Keturah was Abraham's Second Wife

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Analysis of the marriage and ascendancy structure of Abraham's Hebrew caste reveals that the rulers had two wives. The first was a half-sister, as was Sarah to Abraham. The second wife was usually a patrilineal cousin, as was Keturah to Abraham. The wives maintained separate settlements on a north-south axis. These settlements marked the northern and southern boundaries of the ruler's territory. Sarah resided in Hebron, at the northern edge of Abraham's territory in Edom. Keturah, of the royal line of Sheba, resided at Beersheba to the south. Both Hebron and Beersheba were in the territory that the Greeks called Idumea, which is Edom, the land of red people.

This two-wife marriage pattern for high-ranking Hebrew rulers was common. Many Hebrew rulers had two wives. Among them were Lamech the Elder, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Esau the Elder, Amram, Jesse, Elkanah, Ashur, and Joash. 

In 1 Chronicles 4:5, we read that "Ashur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives, Helah and Naarah."

In 1 Chronicles 4:17-18, we read that Mered had two wives, and one was "Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah, whom Mered had married."

 
According to Genesis 25:1, Keturah is described as Abraham’s wife. The Hebrew word here is ishshah, which means woman or wife. However, according to I Chronicles 1:32, Keturah was a concubine (piylegesh or piyegesh meaning concubine). I Chronicles reflects a time long after the events described and is not consistent with the overwhelming evidence that Keturah was a wife. The confusion may be due to the Chronicles' post-exilic reading of Genesis 25:6: "To the sons of his concubines Abraham made grants during his lifetime, sending them away from his son Isaac..."  It was the custom to send away non-ascendant sons. Abraham, Moses, Jacob and Joseph are among the sent-away sons in the Hebrew Bible.

Abraham married Keturah at a late age. Analysis of the marriage and ascendency pattern of Abraham’s people makes it clear that Keturah was a wife. Typically, the first wife was the bride of the Hebrew ruler's youth and usually his half-sister, as was Sarah to Abraham. The second wife was usually a patrilineal cousin, as was Keturah to Abraham. (The sequence may shed light on the relationship of the faithful of the Old Covenant and the faithful of the New Covenant.)

Keturah resided at Beer-Sheba, which took its name from the great patriarch Sheba who controlled the well there. (Beer means well.) Keturah's firstborn son was probably Joktan, who she named after her father. This is an example of the cousin bride's naming prerogative, a distinctive feature of the Hebrew marriage and ascendancy pattern.

It may be that the Joktanite clans of Southern Arabia are among Joktan's descendants.  

Abraham and Keturah were both descendants of Sheba, the great grandson of Ham. They are also descendants of Shem, as the lines of Shem and Ham intermarried. Sheba was a contemporary of Eber, Shem's great grandson. Eber’s son Joktan married a daughter of Sheba. We know this because Joktan’s first-born son was named Sheba, after his cousin bride’s father. This naming prerogative of the cousin bride was already a custom in the time of Lamech (Gen. 4). Lamech’s daughter Naamah married her patrilineal cousin Methuselah and named their firstborn son Lamech after her father.  Lamech the Younger would ascend to the throne of his maternal grandfather.
 
 

Keturah likewise named her first-born son Joktan, after her father. Abraham had two first-born sons by his wives: Isaac and Joktan. He also had firstborn sons by his two concubines Masek and Hagar. By Masek he had Eliezar and by Hagar he had Ishmael. Contrary to common belief, Ishmael was not Abraham's firstborn. Keturah, though Abraham's second wife, would have produced a son before Sarah who was barren and did not bring forth Abraham's proper heir until very late in her life.

Keturah and Sarah were wives whose firstborn sons would rule over different territories. Isaac was Abraham's proper heir who ruled over Abraham's territory after Abraham's death. Abraham's concubines Hagar and Masek were of subordinate status to his wives. This was the case also with Jacob's concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah.


The Pattern of Keturah Parallels the Pattern of Naamah

According to Gen. 10:24-30, Keturah’s father had a brother named Peleg. The text makes much of the implications of Peleg’s name which means “division”, “because it was in his time that the earth was divided” (Gen. 10:25). There are different possible explanations for this division, but the most likely is that expressed in the pattern of genealogical information. The daughter of Sheba who married Joktan and named her firstborn son Sheba is the last bride named of Ham’s line. In this respect she parallels Naamah, the last bride named of Cain’s line.

Keturah’s father was Joktan and her paternal uncle was Peleg, who is said to be the “first” son. This means that Joktan, like Abraham, was not to receive the rights of primogeniture by which he would become chief after his father’s death. So Joktan, Abraham’s firstborn by Ketu-rah, would not be chief after his death. That would fall to Isaac, the son of Sarah. Nevertheless, the Joktanites would become a powerful presence in the Sinai and by their skills and generosity would enable the Israelites to come out of Egypt and survive in the wilderness.

Genesis 10: 26 tells us that Joktan had 13 sons. Almodad appears to be the first-born, as his name is listed first. If Joktan followed the pattern of his fathers, his two wives would have maintained separate households on a north-south axis. This may be the meaning of the sites mentioned in Gen. 10:30: Mesha and Sephar, although “sephar,’ which means “numbering,” might refer to the cosmology of Abraham’s people rather than to a specific location.

Some of the descendants of Joktan and Sheba hold an annual autumn feast at an oasis in the wilderness to celebrate the date harvest. This is the one time of the year that women and men may dance together. The date palm (“tamar”) is a symbol of prosperity and fertility. The ‘Id el-Tamar is a festival when the unmarried check out the pool of available matches. As is the custom from time immemorial, wife selection takes place at a well or an oasis.

The Significance of the Well

Wells and oases are where boy meets girl in the Bible. There are several incidents of wives being found at wells. Abraham’s servant found Rebecca at a well. Moses met Zipporah at a well. The wells were under the control of the local ruler, often Hebrew priests, such as Jethro. Probably Abraham met Keturah at the well of Sheba, one of their common ancestors.

