The Land of Midian (Revisited) Volume I Part 8

"The king also restored his attention to the treasures of the Sinaitic Peninsula, which had excited the concupiscence of the Egyptians since the days of King Senoferu[EN#47] (B.C. 3700).

Loaded with rich presents for the sanctuary of the G.o.ddess Hathor, the protectress of Mafka-land, chosen employes were despatched on a royal commission to the peninsula, for the purpose of supplying the Pharaoh's treasury with the highly prized blue-green copper-stones (Mafka, Turkisen?[EN#48])."

These lines were published by Dr. Brugsch-Bey before he had heard of my discoveries of metals and of a modern turquoise-digging in the Land of Midian. He had decided that "'Athaka" lay to the east of Suez, chiefly from the insistence laid upon the shipping; sea-going craft would certainly not be required for a sail of three or four hours. Moreover, as I have elsewhere shown, Jebel 'Atakah, the "Mountain of Deliverance," at the mouth of the Wady Musa, was referred to the Jews at some time after the Christian era, and probably during the fourth and fifth centuries, when pilgrimages to the apocryphal Mounts Sinai became the fashion.

During the summer of 1877, Dr. Brugsch-Bey was kind enough to copy and to translate the original doc.u.ment, upon which he founded his short account of the "'Athaka" copper-mines. I offer it to the reader in full.

The order of the alphabet is that adopted by Dr. Brugsch-Bey. It relies for the first letter upon the authority of Plutarch, who a.s.serts that the Egyptian abecedarium numbered the square of five (twenty-five); and that it opened with ----, which also expresses the G.o.d Thoth;--this is the case with ---- the leaf of some water-plant. The sequence of the letters has been suggested by a number of minor considerations: we begin with the vowels, and proceed to the l.a.b.i.al, the liquids, and so forth.[EN#49]

The sense of the highly interesting inscription, in its English order, would be:--

"I have sent my commissioners to the land 'Athaka; to the (those)[EN#50]

great mines of copper (or coppers)[EN#51] which are in this place ('Athaka); and their (i.e. the commissioners') ships[EN#52] were loaded, carrying them (the metals); while other (commissioners were sent and) marched on their a.s.ses. No! one never (ter-tot) had heard, since the (days of the olden) kings, that these (copper) mines had been found.[EN#53] The loads (i.e. of the ships and the a.s.ses) carried copper; the loads were by myriads for their ships, which went thence (i.e. from the mines) to Egypt. (After) happily arriving, the loads were landed, according to royal order, under the Pavilion,[EN#54] in form of copper- bricks;[EN#55] they were numerous as frogs (in the marsh),[EN#56] and in quality they were gold (Nub) of the third degree.[EN#57] I made them admired (by) all the world as marvellous things."

The following lines upon the subject of Midian are from the notes (p. 143) of Jacob Golius in "Alferganum" (small 4to. Amsterdam, 1669), a valuable translation with geographical explanations.

Ahmad ibn Mohammed ibn Kathir el-Farghani derived his "lakab" or cognomen from the province of Farghan (Khokand), to the north-east of the Oxus; he wrote a work upon astronomy, and he flourished about A.H. 184 (= A.D. 800).

"Ibidem (

iii. cujus filiam Sipporam Moses uxor duxit, c.u.m ex aegpto profugisset in terram Midjan; ubi Jethro princeps erat et Sacerdos. Autonomosia illa Arabibus familiaris. Ita Hanoch (

