Two New Kingdom Egyptian texts ā from Amenhotep III and Ramesses II ā mention a group of nomads in Edom called tį Å”įsw yhwį, āthe shasu of the land of Yahu.ā Scholars read Yhw as a toponym, likely derived from a local deity, Yahu, a possible precursor of Yahweh. Early biblical texts echo this southern origin: Yahweh 'dawned from Seir' (Deut. 33:2; Judg. 5:4) and Edom was the territory he gave to Esau (Deut. 2:4ā5). These references suggest that late Bronze Age Egyptians knew of semi-nomadic pastoralists in Seir who worshiped a tutelary god Yahu ā whose cult may have shaped the early religious landscape later associated with the įø«abiru and proto-Israelites.