Early Smiths and Masons

 

Bronze figure of a smith (900-800 B.C.) was discovered in Vranište, Serbia.

This figurine shows a metal worker with mandibular prognathism.

Alice C. Linsley

The ancient rulers were served by expert metal workers and stone masons. These skilled populations were usually castes and as with all castes, they married only members of their castes (endogamy). This resulted in the inheritance of certain physical features such as red or black skin color and mandibular prognathism.

The stone masons of the ancient world built the great temples and tombs, and the metal workers fashioned weapons, sacred vessels, and symbols of authority. These early smiths and masons were not slaves. They were respected because of their sophisticated skills which they kept secret to protect their positions in society. They crafted their pieces away from prying eyes. One way they preserved their secrets was through endogamy. They took as their wives only from their caste, and over time their descendants developed distinctive physical traits. This may explain the physical trait of a prominent chin. 

The condition is called mandibular prognathism and it is a relatively recent development. "A protruding chin was absent in archaic humans and Neanderthals." (Emes, Aybar and Yalcin, 2011 Report of the Evolution of Human Jaws and Teeth, Bulletin of the International Association of Paleodontology, p. 40). 

It appears that the prominent chin was a trait among the early metal workers. Mandibular prognathism is a well-known example of an inherited facial trait in humans. However, it is not apparent in archaic humans. According to Emes, Aybar and Yalcin, "A protruding chin was absent in archaic humans and Neanderthals." (2011 "Report of the Evolution of Human Jaws and Teeth", Bulletin of the International Association of Paleodontology, p. 40.)

The condition is evident in Akhenaten, the father of King Tut. This suggests a connection between the royalty of Egypt and the royal metal workers of Serbia. King Tut's paternal ancestry has been identified as Y-DNA R1b. The oldest R1b-V88 (believed to have differentiated c. 9700 BC) that is found in Africa is also found in Serbia. There also are rare incidences of R1b-V88 in Corsica, Sardinia, and Southern France.

Blacksmiths living in what is today Serbia knew the secret of transforming copper ore into metal copper. Miljana Radivojević has shown that the metal workers of the 7000-year-old Vinča culture were expert smiths.

As metal work requires water sources, it was done near springs and rivers. Many mines and smithing sites are found in the Carpathian Basin with its abundant water sources. This map shows copper smelting sites (red) and iron smelting sites (black) in the Carpathian Basin. Note the abundance of rivers.

Masons of the ancient world

In southern Anatolia stone masons built Catalhoyuk beginning in 7500 BC. The Turkish word catal means fork and hoyuk means mound. This was a settlement built on two mounds (east and west) and a channel of the Çarşamba River once flowed between them. It appears to be one of the earliest examples of twin settlements on opposite sides of the river.

The houses excavated in Catalhoyuk date between 6800-5700 B.C. Recent excavations have identified a shrine or small temple on the eastern side. 

At Horoztepe, in northern Anatolia, masons built royal tombs dating from 2400–2200 BC, the time of Abraham. The burial goods in these tombs are the products of smiths who crafted fine artifacts in copper, bronze, gold, and silver.

Related reading: Serbia, a place where man discovered metal? - Serbia.com; Early Balkan Metallurgy: Origins, Evolution and Society, 6200–3700 BC | SpringerLink; Zoltán Czajlik: Traces of Prehistoric smelting workshops in the Carpathian Basin. In: Sándor Berecki (ed.): Iron Age Crafts and Craftmen in the Carpathian Basin. Proceedings of the International Colloquium from Târgu Mureş, 10-13 October 2013, Târgu Mureş, 2014, 139-146. | Zoltán Czajlik - Academia.edu

Genesis and the Stone Age

Alice C. Linsley

During the Stone Age the primary material used for tools and architecture was stone. People crafted tools from stone and build structures such as tombs and temples. This was a very long period of time during which human populations dispersed across much of the Earth. The Stone Age lasted roughly 3.4 million years and ended about 2500 BC (the time of Abraham's grandfather, Nahor the Elder).

Early stone tools include sharp-edged flakes, flake fragments, and cobbles dated to between 2.5 and 2.6 million years. These were discovered at three sites along the Gona River in the Afar region of Ethiopia. Similar stone tools, known as Oldowan, have been found at Omo in southern Ethiopia, at Lokalalei in northern Kenya, and at Hadar, five miles east of the Gona River study area.

One of the oldest known stone working sites is located at Kathu in South Africa. Here archaeologists collected many thousands of stone tools and products of tool making in a few sample pits over a several acres. The archaeologists estimated that there are on average 900 artifacts per 100x100x10 cm volume of material in this area with much of the area up to 2 meters deep in artifact rich soils. This high concentration of stone artifacts, along with available source rock in nearby outcrops, suggests that this was a tool making center between 800,000 and 500,000 years ago.

