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THE ORIGINS OF YHWH “Yah-weh” Part 3:
Scholars are unsure how or why yhwh appeared in the Levant. One explanation is that yhwh was simply imported from Edom and Midian, by the Shasu of yhw.
The Shasu, identified by the Egyptians were from Moab and northern Edom. Regarding the name ywh,
Michael Astour observed that the "hieroglyphic rendering corresponds very precisely to the Hebrew tetragrammaton yhwh".
Donald B. Redford,
and Anson Frank Rainey, both suggest that the description of the Shasu best fit the early/Proto Israelites and that the Shasu contributed stock to the Israelite ethnos.
At
Kuntillet ‘Ajrud, an inscription was found that calls the Israelite deity, "YHWH of Teman" (Edom).
According to the Hebrew Bible, verses such as Deut 33:2, Judg 5:4-5, and Hab 3:3-7, suggest yhwh came out of Edomite/Midianite territory.
This answers the why and how yhwh made it to the Levant since it was brought north to the central highlands (13th century BCE) from Edom and Midian by the Shasu of yhw.