tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6888206108451715162024-03-28T20:29:44.740-07:00Just Genesis GENESIS through the lens of Anthropology
(Founded 21 March 2007)Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.comBlogger1181125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-32777581301649496832024-03-23T13:35:00.012-07:002024-03-26T09:46:52.118-07:00The Historical Eve<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH6DLmlC_BZmplCWACTrcAF2lQ1O8t8Xu7h8Z9-b7fQGYldERf0loOMp9zoDkz9M5FomDAfkHuaHi_8dyQ2qpHmcy4FRnhxs-FvRtSJw3CGtYHXi1gyU6p4nFIlHqwApJQ3sbTG6JnWKz0GkZzVzuaQUknBPNmCrO9I7ZlEG0CoZQBxNSV-Js9Yf3sf4c/s391/Badarian%20Eve%20louvre.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH6DLmlC_BZmplCWACTrcAF2lQ1O8t8Xu7h8Z9-b7fQGYldERf0loOMp9zoDkz9M5FomDAfkHuaHi_8dyQ2qpHmcy4FRnhxs-FvRtSJw3CGtYHXi1gyU6p4nFIlHqwApJQ3sbTG6JnWKz0GkZzVzuaQUknBPNmCrO9I7ZlEG0CoZQBxNSV-Js9Yf3sf4c/w190-h320/Badarian%20Eve%20louvre.jpg" width="190" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Badarian Eve (mortuary figurine), housed at the Louvre.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>Dr. Alice C. Linsley</p><br />The historical Eve would have been a high-status woman with servants and resources. She would have influenced the style of dress and adornments of women of lesser status. She probably sought high status wives for her sons from among her Hebrew ruler-priest caste. <br /><br />Analysis of the kinship pattern of the rulers listed in Gensis 4 and 5 indicates that two of Eve’s daughters-in-law were the daughters of a ruler named Enoch/Enosh (Enos in the Septuagint). Enoch is a royal title. The word is derived from the ancient Egyptian <i>anochi</i>, pertaining to the first-person singular. The term is related to the ancient Akkadian <i>anaku</i> which is a reference to the royal first person. The title also relates to royal succession. Among the Igbo, <i>anochie</i> means “a replacer” or “direct heir to a throne.” <br /><br />Eve was the mother of Cain and Seth who married their cousins, the daughters of a ruler named Enoch. Eve’s firstborn Cain is described as an early city builder and Seth is the founder of the Sethite Hebrew who are mentioned in texts from 2400 BC. This means that the historical Eve probably lived between c.5000-4500 BC. <br /><br />The historical Eve lived in the vast well-water region called Eden. The term Eden derives from the Akkadian term e<i>dinu</i>, which refers to a fertile plain or a flood plain. According to the description in Genesis 2:10-14, Eden extended from the Pishon and Gihon at the sources of the Nile to the Tigris and Euphrates. The region is described as rich in gold and bdellium. Bdellium is a semi-transparent oleo-gum resin extracted from <i>Commiphora wightii</i> and from <i>Commiphora africana</i>. These trees grow in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. <br /><br />Given the biblical data, it is likely that Eve lived in the Nile Valley. That is where her son Seth was established as a regional chief. Later this region became known as Ta-Seti, meaning “Land of the Bow.” That was the Egyptian description of Nubia (<i>Nub</i> - gold) where hunters used bows and arrows. They are shown on Nubian rock art dating to 4000-2500 BC.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Eve's Sons </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Eve’s firstborn son was Cain (Gen. 4). He left his homeland and settled “east of Eden” (Gen. 4:16-26), probably on the east side of the Red Sea. That would be the land of Canaan where Cain’s metal working descendants lived. They are known as the “Kenites.” The names Cain, Canaan, Kenan, and Kenite are linguistically equivalent.<br /><br />One of Cain’s daughters married her cousin Enosh and named their firstborn son Kenan, after her father. This is an example of the cousin bride’s naming prerogative, a feature of the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the early Hebrew.<b><br /></b><br />Eve's other living son was Seth (Gen. 5). He was a son in the image of his father Adam (Gen. 5:3), meaning he was a red man. The Hebrew language scholar, Jeff A. Benner, explains: Dam is the "red" blood, adamah is the "red" ground, edom is the color "red" and adam is the "red" man. Adam is a reference to the color of blood (dam in Hebrew). That means at least some of Seth’s descendants, known as the Sethite Hebrew, were also red.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Sethites ranged from the Nile to the Eastern Desert of Egypt, and some were living in the land of Canaan. The ancient Egyptians referred to a man of the Nubian Desert as <i>An-ti Set</i>. They called the dwellers in the Eastern Desert of Egypt <i><a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2011/12/ancient-egyptian-lexicon.html"><span style="color: #990000;">An-tiu Sett</span></a></i>, according to the archaeologist E. A. Wallis Budge. Budge claims in his <u>Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary</u> (1920) that the An-tiu Sett lived as far north as the land of Canaan. This is not surprising because Seth’s descendants living in Canaan would have intermarried with Cain’s descendants living in Canaan.</div><div><br />Many Sethites served at the <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2019/11/horite-mounds.html"><span style="color: #990000;">sacred high places (mounds)</span></a> along the Nile and are mentioned in the Ancient Pyramid Texts (2400-2200 BC). One of those places was Nekhen where this figurine of red Seth was found. He has the head of a hippo and the body of a man. Perhaps the hippo was the totem of the Sethite Hebrew, and the falcon was the totem of the Horite Hebrew. <br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYN-6Lh4Yts2A5Sqtlwy8AohDBp04xuW5zQU4HPJ36WbUu4zfd-PcFTqlNZVUoVs-7allxe7BqYw-hbHI2bExkz8trEhaemDe89ySj0V24vSraK1fdMrWuptZ9j2i8ITa_t2aLRQHS_lu4oE1Eh3KIPRvC2_ErzWbAekGTPv7cck6m_4aNb63DBYL1IM/s354/Seth%20as%20a%20hippo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="142" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYN-6Lh4Yts2A5Sqtlwy8AohDBp04xuW5zQU4HPJ36WbUu4zfd-PcFTqlNZVUoVs-7allxe7BqYw-hbHI2bExkz8trEhaemDe89ySj0V24vSraK1fdMrWuptZ9j2i8ITa_t2aLRQHS_lu4oE1Eh3KIPRvC2_ErzWbAekGTPv7cck6m_4aNb63DBYL1IM/w143-h320/Seth%20as%20a%20hippo.jpg" width="143" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Seth as a red hippo</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Nekhen is the oldest known site of Horite worship (c.4200 BC). At Nekhen archaeologists found hippos buried in the elite cemeteries (<a href="http://www.hierakonpolis-online.org/nekhennews/nn-25-2013.pdf"><span style="color: #990000;">Nekhen News, Vol. 25, 2013, p. 20</span>)</a>. They also found numerous carved and sculpted figurines of hippos, some with red coloration. They concluded that hippo imagery is "linked to local elites" (<a href="http://www.hierakonpolis-online.org/nekhennews/nn-27-2015.pdf"><span style="color: #990000;">Nekhen News Vol. 27, 2015, pp. 8-9</span></a>).</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Eve’s Cultural Milieu</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Eve’s cultural context would have been like that of the Badarian culture (5000-4000 BC). The Badarian culture extended at least as far as between El Badari in the Lower Nile south to Nekhen in the Upper Nile.</div><div><br />The Nilotic culture of that period was agricultural and cattle-herding. The contents of storage facilities included wheat, barley, lentils, and tubers. Fishing provided a substantial source of protein. Reed boats were used to transport produce and livestock. Dogs were used for hunting, and hunting was mainly the sport of the upper class. <br /><br />Water resources were more than sufficient to sustain the Nilotic populations of Eve’s time. The Nile supplied a year-round water supply of water. In addition to that, there was seasonal rainfall draining from the mountains into the lower elevations. There were many wadi systems terminating in or near the Nile floodplain with water-retaining Pleistocene sands and gravels that supported vegetation, small trees, and shrubs. The local populations were able to draw water from natural springs fed by the Nubian Aquifer which runs under the Sahara west of the Nile. <br /><br />The burial practices reveal social stratification with separate elite cemeteries. Burial sites of the more wealthy contained grave goods such as green malachite palettes, shells, flint tools, amulets in the shape of the antelope and hippopotamus, ostrich eggshell vessels, hippo tusks, and jewelry made of ivory, quartz, or copper. <br /><br />The Badarian rulers traded with people of other regions. The turquoise and glazed steatite beads found in the Badarian territory were imported. Upper class <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/547333"><span style="color: #990000;">Badarian men wore beaded belts</span></a>. Some rulers had ripple knapped knives with decorative handles.<br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><b>Mythical Eve versus Historical Eve</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div>The person of Eve is surrounded by the observations of Bible commentators and theologians making it difficult to separate the historical Eve from the Eve of the Genesis creation stories. The mythical Eve is wrapped in profound theological speculation about the origin of sin and death, the presence of evil, and the necessity of divine intervention. The implications of Eve's disobedience have probably been plumbed to the depth. It is time to investigate her historicity using an empirical method. Strangely, most who regard Adam and Eve as historical figures never inquire about the historical Eve. It is as if they were afraid to discover the truth.</div><div><br /></div><div>The historical Eve was the Hebrew mother of two surviving sons, Cain and Seth. Both sons were clan chiefs and rulers over territories. Further, their descendants intermarried according to an <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-royal-descendants-of-adam-and-enoch.html"><span style="color: #990000;">endogamous marriage pattern</span></a> that was well established before Eve's time. Clearly, Adam, Eve, and their offspring were not the first humans on earth.<div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Related reading: <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2020/04/three-portraits-of-adam.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Three Portraits of Adam</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2015/01/adam-was-red-man.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Adam Was a Red Man</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-sethites-and-red-hippo.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Sethites and the Red Hippo</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2019/11/horite-mounds.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Horite and Sethite Mounds</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/03/an-anthropologist-looks-at-genesis-5.html"><span style="color: #990000;">An Anthropologist Looks at Genesis 5</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-67979051789812246702024-02-11T20:22:00.008-07:002024-02-18T11:00:31.059-07:00Understanding "Biblical" Marriage Practices<p> </p><p>Dr. Alice C. Linsley</p><p><br /></p>This recently came across my Facebook feed. It is misleading and reveals ignorance of <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-social-structure-of-biblical-hebrew.html"><span style="color: #990000;">the social structure of the biblical Hebrew</span></a> and their Jewish descendants.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq8ThdVDOzX2MRt0QB8k4QalJllTN3cydav-4kqjFztxBE4NhZTlgpnTrn292JixoOlKZOWSmrN4_XFtNxkOebe9__rRE_hXW2VH68jTt3kyZFBtqY96zcmpGEBSbt7y-T5jKLGXi2HuV0ZWpXLz2LW2K19ZPs-Lwq5c3_FmEyXJ_oreM1t3uMDrCW-UA/s600/Getting%20Hebrew%20marriage%20wrong.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="600" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq8ThdVDOzX2MRt0QB8k4QalJllTN3cydav-4kqjFztxBE4NhZTlgpnTrn292JixoOlKZOWSmrN4_XFtNxkOebe9__rRE_hXW2VH68jTt3kyZFBtqY96zcmpGEBSbt7y-T5jKLGXi2HuV0ZWpXLz2LW2K19ZPs-Lwq5c3_FmEyXJ_oreM1t3uMDrCW-UA/w417-h340/Getting%20Hebrew%20marriage%20wrong.jpg" width="417" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The Hebrew persons listed in Genesis 4, 5, 10, 11, 25 and 36 were rulers, not commoners. These are king lists similar to the Sumerian king lists, only more easily authenticated <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2024/01/think-like-biblical-anthropologist.html"><span style="color: #990000;">using kinship analysis</span></a>.<br /><div><br /></div><div>None of the marriages of the Hebrew rulers can be called "biblical" and therefore cited as models for Bible believers because this pattern pertains only to Hebrew ruler-priests, the "<a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2023/07/dont-miss-this-book.html"><span style="color: #990000;">first lords of the earth</span></a>". It is not a biblical pattern for marriage. It is a pattern for royal Hebrew persons beginning long before Judaism emerged. These were regnal marriages involving a bride and a groom from related Hebrew clans or between half-siblings (endogamy). Royal marriages are prone to irregularities because of the necessity of a proper heir, and political complexities.</div><div><br /></div><div>That these were rulers is evident in the fact that they had a distinctive marriage and ascendancy pattern that involved two wives. The firstborn sons of the two wives had different rights according to the <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-hebrew-hierarchy-of-sons.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hebrew hierarchy of sons</span></a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jacob's marriage to two "sisters" is the single example in the Bible, and it is more likely that Leah was his half-sister and Rachel is cousin. A proper marriage arrangement of a Hebrew ruler-priest was with a half-sister (as was Sarah to Abraham) and with a patrilineal cousin (as was Keturah to Abraham). Leah and Rachel fit the pattern. Jacob was <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/06/sent-away-sons.html"><span style="color: #990000;">a sent-away son</span></a>, and those sons usually <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2021/11/royal-sons-and-their-maternal-uncles.html"><span style="color: #990000;">went to live with their maternal uncles</span></a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Solomon is criticized for taking many wives and <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2021/08/concubinage-among-hebrew.html"><span style="color: #990000;">concubines</span></a> in order to forge political alliances. However, that was a common practice, and his father David did it also.</div><div><br /></div><div>The payment of dowries was a widespread practice among the <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2019/05/ethnic-and-cultural-diversity-in-bible.html"><span style="color: #990000;">many diverse biblical populations</span></a>. It is still the custom in Africa and among Hindu and Muslim populations. Dowries are not to "purchase" a bride. They are gifts given to the bride by her family to secure some personal wealth for her when she marries. The bride and her dowry contribute to the building up of a new household.</div><div><br /></div><div>Levirate marriage was a custom among the Hebrew and their Jewish descendants. Levirate marriage is an extremely ancient practice in which the widow of the deceased brother marries one of his brothers. Levirate marriage is practiced by societies with strong clan and caste structures in which exogamous marriage is forbidden. Such a marriage arrangement is intended to preserve the deceased husband's lineage and inheritance. </div><div><br /></div>Hebrew rulers over territories maintained their two wives in geographically separate settlements. Territorial boundaries were <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-wives-settlements-mark-boundaries.html"><span style="color: #990000;">marked by the wives' settlements</span></a>. Sarah's settlement was in Hebron and Keturah's settlement was in Beersheba. Abraham's territory extended on a north-south axis between the settlements of his wives. <div><br /></div><div>Hebrew rulers with two wives include Lamech, Terah, Abraham, Esau, Jacob, Amram, Moses, Elkanah (Samuel's father), Ashur (1 Chronicles 4:5), Mered (1 Chronicles 4); and Joash (2 Chronicles 24:1–3). Caleb fathered children by his two wives Azubah and Jerioth.<div><br /></div><div>Related reading: <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-marriage-and-inheritance-of-hebrew.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Marriage and Inheritance of Hebrew Daughters</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Hebrew were a Caste</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2018/04/horite-hebrew-rulers-with-two-wives.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2024/02/gender-balance-of-hebrew-social.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Gender Balance of the Hebrew Social Structure</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2023/02/hebrew-birthrights-and-blessings.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hebrew Birthrights and Blessings</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2021/08/concubinage-among-hebrew.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Concubinage Among the Hebrew</span></a></div><div><br /></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-56409808140887631112024-02-05T09:17:00.007-07:002024-02-06T11:33:39.083-07:00The Influence of Hebrew Wives<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1fVbDjaLovORskkCoUaZfXOhiy85td6QVV-9mpWV5sCWDBFd2zPs0Vgy3BQarA5ojFONrtkXH5iVOpCG3tY1tbpsWt5wOQg7wqGM9DkSt6vKHhO6iQ0Er1adfPkBcHdSRw_NrrEJLVxb6jOCki-2tP3bWcbBQ_R8xH0xRzZQb-pcfT4TQwU8VHPX5tk/s383/Royal%20concubine%20Odalisque%20Boston%20Public%20Library.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="276" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1fVbDjaLovORskkCoUaZfXOhiy85td6QVV-9mpWV5sCWDBFd2zPs0Vgy3BQarA5ojFONrtkXH5iVOpCG3tY1tbpsWt5wOQg7wqGM9DkSt6vKHhO6iQ0Er1adfPkBcHdSRw_NrrEJLVxb6jOCki-2tP3bWcbBQ_R8xH0xRzZQb-pcfT4TQwU8VHPX5tk/s320/Royal%20concubine%20Odalisque%20Boston%20Public%20Library.jpg" width="231" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Dr. Alice C. Linsley<br /><br />The wives of Hebrew men in the service of high kings socialized with women of the royal courts. They enjoyed privileges that average Hebrew women did not have. They were aware of court protocols and listened to court rumors. Doubtless, they conveyed much of what they heard to their husbands. The story of Esther provides a glimpse of the court intrigues to which they were privy. <br /><br />The Hebrew wife was viewed as her husband’s helper (Gen 2:18,22). Adam’s wife is described as his <i>ezer</i>, a Hebrew word for one who aids, supports, or helps. This is the same word used to describe God in Psalm 33:20, Psalm 70:5, and Psalm 121:1-2. <br /><br />The wives of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob influenced the actions of their husbands. They shaped events that served the interests of their husbands. Examples include Sarah’s concession to use Hagar as a surrogate, and Rachel’s theft of <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2008/12/teraphim-of-genesis-31.html"><span style="color: #990000;">the teraphim</span></a> by which she could claim some inheritance for Jacob. According to Hurrian/Horite legal records, possession of the ancestor figurines validated claims of inheritance.<div> <div>Sometimes the wives’ influence and actions worked against the wishes of their husbands. That is evident in Rebekah’s attempt to pose her son Jacob as Isaac’s proper heir. It is clear in Genesis 25 that Isaac regarded Esau as his proper heir. Isaac intended that Esau should receive the <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2023/02/hebrew-birthrights-and-blessings.html"><span style="color: #990000;">birthright and the blessing</span></a> due to his proper heir.<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxC9I_dwmJkTK9UE5inpYUhflBOWMjKo6Qjf7oKiEyvr-KYqo5dS0B50kuHUjkziRgKPPbP949TgilP29nZz58fE2dL2E0kVnsmDFmXJJAGWKYhwUQ9cNbDEMj-l-gzjxQ0nYNv6f0yODIGTJ1X77rvJnXwVTOiRiqSAU1nkAB3L5wwmYpwcmWSy8-qD8/s769/Nimrod's%20wife.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="623" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxC9I_dwmJkTK9UE5inpYUhflBOWMjKo6Qjf7oKiEyvr-KYqo5dS0B50kuHUjkziRgKPPbP949TgilP29nZz58fE2dL2E0kVnsmDFmXJJAGWKYhwUQ9cNbDEMj-l-gzjxQ0nYNv6f0yODIGTJ1X77rvJnXwVTOiRiqSAU1nkAB3L5wwmYpwcmWSy8-qD8/w303-h353/Nimrod's%20wife.jpg" width="303" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div><div>The marriages of high-status Hebrew women to Hebrew ruler-priests helped to form political alliances between Hebrew clans. Sometimes those clans were geographically distant. This is illustrated by Nimrod’s marriage to a Sumerian princess. Nimrod was a Kushite kingdom builder (Gen. 10) who was <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/06/sent-away-sons.html"><span style="color: #990000;">sent away</span></a> to establish himself in a new territory. His marriage to Asshur’s daughter is evidence of the close connection between the rulers of the Nile Valley and the rulers of Mesopotamia, two early riverine civilizations.</div><div><br /></div>Before Israel existed, the wives of the Hebrew rulers listed in Genesis 4, 5, 11, 25, and 36 ruled over large households, arranged royal weddings, owned property, and assisted in the building of kingdoms.<br /><br /><br /><div><div>Related reading: <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2023/12/nimrods-sumerian-wife.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Nimrod's Sumerian Wife</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Hebrew Were a Caste</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/06/sent-away-sons.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Sent-Away Sons</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2009/01/sarahs-story.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Sarah's Story</span></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-3075284658562534862024-01-17T19:06:00.003-07:002024-01-19T09:23:38.572-07:00My Life as a Blogger<p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiu-HDriTYSKNArhOXbbDA9WbKO-gjI35wY9I59FvgN8Na_S7NIQOt41D4obVFF9W-KnYhur7eFsUW8TNBCtFx03MdPMahitfPzLPrPlb6kBwgccVPuAm6tPTGBy-BpJ0nn8QRcCuIzBZmSKpaqekQ1BmXQjAIa0bvFhBo3mpyp9cVEVxAhTa_YAkxm76o" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiu-HDriTYSKNArhOXbbDA9WbKO-gjI35wY9I59FvgN8Na_S7NIQOt41D4obVFF9W-KnYhur7eFsUW8TNBCtFx03MdPMahitfPzLPrPlb6kBwgccVPuAm6tPTGBy-BpJ0nn8QRcCuIzBZmSKpaqekQ1BmXQjAIa0bvFhBo3mpyp9cVEVxAhTa_YAkxm76o" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Alice C. Linsley</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p><div dir="ltr">Recently I was asked about the work that I do as a blogger. To answer that question, I am posting this information about the 7 blogs I manage. I manage two of these for other people. The blogs are listed in the order that they were started.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr"><a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc;">Just Genesis</a> (Began March 2007)</div><div dir="ltr">This blog examines the Book of Genesis through the lens of cultural anthropology, genetics, linguistics, and archaeology. The <span style="color: #990000;"><a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2014/04/index-of-topics-at-just-genesis.html"><span style="color: #990000;">INDEX of topics</span></a> </span>considered at this blog is accessed by seminary students, Bible scholars, clergy, and members of the international Facebook group <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2014/04/index-of-topics-at-just-genesis.html" style="color: #1155cc;">The Bible and Anthropology</a>.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr"><a href="https://teachgoodwriting.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc;">Reflections on the Writing Life</a> (Began March 2007)</div><div dir="ltr">Formerly this blog was called "Students, Publish Here!" and it was a platform for my creative writing students, as well as my own thoughts about writing. The INDEX is here: <span style="color: #990000;"><a href="https://teachgoodwriting.blogspot.com/2018/07/index-of-topics.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Reflections on the Writing Life: INDEX of Topics (teachgoodwriting.blogspot.com)</span></a></span></div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr"><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://college-ethics.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc;">Ethics Forum</a> (Began April 2008)</div><div>I started this blog to help my Ethics students at Midway University find materials related to the course I taught there. The INDEX is here: <a href="https://college-ethics.blogspot.com/2013/08/index-of-topics.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Ethics Forum: INDEX of Topics (college-ethics.blogspot.com)</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div><a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc;">Biblical Anthropology</a> (Began Sept. 2010)</div><div>This blog presents the emerging science of biblical anthropology, a data seeking, empirical approach to the 66 canonical books of the Bible. The INDEX is here: <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2018/10/index-of-topics-at-biblical-anthropology.html"><span style="color: #990000;">BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: INDEX of Topics at Biblical Anthropology</span></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://edwardlundwall.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc;">Distinctive Discipleship</a> (Began July 2013)</div><div>I started this for Ed Lundwall, Jr., a retired Army chaplain. I contribute posts, as does my sister Hope Rapson. The INDEX is here: <a href="https://edwardlundwall.blogspot.com/2020/04/index-of-topics.html"><span style="color: #990000;">DISTINCTIVE DISCIPLESHIP: INDEX of Topics (edwardlundwall.blogspot.com)</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://asa-cwis.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc;">STEM Education</a> (Began August 2013)</div><div>I started this blog and I manage it for Christian Women in Science, an affiliate of the American Scientific Affiliation. It is designed to help Christian students find news reports on various sciences that they may be studying. It is accessed largely by homeschooling parents and their students. The INDEX is here: <a href="https://asa-cwis.blogspot.com/2013/11/index-of-topics-at-cwis.html"><span style="color: #990000;">STEM Education: INDEX of Topics (asa-cwis.blogspot.com)</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://justgreatthought.