Kushite Shrines

Alice C. Linsley

A reader recently asked why I maintain that Abraham's ancestors came out of Africa. The anthropological evidence of Genesis and other Old Testament  passages indicate that Abraham's ancestors were descendants of Kush. They were Kushites. The term "Kushite" does not designate a single people but rather a regional identity that includes many peoples of the Nile Valley, Lake Chad, and the Sahara during the African Humid Period.

Kush is first mentioned in the Bible as the father of Nimrod and Ramah. Kush and his sons were great rulers who controlled the water ways in their territories. The rivers were used to transport cargo and supplied the necessary water for mining industries. Kush was famous for gold, a fact to which Genesis alludes when speaking of the river Pishon that flowed through the land of Ha'vilah, where there is gold (Gen. 2:11). Havilah speaks of the place where the waters part, probably the point of separation of the White Nile and the Blue Nile. Another river mentioned is the Gihon which flowed through the land of Kush (Gen. 2:13).

The Kushites built shrines and temples along the rivers. The Egyptians continued this practice. The shrine cities were at the highest elevations to prevent flooding and also for defense. The fortified shrine cities held temples, palaces, quarters for priests and their families, barracks for warriors, sections of the city where castes of artisans and metal workers resided. These elevated cities or "high places" were known as kar. Karnak on the Nile and Carnak in Brittany are examples. In Dravidian car means "sheltered together" and kari refers to a river. In Manding kara means "to assemble." In ancient Sumerian é-kur refers to a mountain house, pyramid, or elevated temple.

The kars of the archaic world were mainly circular. Ki-kar refers to a circle, as in Exodus 25:11: ki-kar za-hav ta-hor, meaning "circle of pure gold." Among the Nilotic Luo kar specifies a place with boundaries, such as a rock shelter or a fortified settlement.

Since the kar were places of burnt offerings, the term is often associated with charcoal and soot. In Magyar (Hungarian) korom refers to soot, as does the Korean word kurim. The Turkish kara means "black." Priests living in Greece often held names with the word kar, such as Karampetsos. This refers to their ancestral service at the high places. Some have mistakenly assumed that because the word means "black" in Turkish, these priests had a black skin color.

The Carpathian mountain range is called Karpaty in Czech, Polish, and Slovak, and Карпати in Ukrainian, Carpați in Romanian, Karpaten in German, Kárpátok in Hungarian, Karpati in Serbian, and Карпати in Bulgarian. In Albanian karpë means "rock."

Kushite shrine at a 3rd century BC trade center near ancient Meroe.

The Kushites were a highly organized people, consisting of numerous clans and castes. The marriage and ascendancy pattern of their rulers drove their expansion into new territories. They were skilled in hunting, combat, sailing, astronomy and metal working. Their rulers controlled the major water systems and founded early mining industries along the Nile, in Arabia, Palestine, Mesopotamia and southern Europe.

The Kushite rulers were great patrons of artisans, especially stone and metal workers. Kushite mining operations have been identified in Sudan, the Nile Valley, and southern Israel.

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. The miners at Timnah recovered turquoise and copper. They followed ore veins underground and created shafts with stone chiseling tools. These galleries spread in all directions, following the ore. The mines were worked by Kushite metal working clans between 2000 to 1500 BC. Ancient rock carvings showing Kushite warriors in chariots, holding axes and shields have been found in the area. A temple dedicated to Hathor was discovered at the southwestern edge of Mt. Timnah by Professor Beno Rothenberg of Hebrew University. In his book Timna, Rothenberg concluded that the peoples living in the area were "partners not only in the work but in the worship of Hathor." (Timna, p. 183)

The gold mines of Kush were described by the Greek author Diodorus Siculus. He mentions fire-setting as a method used to break down the hard rock. The ore was then ground to a fine powder before washing. The process required a substantial source of water, such a river. 

Related reading: When the Sahara Was Wet; Kushite Gold; The Saharan Antecedents of Pharaonic Egypt; Stone Work of the Ancient World; Meroe on the Orontes; Kushite Diversity and Unity; The Kushite-Kushan Connection; The Kushite Marriage Pattern Drove Kushite Expansion; Kushite Kings and the Kingdom of God; Kushite Wives; Kushites in Mindanao

Orientations of Nilo-Saharan Monuments

Alice C. Linsley


The astronomical observations of the ancient Nilo-Saharans led to different orientations for their shrines and burial sites. The majority of the sites show alignment to meridian cardinal directions and the solar arc. This is evident also in the placement of the settlements of first and second royal wives on a north-south axis. Their settlements marked the northern and southern boundaries of their territories. The Creator's solar boat or chariot traverses from east to west. This was viewed at the Creator's daily journey between the eastern and western horizons.

