The Kingdom of Edom, south of Moab and Judah, flourished between the 13th and 8th century B.C. It was conquered by King David and was destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century B.C. After the loss of the kingdom, the Edomites were pushed westward towards southern Judah by nomadic tribes coming from the east, among them the Nabataeans, who established their own kingdom in what used to be Edom. The Edomites assisted Nebuchadnezzar in the sack of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. Recent excavations show that Edomite settlement in the Kingdom of Judah began even before that. Under the Persian Empire, southern Judah was formed into the Idumaea satrapy. Herod the Great was of Nabataean and Edomite descent; his ancestors converted to Judaism.
This type is imitative of Athens. After the image of Athena was completely worn, the die was intentionally recut to a blank dome. | |