Alice C. Linsley
Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. (Gen. 10:15-18 NRSV)
The Bible passages that speak about “the Canaanites” reflect authors who lived well after the time of the Patriarchs. In Genesis 10 the peoples who descend from Noah through his grandsons Sidon and Het (Heth) are said to be the original inhabitants. This is supported by evidence from many disciples, including linguistics, archaeology, anthropology and genetics.
In II Chronciles 8:7 and I Kings 9:20 the term “Canaanite” is used to distinguish the Israelites from the other clans living in the land. However, it is clear from Genesis 10 that the Israelites were related to these Canaanite clans. The so-called Canaanites were blood-related Afro-Arabian peoples whose ancestry can be traced back to the Nile Valley and ancient Kush.
The Genesis 10 passage lists related Kushite peoples (Edomites, Nubians, Nilotes, Egyptians, Sudra, Horites, Ainu) and attempts to establish Canaan as the eponymous ancestor of the Canaanite clans who spread, according to Genesis 10:19, from "Sidon to Gerar near Gaza, and all the way to to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim near Lesha." All of the Canaanite clans named in Genesis are also listed as the original inhabitants of the land in Exodus 3:8; Deuteronomy 7:1; Joshua 3:10; 24:11 or in extant texts of the period.
Melchizededk, the high priest of Jerusalem, was a Jebusite. He ministered to Abraham after the bloodshed between the kings. (Gen. 14) The Jebusites were a Kushite people.
The Hivites were likely a Horite clan (Genesis 14:6). It is not surprising then that Abraham the Horite was living among them and was buried among them at Machpelah.
The Arvadites (residents of Arvad) and Arkites (Gen. 10:15-18) were clans of royal scribes and related to the Amorites. During Abraham's time, the Amorites were centered in Engedi, a large oasis on the western shore of the Dead Sea bounded on the south by the Wadi Arnon.
The Amorites were the Am-Ar, meaning the people/tribe/caste of Ar. Their name appears in the titles of many of their rulers, including Ar-Shem, Arsames, Artix, and Araxes. The name Ar is found in the names of biblical places, such as Wadi Arnon. Ar-non (originally Ar-nxn) means the Ar of Onn, also called Heliopolis. Joseph married the daughter of the high priest of Heliopolis, a Horite shrine city.
The terms “Amorites” and "Canaanites" are used synonymously in Genesis 15:15-16 and Joshua 24:15, 18. The Amorites were already living in Palestine by 2300 B.C., 260 years before the time of Abraham (c. 2039-1964). The first biblical ruler of this name is Ar-pacshad, who lived four generations after Noah. He was a descendant of both Ham and Shem.
The Kushite Connection
Some scholars believe that "Canaan" is derived from an Aramaic word meaning “to be low.” William F. Albright suggested that "Canaan" originally meant “a merchant” because the people who lived there, called "Phoenicians" by the Greeks, were merchants.
The word kinah-hu, found in the Nuzi tablets, refers to the Canaanites and to the color red. This aligns with what is known about Abraham's Annu ancestors, who had a red skin tone. Some equate the word "Canaan" with the red purple dye used to make the garments of Tyrian rulers. However, it is more likely that kinah-hu relates to the Horites of Edom (red), to whom Abraham was related and from whom Moses descended. This is substantiated by Joshua 15:21,22 which reports that, "The southernmost towns of the tribe of Judah in the Negev toward the boundary of Edom were: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah..."
Kinah is related to the name Kenan. Genesis 5 lists Kenan as Cain's grandson by his un-named daughter. The name Kenan is a variant of Kain and Ghayin. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (2007) writes that ghayin lies behind the word kinah-hu at Nuzi. In the Canaano-Akkadian, "hu" is a pronominal suffix.
To speak of Canaan as the eponymous ancestor of the Canaanites makes less sense than to speak of Kenan as their eponymous ancestor. Since Kenan lived six generations before Noah, we may also consider that the Canaanite or Kenanite people existed before Noah's time as well as after the flood.
Related reading: Petra Reflects Horite Beliefs; The Peoples of Canaan; The Amorites: caste of royal scribes?; The Descendants of Noah; Moses and Abraham: Different Origins of Israel?; Jebusites: An Extant Biblical Tribe; The Edomites and the Color Red
Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. (Gen. 10:15-18 NRSV)
The Bible passages that speak about “the Canaanites” reflect authors who lived well after the time of the Patriarchs. In Genesis 10 the peoples who descend from Noah through his grandsons Sidon and Het (Heth) are said to be the original inhabitants. This is supported by evidence from many disciples, including linguistics, archaeology, anthropology and genetics.
In II Chronciles 8:7 and I Kings 9:20 the term “Canaanite” is used to distinguish the Israelites from the other clans living in the land. However, it is clear from Genesis 10 that the Israelites were related to these Canaanite clans. The so-called Canaanites were blood-related Afro-Arabian peoples whose ancestry can be traced back to the Nile Valley and ancient Kush.
The Genesis 10 passage lists related Kushite peoples (Edomites, Nubians, Nilotes, Egyptians, Sudra, Horites, Ainu) and attempts to establish Canaan as the eponymous ancestor of the Canaanite clans who spread, according to Genesis 10:19, from "Sidon to Gerar near Gaza, and all the way to to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim near Lesha." All of the Canaanite clans named in Genesis are also listed as the original inhabitants of the land in Exodus 3:8; Deuteronomy 7:1; Joshua 3:10; 24:11 or in extant texts of the period.
