The King's Highway and Genesis 37

[Jim Stinehart]

The King’s Highway and Genesis 37

In this thread, I will present my view that the traders who take Joseph to slavery in Egypt in chapter 37 of Genesis had, prior to buying Joseph in Canaan near Dothan (not too far from Beth Shan, which is immediately west of Gilead/the central Transjordan), used the King’s Highway to go to and from northern Arabia, where they had bought the world’s finest incense (to be taken to Egypt for lucrative sale). In this first post, however, I will focus almost exclusively on a linguistic analysis of the Biblical name of the traders that is conventionally (though inaccurately) transliterated as “Midianites”. Then in a later post I will highlight the historical use of the King’s Highway by certain traders in the Late Bronze Age, whom I view as being the persons who are portrayed at Genesis 37 as taking Joseph into slavery in Egypt.

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Why are Ishmaelites alternatively referred to as “Midianites” at Genesis 37: 28, 36?

[The majority view of scholars (to which I subscribe) is that the Ishmaelites are not dealing with a separate people called “Midianites”. One mainstream view of scholars (though perhaps a minority view, but it is my view) is that a single author referred to these people alternatively as Ishmaelites and “Midianites”; rather than there being two original authors, one of whom told a story about Ishmaelites, and the other of whom told a story about “Midianites”, which a later editor clumsily put together.]

As scholars well know, the name “Midian”, as the name of a country or region, is not attested outside of the Bible until the Common Era. Thus despite their conventional English transliterations (per KJV), it is essentially impossible for the references at Genesis 37: 28, 36 to be referring to “Midianites” from Midian. (As discussed below, these two Biblical references have different spellings. In this post, I will focus on the shorter spelling.)

The scholarly view of this matter, strangely enough, posits that the “Midianites” at Genesis 37: 28, 36 are descendants of Keturah’s son “Midian” (see e.g. Genesis 25: 4). Yet why oh why would Ishmaelites, as descendants of Ishmael, be conflated or confused with descendants of Keturah’s son “Midian”? That scholarly view does not seem to make good sense.

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As the starting point for solving this 3,000-year-old Biblical mystery, I will focus in this post on the name of the son of Keturah that has a shorter spelling (than the name of one of his brothers), conventionally transliterated (per KJV) as “Medan” (see Genesis 25: 2, being the personal name that precedes the longer personal name “Midian”). The Hebrew spelling is מדן. Is such a name attested non-biblically in the ancient world?

The personal name mdn appears once at Ugarit. The personal name mtn appears frequently at Ugarit. In both cases, scholars say that the etymology is uncertain. Note that two different common words spelled mtn at Ugarit have cognates that are spelled with a D, rather than with a T. Thus mdn and mtn may well be but two different spellings of the same Ugaritic name. Finally, Ugarit has the following gentilic name: mtny.

Recall now that in the Amarna Letters, the most frequent spelling of the name of the Hurrian great power state in eastern Syria (usually spelled in English, somewhat inaccurately, as “Mitanni”) is: mi-ta-ni. With D and T frequently interchanging in going from one ancient language to another, and with the country name “Mitanni” perhaps being more accurately transliterated as “Midtani” [due to an ambiguity in the cuneiform spelling of this country name], it is likely that:

1. The personal name mdn at Ugarit refers to Midtanni, presumably being the name of a Hurrian who originated from there (which is why such name has no known west Semitic etymology). [Although Ugarit was a Late Bronze Age west Semitic-speaking Amorite state, it had a large minority of Hurrian residents.]

2. The personal name mtn at Ugarit is the same name as mdn, merely having a slightly different spelling, and likewise refers to Midtanni, once again presumably being the name of a Hurrian who originated from there.

3. The gentilic name mtny at Ugarit means “Midtannian”.

Now consider what may well be the Biblical Hebrew equivalents of these Ugaritic names at Genesis 25:2 and 37: 36. (In this post, I am ignoring what may be longer versions of these same names at Genesis 25: 4 and 37: 28.)

(a) מדן, which is usually (though inaccurately) rendered in English as “Medan”, is likely identical to the personal names mdn and mtn at Ugarit. Both in Biblical Hebrew and in Ugaritic, this personal name may well mean: “Midtanni”.

(b) מדנים, which is usually (though inaccurately) rendered in English as “Midianite”, is likely identical to the gentilic name mtny at Ugarit. Both in Biblical Hebrew and in Ugaritic, this gentilic name may well mean: “Midtannian”.

