Idumæa

IDUMÆA, or Edom, a Province of Arabia, which derives its name from Edom or Esau, who there fixed his habitation. He settled at first in the Mountains of Seir, in the land belonging to the Horites, to the South-East of the Dead Sea; and his descendants afterwards spread themselves throughout Arabia Petræa, and in the country which lies to the south of Palestine, between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean. It happened, that during the Babylonish captivity, and in the times when Judæa was almost deserted, they fell upon the territories, which lay to the south of Judah, and advanced as far as Hebron. Thus when we speak of Idumæa, we must be exact in distinguishing times. In the time of Moses and Joshua, and even under the Kings of Judah, the Idumæans were confined to the east and south of the Dead Sea, in the land of Seir, in the way towards the Gulph of Elan. Afterwards Idumæa extended more to the south of Judah. The capital City of East Edom, or Idumæa, was Bozra, situated towards Edrai; and the Capital of south Edom was Petra, or Jectael. We are not the only persons, nor the first, who have distinguished the land of Idumæa into East and South, with relation to Palestine. Strabo, Brocard, Bonfrere, Adricomius, Torniel, and some others, have done the same.

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