Horites

The Horites, (Hebrew: Horim, חרי) were a people mentioned in the Torah (Genesis 14:6, 36:20, Deuteronomy 2:12) inhabiting areas around Mount Seir which was in Canaan (Gen. 36:2,5).

Name

Mt. Seir seems to have been named after one Seir, who the land of the Horites - "the land of Seir" - was named after (Genesis 14:6). He was the ancestor of the Horite chiefs listed in Genesis 36:20f. The Horites have been identified with references in Egyptian inscriptions to Khar (formerly translated as Harri), which concern a southern region of Canaan. Despite the widespread influence of the Hurrians, a more northern people, these were probably not the same as the Horites.

History

The first mention of the Horites in the Torah was when they were defeated by a coalition of Eastern kings led by the Kedorlaomer of Elam (in modern Iran). These kings had come through the Horite territory to subdue a rebellion by a coalition of other 'kings' of peoples whom they had ruled for twelve years, who were living near the Dead Sea and Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 14:1-12).