Correctly Identifying Biblical Populations

 

Alice C. Linsley

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.

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.

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.

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).

 
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.

In the many scholarly papers published about the Hurrians, we find these variants: Hurri, Hurrites, Horites, and Horim.

The Hebrew

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.

The Hebrew/Abrutu in India are called the "Abhiras" in Indian texts such as the Mahabharata and Purana. The word Abhira (अभीर) 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.

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. 

The Abhira of the Indus Valley and the Hebrew of the Nile Valley were cattle-herding populations who transported their cows on reed boats.

Related reading: Nimrod and the Nile-Indus Connection; Cultural Exchanges Between Africa and India

Ha'biru, Ha'piru, 'Apiru, or Hebrew

Great Hypostyle Hall within the Karnak temple complex.

Alice C. Linsley

In the ancient Egyptian and Ugaritic languages the word "piru" meant house, shrine or temple. The O'piru were Sun temples located at the center of royal Sun Cities. The Sun was the emblem of the Creator among the servants of the Sun temples, and the servants of the temples are known in acient texts by various names: ha'piru, 'apiru, or ha'biru. In ancient Akkadian, the language of Nimrod's territory, the priest was called "Abru" and the Hebrew priest caste was called "Abrutu".

There were various castes of people who worked at the east-facing O'piru. These included priests, metalworkers, leather workers or tanners (ta-hash), stone masons, vintners and warriors. By the second millenium B.C. the ha'piru were dispersed throughout the Nile Valley, the ancient Near East, along the Indus River Valley, and in parts of southern Europe along the major water systems. These occupations were in service to the deity and to the king who built the temple. The king often served as the high priest of the temple also. A seated statue that shows Ramses II in the leopard skin of a priest was found at the temple that he build near Cairo. The temple was found in a suburb of Cairo called Ain Shams. "Shams" is the Arabic word for Sun.

The deity to which the temple was dedicated was the deity to which the various priests were devoted. Most priests recognized a High God, though the High God was called by different names: El, Re (meaning "Father" in ancient Egyptian), Shamash (related to the word for Sun, the emblem of the High God), YHWH, Ani, etc. 

In Genesis 14:13, Abraham is called "Hebrew" and the geneological data of Genesis 4- 11 indicates that his ancestors were Nilotes. Among the Nilotes there were priests dedicated to the High God and his son Horus. They are called Horite Hebrew and a great deal is known about them from ancient texts. They maintainted shrines (mounds) along the Nile and they believed in bodily resurrection.

Abraham would have been a devotee of Horus. His territory was in ancient Edom, the land of the Horite Hebrew who are mentioned in Genesis 36. Abraham's territory was entirely in the region of Edom (Idumea). He controlled the expanse on a north-south axis between Hebron to Beersheba. Sarah, his half-sister wife, lived in Hebron at the northern boundary of Edom. Keturah, his cousin bride, resided in Beersheba. (See Horite Hebrew Rulers With Two Wives.)

The Hebrew devotees of Horus were a very ancient ruler-priest caste. They can be traced back to at least 5000 B.C. to Abraham's Nilo-Saharan ancestors who were cattle herders. This was a very prestigious caste of priests in the service of kings. They dispersed widely in service of the early kingdom builders like Nimrod. One of their early shrines was a Nekhen on the Nile. The temple there is dedicated to Horus.

Another Horite shrine was Heliopolis. The Harris papyrus speaks of 'apriu of Re at Heliopolis, the shrine of the Sun. Joseph married into this royal priest line when he married Asenath, the daughter of the priest of On. On is Heliopolis, known to the residents as Iunu, meaning place of pillars.

The Horite priests of Heliopolis were known for their meticulous devotion to the Creator and his son, and for their sobriety and purity of life. Plutarch wrote that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.”

The Horite Hebrew believed in God Father and God Son. The son was called Horus in Greek. In ancient Egyptian, he was called HR, which means "Most High One." (See The Substance of Abraham's Faith, and The Ra-Horus-Hathor Narrative.)

Hathor, the mother of Horus, conceived when she was "overshadowed" by the Sun, the emblem of the High God. This very ancient narrative is part of the proto-Gospel, the fore-telling of the story of the Virgin Mary who conceived by divine overshadowing, as the Angel Gabriel explained.

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."

Related reading: The Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew; The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of the Horite Hebrew; Moses' Horite Family; Samuel's Horite Hebrew Family; The Horite High Places; The Royal Descendants of Adam and Enoch; Horite Mounds; Job, The Horite Hebrew; Horite Hebrew Territory