The following notice of Madyan is taken from the Kitáb el-Buldán ("Book of Countries"),[66] by Ahmed ibn Abí Ya'kúb bin Wádhih, surnamed El-Ya'kúbí and El-Kátib (the writer); according to the Arabic colophon it was completed on the morning of Saturday, Shawwál 21, A.H. 607 (= A.D. 1210). The author gives (p. 129, T. G. J. Juynboll, Lugduni Batavorum, 1861) a description of the route from Misr (Egypt, here Cairo) to Meccah. The first ten stages are—1. Jubb el-'Umayrah; 2. El-Kerkirah (variant, Karkírah); 3. 'Ajrúd, the well-known fort on the direct Suez-Cairo line; 4. Jisr el-Kulzum, where the Gulf was crossed; and, lastly, six Desert marches (Maráhil) to Aylah.[67] The latter station is described as a fine city upon the shore of the Salt Sea, the meeting-place of the pilgrim-caravans from Syria,[68] Egypt, and the Maghrib (West Africa). It has merchandise in plenty, and its people are a mixed race (Akhlát min el-Nás).[69] Here also are sold the fine cloaks called Burdu habaratin, and also known as the Burd of the Apostle of Allah[70] (upon whom be peace!). He resumes, "And from Aylah you march to Sharaf el-Baghl, and from the latter to Madyan, which is a large and populous city, with abundant springs and far-flowing streams of wholesome water; and gardens of flower-beds. Its inhabitants are a mixed race (Akhlát min el-Nás).[71] The traveller making Meccah from Aylah takes the shore of the Salt Sea, to a place called 'Aynúná (variant, 'Uyún, plural of 'Ayn, an eye of water, a fountain): here are buildings and palm clumps, and seeking-places (Matalib: see Lane for the authorities), in which men search for gold." Dr. Badger draws my attention to the last sentence, which seems also to have been noticed by Sprenger (Alt. Geog. p. 32).[72]
The following is from the Kitáb Asár el-Bitad ("Book of the Geographical Traditions of Countries"), by the far-famed Zakariyyá bin Mohammed bin Mahmúd, surnamed El-Kazwíní, who died A.H. 653 = A.D. 1255:—"Madyan" (p. 173, edidit. F. Wustenfeld, Göttingen, 1848) "is a city of the tribe (Kaum) of Shu'ayb upon whom be peace!): it was founded by Madyan, son of Ibrahim, the Friend (of Allah), the grandfather of Shu'ayb. It exports the merchandise of Tabúk between El-Medinah and El-Shám (Damascus). In it is the well whence Musá (upon whom be peace!) watered the flocks of Shu'áyb, and it is said that the well is of great depth; and that over it is a building visited by (pious) men. This settlement Madyan is subject to the district of Tabaríyyah (Tiberias); and near it is the well, and at it a rock which Moses uprooted,[73] and which remains there to the present day."
The Imám Abú'l-Abbás Ahmed ibn 'Ali Takiyy el-Dín, better known as "El-Makrízi," wrote his book El-Mawáiz w'el-I'tibár fi' Zikr el-Khitat w'el-'Asár ("The Admonition and Examples in Commemorating Habitations and Traditions") in A.H. 825 (= A.D. 1421), during the latter part of the second Mamlúk dynasty; and he brings down the history to the reign of Kansu Ghori, whose fort we shall see at El-'Akabah. He tells us (edition of Gottingen, 1848, Sahífah 48), "The loftiest mountain in Madyan is called Zubayr.[74] . . . It is also related that amongst the settlements of the (Madyanite) tribe are the villages of Petræa (), namely, the Kúrat (circuit) of El-Tor, and Fárán (Pharan), and Ráyeh, and Kulzum, and Aylah (El-'Akabah) with its surroundings; Madyan with its surroundings; and Awíd and Haurá (Leukè-Kóme) with their surroundings, and Badá[75] and Shaghab."[76] He speaks of many ruined cities whose inhabitants had disappeared: forty, however, remained; some with, and others without, names. Between El-Hejaz and Egypt-Syria were sixteen cities, ten of them lying towards Palestine. The most important were El-Khalasah,[77] with its idol-temple destroyed by Mohammed, and El-Sani'tah, whose stones had been removed to build Ghazzah (Gaza). The others were El-Mederah, El-Minyah, El-A'waj, El-Khuwayrak, El-Bírayn, El-Máayn, El-Sebá, and El-Mu'allak.[78]
The Marásid el-Ittílá 'alá Asmá el-Amkanat w'el-Buká' ("Observations of Information on the Names of Places and Countries"), which contains two dates in the body of the work, viz. A.H. 997 ( = A.D. 1589) and A.H. 1168 (A.D. = 1755), and which is probably compiled from El-Kazwíní, says sub voce Madyan, after giving the "movement" of the word: "It is a city of the tribe of Shu'ayb, opposite Tabúk, and upon the sea of El-Kulzum, six stages (Maráhil) separating the two. It is larger than Tabúk, and in it is the well whence Moses watered the flocks of Shu'ayb." Finally, it repeats that Madyan is under the district of "Tabariyyá" or Tiberias[79] (vol. iii. p. 64, edidit. T. G. J. Juynboll, Lugduni Batavorum, 1854, e duobus Codd. MSS.).