The Hebrew priests among Abraham's people established their shrines near rivers and wells. They needed the water to sustain their flocks, and it was from these flocks and herds that they selected animals to sacrifice. The evidence of the Bible indicates that the rulers among Abraham's Hebrew people married the daughters of Hebrew priests (caste endogamy). Moses married his cousin Zipporah, the daughter of a Hebrew priest named Jethro. He was of the Hebrew clan of Midian. Midian was another son born to Abraham by Keturah. Abraham had nine sons. Here is a list of sons:

Sarah, daughter of Terah (Gen. 20:12)
Yitzak (Issac)

Hagar the Egyptian (Sarah’s handmaid)
Yishmael (Ishmael) was Egyptian, since ethnicity was traced through the mother and Hagar was Egyptian. Tracing ethnicity through the mother rather than the father is still required to establish Jewish identity today. This pattern is recognized in Egypt as well, which is why the Egyptian government has made it illegal for Egyptian men to marry Jewish women.

Ketu-rah, daughter of Joktan (Gen. 25)
Joktan – probably Keturah’s firstborn son
Midian

Yishbak (Name means "sent away")
Zimran
Medan
Shuah

Masek (Keturah’s handmaid, mentioned only in the Septuagint.)
Eliezar 

Related reading: Cousin Brides Among the Hebrew; Identifying the Status of the Two Wives; The Hebrew were a Caste; Abraham's Sons; Eliezar of Damascus; Abraham's Two Concubines; BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Reading the Bible in a Different Way

Abraham's Proper Heir

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The Hebrew inheritance laws are complex because high-ranking rulers such as Abraham had two first-born sons. Abraham's first-borns sons were Joktan (born of Keturah, Gen. 25) and Ishmael, but neither of these sons were Abraham's proper heir. 

Among the early Hebrew the proper heir was the first-born son of the first wife, usually a half-sister, as was Sarah to Abraham (Gen. 20:12). This explains the deep sorrow of Abraham and Sarah that she was unable to bear children. It also sheds light on the story of Hagar and Ishmael’s banishment. Having provided a proper heir for Abraham after years of barrenness, Sarah became angry when she thought that Abraham’s love for both Ishmael and Isaac might lead him to divide his territory between them, as Eber did for his sons Peleg and Joktan.

Genesis 10:25 reports: “To Eber were born two sons: the first was called Peleg, because it was in his time that the earth [eretz] was divided, and his brother was called Joktan.”

The word eretz has multiple meanings: earth, land, soil, and territory. Since this passage deals with royal sons, the most appropriate word choice in this context is “territory”. It the appears that Eber divided his territory into two, assigning separate regions to each royal son. Peleg ruled over one territory and Joktan over the other. Abraham was a descendant of Peleg, and his half-brother Haran likely was a descendant of Joktan.

The clan of Jacob (Israel) went into Egypt, but they were not the only Hebrew clan. Clearly, some Hebrew were never in Egypt. The story of the Exodus does not apply to them. It is also likely that some Hebrew people remained in Egypt as they had deep roots in the Nile Valley.

In the Hebrew social structure, provision was made for the sons of high-ranking rulers to receive an inheritance, and grants were made to the sons of concubines. The value of the grants likely depended on the dowery of high-status concubines and on the generosity of the patriarch. Grants included land, servants, herds, camels, linen, leather goods, and articles of gold, copper, silver, and bronze.

However, only one son could assume control over the territory of his father and that was the first-born son of the principal wife. In Abraham's case, that was Isaac. He received the bulk of Abraham's wealth and assumed control over Abraham's territory which extended between Hebron and Beersheba. Abraham’s other sons received gifts and were sent away from Isaac (Gen. 25:6). The gifts helped the sent-away sons to become established in their own territories. This practice preserved Abraham’s territory intact and led to the wide dispersion of the Hebrew ruler-priests even before Abraham's time.

The Hebrew practice of endogamy played a role in amassing and preserving wealth. Their distinctive marriage and ascendancy pattern allowed for a smooth transition of power among the ruler-priests. It also made it possible to keep territories intact and to preserve wealth. Wealth among the early Hebrew involved herds, servants, gold, copper, and water resources. Some Hebrew controlled commerce on the rivers and major water systems. This provided income from cargo taxes. A major trade route between Egypt and Mesopotamia ran through part of Abraham’s territory and this likely provided him with a source of income. He also held the water rights to wells he dug in Gerar (Gen. 26:15).

It is evident from the biblical data that Abraham's clan observed an ancient code or tradition that pertained to rights of inheritance. His authority was attached to the ruler-priest caste into which he was born and was reinforced by his observation of this code. The early Hebrew believed that the tradition received from their ancestors was not to be changed. They preserved their religion heritage, ethnic identity, and wealth by marrying exclusively within their caste (endogamy).

Related reading: Abraham the Hebrew; Royal Sons and Their Maternal Uncles; Sent-Away Sons; Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives; The Hebrew Hierarchy of Sons; Cousin Brides

Were Peleg and Joktan Twins?

Southern Arabia is the home of the Joktanites who Josephus called "Horites".

Alice C. Linsley

To Eber were born two sons: the first was called Peleg, because it was in his time that the earth [eretz] was divided, and his brother was called Joktan. (Genesis 10:25)

This diagram shows the division. The Hebrew word eretz and should be rendered "territory" instead of earth. It appears that Eber broke his territory into two, assigning separate territories to each royal son. The word eretz has multiple meanings: earth, land, soil, and territory. Since this passage deals with royal sons, the most appropriate word choice for the context is territory. Eber split his kingdom into two. Peleg ruled over one territory and Joktan over the other.

The Hebrew word pelegh means "watercourse" and likely relates to the fact that Eber controlled commerce on the major water ways of his empire. This was a common practice among archaic Afro-Asiatic kings. However, the Aramaic word pelagh and the Arabic word phalaj mean "division." This means that the information about Peleg and Joktan in Genesis 10:25 is verified by both groups: the Arameans and the Afro-Arabians.

Josephus noted a connection between Abraham's cousin wife Keturah and the Joktanites. Keturah resided at the Well of Sheba (Beer-Sheba) as she was of the royal house of Sheba. So it is apparent that the lines of Peleg and Joktan intermarried, as did the royal lines of Cain and Seth, Ham and Shem, and Abraham and Terah.

