Uncovering the Land of the Midianites

At this time of year, the weekly Torah readings tell the story of Joseph in Egypt, one that begins when he is sold into slavery by a group of Midianite merchants passing through Israel. In two weeks, Jews in synagogues will read of Moses’ flight from Egypt to Midian, friendship with a Midianite priest, and marriage to a Midianite woman. The same nation appears again in the books of Numbers and Judges—mostly as enemies. But not much is known about them. An ongoing excavation of the Qurayyah oasis in northwestern Saudi Arabia (the probable location of ancient Midian) has shed some light on their territory between the fourth and first millennia BCE. Marek Dospěl writes: