Etymology of the Word "Horite"

Alice C. Linsley



The term Horite is derived from the root HR which in the ancient world pertained to Horus, to gold, to elevated persons, and to the Sun, the Creator's emblem. The word is associated with the functions of the Horite priesthood who weighed and evaluated commodities at the rock (kar) shrines and the river shrines. In ancient Egyptian inscriptions Khar referred to a commercial unit of measurement. (See James Orr, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, page 1421.)

The association of the roots gr (trader) and hr (Horite) is evident in Southern India in place names such as Gurgaon Haryana and in Leviticus 27:25, which equates twenty gerahs to one shekel. The custom of the priests weighing and placing value on offerings and traded commodities explains the linguistic connection between the Gurjar tradesmen and smiths and the Horites.

The words khar, kur and gur are related. Kur and gur means man or person in Ainu. Recent DNA and anthropological studies reveal that the Ainu, whose point of origin appears to have been the Nile Valley, dispersed widely. In Akkadian gurguri means metalworkers or copper smiths. In Oromo gurguru means to sell (gurgurtaa = sale, gurguraa = seller). In Somali gur- means to collect something and gurgure means one who Collects and Keeps Collecting. The Gurgure clan of the Dir refers to traders who collect wares and resale them. Among the Dir guri means stick, rod or firearm.

In Abraham's time, the Horite ruler-priest caste and metal working traders ranged from the Nile to ancient Babylon and into Pakistan and Southern India. They were rulers who controlled the major water systems which they used for commerce. They were a sufficiently important people to attract the attention of Chedorlaomer, King of Elam who attacked the Horites of Mount Seir (Gen. 14). Jews call them Horim (חרי), and Arabs call them Houris. In the Qur'an the Houris are deified ancestors. Some Jews and some Arabs share this common ancestry.

Analysis of Genesis 36 indicates that the Horites and Edomites intermarried, as is evidenced by this diagram which shows two named Esau. Esau the Younger was Jacob's brother. Possibly they were half-brothers.

These are all Horite clans. Job of Uz was a Horite.

In the region of Edom in modern Jordan and in Dedan they lived in caves as is mentioned in the Genesis 14:6, 36:20 and Deuteronomy 2:12. Their descendants built Petra in Edom (modern Jordan).

The Persian and Urdu word Saudagar means trader. This contains the gr root in connection with Arabia. However, Horites dispersed across the ancient world and their religious beliefs are reflected among the Scythian Saka. The Saka of the Kurgan (rock fortress) culture traded in horses about 3000 BC.

According to Hindu sacred texts, the Saka ruled the ancient world for 7000 years. They were ethnically Kushites. Genesis calls these rulers of the archaic world "the mighty men of old"(cf Nehemiah 3:16). Some of these rulers dispersed far from their ancestral homes and established kingdoms in Syria, Southern Europe, Northern India and the Tarim Valley of China.

A linguistic connection to the Horites is retained in the name Horowitz (also spelled Hurwitz or Gurvich), a surname found among Jews. The word Horite takes many forms including Hur, Horonaim, Horoni, Horovich, Gurwitz, and Hori. Hori was the son of Lotan son of Seir whose pre-Edomite descendants were the "lords of the Horites in the land of Seir" (Gen. 36:20-29 and 1 Chronicles 1:38-42). Lot, Lotan, and Nim-Lot are Egyptian titles. Nimlot C was the High Priest of Amun at Thebes during the latter part of the reign of his father Osorkon II.

The Gir-gam tells the story of Abraham's Proto-Saharan ancestors Cain, Seth and Noah. All were trader-rulers who controlled the water ways of West Central Africa.

The Jews call their ancestors Horim because many are direct descendants of the Biblical Horites. "Horite" does not refer to the ethnicity of the people, but to their caste. The ancient world had a caste structure. This explains why Horites are found among many peoples across the Afro-Asiatic Dominion.



Related reading:  The Horite Ancestry of Jesus Christ; The Relationship of Somali Kushitic Languages and Somali Oromo; Petra Reflects Horite Beliefs; Nimrod and the Baptism of Jesus; Edom and the Horites; Horite Expectation and the Star of Bethlehem; "The Horites" by The Rev. John Campbell, M. A.; Ha'biru, Ha'piru, 'Abiru or Hebrew?