Pursuant to the foregoing analysis, the מדנים at Genesis 37: 36 are west Semitic-speaking (“Ishmaelites”) residents of the Hurrian great power state of Midtani (“Mitannians”) in Late Bronze Age eastern Syria. Genesis 25: 18 tells us that some of Ishmael’s descendants settled as far east as Assyria, which is just east of Midtanni, so Ishmaelites could easily be residents of Midtanni in eastern Syria; that is to say, Ishmaelites could be Midtannians : mtny : מדנים.

But the key question here, rather, is how could Midtannians, near Beth Shan and Gilead (the latter of which is in the central Transjordan) at Dothan on their way to Egypt from eastern Syria in Genesis 37, have fine incense, which they would sell in Egypt? The answer: the King’s Highway! As we will see, that precise phenomenon, though seeming to us today to be, at first glance, extremely odd geographically, is well-attested in the mid-14th century and the 13th century BCE in the Late Bronze Age.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

[Jim Stinehart]

Based on historical linguistics, מדנים at Genesis 37: 36 could well be, per my prior post, the Biblical Hebrew version of the name “Midtannians”. Genesis 25: 18 tells us that some of Ishmael’s descendants lived in eastern Syria; such Ishmaelites were Midtannians, being west Semitic speakers who lived in the Hurrian great power state of Midtanni. So far, so good. But per Genesis 37: 25, how on earth could traders from eastern Syria be carrying valuable incense to Egypt (for sale in Egypt)?

The KJV version of Genesis 37: 25 reads as follows: “And they [Joseph’s older half-brothers] sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites [referred to at Genesis 37: 36 as מדנים] came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.”

Writing in 1970 (almost 50 years ago), Donald B. Redford stated at p. 193 of his book “A Study of the Biblical Story of Joseph” that Genesis 37: 25 reflects the world of the mid-1st century BCE, and could not possibly have been composed in, much less reflect, the Late Bronze Age: “Trade in aromatic substances between Transjordan and other parts of the Near East is documented from just before the middle of the First Millennium B.C. [not earlier] to Ptolemaic times.”

But at least since 1994, scholars have known that this key Redford argument is false.

The leading scholarly article on this subject is Michal Artzy, “Incense, Camels and Collared Rim Jars: Desert Trade Routes and Maritime Outlets in the Second Millennium”, Oxford Journal of Archaeology, Volume 13, Issue 2, pages 121 - 147 (July 1994). The most accessible summary I have found on the Internet of the applicable portion of this scholarly article is the following summary that is contained in a 2012 Master’s thesis, here: http://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/13235969.pdf

“[Michal] Artzy (1994:121)…argues that the origins of the camel-borne incense trade from Arabia to the Levant…can be traced back to the Late Bronze Age in the second millennium BC. Artzy (1994:122 and 139) argues further that the anchorage site of Tell Nami on the northern coast of Israel, first occupied in the Middle Bronze Age IIa, abandoned, and again occupied in the Late Bronze II [Late Bronze IIa is the 14th century BCE] when it was extremely wealthy, especially in the LBIIb Period [13th century BCE], is the most likely candidate for a centre for incense trade, where a land route from Arabia via Transjordan and a Mediterranean coastal distribution area converged. As far as the land route is concerned, Artzy (1994: 123, 131-133 and 139) states that the ‘ntyw [the Egyptian word for frankincense or myrrh] from South Arabia probably travelled first via the Red Sea and was then trans-shipped to caravans, which brought the incense along the King’s Highway to Beth Shan [immediately west of Gilead] in central Transjordan. From there, the caravans travelled westward towards the Mediterranean coast to Megiddo and then on to Nami. This trade took place during a period of expansion of trade, which happened in the latter part of the Late Bronze IIb, with its zenith occurring sometime after the middle of the thirteenth century BC….” Pp. 59-60.

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We can now re-evaluate Genesis 37: 25 in light of the foregoing historical facts. In the mid-14th century BCE (and reaching its height in the mid-13th century BCE), traders from southern Arabia began taking valuable gum resins (incense) north to northern Arabia. There, a different set of merchants (who had taken the King’s Highway south from Beth Shan to northern Arabia) would purchase the valuable gum resins and take the incense back north along the King’s Highway to the central Transjordan, in Gilead just east of Beth Shan. From there the incense would be taken west past Dothan to Megiddo and then to the northern coast of Israel, where either it would be transported by sea (which became the standard practice in the 13th century BCE, which is when the seaport of Nami greatly prospered), or else taken (by donkey or camel) along the coastal route (the preferred route in the mid-14th century BCE, when Midtanni was a favored ally of Egypt, and before the seaport of Nami gained great importance), to Egypt. Note that Genesis 37: 25 does not say that the gum resins in question originated in Gilead.