The rulers of Genesis 4, 5, 10 and 11 controlled territories along the ancient water systems. The extreme boundaries of their territories were marked by the settlements of their two wives. As the rivers were oriented more or less on a north-south axis, so were their wives. Abraham's first wife resided in Hebron and his second wife resided to the south in the area of Beersheba.

It has been argued that part of the arrogance of Lamech (Gen. 4) is that his wives Ada and Zillah lived in separate settlements on an east-west axis. In this Lamech set himself as an equal to the One who rules the universe. As the Hebrew scholar Theodor Gaster noted, Adah and Zillah correlate to the Akkadian words for dawn and dust.

These early rulers listed in Genesis provide insight into the thinking of the Nilo-Saharan rulers when it came to the orientation of their monuments. The earliest alignments adhere to either a solar orientation or a north-south orientation. Later sites are found with quarter-cardinal and south-north orientations.


Solar orientation

The temple of Hathor-Meri at Timna was built by the ancient Egyptians. Here the Egyptians oriented the temple to the rising sun at the winter solstice.

Timnah in the Sinai is the site of the world's oldest copper mines. The oldest date to at least 4,000 BC, and there are newer ones as well, totaling about 10,000 shafts. At Timna there are ancient rock carvings showing Kushite/Egyptian warriors in chariots, holding axes and shields. A temple dedicated to Hathor-Meri (later called Isis) was discovered at the southwestern edge of Mt. Timnah by Professor Beno Rothenberg of Hebrew University.

The 19th Dynasty tombs of Merenptah (fourth king) and queen Twosret were constructed so that the light of the rising sun on particular days of the year would pass through the burial chamber and strike the sarcophagus of the king.

Queen Twosret is believed to be the second (cousin?) wife of Seti II. Her name has been found associated with the turquoise mines at Serabit el Khadim and the copper mines at Timna.


North-south orientation

The north-south orientation of shrines and tombs was established by observation of Mekhetyu, the circumpolar constellation identified as the Plough. Meskhetyu is mentioned in the Pyramid Texts as an “imperishable” group of stars. This constellation was associated with Horus, whose totem was the falcon. The falcon-headed Horus supports the platform of Meskhetyu.

In 2005 Tomb 23 was discovered at Nekhen in Sudan. This was the largest structure of its kind from the Naqada II period (c.3500 - 3200 BC) and it was oriented north–south.


South-north orientation

King Horemheb

King Horemheb, the last king of the 18th Dynasty, built two tombs. His tomb (designated KV57) is in the Valley of the Kings and his old tomb is at Saqqara. 

The axis in degrees of tomb KV57 is 357.72 and the orientation of the axis is north. This represents a later development which subsequently became the norm for most of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Horemheb was from Nekhen, the oldest known shrine city dedicated to Horus, the patron of kings. Nekhen is south of his Theben necropolis and likely Horemheb's choice of orientation was simply to face north from his home.

Horemheb's old tomb at Saqqara was used for the burial of his queen Mutnodjmet. It was built between 1333 and 1323 BC. Mutnodjmet was Nefertiti's sister.

Quarter-cardinal orientation

Another orientation resulted from rotating the N-S line by 45°, 90° or 135°. This quarter-cardinal orientation is especially evident at Upper Nile/Nubian shrines. This rotation meant that the definitive axis was aligned either perpendicular to the Nile or parallel to the Nile.

At most of the temples at Thebes the axes of the monuments were rotated by 135° from the astronomical north-south line. This mean that the temple facades were almost perpendicular to the Nile.  Many sacred shrines of the ancient world faced great rivers.


Abydos' three areas

During the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000 BC) excavations were made by the Egyptians at Abydos, located south of Cairo. Apparently, they were searching for the tomb of Osirius, who was believed to be one of the first kings of Egypt. The tomb of Djer was identified at that time as the burial place of Osiris in Abydos. Because it was believed that Osiris was buried at here, Abydos became an important cult center during Abraham's lifetime (c. 2000 BC). The modern name for the site is Umm el-Qaab, which means “Mother of Pots” in Arabic. This name is due to the great number of Late Period sherds scattered in the piles of debris.