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc;">Philosophers' Corner</a> (Began March 2013)</div><div>I started this blog to help my Philosophy students at Lexington Christian Academy and Midway University (both in Kentucky). The INDEX is here: <a href="https://justgreatthought.blogspot.com/2018/10/index-of-topics.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Philosophers' Corner: Topics at Philosophers' Corner (justgreatthought.blogspot.com)</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /></div></div><div>Related reading: <a href="https://teachgoodwriting.blogspot.com/2021/11/blogger-receives-honorary-doctorate.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Blogger Receives an Honorary Doctorate</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2010/02/blogging-to-communicate-gospel.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Blogging to Communicate the Gospel</span></a>; <span style="color: #990000;">T</span><a href="https://college-ethics.blogspot.com/2008/05/ethics-of-blogging.html"><span style="color: #990000;">he Ethics of Blogging</span></a>; <a href="https://teachgoodwriting.blogspot.com/2010/06/wendell-berry-telling-truth.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Wendell Berry on Telling the Truth</span></a></div><div><br /></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-21234985252272676632024-01-08T09:43:00.008-07:002024-01-08T11:27:34.092-07:00Exploring Isaac's Story<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiS-W0uaMLm488gFDCWKphlfB8TGLYftUs4sDvCADUoYsc5eiXdPUrYCVQS5IjRUamsPmeD311MfW4OnM0y4mX4ldBTTco7PJFr1al6FNpXAlRUcmJjlXZT1y8TxDwSinqJI61dTnOUJUb0XuPuRhNJOEdcMGFosU6pZzGEYwacEpycPEy1qRZlnWBE91I" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiS-W0uaMLm488gFDCWKphlfB8TGLYftUs4sDvCADUoYsc5eiXdPUrYCVQS5IjRUamsPmeD311MfW4OnM0y4mX4ldBTTco7PJFr1al6FNpXAlRUcmJjlXZT1y8TxDwSinqJI61dTnOUJUb0XuPuRhNJOEdcMGFosU6pZzGEYwacEpycPEy1qRZlnWBE91I=w398-h301" width="398" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Isaac ruled over his father's territory in ancient Edom. </div><div style="text-align: center;">The territory extended between Hebron and Beersheba, both shown on this map.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br />Alice C. Linsley<div><br /></div><div><i>Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. </i>(Gen. 26:12-14)<br style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />Isaac was a high-ranking prince of ancient Edom. His name is derived from <i>iššakkum</i>, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumerian_language"><span style="color: #990000;">Sumerian</span></a> title designating the ruler or prince. He was a <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2014/09/isaacs-wealth.html"><span style="color: #990000;">man of great wealth</span></a>.<br /><br />He was <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2013/04/abrahams-complaint.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Abraham's proper heir</span></a>, and he inherited control of Abraham's territory that extended north-south from Hebron to Beersheba. That territory was entirely in the region that the Bible calls "Edom" or "Idumea" in Greek. Edom was under the control of <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/01/who-were-horites.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Horite Hebrew ruler-priests</span></a> listed in Genesis 36. <br /><br />Both Hebron (where Sarah lived) and Beersheba (where Keturah lived) were in ancient Edom. Abraham's territory extended between the settlements of his two wives and included mountains and lowlands.</div><div><br /><br /><b>Questioning Isaac's existence</b></div><div><br /><div>When I was in seminary, my Old Testament professor told the class that he doubted Isaac’s existence because there is so little information about Isaac. He noted that the story of Isaac pretending that Rebecca was his sister parallels the story of Abraham asking Sarah to say that she is his sister. He concluded that Isaac is a literary construction reflecting the author’s love of doublets, two different narrative accounts of the same event.</div><div><br /><div>Duplicative narratives reflect a pattern that is familiar to two different authors. An example is the attempt of Abraham and Isaac to pass off their wives as their sisters. In Abraham's case, Sarah was indeed his half-sister. They had the same father, but different mothers because it was the custom of high-ranking Hebrew ruler-priests to have two wives. It is likely that Issac followed the marriage pattern of his Hebrew ancestors. If so, his first wife was a half-sister, the daughter of Abraham and Keturah. </div><div><br /></div><div>Another example of a duplicative pattern involves the birth of twins. There are close parallels between the birth of Esau and Jacob and the later birth of Zerah and Perez. Both stories speak of the birth order of twins and identify the firstborn sons as Esau and Zerah. By rights, Esau was Isaac's proper heir, but as such, he probably was not Rebekah's son. He would be the son of Isaac's half-sister, the bride of his youth. In the Hebrew marriage and ascendancy, the firstborn of cousin brides did not rule over the territories of their fathers. They were sent to serve their maternal grandfathers, which is what happened with Jacob. <br /><br />My professor also noted the limited genealogical information about Isaac. However, a closer look reveals that Isaac had at least 7 half-siblings. They include Ishmael (born of Hagar) and Eliezer (born of Mesek). Hagar and Mesek were concubines. Genesis 25:6 makes it clear that Abraham had more than one concubine. The Hebrew literally speaks of Abraham's sons by concubines (Speiser on Genesis, Anchor Bible, p. 197).</div><div><br /></div><div>Abraham's <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2008/06/keturah-wife-or-concubine.html"><span style="color: #990000;">cousin wife Keturah</span></a> bore him 6 sons: Joktan/Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Zimran, Shua, and Ishbak/Yishbak. Yishbak means "sent away". He is one of the sons to whom Abraham gave gifts and sent away from Isaac. The sending away of non-ascendant sons is made explicit in Genesis 25:5-6: “But Abraham gave everything he possessed to Isaac. While he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons he had by his concubines, but then sent them away to the country of the east, putting a good distance between them and his son Isaac.”</div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div><div>Ishmael also was a sent-away son. The circumstances of his being sent away vary in the book of Genesis. According to one account, Ishmael and Hagar were sent away ("cast out") because of Sarah's jealousy (Gen. 21:10). According to another account, <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/03/abrahams-sons.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Abraham's eight sons</span></a> were given gifts and sent away from Isaac's territory before Abraham died.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>While I appreciate my professor’s observations, I disagree with his conclusion. Isaac’s historicity can be verified by his adherence to the kinship pattern of his ancestors. Fictional characters do not have verifiable kinship patterns.<br /><br />The Bible does not identify Isaac’s first wife. Her presence is suggested through multiple lines of evidence. The text in Genesis 26:7 speaks of Isaac having a sister wife. The half-sister wife clearly was not Rebekah since she was Isaac's patrilineal cousin. Isaac would have married according to the pattern of his Hebrew ancestors which means <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2018/04/horite-hebrew-rulers-with-two-wives.html"><span style="color: #990000;">he had two wives</span></a>. Isaac was living near Beersheba when Abraham’s servant arrived from Padan-Aram with Rebekah. Beersheba was where Keturah resided and where Isaac's half-sister bride was living.</div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
The twin boys assigned to Rebekah were probably the firstborn sons of Isaac’s two wives. Since Esau was Isaac’s proper heir, he would have been the firstborn son of Isaac and his first wife, his half-sister. Rebekah would be the mother of Jacob, a son sent to serve in his maternal grandfather’s territory. This aligns with the social structure of the early Hebrew, as the son of the cousin bride belonged to the household of his maternal grandfather and would reside there after coming of age. This occurred with Jacob who went to live with his maternal uncle (avuncular residence).</div><div><br /> <div><br />Related reading: <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/03/abrahams-sons.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Abraham's Sons</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2010/08/abrahams-two-concubines.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Abraham's Two Concubines</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/06/sent-away-sons.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Sent-Away Sons</span></a>; <span style="color: #990000;"><a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2008/06/biblical-kinship-symmetrical-pattern.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of Abraham's People</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-hebrew-hierarchy-of-sons.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Hebrew Hierarchy of Sons</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2021/11/royal-sons-and-their-maternal-uncles.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Royal Sons and Their Maternal Uncles</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2018/04/horite-hebrew-rulers-with-two-wives.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives</span></a><br /></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-63749680128373027472023-12-15T14:26:00.006-07:002024-01-25T20:06:53.348-07:00The Roots of the Gospel are in Africa<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3BQpoTM6K-8hyKRXN-Nw4GCQHRSbxDGsfSkIU0ZOQ2pYvbcQKxQ2c-LPhzj5BGe63tJmmvwnw4RV4pckkIiJLm5wHOx-7IBX4r6u-bWlhiLNMhsy-3bOAlcBQhhXZKgmLHIDEZ0rLcWAEahLhvYGbXjOGn-0mpcW3E1I2Zc9WuLOSweU01i9dQWbhH_Q/s546/103269193_23844799662190582_3644132537561030464_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="546" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3BQpoTM6K-8hyKRXN-Nw4GCQHRSbxDGsfSkIU0ZOQ2pYvbcQKxQ2c-LPhzj5BGe63tJmmvwnw4RV4pckkIiJLm5wHOx-7IBX4r6u-bWlhiLNMhsy-3bOAlcBQhhXZKgmLHIDEZ0rLcWAEahLhvYGbXjOGn-0mpcW3E1I2Zc9WuLOSweU01i9dQWbhH_Q/s320/103269193_23844799662190582_3644132537561030464_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Dr. Alice C. Linsley<br /> <br /><br />The Nilotic Hebrew understanding of the human condition and our need of God’s saving mercy is evident in the Genesis 1-3 narratives which have their closest parallels in the African creation stories. This should not surprise us. Genesis 10:6-8 makes it clear that some of Abraham’s Hebrew ancestors lived in Africa. His ancestor Nimrod was a Kushite.<br /><br />The African themes are concisely woven together in the Genesis creation stories. These include the dark primal waters, the separation of the waters above from the waters below, the creation of humans from the soil (humus), the tribal first parents, the Tree of Life, dangerous serpents, and estrangement from the Heavenly Father.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>In the beginning...</b><br /><br />The phrase "in/at the beginning" is a common introduction to creation stories among Africans. "In the beginning there was only darkness, water, and the great god Bumba." (Bantu of Central Africa)<div><br /></div><div>The Nilotic narrative speaks of total darkness. "There was no sunlight... the whole land was in darkness." (Gikuyu of Kenya)<br /><br />"At the beginning of things, when there was nothing, neither man, nor animals, nor plants, nor heaven, nor earth, nothing, nothing, God was and He was called Nzame." (Fan of the Congo)<br /><br />The Nilotic Hebrew believed, "In the beginning there was only the swirling watery chaos." The Egyptians believed the first land appears as a mound rising from the primal waters. This mound was called Tatjenen, and the first life form was a lily growing on the peak of the emerging dry land.<br /><br />The Nilotic Luo call the chaotic water of creation the "Dog Nam".<br /><br />According to the Nilotic Oromo, the High God Waaq separated the impregnated body of water into two parts: the water above called “Bishaan Gubbaathe”, and the water below called “Bishaan Goodaa”. In Genesis 1:6-8 we read that God separated the waters above from the waters below.<br /><br />Consider this song of the BaMbuti Pygmies: <br /><br />In the beginning was God<br />Today is God,<br />Tomorrow will be God.<br />Who can make an image of God?<br />He has no body.<br />He is as a word which comes out from your mouth,<br />That word! It is no more,<br />It is past and still it lives!<br />So is God.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here we find the belief in the generative Word, another common theme among Africans. The Nilotic Luo have a saying: <i>Wach en gi teko</i> which means "a word has power." The Prologue of John's Gospel identifies the Word with the Son of God. </div><div><span face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>In the Egyptian Coffin Texts (2000 B.C.) we read, "I was the one who began everything, the dweller in the Primeval Waters. First Hahu emerged from me and then I began to move." Ha-hu (ruach in Hebrew) is the wind or breath of God that separated the waters above from the waters below and the dry land from the seas.<br /><br />The waters were called Nun, a word found among the Horite Hebrew chiefs. Joshua bin Nun is an example. Nun represents the cosmic waters of the firmament above and firmament below (Gen.1:6). In Heliopolitan cosmology the watery realms were connected by the great pillars of the temple of Heliopolis (biblical On).</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The Akan of Ghana tell this story: "In the beginning the heavens were closer to the earth. First man and first woman had to be careful while cultivating and grinding grain so that their hoes and pestles would not strike God, who lived in the sky. Death had not yet entered the world and God provided enough for them. But first woman became greedy and tried to pound more grain than she was allotted. To do this, she had to use a longer pestle. When she raised it up, it hit the sky and God became angry and retreated far into the heavens. Since then there has been disease and death and it is not easy to reach God."<br /><br />In South African narratives, the point where heaven touches the earth is called <i>bugimamusi</i>, and this is the place where the women could lean their pestles against the vault of heaven. <br /><br /> <br /><b>The Creation of Humans</b></div><div><br />In Genesis 2:7 we read that God created the first man from the dust of the earth. This is another common theme of African origin narratives. According to the Shilluk of Sudan, the High God Juok/Jwok made white people out of white sand and the Shilluk of out black dirt. When the Creator came to Egypt, he made the people there out of the Nile mud which is rich in red silt. That is why the Egyptians are shown in ancient Egyptian reliefs as having a red-brown skin tone.<br /><br />The Upper Nile soils are known to have a cambic B horizon. Chromic cambisols have a strong red brown color. The Biblical writers recognized that the people with red skin were of an ancestral line of extreme antiquity. Some of these people were rulers in Edom and are listed in Genesis 36. Esau of Edom is described as red in Genesis 26.<br /><br />The Hebrew word for red is <i>edom</i> and it is a cognate to the Hausa word <i>odum</i>, meaning red brown. Both are related to the word <i>dam,</i> meaning blood, and to the name Adam, the eponymous founder of the early Hebrew ruler-priest caste people, some of whom lived in Edom/Idumea, the <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2014/03/edo-edom-and-idumea.html"><span style="color: #990000;">land of the red people</span></a>. Adam was formed from the red clay that washed down to the Upper Nile Valley from the Ethiopian highlands. <br /><br /><br /><b>Founding First Parents</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Adam and Eve are posed in Genesis as the first parents of the rulers listed in Genesis 4, 5, 10, 11, 25 and 36. All of these rulers were Hebrew, so we may understand <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2020/04/three-portraits-of-adam.html"><span style="color: #990000;">the historical Adam</span></a> and Eve as the earliest known ancestors of the biblical Hebrew.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is a common theme in African stories. The first parents of the Mbuti Pygmies are called Tole and Ngolobanzo.<br /></div><div><br /></div>Gikuyu and Mumbi are said to be the first ancestors of the Gikuyu of East Africa. Here is a portion of their story: "Now you know that at the beginning of things there was only one man (Gikuyu) and one woman (Mumbi). It was under this Mukuyu that He first put them. And immediately the sun rose and the dark night melted away. The sun shone with a warmth that gave life and activity to all things. The wind and the lightning and thunder stopped. The animals stopped moaning and moved, giving homage to the Creator and to Gikuyu and Mumbi. And the Creator, who is also called Murungu, took Gikuyu and Mumbi from his holy mountain to the country of the ridges near Siriana and there stood them on a big ridge. He took them to Mukuruwe wa Gathanga about which you have heard so much. But He had shown them all the land - yes, children, God showed Gikuyu and Mumbi all the land and told them: "This land I hand over to you, O Man and Woman. It is yours to rule and to till in serenity, sacrificing only to me, your God, under my sacred tree."</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Estrangement from God</b></div><br />Many African narratives explain the distance between God and humans. Some speak of a time at the beginning when the sky was low. It was necessary for people to be careful while cultivating or pounding grain to avoid striking God's resting place with their hoes or pestles. The Akan of Ghana tell the story of how God once lived on earth, but an old woman kept striking Him with her pestle. Then one day, God withdrew to the sky.<div><br /></div><div>Another African story tells how "in the beginning death had not yet entered the world. There was plenty to eat, but a woman became greedy and tried to pound more grain than she was allotted. This required using a longer pestle. When she raised it to pound the grain, it struck the sky and God became angry and withdrew far into the heavens. Since then, people must toil the earth, death and disease trouble the people and it is no longer easy to reach God." (Richard Bush, ed. <u>The Religious World</u>, MacMillan Publishers, 1982, p. 38).<br /><div><br /></div>While studying tribal peoples in Nigeria, the anthropologist Charles Kraft asked a clan chief, "What did your people believe about God before the missionaries came?" In response, an old chief told this story: “Once God and his son lived close to us. They walked, talked, ate, and slept among us. All was well then. There was no thievery or fighting or running off with another man's wife like there is now. But one day God's son ate in the home of a careless woman. She had not cleaned her dishes properly. God's son ate from a dirty dish, got sick, and died. This, of course, made God very angry. He left in a huff and hasn't been heard from since." The old chief turned to Kraft and asked how his people could be in contact with God and his son again. (Charles Kraft, <u>Christianity in Culture</u>, Orbis Books, 1990, p. 153)<br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Gift of God's Son</b></div><div><br /></div>Belief in the Son of the High God was more widespread than is generally acknowledged. According to the Shilluk the Creator Juok brought forth his only begotten son, Kola, by the <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2013/07/why-cows-were-sacred-in-ancient-world.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Sacred White Cow</span></a>. Kola was the father of Ukwa who had two wives. One of Ukwa's sons was Nyakang who became the first ruler of the Shilluk. </div><div><br /></div><div>The <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2019/11/horite-mounds.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Nilotic Hebrew</span></a> expectation of the Son of God’s appearing in the flesh is expressed in Genesis 3:15. The "Woman" shall bring forth the Son of God who will crush the serpent's head. This early Hebrew expectation was expressed in the Pyramid Texts, dating to 2200 B.C. "Horus has shattered (crushed) the mouth of the serpent with the sole of his foot" (Utterance 388).</div><br />The sun was the symbol of the Father and the Son. In the early Hebrew solar symbolism, the Son of God rises as a lamb in the east and sets as a ram in the west. This explains the <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2010/05/did-abraham-believe-isaac-to-be-messiah.html"><span style="color: #990000;">lamb-to-ram sequence</span></a> found in the story of Abraham on Mount Moriah.<div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><br /></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on">We may speak of the "Proto-Gospel" because the Nilotic Hebrew believed that the Son of God would be miraculously conceived by divine overshadowing (cf. Luke 1:35), and that in his repose he would proclaim glad tidings to those awaiting the resurrection. A <a href="https://www.academia.edu/25013844/The_First_Tablet_of_the_Hurritic_Bilingual_Song_of_Release_in_the_Light_of_Hurritic_Mythological_Tradition_UGARIT-FORSCHUNGEN_Internationales_Jahrbuch_f%C3%BCr_die_Altertumskunde_Syrien-Pal%C3%A4stinas_Herausgegeben_von_Band_44_2013_In_memoriam_Pierre_Bordreuil_121-142" style="color: #de7008;"><span style="color: #990000;">Horite Hebrew song</span></a> found at the royal complex at Ugarit speaks of Horus who descends to the place of the dead "to announce good tidings." In ancient Egyptian, Horus is HR and means "Most High One".</div><div><br /></div>In the Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, a priest prays for the King, saying, "Horus is a soul and he recognizes his Father in you..." (Utterance 423)<span face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-size: 13px;"> </span>In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Horus is called the "advocate of his Father" (cf. 1 John 2:1), and all the gods are said to be "in the train of Horus." Here we find the language of a royal procession such as this: "When He ascended on high, He led captives in his train, and gave gifts to men.” (Eph. 4:8).</div><br />The New Testament speaks about Jesus as the firstborn from the grave. By his cross and third-day resurrection He delivers to the Father a "peculiar people." He leads us in the ascent to the Father where we receive heavenly recognition because we belong to Him.<div><br /></div><div><div><div><br /><div>Related reading: <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2015/01/adam-was-red-man.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Adam Was a Red Man</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-themes-of-genesis-1-3.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Themes of Genesis 1-3</span></a>, <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/10/adam-and-estrangement-from-god.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Adam and Estrangement from God</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/02/an-anthropologist-looks-at-genesis-1.html"><span style="color: #990000;">An Anthropologist Looks at Genesis 1</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/02/an-anthropologist-looks-at-genesis-2.html"><span style="color: #990000;">An Anthropologist Looks at Genesis 2</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/07/belief-in-high-god.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Belief in the High God</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-father-of-adam-and-eve.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Father of Adam and Eve</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2023/10/why-first-lords-of-earth-matters.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords of the Earth</span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-78902145797391595972023-12-14T16:22:00.016-07:002024-03-11T18:27:35.306-07:00Time to Jettison Young Earth Creationism<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGuMeriZntkI_aMniSKk2XhfCWjmLgoEQYD1yEkbyflZi_o66SJWS0atHscZfT6oa4GSkvpkTg0YivNuuBhCewSAVCMeibWOVKdQYR2O9kOD8C7cDcDwfV0rs-dmHaPhIRorGoG3xkqXnx5YDu5A0GocR3yYRqRLl93VM7pSF1JeOY241NFNef5Oc2e0w/s1938/Qafzeh%20Israel%20100,000%20years%20ago.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="1938" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGuMeriZntkI_aMniSKk2XhfCWjmLgoEQYD1yEkbyflZi_o66SJWS0atHscZfT6oa4GSkvpkTg0YivNuuBhCewSAVCMeibWOVKdQYR2O9kOD8C7cDcDwfV0rs-dmHaPhIRorGoG3xkqXnx5YDu5A0GocR3yYRqRLl93VM7pSF1JeOY241NFNef5Oc2e0w/w445-h267/Qafzeh%20Israel%20100,000%20years%20ago.jpg" width="445" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">100,000-year red ocher burial at Qafzeh (Israel). Red ocher was a symbolic blood covering.</p><p><br /></p><p>Dr. Alice C. Linsley</p>Young Earth Creationists believe that the days of Genesis 1 were six consecutive 24-hour days which occurred 6,000–8,000 years ago. They cannot explain the huge body of material evidence that proves an old earth and the presence of humans on earth for millions of years. They argue almost exclusively from geological anomalies. They believe that the surface of the earth was radically rearranged by a global flood. The extinction of species is explained by the flood. Creatures that were not preserved on Noah’s Ark perished and were subsequently buried in the flood sediments. YEC creationists believe that the catastrophic global flood was responsible for most of the rock layers and fossils. They maintain that some rock layers and some fossils were deposited before the Flood and other layers and fossils were produced in localized sedimentation events or processes.