Edom was an ancient kingdom in the southern Levant, in the arid, mountainous land south of the Dead Sea, in what is now southern Jordan and the Negev in Israel. Its people, the Edomites, are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as descendants of Esau and as neighbours and often enemies of Israel and Judah. Archaeology has shown that copper mining and smelting at sites such as Khirbet en-Nahas and Feynan was important to its economy, and that a stronger state emerged around the eighth and seventh centuries BCE. Edom was a vassal of Assyria and later of Babylon. Nabataean Arabs later moved into the region, and its people in the later period became known as Idumeans.
Before and after
- c. 1,343 BCEBirth of Tutankhamun
- c. 1,324 BCEDeath of Tutankhamun
- c. 1,303 BCEBirth of Ramesses II
- from c. 1,300s BCE to 500s BCEChavín culture
- from 14th century BCE to 6th century BCEEdom
- from 14th century BCE to 4th century BCEMoab
- from c. 1,292 BCE to 1,189 BCENineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
- c. 1,274 BCEConstruction of Abu Simbel
- from c. 1,258 BCE to 1,180 BCETrojan War
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- c. 1,051 BCEThe Phoenician alphabet spreads
- from c. 753 BCE to 476 CEAncient Rome
- 7th century BCEConstruction of Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- from 312 BCE to 63 BCESeleucid Empire
- from 279 BCE to 1480Construction of Lighthouse of Alexandria
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires.
