A Closer Look at the Jebusites

 

Jebusite stepped wall in Jerusalem.

Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah. (Joshua 15:63)



Dr. Alice C. Linsley


Contrary to the view that the Jebusites were a Canaanite tribe, they were a widely dispersed population by the 16th century AD. Today some Jebu live in Nigeria and in ancient times, two Jebusite populations lived in Canaan. One branch lived in the region of Gilead and the other in and around Jerusalem which was a Jebusite stronghold before David’s time.

The two groups of Jebusites who lived in Canaan maintained their solidarity, giving military aid to each other when needed. They were never defeated or driven out of Canaan by the Israelites. In fact, Jebusites served in David’s army and court. 1 Kings 9:20-21 states that Jebusites also served in Solomon’s kingdom.

Jerusalem was named for the Jebusites, as is evident in 1 Chronicles 11:4 – “David and all Israel marched to Jerusalem, that is Jebus, where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land.”

David purchased a threshing floor from the Jebusite chief Araunah and used the site to erect an altar to God. Threshing floors were sacred places among many biblical populations.

The Jebusites had been living in Canaan for many centuries. Jerusalem in Abraham's time was called Salem and the King of Salem was Melchizedek, "the priest of the Most High God." (Gen. 14:18) The Jebusites built their royal complex on the southeastern hill of Jerusalem.

Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday

The waving of palm branches to greet kings and high priests who entered the city appears to have originated with the Jebusites.

Jebu rulers are installed with branches from the Igiọ̀pẹ (palm tree). As a child, Jude Adebo Adeleye Ogunade was warned not to touch the leaves of the Igi-Ose tree, because as his Mama Eleni explained: "That tree is the tree whose leaves are used to install Chiefs and Kings of Ijebu and as your grandfather was a custodian of the rites of chieftaincy and kingship you must not play with its leaves." The Igi Ose is a Baobab used in arid areas in ceremonies as an alternative to the Igiọ̀pẹ.

The terms Jebu and Yebu are probably related. The Jebusites apparently dispersed along the Nile. Yebu was a principal shrine on Elephantine Island in the Nile. The history of Yebu extends back to 3000 BC. It was the original 'border town' between Egypt and the Nubian lands to the south and in ancient times was an important strategic position both for the defense of the border and as a trading route.

The Jebusites are an ancient people with a tradition of kings and priests. Today their presence in the Middle East is less evident than in Nigeria where they are known as “Ijebu.” As with the Canaanite Jebusites, the Ijebu are divided into two groups: the Nago-Jebu and the Ketu-Jebu. Both divisions take the serpent as their totem. Ketu and Naga are two ancient words for serpent. In ancient Egyptian literature the cosmic serpent is called Rahu Ketu who threatens to devour the Sun (solar eclipse). This suggests that the Jebu moved into Nigeria from the Nile Valley.

Eredo rampart

John Lliffe reports in his 2007 book Africans: The History of a Continent that in 1500 AD Ijebu Ode was "a very large city" (p. 80). To the southwest of Ijebu-Ode is the largest pre-colonial monument in Africa. Local people link the Eredo boundary walls to Bilikisu Sungbo, another name for Sheba, according to the late Patrick Darling, the British archaeologist who drew world attention to the Eredo system of walls. He reported, "We are not linking what we found to a city, but to a vast kingdom boundary rampart." The wall system runs for 100 miles and is 70 feet high.

T. O. Ogunkoya's The Early History of Ijebu also claims the Jebu presence in Nigeria goes back to the 16th century. However, it is possible that the Jebu came there from the east where they had deeper roots historically. The Eredo discovery links Jebu territory and Sheba in ancient Yemen. There is evidence of other populations migrating from the east to Nigeria and Niger (See A Brief History of the Lake Chad Region.)

The genetic studies of some populations (Kanembu, Ouldeme, Daba, Daza, Fali, and Tali) in Northern Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon reveal paternal ancestry of Y-DNA Haplogroup R1b as shown on the map above. This further suggests a connection between some populations of those countries and some populations living in lands to the east and north. This is the same haplogroup as King Tut's.

Today the two IJebu provinces are called Jebu Remu and Jebu Ode, and the title of their high king is "Awujali.” The IJebu are classified as Yoruba, but the term "Yoruba" was applied to related groups after the 18th century A.D.

In 1892, the New York Times reported on the Jebu control of the water systems of the Benue Trough extending to the Port of Lagos. The headline (shown above) reads "The king of Jebu threatens to attack Lagos."


Related reading: The Judean Palm; The Trees of Prophets; A Brief History of the Lake Chad Area

The Jerusalem that David Knew

Alice C. Linsley


The Jerusalem that David knew is the oldest part of the city, a 12-acre ridge south of the Temple Mount, known as the "city of David" (II Samuel 5:9). It extended south of the Old City walls. This area was inhabited continuously for 2000 years before David. In David's time, there was a fortified citadel under control of the Jebusites. Jerusalem, which was called "Urusalim" in Akkadian, was an important shrine city in David's time, exhibiting typical characteristics of ancient shrine cities. It had flowing water from a perennial spring and was built on a precipice, as was the shrine city Nekhen at El-Kab on the eastern bank of the Nile in Sudan. The region around Amman in Jordan (Gen. 36:35) was likewise famed for its springs and high citadel.