By 3400 BC Abydos had developed into an elite cemetery, and between 3050 and 2700 BC, it became the burial site of the kings of Egypt. Since 1977, the area has been excavated thoroughly by the German Archaeological Institute.

Abydos comprises three areas. Cemetery U which is situated on a plateau, dates to the early Naqada Period (c. 4400-3700 BC). It contains 650 graves. Abydos was an important shrine city at the intersection of the Nile, and a traffic route from the Red Sea through Wadi Qena to the oases in the Western Desert. Cemetery U was in use throughout most of the Naqada Period (4400-3000 BC).

Cemetery B contains the graves of the last Predynastic rulers Irj-Hor, Ka, and Narmer, and the tomb complex of Hor-Aha, founder of the 1st Dynasty. Hor-Aha's three chambers had a southwest intercardinal orientation of 225°

Seven large tomb complexes have also been identified. One of these is identified with king Djer, son of Hor-Aha. Hor-Aha's first wife was Benerib and his second wife was Khenthap. Khenthap is named as king Djer's mother on the Cairo Annals Stone. Again we find the early practice of rulers having two wives, as was the custom among Abraham's Horim.

Bracelet found in the tomb of Djer

Related reading: The Orientation of Ancient Egyptian Temples; The Orientation of Ancient Tombs in Egypt; Was the Giza Sphinx a Recumbent Lion?; The Religion of Tamar at Timna; Genesis on the Ancient Kingdom Builders; The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of Abraham's People

Ritual Sex and Ancient Egyptian Priests

Alice C. Linsley

Perhaps you have heard the expression "the flesh pots of Egypt" and wondered about the phrase. Recently a poorly informed journalist used this to imply that the ancient Egyptians participated in ritual sex. That is not the origin of the expression, however. The phrase refers to the consumption of lamb that the Habiru/Hebrew enjoyed while in Egypt. It has nothing to do with sex.

In fact, the priests of Egypt were fastidious about avoiding ritual sex. Herodotus observed that "The Egyptians were the first who made it a point of religion not to lie with women in temples, nor to enter into temples after going away from women without first bathing." (II:64)

The priests of ancient Egypt maintained shrines and temples along the Nile and regarded ritual purity as essential to their ministry. Herodotus observed II:37:

"They are religious excessively beyond all other men, and with regard to this they have customs as follows: they drink from cups of bronze and rinse them out every day, and not some only do this but all: they wear garments of linen always newly washed, and this they make a special point of practice: they circumcise themselves for the sake of cleanliness, preferring to be clean rather than comely. The priests shave themselves all over their body every other day, so that no lice or any other foul thing may come to be upon them when they minister to the gods; and the priests wear garments of linen only and sandals of papyrus, and any other garment they may not take nor other sandals; these wash themselves in cold water twice in the day and twice again in the night; and other religious services they perform (one may almost say) of infinite number."

Likewise, Plutarch noted that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.”

Heliopolis was a sun city where Horite Hebrew priests served. The Horite Hebrew (Habiru) were a caste of priests known for their wholesome lives. It appears that the Nilotic priest orders were concerned about sexual purity and disdained sexual immorality.

The Horite Hebrew were devotees of Horus and are called "Horites" in the Bible. The Horites were a caste of ruler-priests who maintained high standards of moral behavior. Before their time of service in the temples they shaved their bodies and did not consume wine. Plutarch wrote that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.”

Horite Hebrew priests enjoyed married life but they abstained from sexual relations before serving in the temples. Ritual sex was discussed because it represented a departure from the ways of the Horim. We have no evidence that Horite priests followed the practices condemned by the prophets in Canaan. In the ancient world Horite priests were known for their purity and devotion to the High God.

After the establishment Solomon's temple, women performed sacred duties for the temple such as weaving and drawing water, but not as temple prostitutes. Some of these women were dedicated as young girls to the temple (likely the case with the Virgin Mary). The same was true for boys (Samuel is an example.) Fertility rites involving ritual sex were known in association with the cults of Venus and Aphrodite, but not in association with Yahweh or Yahu.

Fertility was not extremely important among the Horite Hebrew because they regarded "be fruitful and multiply" as a divine injunction or command.