El-Farghani is followed by the Imam Abu 'Abbas Ahmed bin Yahya bin Jabir, surnamed and popularly known as El-Balazuri, who flourished between A.H. 232 and 247 (= A.D. 846 to 861), and wrote the Futu'h el-Buldan, or the "Conquests of Countries." His words are (pp. 13-14, M. J. de Goeje's edition; Lugduni Batavorum, 1866)--"It was related to me by Abu Abid el-Kasim bin Sallam; who said he was told by Ishak bin Isa, from Malik ibn Anas and from Rabiat, who heard from a number of the learned, that the Apostle of Allah (upon whom be peace!) gave in feoff (Ikta'at) to Bilal bin el-Haris el-Muzni, mines (Ma'adin, i.e. of gold) in the district of Furu' (variant, Kuru'). Moreover, it was related to me by Amru el-Nakid, and by Ibn Saham el-Antaki (of Antioch), who both declared to have heard from El-Haytham bin Jamil el-Antaki, through Hammad bin Salmah, that Abu Makin, through Abu Ikrimah Maula Bilal bin el-Haris el-Muzni, had averred 'The Apostle of Allah (upon whom be peace!) enfeoffed the said Bilal with (a bit of) ground containing a mountain and a (gold) mine; that the sons of Bilal sold part of the grant to one 'Umar bin 'Abd el-'Aziz, when a (gold) mine or, according, to others, two (gold) mines were found in it; that they said to the buyer, Verily we sold to thee land for cultivation, and we did not sell thee (gold) mining-ground; that they brought the letter of the Apostle (upon whom be peace!) in a (bound) volume: that 'Umar kissed it and rubbed it upon his eyes, and said, Of a truth let me see what hath come out of it (the mine) and what I have laid out upon it.' Then he deducted from them the expenses of working and returned to them the surplus. . . . And I was told by Musa'b el-Zubayri, from Malik ibn Anas, that the Apostle of Allah (upon whom be peace!) gave in feoff to Bilal bin Haris mines in the district of Fara' (sic). There is no difference of opinion among our learned men on this subject, nor do I know any of our companions who contradicts (the statement) that the (gold) mine paid one-fourth per ten (= 2 1/2 per cent.) royalty (to the Bayt el-Mal, or Public Treasury). Musa'b further relates, from El-Zahri, that the (gold) mine defrayed the Zakat or poor-rate: he also said that the proportion was one-fifth (= 2 per cent.); like that which the people of El-Irak (Mesopotamia) take to this day from the (gold) mines of El-Fara' (sic), and of Nejran, and of Zul-Marwah, and of Wady El-Kura[EN#60] and others. Moreover, the fifth is also mentioned by Safain el-Thauri, and by Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf, as well as by the people of El-'Irak."

Follows on my list the celebrated Muruj el-Dahab, or "Meads of Gold," by El-Mas'udi, who died in A.H. 346 (= A.D. 957), and whose book extends to A.H. 332 (= A.D. 943). Unable to find the translation of my friend Sprenger, I am compelled to quote from "Macoudi. Les Prairies d'Or," texte et traduction par C. Barbier de Meynard et Pavet de Courteille. Societe Asiatique, Paris, 1864, vol. iii. pp. 301-305.

"Les theologians ne sont pas d'accord sur la question de savoir a quel peuple appartenait Choab (Shu'ayb), fils de Nawil, fils de Rawal, fils de Mour, fils d'Anka, fils de Madian, fils d'Abraham, l'ami de Dieu, quoiqu'il soit certain que sa langue etait l'arabe. Les uns pensent qu'il appartenait aux races arabes eteintes, aux nations qui ont disparu, a quelque une de ces generations pa.s.sees dont nous avons parle. Suivant d'autres, il s'agirait ici des descendants d'el-Mahd, fils de Djandal, fils de Ya.s.sob, fils de Madian, fils d'Abraham, dont Choab etait frere par la naissance. De cette race sort.i.t un grand nombre de rods qui s'etaient disperses dans des royaumes contigus les uns aux autres ou separe's. Parmi ces rods il faut distinguer ceux qui etaient nommes Aboudjed, Hawaz, Houti, Kalamoun, cafas et Kourichat,[EN#61] tous, comme nous venons de le dire, fils d'el-Mahd, fils de Djandal. Les lettres de l'alphabet sont representees precis.e.m.e.nt par les noms de ces rois, ou l'on retrouve les vingt-quatre lettres sur lesquelles roule l'Aboudjed.[EN#62] Il a e'te' dit beaucoup d'autres choses a propos de ces lettres, comme nous l'avons fait remarquer dans cet ouvrage; mais il n'entre pas dans notre sujet de rapporter ici tous les systemes contradictoires imagines pour l'expliquer la signification des lettres.[EN#63] Aboudjed fut roi de la Mecque et de la partie du Hedjaz qui y confine. Hawaz et Houti regnerent conjointement dans le pays de Weddj (El-Wijh), qui est le territoire de Tayif, et la portion du Nedjd qui lui est contigue.

