View source for Midian

{{short description|Geographical place mentioned in the Torah}}
{{About|a region or people referred to in the Bible and Quran}}
{{redirect|Jabal Hubaysh, Saudi Arabia|the Yemeni mountain|Jabal Hubaysh, Yemen}}
{{Cleanup rewrite|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| religion           = [[Abrahamic religions]]
| image              = Molnár Ábrahám kiköltözése 1850.jpg
| caption            = Detail from ''The migration of Abraham and his relatives to Canaan'' (1850) by [[József Molnár (painter)|József Molnár]]
| children           = [[Ephah]], [[Epher]], [[Enoch]], [[Abida]], and [[Eldaah]]
| alt                = Detail of a painting, showing Abraham and his sons.
| native_name_lang   = he
| native_name        = מִדְיָן
| relatives          = {{ubl
|[[Isaac]] (half brother)
|[[Ishmael]] (half brother)
}}
| father             = [[Abraham]]
| mother             = [[Keturah]]
}}
'''Midian''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɪ|d|i|ən}}; {{langx|he|מִדְיָן|translit=Mīḏyān}}; {{langx|ar|{{script|Arab|مَدْيَن}}|translit=Madyan}}; {{langx|grc|{{script|Grek|Μαδιάμ}}|translit=Madiám}};{{Efn | Also {{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Μαδιανίτης}}}} for "Midianite".}} {{langx|sem-x-taymanit|{{script|Narb|𐪃𐪕𐪚𐪌}}|translit={{sc|mdyn}}}}) was a son of [[Abraham]] and his wife [[Keturah]], as well as the epynomous ancestor of the '''Midianites'''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Genesis 25:1–2 |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+25%3A1-2&version=KJV |website=[[Bible Gateway]] |version=King James Version}}</ref> The name also refers to a geographical region in [[West Asia]] mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible|Tanakh]] and the [[Quran]]. [[William G. Dever]] states that biblical Midian was in the "northwest [[Arabian Peninsula]], on the east shore of the [[Gulf of Aqaba]] on the [[Red Sea]]",<ref>{{citation |last= Dever |first= W. G. |author-link= William G. Dever |title=Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.]] |date=2006 |isbn= 978-0-8028-4416-3 |page=34}}</ref> an area which contained at least 14 inhabited sites during the [[Bronze Age|Late Bronze]] and [[Iron Age|early Iron Ages]].{{sfn|Graf|2016|p=428}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Luciani |first=Marta |title=Archaeology in the Land of Midian: Excavating the Qurayyah Oasis |journal=[[Biblical Archaeology Review]] |date=November–December 2023 |volume=49 |issue=4 |url=https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/archaeology-in-the-land-of-midian-excavating-the-qurayyah-oasis/}}</ref>

Traditionally, knowledge about Midian and the Midianites' existence was based solely upon Biblical and classical sources,<ref>{{cite book |last=Bryce |first=Trevor |author-link=Trevor R. Bryce |date=2009 |title=The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: From the Early Bronze Age to the Fall of the Persian Empire |page=472 |url= |location=[[London]], [[United Kingdom]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-39485-7 }}</ref> but in 2010 a reference to Midian was identified in a [[Tayma]]nitic inscription dated to before the 9th century BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Une première mention de Madyan dans un texte épigraphique d'Arabie |journal=Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_2017_num_161_1_96407 |last1=Robin |first1=Christian |issue=1 |volume=161 |pages=363–396 |last2=Al-Ghabban |first2=Ali |doi=10.3406/crai.2017.96407 |year=2017 |s2cid=246891828 |language=fr}}</ref>

== Land or tribal league? ==
[[File:Festung von Tabuk.jpg|thumb|The [[Tabuk Castle|historical castle]] of [[Tabuk, Saudi Arabia|Tabuk]] in [[Saudi Arabia]]]]

