Endnote 1 – New Light on the Edomites

More recent evidence contradicts Glueck’s conclusion that the land of Edom was unoccupied between the beginning of the second millennium B.C. and the end of the 13th century B.C. Glueck’s conclusion, which is no longer accepted, supported a late date for the Israelite conquest of Canaan because prior to the 13th century the area was unoccupied. The Bible records that the Israelites met resistance from several peoples in this area on their march to Canaan. In the last decade, as a result of extensive archaeological surveys in Jordan, many sites dating to Middle Bronze II and Late Bronze periods have been discovered in the land of Edom, Moab and Ammon. Glueck’s conclusion must therefore be modified. (See James A. Sauer, “Transjordan in the Bronze and Iron Ages: A Critique of Glueck’s Synthesis,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Research 263 (1986), pp. 1–26; see also John J. Bimson and David Livingston, “Redating the Exodus,” BAR 13:05, pp. 40–53, 66–68; and Baruch Halpern, “Radical Exodus Redating Fatally Flawed,” BAR 13:06, pp. 56–61.)