Why did the Genesis writer make note of this division? Does it speak of something usual, a development that is not the normal pattern?

The division is noted because it is an anomaly. It was the norm for the Horite Hebrew rulers to pass the rule to the first born sons of their first wives. This is why Isaac was Abraham's proper heir. He was the first born of Abraham's first wife, Sarah. Likewise, Esau was Isaac's proper heir and Esau ruled over Isaac's territory between Hebron and Beersheba (north-south axis) and Ein Gedi and Gerar (east-west axis).

That Eber divided the territory suggests various possibilities. 1) His holdings were too vast to be ruled from one location. 2) Peleg and Joktan may have been twins, born to the principal wife, Eber's queen. Peleg comes to represent the populations known as Arameans, and Joktan represents the Afro-Arabians. Though separate, the two populations share a genetic history and common religious beliefs and practices.

This division of peoples of the same ancestry and social patterns is expressed in Genesis 25:22-23, where we are told that Rebekah conceived twins.

"the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD, and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."

In the case of Rebekah's twin boys we are told which is the older: Esau. Esau was Isaac's proper heir and Jacob attempted to steal the royal birthright. However, Jacob became the sent-away son and Esau remained in Edom. Esau never served Jacob, except to greet Jacob upon his return to Edom in a spirit of forgiveness.

The Bible provides very little information about Peleg who is claimed to be Eber's first born. The Bible and extra-biblical sources offer much more information about Joktan. These Horite Hebrew rulers came to rule over separate territories, represented by the Arameans and the Arabians. The Aramean territory was called "Eber-Nahar" and was comprised of Syria, Phoenicia, and Cyprus. The Joktanite clans resided in Southern Arabia. Another way to look at this division is to speak of "Afro-Asians" and "Afro-Arabians" since all have ancestral and linguistic roots in Africa.

Joktan is a royal name. The name  has several variants, including Yaqtan, Jochin, and Jokshan. In Genesis 25 we read that Keturah bore Abraham Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The earliest Arabic texts are called "Dedanite." King Solomon named one of the twin entrance pillars of the temple Jochin after his maternal great great grandfather. The other pillar was named Boaz, after Solomon's paternal great great grandfather.

It is likely, given how late in life Sarah gave birth to Isaac, that Joktan was Abraham's first born son. He was probably born before Ishmael. However, he was not Abraham's proper heir. Joktan would have belonged to the household of his maternal grandfather who he served. Joktan, the son of Abraham and Keturah, was named for Keturah's father, Joktan the Elder. This is another example of the Horite Hebrew pattern whereby the cousin bride named her first born after her father.

Today the population of Southern Arabia is Muslim, with the exception of Yemenite Jews. Genetic studies indicate that the inhabitants are mainly in Y-DNA groups J1 and T1. These have a wide dispersion: Anatolia, Yemen, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Madagascar, the Fertile Crescent, the Caucasus, and even among a small number of Mongolians. Where J1 and T1 are found in high frequency, mtDNA haplogroups HV, N1, and U3 are also present. ZS226 is a subclade of J1. ZS227 includes the Kohanim (priest) haplotype found among both Jews and Arabs.

Related reading: Peleg: Time of Division; Abraham's Complaint; Isaac's Wealth; Abraham's Sons

The Years of Waiting for the Promised Heir

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. (Genesis 16:1-4)


Alice C. Linsley

Abraham is a pivotal figure of history. He is a sent-away son who established control over a territory that extended between Kiriath-Arba (Hebron) and Beersheba. His territory was entirely in the region of ancient Edom (Idumea) and he was kin to the Horite rulers of Edom listed in Genesis 36.

Abraham's first wife was Sarah, his half-sister. Sarah resided in Hebron. His second wife was Keturah, one of his patrilineal cousins. Keturah resided in Beersheba. Both Hebron and Beersheba were in the land of Edom, called "Idumea" by the Greeks. Idumea means "land of red people." Abraham's territory extended between the settlements of his two wives and was entirely in Edom.

It was the norm for Habiru rulers to have two wives. They often had two concubines also. Abraham's concubines were Hagar, the mother is Ishmael, and Masek, the mother of Eliezer. Neither of these sons was the "proper heir" to Abraham according to the Habiru marriage and ascendancy pattern. Eliezer was Abraham's heir according to Horite law, only until Issac was born. The proper heir for the Horite Habiru rulers was always the first born son of the half-sister wife.

According to Genesis 16, Sarah was barren and had given up hope of having a child. This is after she and Abraham had been living in Canaan for 10 years. During those years Abraham had already taken his second wife, Keturah. She born Joktan (Yaqtan), Abraham's first born son. However, Joktan was not Abraham's proper heir. As the son of the cousin bride, Joktan was named after his maternal grandfather in whose kingdom he would serve as a high ranking official. According to Genesis 25, Keturah bore Abraham six sons: Joktan, Yisbak, Midian, Zimran, Medan, and Shuah. The name Yishbak means “sent away.”

Abraham had four first born sons: Joktan, Ishmael (Yishmael), Eliezer, and Isaac (Yitzak), probably born in that order. Joktan became the head of the Joktanite tribes of Arabia. Yismael became the father of the Sinai Bedouins. His Paran settlement was on the way to Egypt as indicated by these words: This is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth, then Kadar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and settlements… (Gen. 25:12-16).

No sons are named for Eliezer. He may have been a eunuch, not necessarily a castrated man, but perhaps one who is impotent, celibate, or not inclined to marry and procreate for legal reasons.

Yitzak fathered Jacob (Yacob/Yisrael), and Esau the Elder. Esau and Jacob were contemporaries of Seir the Horite, named in Genesis 36. The initial Y in these names indicates divine appointment by being overshadowed by the Sun. It is the symbol of the long horns of the bull and represents a solar cradle.