Some scholars have suggested that the name "Midian" does not refer to geographic places or to a specific tribe,<ref>William J. Dumbrell, Midian: A Land or a League?, ''Vetus Testamentum'', Vol. 25, Fasc. 2, No. 2a. Jubilee Number (May, 1975), pp. 323–37</ref><ref>[[Geoffrey W. Bromiley|Bromiley Geoffrey W.]] ''The [[International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]]''. Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996. {{ISBN| 978-0-8028-3783-7}}. p. 350.</ref> but to a confederation or "league" of tribes brought together as a collective for worship purposes. [[Paul Haupt]] first made this suggestion in 1909,<ref>{{cite journal|first=Paul |last=Haupt |url=http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/dmg/periodical/pageview/55820 |title=Midian und Sinai |trans-title=Midian and Sinai |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151217025653/http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/dmg/periodical/pageview/55820 |archive-date=2015-12-17 |journal=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft |volume=63 |year=1909 |page=56 |language=de |postscript=; |access-date=1 August 2015}} quoted in Dumbrell</ref> describing Midian as a "cultic collective" ({{langx |de| Kultgenossenschaft}}) or an [[wikt:amphictyony|amphictyony]], meaning "an association ({{langx |de| Bund}}) of different tribes in the vicinity of a [[sanctuary]]". [[Elath]], on the northern tip of the [[Gulf of Aqaba]] was suggested{{by whom|date=January 2021}} as the location of the first [[shrine]], with a second sanctuary located at [[Kadesh (Syria)|Kadesh]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Later writers have questioned the identified sanctuary locations but supported the thesis of a Midianite league. [[George E. Mendenhall|George Mendenhall]] suggests that the Midianites were a non-[[Semitic languages|Semitic]] confederate group,<ref>"The Incident at Beth Baal Peor", ''The Tenth Generation: The Origins of the Biblical Tradition'', 1973</ref> and [[William Dumbrell]] maintains the same:
{{blockquote|We believe that Haupt's proposal is to be adopted, and that Midian, rather than depicting a land, is a general term for an amorphous league of the [[Late Bronze Age]], of wide geographical range, who, after a series of reverses, the most prominent of which are recorded in {{bibleverse||Judges|6–7|HE}}, largely disappeared from the historical scene...<ref>William J. Dumbrell, Midian: A Land or a League?, ''Vetus Testamentum'', Vol. 25, Fasc. 2, No. 2a. Jubilee Number (May, 1975), p. 32.</ref>}}

Otherwise, the land of Midian roughly corresponds to what is now the [[Tabuk Province|region]] of [[Tabuk, Saudi Arabia|Tabuk]] in [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref name="Edwards2013">{{cite book |last=Edwards |first=Grace |title=Saudi Arabia |chapter=6: Tabuk and Medina Provinces |publisher=[[Bradt Travel Guides]] |pages=188–246 |isbn=978-1-7847-7933-7 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Saudi_Arabia/Z9PrEAAAQBAJ |date=2023-12-19}}</ref>

== Metallurgy ==
The area of [[Timna valley]] contains large deposits of copper that had been mined from the prehistoric times onward. Copper was mined here by the Egyptians during the reign of Pharaoh [[Seti I]] at the end of the 14th century BCE.<ref>Jacob Edward Dunn 2015, [https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/dunn_jacob_e_201505_ma.pdf ‘A Land Whose Stones Are Iron And From Whose Hills You May Mine Copper’: Metallurgy, Pottery, And The Midianite-Qenite Hypothesis.] Thesis,  University of Georgia. 129 pages</ref>

== Religion ==
{{see also|Kenite hypothesis}}

It is uncertain which deities the Midianites worshipped. Given their apparent religio-political connection with the [[Moabites]]<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|22:4, 7|HE}}</ref> they are thought to have [[Polytheism|worshipped a multitude]], including [[Baal-peor]] and [[Astarte|Ashteroth]]. According to [[Karel van der Toorn]], "[b]y the 14th century BC, groups of Edomites and Midianites worshipped [[Yahweh]] as their God"; this conclusion relies on identifying the  Midianites with the [[Shasu]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Karel van der |last =Toorn |title =Family Religion in Babylonia, Ugarit, and Israel: Continuity and Change in the Forms of Religious Life |location =Leiden |publisher =[[Brill Publishers]] |page =283}}</ref>

Scholars have noted the Midianite connections to metallurgy at Timna. Large amounts of Midianite ceramic ware has been discovered at these mining sites.<ref>Rothenberg, Beno. ''The Egyptian Mining Temple at Timna''. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies London: Thames and Hudson, 1988</ref>

An Egyptian temple of [[Hathor]] at Timna (Site 200) was first discovered during [[Beno Rothenberg]]'s excavations.<ref>{{cite book |first =Beno |last =Rothenberg |title =Timna: Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines |location =London |publisher =[[Thames and Hudson]] |date =1972}}</ref>

:"Rothenberg’s excavation of Site 200 revealed a number of Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions including those of: Seti I, Ramesses II, Merneptah, Seti II, and Queen Twosret of the Nineteenth Dynasty, as well as Ramesses III, Ramesses IV, and Ramesses V of the Twentieth Dynasty (pp. 163–166)."<ref>Jacob Edward Dunn 2015, [https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/dunn_jacob_e_201505_ma.pdf 'A Land Whose Stones Are Iron And From Whose Hills You May Mine Copper': Metallurgy, Pottery, And The Midianite-Qenite Hypothesis.] Thesis,  University of Georgia. 129 pages. Note 200, page 54</ref>

The site also continued in use during the Midianite occupation in the area, which is usually dated to terminal Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age.