Edward Lipinski writes:

Contrary to the claims of some 20th-century scholarship, the Hebrew Bible never refers directly to cult prostitutes. Many modern Bible translations are simply misleading in this respect. Much of the confusion results from a misunderstanding of a few Biblical texts that mention qedeshot, the plural of qedeshah, which is related to qodesh, “holy place.” Originally qedeshah referred to a “consecrated maiden,” but Biblical authors used it in the sense of “harlot.”

In the ancient Near East, women could in fact be dedicated by their fathers or their masters to a deity. Women could also devote themselves to the service of a god or a goddess in order to secure their living. This was done mainly by young widows without grown children, by repudiated wives, by female slaves sent away (like Hagar, Abraham’s concubine in Genesis 21), by lonely women, etc. These “consecrated” persons performed tasks in the sanctuary, provided domestic help in temple annexes, perhaps provided musical entertainment and possibly sexual services, remitting their fees to the temple. However, qedeshot in the Bible never appear as performing religious sexual rituals, which is the key attribute of a cult prostitute. Women on duty at the entrance to Israelite sanctuaries are mentioned in Exodus 38:8 and 1 Samuel 2:22, but their tasks are not described, and they are not called qedeshot.

The figure shown in the BAR article quoted above is an 8-inch silver-painted bronze statuette found in Syria. It shows the religious syncretism of the Ancient Near East. The woman wears a solar crown, expressing the ancient belief that the sun appoints individuals for divine purposes and inseminates.

Among Abraham's Horite Hebrew ancestors the sun was regarded as the emblem of the Creator. Those who were appointed by God to rule or to perform a unique service were identified by the initial Y in their names: Yaqtan (Joktan); Yachin (Joachin), Yishmael (Ishmael); Yishbak; Yitzak (Isaac); Yacob (Jacob); Yosef (Joseph); Yetro (Jethro); Yeshai (Jesse), Yonah (Jonah), Yoel, and Yeshua (Joshua/Jesus).

The Y is a solar cradle representing the long horns of the Acholi bull. The origin of this symbolism is found among the cattle-herding Proto-Saharans as early as 4000 BC.

The Horite Hebrew expected a woman of their ruler-priest caste to conceive the divine "Seed" (Gen. 3:15) by the overshadowing of the sun. Hathor, the mother of Horus is shown overshadowed as a sign that she is to be the mother of the son of God. She prefigures the Virgin Mary who conceived by divine overshadowing (Luke 1:35).



Related reading: Appointment By Divine Overshadowing; Wine Use in Antiquity; 2,400 B.C. Tomb of Purification Priest; Purity Seal From Herod's Temple; Edward Lipinski, Cult Prostitution in Ancient Israel?

Wells and Brides

Alice C. Linsley


"Therefore blessed Jacob, as you have heard, went into Mesopotamia to take a wife. When he had come to a certain well, he saw Rachel coming with her father's sheep - after he recognized her as his cousin, he kissed her as soon as the flock was supplied with water. If you notice carefully, brothers, you can recognize that it was not without reason that the holy patriarchs found their wives at wells or fountains. If this had happened only once, someone might say it was accidental and not for some definite reason. Blessed Rebekah who was to be united to blessed Isaac was found at the well; Rachel whom blessed Jacob was to marry was recognized at the well; Zipporah who was joined to Moses was found at the well." - Caesarius of Arles (Sermon 88:1)

To this list, we must add Keturah who resided at the Well of Sheba where Abraham went to take her as his second wife. And there is the Samaritan Woman at the well to whom Jesus spoke. Her name, according to Tradition, is Photini and she symbolizes the Church, the "Bride of Christ."

In addition to the pattern of meeting brides at wells, we recognize that Rebekah and Zipporah were drawing water for their father's sheep. This is highly suggestive, since Zipporah was the daughter of the "Priest of Midian", Jethro. Mary's father was Joachim and tradition tells us that he was both a priest and a shepherd. Was Rebekah the daughter of a priest? Very likely.

Rebekah's father was Bethuel, which means "House of God" and probably refers to a shrine. Bethuel was a son of Nahor and Milka, a "brother" of the tribal unit designated by Huz, Uz, Buz, and a nephew of Abraham (Genesis 22:20-22).

The well also represents refreshment, neutral ground for strangers to meet, and a place of ritual cleansing. Caesarius of Arles explains that since Isaac, Jacob and Moses are all types of Jesus Christ, "for this reason they found their wives at wells, because Christ was to find His church at the waters of baptism."

