B.C. 1453. and, as Moses was forbidden to molest the sons of Edom during the Jewish passage through the Wilderness,[1] it is reasonable to infer that there was, even in his time, a considerable commerce carried on through the country of Edom, or Idumea, by means of caravans. Again, Gideon, when he conquered Midian, a few years afterwards, found among the Midianites, an Idumean tribe, abundant gold and camels and many other proofs of a large traffic, by which they had evidently long flourished. He "demanded for his reward the earrings of the men, and the chains that were about the camels' necks;"[2] decorations alike attesting the value of the animals, and the extent and wealth of the commerce in which these people had been engaged.
Origin of the caravans. Indeed, when we consider the extent of the Asiatic continent, its sterile deserts, and its geographical features, together with the lawless hordes that roamed over them, it would seem to have been impossible for any but a numerous company to conduct a trade across it in safety and with success. Hence it became necessary to collect companies of travellers or merchants in sufficient numbers, either to defend themselves, or to pay for the protection of a body of guards. Moreover, as it frequently happened that the merchants of any one district were too few to cope with the marauders they were likely to encounter on their journey, some central depôt or rendezvous was named where the smaller caravans might meet. These were not a matter of choice, but of established custom.
Happily, in the deserts they had to cross, Nature had allotted to the traveller occasional spots,