The Midianites transformed the Hathor mining temple into a desert tent-shrine.<ref>{{cite book |title =Unearthing the Wilderness: Studies on the History and Archaeology of the Negev and Edom in the Iron Age |last =Avner |first =Uzi |publisher =Peeters |year =2014 |isbn =978-90-429-2973-9 |pages =103–162 |editor-last =Tebes |editor-first =Juan Manuel |chapter =Egyptian Timna – Reconsidered |chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=q9g1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA103}}</ref> In addition to the discovery of post-holes, large quantities of red and yellow decayed cloth with beads woven into it, along with numerous copper rings/wire used to suspend the curtains, were found all along two walls of the shrine.

Beno Rothenberg,<ref>{{cite book |first =Beno |last =Rothenberg |title =Timna: Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines |location =London |publisher =[[Thames and Hudson]] |date =1972}}</ref> the excavator of the site, suggested that the Midianites were making offerings to Hathor, especially since a large number of Midianite votive vessels (25%) were discovered in the shrine. However, whether Hathor or some other deity was the object of devotion during this period is difficult to ascertain.

A small bronze snake with a gilded head was also discovered in the [[cella|naos]] of the Timna mining shrine, along with a hoard of metal objects that included a small bronze figurine of a bearded male god, which according to Rothenberg was Midianite in origin. Michael Homan observes that the Midianite tent-shrine at Timna provides one of the closest parallels to the biblical [[Tabernacle]].<ref>{{cite journal |first =Michael M. |last =Homan |title =To Your Tents, O Israel!: The Terminology, Function, Form, and Symbolism of the Tents in the Bible and the Ancient Near East |journal =Culture and History of the Ancient Near East |volume =12 |publisher =[[Brill Publishers]] |date =2002 |page =118}}</ref>

== In scriptures ==

=== In the Bible ===
[[File:Figures Five Kings of Midian Slain by Israel.jpg|thumb|Five kings of Midian slain by Israel (illustration from the 1728 ''Figures de la Bible'')]]

Midian was the son of Abraham.<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|25:1–2|HE}}</ref> Abraham's great-grandson [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]], after being thrown into a pit by his brothers, was sold to either Midianites or [[Ishmaelites]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|37:28|HE}}</ref>

[[Moses]] spent 40 years in self-imposed exile in Midian after killing an Egyptian.<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|2:11–15|HE}}</ref> There, he married [[Zipporah]], the daughter of Midianite priest [[Jethro (biblical figure)|Jethro]]<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|2:21|HE}}</ref> (also known as [[Reuel]]). Jethro advised Moses on establishing a system of delegated legal decision-making.<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|18|HE}}</ref> Moses asked [[List of minor biblical figures, A–K#Hobab|Hobab]], the son of Reuel, to accompany the Israelites travelling towards the [[Promised Land]] because of his local knowledge, but Hobab preferred to return to his homeland.<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|10:29–31|HE}}</ref> A number of scholars have proposed that the biblical description of devouring fire on Mount Sinai refers to an erupting volcano in the land of biblical Midian identified as [[Hala-'l Badr]] in northwestern Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dunn |first=Jacob E. |date=2014 |title=A God of Volcanoes: Did Yahwism Take Root in Volcanic Ashes? |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309089214536484 |journal=Journal for the Study of the Old Testament |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=387–424 |doi=10.1177/0309089214536484 |issn=0309-0892|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

