In the Bible, the land of Edom—populated, according to Genesis, by the descendants of Jacob’s twin brother Esau—occurs frequently as a rival of the Israelites. Although the text specifies that the Edomite kingdom predates the reign of Saul and David, archaeologists have generally thought it was inhabited by tribal nomads up until the 8th century BCE, about 200 years later. A new discovery at an archaeological site in Jordan changes that, as Aaron Reich writes:

[New] research has uncovered the untold story of a thriving and wealthy society in the Arava desert—which spans parts of Israel and Jordan—that existed during the 12th and 11th centuries BCE.

According to [a just-published] study, . . . the kingdom’s wealth appears to have been built on a “high-tech network” of copper, the most valuable resource in the region at the time; . . . the production process for copper is incredibly complex. . . . [T]he research team analyzed findings from ancient copper mines in Jordan and Israel to create a timeline of the evolution of copper production from 1300 to 800 BCE, and found a significant decrease of copper in the slag—the waste product of copper extraction—at the Arava site, implying that the process became more efficient and streamlined.

Ezra Ben-Yosef of Tel Aviv University’s department of archaeology and ancient Near Eastern cultures, [who was one of the lead authors of the study], explains that “a flourishing copper industry in the Arava can only be attributed to a centralized and hierarchical polity, and this might fit the biblical description of the Edomite kingdom.”

Last Sunday marked the eighth anniversary of a Saudi-led alliance’s intervention in the Yemeni civil war, intended to defeat the Iran-backed Houthi militia that had overthrown the previous government. In the wake of the rapprochement between Riyadh and Tehran, diplomats are hoping that the talks between the Saudis and the Houthis—which have been ongoing since last summer—will finally succeed in ending the war. To Nadwa Al-Dawsari, such an outcome seems highly unlikely:

The Houthis’ military gains have allowed them to dictate the path of international diplomacy in Yemen. They know Saudi Arabia is desperate to extricate itself and the international community wants the Yemen problem to go away. They do not recognize and refuse to negotiate with the [Riyadh-supported] Presidential Leadership Council or other Yemeni factions that they cast as “Saudi mercenaries.”

Indeed, even as the Houthis were making progress in talks with the Saudis, the rebel group continued to expand its recruitment, mobilization, and stockpiling of arms during last year’s truce as Iran significantly increased its weapons shipments. The group also carried out a series of attacks. . . . On March 23, the Houthis conducted a military drill close to the Saudi border to remind the Saudis of “the cost of no agreement and further concessions.”

The Houthis are still part and parcel of Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance.” With the Houthis gaining international political recognition, . . . Iran will have a greater chance to expand its influence in Yemen with the blessing of Western powers. The international community is eager for a “success story” in Yemen, even if that means a sham political settlement that will likely see the civil war continue. A deal with the Houthis is Saudi Arabia’s desperate plea to wash its hands of Yemen, but in the long term it could very well position Iran to threaten regional and international security. More importantly, it might set Yemen on a course of protracted conflict that will create vast ungoverned spaces.

Meanwhile, tensions in Yemen between Saudi Arabia and its ostensible ally, the United Arab Emirates, are rising, while the Houthis are developing the capability to launch missiles at Israel or to block a crucial Middle Eastern maritime chokepoint in the Red Sea.