Melchizededk, the high priest of Jerusalem, was a Jebusite. He ministered to Abraham after the bloodshed between the kings. (Gen. 14) The Jebusites were a Kushite people.
The Hivites were likely a Horite clan (Genesis 14:6). It is not surprising then that Abraham the Horite was living among them and was buried among them at Machpelah.
The Arvadites (residents of Arvad) and Arkites (Gen. 10:15-18) were clans of royal scribes and related to the Amorites. During Abraham's time, the Amorites were centered in Engedi, a large oasis on the western shore of the Dead Sea bounded on the south by the Wadi Arnon.
The Amorites were the Am-Ar, meaning the people/tribe/caste of Ar. Their name appears in the titles of many of their rulers, including Ar-Shem, Arsames, Artix, and Araxes. The name Ar is found in the names of biblical places, such as Wadi Arnon. Ar-non (originally Ar-nxn) means the Ar of Onn, also called Heliopolis. Joseph married the daughter of the high priest of Heliopolis, a Horite shrine city.
The terms “Amorites” and "Canaanites" are used synonymously in Genesis 15:15-16 and Joshua 24:15, 18. The Amorites were already living in Palestine by 2300 B.C., 260 years before the time of Abraham (c. 2039-1964). The first biblical ruler of this name is Ar-pacshad, who lived four generations after Noah. He was a descendant of both Ham and Shem.
The Curse of Cannan
According to Genesis 9:20-26, Noah's curse fell upon the Canaanites. This transparent attempt to obfuscate the Kushite origins of Israel clearly entered the text long after the time of Moses the Horite. Noah's three sons were Shem, Ham and Japheth and their lines intermarried. Therefore, if Noah cursed his grandson Canaan, the curse fell upon all his descendants.
Noah's other grandson was Kush, the father of Nimrod. From ancient Kush Abraham's ancestors spread far and wide as rulers in the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion. Genesis is the most reliable record of Horite rule.
Some scholars believe that "Canaan" is derived from an Aramaic word meaning “to be low.” William F. Albright suggested that "Canaan" originally meant “a merchant” because the people who lived there, called "Phoenicians" by the Greeks, were merchants.
The word kinah-hu, found in the Nuzi tablets, refers to the Canaanites and to the color red. This aligns with what is known about Abraham's Annu ancestors, who had a red skin tone. Some equate the word "Canaan" with the red purple dye used to make the garments of Tyrian rulers. However, it is more likely that kinah-hu relates to the Horites of Edom (red), to whom Abraham was related and from whom Moses descended. This is substantiated by Joshua 15:21,22 which reports that, "The southernmost towns of the tribe of Judah in the Negev toward the boundary of Edom were: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah..."
Kinah is related to the name Kenan. Genesis 5 lists Kenan as Cain's grandson by his un-named daughter. The name Kenan is a variant of Kain and Ghayin. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (2007) writes that ghayin lies behind the word kinah-hu at Nuzi. In the Canaano-Akkadian, "hu" is a pronominal suffix.
To speak of Canaan as the eponymous ancestor of the Canaanites makes less sense than to speak of Kenan as their eponymous ancestor. Since Kenan lived six generations before Noah, we may also consider that the Canaanite or Kenanite people existed before Noah's time as well as after the flood.
Related reading: Petra Reflects Horite Beliefs; The Peoples of Canaan; The Amorites: caste of royal scribes?; The Descendants of Noah; Moses and Abraham: Different Origins of Israel?; Jebusites: An Extant Biblical Tribe; The Edomites and the Color Red
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2 comments:
Gee I wonder where you got the research that Nimrod married the daughter of Asshur.
All biblical lineages are Patrilineal there since there is no Patrilineal relationship between Abram and Nimrod would like to know where u got yours.
In the Midrash and the book of Jubilees there is no mention of intermarriage in fact it states that after Noah cursed Canaan, Ham uprted his famiy in protest.
Deut
Nimrod's marriage and the marriage and ascendancy of the Kushite and Horite rulers is found in Genesis. It has been identified using the tools of kinship analysis, a branch of cultural anthropology.
Ethnicity was traced through the mother. Social status and occupation were inherited from the father. To this day, Jewish identity depends on having a Jewish mother.
Some firstborn sons of rulers ascended to the thrones of their maternal grandfathers. Sarah was Abraham's half-sister wife and Keturah was Abraham's cousin wife. The cousin wives named their firstborn sons after their fathers, a pattern that makes it possible to trace their family lines. As Levi-Strauss noted in 1949, in a patrilineal system the mother and son do not belong to the same clan. In Genesis we have evidence that the firstborn of the cousin bride belonged to the bride's father's house, not to her husband's house. So Keturah's firstborn ascended to the throne of his maternal grandfather, after whom he was named. The firstborn of the sister-wife ascended to the throne of his biological father. So Issac ruled after Abraham while Joktan, Keturah's firstborn son, ruled after Joktan the Elder. He is the progenitor of the extant Joktanite clans of Arabia.
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