordan and North-West Arabia". ''Journal for the Study of the Old Testament'', Supplement Series, No. 24. Sheffield Academic Press, 1983.
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050721134132/http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97m/preface1.html Richard Burton's account of his travels in "The Land of Midian"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051024234638/http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000002707.htm Spring of Harod – ''Ma'ayan Harod'']
* [https://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-midianite-pottery.htm Midianite Pottery: The designer import of the ancient world]
* [[:ar:جبال مدين|جبال مدين (Arabic Wiki)]]
{{refend}}
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