<div><br /></div><div><div><div>Proponents of Young Earth Creationism include the Baptist Pastor and biochemist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duane_Gish"><span style="color: #990000;">Duane Gish</span></a>, Terry Mortenson, a missionary for 26 years with Campus Crusade, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_M._Morris"><span style="color: #990000;">Henry M. Morris</span></a>, a civil engineer and author of several books on Young Earth Creationism.</div><div><br />Most who adhere to the Ken Ham view of the Bible do not care about the scientific evidence that supports biblical history because they have been taught to distrust the sciences. Nevertheless, the sciences of anthropology, archaeology, climates studies, genetics, geology, hydrological studies, linguistics, and migration studies agree on the deep history of humans of Earth. <br /><br />Young Earth Creationism is criticized for lacking a scientific basis. It also should be criticized for lacking a biblical basis. Consider the following points: <br /><br />If Adam and Eve were the parents of Cain, they could not be the first humans on Earth because Cain built a settlement that he named for his son Enoch (Gen. 4:17). Enoch is a royal title derived from the ancient Akkadian first-person pronoun: <i>anāku</i> and the Ancient Egyptian <i>anochi</i>, a reference to one who ascends. The word <i>anochi</i> is also found among African populations. Among the Igbo, <i>anochie</i> means "a replacer" or "to replace". Among the Ashante the word <i>anokyi</i> means "Ano Junior" or the "Ano who follows his father." Here we find the idea of succession from father to son. A Nigerian friend says that <i>anochie</i> also means "direct heir to a throne." <br /><br />Clearly, Enoch is associated with royal ascendancy among the early Hebrew. One of Cain’s descendants is called Lamech, another royal title. Lamech is related to the Hebrew <i>melech</i>, which means king. According to the Bible scholar Umberto Cassuto, Lamech is related to the Mesopotamian word <i>lumakku</i>, meaning “priest.” (Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1, p. 233). Two men named Lamech appear in the Genesis 4 and 5 lists of Hebrew ruler-priests (Gen. 4:18 and Gen. 5:25). <br /><br />Cain and his son cannot be among the first people on earth because they already had a royal succession and territories over which they ruled. They are among <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2023/10/why-first-lords-of-earth-matters.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords of the Earth</span></a>.<br /><br />The dogmas of YEC hinge on interpretations that have been demonstrated to be inaccurate. One is Bishop James Ussher's scheme whereby he counted the generations to conclude that the creation of the Earth occurred around 10,000 years ago. Ussher did not recognize that the "begats" of Genesis are not generational. They are regnal. All the men listed are rulers and some of their reigns coincided. Tubal-Cain (Gen. 4) and Methuselah (Gen. 5) ruled at the same time over different territories. <br /><br />YEC assumes, contrary to the biblical evidence, that the line of Cain was wiped out by the flood. However, analysis of the kinship pattern of Genesis 4 and 5 reveals that the descendants of Cain and Seth intermarried (caste endogamy). A feature of their marriage and ascendancy pattern is the naming of the cousin bride’s firstborn son after his maternal grandfather. The pattern is evident in this diagram.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lamech the Elder had a daughter named Naamah. She married her patrilineal cousin Methuselah. This marriage took place c. 4300 B.C. <br /><br /><br /><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5uG4QvrAitiZHdQbBsy0Fw9Zm4SBZenmA0TGi94HhFsFIUHMXttW0ngMxY61uiZYwDaM3_VUi1QqVHQhgQw47z_KViSjrJlaRlfVefPeDaN1pGjipLMJc-JB9YiyL9q97p1VvciFaZyr7Y6auzbKd0QnQEQ546cn3azKusxI50SzW-jMKXt5Li_WdfA/s400/Lamech%20Segment2png.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="400" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5uG4QvrAitiZHdQbBsy0Fw9Zm4SBZenmA0TGi94HhFsFIUHMXttW0ngMxY61uiZYwDaM3_VUi1QqVHQhgQw47z_KViSjrJlaRlfVefPeDaN1pGjipLMJc-JB9YiyL9q97p1VvciFaZyr7Y6auzbKd0QnQEQ546cn3azKusxI50SzW-jMKXt5Li_WdfA/w432-h281/Lamech%20Segment2png.png" width="432" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>One of their descendants was Nimrod, a Kushite kingdom builder (Gen. 10:<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">6-12). </span>He married a <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2023/12/nimrods-sumerian-wife.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Sumerian princess</span></a> between 3500-3300 B.C. Erech (Uruk) was one of the cities ruled by his father-in-law. Uruk was the largest settlement in Mesopotamia at that time. Settlement at that site began in the Ubaid period (c. 5500-4000 B.C.), that is 7500 years ago, about the time that Young Earth Creationists claim the earth was formed.<br /></div><br />Around 3100 B.C. Uruk may have had 40,000 residents (See Algaze, Guillermo, 2013, "The end of prehistory and the Uruk period" in Crawford, Harriet (ed.), <span style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://www.academia.edu/download/30642661/Algaze_2012.pdf"><span style="color: #990000;">The Sumerian World</span></a> </span>(PDF). London: Routledge. pp. 68–95. <span style="color: #990000;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781138238633">9781138238633</a></span>.)</div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><b>A Better Approach to the Biblical Material</b></div><br />The empirical approach of Biblical Anthropology (a science) contributes to a better understanding of biblical history. Genesis makes it clear that Abraham's ancestors lived in the land of Kush as he descended from the Kushite kingdom builder Nimrod (Gen. 10). Analysis of the kinship pattern of the early Hebrew rulers listed in Genesis 4, 5, 10, 11, 25 and 35 proves they are of the <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">same caste</span></a> and they are historical figures. <br /><br />Adam and Eve lived c. 5000-4800 B.C. in a vast well-watered region called Eden. The Genesis 2 description of this region corresponds to the ancient Fertile Crescent. At this time humans were already globally dispersed. Further, humans were making tools, jewelry, and ritual objects for thousands of years before the time of Adam and Eve.<div><br /></div><div>Nimrod left Kush and established his territory on the Euphrates River c. 3500 B.C. (Gen. 10). That is why we find Abraham living in Mesopotamia. After he relocated to Canaan (around 2000 B.C.), Abraham controlled the water systems at Hebron and Beersheba and had wells in Gerar. We see a gradual movement out of Africa into Mesopotamia and Canaan. (See <a href="https://college-ethics.blogspot.com/2024/01/rulers-of-ancient-water-systems.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Rulers of the Ancient Water Systems</span></a>.)<br /><br />We also see a span of time of at least 3000 years between Adam and Eve and Abraham. The different time periods and cultural contexts of these rulers cannot be made congruent by the final Jewish hands on the Hebrew Scriptures coming after 580 B.C. </div><div><br /></div><div>Consider a Native American chief with a fleet of birch wood canoes controlling trade between villages on the Mississippi in 1720. Fast forward a mere 200 years to 1920 when a river magnate controls commerce on the same river with his fleet of riveted steel ships. Same river, very different contexts. To understand biblical history, we must grapple with these contextual incongruities and the best disciplines to apply in this effort are cultural anthropology, archaeology, molecular genetics, and linguistics. <br /><br /> <br />Related reading: <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-roots-of-gospel-are-in-africa.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Roots of the Gospel are in Africa</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2017/10/artifacts-of-great-antiquity.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Artifacts of Great Antiquity</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2023/12/nimrods-sumerian-wife.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Nimrod's Sumerian Wife</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2013/05/yec-dogma-is-not-biblical.html"><span style="color: #990000;">YEC Dogma is Not Biblical</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2020/10/yecs-silence-on-anthropology.html"><span style="color: #990000;">YEC's Silence on Anthropology</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/08/getting-facts-about-human-origins.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Facts About Human Origins</span></a>; <a href="https://virtueonline.org/young-earth-creationism-hinders-understanding-bible"><span style="color: #990000;">YEC Hinders Understanding of the Bible</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2024/01/think-like-biblical-anthropologist.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Think Like a Biblical Anthropologist</span></a>; <a href="https://edwardlundwall.blogspot.com/2024/02/a-healthy-approach-to-bible.html"><span style="color: #990000;">A Healthy Approach to the Bible</span></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-52848340175778015582023-12-01T10:54:00.011-07:002023-12-08T20:09:17.616-07:00Nimrod's Sumerian Wife<p> </p><p>Dr. Alice C. Linsley</p>Nimrod was a Kushite kingdom builder (Gen. 10:8-11) who left the Nile Valley and established a territory in Mesopotamia. One of his principal cities was Uruk (Erech). He married a daughter of a Sumerian ruler named Asshur. She named their first-born son Asshur, after her father. The word “Assyria” is derived from the royal name Asshur. Asshur the Elder is the son of Shem. Asshur the Younger is the son of Nimrod. <div><br /><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzvslLA3Wh1YqSQP5LNylkaNyhg8_ayNEwFdgPXV7qI-jUOsjviWG1SSTfqcEkdCj7me2ssU-jL4ShtoG8fe9zFE1Bqpp_6DWWSb7wP8Tihdldcq1VWkvQYeeeBTYi-5YH8B4VnUYJblQfNWAKIQohDFLA7golcu3W_-vws6JErVCCELofPGczd_sctPs/s769/Nimrod's%20wife.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="623" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzvslLA3Wh1YqSQP5LNylkaNyhg8_ayNEwFdgPXV7qI-jUOsjviWG1SSTfqcEkdCj7me2ssU-jL4ShtoG8fe9zFE1Bqpp_6DWWSb7wP8Tihdldcq1VWkvQYeeeBTYi-5YH8B4VnUYJblQfNWAKIQohDFLA7golcu3W_-vws6JErVCCELofPGczd_sctPs/w330-h365/Nimrod's%20wife.jpg" width="330" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />The wedding of Asshur’s daughter to Nimrod would have been a grand affair that solidified political relations between the royal families of Nimrod and Asshur. The ceremony probably took place at the palace in Uruk, on a channel of the Euphrates River between 4000-3200 B.C. The site of Uruk (<i>Unug</i> in Sumerian, <i>Erech</i> in Hebrew Torah) is known today as Warka. Settlement at the site began in the Ubaid period (c.5500-4000 B.C.). Uruk was the largest settlement in Mesopotamia at the time that Nimrod ruled. </div></div><div></div><br /><div><div>The name of Nimrod’s wife is not found in the Bible. According to the historian Eusebius, Nimrod's wife was called Semiramis or Sammur-amat. However, this queen lived long after the time of Nimrod. She was the wife of the Neo-Assyrian ruler Shamshi-Adad V (r. 824-811 B.C). She was the queen regent between 811 and 806 B.C., holding the throne for her young son Adad Nirari III until he reached maturity.<br /><br />Given what is known about the marriage patterns of the early Hebrew, it is likely that Nimrod's Sumerian wife was a cousin and that they shared common ancestors. That explains why Nimrod’s firstborn was called "Asshur" after his maternal grandfather, a Sumerian ruler. This feature of the early Hebrew marriage and ascendancy pattern is shown in the diagram above. The ruler's cousin bride named her firstborn son after her father.<br /><br />The practice of marrying high-status women to form political alliances and to become established in a new territory is illustrated by Nimrod’s marriage to a Sumerian princess. Nimrod was a Kushite kingdom builder (Gen. 10) and his marriage to Asshur’s daughter is evidence of the close connection between the rulers of the Nile Valley and the rulers of Mesopotamia, two early riverine civilizations.<br /><br />By the time Nimrod married a daughter of Asshur, long-distance trade had become a source of wealth for the Mesopotamian lords and ladies. Ships coming from Bahrain (<a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2023/04/bronze-age-populations.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Sumerian "Dilmun"</span></a>) brought wool, gold, copper, lapis lazuli, and carnelian to the Sumerian cities of Ur, Nippur, and Uruk. As early as 7000 B.C., the island of Bahrain served as a major trade depot with its own commercial seal. Ancient documents speak of Dilmun's trade in gold, silver, ivory, sesame oil, wool, carnelian beads, lapis lazuli, and copper. One document details a cargo of eighteen tons of refined copper purchased in Dilmun. Dilmun was a maritime connection between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.<br /><br />Sumerian ships brought cargo to Dilmun and to port cities in the Indus valley. Ships sailed southeast on the Tigris or Euphrates to the Persian Gulf, making stops at the port city of Dilmun, passing the Oman Peninsula, and entering the Arabian Sea. From there the ships sailed northeast on the Indus River to Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. Trade in lapis lazuli and carnelian beads ran between Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and Afghanistan as early as 4000 B.C. Indus seals with Harappan inscriptions have been found in Mesopotamia. Indus pottery and seals have been found along the maritime routes between the Indian subcontinent and Mesopotamia.<br /><br />The Sumerian city of Erech is mentioned in connection with Nimrod in Genesis 10:10. As early as 5000 B.C., Eridu was an important trade center in southern Mesopotamia. The Sumerian King List cites Eridu as the “city of the first kings”, stating, “After the kingship descended from heaven, the kingship was in Eridu”.<br /><br />Archaeologists discovered a 4,000-year-old boat at Uruk. The boat was constructed out of organic materials, probably marsh reeds, and covered in bitumen, a tar-like substance used for waterproofing. This technique was used in the construction of Noah’s ark (Gen. 6:14). <br /><br />This was a period of monumental construction by the Mesopotamian rulers. The ziggurat at Uruk was a pyramidal structure that dates to around 4000 B.C. It was dedicated to the High God who was called Anu. Anu’s symbol was the sun. The White Temple of Anu was built on top of it between 3500-3000 B.C. Anu’s counterpart was Ra, the High God of the Nilotic Annu people.<br /><br />Asshur and his royal household enjoyed opulent riches and were served by craftsmen of great skill. These artisans crafted ritual objects to be used by the royal priests. These include the <a href="https://smarthistory.org/warka-vase/"><span style="color: #990000;">Warka Vase</span></a>, the marble <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask_of_Warka"><span style="color: #990000;">Mask of Warka</span></a>, the earliest known naturalistic sculpture of the human face.<span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 14px;"> </span>The mask is also known as the "Lady of Uruk" and was found in the temple precinct of Inanna in Uruk.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjigHMjd3II8inB71WGt6PF6-26M_KdMpn51yZFTkJCp44NOyn9d-hUhEgi-jYFgDCnovL8BYCBHpQmuUXSog_cJXa-XYdUULpmiHLPd_bLpdgQHAzxLc9Ml7VG_7rnGjIwGtkohfX_loarLu-V27UaqK5385DdMOb_qBWv0QGISDblYLIUldCDzceZaLE/s396/Inanna%20receiving_offerings_on_the_Uruk_Vase,_c3200-3000_BC.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjigHMjd3II8inB71WGt6PF6-26M_KdMpn51yZFTkJCp44NOyn9d-hUhEgi-jYFgDCnovL8BYCBHpQmuUXSog_cJXa-XYdUULpmiHLPd_bLpdgQHAzxLc9Ml7VG_7rnGjIwGtkohfX_loarLu-V27UaqK5385DdMOb_qBWv0QGISDblYLIUldCDzceZaLE/s320/Inanna%20receiving_offerings_on_the_Uruk_Vase,_c3200-3000_BC.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Inanna receiving offerings from a priest.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><br /></div>The Sacred Vase of Warka (shown above) is the oldest known carved-stone ritual vessel (c.3200 B.C.). It was one of a pair of alabaster vases. It was discovered in 1934 by German excavators in the temple of Inanna in Uruk. The image on the Vase of Warka shows Inanna receiving offerings from a priest with a shaved body, a practice typical of the priests of the Nile Valley.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nimrod's wife likely was a devotee of Inanna, the Sumerian version of Hathor. Inanna, like Hathor, was often shown wearing a headdress of bull horns. Both goddesses appear to have been venerated as early as 4000 B.C. Hathor's worship began long before Egypt became a political entity.<br /><br />Nimrod's wife would have had authority over at least one water shrine dedicated to Inanna. High status women had administrative responsibilities at the water shrines. The water shrines were under the control of regional lords, but visitors were welcome to drink the water, and to take a ritual bath (similar to the <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-mikveh/"><span style="color: #990000;">Jewish mikveh</span></a>). Women came to these places seeking to conceive and deliver healthy children. They prayed and made offerings to Inanna/Hathor. </div><div><div><br /></div><div>The Sumerians and the early cattle herding Nilotes have so much in common that it is difficult to distinguish between them. It is likely that the rulers of ancient Sumer had more in common culturally and linguistically with the peoples of East Africa and Arabia than with the peoples of southern Europe. The Sumerian and Akkadian languages share many common roots and Akkadian is the oldest known Semitic language.<br /><br />Nimrod's homeland was in East Africa. He is designated a son of Kush in Genesis 10:8. As a <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/06/sent-away-sons.html"><span style="color: #990000;">sent-away son</span></a>, he established a territory of his own in Mesopotamia by marrying a Sumerian princess. This couple enjoyed a life of opulence and prestige. They were among the <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2023/07/please-buy-my-book.html"><span style="color: #990000;">first lords and ladies</span></a>, and people of great influence and power in the ancient world.<br /><br /><br /><div>Related reading: <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2008/06/biblical-kinship-symmetrical-pattern.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of the Biblical Hebrew</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2007/04/brides-naming-prerogative.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Cousin Bride's Naming Prerogative</span></a>, <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Hebrew Were a Caste</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2023/01/cousin-brides-among-hebrew.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Cousin Brides Among the Hebrew<br /></span></a></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-18890761323477319292023-11-25T13:55:00.004-07:002023-11-26T15:46:51.921-07:00Cutting Through the Textual Layers <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIxxes-eE-EpvvNCgIhAmPCBl9uDgiGmQX5XbsD7ymFBBL236P1TRoU8W66VO0rKP82zWTWbucxIsky0pAT7YWfdxhBGR82uw4SToetT-D-TNw0DoBbECDDdMUcx9zGcRq3qe52XVlYs_OFDH3hCmIWiF3hvqHACSjpBGD8q-nINxdiCn4SGbMyLUlIDE/s320/tree%20of%20life%20Egypt.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="320" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIxxes-eE-EpvvNCgIhAmPCBl9uDgiGmQX5XbsD7ymFBBL236P1TRoU8W66VO0rKP82zWTWbucxIsky0pAT7YWfdxhBGR82uw4SToetT-D-TNw0DoBbECDDdMUcx9zGcRq3qe52XVlYs_OFDH3hCmIWiF3hvqHACSjpBGD8q-nINxdiCn4SGbMyLUlIDE/s1600/tree%20of%20life%20Egypt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Dr. Alice C. Linsley<br /><br />A reader has asked: <i>If there are several "layers" of "Adam", would there also be several layers of Eve, Eden, Tree, and Serpent?</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div>The term "layers" is helpful if we imagine the growth rings of a tree. The oldest rings are near the center of the tree. The layers are visible when we cut through the tree. That is what the discipline of Biblical Anthropology does using the canonical Scriptures. It seeks to identify the oldest layers and to use that data to gain a clearer picture of the social structure of the early Hebrew.<div><br /></div>Biblical anthropology asks about antecedents. It explores what comes before what is described in the text. What events preceded the events recounted? It seeks to understand the cultural context of the earliest persons named in Genesis: Adam, Eve, Cain and Seth, etc. It is concerned with ancestors and received traditions. From what earlier context did certain practices develop? What traces of ancient memory can be uncovered?<div><br />The biblical text always speaks of <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2014/10/something-older.html"><span style="color: #990000;">something older</span></a>, some prior action that solicits a response from later generations. The later generations are enjoined to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There is a thick cultural web surrounding the God of the early biblical Hebrew. </div><div><br /></div><div>That context is not apparent to the casual reader because it is hidden behind layers of <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2023/09/distinguishing-midrash-from-historical.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Jewish midrash</span></a>, denominational interpretations, and theological typologies. The tree in the midst of the garden is taken as a type of the Cross or as the Tree of Life. The serpent is taken as the usurper of God's authority, the Devil, or God's adversary, Satan. </div><div><br /></div><div>The tree of life and the serpent are ancient mythological motifs and are found in many of the world's religions. They are clues as to the riverine contexts of the early Hebrew, devotees of God Father and God's son. The early Hebrew believed that a woman of their <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">ruler-priest caste</span></a> would bring forth the Son/Seed of God who would crush the serpent's head (Gen. 3:15). The enemy of God bruises the foot of the Woman’s Son, but the Son crushes his head. That expectation that was expressed around 4000 years ago: "Horus has shattered (crushed) the mouth of the serpent with the sole of his foot" (The Pyramid Texts, Utterance 388). Horus is the Greek for the ancient Egyptian HR, meaning "Most High One".</div><div><br /></div><div>Biblical anthropology insists that the texts be read empirically. The reader identifies data that makes the earlier contexts clearer. <span face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-size: 14.3px;">T</span>he mythological Adam and Eve are posed as the first parents (<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apical_ancestor"><span style="color: #990000;">apical ancestors</span></a>). This is consistent with many African origin stories. Among the Gikuyu, the first man and women were called Gikuyu and Mumbi. However, these are not the first humans on earth, but the founders of the Gikuyu people. Likewise, Adam and Eve are the founders of the clans that come to be identified as <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2019/11/horite-mounds.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Horite and Sethite Hebrew</span></a>. These are Abraham's ancestors. <br /></div><div><br /></div>Abraham is the father of many peoples, an icon of faith, and <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-calling-of-abraham.html"><span style="color: #990000;">a sent away son</span></a> to whom God delivered a territory in ancient Edom. The sending away of non-ascendant sons is a feature of the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the biblical Hebrew. That feature drove their dispersion out of Africa. <div><br /></div><div>The Bible designates Abraham a Hebrew, but he was not the first Hebrew. The Hebrew ruler-priest caste existed before Abraham's time (c.2100 B.C.). The term "Hebrew" comes from the ancient Akkadian word for priest, <i>Abru</i>. Akkadian is the oldest known Semitic language and the language of Nimrod's territory. Genesis 10 designates Nimrod as a Kushite kingdom builder. Here we have evidence for the movement of the early Hebrew out of Africa into Mesopotamia. <div><br /></div><div>The early Hebrew named in the Genesis 4, 5, 10 and 11 lists were rulers over territories in Eden. The term Eden derives from the Akkadian term <i>edinu</i>, which refers to a fertile plain or a flood plain. In Genesis 2:11-14, Eden is described as a <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2009/03/edens-flood-east-and-west.html"><span style="color: #990000;">vast well-watered region</span></a> that extended from the sources of the Nile River in Ethiopia and Uganda to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Some of the world's oldest cultures are found in this Fertile Crescent. However, the biblical description of Eden comes long after the time of Adam and Eve. It is a kindling of ancient memory.</div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKVoUuJHhQBtqpYdP7yJU1pyfXzrucmr8OncZjQ8qXltuZL8Dg9fcvQsIQR_JftphfwblhfKOopzIgyLfU3qcR-vnxajFlmL55Z4JslNByft1Lv7MzlQcmDH8dQBoyhujPgLU0pU5m0dI9My4QUtDx98c2J9N5-qzzhXQPxyYKPTDGf0x8MuYejWjg6A/s1500/Fertile%20Crescent%20Breasted.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1222" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKVoUuJHhQBtqpYdP7yJU1pyfXzrucmr8OncZjQ8qXltuZL8Dg9fcvQsIQR_JftphfwblhfKOopzIgyLfU3qcR-vnxajFlmL55Z4JslNByft1Lv7MzlQcmDH8dQBoyhujPgLU0pU5m0dI9My4QUtDx98c2J9N5-qzzhXQPxyYKPTDGf0x8MuYejWjg6A/w339-h307/Fertile%20Crescent%20Breasted.webp" width="339" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><br />In Genesis, Adam's wife is called Hava (חוה) which is descriptive of her role as the birther (Gen. 3:20). Adam describes Eve as bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, suggesting that she and he have the same father, as did Sarah and Abraham. <br /><br />As Adam's half-sister, Eve would have produced Adam's heir, which is Cain, the firstborn son. This may explain the royal affix -itti- in Genesis 4:1, where Eve claims to have acquired a man or a ruler with God's help. <br /><br />E. A. Speiser (Anchor Bible Commentary on Genesis, p. 30) believes that the word <i>qaniti</i> (Gen. 4:1) is in assonance with "Cain" (Qayin). However, the word that appears in Genesis 4:1 is Akkadian, not Hebrew. Iti or itti is an Akkadian affix that appears with rulers’ names, and in reference to deities. For example, <i>itti šarrim</i> means "with the king." Another example: i<i>tti-Bel-balatu</i> means "with Bel there is life." <br /><br /><i>Itti</i> appears in royal names such as Nefertitti. Even today among the Oromo of the Horn of Africa the affix designates persons of high social standing: Kaartuumitti, Finfinneetti, and Dimashqitti.