Stone Age peoples crafted tools from stone and built tombs and temples using stone. Temples typically had many stone pillars such as those shown at the temple entrance below.

The two Ġgantija temples in Gozo, on the island of Malta, are some of the world's oldest free-standing stone structures. They were constructed during the Neolithic period (c. 3600–2500 BC). Other ancient temples include those found at Göbekli Tepe and Nekhen. Nekhen (called Hierakonpolis by the Greeks), is the oldest temple known to have association with Abraham's ancestors. The temple was located on the Nile, making it easy for temple officials to weigh and measure goods and assess tolls on the vessels that docked there.

Rulers at Nekhen acquired exotic goods and animals from central Africa and Afghanistan 4000 years ago. Nobles were buried with red ochre at Nekhen. At Tomb 100 there are two boats painted on the walls. Tomb 23, discovered at in 2005, is the largest burial structure from the Naqada II period (c.3500-3200 BC).

Typically the shrine cities of the ancient world were built near major water systems such as rivers and lakes. One example in the Bible is the shrine city of On (Genesis 41:45). On was called Heliopolis by the Greeks. Heliopolis means "city of the Sun." 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.”

The people who lived at Biblical On called it Iunu, which means "place of pillars." Plato, who studied under a Horite priest for thirteen years, wrote "Tell me of the God of On, which was, is and shall be."

Heliopolis was the geodetic center of Egypt. The pyramid triads at Giza, Abusir and Saqqara were aligned to the obelisk at On. The shrine city of Baalbek in Lebanon, with its massive stones, also aligned to On.

Joseph married Asenath, the daughter of a priest of Heliopolis. Study of the Heliopolitan cosmogony makes it apparent that Heliopolis was conceived as the sacred center of the primeval ocean, called Nun. The many pillars of the temple symbolized the connection between the waters below and the waters above (Gen. 1:7). It is likely that Joshua, a great Hebrew leader, belonged to a ruler-priest family associated with On because he was a son of Nun (Numbers 11:28).

Usually, shrine cities were built at higher elevations to make it easier to defend the city against enemy attacks. In the Bible these ancient cities are called "the high places" and they are criticized for some religious practices that were not pleasing to the Creator.

Standing stones at the Gezer high place (Israel)
Photo: Dennis Cole

At some high elevations the ancient stone workers constructed circles of standing stones. These have been found in many parts of the ancient world. They were places of religious ceremony linked to astronomical events. One of the most famous sites in the world is Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. Here visitors from around the world are able to see the remains of a circle of standing stones set within earthworks.

The oldest known stone circles date to 175,000 years ago and were formed inside the Bruniquel cave in southwestern France.

In western Europe the tall upright stones erected in prehistoric times are called menhirs. In Sardinia, 200 menhirs have been identified in the area of the island's geographic center. These date between the late Neolithic (3200-2800 BC) and the Eneolithic (2800-1800 BC). Stone circles and megaliths also have been found in Senegal and Gambia. These date to the 3rd century BC.

Related reading: Why Nekhen is Anthropologically Significant; The Pillars of Solomon's Temple; Stone Work of the Ancient World; The Tool Makers of Kathu,Circumcision and Standing Stones in the Judean Hills; Henges and Rondel Enclosures; Lithic Landscapes: Early Human Impact from Stone Tool Production on the Central Saharan Environment

Monuments of the Ancient Kushites

Alice C. Linsley

The King Lists of Genesis tell a fascinating story of the succession of rulers from their Proto-Saharan ancestors to the time of Abraham. The marriage and ascendancy pattern of these ruling families drove dispersion into Syria, Anatolia, India and beyond. Some sons were sent away to establish territories of their own. These rulers are ethnically Kushite.

The connection of these rulers to ancient Kush is confirmed by Genesis 10:6-8 which tells us that Ham's son Kush had two first-born sons: Ramah and Nimrod. Ramah's territory was in Arabia. His two first-born sons were Dedan and Sheba. These ruling houses intermarried. The ruling houses of Dedan and Sheba were aligned with the Horite rulers of Edom. The Dedanite and Edomite ruling lines intermarried.

Nimrod's territory was in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley. His first-born son by his cousin bride was Asshur the Younger, named after Shem's son, Asshur the Elder. To understand how Abraham is a descendant of Nimrod, study the diagram below.