Kalamoun exercait la suzerainete sur le royaume de Madian; il y a meme des auteurs qui pensent que son autorite s'etendait conjointement sur tous les princes et les pays que nous venons de nommer. Le chatiment du jour de la nuee (Koran, xxvi. 189) eut lieu sous le re'gne de Kalamoun. Choab appelant ces impies a la penitence, ils le traiterent de menteur. Alors il les mena,ca du chatiment du jour de la nuee, a la suite de quoi une porte du feu du ciel fut ouverte sur eux. Choab se retire, avec ceux qui avaient cru, dans l'endroit connu sous le nom d'el Akah, qui est un fourre dans la direction de Madian. Cependant, lorsque lcs incredules sentirent les effets de la vengeance celeste, et que, consumes par une chaleur terrible, ils comprirent enfin la verite, ils se mirent a la recherche de Choab et de ceux qui avaient cru en lui. Ils les trouverent abrites sous un nuage blanc, doucement rafraichi par le zephire, et ne ressentant en rien les atteintes de la douleur. Ils les cha.s.serent de cet asile, s'imaginant qu'ils y trouveraient eux-memes un refuge contre le fleau qui les poursuivait. Mais Dieu changea cette nuee en un feu qui se precipita sur leurs tetes. Mounta.s.sir, fils d'el-Moundir el-Medeni, a parle de ce peuple et a deplore son triste sort dans des vers ou il dit:

"Les rois des enfants de Houti et de cafas, qui vivaient dans l'opulence, et ceux de Hawaz, qui possedaient des palais et des appartements somptueux,

"Regnaient sur la contree du Hedjaz, et leur beaute etait semblable a celle des rayons du soleil ou a l'eclat de la rune;

"Ils habitaient l'emplacement de la maison sainte, ils adoucissaient les moeurs de leurs compatriotes et gouvernaient avec ill.u.s.tration et honneur....

"Rien de plus curieux que l'histoire de ces rois, le re'cit de leurs guerres, de leurs actes, de la maniere dont ils s'emparerent de ces contrees et etablirent leur domination, apres en avoir extermine les premieres possesseurs. Ceux-ci etaient des peuples dont nous avons parle dans nos precedents ouvrages, en traitant ce sujet; nous appelons l'attention dans ce livre sur nous premiers ecrits, et nous engageons le lecteur a les consulter."

The next in order of seniority is the well-known Idrisi (A.H. 531 = A.D. 1136). Dr. Badger's Arabic copy not being paged, he has forwarded to me extracts from the French translation by M. P.

Amadee Jaubert (Paris, 1836), having first compared them with the original:--

Tome 1 p. 5: "De cette mer de la Chine derive encore le golfe de Colzoum (Kulzum), qui commence a Bab el-Mandeb,[EN#64] au point ou se termine la mer des Indes. Il s'etend au nord, en inclinant un peu vers l'occident, en longeant les rivages occidentales de l'Iemen, le Tehama, l'Hedjaz, jusqu'au pays de Madian, d'Aila (El-'Akabah), et de Faran; et se termine a la ville de Colzoum, dont il tire son nom."

P. 142: "Les districts fortifies, dependents de la Mecque, sont .

. . Ceux qui sont sous la dependance de Medine sont . . .

Madyan."

P. 328: "Pour aller de Misr (Cairo) a' Yetrib (sic pro Yathrib), on pa.s.se par les lieux suivants, Alah (Aylah) Madian," etc.

P. 333: "Sur les bords de la mer Colzoum est la ville de Madian (in orig. Madiyan) plus grande qui Tabouk (Tabuk), et le puits ou Mose (sur qui soit le salut!) abreuva le troupeau de Jethro (E1Shu'ayb). On dit que ce puits est (maintenant) a sec [Note at foot: Je lis Mu'attilah comme porte le MS. B., et non Mu'azzamah,[EN#65] lecon donnee par le MS. A.]; et qu'on a eleve audessus une construction. L'eau necessaire aux habitants provient de sources. Le nom de Madiyan (sic) de'rive de celui de la tribu a laquelle Jethro appartenait. Cette ville offre tres peu de ressources et le commerce y est miserable."