I conclude this unpopular chapter with some remarks by Dr. Badger concerning the apparent connection of Jethro and El-Medínah:[80] "It struck me when studying 'Madyan,' which is the name of a place as well as of a man,[81] that 'Yáthrib,' the ancient term of al-Madínah, might have served the same double purpose. At all events, it was singular to find a Yáthrib somewhere near Madyan, and that the word was not far removed from the (Yithro), the name given in Hebrew to Moses' Midianite father-in-law. I also note that the Septuagint renders the Hebrew Yithro by Peshito by (Yathrûn), which the new Arabic version of the Bible, published at Bairu't (Syria), follows; making it (Yáthrûn). The name in Hebrew (Exod. iv. 18) is also written (Yether).
"My theory is this. Firstly, there is no dependence to be placed on the Masoretic points, especially when affixed to names of places. Secondly, we have no certain knowledge of the language used by the Midianites in those ancient times. Their territory extended northwards towards Palestine, and from their very intimate relations with the Israelites, as friends and as enemies, both nations appear to have understood each other perfectly. May not their language, then, have been a dialect of the Aramean?[82] If so, the (Yithro) of the Bible might have been (Yithrab, Yathrib, etc.). Instances of the apocopated (b) are common in the Chaldean or Syro-Chaldaic at the present day; e.g. (Yáheb Alaha) is pronounced Yáu-Alaha; (Yashuá'-yaheb) becomes Yashuá-yau, etc., the final Beth (b) or the (heb) being converted into a (w). Hence why may not (Yithro) have been originally (Yithrab or Yathrib)? Of course, this is only a conjecture of mine."
Mr. E. Stanley Poole (loc. cit.) says that the Arabs dispute whether the name "Medyen" be foreign or Arabic; and whether "Medyen" spoke Arabic. He considers the absurd enumeration of the alphabetical kings (El-Mas'údi, quoted above) to be curious, as possibly containing some vague reference to the language of Midian. When these kings are said contemporaneously to have ruled over Meccah, Western Nejd, Yemen, "Medyen," Egypt, etc., it is extremely improbable that Midian ever penetrated into Yemen, notwithstanding the hints of Arab authors to the contrary. Yákút el-Hamawi (born A.H. 574 or 575 = A.D. 1178-79, and died A.H. 626 = A.D. 1228), in the Mu'jam el-Buldán (cited in the Journ. of the Deutsch. Morgen. Gesellschaft), declares that a South Arabic dialect is of Midian, and El-Mas'údi (apud Schultens, pp. 158-159) inserts a Midianite king among the rulers of Yemen. The latter, however, is more probable than the former; it may be an accidental and individual, not a material occurrence.
The following list of ruins, some cities, others towns, were all, with two exceptions (Nos. 2 and 18), visited or explored by the second Khedivial Expedition. The Mashghal, ateliers or subsidiary workshops, were in cases learned only by hearsay:—
1. Old 'Akabah (Aylah) Mashghal, up Valley el-Yitm. 3.
2. El-Hakl (pronounced "Hagul"), the of Ptolemy: it was seen from the sea, and notes were taken of its ruins and furnaces.