The name Urusalim in Akkadian cuneiform

Excavations of the City of David have uncovered remains from the Early Bronze Age through the Muslim Period.  Bronze ancestor figurines (teraphim) were found which have perforations around the top of the head. Human hair from the dead ancestor was woven through these perforations. This was common practice and observed among extant biblical tribes.

Bust (Ife) showing perforations for hair

In Area E, the Iron Age rampart reused the Bronze Age city wall. In Area G, the Iron Age remains are on top of the stepped-stone structure. This is a system of foundation walls erected below the summit of the southeastern slope.  The system is comprised of boxes filled with stone and the construction protrudes beyond the natural contour, providing an additonal 2691 square feet. The yellow courses of stone are believed to have served as the base for the Jebusite citadel, and David would have been familiar with this area.

Dame Kathleen Kenyon's partial excavation of the southeastern hill uncovered a fragment of a pilaster capital with the palmette design typical of that which originated in ancient Egypt with subsequent development into various forms throughout Eurasia. 

Jerusalem's Importance in Abraham's Time

The first biblical evidence of the city's importance is Melchizedek.  He was the ruler-priest of Salem who came to Abraham after the battle of the kings (Gen. 14).  It was the custom among Abraham's Kushite people to make atonement for the shedding of blood after battle and likely this is the service that Melchizedek performed for Abraham. Melchizedek, the king of Salem, is called "the priest of the most high God" in Genesis 14:18. His name mean "righteous king."

Three centuries before David ruled in Jerusalem, the city was ruled by Abdi-hepa.  He received his training in Egypt, as was proper for sons of the ruling Kushite caste. The Egyptians regarded him as a warrior and Adbi-hepa claimed to rule by the authority of Pharaoh. The name hepa may be a variant of heqaib, a common name among men of the ruler-priest caste, according to the Egyptologist Labib Habachi. Another ancient water shrine was that of Prince Heqaib on the island of Elephantine. On that same island was found the biography of Pepi-nakht-Heqaib, an official and military commander under Pepi II (BC 2278-2184). As a ruler, Pepi-nakht-Heqaib was known for upholding the rights of firstborn sons.

David himself appears to have been kin to the Kushite rulers of Jerusalem which might explain why he is described as ruddy or red (1Samuel 17:42). This is the same Hebrew word used to describe Esau, one of David's ancestors. Kushite rulers had a red-brown skin color. The Sudanese Kushites were the first to domesticate wild sorghum and millet. These became staple grains in Egypt and were taken to Pakistan and India between 3000 and 1000 BC. David's kingdom, with its center in Jerusalem, would have been at the crossroads of such commerce and would have enjoyed the benefits of trade between Africa and Eurasia.

Had David's claim to the throne been accepted by his kinsmen in Jerusalem, which it apparently was, this would explain why there is no archaeological evidence of David's "conquest" involving destruction of property. Further support for the theory that David was related to the Jebusites is found in II Samuel 24, where we are told that David built a fire altar at the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite. David was of the ruler-priest caste and therefore qualified to offer sacrifice.  He was also a shepherd. All the Horite ruler-priests were shepherds.  These are very roles that characterize the Horite ruler-priests whose patrilineal lines intermarried, bringing us to the Joachim, Mary's father, a descendant of David's prophet Nathan. The Virgin Mary was Miriam Daughter of Joachim Son of Pntjr (Panther) Priests of Nathan of Beth Lehem. From the earliest predynastic times in Egypt, ntjr designated the king among the Kushites. The name Panther or p-ntjr meant "God is King."  It is certain that Mary was of the ruler-priest class because even those who hated her admit this. Sanhedrin 106a says: “She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters.”


Jebusite Builders
The Jebusites were a Kushite people and the Kushites were known as great builders.  Nimrod, the son of Kush, is an example. He built cities in the Tigris River Valley, though his people originated in the Nile Valley.  From the Nile, the Jebusites migrated both east and west. The western boundary of the Jebu is marked by a 1000-year old rampart that is 70 feet high and 100 miles long. The British archaeologist Patrick Darling is credited with drawing world attention to the discovery of the Eredo system of walls. He reports, "We are not linking what we found to a city, but to a vast kingdom boundary rampart."

Eredo rampart

The Eredo walls and ditches are located to the south-west of the Jebu town of Ijebu-Ode in Ogun state in southwest Nigeria. This is the largest single pre-colonial monument in Africa. Local people link the Eredo boundary walls to Bilikisu Sungbo, another name for Sheba, according to Dr Patrick Darling. This discovery confirms the biblical genealogical data that links the clans of Jebu and Sheba (in ancient Yemen).

German archaeologists working in the Ethiopian highlands have identified the remains of settlements from the the time of David that reveal strong cultural and religious connections to biblical Sheba. The clans of Sheba were close relatives of the Jokanite clans of South Arabia. The territory of Sheba is referred to 24 times in the Hebrew Bible. Beersheba, Keturah's home, was at the northern end of the territory of Sheba. Keturah was Abraham's cousin wife.  See diagram below.

Related reading:  Who Were the Kushites?;  Edom and the Horites; The Jebusites Unveiled; Frank Moore Cross: Israel's God is the God of the Horites