In the Biblical account, the traders who will take the valuable gum resins into Egypt are from Midtanni in eastern Syria (מדנים : “Midtannians”), who ethnically are descendants of Ishmael, and they have camels (which, during the Late Bronze Age when Midtanni was in existence, could only come from Arabia). (By the way, such ethnic “Ishmaelite” traders from Midtanni [in addition to speaking Hurrian as a second or third language] would speak a west Semitic language somewhat similar to that of the traders from southern Arabia.)

Though the geography of this particular, short-lived trade route may at first blush seem quite odd (first going south from Beth Shan down the King’s Highway to northern Arabia, and then going straight back north up the King’s Highway to Beth Shan; that’s a major league detour, as it were, in traveling from eastern Syria to Egypt), we nevertheless know that it existed, and thrived, in the 14th and 13th centuries BCE. And it was only in the mid-14th century BCE that, on a routine basis, west Semitic-speaking traders from Midtanni [מדנים] took gum resins from Arabia to Egypt personally, after having been in Gilead and Dothan with such gum resins. The Arabians had camels; Midtannians trading with these Arabians would have bought camels from them; so as opposed to the ordinary donkey caravans from Syria in the Late Bronze Age, such Midtannian traders could be the first to initiate camel caravans. Indeed, Genesis 37: 25 makes sense in only one historical time period (when the Hurrian state of Midtanni was still in existence): the mid-14th century BCE. In the Late Amarna time period, west Semitic-speaking [“Ishmaelite”] merchants from Midtanni [מדנים : “Midtannians”] who were on their way to Egypt could be seen in Gilead, Beth Shan and Dothan with valuable gum resins that they had obtained (using the King’s Highway) from Arabian traders on the northern border of Arabia, exactly as portrayed at Genesis 37: 25.

Thus the story told at Genesis 37: 25 fits one, and only one, historical time period, and it’s an absolutely perfect match to that one particular time period: the mid-14th century BCE in the Late Bronze Age. The scholarly view that the Patriarchal narratives are mid-1st millennium BCE fiction is untenable, historically. No author in the mid-1st millennium BCE could possibly, under any circumstances, have created the story told at Genesis 37: 25, because such story makes sense in the unique circumstances of only one time period: Late Amarna. Once again, as per usual, the pinpoint historical accuracy of the Patriarchal narratives is truly stunning.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

[Jim Stinehart]

In trying to understand who the Ishmaelite/“Midianites” were, who had valuable incense and took Joseph to Egypt in chapter 37 of Genesis, we need to understand who took incense from Arabia to Egypt in the Bronze Age, and by what route.

On the one hand, and not unexpectedly, there was direct trade between southern Arabia and Egypt for Arabia’s incense, beginning in the 15th century BCE (the beginning of the Late Bronze Age). But of critical importance for our understanding of the Ishmaelite/“Midianite” traders in chapter 37 of Genesis, there was another route, which at first glance seems very odd geographically, but in fact is the well-documented Overland Incense Route, which began early in the 14th century BCE (about 50 years before the Amarna Age).

For a map of the Overland Incense Route, see p. 96 of the following 1999 scholarly source by Jerzy Brozyna: http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewco ... etd_theses (This scholarly source is an excellent, lengthy discussion of the Overland Incense Route.)

The Overland Incense Route, beginning in the 14th century BCE in the Late Bronze Age, went by camel from southern Arabia to the northern edge of Arabia; its northern oases were a good 100 miles east of territory controlled by Egypt. Then on the northern border of Arabia, far from Egyptians, the valuable myrrh and frankincense were sold to traders from the north. From there, the incense was taken north, soon taking the King’s Highway through the eastern edge of the southern half of the Transjordan (a semi-desert route), to central Gilead. Then the traders headed a short distance straight west to Beth Shean. From Beth Shean three different trade routes radiated.