During the [[Heresy of Peor#Baal-Peor|Baal-Peor episode]], when Moabite women seduced Israelite men, [[Zimri (prince)|Zimri]], the son of a [[Tribe of Simeon|Simeonite]] chief, got involved with a Midianite woman called [[Cozbi]]. The couple were speared by [[Phinehas]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|25:6–8, 14–15|HE}}</ref> War against Midian followed. [[Numbers 31]] reports that all but the virgin females were slain and their cities burned to the ground.<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|25:17|HE}} and {{bibleverse||Numbers|31|HE}}</ref> Some commentators, for example the [[Pulpit Commentary]] and [[John Gill (theologian)|Gill]]'s ''Exposition of the Bible'', note that God's command focused on attacking the Midianites and not the Moabites,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://biblehub.com/numbers/25-17.htm |title=Pulpit Commentary and Gill's Exposition of the Bible |website=BibleHub |access-date=1 July 2015}}</ref> and similarly Moses in [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]] directed that the Israelites should not harass the Moabites.<ref>{{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|2:9|HE}}</ref> A modern-day movement, the [[Phineas Priesthood]], has interpreted this story as a prohibition against [[miscegenation]], despite the Midianites being closely related to the Israelites as descendants of Abraham, and Moses being married to a Midianite.<ref name="SPLC">{{cite web | title=Phineas Priesthood | website=Southern Poverty Law Center | date=2025-05-22 | url=https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/phineas-priesthood/ | access-date=2025-09-15}}</ref>

During the time of the [[Book of Judges|Judges]], Israel was oppressed by Midian for seven years<ref>{{bibleverse||Judges|6:1–6|NKJV}}</ref> until [[Gideon]] defeated Midian's armies.<ref>{{bibleverse||Judges|6:7–9|NKJV}}</ref> [[Isaiah]] speaks of camels from Midian and [[Ephah]] coming to "cover your land", along with the gold and frankincense from [[Sheba]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Isaiah|60:6|NKJV}}</ref> This passage, taken by the [[Gospel of Matthew]] as a foreshadowing of the [[Biblical Magi|Magi]]'s gifts to the infant [[Jesus]], has been incorporated into the [[Christmas]] liturgy.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

=== In the Quran ===
{{See also|Moses in Islam|Shuaib}}

The people of Midian are mentioned extensively in the [[Quran]]. The word 'Madyan' appears 10 times in it. The people are also called {{lang|ar-latn|ʾaṣḥabu l-ʾaykah}} ({{langx|ar|أَصْحَابُ ٱلْأَيْكَة|lit=Companions of the Wood}}).<ref>{{qref|15|78-79|b=yl}}</ref><ref>{{qref|26|176-189|b=yl}}</ref><ref>{{qref|38|13-15|b=yl}}</ref><ref>{{qref|50|12-14|b=yl}}</ref> The lands of Midian are mentioned in sura [[Al-Qasas]] (The Stories), verses 20–28, of the Quran as the place where [[Moses in Islam|Musa (Moses)]] escaped upon learning of the chiefs conspiring to kill him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Surah Al-Qasas - 20-28 |url=https://quran.com/28/20-28 |access-date=May 19, 2021 |website=The Noble Quran}}</ref>

Surah 9 ([[Al-Tawbah]]), verse 70 says "Has not the story reached them of those before them? – The people of [[Noah in Islam|Nūḥ]] ([[Noah]]), [[ʿĀd]] and [[Thamud]], the people of [[Abraham in Islam|Ibrahim (Abraham)]], the dwellers [literally, comrades] of Madyan (Midian) and the cities overthrown [i.e. the people to whom [[Lot in Islam|Lūṭ]] ([[Lot (biblical person)|Lot]]) preached], to them came their Messengers with clear proofs. So it was not [[Allah]] who wronged them, but they used to wrong themselves."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Muhammad Taqi-Ud-Din al-Halali and Muhammad Muhsin Khan's Translation |date=July 2009 |url=https://www.alquranenglish.com/quran-surah-at-taubah-70-qs-9-70-in-arabic-and-english-translation|url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004222525/https://www.alquranenglish.com/quran-surah-at-taubah-70-qs-9-70-in-arabic-and-english-translation |archive-date=October 4, 2023}}</ref>

