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thumb Midian (; (ヘブライ語:מִדְיָן)), Madyan ((アラビア語:مدين)), or Madiam ()〔Also Μαδιανίτης for "Midianite".〕 is a geographical place and the Midianites a people mentioned in the Torah and in the Qur'an. Scholars generally consider it to have been located in the "northwest Arabian Peninsula, on the east shore of the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea",〔Dever, William G. ''Who were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?'' William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (24 May 2006) ISBN 978-0-8028-4416-3 p.34〕 and have long associated it with the region of Modiana reported in that same area by Ptolemy. Hadad the Edomite is specifically stated in 1 Kings 11:17–18 to have passed through Midian and Paran while fleeing from Edom to Egypt. Even so, some scholars have claimed Midian was not a geographical area but a league of tribes.〔William J. Dumbrell, Midian: A Land or a League?, ''Vetus Testamentum'', Vol. 25, Fasc. 2, No. 2a. Jubilee Number (May, 1975), pp. 323-337〕〔Bromiley Geoffrey W. ''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia''. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1996. ISBN 978-0-8028-3783-7. p. 350.〕 According to Genesis, the Midianites were the descendants of Midian, who was a son of Abraham through his wife Keturah: "… again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah" (Genesis 25:1–2, King James Version).〔http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2025:1-2&version=KJV〕 The Midianites are also thought to be related to the Qenites (or Kenites), since they are used interchangeably in the Hebrew Bible. Moses' brother-in-law or father-in-law are Qenites. ==Midianite religion== The Midianites through their apparent religio-political connection with the Moabites〔; ; 〕 are thought to have worshipped a multitude of gods,〔Qur'an, ''Al-Araf'', 7:85〕 including Baal-peor and the Queen of Heaven, Ashteroth. The Midianites may have worshiped Yahweh,〔Karel van der Toorn, ''Family Religion in Babylonia, Ugarit, and Israel: Continuity and Change in the Forms of Religious Life'' (Leiden: E. J. Brill), p. 283.〕 the God whom according to the Bible Moses encountered at the burning bush at the far end of Midian's wilderness. It is uncertain, however, which deities the Midianites worshiped. An Egyptian temple of Hathor at Timna continued to be used during the Midianite occupation of the site (terminal Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age); the Midianites transformed the Hathor mining temple into a desert tent-shrine. 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 walls 1 and 3 of the shrine. Beno Rothenberg,〔Beno Rothenberg, ''Timna: Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines'' (London: Thames and Hudson, 1972).〕 the excavator of the site, suggested that the Midianites were making offerings to Hathor, especially since a large amount 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 gilded head was also discovered in the 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〔Michael M. Homan, ''To Your Tents, O Israel!: The Terminology, Function, Form, and Symbolism of the Tents in the Bible and the Ancient Near East'', Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 12 (Brill: 2002), p. 118〕 points out that the Midianite tent-shrine at Timna is one of the closest parallels to the biblical Tabernacle. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Midian」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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