Clans related to Abraham's wife Keturah and her father Joktan the Edler

The first born sons ruled among the related clans of Horite Habiru. Abraham’s people. However, the first born sons of wives ranked above the first born sons of concubines. Joktan ranked over Eliezar, and Issac ranked over Ishmael. Joktan was a governor in the southern settlements of his maternal grandfather (Dedan, Ramaah and Sheba) and Isaac ruled the northern settlements of his father Abraham (Hebron, Beersheba, Gerar and Engedi).

Sarah's barren state would have caused her even greater misery after Abraham took his second wife and began to bear him sons. Here we find echoes of the Rachel-Leah conflict and the Hannah-Penninah conflict. In these narratives, the scorned or barren wife is vindicated by divine action on her behalf. Her long years of waiting were turned from sorrow to joy.

See the pattern? We await the return of the Promised Son, the Heir to the eternal kingdom. He has overcome death by death. He will turn our sorrow to joy and wipe away every tear.

Related reading: Who Was Abraham?; Abraham's Sons; Abraham's Complaint; The Urheimat of the Canaanite Y; Abraham's First Born Son; Edom and the Horites; The Barren and Grieving Rejoice

No, you can't take another wife!

Alice C. Linsley


Does the two-wife pattern found among Abraham's people justify the practice of polygamy? This is a concern expressed fairly regularly about the marriage pattern of the Horites. The short answer is no.

Polygamy refers to multiple spouses and is a general term. The anthropological term for multiple wives is "polygyny" and more accurately describes the Horite marriage practice.

The pattern of two wives pertained only to the Horites, a royal caste whose kings are listed in Genesis 4, 5, 10 and 11. Unless you are a Horite man, you cannot justify having multiple wives.

Today when a man takes a second wife, it is usually motivated by desire for higher social status. Originally, only rulers had two wives. Ascendancy to the throne and undisputed succession led to different rules for kings. Archaeological evidence reveals, however, that the commoner had only one wife. The average neolithic residence was constructed for a nuclear family, not with separate compartments for different wives.

The royal couple William and Kate are going to have a baby very soon. There is much ado about the birth of this royal baby. The birth of children to royal houses is not like the birth of children to common folk. It never has been.

In Abraham's time, the two wives lived in separate settlements on a north-south axis. Sarah resided in Hebron and Keturah lived in the region of Beersheba to the south. The wives' settlements marked the northern and southern boundaries of the ruler's territory. The heir could not ascend to the throne of his father until he had taken a second wife. The first wife was the bride of the man's youth, but the second wife was taken much later. This explains Abraham's urgency, as he approached his death, to fetch a second wife for Isaac (Gen. 24). Rebecca was Isaac's patrilineal cousin wife. This suggests that Isaac had a first wife, a half-sister, living in Beersheba.

Two wives insured that there was a proper heir (by the sister wife) and a strong political connection between the ruler's line and that of his second wife, a patrilineal cousin. Patrilineage means that the ruler and his cousin wife are descended from a common male ancestor through male forebears. Abraham and Keturah are both descendants of the great ruler Arpachshad who is named in Genesis 10:22 and Genesis 11:10. Keturah's father was Joktan (Yaqtan) of the line of Joktan who fathered Sheba (Gen. 10:27). Abraham's father was Terah of the line of Peleg (Gen. 11:16). Joktan and Peleg were brothers, the sons of Eber (Gen. 10:25).

In the Horite marriage and ascendancy pattern, the ruler's heir was the firstborn son of his half-sister wife. This means that Isaac was Abraham's proper heir. Abraham's yearning to have a proper heir is expressed in his complaint to God: "O my Lord, what would you give me seeing that I am going to die accursed [Hebrew ariri], and the one to inherit my household is Dam-Mesek [son of Mesek]" (Gen. 15:2).

The Horite marriage and ascendancy pattern points to Jesus. In providing a son, according to the divine promise, God overthrows the curse. Behold the pattern! Heirs to the throne are listed in the oldest extant king lists, reflecting the Proto-Saharan kingdom builders who united the Upper and Lower Nile at the dawn of the Bronze Age. It was from their lines that the "Seed" of God was expected to be born (Gen. 3:15). They were awaiting a righteous king who would lead the people to immortality.

The son of the patrilineal cousin ruled in the territory of his maternal grandfather. This means that Abraham's firstborn son Joktan ruled as a sort of prime minister in the territory of his maternal grandfather, after whom he was named.

For a long time Abraham was not able to have a proper heir because Sarah was barren. He already had sons by his cousin wife, but Keturah's first born son was not Abraham's proper heir. Joktan/Yaqtan belonged to the house of Keturah's father, after whom he was named.

The cousin wives named their firstborn sons after their fathers, a pattern that makes it possible to trace their lines from Genesis to Jesus Christ. 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 first born son of the cousin bride belonged to the bride's father's house, not to her husband's house.


Related reading: The Horite Ancestry of Jesus Christ; Who Were the Horites?; Sister Wives and Cousin Wives; The Genesis King Lists; Abraham's First Born Son; Cousin Brides and Their Ruler Sons; Kushite Kings and the Kingdom of God; Royal Babies; "Christian" Polygamy (Say What?)

The Gold of Ophir

Alice C. Linsley


The Bible names two sites from which massive amounts of gold were exported: Havilah and Ophir. Havilah was in Africa (Gen. 2:11) and Ophir was in southwest Arabia, probably Yemen (Biblical Sheba and Ramah). It appears that both mining regions were under Horite control. The peoples of the east African seaboard and Yemen have been linked by archaeologists.

In 2007, archaeologists from the Oriental Institute discovered a 4000 year gold-processing center along the middle Nile in the Sudan. The site is called Hosh el-Guruf and is located about 225 miles from Khartoum. More than 55 grinding stones made of granite-like gneiss were found at the site. The ore was ground to recover the gold and the water was used to separate the flakes from the particle residue. Similar grinding stones have been found in Egypt and at Timnah in southern Israel.The oldest mines at Timnah are at least 6,000 years old and the patron of the miners was Hathor-Meri, the mother of Horus. Her totem was a cow and she is shown at Nile shrines holding her offspring in a manger.

