The Kenite hypothesis (also called the Midianite hypothesis) proposes that the origins of Yahweh, and by extension Yahwism, do not lie in Canaan as the Hebrew Bible describes, but instead originated in the area immediately south of the Levant, possibly extending far into the northwest Arabian Peninsula, on the east shore of the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea, in the area the Tanakh calls "Midian". The theory states that Yahweh originally was a Midianite deity, who through trade made his way up north to the proto-Israelites. Another theory is that a confederation of regional tribes were connected to monotheistic ritual at Sinai.