The Northern Ḥeǧâz/Appendix 4
APPENDIX IV
THE AMALEKITES
The Amalekites dwelt to the south of Palestine. They are mentioned as living there in Genesis, 14: 7. In this connection we are told that the Babylonian kings marched along the transport route east of the Dead Sea and through Mount Seʻîr, inhabited by the Horites, as far as Êl Pârân situated by the desert, where they turned back (Gen., 14: 7—8) and, arriving at ʻÊn Mišpaṭ, which is Ḳadeš, smote the whole of the land of the Amalekites, including also the Amorites dwelling in Ḥaṣaṣôn Tamar, and attacked the allied kings in the lowland of Siddîm.
We identify Êl Pârân with the harbor of Elath, or the modern al-ʻAḳaba, and we locate ʻÊn Mišpaṭ, or Ḳadeš, north of it in the environs of the ancient city of Petra. As the reference to the destruction of the Amalekites occurs after that to ʻÊn Mišpaṭ, it is clear from our report that the Amalekites dwelt to the west or northwest of Petra and thus in the southernmost parts of Palestine as well as in the territory extending to the south.
According to Numbers, 24: 20, Amalek is the first of the nations,—perhaps because they were the first with whom the Israelites came into conflict when migrating the Promised Land.
In Genesis, 36: 12, is stated that the concubine of Eliphaz gave birth to Amalek. But Eliphaz was the son of Esau, and Esau the grandson of Abraham; nevertheless, even in the time of Abraham Amalek was living to the south of the Promised Land. From this it is clear that this passage in Genesis cannot indicate the true origin of the Amalekites; it shows, however, that in time they became related to the sons of Esau, in whose neighborhood they were therefore encamped and with whom they also contracted marriages.
The territory of Amalek to the south of Palestine marched on the east with the territory of the sons of Esau, so that conditions were favorable for establishing contact. Moreover, it was quite possible for Amalek to secure authority even over the sons of Esau for a period, as is stated in Genesis, 36: 16.
Numbers, 13: 29, mentions that the Amalekites dwelt in the southern part of Palestine in the time of Moses, also, and were a source of much trouble to the Israelites as long as they were encamped in the environs of Ḳadeš (Num., 14:43). According to Deuteronomy, 25: 17 ff., the Amalekites attacked the weakened Israelites on their march from Egypt and captured all their stragglers. Exodus, 17: 8, relates that the Amalekites marched against the Israelites at Refîdîm, where, according to Exodus, 17: 6 f., Moses obtained water from the rock by smiting it with his rod. Refîdîm, which for that reason was also called Massa (temptation) and Merîba (altercation), was situated (Num., 20: 1—13) near Ḳadeš.
We locate Ḳadeš and Merîba in the environs of Petra and thus in the closest proximity to the land of the Amalekites, who might easily attack the Israelites migrating from one camp to another and capture their stragglers. But the Amalekites also assisted other enemies of the Israelites.
In Judges, 3: 13, it stated that the Amalekites united with Eglon, the king of Moab, who took the City of Palms (i. e. Jericho) from the Israelites.—In order that the Amalekites should reach Jericho it was not necessary for them to cross over into Moab and from thence to go down to the Jordan, but they could easily pass along the eastern shore of the Dead Sea and thus unite with Eglon. Judges, 6: 33 ff., mentions the Amalekites as the allies of the Madianites and Bene Ḳedem, with whom they were encamped in the plain of Jezreel. They plundered the land of Israel as far as Gaza.—The Amalekites could join the Madianites and Bene Ḳedem either at the Jordan valley after passing by the Dead Sea or on the southern frontiers of Palestine, where the Madianites had plundered also the environs of Gaza. After Gideon’s victory in the plain of Jezreel the Madianites and the Bene Ḳedem fled to the east, but there is no mention of the Amalekites. They probably saved themselves by passing along the shore of the Dead Sea to their own country.