The following notice of Madyan is taken from the Kitab el-Buldan ("Book of Countries"),[EN#66] by Ahmed ibn Abi Ya'kub bin Wadhih, surnamed El-Ya'kubi and El-Katib (the writer); according to the Arabic colophon it was completed on the morning of Sat.u.r.day, Shawwal 21, A.H. 607 (= A.D. 1210). The author gives (p. 129, T.

G. J. Juynboll, Lugduni Batavorum, 1861) a description of the route from Misr (Egypt, here Cairo) to Meccah. The first ten stages are--1. Jubb el-'Umayrah; 2. El-Kerkirah (variant, Karkirah); 3. 'Ajrud, the well-known fort on the direct Suez-Cairo line; 4. Jisr el-Kulzum, where the Gulf was crossed; and, lastly, six Desert marches (Marahil) to Aylah.[EN#67] The latter station is described as a fine city upon the sh.o.r.e of the Salt Sea, the meeting-place of the pilgrim-caravans from Syria,[EN#68] Egypt, and the Maghrib (West Africa). It has merchandise in plenty, and its people are a mixed race (Akhlat min el-Nas).[EN#69] Here also are sold the fine cloaks called Burdu habaratin, and also known as the Burd of the Apostle of Allah[EN#70] (upon whom be peace!). He resumes, "And from Aylah you march to Sharaf el-Baghl, and from the latter to Madyan, which is a large and populous city, with abundant springs and far-flowing streams of wholesome water; and gardens of flower-beds. Its inhabitants are a mixed race (Akhlat min el-Nas).[EN#71] The traveller making Meccah from Aylah takes the sh.o.r.e of the Salt Sea, to a place called 'Aynuna (variant, 'Uyun, plural of 'Ayn, an eye of water, a fountain): here are buildings and palm clumps, and seeking-places (Matalib: see Lane for the authorities), in which men search for gold." Dr. Badger draws my attention to the last sentence, which seems also to have been noticed by Sprenger (Alt. Geog. p. 32).[EN#72]

The following is from the Kitab Asar el-Bitad ("Book of the Geographical Traditions of Countries"), by the far-famed Zakariyya bin Mohammed bin Mahmud, surnamed El-Kazwini, who died A.H. 653 = A.D. 1255:--"Madyan" (p. 173, edidit. F. Wustenfeld, Gottingen, 1848) "is a city of the tribe (Kaum) of Shu'ayb upon whom be peace!): it was founded by Madyan, son of Ibrahim, the Friend (of Allah), the grandfather of Shu'ayb. It exports the merchandise of Tabuk between El-Medinah and El-Sham (Damascus).

In it is the well whence Musa (upon whom be peace!) watered the flocks of Shu'ayb, and it is said that the well is of great depth; and that over it is a building visited by (pious) men.

This settlement Madyan is subject to the district of Tabariyyah (Tiberias); and near it is the well, and at it a rock which Moses uprooted,[EN#73] and which remains there to the present day."

The Imam Abu'l-Abbas Ahmed ibn 'Ali Takiyy el-Din, better known as "El-Makrizi," wrote his book El-Mawaiz w'el-I'tibar fi' Zikr el-Khitat w'el-'Asar ("The Admonition and Examples in Commemorating Habitations and Traditions") in A.H. 825 (= A.D.

1421), during the latter part of the second Mamluk dynasty; and he brings down the history to the reign of Kansu Ghori, whose fort we shall see at El-'Akabah. He tells us (edition of Gottingen, 1848, Sahifah 48), "The loftiest mountain in Madyan is called Zubayr.[EN#74] . . . It is also related that amongst the settlements of the (Madyanite) tribe are the villages of Petraea (

The Marasid el-Ittila 'ala Asma el-Amkanat w'el-Buka'

("Observations of Information on the Names of Places and Countries"), which contains two dates in the body of the work, viz. A.H. 997 ( = A.D. 1589) and A.H. 1168 (A.D. = 1755), and which is probably compiled from El-Kazwini, says sub voce Madyan, after giving the "movement" of the word: "It is a city of the tribe of Shu'ayb, opposite Tabuk, and upon the sea of El-Kulzum, six stages (Marahil) separating the two. It is larger than Tabuk, and in it is the well whence Moses watered the flocks of Shu'ayb." Finally, it repeats that Madyan is under the district of "Tabariyya" or Tiberias[EN#79] (vol. iii. p. 64, edidit. T. G.