One of the trade routes from Beth Shean went northeast to Mitanni in eastern Syria. Thus it makes sense that these traders who had bought the incense on the northern border of Arabia may in many cases have been residents of Mitanni. But they likely were not ethnic Hurrians, who are never attested nearly that far south. More likely is that these northern traders were native west Semitic speakers (and hence could converse with people from southern Arabia and, for that matter, essentially all of the people who lived along the standard trade routes southwest of Syria and northeast of Egypt). As such, the Bible could refer to these northern traders as “Ishmaelites” (non-Hurrian west Semitic speakers), who were residents of Mitanni : Midtannians : “Midianites” : mtny : מדנים, as referenced at Genesis 37: 36.

The other two routes in this Overland Incense Route started by going straight west from Beth Shean, a little north of Dothan, to the Canaanite seaport of Tel Nami. From there, one route (the second route) went by sea to Ugarit in northwest Syria. But what is of interest to us is the third route.

The third route went either by sea, or by land, from Tel Nami south to Egypt (or the land route could skip Tel Nami and go southwest via Lachish). Note that this well-documented trade route for Arabian incense is unexpected geographically. Instead of going directly from Arabia to Egypt (being a much, much shorter route), this well-attested, if circuitous, trade route went north from Arabia to Beth Shean (by way of Gilead on the King’s Highway), then west (past Dothan) to the coast of Canaan, and then south to Egypt. If the traders were from Mitanni and had bought camels in Arabia, then these west Semitic-speaking (“Ishmaelite”) Mitannians (“Midianites” : mtny : מדנים) (i) would have previously been in Gilead and Beth Shean, and passed by Dothan (where Joseph is sold to such traders), with valuable incense from Arabia, who (ii) were on their way by camel to Egypt to sell such incense in Egypt.

Though the geography admittedly seems quite odd at first glance, this circuitous route is in fact one important way in which valuable Arabian incense got to Egypt in the Late Bronze Age, and is well-acknowledged by modern historians. Only in the first half of the 14th century BCE (with the mid-14th century BCE being, in my opinion, the Patriarchal Age) would these traders have been from Mitanni. (Shortly thereafter, Mitanni was utterly defeated by the Hittites. The opening act of that titanic war is the Great Syrian War, which is accurately recounted in chapter 14 of Genesis as the “four kings with five”. Mitanni in particular, and the Hurrians in general, were destined to become virtually extinct by the end of the 14th century BCE.)

Historians have noted that in the first half of the Late Bronze Age, the two main countries that are attested as using significant quantities of myrrh are: Egypt and Mitanni (with the latter being a Hurrian state located in eastern Syria). Furthermore, many historians have noted that on at least two occasions, the Hurrian king of Mitanni is known to have sent myrrh to pharaoh of Egypt as a gift. If Mitanni had gotten its myrrh by buying it from Egypt, then Mitanni would not give Egypt myrrh as a gift. It is clear that Mitanni was getting myrrh directly from Arabia, via a land route: the Overland Incense Route, which utilized the King’s Highway.

Contrary to popular misconception, the King’s Highway was not developed as an alternate route to Egypt from Syria. The regular trade routes from the Middle Bronze Age, which either went west through the Jezreel Valley in Canaan or else passed north of Canaan to Lebanon, were perfectly fine if Arabian incense was not on the agenda; moreover, those regular, well-traveled trade routes had the significant advantage of largely avoiding semi-desert areas (the eastern edge of the Transjordan, which is the site of the King’s Highway). For the first 300 years or so of its existence, the King’s Highway was simply a north-south route between Beth Shan and northern Arabia, and existed solely because of the lucrative Arabian incense trade.

So although the geography seems strange at first glance, chapter 37 of Genesis turns out to be historically accurate. West Semitic-speaking (“Ishmaelite”) traders who were from Midtanni (“Midianites” : mtny : מדנים) indeed were in Gilead (just east of Beth Shean), and passed by Dothan west of Beth Shean (where they are portrayed Biblically as acquiring Joseph), while carrying valuable incense (from Arabia) that they would sell in Egypt.

As I find myself frequently remarking, the pinpoint historical accuracy of the Patriarchal narratives (in a Late Bronze Age context) is truly stunning.

The name “Midian” did not exist until the Common Era. מדנים at Genesis 37: 36 is not referring to “Midianites” from Midian (in Arabia), but rather is referring to west Semitic-speaking residents of the Hurrian great power state of Midtanni in eastern Syria. In the specific historical context of the mid-14th century BCE (when Midtanni still existed), everything about this story in chapter 37 of Genesis makes complete sense.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois