Edom and the Edomites.

• Author: MacKay, D. Bruce

This compact book compiles archaeological and textual studies on Edom and the Edomites into a history of the ancient land and people of southeastern Palestine. This work is necessary and welcome, but unfortunately John R. Bartlett's effort is somewhat disappointing.

The book begins with a chapter on the modern West's discovery and exploration of Edom. "The Land of Edom," the second chapter, describes topography, transportation routes, and settlements. Particular emphasis is placed on explaining biblical references to Edomite place names. The third chapter examines the prehistory of Edom and lists discoveries from the Middle Pleistocene to the end of the Middle Bronze Age. The history proper begins with chapter four, which examines the area during the Late Bronze and early Iron ages and continues through chapter nine, which treats Edom in the Persian period. Throughout, Bartlett strives to correlate biblical references with archaeological and textual data. Topics discussed include David's military exploits against Edom, Solomon's adversary Hadad, Edom's independence during the divided monarchy, and its vassalage under the Assyrians. The book ends with three chapters examining Edom in more ahistorical terms: chapter ten, "Edom and Judah," treats the biblical view of Edom; chapter eleven deals with religion; and chapter twelve lists and briefly discusses inscriptions.

There are two maps, bibliographies of books and articles, and indexes of authors, personal names, and place names. The maps are poor; they employ the awkward method of identifying sites with numbered dots while listing names in a separate key. Highways are indicated by solid lines but are neither named nor cross-referenced to the discussion of transportation routes. Few topographical features are indicated. The maps contain just four contour lines (-300, 0, 900, and 1500 m) and depict only the major wadis (Hasa, Fidan, and Musa) but without...