</div><div><br /><div>Eve apparently recognized her firstborn son as a ruler. Yet Cain was banished or sent away from his parents' homeland. Genesis 4:15 states that he moved "east of Eden". If his homeland was in the Nile Valley, that means Cain moved into Arabia. His descendants are found in the land of Kenan/Kenites, which is the land of Canaan, or כנען, pronounced kena'an.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>His brother Seth ruled over a territory in the Nile Valley which was called the Land of Seti. Cain and Seth built cities, had musical instruments, worked stone and metal, and <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/07/belief-in-high-god.html"><span style="color: #990000;">worshiped the High God</span></a>. Their descendants intermarried (as shown in the diagram) and dispersed widely as early kingdom builders.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRpjwqrm_OVLVn-ilA9L1Eq1uyvlSkKP23z3wBdsKfQbgoRxnSUEGiR7A04oASpoVCdyAoUUahwIycCYbW6DTKv3Kd2-4_6HFhZhSFLmgfinYfOTrSk0ruefotoeDvHLte7HkltPoIhsL1Xv7lo_qMkJGe803WyPgwbY3ADKP44jLhf2jyLNvF2n2MWhA/s400/Lamech%20Segment2png.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="400" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRpjwqrm_OVLVn-ilA9L1Eq1uyvlSkKP23z3wBdsKfQbgoRxnSUEGiR7A04oASpoVCdyAoUUahwIycCYbW6DTKv3Kd2-4_6HFhZhSFLmgfinYfOTrSk0ruefotoeDvHLte7HkltPoIhsL1Xv7lo_qMkJGe803WyPgwbY3ADKP44jLhf2jyLNvF2n2MWhA/w425-h302/Lamech%20Segment2png.png" width="425" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Lamech the Elder with his two wives (Gen. 4) and Lamech the Younger, his grandson (Gen. 5).</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div><div><br /></div><div>The biblical data identifies the historical Adam and Eve as founding parents of the early Hebrew lines descending from Cain and Seth. Because the descendants of Cain and Seth intermarried (caste endogamy), all their Hebrew descendants could claim them and their unnamed wives as their common ancestors (cognatic descent). </div><div><br /></div>The ascendant rulers took half-sisters as their first wives and later in life took patrilineal cousins as their second wives. <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2009/01/sarahs-story.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Sarah</span></a> was Abraham's half-sister wife (Gen. Sarah enjoyed the life of a wealthy, highborn woman. Her name is derived from the <a href="http://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2017/10/akkadian-lexicon.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Akkadian word</span></a> for queen: <i>šarratum</i>. In Genesis 20:12, Abraha explains that he and Sarah had the same father but different mothers. Their father Terah had two wives, <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2018/04/horite-hebrew-rulers-with-two-wives.html"><span style="color: #990000;">as did many Hebrew rulers</span></a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Keturah was Abraham's cousin bride. She bore him six sons and an unknown number of daughters. The two wives lived in separate settlements and those settlements were <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-wives-settlements-mark-boundaries.html"><span style="color: #990000;">instrumental in maintaining territorial boundaries</span></a>. However, the birth of two firstborn sons raises the question: “Which is the ruler’s proper heir?” Among the early Hebrew the proper heir was the firstborn son of the first wife, usually a half-sister. That is why Isaac was Abraham's proper heir, and like his father, Isaac was <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2014/09/isaacs-wealth.html"><span style="color: #990000;">a man of great wealth</span></a>. He ruled over his father's territory in Edom (Idumea), <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2014/03/edo-edom-and-idumea.html"><span style="color: #990000;">the land of red people</span></a>.<div><br /></div><div>Analysis of the early Hebrew kinship pattern provides verification that these were historical persons. Their <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2008/06/biblical-kinship-symmetrical-pattern.html"><span style="color: #990000;"><span>kinship pattern</span></span></a> is authentic. If it were not so, it could not be diagrammed, and that kinship pattern would not be consistent through the biblical texts. Some have offered the proofless argument that the structure of the king lists of Genesis 4 and 5 reflects a literary device. Biblical anthropology has demonstrated that the kinship of Genesis 4 and 5 "begets" is the same pattern found with Ham and Shem, Abraham and Nahor, and many other <span>Hebrew rulers named in the Bible</span>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Kinship patterns are highly resistant to change, especially among castes. The early Hebrew were <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">a ruler-priest caste</span></a> with a distinctive marriage and ascendancy pattern. That pattern can be discerned by cutting through the layers, using an empirical method.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Related reading: <a href="https://www.academia.edu/7194275/Genesis_in_Anthropological_Perspective"><span style="color: #990000;">Genesis in Anthropological Perspective</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2020/04/three-portraits-of-adam.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Three Portraits of Adam</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2019/11/horite-mounds.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Horite and Sethite Mounds</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-father-of-adam-and-eve.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Father of Adam and Eve</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2023/07/dont-miss-this-book.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords of the Earth: An Anthropological Study</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2017/01/contextual-incongruities-in-genesis.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Contextual Incongruities in Genesis</span></a></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-46952106470024445392023-11-04T09:05:00.004-07:002023-11-04T09:31:49.404-07:00Melchizedek and Abraham Were Kinsmen<p> </p>In this post I respond to a friend's question about Melchizedek's relationship to Abraham.<br /><br /><br /><i>Alice, <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2012/03/who-was-melchizedek.html"><span style="color: #990000;">on your blog</span></a> you stated, "Melchizedek's earthly father was probably Sheba the Elder whose ancient royal line rivaled the House of David (II Sam. 20). The omission of Melchizedek's ancestry in the Hebrew Scriptures is consistent with the common practice of eliminating elements of history that do not serve the Jewish narrative. Omissions about ancestry and kinship, and aspersions cast upon some of the early Hebrew rulers is motivated by political expediency."<br /><br /><br />Do you have any supporting evidence for the assertion that Melchizedek's father was probably Sheba the Elder?</i><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /><br />The data required to understand the relationship of Melchizedek and Abraham is found in Genesis 14 and in an understanding of the social structure of the biblical Hebrew, <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">a ruler-priest caste</span></a>. <br /><br /><br />1. Melchizedek was the ruler-priest of the high place that came to be called Jerusalem. The Hebrew were a caste of ruler-priests and Melchizedek fits that description. Melchizedek means "righteous king". He is remembered because he was a high king over lesser regional rulers (vassals) such as Abraham. Abraham's relationship to Melchizedek fits the Suzerain-vassal pattern. A vassal holds land on conditions of homage and allegiance. For the Hebrew, the allegiance was based on blood ties.<br /><br /><br />2. As I show in my book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1961282968/"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords of the Earth: An Anthropological Study</span></a>, the early Hebrew were widely dispersed in the service of kingdom builders who established strongholds at elevated sites near permanent water sources. That describes Jerusalem in Abraham's time.<br /><br /><br />3. The narrative about Melchizedek has as its background a battle between regional kings. After the battle Melchizedek comes to Abraham with bread and wine, and blessed Abraham in the name of the <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/07/belief-in-high-god.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Most High God</span></a>. It is likely that this activity represents a rite of cleansing from blood guilt. <br /><br /><br />4. In that narrative, Abraham presents Melchizedek with a tenth (tithe) of the booty. This suggests that Abraham was subject to Melchizedek. Melchizedek was likely the high king over many of the regional rulers such as Abraham. <br /><br /><br />5. <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2009/05/horite-territory.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Abraham's territory</span></a> extended on a north-south axis between Hebron (Sarah's settlement) and Beersheba (Keturah's settlement). Hebron is only 19 miles south of Jerusalem. It is likely that the entire region was Hebrew territory since the early Hebrew land holdings were extensive at that time. Canaan was the crossroads by which these early <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2013/05/genesis-on-ancient-kingdom-builders.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hebrew ruler-priests dispersed</span></a>. </div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /><br />6. The Hebrew alliances were based on endogamous marriages. Therefore, it is not far-fetched to consider that Abraham and Melchizedek were kinsmen. The relationship of Abraham and Melchizedek appears to be through the very ancient royal house of Sheba. This is my hypothesis based on the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the biblical Hebrew which I have identified using kinship analysis.</div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /><br />Melchizedek was probably the maternal uncle of Abraham's cousin wife, Keturah. Keturah resided at the Well of Sheba and was of the royal house of Sheba. About a 1000 years later, a man called Sheba contested David's claim to the throne (2 Samuel 20).</div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxaw5Votjg2gGbug9yFxDvLZ0_YyUrFylOt8tConYUN1aY0nUs300H76_7k4UJfjqu06jxDo-IDqh_T8iDOOP3hFJwTGSg4HuWholdVKO0XfgF8UYgYEmnYHAwrQCq3FpL1mVVXyqq-v3ycrlMatrTb34H58nwqlkpAMB_YJMMQU2K_ZeyE3OBEEA6Vs/s794/Figure%205%20Melchizedek.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="794" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxaw5Votjg2gGbug9yFxDvLZ0_YyUrFylOt8tConYUN1aY0nUs300H76_7k4UJfjqu06jxDo-IDqh_T8iDOOP3hFJwTGSg4HuWholdVKO0XfgF8UYgYEmnYHAwrQCq3FpL1mVVXyqq-v3ycrlMatrTb34H58nwqlkpAMB_YJMMQU2K_ZeyE3OBEEA6Vs/w424-h272/Figure%205%20Melchizedek.jpg" width="424" /></b></a></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div>The Bible makes it clear that the people of Sheba were Abraham's kinsmen. Genesis 10:7 identifies Sheba as a son of the Kushite ruler Raamah, one of Abraham's ancestors. Genesis 10:28 states that Sheba was a son of Joktan, a son of Eber who was a descendant of both Ham and Shem, <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2009/03/sheba-lines-of-ham-and-shem.html"><span style="color: #990000;">since their lines intermarried</span></a> (caste endogamy). Genesis 25:3 notes that Abraham and Keturah had a grandson named Sheba. </div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><br /><br /> Related reading: <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/07/belief-in-high-god.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Belief in the High God</span></a>; <a href="https://asa-cwis.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-genesis-rulers-through-lens-of.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Genesis Rulers Through the Lens of Anthropology</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Hebrew Were a Caste</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2012/03/who-was-melchizedek.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Who Was Melchizedek?</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2009/01/sarahs-story.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Sarah's Story<br /></span></a><br /></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-85173642050097285802023-10-16T11:46:00.000-07:002023-10-16T11:46:05.391-07:00Why "The First Lords of the Earth" Matters<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWcMUik5X3OgCseTuWw5UtXGArSZ5E47y6TsxLH1iODs0dDZ8p7DEy6MslM_jf8VTzzaUGYcn6tS8lZ4llB9C8zvIRa5Yk6vCi-2aCzuNc1IE4e3k8DVuoJ5Y8yqXHdpZu4qDP2wE2mz7flQfP-I8i2xBjqktTTlZbbNBLbRJUWgpbLaJ1q-3MApU-Fg/s363/Book%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="363" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWcMUik5X3OgCseTuWw5UtXGArSZ5E47y6TsxLH1iODs0dDZ8p7DEy6MslM_jf8VTzzaUGYcn6tS8lZ4llB9C8zvIRa5Yk6vCi-2aCzuNc1IE4e3k8DVuoJ5Y8yqXHdpZu4qDP2wE2mz7flQfP-I8i2xBjqktTTlZbbNBLbRJUWgpbLaJ1q-3MApU-Fg/w426-h290/Book%20cover.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Dr. Tim Daughtry, a Christian Apologist, reviews <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1961282968/"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords of the Earth: An Anthropological Study</span></a></p><br />The book of Genesis is typically read and interpreted by Christians and Jews in one of two ways. In one approach, Genesis is treated as a literal and accurate description of human origins and early human history. In this literalist view, Adam and Eve were not only real people, but they were also the first people on Earth. In the other approach, Genesis is read as a series of folk stories and myths that reveal important truths about humanity when interpreted allegorically. In this view, Adam and Even are characters in the creation story rather than real people who existed in history. The important point in this mode of interpretation is not that Adam and Eve were real historical characters but that that the story reveals important truths about human pride, disobedience, estrangement from God, and the hope of reconciliation.<br /><br />In <i>The First Lords of the Earth</i>, Alice Linsley offers a fresh perspective through the lens of Biblical anthropology. Drawing from over forty years of research into Genesis along with scientific studies of ancient cultures, symbols, beliefs, and linguistic analysis, Linsley makes the case that the important figures of Genesis were not only real people but were members of the early Hebrew caste of ruler-priests who moved from Africa into the Fertile Crescent and Ancient Near East. As just one example, she makes the case that the Adam and Eve of Genesis were not the first humans, but neither were they mythical archetypes. Instead, Adam was a real ruler who lived in a vast area around the Nile River and whose sons Cain and Seth married the daughters of Enoch, who lived at the same time. The book’s exploration of early Hebrew kinship, marriage, and ascendancy patterns places these and later Biblical characters in an evidence-based historical context and provides rich anthropological context for the Scriptural accounts of the lives of later figures such as Abraham, Noah, and Joseph. The title of the book derives from the anthropological evidence that these and other early figures in Scripture were powerful ruler-priests with extensive domains in the lands described in the Bible.<br /><br />The book offers a detailed look at a number of factors of early Hebrew culture, but one of the most interesting was the evidence that belief in God Father and God Son, along with a Messianic hope, was an important theme in Hebrew thought going back 6000 years that foreshadowed the beliefs of Christianity. Linsley makes a powerful case that the foundations of Christianity were present in early Horite and Sethite Hebrew beliefs that were present long before Abraham’s time.<br /><br /><i>The First Lords of the Earth</i> is an excellent resource for a wide range of readers, including those interested in early Hebrew history for its own sake and for those who want to deepen their understanding of Scripture. <br /><br /> <br />END<div><br /> <br />Related Reading: <a href="https://college-ethics.blogspot.com/2023/08/first-lords-and-their-authority.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords and Their Authority</span></a>; <a href="https://justgreatthought.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-first-lords-and-messianic.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords and Messianic Expectation<br /></span></a> <br /><br /> </div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-83291773601801948162023-09-22T07:52:00.008-07:002024-01-23T07:19:11.359-07:00Female Tavern Keepers<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgykvB_uZPXJGq7CaMcb1fh1_EBM5knv7kWC7eVeCj8TcOWrJec03hJjbaVf4AZfwffgJPWvWKYlAoMv3n0MlR-59elcpuHtOXUDqOfHnKcwfSOsmKuPOUO17JLj2e1xBd7sjyIuWN1etICqtIPaEpWRCBYPfgl0xvjQA1qLjbA6_Tx725gwyhUOEgALYI/s1200/imrs.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgykvB_uZPXJGq7CaMcb1fh1_EBM5knv7kWC7eVeCj8TcOWrJec03hJjbaVf4AZfwffgJPWvWKYlAoMv3n0MlR-59elcpuHtOXUDqOfHnKcwfSOsmKuPOUO17JLj2e1xBd7sjyIuWN1etICqtIPaEpWRCBYPfgl0xvjQA1qLjbA6_Tx725gwyhUOEgALYI/s320/imrs.webp" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The 5,000-year-old tavern site found at Lagash in Iraq. (Lagash Archaeological Project)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Dr. Alice C. Linsley</p><p><br /></p><p>The Book of Genesis recounts numerous journeys. Cain relocated "east of Eden". Nimrod left the Nile Valley and established a territory in Mesopotamia. Abraham left Haran and established a territory between Hebron and Beersheba. Jacob left Beersheba and traveled to Padan-Aram. Travel necessitated carrying provisions of food and water, weapons for defense, medicinal herbs and ointments, and clothing. For security, people traveled in large groups. The caravans stopped at caravansaries and taverns with mud wall enclosures for the animals. These were located at water systems such as rivers, oases, and wells. Some were water shrines and the taverns provided hospitality to those who came to the shrines.</p><p>Genesis does not provide many details of the journeys of Abraham and Jacob. The texts are focused more on the destinations than on the means of arriving there. However, archaeologists and historians have gathered significant information about the routes that were traveled and the types of resting places along the way.</p><p>Abraham would have known the "Via Maris" that linked Egypt with ancient Syria, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia. He also would have traveled the "King's Highway" that connected the Nile Valley with Mesopotamia. It ran from Egypt across the Sinai Peninsula to Aqaba, then turned northward across <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transjordan_(region)"><span style="color: #990000;">Transjordan</span></a>, to Damascus and the Euphrates River. Rahab's city of Jericho stood on one of the few roads connecting the Via Maris and the King's Highway. Her tavern would have been a prosperous business.<br /><br />Taverns were usually near the city gates and were attached to the city walls with casemate cells as rooms. This sheds light on the probable arrangement of Rahab's tavern. In fortified towns such as Beersheba, Khirbet Qeiyafa, and Jericho, houses attached to the city walls had casemate foundations. Rahab’s tavern likely had casemates in which she stored provisions. Jericho’s casemate walls were engineered to prevent collapse in the event of an earthquake. The casemates were constructed of two parallel walls with perpendicular braces. Some of the casemate cells were filled with dirt to increase stability. An earthquake might cause an individual casemate to collapse without causing the rest of the wall to fall. This design is found in Nubian funerary architecture (3000-2000 B.C.) and in Egyptian fortifications of the Middle Kingdom (2040-1782 B.C.).</p><p>Female tavern keepers such as Rahab were women of independent means. Before Abraham's time (c.2000 B.C.), women of high status owned and managed taverns. The Sumerian King Lists name Kug-Bau as a "tavern keeper". She was the single ruler of the Third Dynasty of Kish (r. 2500- 2330 B.C.) The King List refers to her as <i>lugal</i> (king), not as <i>eresh</i> (queen consort). She was deified centuries later as the protector of the city of Carchemish. She was known as Ku-Baba. The prefix Ku means holy or righteous.</p>There is a connection between female tavern keepers and high-status women who were dedicated to the temples. Highly trained temple dancers gained royal favor by performing sacred mudras and playing musical instruments before the deity. As early as 4000 B.C. beer was offered in the inner sanctum of the temple to gladden the deity’s heart. Some temple women were adept at brewing beer, a skill needed to operate taverns. These women became wealthy and established themselves in business. The tavern was the place that they could use their skills as dancers, musicians, and beer brewers. <a href="https://escholarship.org/content/qt883099sq/qt883099sq.pdf"><span style="color: #990000;">Nubian female dancers</span></a> participated in ritual performances at sacred festivals in honor of Hathor, the mother of Horus. These festivals included the consumption of beer.<br /><br /><p>Related reading: <a href="https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/ancient-mesopotamian-tavern-discovered/"><span style="color: #990000;">Ancient Mesopotamian Tavern Located</span></a>; <a href="https://www.academia.edu/106884552/Auja_Foqa_A_Desert_Fortress_on_Ancient_Israels_Eastern_Frontier_Ben_Shlomo_and_Hawkins"><span style="color: #990000;">'Auja Foqa A Desert Fortress on Israel's Eastern Frontier</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2023/12/nimrods-sumerian-wife.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Nimrod's Sumerian Wife</span></a></p><p><br /></p>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-99189991960631982023-08-30T16:31:00.013-07:002023-08-30T20:00:59.639-07:00Response to a Review of "The First Lords"<p><br /></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1Tqq2ZVmThRcnegUfiR30nzEFGlaO2o1PEP5QLPJfDoVX1_0MOGsNr7GxEmSpC2HYcTrGpBxZ3jQN6Igia44KgNZElMVvxSv1mJtU5gEf27EV36sk8OD0U-GVjrFckdMfik-zzZNMdrF19MpIuTJPK_KLypx8_nNfAtK5zC6NE8WFQwZO-JpLNdUIY0/s3469/Book%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2625" data-original-width="3469" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1Tqq2ZVmThRcnegUfiR30nzEFGlaO2o1PEP5QLPJfDoVX1_0MOGsNr7GxEmSpC2HYcTrGpBxZ3jQN6Igia44KgNZElMVvxSv1mJtU5gEf27EV36sk8OD0U-GVjrFckdMfik-zzZNMdrF19MpIuTJPK_KLypx8_nNfAtK5zC6NE8WFQwZO-JpLNdUIY0/w342-h267/Book%20cover.jpg" width="342" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><p></p><b>Review at Amazon</b> by "The Adawm"<p><br />I have been following Dr. Alice C. Linsley's work since 2009. Since that time I casually read some of her articles that she post on her blog. I have found her work to be fascinating, and it will take many in the Judeo-Christian worldview on a journey beyond your typical Sunday school sessions. I do admire her work but some areas are highly speculative, however, she will most likely say that her work is unfamiliar to the less astute.</p><p>An example of such speculative story telling is that Adahm (Adam) was a 'Hebrew,' suggesting that there were 'Hebrew' people in existence way before Abraham (?) I wonder how many scholars would agree with her claim? Her work also attempts to link the Hapiru with the Hebrew, her reasoning is that they are one and the same people.<br /><br />Well, according to Dr. David A. Falk who is an Egyptologist, the word 'Hapiru' has a pretty messy history when you start looking in the 18th century BC text. The word, "Hapiru" isn't an ethnic identifier nor is it a tribal group. It's a class identifier and reflects a social group, so anyone can be labeled a "Hapiru" since a person's class and social status can vary with their ethnicity.<br /><br />Hapiru has been linked to being an mercenary, refugee, outcast, foreigner, plunder, and raiders. Many Hapiru were Amorites as many Israelites were in fact Amorites. And there is an Amorite, Israelite and Hapiru overlap that does exist, however, not all Israelites are Amorites.<br /><br />According to the Exodus narrative, a mix-multitude left Egypt (Khemet), which would have included many ethnic groups such as: Nubians, Libyans, Asiatics, Egyptians (Khemetians) and Cushites (Ethiopians).</p><p>As Dr. David A. Falk has stated: some Israelites were Amorites, and some Israelites were both Hapiru and Amorites. A Hapiru is not a tribal marker, marking one's ethnicity but it is a marker of a social class. Hapiru persons have been found as East Semitic, West Semitic, Hurrian (Horite) and Amoritic.<br /><br />There is an etymological association with the word Hapiru and Hebrew. But the link is immaterial since 'Hapiru' represents a class and "Hebrew" (or Hebrew Israelite) represents a blood related ethnicity.<br />Linsley also claims that there were two divisions of the Hebrew caste, (1) the Horite Hebrew (2) the Sethite Hebrew which she identifies with Egyptian (Khemetian) Cosmology.<br /><br />For many in the Judeo-Christian sphere this forecasting can be damaging to their theological and doctrinal creeds. My opinion of the matter is just the same as with the Hapiru and Hebrew controversy, that is, there is in fact some overlap that exists.<br /><br />According to the Exodus narrative there was a mixed multitude that left. The problem with the Exodus story is the fact that there has not been any archaeological evidence that confirms this story outside of the biblical narrative. All current data points to the Ancient Hebrew Israelites as native Canaanites.