Historical Background

Genesis identifies Edom with Esau, the elder brother of Jacob. According to the biblical account, Esau settled in the region of Seir, and his descendants became the Edomites.

Genesis 36 preserves lists of Edomite chiefs and kings. The chapter describes a political world that developed independently of Israel and includes the statement that Edom had kings before any king ruled over the Israelites.

Numbers 20 describes the Edomite king refusing Israel permission to pass through his territory during the journey toward Canaan. Deuteronomy 2 instructs Israel not to seize Edomite land because of the family relationship between the two peoples.

Outside the biblical narrative, the early history of Edom is difficult to reconstruct. Egyptian records refer to groups associated with Seir and the southern Transjordanian region, but these references do not by themselves establish the existence of a centralized kingdom identical to the later Edomite state.

During the early Iron Age, communities in the Arabah Valley participated in large-scale copper production. Whether these communities formed an early Edomite kingdom or belonged to a different regional political organization remains debated.