Did Yahweh names from the Negev, Arabah, and Edom show local differences?
Research question: What do Iron Age Yahweh-theophoric personal names from the Negev, Arabah, and Edom show about regional Yahweh devotion and whether it differed by locality?
The verified facts do not directly answer the question about Yahweh-theophoric personal names in the Negev, Arabah, and Edom. The abstract on the northeastern Negev notes non-Yahwistic cult centered on Qws, contrasted with Yahweh-centered worship in southern Judah, but it does not discuss Yahweh-theophoric names or the Arabah and Edom 1. Scholars have proposed several possible locations for the 'Shasu land Yhw,' where Yahweh was probably worshiped, including the Edomite Mountains and the 'Arabah Valley, but this concerns geography rather than personal names 2. Names containing Qos, the deity linked to Edom, appear at sites such as Tel 'Arad and Tell el-Kheleifeh, not only in Edomite contexts, which hints at mixed local patterns, though it concerns a different divine name 3. The newest fact dates from 2021, about five years before October 2026 3.
Sources
"This iconic material culture consisted of highly identifiable ceramics, evidence of non-Yahwistic cult featuring the deity Qws, and non-Judahite inscriptions."Edom in Judah: An Archaeological Investigation of Identity, Interaction, and Social Entanglement in the Negev During the Late Iron Age (8th–6th Centuries BCE) (2020)
"the southern Negev and eastern Sinai (Mettinger 1988, 24–28, 1990, 408)"The Desert’s Role in the Formation of Early Israel and the Origin of Yhwh (2021)
"personal names with the god’s name were found at Tel ‘Arad, Tel ‘Aroer, Horvat Qitmit, and Tell el-Kheleifeh (Knauf 1999)."The Archaeology of Cult of Ancient Israel’s Southern Neighbors and the Midianite-Kenite Hypothesis (2021)