J. Juynboll, Lugduni Batavorum, 1854, e duobus Codd. MSS.).

I conclude this unpopular chapter with some remarks by Dr. Badger concerning the apparent connection of Jethro and El-Medinah:[EN#80] "It struck me when studying 'Madyan,' which is the name of a place as well as of a man,[EN#81] that 'Yathrib,'

the ancient term of al-Madinah, might have served the same double purpose. At all events, it was singular to find a Yathrib somewhere near Madyan, and that the word was not far removed from the (Yithro), the name given in Hebrew to Moses'

Midianite father-in-law. I also note that the Septuagint renders the Hebrew Yithro by Pes.h.i.to by (Yether).

"My theory is this. Firstly, there is no dependence to be placed on the Masoretic points, especially when affixed to names of places. Secondly, we have no certain knowledge of the language used by the Midianites in those ancient times. Their territory extended northwards towards Palestine, and from their very intimate relations with the Israelites, as friends and as enemies, both nations appear to have understood each other perfectly. May not their language, then, have been a dialect of the Aramean?[EN#82] If so, the (Yithro) of the Bible might have been (Yithrab, Yathrib, etc.). Instances of the apocopated (b) are common in the Chaldean or Syro-Chaldaic at the present day; e.g. (Yithro) have been originally (Yithrab or Yathrib)? Of course, this is only a conjecture of mine."

Mr. E. Stanley Poole (loc. cit.) says that the Arabs dispute whether the name "Medyen" be foreign or Arabic; and whether "Medyen" spoke Arabic. He considers the absurd enumeration of the alphabetical kings (El-Mas'udi, quoted above) to be curious, as possibly containing some vague reference to the language of Midian. When these kings are said contemporaneously to have ruled over Meccah, Western Nejd, Yemen, "Medyen," Egypt, etc., it is extremely improbable that Midian ever penetrated into Yemen, notwithstanding the hints of Arab authors to the contrary. Yakut el-Hamawi (born A.H. 574 or 575 = A.D. 1178-79, and died A.H. 626 = A.D. 1228), in the Mu'jam el-Buldan (cited in the Journ. of the Deutsch. Morgen. Gesellschaft), declares that a South Arabic dialect is of Midian, and El-Mas'udi (apud Schultens, pp.

158-159) inserts a Midianite king among the rulers of Yemen. The latter, however, is more probable than the former; it may be an accidental and individual, not a material occurrence.

The following list of ruins, some cities, others towns, were all, with two exceptions (Nos. 2 and 18), visited or explored by the second Khedivial Expedition. The Mashghal, ateliers or subsidiary workshops, were in cases learned only by hearsay:--

1. Old 'Akabah (Aylah) Mashghal, up Valley el-Yitm. 3.

2. El-Hakl (p.r.o.nounced "Hagul"), the of Ptolemy: it was seen from the sea, and notes were taken of its ruins and furnaces.

3. Nakhil Tayyib Ism, in mountain of the same name: its ruined dam (?) and buildings were surveyed by Lieutenant Amir.

4. Makna. Twice visited.

5. Maghair Shu'ayb. Two ateliers inspected, and one heard of on the Jebel el-Lauz: total, 3.

6. 'Aynunah. In Jebel Zahd (ruins and furnaces). 1.

7. Sharma. An atelier on the Jebel Fas, and another on the Jebel Harb, both high up: total, 2.

8. Tiryam. An atelier in the Wady Urnub. 1.

9. Abu Hawawit, near El-Muwaylah. Scoriae found about the fort of El-Muwaylah and near Sharm Yaharr. 2.

10. Zibayyib in Wady Surr. Atelier Sayl Umm Laban (Wady Sadr). 1.

11. Khulasah.[EN#83] Saw specimens of worked metal from Wady Kh'shabriyyah, and the upper Wady Surr; also ruins in the Sayl Abu Sha'r, south-west and seawards of the Sharr block.

12. Ma' el-Bada, alias Diyar el-Nasara, in the upper Wady Damah.

13. Shuwak, the of Ptolemy. Atelier in Jebel el-Sani. 1.

14. s.h.a.ghab, another large city mentioned by El-Makrizi.