An Anthropologist Looks at Genesis 9

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The Covenant with Noah

Genesis chapter 9 reiterates the terms of the covenant stated in chapter 6. God blessed Noah and his sons and established his covenant with them and with their descendants. In chapter 9 we find an additional element: a promise that never again will all flesh be destroyed by inundation. The rainbow is the sign of that promise.

In chapter 9 we find an explicit prohibition against consuming blood. Adam and Eve were not to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree, and Noah and his early Hebrew people are not to eat flesh with the blood in it (Gen. 9:4-6). This echoes the prohibition of Leviticus 17:10-12: “If anyone from the house of Israel or a foreigner living among them eats any blood, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Therefore, I say to the Israelites, ‘None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner living among you eat blood.’”

Some writers (Leon Kass, Yoram Hazony) have suggested that the purpose of Genesis 1-11 is to present a general theory of human nature. However, the matter of blood which both purifies and pollutes has not be explored sufficiently in connection to the early Hebrew. The antecedents of blood anxiety and blood as a symbol of life extend back to a time long before Noah. For at least 100,000 years humans buried their loved ones in red ocher, a symbolic blood covering. The hope for life after death had long been attached to blood and blood symbolism.



Noah, a Drunken Father

Noah is described as a tiller of the ground and a grower of grape vines. This describes a neolithic ruler, not a paleolithic hunter-gatherer.

In the ancient world, wine was consumed mainly by rulers, and it was used by priests in religious rituals. It was offered by kings as a "drink offering" to the High God, and it was consumed at feasts that involved the ratification of treaties. The High God was believed to be the Witness to these treaties. In a Ugaritic text, the God El became drunk at such a feast and had to be carried home by his sons. Here we find a parallel to the story of Noah's drunken state and his sons' attempt to "cover" for him. However, in the Genesis 9 account, Noah became drunk and cursed one of his descendants, negating the covenant of blessing on his descendants (Gen. 9:20-25).

The curse falls on Canaan. This narrative suggesting sexual perversion is imposed by a later anti-Canaanite source. Shem is blessed and Canaan is to be his slave. The source of this account fails to recognize that the lines of Ham and Shem intermarried so that the curse on Ham’s descendants necessarily falls also on Shem’s descendants.

The outcomes of Noah's and Lot's drunken stupors were not good. Genesis presents criticism of excessive wine consumption as this was considered improper for Hebrew ruler-priests. Plutarch wrote that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis [biblical On] 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.”

Abraham's Territory  

Another covenant is established with Abraham in Genesis chapter 17. This covenant becomes the basis for later Zionist claims. The narrative that informs Jewish identity as historically connected to the Land of Israel (“Eretz Israel”) begins with the calling of Abraham who is portrayed as the first Jew. However, the Bible designates Abraham as Hebrew, and the biblical evidence indicates that Abraham’s early Hebrew ancestors came out of Africa. By Abraham’s time they were dispersed among many ethnicities and living in city-states and kingdoms, some of which are named in Genesis chapter 10.

Abraham's north-south territorial boundaries were marked by his wives' settlements. Sarah resided in Hebron and Keturah resided in Beersheba. His water rights appear to have extended on an east-west axis from Ein Gedi to Gerar.

Note that both Hebron (Sarah's settlement) and Beersheba (Keturah's settlement) are in Idumea/Edom. Abraham's territory extended between the settlements of his two wives and in Greek was called Idumea, meaning "land of red people." The region was called Adamu in ancient Egyptian, a reference to the color of blood.

Related reading: The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of Abraham's People; The Pattern of Two Wives; Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives; The Antiquity of the Edomite Rulers; An Anthropologist Looks at Genesis 8; Our African Ancestors

Edo, Edom, Idu and Idumea

Abraham's territory extended between Hebron and Beersheba.

Idumea means "land of red people".

Alice C. Linsley


One of the ways anthropologists trace the movements of earlier human populations is through place names (toponyms). Linguistically equivalent place names suggest a connection between places that often are a great distance apart. The movement of peoples between Africa and lands to the east and north is suggested by equivalent places names. In Nigeria there is a place called Orissa and in eastern India there is a region called Orissa (now called Odisha).

A prevalent ancient place name is Tamana which means "great place". Dr. Vamos Toth has shown that this toponym is found worldwide, and he considered this evidence for a prehistoric civilization that he called "Tamana". The ancient Tamana sites were settlements at high elevations near permanent water sources. 

The 72-foot vertical ditches of Eredo in the Nigerian rain forest go around the area for 100 miles.

Many ancient place names have the Er or Ur word which refers to a walled settlement (mound) or a fortified high place. Erido and Eredo mean "Ur of the Idu/Edo", or the "settlement of red people". There were two places with this name; one in Mesopotamia and the other in Nigeria. Many ancient place names are designated as fortified settlements: Ur of Chaldees, Urartu, Urkish, and Uruk.

Of particular interest in tracing the movement of early red peoples are the place names Idu/Ido or Edo/Edom, and Idumea. Idu is the name of a fortified settlement in northern Iraq. Edo is a place in Nigeria.

Among the Igbo of Benin, there is a legend about a founding father called Idu. He is said to be the progenitor of the Edo or Idoma. Hence the expression: “Iduh the father of Idoma.” He is said to have begotten 6 sons, each the chief of a royal clan. According to oral tradition, Ananawoogeno begot the children of Igwumale; Olinaogwu begot the people of Ugboju; Idum begot the people of Adoka; Agabi begot the people of Otukpo; Eje begot the people of Oglewu; Ebeibi begot the people of Umogidi in Adoka, and Ode begot the people of Yala. (Read more here.)

The Red People of Edom

Abraham's territory was entirely in the land of Edom which the Greeks called Idumea, meaning "land of read people". (See map above.) Sarah lived in Hebron and Keturah, Abraham's second wife, lived in Beersheba. The wives' separate settlements marked the northern and southern boundaries of Abraham's territory. This was a typical arrangement for high-status Hebrew ruler-priests.

At least two of Abraham's ancestors are identified as red: Adam and Seth. Adam's name is related to the word for blood, dam, and also refers to the color red. Genesis 5:1 describes Seth as being in the image of his father. This is verified by figurines of Seth found at the oldest known site of Horite Hebrew worship at Nekhen on the Nile (c.4500 BC). The figurines show Seth as a red hippo.

At least two of Abraham's descendants are also described as red: Esau of Edom (Gen. 26) and King David (1 Sam. 16:12).

Another Interesting Linguistic Connection

There is a connection between these words Obodas, Obito, and Obadiah. Obodas, the first ruler of Petra in Edom, took his title from the Edo name for ruler which is Oba. A Nabataean bronze found in Wādī Mūsā, near Petra mentions a priest and his son and is dedicated to Obodas, the "god" (deified ruler) in Gaia. Gaia was in the mountains east of Petra. The text is dated to the reign of the last Nabataean king, Rabbel II (70–106 AD).

In Japan, "obito" refers to a regional ruler. It is interesting that the earlier name for Tokyo was Edo. Until 1868, Tokyo was known as Edo, the name of the small fishing village that existed on the site for centuries.

According to the Talmud, the prophet Obadiah was from Edom, and said to have been a friend of the Horite ruler Job of the clan of Uz. Genesis 36 lists the descendants of Seir the Horite. One of these clan chiefs was Uz. Among them were two Hebrew rulers named Esau, as shown in the diagram below.

Related reading: Petra Reflects Horite Beliefs; The Edomites and the Color Red; The Historical Adam; The Sethites and the Red Hippo, Horite and Sethite Mounds; Sovereignty and Two Wives; The Obed-Edom Connection