Rulers of the Ancient World

The winged sun was a symbol of the High God and his son.

Alice C. Linsley

The entire scope of biblical history indicates that God is eager to reveal His divine nature and eternal power (Rom. 1:20). This eagerness is an expression of His infinite love for the whole creation and especially for humanity.

In Genesis, the Creator communes with the humans in the Garden in the cool of the day. This is a picture of Paradise, a Paradise that was lost. However, God did not give up on His creation. He began to show humans His thoughts and plans. He appointed rulers who would obey to Him. He called forth prophets who would declare His Word. He anointed priests who would serve the needs of His people.

Many of these early rulers believed in a High God who had a son. The son's authority was such that the rulers often took his name - HR (Horus in Greek). In Ancient Egyptian, HR means "Most High One". Many early kings and royal priests had Horus names such as Her, Hor, Hur, Har or King Har-Pa-Shed (also spelled Arpachshad.) 

Many rulers of the ancient world had names that began with AR. Artaxerxes, Archelaos, Ar-Shem, Artix, Areli, Araxes, Arviragus, a Jebusite named Araunah, and Arishen, a Horite Hebrew who ruled a territory in the central Zagros between 2400-2301 BC. Ariaramnes was the great uncle of Cyrus the Great. The "Ar" is a shortened Horus name as is suggested by the Nabataean King Harithath IV who is called King Aretas in 2 Corinthians 11:32. 

The Greek word archegos can refer to a founder, conqueror, kingdom builder, and a ruler. This word described the founder of a city who gave his name to the place, like Philippi named for Philip of Macedon, or Alexandria named for Alexander the Great. The word archegos was used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint) to describe Adam, Noah, and Abraham, all Hebrew ruler-priests.

The rulers who are listed in Genesis chapters 4, 5, 10, 11, 25 and 36 were all Hebrew. They maintained their ethnic identity and genetic makeup by marrying only members of their caste (endogamy). They were rulers among the peoples listed in "Table of Nations". "Nations" is a misnomer since during the period in question, 6000-2000 BC, there were no nations as we define that term today.

Some of the early Hebrew ruler-priests are listed in the Table of Nations. This early ethnography reveals that these peoples have a linguistic relationship. All these ancient populations spoke languages with common roots. The early Hebrew dispersed widely (see map above) and they learned the languages of the peoples among who they resided. 

The rulers of these peoples appear to have common religious practices. They built east-facing temples and shrines. They retained royal priests to serve in their temples. They offered blood sacrifice for sin and oblations of oil, wine, and wheat. They drafted and ratified royal treaties in a similar way. Ancient paintings reveal a common solar symbolism as well.

The society of these ancient populations was hierarchical and highly structured. There were high kings (suzerain), lesser kings (vassals or viziers), clan chiefs, castes, and guilds of craftsmen and merchants. This was a period of early kingdom building. The Bible provides a great deal of information about the high kings. In Genesis 6:1-4 they are described as the “mighty men of old, as “heroes” and “men of renown.” They constructed temples, palaces, fortified shrine cities ("high places"), great stone monuments, and pyramids.

Genesis 6 also describes them as gibboriym, meaning “powerful ones”. The root of the word is gibor, meaning powerful or great. These early Hebrew rulers were also described a nephilim, from the Aramaic word npyl (nephil) which means “great” but is unfortunately rendered “giant” in many English Bibles.

Genesis also associates the mighty rulers of Genesis with the Anakim, the people of Anak and his father Arba. Anak and the Anakim dwelt in the region of Hebron, which was called Kiriath-Arba. This is where Sarah resided. Hebron was at the northern most boundary of the ancient kingdom of Edom. The Greeks called this Idumea, which means “land of red people.” Esau of Edom is described as red and hairy in Genesis 25:25.

The Anakim are associated with the Nephilim in Number 13:33. Unfortunately, many Bibles render the meaning of nephilim as “giants” when it should read “great ones.” Nephilim comes from the same root as the Aramaic npyl (nephil) which means giant as in great. This is equivalent to the Arabic nfy, meaning hunter. It is said concerning Nimrod that he was a “mighty hunter” or a “mighty man” before the Lord.

