Avith

Avith is named twice in the Hebrew Bible, both times as the city of Hadad the son of Bedad, an early Edomite king. The notices are parallel and brief: a name attached to a king who struck Midian in the field of Moab.

The City of Hadad in Edom

In the Edomite king-list of Genesis, Hadad succeeds Husham and is identified by the city he ruled from: "And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith" (Gen 36:35). The Chronicler repeats the notice almost verbatim within the same sequence of pre-Israelite Edomite kings: "And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead; and the name of his city was Avith" (1 Chronicles 1:46). The two passages tie Avith to a single moment in Edom's monarchic memory — the seat of the king who defeated Midian on Moabite ground.