(1) Dukes or Chiefs. Each tribe had its own Alluf, a term which is unhappily rendered in the English Version by 'Duke,' for though that has, no doubt, the radical meaning of the Latin dux, a 'leader,' it now only suggests the idea of a feudal title of nobility. Of these chiefs of the Horites seven are enumerated, viz., Lotan, Sho bal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. The only one of these who is spoken of as related to the other is Anah, the son of Zibeon. The prim itive and pastoral character of the people is in cidentally brought out by the circumstance that this Anah, though a chieftain's son, was in the habit of tending to his father's asses. It was when thus employed that he found in the wilder ness eth-ha-yemim, rendered in the English Ver sion by 'the mules,' but meaning more probably 'the hot springs ;' and thus interpreted, the pas sage seems to be an intimation that he was the first to discover the faculty with which asses and other animals are endowed, of snuffing the moist ure of the air, and thus sometimes leading to the opportune discovery of hidden waters in the des ert. There is in the country to the southeast of the Dead Sea (which formed part of the Seirite possessions), a place, KallirhoW, celebrated among the Greeks and Romans for its warm baths, and which has been visited by modern travelers (Jo scphus, De Bell. Jud. i :33, 5 ; Pliny, Hist. Nat. v:5, 17; Legh's Travels).
(2) Marriage of Esau. Esau first married into two Canaanitish families of the Hittite and Hivite tribes (Gen. xxvi :34 ; xxxvi :2; in one or other of which places, however, the text seems corrupt) ; but anxious to propitiate his offended parents, Ile next formed a matrimonial alliance with one of the race of Abraham, viz., Mahalath, otherwise called Bashemath, daughter of Ishmael, and sister of Nebaioth, whose descendants, the Nabathmans, by a singular coincidence, obtained in after times possession of the land of Edom (Gen. xxviii :9). (See Es/tn.) Esau's firstborn (by Adah or Bashemath, of the daughters of Beth) was Eliphaz, whose son Teman gave name to a district of thc country (Gen. xxxvi:t I, 34: Chron. i Ezek. xxv:i3; Obad. verse 9)• (3) The Temanites. The Temanites were re nowned for their wisdom (Jer. xlix :7, 20 ; Ba ruch III:22, 23). The chief speaker in the book of Job is another Eliphaz, a Temanite—which is onc of the circumstances that has led many to place the scene of that story in the land of Edorq (see JoB). The name of Pernan was preserved to the days of Eusebius in that of Thaiinan, a small town five Roman miles from Petra. An other son of the first-mentioned Eliphaz was Amalck, who is not to be confounded, however, with the father of the Amalekitcs, one of the doomed nations of Canaan, of whom we hear so early as the age of Abraham (Gen. xiv :7).
(4) Edomi.te Emirs. As a modern Arab sheikh is often found to exercise influence far beyond the sphere of his hereditary domain, so in the list of Edomite emirs preserved by Aloses we have perhaps only the names of the more dis tinguished individuals who acquired more or less authority over all the tribes.
(5) Kings of Edom. This oligarchy appears gradually to have changed into a monarchy, as happened, too, among the Israelites; for in addi tion to the above-mentioned lists, both of Horite and Esauite leaders, we have in Gen. xxxvi :31,
a catalogue of eight kings (Bela, Jobab. Husham, Hadad, Samlah, Saul, Baal-hanan, Hadar or Hadad) who reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.' It is not necessary to suppose that this was said by Moses prophetically; it is one of those passages which may have been inserted by Ezra when finally arranging the canon, inasmuch as it occurs also in the first book of Chronicles, of which he is the reputed compiler. The period when this change to regal government took place in Idumxa can only be matter of conjecture. In the Song of Moses (Exod. xv :15) it is said that at the tidings of Israel's triumphal passage of the Red Sea the rulers or princes (Alluf) of Edom trembled with affright, but when, some forty years afterwards, application had to be made by the Israelites for leave to traverse the land of Edom, it was to the king (41Iclek) that the re quest was addressed (Num. xx :14). The road by which it was sought to penetrate the country was termed 'the king's highway' (verse 17), sup posed by Robinson to be the Wady el-Ghuweir, for it is almost the only valley that affords a direct and easy passage through those mountains. From a comparison of these incidents it may be inferred that the change in the form of government took place during the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert, unless we suppose, with Rosenmfiller, that it was only this northeastern part of Edom which was now subject to a monarch, the rest of the country remaining under the sway of its former chieftains. But whether the regal power at this period embraced the whole territory or not, perhaps it did not supplant the ancient constitu tion, but was rather grafted on it, like the author it7 of the Judges in Israel, and of Saul, the first king, which did not materially interfere with the government that previously existed.
(6) Monarchy Not Hereditary. It further appears, from the list of Idumman kings, that the monarchy was not hereditary, but elective (for no one is spoken of as the son or relative of his predecessor) ; or probably that chieftain was ac knowledged as sovereign who was best able to yin. dicate his claim by force of arms. Every succes sive king appears to have selected his own seat of government ; the places mentioned as having enjoyed that distinction are Dinhabah, Avith. Pagu or Pai. Even foreigners were not excluded from the throne. for the successor of Samlah of Masrekah was Saul, or Shaul. 'of Rechoboth, on the river.' The word 'Rechoboth' means. literally, streets, and was a not uncommon name given to towns; but the emphatic addition of 'the river.' points evidently to the Euphrates, and between Rakkah and Anah, on that river, there are still the remains of a place called by the Arabs Ra chabath-Malik-Ibn Tank. In the age of Solo mon We read of one Hadad, who 'was of the king's seed in Edom' 0 Kings xi :14) ; from which some have conjectured that by that period there was a royal dynasty of one particular family ; but all that the expression may imply is, that he was a blood relation of the last king of the coun try. Hadad was the name of one of the early sovereigns 'who smote Midian in the field of Moab' (Gen. xxxvi :35).