In 1939, the American mining engineer Karl Twitchell led an exploration in southern Arabia where he discovered a mining site of several square miles. Arabs call the place Mahd adh Dhahab, "Cradle of Gold." Between 1934 and 1954, a British company extracted substantial amounts of gold from that site and also discovered fifty-five other ancient mines in the area.

In 1946 an inscribed pottery shard was found at Tell Qasile (Tel Aviv) dating to the eight century BC. The Paleo-Hebrew inscription says, "gold of Ophir for Beth-Horon [...] 30 shekels." This, and other such finds, confirm that gold was exported from Ophir and that it was connected to Horus, the Golden One.


The Horites and Gold

Gold was associated with the sun, the Creator's emblem and with Horus to whom the Horites were devoted.This meant that gold served as a symbol of Horite belief in Ra and Horus.

Horus the Golden

Every three years Solomon received tribute of gold, silver, sandalwood, precious stones, ivory, apes and baboons (some say peacocks) from Ophir. Solomon's navy traveled to Ophir, taking "four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there" (1 Kin. 9:26-28; 22:48; 2 Chr. 8:17-18; 9:10). This gold probably came from the Dedanite and Joktanite tribes of southern Arabia.

I Kings 10:18,19 tells of a great ivory throne with two lions standing beside the arm rests. Golden lions were a common motif found on royal thrones. Even today, the throne of the Coptic Pope retains this symbolism. Often the back of the ancient thrones was an ivory and gold inlay with an image of Horus the Golden.


Ophir of the Jokanites

Ophir is a variant of O-pir. The O-piru are known in biblical and extra-biblical texts as Ha-piru and Ha-biru. The English for Habiru is Hebrew. O-piru and Ha-biru are Horites. Even today Jews refer to their distinguished ancestors as Horim and the Joktanites refer to their distinguished ancestors as Houris.

The homeland of the Dedanites extended the length of the Red Sea to the northern boundary of Ophir. The word Dedan means red and is a cognate to the Egyptian didi (red fruit) and the Yoruba diden (red). The Dedanites probably had a reddish skin tone like their Horite kinsmen the Edomites (Gen. 36).

The homeland of the Joktanites includes Yemen and southern Arabia. Abraham's firstborn son was named Joktan (Yaqtan) after his maternal grandfather, Joktan the Elder.

Horites were dispersed throughout all of Arabia and served as priests at water shrines and shrine cities such as Hazor, Jerusalem and Petra. The Horites were devotees of Horus, after whom they take their name.


Horite Beliefs

The Horites believed that the "Seed" of God would be born of their blood because of a promise the Creator made to their Edenic forefathers (Gen. 3:15). They expected a woman of their Horite caste to be overshadowed by the Sun, the Creator's emblem, and to thereby conceive. This is why the wived of Horite ruler-priests word a solar image on their foreheads. The mark is called a tikla. From this Hindu women developed the custom of the bindi. Here we glimpse the solar imagery of the Proto-Gospel.

The oldest evidence of this is found on the mummy of Amunet, devotee of Hathor-Meri (2160-1994 BC). Hathor-Meri was the virgin mother of Horus. As Abraham and Sarah were Horites, it is likely that the mark on Sarah's forehead in the recent Bible mini-series was like that of Amunet. This mark on Sarah, their Horite beliefs, and the miraculous events surrounding Isaac's birth, suggest that Abraham may have believed Isaac to be the promised Seed.

Christians believed that the Edenic Promise has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Seed/Son of God. He alone fulfills the pattern of Horus, to whom the Horites were devoted.  Jesus' true identity was recognized, not in Jerusalem, but rather in Tyre (Matt. 15:21-28; Mark 7: 24). In Tyre, Jesus "could not pass unrecognized" because the Horus myth was still remembered there.

The rulers of Tyre were kinsmen of David and Solomon. King Hiram and David had a common Horite ancestry, as analysis of the Genesis king lists indicates. This Horite lineage can be traced back to Eden. Hiram (Huram /Horam) sent skilled artisans to help David build a palace in Jerusalem. Hiram is a variation of the names Hur or Hor, and refers to Horus.

According to Midrashic tradition, Hur was Moses’ brother-in-law. Hur’s grandson was one of the builders of the Tabernacle. I Chronicles 4:4 lists Hur as the "father of Bethlehem", David's city. It was a Horite shrine long before it was taken by the Horite warrior Caleb. I Chronicles 2:51 gives Caleb's son Salma as the founder of Bethlehem. One of Caleb's grandsons was named Korah (I Chron. 2:43), which refers to the Horite priesthood. Moses' half-brother was Korah. The name means "shaved one" as Horite priests shaved their bodies before their time of service.

The Horites were devotees of Horus and his mother Hathor-Meri who conceived miraculously by the overshadowing of the Sun. Horus is the archetype by which Abraham's descendants would recognize Jesus as the promised Seed of the Woman (Gen. 3:15). His authentication was His rising from the dead on the third day, in accordance with Horite expectation. Abraham's ancestors believed in the resurrection of the body and awaited a deified king who would rise from the grave and deliver his people from death.



Related reading: Kushite Gold; The Afro-Arabian Dedanites; Afro-Asiatic Metal Workers; Who Were the Horites?; The Shock of Mohammad Atta's Afterlife

The God of Shem is the God of Ham

Alice C. Linsley

Shem is an honorific title, not a name. Jews call God HaShem (השם) which means "the Name"as in Leviticus 24:11. Some interpret this to mean the God of Shem, implying that the God of Shem is a different God than the God of his brother Ham. Presumably, this assumption is based on this verse: "He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem." (Gen. 9:26)

The lines of Ham and Shem intermarried. Further evidence is found with the names Lud and Ludim (Ludites). In Genesis 10, Lud is named as a son of Shem and in Genesis 10:13, the Ludim are said to be of Ham.

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. The Canaanites were blood-related Afro-Arabian peoples whose ancestry can be traced back to the Nile Valley and to ancient Kush. Israelites married Canaanites. Rahab’s marriage to Salmon, of the tribe of Judah, is but one example.  Analysis of the marriage and ascendancy pattern of Abraham's Horite caste makes it clear that the descendants of Ham intermarried with the descendants of Shem, and Jesus Christ is a descendant of both lines.

