Edom - Religion

Religion

The nature of Edomite religion before their conversion to Judaism is largely unknown. As close relatives of other Levantine Semites, they may have worshiped such gods as El, Baal, Kaus and Asherah. The oldest biblical traditions place Yahweh as the deity of southern Edom, and may have originated in "Edom/Seir/Teman/Sinai" before being adopted in Israel and Judah.

In Antiquities of the Jews, Book 15, chapter 7, section 9, Josephus notes that Costobarus, appointed by Herod to be governor of Idumea and Gaza, was descended from the priests of "the Koze, whom the Idumeans had formerly served as a God."

For an archaeological text that may well be Edomite, reflecting on the language, literature, and religion of Edom, see Victor Sasson, "An Edomite Joban Text, with a Biblical Joban Parallel", Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 117 (Berlin 2006), 601–615.

Islamic literature tells us that they followed prophet Hud (Eber) and used to fast on the tenth of Iyyar for those killed by the Israelites on their escape from Egypt. However, they also blackened the faces of adulterers, believed God's hands are tied, worshipped Uthras as the sons of God, and threw the Torah behind their backs.