Economy and Trade

Edom's economy depended on a combination of agriculture, herding, trade, and access to mineral resources. The highlands supported small farming communities, while sheep and goats could be raised in areas less suitable for cultivation.

Trade routes running through southern Transjordan connected the region with Arabia, the Red Sea, and the lands west of the Jordan River. Control of these routes could provide income and political influence.

The Arabah Valley contained important copper deposits. Archaeologists have discovered extensive evidence of mining and smelting at sites such as Faynan and Timna.

Some of these copper operations flourished before the securely documented highland kingdom of Edom. Their political organization and relationship to later Edomite society remain debated.

During the period of Assyrian influence, regional trade and agricultural settlement expanded. Edom participated in the larger economic networks that connected the southern Levant with imperial markets.