As far as the evidence goes, Shem and Ham had the same God and their ruler-priest lines intermarried, as shown in the diagram.  The daughter of Sheba the Elder married Joktan (Yaqtan) and named their first born son Sheba after her father, according to the cousin bride's naming prerogative.

The association of Shem, the Father of Eber, with the Hebrews does not mean that Ha-Shem is the God of the Hebrew people alone. This view rests on an flawed etymological assumption.  Shem is considered “the father" of all the Hebrew people, assuming that the word Hebrew comes from Eber. However, it is more likely that it comes from the word Habiru (Hapiru). The Horite ruler-priests were Habiru.  HBR is the root of the words Habiru and Hebrew.

Eber was the father of two firstborn sons by his two wives. His sons were Joktan (Yaqtan) and Peleg. Joktan was the son of his cousin wife and the heir to the throne of Eber's father-in-law in Southern Arabia. Joktan was the founder of the Joktanite clans of Arabia. Abraham's firstborn son was named Joktan after this famous ancestor.

Peleg, in whose time the "earth" was divided, was the heir to Eber's throne in Northern Arabia and probably ruled part of Mesopotamia. He was the son of Eber's half-sister wife. This aligns with the marriage and ascendancy structure of Abraham's Kushite ancestors.

Eber's sons became the founding patriarchs of two linguistically distinct Afro-Asiatic groups: the Afro-Arabians and the Afro-Asians. Apparently, the Kushites became divided linguistically after the time of Eber's death around 2303 B.C.

Other honorific titles

Shem is one of many honorific titles found in the Genesis King Lists.  Others include Cain, Enoch, and Lamech.

The words king and Khan are related to the word Kain (Cain). The related word for queen is Kandake (rendered "Candace" in English Bibles). The Bible tells us many details about Cain, all of them pointing to his rank as a ruler. When he was born his mother declared kan-itti. E.A. Speiser noted that Qany(ty) or Qan itti shows close affinity to the Akkadian itti, as in itti šarrim, which means "with the king". Akkadian was the language of the empire during Nimrod's time (BC 2290-2215). Genesis 10 tells us that Nimrod was a Kushite, so it is not surprising to find that Akkadian shares many words with Nilotic languages. Among the Oromo of Ethiopia and Somalia, itti is attached to names. Examples include Kaartuumitti, Finfinneetti and Dimashqitti. That itti is associated with Nilotic rulers is evident in the name Nefertitti.

Enoch is also a royal title. It is related to the word Anochi which means "heir to the throne" or "one who ascends."

Lamech is a variant of the Egyptian la-melech, which has been found on hundreds of seals. La-melech means "of the King." The la-melech seal typically had the image of a scarab or a sun disc, the emblem of the Creator. The sun disc was used as a royal seal by the Kings of Judah who were direct descendants of Cain and Seth whose lines intermarried.

Related reading: Made in the Image of the King; Who was Eber?; Some Jews and Some Arabs Have Common Horite Ancestry; YEC Dogma is NOT Biblical

The Shock of Muhammad Atta's Afterlife

Alice C. Linsley

Who are the houris mentioned in the Qur'an?

Many Muslims believe they are buxom maidens to be enjoyed by martyrs in the afterlife. In a note to his fellow hijackers, September 11 ringleader Muhammad Atta reminded them of their impending "marriage in Paradise" to the 72 virgins mentioned in the Quran. Islamic extremists refer to suicide bombing as a "wedding to the black-eyed in eternal Paradise."

The German scholar Christoph Luxenberg says the "houris" with "swelling breasts" refers instead to "white raisins" and "juicy fruits" and are symbolic of the restoration of the lushness of Paradise. Luxenberg's research was featured in a Newsweek article titled "Challenging the Quran" on July 28, 2003.

However, Luxenberg mistakenly argues that Arabic was not a written language until 150 years after Muhammad's death. In reality, Arabic is older than Hebrew and both languages have common roots in the Proto-Afro-Arabian languages. Many of those ancient roots are found in Aramaic and ancient Akkadian.

The Danish linguist Holger Pedersen (1867-1953) explained in The Discovery of Language that “Hebrew, Aramaic and Accadian languages had all undergone significant linguistic degeneration. Only Old Arabic, due to its relative isolation in the Arabian peninsula, remained closer to the old stratum of the ‘Semitic’ form of the language.” Old Arabic is sometimes called "Dedanite" because that is where the largest concentration of old Arabic scripts has been found. Further, the oldest mosques were aligned to a site in Dedan.

Dedan the Elder was a grandson of Kush by his son Raamah (Gen. 10:7).  Dedan the Younger was the son of Joktan, Abraham's first-born son (Gen. 25:3).

Dr. Maher Hathout argues that Luxenberg is wrong about the Houris being raisins and fruits. Hathout explains, "It is his [Luxenberg's] prerogative but this does not provide anything supernatural to look forward to the life of eternity. It seems that what he was referring to as raisins is 'kawaib.' Dr. Hathout argues that the Arabic meaning of "beings with swollen breasts" refers to "beings of distinction."

Dr. Hathout is Correct

The Houris are Horite beings of distinction or deified ruler-priests and the number 72 further establishes the connection to the Horites. The ancient ruler-priests were aware of the precession of the equinoxes. The number 72 represents the number of years it takes for the constellations to move one degree due to precession. The Great Pyramid and Angkor Wat are nearly 72° apart, along the circle's circumference (diagram below).  It has been noted also that Angkor Wat is located 72° of longitude east of the Pyramids of Giza. The name Angkor correlates with the ancient Egyptian Anhk-Hor, meaning "Long live Horus."

Point A represents the Angkor Wat complex of 72 shrines and G represents the Great Pyramid of Egypt.
Point I represents Har-Appa in the Indus valley. Har-Appa means "Horus is Father." 
Point M is the pyramid at Machupicchu with 72 steps. Point E is Easter Island.
Credit: Jim Alison

Apparently the Horites believed that each year of the precession is represented by a deified ruler and the Heavenly Council is comprised of these 72 rulers. To enter heaven is to come before this Council.