In Surah 7 ([[Al-A'raf|Al-ʾAʿrāf]]), Madyan is mentioned as one of several peoples who were warned by prophets to repent lest judgment fall on them. The story of Madyan is the last, coming after that of Lot preaching to his people (referring to the destruction of the [[Cities of Sin|Cities of the Plain]]). Madyan was warned by the prophet [[Shuaib|Shuʿaib]] to repent of practicing polytheism, using false weights and measures and lying in wait along the road. But they rejected Shuʿaib, and consequently were destroyed by a tremor (''rajfa'', v. 91). [[Abdullah Yusuf Ali]] in his commentary (1934) writes, "The fate of the Madyan people is described in the same terms as that of the Thamūd in verse 78 above. An earthquake seized them by night, and they were buried in their own homes, no longer to vex Allah's earth. But a supplementary detail is mentioned in [Quran] 26:189, 'the punishment of a day of overshadowing gloom,' which may be understood to mean a shower of ashes and cinders accompanying a volcanic eruption. Thus a day of terror drove them into their homes, and the earthquake finished them."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ali |first1=Abdullah Yusuf |title=The Holy Quran – English Translation of the Meaning and Commentary |publisher=King Fahd Holy Qur-an Printing Complex |url=https://archive.org/stream/TheHolyQuranEnglishTranslationoftheMeaningandCommentary/The%20Holy%20Quran%20-%20Abdullah%20Yusuf%20Ali%20IFTA_djvu.txt |access-date=4 March 2017}}</ref> Excavations at the oasis of [[Al-Bad']], identified as the city of Midian mentioned in classical and Islamic sources, have uncovered evidence of an occupation spanning from the 4th millennium BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Charloux |first=Guillaume |last2=Ahmed Sahlah |first2=Samer |last3=Badaiwi |first3=Waleed Ali |date=January 2021 |title=Madian revealed? Assessing the history and archaeology of the oasis of al-Badʿ in northwestern Arabia |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1484/j.sec.5.129522 |journal=Semitica et Classica |volume=14 |pages=97–141 |doi=10.1484/j.sec.5.129522 |issn=2031-5937|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/en/al-bad |title=Al-Badʿ - Archéologie - culture.fr |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=archeologie.culture.gouv.fr}}</ref>

== Pottery ==
[[Midianite pottery]], also called Qurayyah Painted Ware (QPW), is found at numerous sites stretching from the southern [[Levant]] to NW Saudi Arabia, the [[Hejaz]]; Qurayyah in NW Saudi Arabia is thought to be its original location of manufacture.<ref>B. Rothenberg and J.Glass, "The Midianite Pottery," in ''Midian, Moab, and Edom: The History and Archaeology of the Late Bronze and Iron Age Jordan and North-West Arabia,'' JSOT Supplement Series 24, ed. John F.A. Sawyer and David J.A. Clines (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1983), pp. 65–124.</ref> The pottery is bichrome / polychrome style and it dates as early as the 13th century BC; its many geometric, human, and animal motifs are painted in browns and dark reds on a pinkish-tan slip. "Midianite" pottery is found in its largest quantities at metallurgical sites in the southern Levant, especially Timna.<ref>Tebes, "Pottery Makers and Premodern Exchange in the Fringes of Egypt: An Approximation to the Distribution of Iron Age Midianite Pottery," ''Buried History'' 43 (2007), pp. 11–26.</ref> Because of the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] motifs on Midianite pottery, some scholars including George Mendenhall,<ref>George Mendenhall, "Qurayya and the Midianites," in ''Studies in the History of Arabia'', Vol. 3, ed. A. R. Al-Ansary (Riyadh: King Saud University), pp. 137–45</ref> Peter Parr,<ref>Peter J. Parr, "Further Reflections on Late Second Millennium Settlement in North West Arabia," in ''Retrieving the Past: Essays on Archaeological Research and Methodology'', ed. J. D. Seger (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1996), pp. 213–18.</ref> and [[Beno Rothenberg]]<ref>Rothenberg, "Egyptian Chariots, Midianites from Hijaz/ Midian (Northwest Arabia) and Amalekites from the Negev in the Timna Mines: Rock drawings in the Ancient Copper Mines of the Arabah – new aspects of the region's history II," ''Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies'', newsletter no. 23 (2003), p. 12.</ref> have suggested that the Midianites were originally [[Sea Peoples]] who migrated from the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] region and imposed themselves on a pre-existing Semitic stratum. The question of the origin of the Midianites still remains open.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

== Midian Mountains ==
{{See also|Geography of Saudi Arabia|Geology of Saudi Arabia|List of mountains in Saudi Arabia|Geography of Jordan|Geology of Jordan}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Midian Mountains
| native_name = {{native name|ar|جِبَال مَدْيَن}}
| photo = File:جبل حبيش.jpg
| photo_caption = Jabal Ḥubaysh ({{langx|ar|جَبَل حُبَيْش}})
| elevation = 
| elevation_m = 
| country = {{KSA}} <br> {{JOR}}
| map = Saudi Arabia#Middle East#Asia
| map_alt = 
| map_caption = 
| map_size = 
| label_position = 
| range_coordinates = {{coord|28.3|35.6}}
| region = [[Tabuk Province|Tabuk]] (KSA) <br> [[Aqaba Governorate|'Aqabah]] (Jordan) <br> [[Middle East]]
| highest = 
}}