<br /><br />Regardless though, I still find her work to be quite fascinating. Thank you Alice C. Linsley<span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"> </span>for your 40+ years.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>My response</b></p>It appears that this reviewer did not read <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1961282968/"><span style="color: #990000;">the book</span></a> very carefully. He does not address any of the main points of the book.<div><br /></div><div>He clearly has read some of my blog posts where I have "speculated" (along with others) that the English word <i>Hebrew</i> is related to the word <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2015/05/habiru-hapiru-apiru-or-hebrew.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Habiru/Hapiru</span></a>. However, in "The First Lords of the Earth" I state that the word Hebrew is derived from the ancient Akkadian word for priest which is "abru", and the caste was called "abrutu". Akkadian is the oldest known Semitic language, and it reveals that the <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hebrew ruler-priest caste</span></a> existed before the time of Abraham (c.2000 B.C.). Akkadian was the language of Nimrod's kingdom. Nimrod was a Kushite kingdom builder (Gen.10).<div><br /></div><div>Further, the <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2019/11/horite-mounds.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Horite and Sethite Hebrew</span></a> are mentioned in the Ancient Pyramid Texts as maintaining shrines along the Nile, and some of these texts date to before the time of Abraham. The Horite and Sethite mounds were well established before Abraham's time. Abraham was NOT the first Hebrew.<br /><div><br /></div><div>My book is about the early Hebrew, long before the time of the Exodus of Jacob's clan called the "Israelites". It involves tracing the Hebrew dispersion out of the Nile Valley into many parts of the Ancient Near East. These were kingdom builders, and their marriage and ascendancy pattern drove their dispersion through the practice of <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/06/sent-away-sons.html"><span style="color: #990000;">sending away non-ascendant sons</span></a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Analysis of the kinship pattern of the early Hebrew, beginning with the <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-adam-and-eve-of-history.html"><span style="color: #990000;">historical Adam</span></a> and his contemporary Enoch, reveals that they had the same marriage and ascendancy pattern as Abraham and Moses.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not familiar with Dr. Falk. However, reading about his work indicates that his field is Egyptology, not the biblical Hebrew. As far as I can tell, he has no knowledge of the social structure of the biblical Hebrew. Understanding their caste structure with its moieties, and their <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2008/06/biblical-kinship-symmetrical-pattern.html"><span style="color: #990000;">marriage and ascendancy pattern</span></a> clarifies many difficult passages of the Old Testament. <br /><p><br /></p><p>Related reading: <a href="https://asa-cwis.blogspot.com/2023/07/first-lords-is-paradigm-shifting-book.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords of the Earth is a Paradigm-Shifting Book</span></a>; <a href="https://justgreatthought.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-first-lords-and-messianic.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords of the Earth and Messianic Expectation</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Hebrew Were a Caste</span></a></p><p><br /></p></div></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-85053746136671410702023-08-08T09:27:00.012-07:002023-08-21T07:07:21.115-07:00Marriage Partner Selection Among the Hebrew<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWBoL4ZDGBUXuMvWYYcLJK1tHISxCE6X-GMQNWjTp--uE5wz7pyFIciRv8bz6Pe1yKDBNTZklq3_od_zlCoZsHB32_KhJscpBIehFNjRl-yiotTRKdp4ALNJ_ki_0MiVXhs0c3AedYlWYqV8Z-R4FXHR8V00_J9n4kls60S_fJGdQFKudoI7t7DQLdak/s705/Newly%20wed%20Bedouins%20from%20Lebanon%20Christians.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWBoL4ZDGBUXuMvWYYcLJK1tHISxCE6X-GMQNWjTp--uE5wz7pyFIciRv8bz6Pe1yKDBNTZklq3_od_zlCoZsHB32_KhJscpBIehFNjRl-yiotTRKdp4ALNJ_ki_0MiVXhs0c3AedYlWYqV8Z-R4FXHR8V00_J9n4kls60S_fJGdQFKudoI7t7DQLdak/s320/Newly%20wed%20Bedouins%20from%20Lebanon%20Christians.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Newlywed Christian Bedouins </div><div style="text-align: center;">Beirut, 1923</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal">Dr. Alice C. Linsley<br /><br /> Hebrew marriages were arranged. Matches were not based on romantic love. Deliberation about suitable partners pertained to the "<a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2015/07/mothers-house-and-fathers-house.html"><span style="color: #990000;">father's house</span></a>", and were conducted under the authority of the fathers, village elders, clan chiefs, and sometimes the king. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The selection of marriage partners was based on consideration of political alliances, distribution of wealth, building up of the Hebrew lineages, and the necessity of heirs. There were many potential matches because there were many Hebrew clans other than Jacob’s clan (the Israelites). Priority probably was given to marriages within the 3-clan confederations such as Ham, Shem, and Japheth, or Og, Gog, and Magog, or Huz, Buz, and Uz. <br /><br /> In Abraham’s time, the deliberation about marriage partners likely involved a modular system of math with a cycle of between 9 and 12 choices. In this system, X represents firstborn son, and the possible matches are between 9 and 12 blood related (consanguine) females, drawn from the 3-clan confederations, and considered in a fixed order of rotation. <br /><br />The Hebrew marriage and ascendancy pattern meant that all marriages were between Hebrew persons (caste endogamy). A bride selected from the pool of possible females would be a half-sister in the case of the ruler’s first marriage and a patrilineal cousin in the case of the second marriage. The brides for the next royal son will be considered in the rotation, beginning with the next female in the rotation after the last match was made. <br /><br />The number 9 is based on the evidence that the early Hebrew were organized in groups of 3 clans: my clan, my brother’s clan, and my cousin’s clan. The deliberations would involve 3 groups of 3 Hebrew clans, which means that there were 9 clans from which a consanguine bride could be chosen. The number 12 is based on the evidence of 12-clan, with celestial animal totems related to the 12 moon phases. A similar way of selecting marriage partners is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotra"><span style="color: #990000;">found in Hinduism</span></a> with its concern for totemic origin. The most common totem names are those of animals regarded as sacred, such as the tiger, the cobra, the calf, and the elephant. <br /><br />Consider the 12-hour clock, an intuitive usage of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_arithmetic"><span style="color: #990000;">modular arithmetic</span></a>. If it is 10:00 now, then in 5 hours the clock will show 3:00 instead of 15:00. 3 is the remainder of 15 with a modulus of 12. <br /><br />It is possible that the account of Laban's insistence that the older sister (Leah) must marry before the younger (Rachel) alludes to a modular system. Laban insists that in his country, the younger daughter cannot marry before the older daughter (Gen. 29:16-30). Jacob, who was sent to live with his maternal uncle (avunculocal residence) agreed to work for Laban for seven years in return for marriage to his youngest daughter Rachel. However, on their wedding night, Laban switched Leah for Rachel. Later Laban claims that it is not the custom in his country to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Here a late hand on the text would have us believe that the marriage customs of the Hebrew in Padan-Aram were different than the customs in Jacob’s home country in Edom. However, all the early Hebrew followed the same pattern of caste endogamy regardless of where they lived. <br /><br />The baby-making competition between Leah and Rachel is presented as an attempt to win Jacob’s favor. Leah felt unloved by Jacob and envied Rachel. The narrative presents Leah and Rachel as sisters, but Leah was probably Jacob’s half-sister, and Rachel was probably his cousin bride. These wives and their offspring constitute the clan of Jacob, one on many early Hebrew clans.</p>Another example of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/avunculocal-residence"><span style="color: #990000;">avunculocal residence</span></a> is found in the story of Joseph who was sent to live with his maternal uncle Potiphar. Joseph fits the pattern of sent-away sons who go to serve their maternal uncles. Potiphar was a priest of On, the capital of the 15th nome of Lower Egypt. He was the high chamberlain, and a member of Pharaoh’s court. Pharaoh arranged a marriage between Joseph and Potiphar's daughter Asenath. <br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Related reading: <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2021/11/royal-sons-and-their-maternal-uncles.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Royal Sons and Their Maternal Uncles</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2015/07/three-clan-confederations-of-bible.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Three-Clan Confederations</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2010/07/why-rachel-didnt-trust-laban.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Why Rachel Didn't Trust Laban</span></a>; <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2008/06/biblical-kinship-symmetrical-pattern.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of the Early Hebrew</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2013/08/genetic-risks-in-cousin-marriage.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Genetic Risks in Cousin Marriage</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2020/01/rebecca-ran-to-her-mothers-house.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Rebekah Ran to Her Mother's House</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-65256552016835029432023-07-13T13:31:00.013-07:002023-09-03T12:35:13.728-07:00About My Book "The First Lords of the Earth"<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiud00pP9Phzdg6yMQ95ZtUmtfUK08iVQp0Wv9n9kJ4r64JKMFBmeTNIxwwKcb65uADdJCE084kNvt_s-P-vxv8kSsYboOEMpERzQ0Tt09G3WS4coWi3yK2y7Ulfshoxh13QbtPRj4EV2zLUJPewXS6pPgPKj-c8xyeqYYk5HGn7ahsruQuDavm6AVeL-8/s3469/Book%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2625" data-original-width="3469" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiud00pP9Phzdg6yMQ95ZtUmtfUK08iVQp0Wv9n9kJ4r64JKMFBmeTNIxwwKcb65uADdJCE084kNvt_s-P-vxv8kSsYboOEMpERzQ0Tt09G3WS4coWi3yK2y7Ulfshoxh13QbtPRj4EV2zLUJPewXS6pPgPKj-c8xyeqYYk5HGn7ahsruQuDavm6AVeL-8/s320/Book%20cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Dear Readers,</p><p>It has been a long time coming (40 years), but my book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1961282968/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1689374818&sr=1-2"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords of the Earth: An Anthropological Study</span></a> is now available to purchase on Amazon. Purchase options include Kindle, paperback, and hardcover. All are priced to accommodate the book lover on a tight budget.</p><p class="MsoNormal">This paradigm-shifting book identifies the social structure and religious
beliefs of the early Hebrew ruler-priest caste (6000-4000 years ago), their
dispersion out of Africa, their territorial expansion, trade routes, and
influence on the populations of the Fertile Crescent and Ancient Near East.</p>I was able to make a rather complex subject easy to understand. I hope you will buy the book and discover answers to some perennial questions, such as:<ul><li>Who were the Horite Hebrew and the Sethite Hebrew?</li><li>Where is the oldest known site of Horite Hebrew worship?</li><li>Why did so many Hebrew men have two wives?</li><li>What was the difference in status between wives and concubines?</li><li>What types of authority did the biblical Hebrew recognize?</li><li>What were some symbols of authority among the early Hebrew?</li><li>How did their acute observation of the patterns in nature inform their reasoning?</li><li>If Judaism is NOT the Faith of the early Hebrew, what did they believe?</li></ul><p class="MsoNormal">It is ancient history, anthropology, and Biblical studies wrapped into one fascinating read. I hope you will find it helpful and informative.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Best wishes to you all,</p><p class="MsoNormal">Alice C. Linsley</p><p><br /></p><p>Related reading: <a href="https://justgreatthought.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-first-lords-and-messianic.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords and Messianic Expectation</span></a>; <a href="http://college-ethics.blogspot.com/2023/08/first-lords-and-their-authority.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords and Their Authority</span></a>; <a href="https://asa-cwis.blogspot.com/2023/07/first-lords-is-paradigm-shifting-book.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The First Lords is a Paradigm-Shifting Book</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2023/08/response-to-review-of-first-lords.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Response to a Review of First Lords of the Earth</span></a></p><p><br /></p>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-68140019540303879542023-05-31T13:41:00.006-07:002023-08-02T08:51:35.520-07:00Jesus Christ in the Hebrew Scriptures<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RzbU6J9hSh15ZLc65vVu64PwCfcdLgAn0cYynXBM6Rb7eV89ArXjG5APfuqjGc51rGWLTS5COeZiH25O7k5HPLPEUEuG3VnPJJ5OgPqeVkD_jqfH1743CN0c3n83Mo2FRlNnAwCaWT188AWMYP4ALq7sFleL6euTAyN699dCSf9tmosbw0zZNVQ_/s625/blood%20on%20door%20posts.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="625" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RzbU6J9hSh15ZLc65vVu64PwCfcdLgAn0cYynXBM6Rb7eV89ArXjG5APfuqjGc51rGWLTS5COeZiH25O7k5HPLPEUEuG3VnPJJ5OgPqeVkD_jqfH1743CN0c3n83Mo2FRlNnAwCaWT188AWMYP4ALq7sFleL6euTAyN699dCSf9tmosbw0zZNVQ_/s320/blood%20on%20door%20posts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Dr. Alice C. Linsley</p>Someone observed that the name "Jesus" is mentioned only in the New Testament. In this person's mind that raises doubt about His historicity and the authenticity of the Gospel. <div><br /></div><div>There are allusions to the Lamb's Blood that saves the Israelites from death, or to the scarlet cord by which Rahab's household is spared from the slaughter in Jericho. The Apostle Paul described the Rock in the wilderness as Christ. Melchizedek is posed as a type of Christ, both High Priest and High King. The New Testament writers certainly found Jesus in the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Old Testament.<br /><br /><br /><br />Beyond these allusions and typologies, a critical reading of the Old Testament presents an accurate picture of the Gospel as a tradition received from the early Hebrew, Abraham's ancestors.<br /><br /><br />About one-quarter of Genesis is the story of God’s dealings with Abraham and his ancestors (chapters 1-12). Some of Jesus' ancestors are named in the King Lists of Genesis 4, 5, 10, 11, 25 and 36. Jesus' eventual victory over sin and death is described in Genesis 3:5. Because this is so, we recognize that the promise concerning the incarnate Seed/Son of God (Gen. 3:15) does not originate with the Jews. It is the much older belief of the Horite and Sethite Hebrew who believed that the Son of God would be miraculously conceived, and that in his repose he would proclaim glad tidings to those in Hades. A Horite Hebrew song <a href="https://www.academia.edu/25013844/The_First_Tablet_of_the_Hurritic_Bilingual_Song_of_Release_in_the_Light_of_Hurritic_Mythological_Tradition_UGARIT-FORSCHUNGEN_Internationales_Jahrbuch_f%C3%BCr_die_Altertumskunde_Syrien-Pal%C3%A4stinas_Herausgegeben_von_Band_44_2013_In_memoriam_Pierre_Bordreuil_121-142">found at the royal complex at Ugarit</a> speaks of HR descending to the place of the dead "to announce good tidings." The text reads: Hr ešeni timerri duri - "below in the dark netherworld" and has the Hittite phrase Šanizzin ḫalukan ḫalzi - "to announce good tidings".</div><div><br />The Seed of God was expected to crush the serpent's head. This early Hebrew expectation was expressed in the Pyramid Texts, dating to 2200 B.C. "Horus has shattered (tbb, crushed) the mouth of the serpent with the sole of his foot (tbw)" (Utterance 388).<br /><br />The early Hebrew believed that the Son of God would rise on the third day. A reference to the third day resurrection is found in the Pyramid Texts: "Oh Horus, this hour of the morning, of this third day is come, when thou surely passeth on to heaven, together with the stars, the imperishable stars." (Utterance 667) Jesus' third-day resurrection fulfilled that Hebrew expectation in every detail.<br /><br />The Messianic reference in Psalm 110:1 - The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet." - is expressed 1000 years earlier in the Coffin Texts (Passage 148). "I am Horus, the great Falcon upon the ramparts of the house of him of the hidden name. My flight has reached the horizon. I have passed by the gods of Nut. I have gone further than the gods of old. Even the most ancient bird could not equal my very first flight. I have removed my place beyond the powers of Set, the foe of <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-temple-castes-were-dispersed-among.html">my father Osiris</a>. No other god could do what I have done. I have brought the ways of eternity to the twilight of the morning. I am unique in my flight. My wrath will be turned against the enemy of my father Osiris and I will put him beneath my feet in my name of 'Red Cloak'." (Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt by R.T. Rundle Clark, p. 216)<br /><br />Jesus subdues the Father's enemies so that God's children might live and prosper. This is expressed in the Messianic Psalm 2:12: "<a href="https://www.hadavar.org/critical-issues/anti-missionary-arguments/tampering-with-the-text/psalm-211-12/">Kiss the Son</a>, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvcAqVDpp5dpgTPfRLypbVUPr_FueIsjsmby6uctAgd8DQzadfsp4d8u8mAx9gx4Vc2zJAws5U21nunUl-n6-1dwJneDJnYMtLCujnilEQJfEUkTp1n_pkHUxpxF1DcAX_vQNO39S_A0k1Ltl5aegRwyKCwk8EhlQdKTDWIGtWRG3ypIc0891i_R9/s3488/Yesu%20Hieroglyph%203.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvcAqVDpp5dpgTPfRLypbVUPr_FueIsjsmby6uctAgd8DQzadfsp4d8u8mAx9gx4Vc2zJAws5U21nunUl-n6-1dwJneDJnYMtLCujnilEQJfEUkTp1n_pkHUxpxF1DcAX_vQNO39S_A0k1Ltl5aegRwyKCwk8EhlQdKTDWIGtWRG3ypIc0891i_R9/w378-h77/Yesu%20Hieroglyph%203.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The name "Jesus" (Yeshua in Hebrew) is derived from the ancient Egyptian name Yesu (shown above) which is associated with royal authority. The feather represents the letter Y and stands for one who judges, measures, or weights. The next symbol represents horns. The idea of God's presence "between the horns" predates Judaism. Then there is the sedge plant which represents a king, and finally the falcon, the totem of HR (Horus), the patron of kings. HR in ancient Egyptian means "Most High One". (Source: Bill Manley, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, 2012, Thames and Hudson Ltd., London)<br /><br /><br /><br />In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Horus is called the "advocate of his father" (cf. 1 John 2:1).<br /><br />The expectation of the coming of the incarnate Son of God was preserved by Abraham's ancestors to whom the promise was first made in Eden, a well-watered region that extended from the sources of the Nile to the Tigris-Euphrates (Gen. 2). Christianity alone preserves that oldest known religious belief.<br /><br />The oldest known site of Horite Hebrew worship is at <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2014/05/why-nekhen-is-anthropologically.html">Nekhen on the Nile</a> (4500 B.C.). The Hebrew ruler-priests served at many of the ancient Nilotic Sun Cities. They gave the world the earliest known resurrection texts.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Related reading: <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-oldest-known-religion.html">The Oldest Known Religion</a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/07/belief-in-high-god.html">Belief in the High God</a>; <a href="http://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2012/02/righteous-rulers-and-resurrection.html">Righteous Rulers and the Resurrection</a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2020/10/early-resurrection-texts.html">Early Resurrection Texts</a>, <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2019/11/horite-mounds.html">Horite and Sethite Mounds</a>, <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html">The Hebrew Were a Caste</a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/08/is-it-possible-to-speak-of-proto-gospel.html">Is It Possible to Speak of the Proto-Gospel?</a><br /><br /> <div><div class="x14nfmen x1s85apg xds687c x5yr21d xg01cxk x10l6tqk x13vifvy x1wsgiic x19991ni xwji4o3 x1kky2od x1sd63oq" data-thumb="1" data-visualcompletion="ignore" style="height: 1091px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; right: 0px; top: 0px; transition-duration: 0.5s; transition-property: opacity; transition-timing-function: ease; width: 16px;"></div><div class="x9f619 x1s85apg xds687c xexx8yu x150jy0e x18d9i69 x1e558r4 x47corl x10l6tqk x13vifvy x1n4smgl x19991ni xwji4o3 x1kky2od x1hc1fzr x1p6kkr5" data-thumb="1" data-visualcompletion="ignore" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1c1e21; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: 114.863px; opacity: 1; padding: 0px 4px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; right: 0px; top: 0px; transform-origin: right top; transform: matrix3d(1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, -1) scale(3.08192) translateZ(-2.08192px) translateZ(-2px); transition-property: opacity; transition-timing-function: ease; width: 16px;"></div></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-48419015911986377302023-05-23T09:50:00.005-07:002023-08-04T17:08:51.932-07:00The Prestige of Biblical On<p><br /></p><p>Alice C. Linsley</p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Joseph's elevation to a high position in Egypt and his marriage to Asenath of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Heliopolis-ancient-city-Egypt"><span style="color: #990000;">Heliopolis, a Hebrew shrine city</span></a>, suggest that he was a rightful heir to something back in Egypt. (See "<a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2010/07/enigma-of-joseph.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Enigma of Joseph</span></a>".)</p><p class="MsoNormal">Joseph married Asenath, a daughter of the High Priest of On, the capital of the 15th nome of Lower Egypt. On was
known to the Greek as Heliopolis, meaning "Sun City" because it was dedicated to
the <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/07/belief-in-high-god.html"><span style="color: #990000;">High God</span></a> whose emblem was the sun. Heliopolis was one of the great <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2017/04/great-hypostyle-hall-within-karnak.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Sun Cities of the ancient world</span></a> that were served by the <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">early Hebrew royal priests</span></a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal">In ancient Egyptian On was called <i>Iunu</i>
(<i>Iwnw</i>) meaning “place of pillars”. In Heliopolitan cosmology the watery
realms above and below (the "firmaments") were connected by the massive pillars of the temple of
Heliopolis.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKVRgXhx4N4o5O_TEQurNErpgJyKFM55-WVvQkEFfadUBxHrkFFqzH2Q4s2IhI_u8x8Hxd2LbTDc_CSz_ynL3L89RVryflyr6fjiXZqrvfOwpCAzHJivu_DemEzK3CfUefMu38NXfJjIdlEX-JlwS8WqDoaSs-o8_AJmLaU3mZ2cuuPwh9OL3nmE9/s320/Great%20Hypostyle%20Hall%20in%20the%20Karnak%20temple%20complex.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKVRgXhx4N4o5O_TEQurNErpgJyKFM55-WVvQkEFfadUBxHrkFFqzH2Q4s2IhI_u8x8Hxd2LbTDc_CSz_ynL3L89RVryflyr6fjiXZqrvfOwpCAzHJivu_DemEzK3CfUefMu38NXfJjIdlEX-JlwS8WqDoaSs-o8_AJmLaU3mZ2cuuPwh9OL3nmE9/s1600/Great%20Hypostyle%20Hall%20in%20the%20Karnak%20temple%20complex.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Great Hypostyle Hall within the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnak"><span style="color: #990000;">Karnak temple complex</span></a>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">T</span></span>he complex of the early Sun Temple had many pillars bearing inscriptions to the high king, prayers to the High God and to his son HR. Some pillars depicted great victories in war, the details of treaties, and dedications. Isaiah 19:19 refers to a pillar erected in Egypt as a sign that the Lord will send the Egyptians a savior.<br /><br />It was common for pillars to be inscribed in memory of holy ancestors, as stained-glass windows in churches are dedicated to "pillars" of the congregation. The entrance <a href="http://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-pillars-of-solomons-temple.html"><span style="color: #990000;">pillars of Solomon's temple</span></a> were named for Boaz, Solomon's holy ancestor on his father's side, and Joktan, a holy ancestor on his mother's side.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVD5iPolaPq9PuNYwzBXjDsWuf9UPctuiG-kAiM9ihHrqirfIMM0EVGr5Ps_TMldN_IyoRsXX2GwYqN2gh2pRIp5iJ2OsyWyPQALp3QJCsATtERJYW6CxcxQQC_MLU6jh_fw77eZHu9g0GzFNFRLS28mMSFrcmDZfIVajyhN4UeSPifOfyw-_z0Ij9/s160/hieroglyph%20for%20On.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="117" data-original-width="160" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVD5iPolaPq9PuNYwzBXjDsWuf9UPctuiG-kAiM9ihHrqirfIMM0EVGr5Ps_TMldN_IyoRsXX2GwYqN2gh2pRIp5iJ2OsyWyPQALp3QJCsATtERJYW6CxcxQQC_MLU6jh_fw77eZHu9g0GzFNFRLS28mMSFrcmDZfIVajyhN4UeSPifOfyw-_z0Ij9/s1600/hieroglyph%20for%20On.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The Priests of On</div>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Harris papyrus speaks of the 'Apriu of Re at Heliopolis.
