Edom Archives - Biblical Archaeology Society

Edom Latest

Moses and Eleazar reveal the bronze serpent to the people afflicted with snakebites (Number 21:5–9). Lithograph by A. Blanco after P.P. Rubens. Wellcome Collection gallery, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Apr 12 Blog

Eleazar in the Bible

Eleazar, Aaron’s son and successor as high priest, witnessed some of the most dramatic events in Israel’s early history. Mentioned more than 60 times in […]

Aeriel photo of one of the mysterious tombs. Courtesy Emil Aladjem, IAA.

Feb 7 Blog

Mysterious Tombs Reveal Insights into Ancient Trade

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

At the crossroads of ancient trade routes running through the Negev Desert, archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) discovered a complex of mysterious tombs […]

stone head sculpture with a piece of nose broken off

Jan 17 Blog

Power Set in Stone

By: BAS Staff

The kingdom of the biblical Ammonites is mentioned a handful of times in the Hebrew Bible. Possibly the most memorable instance is in 2 Samuel […]

Jul 19 Blog

King David’s Nomadic Kingdom

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

The minimalist-maximalist debate within biblical archaeology has waged for decades, with seemingly everyone taking sides. But could this debate be based on scholarly misconceptions about […]

May 26 Blog

Nomadic Biblical Kingdoms

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

Was ancient Israel’s United Monarchy a semi-nomadic kingdom that is now largely invisible to modern archaeology? Some archaeologists think so. To better understand this […]

Oct 21 Blog

How the Timna Mines Went Bust

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

For thousands of years the minerally rich Timna mines, in southern Israel, produces massive quantities of copper ore. Yet, in the early Iron Age, the […]

Aug 5 Blog

From Judah to Edom

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

According to a scholarly article published in Palestine Exploration Quarterly, the biblical “Road of Edom,” mentioned in 2 Kings 3, may have been discovered. The proposal follows the recent excavation of Gorer Tower, a Judean outpost in the Judean Desert that archaeologists date to the Iron Age II period (c. 1000–586 B.C.E.). Based on the excavation, the team, led by archaeologists from Ben-Gurion University and the Israel Antiquities Authority, has proposed a new reconstruction of the ancient road system that connected the kingdoms of Judah, Edom, and Moab.

Must-Read Free eBooks

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Past, Present, and Future

Biblical Peoples—The World of Ancient Israel

Who Was Jesus? Exploring the History of Jesus’ Life

Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus

More Free eBooks

Want more Bible history?

Join Us on an Educational Journey

For more than 40 years, the Biblical Archaeology Society has partnered with world-renowned hosts and guides to provide you exceptional educational offerings in the archaeology of the Biblical lands and in Biblical studies.

Learn More