The Israelites were greatly harassed by the raids of the Amalekites, upon whom they therefore vowed vengeance. It was Saul, their first king, who marched against the Amalekites.
In 1 Samuel, 15: 3, the Lord tells Saul to go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have, including ox and sheep, camel and ass. Hence the Amalekites must have been in possession of several settlements and must have tilled the soil and engaged in the breeding of cattle.
Having assembled his men, Saul started on his military expedition from Telam on the southern frontier of Judea. Arriving in front of the main city of the Amalekites, he set his rear guard as an outpost down by a naḥal, or valley with a river. The name of the main city of the Amalekites is not given, nor do we know the name of the river, naḥal, by which the rear guard was set. It is therefore not possible for us to determine exactly where the main dwelling place of Amalek was situated. It was either on the southern border of Judea, to the east or southeast of Beersheba, or else farther to the south near as-Sbejṭa.
Saul defeated the Amalekites and according to 1 Samuel, 15: 7, plundered their camps from Ḥawîla to Šûr “that is over against Egypt.”—Ḥawîla is identical with the classical Arabia Felix, or the modern Neǧd, and its northern frontier is formed by a line from the northern half of the Gulf of al-ʻAḳaba as far as Babylon. If Saul smote the Amalekites from Ḥawîla to Šûr (the western part of the Sinai Peninsula bordering on Egypt proper) it must be supposed that they had control of the transport route leading from southwestern Arabia by way of Elath (al-ʻAḳaba) to Gaza and Egypt and that their power certainly extended also to the southeast of Elath as far as Ḥawîla.
We very often find instances of a small tribe, or indeed of a clan, in Arabia with a similarly wide area of authority. For several centuries the family of Abu Rîš, which encamped south and southwest of Aleppo (Ḥaleb), controlled the great transport route leading from Aleppo through northeastern Arabia as far as Babylonia, and members of it were stationed at various points along that route.
The trade relations of Gaza and Egypt with southwestern Arabia were very brisk, and the trade caravans proceeding from Elath (al-ʻAḳaba) to Gaza were at the mercy of the Amalekites, through whose territory they passed. It was therefore likely that these caravans also acknowledged their authority on the road leading from Elath westward to Egypt as well as on that leading southeastward, or at least where the road skirted the seashore.
Saul’s army, especially that part of it which came from southern Judea where the settlements had long been afflicted by the Amalekites, was certainly eager for revenge; and therefore, not satisfied with defeating the king, it made an inroad upon other camps and flocks as far as the shore of the Red Sea. The naḥal in which Saul set his outpost is perhaps identical with the head of the valley forming the Egyptian border, and the duty of this outpost was to frustrate any attempt at flight into Egypt.
Saul did not destroy all the Amalekites. In 1 Samuel, 30: 1 ff., there is an account of their raids against various settlements in Judea, finally reaching as far as Ziklag, belonging to David, which they plundered, capturing the women and children there. David, having heard of this, pursued them across the stream Naḥal Besor and overtook them in the plain (1 Sam., 30: 17). He released the prisoners and slew the Amalekites, so that only four hundred of their young men escaped on camels. This narrative also shows that the Amalekites were still dwelling to the south of Palestine proper. David also waged war against them when king (1 Chron., 18: 11) and slew many of them.
When Joab slaughtered the Edomites in Seʻîr and made safe the road to the harbor of Elath, in which Solomon later equipped a mercantile fleet, he certainly destroyed very many Amalekites, partly those who were helping their kinsmen the Edomites and partly those who were defending their territory (reaching as it did as far as Elath) against their enemies from Judea. It seems that they were completely driven out of their original settlements and that the last remnants of them were preserved in the southern part of Mount Seʻîr, where, according to 1 Chronicles, 4: 43, they were encountered by the migrating Simeonites, who killed them and occupied their settlements. From that time onward there is no further mention of the Amalekites.