In 1910 I found two men on the southern border of the aš-Šera’ range. One was from al-ʻAriš, where he had robbed an Egyptian soldier; the other from Ḳalʻat an-Naḫl, where he had severely wounded another Egyptian soldier. Both of them were in fear of the English commanders of the respective garrisons and had fled to the nomads on the Sinai peninsula, first of all to the Tijâha, then to the Terâbîn and ʻAzzâzme, and finally to the Ḥêwât; but with no chief could they remain longer than three days and a third, the length of time accorded to the guest by the law of hospitality, for each chief excused himself for not being able to protect them any longer, saying that if he did so, the English officers would be angry with him and his tribe and would hinder them from trading with Egypt and Egyptian merchants. There was nothing left for the two culprits but to seek a refuge to the east of al-ʻAraba, which they crossed at the watering place of Ṛaḍjân.
If Moses wished to save his life, he likewise had to escape beyond the range of Egyptian authority and thus beyond the rift valley of al-ʻAraba. He did not flee alone through the desert; but, as he was disguised, he probably joined some trade caravan, with which he proceeded along the transport route eastward and thus reached the land of Madian. From what has been said, therefore, it is clear that we must locate the land of Madian beyond and to the southeast of al-ʻAraba. In this we are justified by other Biblical reports.
Moses, when guarding the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, priest of the Madianites, on one occasion (Ex., 3: 1) left the flock, when he came to the mountain of God, Ḥoreb. The mountain of God is hence situated in the desert of the land of Madian.
The daughter of Jethro, the wife of Moses, was a Madianite woman and yet she is also called a Kushite (Num., 12: 1).
In Habakkuk, 3: 7, there is a description of how the tents of Kûšân shook and the tent coverings of the land of Madian trembled.—From this it follows that Habakkuk thought of the Madianites as nomads living in tents near the Kushites. This tallies with the manner in which the Bible speaks of the Madianites, deriving several of their clans both from Abraham by Keturah and also from the descendants of Kush. We may assume that the camping grounds of the Madianites were in the vicinity of the southern Arabian clans, who hailed, according to the Bible, from Kush, and that they were also related to these clans. It is possible that the priest Jethro was also a member of some southern Arabian clan and had settled among the Madianites, who were politically dependent on the rulers of the main trading stations on the transport routes leading through the land of Madian. These rulers and their garrisons belonged to the southern Arabs.
Moses returned from the land of Madian (Ex., 4: 19—20) on the transport route to Egypt, with his wife and sons riding on an ass. He likewise joined some caravan and, according to Exodus, 4: 27, met his brother Aaron by the mountain of God. Moses also led the Israelites into the land of Madian, knowing that they would find a safe refuge there.
When setting out on the journey to the Promised Land, Moses asked Ḥobab (Num., 10: 29f.), the son of Raʻuêl, a Madianite, to guide the Israelites, but Ḥobab was unwilling to do so. He wished to return home to his kindred.