The ancient shrines were built at wells, rivers, oases and springs which sustained the flocks of the priests who tended those shrines. It was here that Horite ruler-priests often met their future wives.

Related reading:  Water and Blood; A Woman at a Well; Shepherd Priests

Sacred Mountains and Pillars

Alice C. Linsley

“And the mountains shall be melted under him: and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as waters that run down a steep place.” (Micah 1:4)

“The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.” (Psalm 97:5)

Mount Tabor

The Connection Between Mountains, Pillars and Shrines

Mountains among the ancient Afro-Asiatic peoples were regarded as meeting places between God and Man. Volcanos spoke of God's power to create new earth and were associated with male ejaculation. Thus the connection between stone pillars, mountains and shrines. We find this in the story of Jacob setting up a pillar and calling that place "Beth-el", house of God (Gen. 28:10-22). Then we are told that Jacob anointed the pillar, as Hindus today anoint the lingam.

Each region had a sacred mountain and the people living near it claimed that it belonged to them. Covenants were formed on these mountains. In an earlier essay on “Finding Noah’s Ark”, it was noted that Noah offered sacrifice to the Lord on “the mountain of life after” and that God established a covenant with Noah and his descendents.

Pillars also represented deified heroes in the temples and shrines. Temples were constructed of many pillars, both inside and out. The ancient temple at Heliopolis (Biblical On) was a place of pillars. To the church at Philadelphia Christ says: “Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name” (Rev.3:10-13).

This church is to the Kingdom of God what Heliopolis was to the ancient Horites. It is the place of true worship, characterized by many pillars (iunu) in the temple. Iunu refers to the pillared temple of Heliopolis. The pillars represented the righteous ones in the temple of God. Exodus 24:4 explains that the twelve pillars in God's house represent the twelve tribes upon which God has inscribed the holy Name.


Follow the Mountains: A Different View of the Exodus

After leaving Egypt, the clan of Jacob (Israel) journeyed by stages, making contact with Hebrew kinsmen at each stage. The first people to help them were their cousins the Midianites (descendants of Abraham by Keturah) in the region of Horeb, the Midianite sacred mountain (Deut. 29:1). Another people to help them were the Edomites related to Seir the Horite Hebrew chief named in Genesis 36. The Edomite sacred mountain was Paran (Deut. 33:2). Crossing through Edomite territory (where Aaron was buried), the Hebrews moved northeast into Moab. They visited with Lot’s descendants and worshipped on Mount Nebo (Deut. 32:49), where Moses died. At each of these sacred sites, the reunion of kin was celebrated by a covenant that included animal sacrifice and a night of feasting. These covenants likely resembled the covenant made between Jacob and Laban at Mizpah (Gen. 31:44-54).

Temples as Man-Made Mountains

Where there were no mountains, the Afro-Asiatics built ziggurats or pyramids. The Babylonian ziggurats were quadrangular and aligned with the cardinal points: the East representing the rising light or the arousal of God, and the West representing the future or the dusk of time. The alignment of the man-made mountains to the cardinal points is significant. We find this in the (Ethiopian) Book of Enoch. Enoch was regarded as a great prophet who saw the coming day of judgment. In chapter 17:1-7, we read:

“And they took and brought me to a place in which those who were there were like flaming fire, and, when they wished, they appeared as men. And they brought me to the place of darkness, and to a mountain the point of whose summit reached to heaven. And I saw the places of the luminaries [sun and moon] and the treasuries of the stars and of the thunder and in the uttermost depths, where were a fiery bow and arrows and their quiver, and a fiery sword and all the lightning. And they took me to the living waters, and to the fire of the West, which receives every setting of the sun. And I came to a river of fire in which the fire flows like water [volcano] and discharges itself into the great sea towards the west. I saw every large river, until I arrived at the great darkness. I went to where all flesh migrates; and I beheld the mountains of the gloom which constitutes winter, and the place from which issues the water in every abyss.”

(While Christians often dismiss the Book of Enoch, we should remember that Jude quotes Enoch, chapter 2: “Behold, he comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon them, and destroy the wicked, and reprove all the carnal for everything which the sinful and ungodly have done, and committed against him.”)

The Babylonian temple mounts were referred to as houses ("beth" in Hebrew) or high places. The temple of Bel at Nippur bears the name “E-Kur” which means “mountain house”. One of the oldest temples found in Assyria bears the name “E-Kharsag-Kurkura” which means “house of the mountain of all lands”. This may be analogous to the Israelite conception of the temple on Mount Zion as “a house of prayer for all nations.”