Re in ancient Egyptian means “father”. Re’s son was HR (Horus in Greek). HR in
ancient Egyptian means “Most High One”. The ‘Apiru (Abrutu/Hapiru/Habiru/Hebrew)
of Heliopolis worshipped God Father and God Son. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The priests of On were known for their wisdom, purity and
sobriety. In his <i>Timoeus</i>, Plato writes:
"Tell me of the God of On, which is and never knew beginning." Plato studied under a Nilotic priest at Memphis for thirteen years. </p>Heliopolis is mentioned in Isaiah 19:18 as one of five Egyptian cities that swore allegiance to the Lord of Hosts. <p class="MsoNormal">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.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGKcD8iRbzu53CSTpV1f7gA8r8AD55ratvBUhsAURW7KdB_o5cBK-dMDaszJomKrXSih65Ac2d6MRZSqKW6Sw01oMjeXau7K1v4TIfwuSdBMgAv07SwecvmOhSo4g6vHcMkTznvgBBykxb9WIjEaXMDIhngWSmYS09LcBdb53EZWscTEv3XZATjB9/s400/Baalbek%20in%20Lebanon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="301" data-original-width="400" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGKcD8iRbzu53CSTpV1f7gA8r8AD55ratvBUhsAURW7KdB_o5cBK-dMDaszJomKrXSih65Ac2d6MRZSqKW6Sw01oMjeXau7K1v4TIfwuSdBMgAv07SwecvmOhSo4g6vHcMkTznvgBBykxb9WIjEaXMDIhngWSmYS09LcBdb53EZWscTEv3XZATjB9/s320/Baalbek%20in%20Lebanon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The prestige of Heliopolis is evident in the way royal sites were aligned to that complex. The Sun City of <a href="http://www.ancient-origins.net/opinion-guest-authors/forgotten-stones-baalbek-lebanon-001865"><span style="color: #990000;">Baalbek in Lebanon</span></a>, with its massive stones, aligned to On (see map above). The pyramids at Giza, Saqqara, and Abusir were aligned to the obelisk at On.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhexUYXVw6muibO5slaGusIu5WHuxOvgJUih2Axqm2_jznPG0igFsswicPL6R2sUJFiriUZTccFhGnXEx0nMzgNWsDnQfx13SA3Xp3ftYQIf9TIvnHn4ATPm8i42Cgw8tyEJDYdRaiZbn3GLnW981kKmIKCAlyroZ6mYpaAyU-rHVNVdeBoQLCiVKzPdd4/s320/pyramids%20aligned%20to%20heliopolis%20good.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="311" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhexUYXVw6muibO5slaGusIu5WHuxOvgJUih2Axqm2_jznPG0igFsswicPL6R2sUJFiriUZTccFhGnXEx0nMzgNWsDnQfx13SA3Xp3ftYQIf9TIvnHn4ATPm8i42Cgw8tyEJDYdRaiZbn3GLnW981kKmIKCAlyroZ6mYpaAyU-rHVNVdeBoQLCiVKzPdd4/s1600/pyramids%20aligned%20to%20heliopolis%20good.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />It appears that On eclipsed the prominence of the earlier Horite Hebrew shrine city, Nekhen on the Nile. Nekhen predates the building of the Great Pyramids at Giza and the step pyramid of King Djoser who ruled for 75 years. Djoser inaugurated an era of monumental building in stone which inspired the Great Pyramids. The oldest known tomb, with painted mural on its plaster walls, is located in Nekhen and dates to c. 3500–3200 B.C.<br /><br />Discoveries at Nekhen (Greek <a href="http://www.archaeology.org/interactive/hierakonpolis/field07/6.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hierakonpolis</span></a>) continue to push back the dating of early civilizations. Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim <a href="http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.com/2014/05/exclusive-photos-pre-dynastic-tomb.html"><span style="color: #990000;">announced the discovery of a pre-Dynastic tomb</span></a> that dates to about 500 years before King Narmer of the First Dynasty. <br /><br />Archaeologists working at Nekhen discovered a temple with huge cedar pillars. They describe the offerings at the Nekhen as “ten times larger” than the typical mace heads and bowls offered elsewhere, suggesting that this was a very prestigious shrine city.<div><br /><a href="http://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2018/02/twin-cities-of-ancient-world.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Nekhen had a twin city</span></a> 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. Hormose, the chief priest of Nekhen, requested material goods from the temple at Elkab for use at the temple at Nekhen.<br /><br />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 presence of long wavy natural red hair and a full beard illustrates the genetic diversity that existed in Africa thousands of years ago. <a href="http://www.hierakonpolis-online.org/nekhennews/nn-10-1998.pdf"><span style="color: #990000;">The Nekhen News</span></a> (p. 7) reports, "The vast majority of hair samples discovered at Nekhen were cynotrichous (Caucasian) in type as opposed to heliotrichous (Negroid)."</div><div><br /></div>At Nekhen, archaeologists found hippos buried in the elite cemeteries (<a href="http://www.hierakonpolis-online.org/nekhennews/nn-25-2013.pdf"><span style="color: #990000;">Nekhen News, Vol. 25, 2013, p. 20</span>)</a>. They also found numerous carved and sculpted figurines of hippos, some with red coloration. They concluded that hippo imagery is "linked to local elites" (<a href="http://www.hierakonpolis-online.org/nekhennews/nn-27-2015.pdf"><span style="color: #990000;">Nekhen News Vol. 27, 2015, pp. 8-9</span></a>).<br /><br />Cain's brother Seth/Seti is often shown in ancient images as a red hippo. The hippo figurines likely indicate that there were Sethite Hebrew at Nekhen as well as Horite Hebrew.<br /><br />That Sethites were living among the Horites of Nekhen is not surprising given that these two groups represent a moiety structure of the <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hebrew ruler-priest caste</span></a>. The term "moiety" refers to one people organized into two ritual groups. Analysis of the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the lines of Cain and Seth indicate that their descendants intermarried (endogamy). <div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7tTxmhvNDPq7lqu8u-7leJD90bqX-7u7oE9eSbcHu7aLhBVDDgnVnnZSyg2kVUwX7b9gsTKIHU9GZxTIIZENC3ebjqWFPLiChDQ3a1k0mkn5w-dy8-oIl1YZzkLvIt50VKITzLk9uiCuvlagUy8YTGspgyILOctzjLKDAGrI9Eodw5dH7KyO8noAh/s400/Lamech%20Segment2png.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="400" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7tTxmhvNDPq7lqu8u-7leJD90bqX-7u7oE9eSbcHu7aLhBVDDgnVnnZSyg2kVUwX7b9gsTKIHU9GZxTIIZENC3ebjqWFPLiChDQ3a1k0mkn5w-dy8-oIl1YZzkLvIt50VKITzLk9uiCuvlagUy8YTGspgyILOctzjLKDAGrI9Eodw5dH7KyO8noAh/w418-h267/Lamech%20Segment2png.png" width="418" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>The diagram above shows the <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2007/04/brides-naming-prerogative.html"><span style="color: #990000;">pattern of cousin marriage</span></a> in which the cousin bride names her first-born son after her father. It is likely that Asenath and Joseph were cousins.<div><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Related reading: <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2017/04/great-hypostyle-hall-within-karnak.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Sun Cities of the Ancient World</span></a>; <a href="https://asa-cwis.blogspot.com/2019/08/egyptian-glass-in-ancient-nordic-graves.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Egyptian Glass Beads in Nordic Graves</span></a>; <a href="https://asa-cwis.blogspot.com/2018/02/ancient-twin-cities.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Ancient Twin Cities</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2010/07/enigma-of-joseph.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Enigma of Joseph</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-sethites-and-red-hippo.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Sethites and the Red Hippo</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/07/belief-in-high-god.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Belief in the High God</span></a></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-14153029393609143002023-05-22T17:10:00.003-07:002023-05-22T17:10:51.804-07:00The Cosmology of Abraham's People<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvYH_VF0RfP7dBnDfiF0BADriJBpFCFk0l6ZqGGDFSoWItG2Vy9KuihRNvCc3q54uVdPqDBpCiSkk6UrhxGm_PzZ_oAeplr2iuNmXU-V24mIzIi_4F6H55SORiF76zRsTF3Y8N6yxpmqhALtsbkZFg_Gqi74pR_w__Q85ilknjOxNW9dhy2Ugo3w8x/s927/cosmos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="927" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvYH_VF0RfP7dBnDfiF0BADriJBpFCFk0l6ZqGGDFSoWItG2Vy9KuihRNvCc3q54uVdPqDBpCiSkk6UrhxGm_PzZ_oAeplr2iuNmXU-V24mIzIi_4F6H55SORiF76zRsTF3Y8N6yxpmqhALtsbkZFg_Gqi74pR_w__Q85ilknjOxNW9dhy2Ugo3w8x/s320/cosmos.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Alice C. Linsley <div><br /></div><div> Anthropologically, the roots of religion are in the primitive soil of man’s most fundamental experience of and response to earthly phenomena. Early man observed distinctions: hot and cold, night and day, east and west, and male and female. These distinctions ordered their world and observing them was essential for survival. </div><div><br /></div><div>The ability to determine direction was important when migrating, and to find hunting grounds, and to mark the boundaries of tribal lands. The cardinal poles are important in all tribal religion, and because all peoples were originally tribal, these continue even today to influence our religious ideas.
From the binary oppositions of east-west and north-south, archaic man was able to assign names to phenomena that he perceived as belonging to certain quadrants on a sphere. An example is the designation of winds that proceed from directions between the 4 cardinal poles: a southwest wind or a northeast wind. To each wind was given a name indicating a socio-metaphysical meaning. Winds proceeding from the west were regarded as a positive omen. Theophrastus, a 4th century BC scholar wrote, “Zephyros, the west wind, is the most gentle of all the winds and it blows in the afternoon and towards the land, and is cold.” The east wind (called “Sirocco” in Arabic) was less welcome as it brought heat and dust carried on strong winds. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In the Afro-Asiatic scheme, quadrant 1 would be that space on earth where sunlight falls as the sun makes its journey from east to north (morning). Quadrant 2 would be that space on earth where sunlight is seen as the sun journeys from north to west (afternoon). Quadrants 3 and 4 would be those associated with the sun’s hidden activity from the setting of the sun (quadrant 3) to before the sun’s rising again (quadrant 4). Thus, according to ancient Egyptian hymns, the sovereign Deity was both immanent and transcendent and “double-concealed.”
The key reference points in the cosmology are the sun’s arc and the polar star. The polar or North Star never changes its place in the sky. When you face it, you are always facing north. So east and north are the primary astronomical and religious points of reference and are associated with Divine arousal and judgment. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Among Abraham's people the sun was the emblem of the Creator. Genesis reveals their cosmology. Were the writers of the Bible from the Paleo-Siberian culture, for example, where there are long periods of darkness and long periods of daylight, we would find a different theological perspective, one reflecting that phenomenon.
The cosmology that we find in the Bible pertains to the experience of the biblical Hebrew, a ruler-priest caste known for its wisdom and technological prowess.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic27uVGsBtIkom0QBd7k-pnLNtLMQNmN4EdxFcieTbkBpJa0_P9miGvb3UcDyiHJJjTFSLXfdLiaPgpsqWkjaAgbwzVVqvStHTnef86hOMy2ANhxByulnvr-PYtl9kRvTqExYv9uaXfVUQ/s1600-h/Agadez+Cross.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" height="93" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250182424873235810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic27uVGsBtIkom0QBd7k-pnLNtLMQNmN4EdxFcieTbkBpJa0_P9miGvb3UcDyiHJJjTFSLXfdLiaPgpsqWkjaAgbwzVVqvStHTnef86hOMy2ANhxByulnvr-PYtl9kRvTqExYv9uaXfVUQ/s400/Agadez+Cross.bmp" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 93px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 57px;" width="38" /></a>It is from them that Jews, Christians and Muslims receive the tradition of facing east in prayer. The notion of the shrine of the heart as the sacred place of the indwelling god is evident in Egypt as early as 1200 BC, when personal piety entailed facing the rising sun, thereby inviting the most sovereign Deity to dwell in the person. Even earlier, the Pharaoh was called “son of Re,” the celestial creative principle whose emblem was the sun. Rulers were not chosen based on hereditary bloodline (Egyptian texts never mention an earthly "father of the king"). Kingship was a manifestation of the solar deity’s cultic overshadowing of noble women.
The cosmology of the early Nilotic Hebrew is represented in the Ankh. The loop at the top symbolizes the sun. The cross bar represents the sun's daily journey from east to west. The Ankh has affinity to the Agadez Cross of Niger (shown at left) and to the <a href="http://www.phoenicia.org/pagan.html#anchor87202"><span style="color: #990000;">Sign of Tanit</span></a> of Carthage (shown below at right.) </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZFlm6D24C4fqxFuf8Z6MCh-xRLgOBneTXTpzI1lgHLtiJ4Zwn5gj7354WORQoPjZhAXnSe_5X8IHTNrCJQ5R9-rAL8Bri0HsK1bnbd_njLTtyo6qioqUlaGv6QHUEM8qDVQMAoJ2wT9v/s1600-h/tanit2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250183899421593906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZFlm6D24C4fqxFuf8Z6MCh-xRLgOBneTXTpzI1lgHLtiJ4Zwn5gj7354WORQoPjZhAXnSe_5X8IHTNrCJQ5R9-rAL8Bri0HsK1bnbd_njLTtyo6qioqUlaGv6QHUEM8qDVQMAoJ2wT9v/s400/tanit2.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px;" /></a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> A similar image with the TNT inscription was found in the temple of Eshmun near Sidon. It dates to about the 5 century B.C. Assignment of the name 'Tanit' is guess work, however, since no one knows how TNT should be transliterated.
All the images shown here have the solar symbol over a horizontal bar representing the east-west movement of the sun. The sun is shown at the mountain top at the sacred center (high noon - as James explains, "In Him there is no shadow..."). </div><div><br /></div><div>Mountains were a meeting place between God and man. Consider the many incidents of biblical heroes ascending mountains and there experiencing theophanies.
The horned altar is a negative image signifying the same view of God's sovereignty over the earth, only here the circle has disappeared, and God's presence is evident in the negative space (apophatic). <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00LVb1uYtO4jcjVoLi2YFniKcrWkNeQ5DGNO4x727rjxjidH5H7JaERN7SGxaVmbX67ZtgyqlVTBPce4hIkTypgMSW1n_tnydlLjkLkurFjeAFKtcR4bXVVArbKnRMkD5pK1J5eth6nf7/s1600-h/Altar2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="120" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250185516616896290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00LVb1uYtO4jcjVoLi2YFniKcrWkNeQ5DGNO4x727rjxjidH5H7JaERN7SGxaVmbX67ZtgyqlVTBPce4hIkTypgMSW1n_tnydlLjkLkurFjeAFKtcR4bXVVArbKnRMkD5pK1J5eth6nf7/s400/Altar2.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 117px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 143px;" width="137" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdGRFfz6l2EJgejF2_5e94Amzra5Ji9VVXDyispCQb7EFOt03Un2Q3ngPMw-uLXDzv-sFI5IISFt1FO9hbDFwEfbVSqMp0xLvOXxRNAluZq56eOl_tKSjfVZTEHUx9hTryk630RiIcKbHE/s1600-h/so+tanit.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250276325118461250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdGRFfz6l2EJgejF2_5e94Amzra5Ji9VVXDyispCQb7EFOt03Un2Q3ngPMw-uLXDzv-sFI5IISFt1FO9hbDFwEfbVSqMp0xLvOXxRNAluZq56eOl_tKSjfVZTEHUx9hTryk630RiIcKbHE/s400/so+tanit.gif" style="cursor: hand; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px;" /></a>The upright horns are similar to those on the Tanit symbol shown at right. </div><div><br /></div><div>Interestingly, the metal working Inadan who live in the Air Desert surrounding Agadez, maintain 2 wives in separate households on an north-south axis, as did the chiefs of Abraham's people. They speak a secret language called TeNeT (National Geographic, Aug. 1979, p. 389). </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The binary distinctions, based most fundamentally on the four directional poles, must have impressed upon early humans the reality of their limitations, since they had no power to make the sun follow a different course or to move the polar star. Early man recognized that a greater Power had established night and day, the seasons, and the rising and the setting of the sun. So it is that the great structures of antiquity were oriented to welcome the rising sun, the symbol of the High God. The layout of the Temple in Jerusalem was arranged taking the path of the sun into account, and the great pyramids of Egypt face east.
The metal-working Hebrew knew true north because they had discovered the pattern of polarized iron filings. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Hebrew ruler-priests maintained <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2018/04/horite-hebrew-rulers-with-two-wives.html"><span style="color: #990000;">two wives in separate households</span></a> on a north-south axis rather than an east-west axis, out of deference to the Sovereign God, who journeyed daily between his wives: Dawn and Dust. This sheds light on Lamech (Gen. 5) whose 2 wives were settled on an east-west axis. Lamech’s wives’ names were Adah, related to the word “dawn” and T-Zillah, related to the word “dusk.” Lamech either was guilty of claiming equality with God by placing his wives' separate settlements on an east-west axis, God's territory symbolized by the Sun's daily journey. Or, the separate residences of his two wives (dawn and dusk) are meant to speak of the vastness of Lamech's dominion.</div><div><br /></div>It appears that two wives of Hebrew rulers were an essential part of establishing and maintaining territorial boundaries among royal persons. That this practice pertained to exceptionally high-status persons is evident in that the pattern is associated only with rulers such as Abraham, or ruling families such as that of Jesse, the father of King David and the grandfather of King Solomon.<br /><br />Consider the Song of Songs which speaks of two royal brides. One bride is described as “dark as the tents of Kedar” (1:5) and the other is described as “fair as the moon” (6:10). This is typical of the territorial claims of high kings in the Ancient Near East. The brides represent the east and the west, the territorial boundaries observed by the solar arc, the symbol of the God’s High rule over the Earth. This was a way of identifying the authority of the high king with the authority of the High God.<br /><div><br /></div><div> It was this mystical symbolism that guided Abraham in deciding what to do after he had been in the land of Canaan for a while. Genesis 12:8 says that Abraham proceeded “to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.”
Bethel means “House of God” and is associated with the east, the direction of the sunrise. Yet we are told that <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2008/07/women-rulers-in-ancient-israel.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Abraham pitched his tent with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east</span></a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>This mysterious orientation appears to present a reversal. The word Ai suggests a mystical explanation. In Jewish mysticism, “Ain soph” is Hidden God and “Aima” is great reproductive Mother. Ain is one with Aima in a mystical union that signals that something new is about to be born. This is the forward motion of Abraham’s life.