The Egyptians marked time by 36 ten-day increments (half of 72) and each increment was ruled by a different righteous ruler or rising star. This is based on the number of "decan" stars which were seen to rise during summer nights in Ancient Egypt. A "decan" star was a star that rose just before sunrise at the beginning of a 10-day "decade" in Ancient Egypt. The Egyptian year was marked by 36 decan stars or 36 ten-day periods. During summer nights, 12 decan stars rose; one for each hour. This is the apparent basis for the appointment of the 12 Apostles as rulers. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matt.19:28)

The coincidence of celestial events and deified rulers is evident in Job 38:4-7, where God asks Job the Horite:

 "Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
    Tell me, if you understand.
⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
    Who stretched a measuring line across it?
⁶ On what were its footings set,
    or who laid its cornerstone —
⁷ while the morning stars sang together
    and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"

This appears to be a reference to January 2, 2900 BC when Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn visibly aligned within a few degrees of one another and appeared as morning "stars." This event is described from the point of reference of a surveyor at the Great Pyramid, and the Pyramid's structure serves as a memorial to this celestial event. As Bernard I. Pietsch had written, "Its shape, dimensions, and internal design communicate very specific information about where it is located on the earth and in the cosmos as well in one single moment."

In ancient Egypt, the superior planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were associated with Horus. Mars was named "Horus of the Horizon" or "Horus the Red." Jupiter was called "Horus Who Illuminates the Two Lands" and Saturn was named "Horus, Bull of the Sky." These three planets were always depicted with the falcon-head of Horus (Krupp 1979).

Messianic texts speaks of the Son of God, a title given to Horus, the archetype of Jesus the Messiah. Jesus is called the Messiah eleven times in the Qur'an. It is not a coincidence that Psalm 72 is a Messianic text.

Psalm 72

1 Endow the king with your justice, O God,
the royal son with your righteousness.
2 He will judge your people in righteousness,
your afflicted ones with justice.
3 The mountains will bring prosperity to the people,
the hills the fruit of righteousness.
4 He will defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
he will crush the oppressor.

5 He will endure as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
6 He will be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the earth.
7 In his days the righteous will flourish;
prosperity will abound till the moon is no more.

8 He will rule from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 The desert tribes will bow before him
and his enemies will lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
will bring tribute to him;
the kings of Sheba and Seba
will present him gifts.
11 All kings will bow down to him
and all nations will serve him.

12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight.

15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given him.
May people ever pray for him
and bless him all day long.
16 Let grain abound throughout the land;
on the tops of the hills may it sway.
Let its fruit flourish like Lebanon;
let it thrive like the grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever;
may it continue as long as the sun.

All nations will be blessed through him,
and they will call him blessed.



The Common Horite Ancestry of Some Jews and Arabs

As many Arab Muslims and Jews have a common Horite ancestry, it seems more likely that the houris are their Horite ancestors who have entered into Paradise or the "lap of the Houris." This appears to be equivalent to the Bosom of Abraham, the Horite. This is suggested by the fact that Abraham's bosom in the Greek text is kolpos, which means lap. So righteous Arabs and righteous Jews will be in the same lap in the afterlife where they will await judgment.

Jews call their ancestors "horim" and the Arab Kohanan recognize Aram, Shem and Noah as their ancestors. The Horim of Jews and Arabs are traced differently in the Torah and the Qur'an, but there are clear connections showing their common Horite ancestors.  Consider ʿĀd, who according to Arab tradition was the son of Uz. Uz the Elder is mentioned in Genesis 10:23. His grandson was Uz, the son of Dishan (I Chron. 1:42). Dishan was a son of Seir the Horite and the brother-in-law of Esau the Younger. Uz the Younger was Seir's grandson.

Abraham's ruler-priest caste is traced back to ancient Kush where the oldest known shrine to Horus is located at Nehken. The Horites spread their devotion to Horus, Re and Hathor across the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion. Horus was the archetype by which Abraham’s descendants would recognize Jesus as the Messiah and the fulfillment of the Edenic promise (Gen. 3:15). Jesus was born of Mary, a woman of the Horite bloodline. She brought forth the Seed who would crush the serpent's head and restore the faithful to Paradise, just as God promised to Abraham's ancestors in Eden.

Abraham the Horite had 9 sons. The firstborn sons ruled among Abraham’s people. However the first-born sons of wives were ranked above the firstborn sons of concubines. This means that Joktan (Qahtan in Arabic) ranked over Eliezar, and Yitzak ranked over Yishmael. Joktan ruled over the southern settlements of his maternal grandfather (Dedan, Ramaah and Beersheba) and Yitzak ruled the northern settlements of his father Abraham (Hebron, Bethel and Shechem). To this day the Joktanite tribes live in southern Arabia.

The Joktanite tribes of Southern Arabia are descendants of Abraham by Keturah

Genesis 10: 26 tells us that Joktan had 13 sons. Almodad appears to be the first-born, as his name is listed first. If Joktan followed the pattern of his fathers, his two wives would have maintained separate households on a north-south axis. The sons of his concubines would have been sent away to the east and to the west. This may be the meaning of Gen. 10:30 which describes the Joktanite territory as extending "from Mesha [Mecca?] all the way to Sephar in the eastern mountains [Mount Zafari on the Indian Ocean?]."

Some of the descendants of Joktan and Sheba hold an annual autumn feast at an oasis in the wilderness to celebrate the date harvest. This is the one time of the year that women and men may dance together. The date palm (“tamar”) is a symbol of prosperity and fertility. The ‘Id el-Tamar is a festival when the unmarried check out the pool of available matches. As is the custom from time immemorial, wife selection takes place at a well or an oasis. Abraham met Keturah at the well of Sheba (Beersheba). Moses met Zipporah at the well of her father, the priest of Midian. Midian was another of Abraham's sons, born to Abraham by his second wife Keturah. Jacob met Rebekah at a well in Padan-Aram.