It was believed that God resided at the summit of the universe, which was at the seventh firmament. This is why the ziggurats were seven stories. This notion stands behind Saint Paul’s mystical experience of being taken to the third heaven.

Mountains in Traditional African Societies

Many tribes in Africa claim mountains as their sacred ladder to heaven. For the Gikuyu, Mount Kenya is the sacred mountain. They call it “Kere-Nyaga” which means Mountain of Brightness. For the Masai, the sacred mountain is the active volcano "Oldoinyo LeNgai" in Tanzania. "Ngai" is the name for the supreme God among the Gikuyu and the Masai.

The typical village is arranged with the “fathers’ house” (where the elders meet) in the center. Its roof is usually domed to represent a mountain. Among the Baganda (Uganda) the royal tombs have peaked roofs, symbolizing mountains or pillars.

Mircea Eliade wrote extensively about the connection between mountains and the sacred center. (See The Sacred and the Profane, especially pages 36-47). In placing the Fathers' House in the center of the village, traditional Africans conceive of their village as being situated at the navel of the world. This notion of the center as a place of meeting between God and Man is found among tribal peoples around the world.

The Great Zimbabwe water collection system involved pillars such as these. 

Egyptian and Canaanite Religion

The religion of the Canaanites was influenced by the sensuality of Egyptian religion. The festival dedicated to Amun-Min, who inseminated the earth and brought about plentiful harvests, was celebrated in the spring. A statue of Min, with erect phallus, was placed on an inclined pedestal that represented the primordial mountain. After the pharaoh's enthronement at the harvest festival, four arrows were shot toward the north, east, south, and west, and birds were released in the directions of the cardinal points.

Sacred prostitution was a fact of life among some Canaanite populations, but generally shunned by the Egyptians who valued purity of life among their priests. In ancient Egypt and Canaan fertility was a sign of blessing. Motherhood was venerated, giving a woman with children higher social status.

The obsession with fertility led to decadence among some populations. This focus on the creature rather than on the Creator is what some of the later Old Testament Prophets criticized. They spoke against the "high places" with their sacred poles which they equated with sexual activities (perhaps such as that described between Tamar and Judah).

The Egyptians regarded their kings as channels of blessing. This why the Pharaoh who took Sarah was so angry with Abraham (Gen. 12:10-20). Had the king committed adultery with Sarah, he and his entire kingdom would have been under divine judgment.

The Mountain of Judgment

The Prophets Enoch and Micah, and the author of Psalm 97, speak of the mountains melting before the Lord. This is an image of the Day of Judgment and is imagined as "Armageddon" in the Book of Revelation. Armageddon is a corruption of the Hebrew "Har Megiddo" which means "Mountain of Megiddo". Megiddo is a site of multiple judgments, one piled on top of another.

Eric Cline, Chairman of the Department of Classical and Semitic Languages and Literature at George Washington University will be digging in Armageddon next summer. He reports, "Armageddon is a real place: Har Megiddo, the Mountain of Megiddo in Israel. We go out every other year... and we've got 20 cities one on top of another from about 3000 BC, until about 300 BC, from the Canaanite period to the Persian period."

Cline writes, "During the past 4000 years, at least 34 bloody conflicts have already been fought at the ancient site of Megiddo and adjacent areas of the Jezreel Valley. Egyptians, Canaanites, Israelites, Midianites, Amalekites, Philistines, Hasmonaeans, Greeks, Romans, Muslims, Crusaders, Mamlukes, Mongols, French, Ottomans, British, Australians, Germans, Arabs and Israelis have all fought and died here. The names of the warring generals and leaders reverberate throughout history: Thutmose III, Deborah and Barak, Sisera, Gideon, Saul and Jonathan, Shishak, Jehu, Joram, Jezebel, Josiah, Antiochus, Ptolemy, Vespasian, Saladin, Napoleon, and Allenby, to name but a few of the most famous. Throughout history Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley have been Ground Zero for battles that determined the very course of civilization. It is no wonder that the author of Revelation believed Armageddon, the penultimate battle between good and evil, would also take place in this region!"


Related reading: Peaks and Valleys; The Christ in Nilotic Mythology; Mount Mary and the Origins of Life; Mount Moriah; Mount Where Noah's Ark Landed