Nimrod is a Nilotic title. It means "ruler over all the waters." His Akkadian name was Šarru-kīnu, which is usually translated “the true king.” He is described as a warrior-hunter or a mighty hunter. The term is related to the Hausa sarkin maharba, meaning chief or lead hunter. Sar means king in Sumerian. Sar-gon means high king or king of kings.  In the Targum nah shirkan refers to a great hunter.

The "mighty men of old" (Gen. 6:4) are called "nephilim" which comes from npyl in Aramaic, meaning "great one" and is equivalent to nfy in Arabic, meaning hunter.

The archaic rulers controlled the major water systems such as Lake Chad, the Nile and the Tigris and Euphrates. A shrine associated with Seth (Kain's brother) called Ka-ta-seti (Sanam) connected Gebel Barkal and Meroe, and was one of the important ports of the river trade that extended from ancient Nubia to the Orontes in Turkey. That is why there are two sites named "Meroe." The best known is Meroe of Nubia. The lesser known was built on the precipice of Mt. Silpius. This is Meroe overlooking the Orontes.

Genesis refers to these rulers as the "mighty men of old" because they controlled the major water systems and the high places. They dispersed into Southern Europe and the Hindu Kush, a melting pot of ancient peoples. They likely controlled commerce through the Pamir Junction. These were aggressive kingdom builders who regarded themselves as divinely appointed to disperse and subdue the earth. Later rulers, such as Alexander the Great, sought the same divine legitimacy.

Alexander the Great sought such validation for this conquests from the oracle of Amun-Ra at the Siwa shrine in the Libyan Desert. This coin shows his image with the ram horns associated with Amun-Ra.

Monuments and pyramids

The archaic rulers built monuments throughout the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion like these at Jebel Barkal in ancient Nubia (Upper Nile Valley). 

Standing stones at the temple of Amun at Mount Barkal

The ancient Nilo-Saharan kings built fortified shrine cities and pyramids. Pyramids built near the city of Karima in Sudan date to the eighth century BC.  The word "Karima" refers to a rock shelter or fortified elevated shrine city. Likewise, the word "Karnak" (spelled "Carnak" in Brittany) refers to a rock shelter or enclosure of standing stones where religious rites were performed such as circumcision and the removal of teeth - naak. Similar standing stones have been found in the Judean higher elevations.

At Mount Barkal the rulers constructed a shrine city with a temple dedicated to the Creator Amun-Ra. Other Amun sanctuaries were constructed at Kawa (Gematen) and at Sanam.

Relief of Amun-Ra, temple of Amun at Kawa, in Ancient Nubia

Amun-Ra is the Creator whose solar emblem rises and sets each day. This speaks of the resurrection of the dead ruler, an expectation of Abraham's Habiru (Hebrew) people. This is the meaning behind the narrative of Abraham with his son on Mount Moriah. The son of Ra was Horus. Horus was called the Lamb in his weaker (kenotic) existence and he was called the Ram in his glorified strength. Both lamb and ram are associated with the resurrection symbolism of the vernal equinox.

The oldest known temple (c. 5000 BC) to have association with Abraham's ancestors is the predynastic temple at Nekhen (Greek Hierakonpolis). The temple was located on the Nile, making it easier for temple officials to weigh and measure goods and assess tolls on the vessels that docked there. Many artifacts of great importance have been found at Nekhen. These include funeral masks, statues, jewelry, beer vats, large flint knives, and the pillared halls characteristic of later Egyptian monuments and temples. Nekhen is where the oldest life-sized human statue was found: a priest from the temple of Horus, c.3000 BC.

An intriguing discovery at Nekhen involves the recovery of a beard associated with the redheaded man in Burial no. 79. The presence of long wavy natural red hair and a full beard suggests that this ruler was in Haplogroup R1b. It appears that the "red" features were found widely among archaic rulers. The Bible associates the red feature with the Horite rulers of Edom, like Esau, and with David who had Edomite blood.

Noah controlled the region around Lake Chad - the "Land of Noah" or "Bor-no" - which is also one of the hot spots of the R1b rulers as shown on this map at the southernmost dark red dot.

The ancient stone monuments and sacred circles of the British Isles were likely the work of the R1b stone workers and mining experts who arrived there between 8000 and 4000 BC.  Genetic research indicates that about 70% of British men are in Haplogroup R1b.

Related reading: Kushite Shrines; The High Places; The Nubian Context of YHWH; Stone Work of the Ancient World; The Religion of the Archaic Rulers; Sent-Away Sons; Dispersion of the Archaic Rulers; Abraham and the Hittites; Circumcision and Standing Stones in the Judean Hills; INDEX of Topics at Just Genesis