Some of Abraham's descendants are Jews and some are Arabs. Both Arabs and Jews have Horite ancestors because the Horite clans intermarried. Mt-DNA studies confirm that the Horite ancestors of the priests among Abraham's people did marry exclusively within the priestly lines. This is why the Kohan genetic marker is found among Arabs and Jews. Both Arabs and Jews are descendants of Ham and Shem whose lines exclusively intermarried, as did the lines of Cain and Seth before them.  The distinctive Kohan DNA or "priest marker" is identifiable because Horite priests married daughters of priests who maintained flocks and herds at wells or river shrines. They selected animals for sacrifice from these flocks and herds. Joachim, the Virgin Mary's father, was a shepherd priest.

Related reading:  Fruit, Not Females Promised in Islam Afterlife; Why Does Genesis Speak of Gods?; Abraham's Horite Mother; Some Jews and Arabs have Common Horite Ancestry; What Language Did Abraham Speak?; Busting Myths Concerning Abraham, Geographic Geometry by Jim Alison

Evidence that Yaqtan was Abraham's Firstborn Son

Alice C. Linsley


Abraham had at least eight sons, probably nine, since the Septuagint states that Eliezar was Abraham's son by a concubine named Masek. His first-born son was probably born of his cousin wife Keturah, and his name was Joktan/Jachin or Yaqtan. The initial Y, a solar symbol, designates him as a divinely appointed ruler. Among the early Hebrew, divine appointment was indicated by "overshadowing" of the sun. Four of Abraham's sons had names beginning with the letter Y:  Yitzak (Isaac), Yishmael (Ishmael), Yaqtan, and Yishbak. 

Jews insist that Isaac was Abraham's first-born son, while Muslims insist that Ishmael was Abraham's first-born son. However, the evidence of the canonical Scriptures indicates that Yaqtan was the first in the birth order. He was likely born before Sarah conceived Isaac. His birth to Abraham's second wife, may have prompted Sarah's attempt to gain a son by Hagar as a surrogate.

Hagar and Masek are to Abraham's household what the concubines Zilpah and Bilhah are to Jacob's household. If the biblical pattern is to be trusted, we may reasonably suspect that Hagar and Masek were the servants of Sarah and Keturah, just as Zilpah and Bilhah were the servants of Leah and Rachel (Gen. 30). That Masek was Keturah's servant is supported by the fact that the name Masek is still found among the south Arabian Mahra who dwell in Yemen, Oman, and Southern Arabia.

The name Yaqtan/Joktan indicates a connection to the Jokanite clans of Southern Arabia. 

It appears that Abraham's son Yaqtan became an official in his maternal grandfather's territory, after whom he was named. Yaqtan the Elder was Keturah's father, a chief of high standing in the royal house of Sheba. Isaac ruled Abraham's territory between Hebron (Sarah's settlement) and Beersheba (Keturah's settlement), and Abraham's son Yaqtan resided in the territory of his maternal grandfather, probably in the territory of Sheba. Keturah resided at the Well of Sheba (Beersheba), and that is where Abraham's spent his last years.

The rulers of the Hebrew clans living in Sheba, Raamah, and Hazarmaveth/Hadhramaut (Talmud - "Chatzarmavet") formed alliances by the marriages of their sons and daughters. According to Rabbinic tradition, Joktan/Yaqtan was a "humble and upstanding citizen."

This is consistent with the practice of endogamy of the early Hebrew rulers. The lines of Cain and Seth intermarried, and the lines of Ham and Shem intermarried. The diagram shows the pattern of intermarriage. 

Related reading: Talmud on Yaqtan and the Hadhramaut; Abraham's Complaint; 7000 BC Horse Burial Linked to Sheba; Biblical Sheba and East African Settlements Linked; The Afro-Arabian Dedanites

Hebrew Sent-Away Sons

God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. (Gen. 22:17)

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Many Hebrew high rulers had two wives. Among them were Lamech, Cain, Terah, Abraham, Jacob, Amram, Moses, Caleb, Gilead, Jesse, and Joash. 1 Chronicles 4:5 states that "Ashur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives, Helah and Naarah."1 Chronicles 4:17-18, notes that Mered had two wives, and one was "Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah, whom Mered had married."

The ruler's proper heir was the firstborn son of his first wife. That son ruled over his father's territory after his father's death. Other sons were sent away from the heir, as is described in Genesis 25. Before he died, Abraham gave all he had to Isaac, and to his other sons he gave gifts and sent them away from Isaac (Gen. 25:5-6).

The Hebrew custom of sending away non-ascendant sons is evidence in biblical narratives but is often obfuscated by midrash.

Some sent-away sons include Cain, Nimrod, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joseph, and Gilead's son Jephthah. The sons of Gilead’s principal wife drove Jephthah away. "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family," they said, "because you are the son of another woman." (Jdg. 11:2)

Other sent-away sons include Ishmael, Joktan and Yishbak, all sons of Abraham. The name Yishbak means “sent away.” 

Some of Abraham’s descendants by his son Joktan settled in Southern Arabia and are known as the Joktanite tribes or clans.

The Backstory vs Midrash

Most sent-away sons were the firstborn sons of the Hebrew ruler's second wife, usually a cousin. Keturah was Abraham's cousin wife, and her sons were sent away from Isaac who ruled over his father's territory in ancient Edom (Idumea).

Isaac's son Jacob was the sent to serve the household of his maternal grandfather and came under the authority of a maternal uncle named Laban. 

Likewise, Jacob's son by his cousin bride Rachel was sent to serve his maternal uncle Potiphar in Egypt.

Moses went to serve the household of Jethro, the Hebrew priest of Midian. There he married his patrilineal cousin Zipporah.

The custom of sending away non-ascendant sons drove the Hebrew dispersion out of the Nile Valley.

Nimrod left Kush and established himself in Mesopotamia where he married the daughter of a Hebrew Sumerian ruler named Asshur. Nimrod and Asshur's royal daughter are among Abraham's ancestors.

 
Related reading: The Hebrew were a Caste; Abraham's Sons; Sovereignty and Two Wives; Jewish Responses to My Research; Features of the Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew; Nimrod's Sumerian Wife