The Midian Mountains ({{langx|ar|جِبَال مَدْيَن|Jibāl Madyan}}) are a [[mountain range]] in northwestern Saudi Arabia. They are considered to be either contiguous with the [[Hijaz Mountains]] to the south,<ref name="GhazanfarFisher2013">{{cite book |last1=Ghazanfar |first1=Shahina A. |author-link=Shahina A. Ghazanfar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uc_tCAAAQBAJ&q=Midian |title=Vegetation of the Arabian Peninsula |last2=Fisher |first2=Martin |date=2013-04-17 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]] |isbn=978-9-4017-3637-4 |location=[[Sultan Qaboos University]], [[Muscat]], [[Oman]] |pages=71–94 |chapter=4}}</ref> or a part of them.<ref name="Scoville1979">{{cite book |last=Scoville |first=Sheila A. |title=Gazetteer of Arabia: a geographical and tribal history of the Arabian Peninsula |volume=2 |chapter=3 |page=288 |publisher=Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AH8YAQAAMAAJ&q=midian |isbn=0-7614-7571-0 |year=2006}}</ref> The Hijaz are treated as part of the [[Sarawat Mountains|Sarawat range]], ''[[sensu lato]]''.<ref name="Mandal1990">{{cite book |last=Mandal |first=Ram Bahadur |title=Patterns of Regional Geography: World regions |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |chapter=VI: A Regional Geography |page=354 |isbn=8-1702-2292-3 |location=[[New Delhi]], [[India]] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XWwCHWwgKt0C&q=sarawat+mountains&pg=PA354 |year=1990 }}</ref><ref name="Nasr2013">{{cite book |last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein |author-link=Hossein Nasr |title=Mecca the Blessed, Medina the Radiant: The Holiest Cities of Islam |publisher=[[Tuttle Publishing]] |chapter=1: The Holiest Cities of Islam |isbn=978-1-4629-1365-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4RvQAgAAQBAJ&q=sarat+mountains |year=2013}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Al Haql R01.jpg|[[Haql]] on the coast of the [[Gulf of Aqaba]] between the [[Syria (region)|Syrian region]] and [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabian]] and [[Sinai Peninsula]]s, with the mountains in the background
File:T E Lawrence and the Arab Revolt 1916 - 1918 Q59657.jpg|1908 image of a mountain associated with [[Muhammad]] and [[T. E. Lawrence|Lawrence of Arabia]], {{convert|40|mile|km|abbr=on}} from Tabuk
File:ربيع شغب 1434هـ - panoramio.jpg|
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[ʿĀd]]
* [[Balak]]
* [[Al-Bad']]
* [[Ishmaelites]]
* [[History of ancient Israel and Judah]]
* [[The Bible and history]]
* [[Midian war]]
* [[Abarim]], [[Jordan]]ian mountains to the north
* [[Biblical Mount Sinai]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* Clines, David and John Sawyer, eds. "Midian, Moab and Edom: The History and Archaeology of Late Bronze and Iron Age Jordan and North-West Arabia". ''Journal for the Study of the Old Testament'', Supplement Series, No. 24. Sheffield Academic Press, 1983.
* {{Cite book |title=The World around the Old Testament: The People and Places of the Ancient Near East |last=Graf |first=David F. |publisher=Baker Academic |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4934-0574-9 |pages=417–466 |editor-last=Arnold |editor-first=Bill T. |chapter=Arabia and the Arabians |editor-last2=Strawn |editor-first2=Brent A. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e9xrDQAAQBAJ&dq=the+world+around+the+old+testament+the+ethnic+designation+%22Arab%22&pg=PT459}}
* {{JewishEncyclopedia|title=Midian and Midianites|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10804-midian-and-midianites}}

== External links ==
{{refbegin}}
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.jewishmag.com/95mag/timna/timna.htm Archaeology of Timna]
* [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/timna.html Another Timna archaeology site]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050721134132/http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/b/burton/richard/b97m/preface1.html Richard Burton's account of his travels in "The Land of Midian"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051024234638/http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000002707.htm Spring of Harod – ''Ma'ayan Harod'']
* [https://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-midianite-pottery.htm Midianite Pottery: The designer import of the ancient world]
* [[:ar:جبال مدين|جبال مدين (Arabic Wiki)]]
{{refend}}

{{Mountains in the Arabian Peninsula}}
{{Qur'anic people}}

[[Category:Midian| ]]