Now we must remember that Abraham had come into this land as a stranger and did not possess a territory. He was a <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/06/sent-away-sons.html"><span style="color: #990000;">sent-away son</span></a>. In this vicinity was the Oak of Moreh near “the navel of the earth” (Judges 9:37). “Moreh” means instructor or diviner. In other words, Abraham went to the Diviner’s oak for guidance about how he was to become established in the land. </div><div><br /></div><div>In Jewish mysticism Ain soph is associated with north and the number 1 and represents the Hidden God. Aima is associated with south and the number 3 and represents creative union. In pitching his tent where he did, the house of Ain (Bethel) has moved to the west, which means that south has moved to the position of north. We have a reversal of directional poles that places south in the position of priority. South presents marriage and reproduction. In the very next verse (Gen. 12:9) we are told that Abraham heads south, making “his way stage by stage to the Negev.” The text appears to be telling us that this is when Abraham took Keturah as his second wife. Now with Sarah in Hebron and Keturah in Beersheba, he was able to establish control over a territory on a north-south axis, following the marriage and ascendancy pattern of his Hebrew forefathers. </div><div><br /></div><div>We have further confirmation of the association of 1 with north and 3 with south in 1 Kings 7:23-26 and 2 Chronicles 4:1-4. Here we read that the altar in Solomon’s temple was to rest on 12 oxen: 3 facing north, 3 facing west, 3 facing south and 3 facing east. We note that north heads the list, having the position of priority. Then comes west (associated with the numbers 9 and 10) and then in the third position we have south. </div><div><br /></div><div>Are the directional poles the “esse” of Christianity? No, but the Hebrew cosmology foretells Messiah's appearing, and the poles remind us that we must face the only Great God who alone can save, the uncreated, preexistent God who stretched out the heavens and made the sun to shine on the wise and the foolish, the same Eternal One who will make the new heaven and earth. Blessed be his Name! </div><div><br /></div><div>Related reading: <a href="http://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2010/10/sacred-center-in-biblical-theology.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Sacred Center in Biblical Theology</span></a>; <a href="http://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2011/02/comparing-cosmologies-to-trace-origins.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Comparing Cosmologies to Trace Origins</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2019/03/cosmologies-of-ancient-near-east.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Cosmologies of the Ancient Near East</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2008/06/biblical-kinship-symmetrical-pattern.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of Abraham's People</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-1189070472528083952023-04-27T10:13:00.004-07:002023-04-27T10:17:49.853-07:00New to Just Genesis?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPWREdVmfQULCagvJ5MRhy_lvrAwaPapHebLAoR3n7oo-4ScYHBiJi-hTn2HTZfqmU_bdeZIusnQYP3MNIz1eDFaDKj-yNbsqr-J3eQX8zmqe0axFOdSegdyFUCeGcIydRut6coVQg2yMux8dU05HBOXP92nIjYE-_yz34uTGd5oggGNcvq4mdqDL/s640/Masthead.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="640" height="98" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPWREdVmfQULCagvJ5MRhy_lvrAwaPapHebLAoR3n7oo-4ScYHBiJi-hTn2HTZfqmU_bdeZIusnQYP3MNIz1eDFaDKj-yNbsqr-J3eQX8zmqe0axFOdSegdyFUCeGcIydRut6coVQg2yMux8dU05HBOXP92nIjYE-_yz34uTGd5oggGNcvq4mdqDL/s320/Masthead.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Dr. Alice C. Linsley</p><br />If you are new to Just Genesis you may find this <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2014/04/index-of-topics-at-just-genesis.html"><span style="color: #990000;">INDEX of Topics</span></a> helpful.<br /><br />The articles that appear here reflect an empirical approach to the study of biblical populations. The investigation of the cultural context of these populations is called <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2015/11/why-biblical-anthropology.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Biblical Anthropology</span></a>. This science is not to be confused with theological anthropology which is more speculative. <div><br /></div><div>Archaeology in the Bible lands is called "Biblical Archaeology" and the science of anthropology pertaining to Biblical populations is "Biblical Anthropology". This approach requires thinking empirically about the 66 canonical books from which we draw anthropologically significant data to better understand the social structure and religious beliefs and practices of biblical populations.<br /><br />In this science assertions must be backed up with data from the biblical texts. Assumptions must be demonstrated to have a basis in the Scriptures. We avoid theological speculation and denominational interpretations.<br /><br />The 66 canonical books of the Bible are the primary resource used by Biblical anthropologists, but we also look at other books of importance such as the Books of Enoch, Judith, and the Wisdom of Ben Sira (Sirach). These contain valuable anthropological information.<br /><br />Anthropologists are interested in material culture. We want to know what people made, what materials they used, and what tools they used. We are curious about the things they used in daily life. How did they bury their dead? What did they believe about the creation of the world? What culture traits made their population distinctive? How did they organize for war? Where did the rulers derive their authority?<br /><br />A central task of Biblical Anthropology is to uncover antecedents. Culture traits, ceremonies, rituals, and religious beliefs do not spring suddenly into existence. They develop organically over time from traditions received from the ancestors. Biblical anthropology provides tested methods and tools to push back the veil of time, to uncover anthropologically significant data that clarifies precedents, etiology, and context. The discoveries made in Biblical Anthropology prove helpful to students, pastors, and academics.<br /><br />A central task of Biblical Anthropology is to uncover antecedents; something coming before what is described in the text. What events preceded the events recounted? From what earlier context did certain practices develop? What traces of ancient memory can be uncovered? Biblical Anthropology seeks to understand the cultural context of the Bible at the oldest foundations. It is concerned with ancestors and received traditions. Abraham's ancestors lived in the <a href="http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-shrine-city-of-nekhen.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Nile Valley</span></a>. Abraham was not the first Hebrew. The <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hebrew ruler-priest caste</span></a> from which he received his faith existed at least 2000 years before Abraham's time. That caste believed in <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2010/11/substance-of-abrahams-faith.html"><span style="color: #990000;">God Father and God Son</span></a>. The faith of Abraham was not Judaism. In Biblical Anthropology a distinction is made between the early Hebrew (4200-2000 B.C.), Jacob's clan of the Exodus called "Israelites" (1500 B.C.), and the Jews whose identity emerged after the Babylonian captivity (597-538 B.C.).<br /><br />The biblical text always speaks of something older, some prior action that solicits a response from later generations. What Jacques Derrida called the "trace" is always there, and unless one moves toward that presence, the nature of it remains unknown. Even where later sources attempt to efface an earlier account, as happens in Genesis, the trace has a voice. Judaism does not erase the faith of Abraham into which Messiah's followers are grafted. The prior remains evident. There is a subjugated voice or a minority opinion, and those who care about the bigger picture read minority opinions.<br /><br />David Noel Freedman said: “The Hebrew Bible is the one artifact from antiquity that not only maintained its integrity but continues to have a vital, powerful effect thousands of years later.” Both anthropologists and archaeologists turn to the Bible for clues and data. Very often this has led to wonderful discoveries! Let's use <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/970693143031228"><span style="color: #990000;">this forum</span></a> to advance the science of Biblical Anthropology.<div><br /><div><div><p>Related reading: <a href="http://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2011/06/using-bible-to-test-hypotheses.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Using the Bible to Test Hypotheses</span></a>; <a href="http://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-does-biblical-anthropologist-do.html"><span style="color: #990000;">What Does a Biblical Anthropologist Do?</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2017/07/christianity-is-one-true-messianic-faith.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Christianity is the One True Messianic Faith</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2019/09/judaism-is-not-faith-of-abraham.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Judaism is Not the Faith of Abraham</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2013/01/hebrew-israelite-or-jew.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hebrew, Israelite, Jew</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/08/is-it-possible-to-speak-of-proto-gospel.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Is It Possible to Speak of the Proto-Gospel?</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2010/05/did-abraham-believe-isaac-to-be-messiah.html"><span style="color: #990000;">What Abraham Discovered on Mount Moriah</span></a></p><p><br /></p></div></div></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-8916709082466744642023-03-30T08:53:00.002-07:002023-03-30T08:53:13.652-07:00Rams, Lions, and Royal Ladies<p> </p>A tiny golden ram and a stone lion were found in a tomb at the Gonur Depe archaeological site (2400-1600 B.C.) in Turkmenistan. Gonur Depe, a bronze age town, was discovered in 1972.<div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSGp2WBkJcgUH77f9HTSKqVeItZhiTHW9obNex8U6bOMuz6V0foYSF2hqlE3PgtOPdkk3_FdcMqCRV9bZoN_LgKpvE2q77nH984W2Rk7RkthjIFXkfuUvnF1duothiRAAeYekHMajfU_noCfQAPKLLtPwUT4HuIK5_U2mHwYnJBRBkj5PapfqY7hVq/s1440/328157048_1597523307337583_4605399530868898769_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1440" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSGp2WBkJcgUH77f9HTSKqVeItZhiTHW9obNex8U6bOMuz6V0foYSF2hqlE3PgtOPdkk3_FdcMqCRV9bZoN_LgKpvE2q77nH984W2Rk7RkthjIFXkfuUvnF1duothiRAAeYekHMajfU_noCfQAPKLLtPwUT4HuIK5_U2mHwYnJBRBkj5PapfqY7hVq/s320/328157048_1597523307337583_4605399530868898769_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">Among
the early Hebrew the sun, copper, coiled snakes, the celestial bull or ram, horns
cradling the sun, twin lions, inner sanctums, east-facing temples, solar boats,
winged solar orbs, relic boxes such as the Ark of the Covenant<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Ark of the Covenant" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]-->, and green stones<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "green stones" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>were associated with the High God and his son HR (Horus in Greek). In ancient Egyptian HR means "Most High One".</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">Lions were a symbol of royal authority in the Ancient Near East. They often appear on ancient royal steles. Even today lions appear on the heraldry of
noble and royal houses. The lion was the totem of the clan of Judah, a son of the Hebrew ruler
Jacob, and a lion appears on the Jerusalem coat of arms.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">Royal Ladies?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Excavations at Gonur in the ancient delta of the Murghab River revealed a unique polychrome painting at the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex. It was found in an unusual grave at Gonur 20. </div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMJz8bb69NaEtNybaynRotHjp8xirsPdcl3la2Mz118uhhc4pOA8AH_24LKxK32G4n9TeZf80Vb6lxTj13-WXMPfV0tBWxpwl1MMfVeo-IC_ri87pK4UmWaoVnLgSedHFMFH1ZsN8VdWszxELxkjGVm37xhjCTyvcfmiSlJDDPuWcbWsZOFPSs9bOw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1166" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMJz8bb69NaEtNybaynRotHjp8xirsPdcl3la2Mz118uhhc4pOA8AH_24LKxK32G4n9TeZf80Vb6lxTj13-WXMPfV0tBWxpwl1MMfVeo-IC_ri87pK4UmWaoVnLgSedHFMFH1ZsN8VdWszxELxkjGVm37xhjCTyvcfmiSlJDDPuWcbWsZOFPSs9bOw" width="233" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>Also found at the site are a group of seated female<span face="MetSans, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Noto Sans SC", "Noto Sans TC", "Noto Sans JP", "Noto Sans KR", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 19.4376px;"> </span>figures wearing robes of green chlorite or steatite. The heads are of white limestone. Among the dispersed Hebrew, green stones, especially malachite, were associated with the High God and Horus.</div><div><br /></div>Among the Horite Hebrew green malachite represented new life and the hope of resurrection. The land of the blessed dead was described as the "field of malachite." Green stones were associated with Horus, whose animal totem was the falcon. The Book of the Dead speaks of how the deceased will become a falcon "whose wings are of green stone" (chapter 77). The protective Eye of Horus amulet was made of green stone. The Ancient Pyramid Texts speak of Horus as the "Lord of the green stone" (Utterance 301).<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Related reading: <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/329073"><span style="color: #990000;">"Seated Female" (Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex)</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-sky-bull-as-messianic-image.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Sky Bull as a Messianic Image</span></a>; <a href="http://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2016/02/ram-symbolism-of-ancient-world.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Ram Symbolism in the Ancient World</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-77346392467826079202023-03-27T14:52:00.010-07:002023-03-28T20:36:40.816-07:00The Talmud's Influence on the New Testament Writers<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzeg1BzdpHAWqlzZUmUpe0DbwT826N8YFR-HrV5viV2k8XfOqJAO-eAdPz324Zggc1PfJkE4diAW6UqOejMzceDi41mT_Jt-rjgUO4yS0WhQSLs7Fpli7juHzef0AWcW9ZXT-Ruv5fnD2SytnH-NsFZ8JTdtZODVeIvapujgRbHQT1UZqEuoXipNw7/s300/Talmud.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzeg1BzdpHAWqlzZUmUpe0DbwT826N8YFR-HrV5viV2k8XfOqJAO-eAdPz324Zggc1PfJkE4diAW6UqOejMzceDi41mT_Jt-rjgUO4yS0WhQSLs7Fpli7juHzef0AWcW9ZXT-Ruv5fnD2SytnH-NsFZ8JTdtZODVeIvapujgRbHQT1UZqEuoXipNw7/w356-h202/Talmud.jpg" width="356" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /><div>Dr. Alice C. Linsley</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The first 12 chapters of Genesis are rich in anthropological data. They speak of the Hebrew ruler-priests who established and expanded their territories, promoted technological advances, controlled river and land commerce, traded with kingdoms far from their own, developed systems of writing, and influenced the religious beliefs of many non-Hebrew populations. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Hebrew ruler-priests were the first lords of the earth, the potentates of 6000+ years ago. They believed that their authority was derived from the High God and that they were required to rule according to the <a href="https://college-ethics.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-moral-code-of-ani.html"><span style="color: #990000;">sacred law codes</span></a> of their ancestors. Genesis preserves their king lists in chapters 4, 5, 10, 11, 25 and 36. Genesis 36:31 clarifies that these "mighty men of old" (Gen. 6) ruled before there was any king in Israel.</div><div><br /></div><div>The <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hebrew ruler-priests were a caste</span></a> that preserved their identity and wealth by marrying only within their caste. Among them are Cain, Seth, Lamech the Elder (Gen. 4), Lamech the Younger (Gen. 5), Noah, Ham, Shem, Sheba, Heth, Nimrod, and Abraham the Hebrew. </div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, some of these early Hebrew are misrepresented in later writings, especially the Talmud and Mishnah. Though these were codified after 70 A.D. the ideas they contain were well known to the Jewish writers of the New Testament. In the first century there were many sects and schools in Jewish society and the diversity of opinion is expressed in the disputations of the rabbis.</div><div><br /></div><div>Many Jews believe that the Talmud contains truth of greater authority than the Hebrew Bible. The Talmud itself encourages this. We read this explicit instruction: “My son, be more careful in the observance of the words of the Scribes than in the words of the Torah." (Talmud Erubin 21b)</div><div><br style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />SUNY professor, Robert Goldberg, has written: “The traditional Jew studies Talmud because it communicates ultimate truth—truth about God, truth about the world, and most important, truth about how God wants the holy community of Israel to live.”<br /><br />New Testament writers were influenced by the Talmud in the way they present certain Old Testament characters: Cain, Esau, Korah, and Balaam are examples. Cain is remembered as a murderer, but Moses and David are not. Esau is posed as wicked though he forgives the deception of Jacob and welcomes him back to the “land of Seir” in Edom (Gen. 32:3). Moses’ half-brother Korah is remembered only for his challenge to Moses’ authority and not for his ritual purity, and Balaam becomes the archetype of a foolish false prophet.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the time that Jude wrote his epistle (c. 68 AD) Cain was solidly established as the archetype of an earthly ruler. Jude warns those who might abandon Christ because of their suffering and false teachers that God punishes those who rebel against Him. He uses three men as examples: Cain the ruler, Balaam the prophet, and Korah the priest. These were the three most sacred offices among Abraham’s Hebrew people, and they were often filled by people corrupted by the world.<br style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br />The pervasive influence of the Talmud on first century Jews makes it more remarkable that the New Testament writers recognized Jesus as Messiah and the Son of God. <br /><br />Much of the argument developed by the writer of the book of Hebrews relies on rabbinic thought, not on historical realities. In Hebrew 7:14, the writer recognizes that the Messiah is from the clan of Judah and a descendant of David, but he seems unaware that both Judah and David are descendants of an ancient caste of ruler-priests. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hebrews 12:16 casts Esau as immoral, yet Esau welcomed his deceiving brother Jacob who sought to return home. <i>Zevachim</i> 14:4 claims that Esau's wives served idols, yet they were the daughters of the Hittite chiefs Elon and Beeri who served the same High God. Esau was Isaac's proper heir and he ruled over Isaac's territory in Edom. The intense dislike of Esau in Jewish writings appears to spring from jealousy.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Hebrew 7:20-28, the author states that the former priests did not take oaths. However, there are historical documents that attest to oaths among the Horite and Sethite Hebrew priests. These include oaths of office, of loyalty, and of truth telling. The priest took an oath that declared loyalty to the high king who he served, and the oath was declared before the appointed royal official or high priest under whom the priest served. <br /><br />In an oath taken before a priest of the Temple of Hathor on December 6, 127 B.C., a royal servant Petasatet declared his innocence in the case of cloth theft. Temples played an important role in resolving legal and personal disputes. <br /><br />An oath was taken as a solemn appeal to divine authority represented by the high king. One type asserts a truth and is by nature a declaration such as that of Petasatet. A second type makes a promise pertaining to future actions. (See John A. Wilson, “The Oath in Ancient Egypt”.) <br /><br />The writer of Hebrews admits that many of the religious practices of the period of the Exodus are not familiar to him. Of the Ark of the Covenant, the mysterious manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, he explains in Hebrew 9:5 – “Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.” When the details that enable verification of narratives is lacking the reader has reason to question the source.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, an empirical investigation of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste using the data in Genesis tells us who they were, what they believed, how they dispersed out of the Nile Valley, and that they are the first to hold the Messianic Faith concerning God Father and God Son. <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2019/09/judaism-is-not-faith-of-abraham.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Their religion was not Judaism</span></a> and they would find much of the Talmud confusing and unfamiliar.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Related reading: <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-good-guy-bad-guy-motif-fails.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Good Guy-Bad Guy Motif Fails</span></a>; <a href="https://college-ethics.blogspot.com/2010/12/ancient-moral-codes.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Ancient Moral Codes</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2020/06/abrahams-faith-lives-in-christianity.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Abraham's Faith Lives in Christianity</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/05/abraham-hebrew.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Abraham the Hebrew</span></a></div><div><br /></div><br /></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-26653357136249841582023-02-10T17:43:00.007-07:002023-06-18T07:35:16.625-07:00Correctly Identifying Biblical Populations<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzunUK_F8dXPWrugFPZuVacKjYCBOlmrl_cS0icGVWU564Eu57FAJr4QiAs0ZFYk0KvLpa4DRtOS49yPaVgp8YQq2IX9xzkJx1LvdkKK1SaQ9u1O10q8VA5RavBTjCny6AtJsNhJmJi-Gr1bi5QTVXDDTP3OOwi5X_6hGXgQjDL2WLnCQbDIPCoRS/s220/25158253_1476602579102305_1893777345953003719_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="220" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzunUK_F8dXPWrugFPZuVacKjYCBOlmrl_cS0icGVWU564Eu57FAJr4QiAs0ZFYk0KvLpa4DRtOS49yPaVgp8YQq2IX9xzkJx1LvdkKK1SaQ9u1O10q8VA5RavBTjCny6AtJsNhJmJi-Gr1bi5QTVXDDTP3OOwi5X_6hGXgQjDL2WLnCQbDIPCoRS/w264-h187/25158253_1476602579102305_1893777345953003719_n.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Alice C. Linsley</p>One of the challenges facing biblical anthropology is the accurate identification of biblical populations. This is difficult because a population may be called by more than one name in the Bible and in ancient texts.<div><br />In some texts the Horite Hebrew are referred to as Hurrians, Hivites, and Hittites. E.A. Speiser called attention to Hurrian/Horite personal names associated with Shechem and with locations whose inhabitants the Bible calls “Hivites”. Other examples of the interchange of the terms Hivite and Horite may be found by comparing the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint. The Septuagint reads "Horites" for the "Hivite" of the Masoretic Text in Genesis 34:2 and Joshua 9:7.</div><div><br />The Masoretic Text of Joshua 11:3 described the Hivites as being "under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh." However, the Septuagint reads "Hittites" in place of "Hivites". It is reasonable to assume that Hivite, Hittite, Hurrian, and Horite are closely related terms. It appears that Hebrew priests served the rulers of the peoples called Hittite, Hurrian, and Hivite.</div><div><br />The Hittites were related to the Horite Hebrew. They share a common ancestry traced through Heth/Het (Gen. 23). The Hittite "sons" of Heth were among the clans of Canaan (Gen. 10:15). They recognized Abraham as their kinsmen, addressing him as "a great prince among us" (Gen. 23:6). Esau married Hittite women, the daughters of Hittite rulers named Beeri and Elon (Gen. 26).</div><div> <br />The clan of Het lived near Kirtiath-Arba, later called Hebron (Gen. 23:3,7), at the northern boundary of Abraham's territory. This was the location of Sarah's settlement. Here Abraham purchased a cave tomb for Sarah's burial.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the <a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/saoc22.pdf"><span style="color: #990000;">many scholarly papers</span></a> published about the Hurrians, we find these variants: Hurri, Hurrites, Horites, and Horim.</div><div><br /></div><div><br />The Hebrew</div><div><br />The Hebrew are another population that requires careful investigation. The term "Hebrew" is derived from the ancient Akkadian word “abru”, meaning priest. However, variant spellings include Habiru, Hapiru, ‘Aperu, and ‘Apiru. The Harris papyrus speaks of the 'Apiru of Re at Heliopolis (biblical On/Iunu). The term “pirû” refers to a house, a shrine, or a temple. A temple was the mansion (hâît) or the house (pirû) of the god. Sargon is said to have been born of a virgin queen who was overshadowed by the High God while in the temple. His home city, Azu-pir-anu, was located on the banks of the Euphrates.</div><br />The Hebrew/Abrutu in India are called the "Abhiras" in Indian texts such as the Mahabharata and Purana. The word Abhira (<span style="font-size: x-small;">अभीर</span>) means “fearless”. The Abhiras are described as warriors, mercenaries, and bandits. Yet they are also recognized as highly skilled and the retainers of traditional wisdom. <br /><br />The similarities between the Abhira and the Nilotic Hebrew are striking. Sri Rama's son's name was Kush. He expanded the territory of his kingdom westward of India. Nimrod the Kushite expanded his territory in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia was the natural trade bridge between the Nile Valley and the Indus Valley. Indus seals with Harappan inscriptions have been found in Mesopotamia. Indus pottery and seals have been found along the sea routes between the Indian subcontinent and Mesopotamia. <div><br /></div><div>The Abhira of the Indus Valley and the Hebrew of the Nile Valley were cattle-herding populations who transported their cows on reed boats.</div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Related reading: <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/08/nimrod-and-nile-indus-connection.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Nimrod and the Nile-Indus Connection</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2023/01/religious-and-cultural-exchanges.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Cultural Exchanges Between Africa and India</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-36349510040187142412023-01-30T15:03:00.005-07:002024-02-27T13:18:32.304-07:00Cousin Brides Among the Hebrew<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZp_qmJ9f3dlnXGMTOobS3bQXw3AWEteZSENJ8c0INUDhtmCtMK8h3BuPi4QRLe-kXGGBCVmS6BVbeKI7jRLhoNdZCqF0NW6VweEhHT0Dqp8DYvDCG0ttf2AfV84_XgWjAaYobmeuibdTxOkBq1S34koC4WJ5CsMHDO1ROUsPj7-ulnVR7Siw8jU5/s592/Mary%20with%20spindle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="337" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZp_qmJ9f3dlnXGMTOobS3bQXw3AWEteZSENJ8c0INUDhtmCtMK8h3BuPi4QRLe-kXGGBCVmS6BVbeKI7jRLhoNdZCqF0NW6VweEhHT0Dqp8DYvDCG0ttf2AfV84_XgWjAaYobmeuibdTxOkBq1S34koC4WJ5CsMHDO1ROUsPj7-ulnVR7Siw8jU5/s320/Mary%20with%20spindle.jpg" width="182" /></a></div><br /><i>The Virgin Mary with a spindle. The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew describes how Mary and the other Temple virgins were spinning purple thread in the Women's compound when the Angel Gabriel appeared to her. </i><br /><br /></div><p></p>Dr. Alice C. Linsley<div><br /><br />Cousin brides played a significant role in the building up of the early Hebrew clans. There are numerous references to cousin brides in the Bible. Keturah was Abraham's patrilineal cousin. ("Patrilineal" means they have a common male ancestor.) Zipporah was Moses's patrilineal cousin, and Hannah was Elkanah's cousin. The Virgin Mary was Joseph's cousin bride.<div><br /><div>Eleazar’s daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish (1 Chron. 23:22). Other cousin brides include Naamah, Mahalath, Rebekah, and the five daughters of Zelophehad who married the "sons of their father's brothers" (Num. 36:11).<div><br /></div><div>The
maternal ancestry of the Hebrew rulers is traced mainly through the cousin
brides. The pattern is found among the early Hebrew rulers listed in
Genesis chapters 4 and 5 and is evident in the diagram below.</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lamech’s daughter Naamah (Gen.