The early kingdom builders are described as “men of renown” and “heroes” in Genesis 6. They build fortified cities, palaces, treasuries, temples and river shrines. In Sumerian and Akkadian texts, the royal priests who served at the “sun temples” are called ‘Apiru, Hapiru, or Habiru. These words are related to the Ancient Akkadian word abru, meaning priest. 

The Hebrew were a ruler-priest caste that believed in a supreme Creator God who has a son. The Hebrew priests of the Nile called the creator Ra, and his son was called Horus. The Hebrew priests of Mesopotamia called the Creator Anu/An and his son Enki. En-Ki means “Lord over all” in Akkadian. Given that many ancient populations believed in multiple gods, the Father-Son belief of the early Hebrew is truly remarkable.

The wisdom of the Nilotic priests was so extensive that it was unrivaled in the ancient world. Much of the wisdom ascribed to the ancient Greeks was borrowed from the Nilotic Hebrew priests. Plato studied for 13 years with the priest Sechnuphis at the temple in Memphis. He reported that the ancient Nilotes had been keeping records of astronomical events for 10,000 years.

Genesis 36 lists some of the Horite Hebrew rulers of Edom. The prophet Jeremiah refers to Edom and Teman of Edom as seats of wisdom. "Concerning Edom: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?" (Jeremiah 49:7)

The Hebrew royal priests practiced endogamy, which is to say they married only within their priestly families. We will examine this more next week. Because the lines of ruler-priests married only within their group, geneticists are able to identify the priest gene among 90% of men who self-identify as having Jewish priests as ancestors. This is called the Cohen Modal Haplotype (CMH). These men carry a characteristic Y chromosome associated with Hebrew priests.

This CMH genetic marker also appears in men with no Cohen/Jewish ancestry. That is because the priesthood of Aaron was inherited from his ancestors long before Judaism. Jesus is associated with the older priesthood in Hebrews 7:1-21, where we read concerning our Lord, "Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."

The priesthood of Judaism emerged from the Horite Hebrew priesthood. The word “Horite” appears numerous places in the Bible. I Chronicles 4:4 claims that Bethlehem was a Horite town. The Horite chief Salmon is called the "father of Bethlehem" in 1 Chronicles 2:54. Some of the Horite Hebrew rulers are listed in Genesis 36 (diagrammed below). In Hebrew Bibles the word “Horite” appears as “Horim,” which is what Jews call their ancestors.

The oldest known site of Horite Hebrew worship is at the royal city of Nekhen on the Nile (3800 BC). Archaeologists working at Nekhen discovered evidence of a temple with huge cedar pillars. Later Hebrew temples are patterned on the temple of Nekhen (Hierakonpolis).

Archaeologists describe the offerings at the Nekhen temple as “ten times larger” than the typical mace heads and bowls offered elsewhere, suggesting that this was a very prestigious shrine.

Nekhen had a twin city on the opposite side of the Nile. That sister city was Nekheb (Elkab). The royal tomb of Horemkhawef in Nekhen and the tomb of Sobeknakht in Nekheb were painted by the same artist. Further, Hormose, the chief priest of Nekhen, was able to request material goods from the temple at Elkab for use at the temple at Nekhen.

One of the more intriguing discoveries at Nekhen was the recovery of an almost complete beard in association with the redheaded man in Burial no. 79. The facial hair of the man in Burial no. 79 had been trimmed with a sharp blade. The presence of long wavy natural red hair and a full beard illustrates the genetic diversity that existed in Africa thousands of years ago. The Nekhen News (p. 7) reports, "The vast majority of hair samples discovered at Nekhen were cynotrichous (Caucasian) in type as opposed to heliotrichous (Negroid)."

By 3200 BC, Nekhen had a population estimated at 10,000 inhabitants and was the most important settlement along the Nile. The city stretched for over two miles along the edge of the floodplain and was an important commercial center. There were stone masons, weavers, potters, and beer brewers. Metal workers crafted sacred objects of gold and copper. The earliest preserved house in Egypt (3600 BC) was the house of a Nekhen potter. It was preserved when he accidentally burned it down while firing a load of pots.


Related reading: The Hebrew were a Caste; Sun Cities of the Ancient World; Hebrew Ruler-Priests at the Ancient Sun Cities; Twin Cities of the Ancient World; An Akkadian Lexicon; Hebrew, Israelite, Jew; Royal Treaties