4) married her patrilineal cousin Methuselah (Gen. 5) and named their
first-born son Lamech after her father. This is called the "<a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2007/04/brides-naming-prerogative.html"><span style="color: #990000;">cousin bride's naming prerogative</span></a>". The cousin-bride’s naming prerogative is a distinctive feature of the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the biblical Hebrew. This custom necessitates speaking of
two different individuals named Lamech: Lamech the Elder and Lamech the Younger.</p><div>The pattern is shown in this diagram. The daughter of Lamech the Elder (Gen. 4) married her patrilineal cousin Methuselah (Gen. 5) and named their first-born son "Lamech" after her father. This is called the "cousin bride's naming prerogative". These individuals are designated as "Lamech the Elder" and "Lamech the Younger". They are different individuals, contrary to the opinion of Robert R. Wilson (Yale University Divinity School), who believes that the two Lamechs are one and the same person. </div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCprjdgoH3rsHshMMlKqFUp7vZpde0WK1xgpDjuQF3LRSNuoWyCtZ0UUyQqMGdfCHfKbnVZO8sYiZehaueTAx9B_EUfSQ9dGxcSTGrwVAWxcR3wKW2hDLtkub6DeWQBFWnPf5cm36Ns3_XyWODHUKJqm24gOcl5rz0XPps56oiPQ5YyWB7S1kC5Kzi/s400/Lamech%20Segment2png.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="400" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCprjdgoH3rsHshMMlKqFUp7vZpde0WK1xgpDjuQF3LRSNuoWyCtZ0UUyQqMGdfCHfKbnVZO8sYiZehaueTAx9B_EUfSQ9dGxcSTGrwVAWxcR3wKW2hDLtkub6DeWQBFWnPf5cm36Ns3_XyWODHUKJqm24gOcl5rz0XPps56oiPQ5YyWB7S1kC5Kzi/w461-h345/Lamech%20Segment2png.png" width="461" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The naming custom suggests that Cain and his brother Seth married cousins since their first-borns sons are named after Enoch/Enosh/Enos, a contemporary of Adam.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKvEqWdJovcrmx-jaeTmB_WYpH-IOFRn3UyvSJH1I5uuolYcrR6Skb4GU99Zgur5oUhC7dk5SG27fUGP-isc6gxuJKsAinU3WKemZLYSRWbAFJeH14EJbHGzvRG_12TLHl9hQjzP2FNVuoGX9C3P8G9cGVPw8or6d9FRxpq0ZrZ3I2vKeYjQrN7mmp/s603/Analysis%20of%20the%20Kinship%20Pattern%20of%20Abraham.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="589" height="383" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKvEqWdJovcrmx-jaeTmB_WYpH-IOFRn3UyvSJH1I5uuolYcrR6Skb4GU99Zgur5oUhC7dk5SG27fUGP-isc6gxuJKsAinU3WKemZLYSRWbAFJeH14EJbHGzvRG_12TLHl9hQjzP2FNVuoGX9C3P8G9cGVPw8or6d9FRxpq0ZrZ3I2vKeYjQrN7mmp/w461-h383/Analysis%20of%20the%20Kinship%20Pattern%20of%20Abraham.png" width="461" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The cousin bride's naming prerogative is seen in the repetition of names. Kain's daughter married her cousin Enosh and named their firstborn son Kenan, a variant of Kain/Cain. Likewise, Irad's daughter married her cousin Mahalalel and named their firstborn son Jared, a variant of Irad. Lamech's daughter Naamah married her cousin Methuselah and named their firstborn son Lamech after her father.</div><div><br /></div><div>The variant spellings of the names Kain/Kenan, Irad/Jared are due to the fact that Hebrew has no vowels and the I and the J are often interchanged in translations between Greek and Hebrew.</div><div><br /></div><br /><div><b>Joseph and Mary</b></div><div><br /></div><div>As Joseph's cousin bride, Mary had the prerogative to name her only son after her priest father, Joachim. However, her angelic visitor had given her instruction concerning his name. According to Luke, Gabriel told Mary, “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus."</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Whose Household?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>In 1949, Claude Levi-Strauss recognized from his study of tribal peoples that mother and son do not always belong to the same household. This is the case with the biblical Hebrew. The first-born son of the cousin bride belonged to the household of his maternal grandfather after whom he was named or titled. </div><div><br /></div><div>This sheds light on why Zipporah, rather than Moses, circumcised their first-born son. Zipporah was Moses's second wife, and a Midianite. His first was a Kushite bride. The Midianite clans were descendants of Abraham by his cousin wife Keturah (Genesis 25). The son who was circumcised by Zipporah did not belong to the household of Moses. He belonged to the household of his maternal grandfather, Jethro, the priest of Midian. That son should have been circumcised by his maternal grandfather. For some reason this did not happen, and Zipporah was not happy about the situation.</div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>First and Second Brides </b><br /><br />Typically, high ranking <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2018/04/horite-hebrew-rulers-with-two-wives.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hebrew rulers had two wives</span></a>. The wives resided in separate settlements that <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-wives-settlements-mark-boundaries.html"><span style="color: #990000;">marked the ruler's territorial boundaries</span></a>. The Hebrew ruler-priest was wedded to his first wife while he was still young, probably around the age 18. His second wife was taken as he approached ascendancy to rule over his father’s territory, probably no younger than 40. This means that the children born to the first wife were considerably older than the children born to the second wife.</div><div><br />Sarah and Abraham were married while they still lived in the territory of their father Terah. Sarah’s barren state delayed the birth of Abraham’s proper heir, Isaac. This meant that the children born to Keturah were older than Isaac. However, none of the six sons born to Keturah (Gen. 25) were regarded as Abraham’s proper heir according to the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the early Hebrew. The proper heir was the first-born son of the first wife. <br /><br />The first wife was usually as half-sister, as was Sarah to Abraham (Gen. 20:1-16). This was the bride of the man's youth. The first-born son of this wife was the man’s proper heir. As the heir approached ascendancy to his father's territory, he took a second wife. Typically, this bride was a patrilineal cousin, as was Rebekah to Isaac. <br /><br />It appears that two wives were an essential part of establishing and maintaining territorial boundaries among royal persons. That this practice pertained to exceptionally high-status persons is evident in that the pattern is associated only with rulers such as Abraham, or ruling families such as that of Jesse, the father of King David and the grandfather of King Solomon. <br /><br />Consider the Song of Songs which speaks of two royal brides. One bride is described as “dark as the tents of Kedar” (1:5) and the other is described as “fair as the moon” (6:10). This is typical of the territorial claims of high kings in the Ancient Near East. The brides represent the east and the west, the territorial boundaries observed by the solar arc, the symbol of the God’s High rule over the Earth. This was a way of identifying the authority of the high king with the authority of the High God. <br /><br />The names of Lamech’s two wives Adah and Tzillah are another example. Theodore H. Gaster noted that the east-west arrangement is suggested by the names Adah (dawn) and Tzillah (dusk).</div><div><br /></div><div><b><br />The Importance of the Cousin Brides</b><br /><br />The ascendant ruler’s second wife was a patrilineal cousin. This marriage came much later than the first marriage to the half-sister bride. This explains Abraham’s urgency, as he faced death, that a cousin bride should be found for Isaac (Gen. 24). Isaac’s marriage to Rebekah would have come late in his life. The bride of his youth would have been a half-sister, the daughter of Abraham and Keturah. <br /><br />The Bible does not identify Isaac’s first wife. Her presence is suggested by the fact that Isaac was living near Beersheba when Abraham’s servant arrived from Padan-Aram with Rebekah. Beersheba was where Keturah resided with her children. <br /><br />It has been noted that the twin boys assigned to Rebekah may have been the first-born sons of Isaac’s two wives. This aligns with the social structure of the early Hebrew. Since Esau was Isaac’s proper heir, he would have been the first-born son of Isaac and his half-sister bride. Rebekah would be the mother of Jacob, a sent-away son. This also aligns with the social structure of the early Hebrew, as the son of the cousin bride belonged to the household of his maternal grandfather and would reside there after coming of age. This occurred with Jacob who went to live with his maternal uncle (avuncular residence).</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Preservation of land holdings</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The biblical Hebrew kept arable land within the patrilineage. Marriage to patrilineal cousins was one way to keep the land, with its water rights, within the Hebrew caste. The land was part of the marriage dowry. The early Hebrew ruler-priests held large territories with major water systems for irrigation. The scarcity of arable land explains the custom of marriage to the <i>Bint Amm</i> (daughter of my uncle) among Arabic speaking populations in the Middle East.</div><div><br /></div><div><br />Related reading: <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-hebrew-hierarchy-of-sons.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Hierarchy of Hebrew Sons</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/06/terahs-two-wives.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Terah's Two Wives</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2021/11/royal-sons-and-their-maternal-uncles.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Royal Sons and Their Maternal Uncles</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2018/04/horite-hebrew-rulers-with-two-wives.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2023/02/sovereignty-and-two-wives.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Sovereignty and Two Wives</span></a></div><div><br /> <br /></div></div></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-8443530710632984462023-01-16T18:27:00.011-07:002023-05-19T16:52:51.084-07:00Religious and Cultural Exchanges Between Africa and India<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVeQbyrmrjS1sOIOMnkQuZbBT9coDXyl0w4438RB-sdTPJEd9icp7vvo4rgjlmu6eQCBBh74Kqzggd1CfpKKEMBy6XtcemIqr0Y9a8RCtxss8XPAJPV_gQkWlQcuJHUSoGg5xG61bpyngi1_jo4fKBrsFALiGvtJQ7xdwJJPYzHov1wAalbYVnrHBW/s895/miniature%20terra-cotta%20maks%20from%20Mohejo-daro%20(govt%20of%20Pakistan%20Dept%20of%20Archaeology%20and%20Musuems.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="895" data-original-width="725" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVeQbyrmrjS1sOIOMnkQuZbBT9coDXyl0w4438RB-sdTPJEd9icp7vvo4rgjlmu6eQCBBh74Kqzggd1CfpKKEMBy6XtcemIqr0Y9a8RCtxss8XPAJPV_gQkWlQcuJHUSoGg5xG61bpyngi1_jo4fKBrsFALiGvtJQ7xdwJJPYzHov1wAalbYVnrHBW/s320/miniature%20terra-cotta%20maks%20from%20Mohejo-daro%20(govt%20of%20Pakistan%20Dept%20of%20Archaeology%20and%20Musuems.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The facial features of this Mohenjo-daro terracotta resemble the later <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2012/01/exquisite-nok-figurine-discovered.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Nok figurines of Nigeria</span></a>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><p>Dr. Alice C. Linsley</p>Long before Judaism the early Hebrew dispersed out of the Nile Valley into Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the Indus River Valley. This explains why there are similarities between religious beliefs of primitive Hinduism and the early Hebrew. One of those beliefs involves fire altars in the shape of a falcon, the totem of HR, the son of God to whom the Horite Hebrew were devoted. This is why the Shulba Sutras state that "he who desires heaven is to construct a fire-altar in the form of a falcon."<div><br /></div><div>The Hebrew were <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">a ruler-priest caste</span></a> with a moiety system. The two ritual groups were the Horites and the Sethites.<br /><div><br />The early Hebrew in Mesopotamia spoke Akkadian, the language of the territory of Nimrod, a Kushite kingdom builder (Gen. 10). The Indian scholar <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malati_Shendge"><span style="color: #990000;">Malati J. Shendge</span></a> has concluded that the language of the Harappans of the Indus Valley was Akkadian. (Read more <a href="https://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000820/spectrum/main7.htm"><span style="color: #990000;">here</span></a>.)</div><div><br /></div><div>The Indian linguist Ajay Pratap Singh explains, "Comparisons of Akkadian and Sanskrit words yielded at least 400 words in both languages with comparable phonetic and semantic similarities. Thus Sanskrit has, in fact, descended from Akkadian." <div><br />The early Hebrew ruler-priest caste had a moiety social structure. The two ritual groups that comprised the caste were the Horites and the Sethites. The Horite Hebrew were also known as Hurrians. Tablets from c.1500 BC found in Syria were etched in a language called Hurrian. <a href="https://swarajyamag.com/culture/aryans-and-dravidians-an-invention-of-racist-nineteenth-century-scholars"><span style="color: #990000;">Some people claim</span></a> these to be written in Sanskrit. The documents refer to a treaty signed by the kings of the ‘Mitanni’ Kingdom that lasted for just 200 years in Syria.<div><br />In Srimad Bhagavatam 10:16 we find a parallel to Genesis 3:15 where we are told that the serpent's head will be crushed under the feet of the Woman's Son/Seed. The Hindu text reads: "The Ancient Man danced on the serpent, who still spewed poison from his eyes and hissed loudly in his anger, and he trampled down with his feet whatever head the serpent raised, subduing him calmly..." (Cited in Andrew Wilson, Ed. <u>World Scriptures</u>, p. 449.)</div><div><br />The same Messianic idea is found in Psalm 91:12-13 - "They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down."</div><div><br />This expectation was expressed about 1000 years before Psalm 91 in the Pyramid Texts. "Horus has shattered (tbb, crushed) the mouth of the serpent with the sole of his foot (tbw)". (Utterance 388)</div><div><br />Scholars from India acknowledge the very early Nile-Indus connections. The Indian archaeologist, B. B. Lal contends that the Dravidians came from the Upper Nile (Nubia/Kush). Lal writes: "At Timos the Indian team dug up several megalithic sites of ancient Nubians which bear an uncanny resemblance to the cemeteries of early Dravidians which are found all over Western India from Kathiawar to Cape Comorin. The intriguing similarity extends from the subterranean structure found near them. Even the earthenware ring-stands used by the Dravidians and Nubians to hold pots were identical."</div><div><br /></div><a href="https://humanorigins.si.edu/about/human-origins-program-team/michael-petraglia"><span style="color: #990000;">Michael Petraglia</span></a> and his team found stone tools at Jwalapuram in Andhra Pradesh in southern India. These were above and below a thick layer of ash from the Toba super eruption (74,000 years ago). <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1141564"><span style="color: #990000;">Petraglia noted</span></a> that the tools found in southern India are like those from the African Middle Stone Age about 100,000 years ago. He states, “Whoever was living in India was doing things identical to modern humans living in Africa.”</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvX9gEcju-wbsDibbOvFeAiQpZm44DYPkcUWSLmllkaLFYLfDdk_4LGvWKyj1N8Ff2x8h9TxOPaBMLlm9r3jSbBDa0DaauBNlyipRqR47xel0EhdFvkNdUvwTMNJ5618NsmDCG4ofM9YItWpxPMVQ0JXKZADlFUsDJSix3sG8TmPf03k1Z3s8ebKX/s460/Dancing_Girl_of_Mohenjo-daro.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvX9gEcju-wbsDibbOvFeAiQpZm44DYPkcUWSLmllkaLFYLfDdk_4LGvWKyj1N8Ff2x8h9TxOPaBMLlm9r3jSbBDa0DaauBNlyipRqR47xel0EhdFvkNdUvwTMNJ5618NsmDCG4ofM9YItWpxPMVQ0JXKZADlFUsDJSix3sG8TmPf03k1Z3s8ebKX/w185-h320/Dancing_Girl_of_Mohenjo-daro.jpg" width="185" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This bronze statuette dubbed the "Dancing Girl" is about 4,500 years old. It was found in 'HR area' of Mohenjo-daro in 1926. She resembles <a href="https://pascal-francis.inist.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&lang=en&idt=11835529"><span style="color: #990000;">Nubian dancing girls</span></a>.</div><div><div><br /></div>Further evidence of the connection between the Nile and Indus Valley is demonstrated by comparing early Egyptian and Indus pottery inscriptions. Note that 17 figures under the headings "Indus Valley" and "Egyptian" are almost identical.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHC40hlwthI1dFiS082C0SZyIT4hVI67pHM9A_TT7h3pnFc_dfWJpNomS1XC_-qNJTqCK6s2UVJaKxktw16jq2GIHPiGOf1To0uJqXPFY-Wx3US175HvqU4MOr15-0GYQPDh9pYE3_u-jKVSpPwG91d3KWR5OFwRzixVe2qOO6dk0V_MNOnbuOLsIr/s1110/Figure%202%20Indus-Nile%20Inscriptions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="560" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHC40hlwthI1dFiS082C0SZyIT4hVI67pHM9A_TT7h3pnFc_dfWJpNomS1XC_-qNJTqCK6s2UVJaKxktw16jq2GIHPiGOf1To0uJqXPFY-Wx3US175HvqU4MOr15-0GYQPDh9pYE3_u-jKVSpPwG91d3KWR5OFwRzixVe2qOO6dk0V_MNOnbuOLsIr/w196-h320/Figure%202%20Indus-Nile%20Inscriptions.jpg" width="196" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Out of Africa</div><div><br /></div><div>Y-DNA haplogroup R has three branches: R1b, R1a, and R2. The sub-haplogroup of R2 is present in Mongolic-speaking Buryats and Kalmyks and has a predominant distribution in India and Pakistan. It is also found in China (Uygurs, Han, and Hui) and in Central Asia (Tajiks and Kyrgyz) and in some Siberian populations. </div><div><br /></div><div>Y-DNA R1b, R1a and R2 descended from the same common ancestor, but these made a "home" in different areas of the world since branching. The red areas on this map show the areas in Africa and Europe with the highest density of Y-DNA haplogroup R1b. About 70% of native British men have R1b ancestry.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9VCUaV7DwBFOc5RZiKEYcC82Zum59ga1dYFIFt40Af11odeX1qyOd1BrZS4NGZMrfQFmW-xpByCVQokFSoqZWlesJ9UxMjofUWEB2CxwbHRwla25hMpbsx7Kqs7F5XJJPc_-UiqJW8gy3BS8aBgCgAB20skV700xmfWCRoU9j_oAes51lTTsvyNl/s1031/Haplogroup%20R1b%20diverged%20from%20R1%2025,000%20ybp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="863" data-original-width="1031" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9VCUaV7DwBFOc5RZiKEYcC82Zum59ga1dYFIFt40Af11odeX1qyOd1BrZS4NGZMrfQFmW-xpByCVQokFSoqZWlesJ9UxMjofUWEB2CxwbHRwla25hMpbsx7Kqs7F5XJJPc_-UiqJW8gy3BS8aBgCgAB20skV700xmfWCRoU9j_oAes51lTTsvyNl/w396-h333/Haplogroup%20R1b%20diverged%20from%20R1%2025,000%20ybp.jpg" width="396" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br />Descendants of that original Haplogroup R ancestor migrated, and accrued additional mutations that formed the major sub-branches: R1a and R1b, around 20,000 years ago. The movement is out of Africa.<br /><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4kO0CT6otkP_Xkx0zyawrqjRMIpBgUie6uCjnzGC6g2PujuhREpe5WQuFUDerKAt-QUQQb1kxHQG5htIsgbf_xHxjYR168zG8ZQnKrcs8umC5Abjl4dEyxgvZXB8kem2mBydiNfMT4jhQ4Do2vlG7WvBs4cBbPr9wC2BV3Zg5NXnR4SObxNzPN5_/s467/ancient%20migration%20routes%20of%20haplogroup%20R%20subbranches.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="467" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4kO0CT6otkP_Xkx0zyawrqjRMIpBgUie6uCjnzGC6g2PujuhREpe5WQuFUDerKAt-QUQQb1kxHQG5htIsgbf_xHxjYR168zG8ZQnKrcs8umC5Abjl4dEyxgvZXB8kem2mBydiNfMT4jhQ4Do2vlG7WvBs4cBbPr9wC2BV3Zg5NXnR4SObxNzPN5_/w410-h277/ancient%20migration%20routes%20of%20haplogroup%20R%20subbranches.png" width="410" /></a></div><p></p><br /></div><br />According to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/jhg201198"><span style="color: #990000;">this report</span></a>, the third-most abundant haplogroup found in India is R, accounting for an average frequency of 15.7%. The high incidence of this haplogroup is restricted to the Indo-European and Dravidian-speaking groups. Within these populations, Indo-European-speakers exhibit an average frequency of 29.5% of R1a1, whereas Dravidian-speakers account for 22.6% of R2 sub-haplogroup.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Related reading: <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-hebrew-were-caste.html"><span style="color: #990000;">The Hebrew Were a Caste</span></a>; <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/08/nimrod-and-nile-indus-connection.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Nimrod and the Nile-Indus Connection</span></a>; <a href="https://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub365/entry-6140.html"><span style="color: #990000;">ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DANCE | Facts and Details</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/12/false-correlations.html"><span style="color: #990000;">False Correlations</span></a>; <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2011/08/is-it-possible-to-speak-of-proto-gospel.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Is It Possible to Speak of the Proto-Gospel?</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-35013949532326403782023-01-11T12:26:00.010-07:002023-02-14T20:27:23.402-07:00Early Smiths and Masons<p> </p><p><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: "Times New Roman"; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8PN5aqYqhqm7-SIoRfPZvvU75wWYKVxuKaeaEtNamXAp7PU9V38C6tRkjU-Pd5fS0IfvA0qaSQkqrzRbXQi5DUnsErC5lG6OGOWDAGn4EmA6e7FNsih3rroTkMIUvuo7HOPNc2Ci9iI/s1600/blacksmith+7th-8th+c.+BC.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8PN5aqYqhqm7-SIoRfPZvvU75wWYKVxuKaeaEtNamXAp7PU9V38C6tRkjU-Pd5fS0IfvA0qaSQkqrzRbXQi5DUnsErC5lG6OGOWDAGn4EmA6e7FNsih3rroTkMIUvuo7HOPNc2Ci9iI/s320/blacksmith+7th-8th+c.+BC.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;">Bronze figure of a smith (900-800 BC) was discovered in Vranište, Serbia.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">This figurine shows a metal worker with mandibular prognathism.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Alice C. Linsley</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>The ancient rulers were served by expert metal workers and stone masons. The stone masons 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.<div><br /></div><div>These craftsmen were specialists who kept their skills secret to protect their position 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. </div><div><br /></div><div>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). </div><div><div><br /></div><div>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.) </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhtAaFoV6b92LriLBc8fy5TAydmbNkkH9eQYnVCW5Aub68Ydl_VZHb8rBVVtCw_gox5i6cMRHEMEBQ5SFYVUHCOL6uSrRtK_ODbda2f23h1OZ4R2WHdJk93uuAjwZxxnndGWh52GTkXLpgcN0Aggjkn2BmD3hpCXvNFfgLH3xs5NS6ulKEcnEJXJ7/s4160/Akhenaten's%20chin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhtAaFoV6b92LriLBc8fy5TAydmbNkkH9eQYnVCW5Aub68Ydl_VZHb8rBVVtCw_gox5i6cMRHEMEBQ5SFYVUHCOL6uSrRtK_ODbda2f23h1OZ4R2WHdJk93uuAjwZxxnndGWh52GTkXLpgcN0Aggjkn2BmD3hpCXvNFfgLH3xs5NS6ulKEcnEJXJ7/s320/Akhenaten's%20chin.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>The condition is evident in Akhenaten, the father of <a href="https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2012/06/visit-to-tuts-exhibit.html"><span style="color: #990000;">King Tut</span></a>. 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 <a href="https://eurogenes.blogspot.com/2017/08/r1b-v88-out-of-balkans-and-into-africa.html"><span style="color: #990000;">R1b-V88</span></a> (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 <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3039512/"><span style="color: #990000;">Corsica, Sardinia, and Southern France</span></a>.</div><div><br /></div>Blacksmiths living in what is today Serbia knew the secret of transforming copper ore into metal copper. <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/people/miljana-radivojevic-associate-professor-archaeological-science"><span style="color: #990000;">Miljana Radivojević</span></a> has shown that the metal workers of the 7000-year-old <a href="http://serbia.com/vinca-the-cradle-of-european-civilisation/"><span style="color: #990000;">Vinča</span></a> culture were expert smiths.<div><br /></div><div>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.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxDuX4HZ4Kfa4_Udpyw8F-MKV5X60LK-cJNF2YyE4XaCHiZHdazKAl7N8Uu6ehbBCvHx7woSJEULvCyfwD9YWnP2es47hTtK6GLx1Rbls7sVaJO9LOABN9Lrasxkc5vqssJUW4xoUESZgyI83hyPha6uEY_vnvBi9mDZOxb9nj5MjoMuOlhcB1bv1X/s710/Copper%20and%20iron%20smelting%20site%20in%20Carpathian%20Basin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="710" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxDuX4HZ4Kfa4_Udpyw8F-MKV5X60LK-cJNF2YyE4XaCHiZHdazKAl7N8Uu6ehbBCvHx7woSJEULvCyfwD9YWnP2es47hTtK6GLx1Rbls7sVaJO9LOABN9Lrasxkc5vqssJUW4xoUESZgyI83hyPha6uEY_vnvBi9mDZOxb9nj5MjoMuOlhcB1bv1X/w377-h269/Copper%20and%20iron%20smelting%20site%20in%20Carpathian%20Basin.jpg" width="377" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Masons of the ancient world</div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>In southern Anatolia stone masons built Catalhoyuk beginning in 7500 BC. The Turkish word <i>catal</i> means fork and <i>hoyuk</i> 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 <a href="https://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2018/02/twin-cities-of-ancient-world.html"><span style="color: #990000;">twin settlements</span></a> on opposite sides of the river.</div><div><br /></div><div>The houses excavated in Catalhoyuk date between 6800-5700 B.C. Recent excavations have identified a shrine or small temple on the eastern side. <div><br /></div><div>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.<div><br /></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Related reading: <a href="https://www.serbia.com/serbia-a-place-where-man-discovered-metal-2/">Serbia, a place where man discovered metal? - Serbia.com</a>; <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10963-021-09155-7">Early Balkan Metallurgy: Origins, Evolution and Society, 6200–3700 BC | SpringerLink</a>; <a href="https://www.academia.edu/9551973/Zolt%C3%A1n_Czajlik_Traces_of_Prehistoric_smelting_workshops_in_the_Carpathian_Basin_In_S%C3%A1ndor_Berecki_ed_Iron_Age_Crafts_and_Craftmen_in_the_Carpathian_Basin_Proceedings_of_the_International_Colloquium_from_T%C3%A2rgu_Mure%C5%9F_10_13_October_2013_T%C3%A2rgu_Mure%C5%9F_2014_139_146">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</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Alice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com0