The Genesis 10 Ethnography

Alice C. Linsley

Genesis 10, called a “Table of Nations,” represents an early attempt at ethnography. In his commentary of Genesis, E.A. Speiser described this table “as a pioneering effort among the ethnographic attempts of the ancient world.” (Speiser, The Anchor Bible Commentary on Genesis, p. 71.) The table lists 70 biblical populations with their own lands and nations.

This chapter does not describe nations as we think of them, but rather territories governed by local and regional chiefs who formed alliances for mutual defense. There were a few high kings who ruled larger territories from their royal fortifications. The fortified settlements contained palaces, temples, garrisons, and royal treasuries. These “high places” were the political centers of emerging city-states.

Chapter 10 continues the theme of an eastward movement out of Africa. Adam and Eve went east. Cain went east, and now we read about the dispersion of biblical populations into geographical areas outside of Africa. This is especially evident in the segment about the Kushite kingdom builder Nimrod (Gen. 10: 8-12).

Nimrod is also spelled Nimrudj or Nimrwd. His name, and the name “Lot” are names found among the rulers of the Nile. At least two Nilotic rulers have the name Lot: Takelot I (885–872 BC) and Takelot II (860-835 BC), and at least two Nilotic rulers were called Nimlot. An inscription on the statue of Nimlot B describes him as “Nimlot true of voice,” meaning justified.

In 2010, the 4400-year tomb of a purification priest named Rwd-Ka (Rudj-ka) was found at Giza. It dates to between 2465 and 2323 B.C. His high status is evident in the quality of his stone tomb. He served Pharaoh Khafre who ruled from 2520 to 2494 BC, well before the time of Abraham. The ancient Egyptian word rwd/rudj means ball, sphere, or the Earth. The term “ka” in this context refers to a ruler-priest.

Painting of Rudj-ka and his wife on the wall of his tomb. 

This 2800-year fragment was found at the ancient city of Nimrud in modern Iraq. It gives Malku (Melek) as a synonym for Šarru (Sar/Sharru). Both words mean king. (British Museum ND 5434)

Genesis 10 places Nimrod in this area of the Tigris River Valley. It seems that he was a sent-away son of Kush. Likely, his brother Ramah was the proper heir to Kush’s throne.

Genesis 10:7 names Dedan (DD - red one) as a grandson of the Nilotic ruler Kush. Dedan’s father was Ramah, the brother of Nimrod. Abraham was a descendant of Nimrod by his cousin wife, a daughter of Asshur. Here we see further evidence of endogamy between the lines of Ham and Shem. Genesis 11 introduces Abraham’s ancestors descending from Shem.

The various translations of Genesis 10 reveal a discrepancy about a people called Rodanim or Dodanim. Some versions have Rodanim, and others have Dodanim (both plural forms). This discrepancy has been explained by the apparent confusion of the Hebrew letters “resh’ and “dalet” which are similar. The discrepancy also surrounds the place called “Riblah” in some texts and called “Diblah” in others (Ezekiel 6:14).

Here we find evidence for a red population that might be identified with the Horite Hebrew of Edom (Gen. 36). Esau of Edom is described as red, and David, who had Edomite blood, is also described as red or ruddy.

It has been suggested that Rodanim refers to the island of Rhodes (E.A. Speiser), but it is more likely that Genesis 10:4 refers to a population associated with red skin and possibly red hair. The words Dodanim and Dedan refer to the color red. The biradical DD is related to the Ancient Egyptian didi (red fruit) and the Yoruba diden (red).

Related reading: Royal Sons and Their Maternal Uncles; Sent-Away Sons; The Endogamous Lines of Ham and Shem; The Land of Red People; The Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew; The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of Abraham's Hebrew People

David's Royal City

Make ready, O Bethlehem; for Eden hath been opened for all. Prepare, O Ephratha; for the Tree of life hath blossomed forth in the cave from the Virgin; for her womb did appear as a spiritual paradise, in which is planted the divine Plant, whereof eating we shall live and not die as Adam. Verily, Christ shall be born, raising the likeness that fell of old.

Alice C. Linsley

One of my favorite Christmas hymns is Once in Royal David's City. If I could do so, I would change the title to Once in David's Royal City to emphasize the important history surrounding Bethlehem of Galilee, Jesus' likely birthplace.

In the Masoretic Text, Samuel's city is called hara-matatyim zophim. (The Anchor Bible Commentary on I Samuel by P. Kyle McCarter, Jr., p. 51) This means that Samuel's father was a priest of the line of Matthew (or Mattai/Mattan). Hara-matatyim is also the priestly line of Joseph of Hara-mathea, one of Jesus' relatives, and the member of the Sanhedrin who requested Jesus' body for burial. Samuel's father and Jesus' mother had common Horite ancestors. The Horites were a caste of rulers who served as priests, prophets, scribes, warriors and metal workers. They were ethnically Kushite.

David and his father Jesse were of this Horite lineage also. Matthew's Gospel links Bethlehem and Ramah (Matt. 2:13-23); suggesting that Jesse's territory extended from Bethlehem "Ephratha" to Ramah. Throughout much of the Bible, Ephrath is a reference to Judah. This north-south extension would have been ruled by Jesse and would have been called "Judah" in Jesse's time. If David's city was the Bethlehem in Galilee, Jesse ruled over a territory extending about 180 miles. His status as a ruler is further supported by the Y solar cradle in his name - Yishai. Many of the great Horite rulers are designated by this symbol of divine appointment: Yismael, Yitzak, Yacob/Yisrael, Yetro, Yisbak, Yaqtan, Yoachim and Yeshua.

Samuel's Horite ancestry, and his kinship to Jesse, is further supported by the distinctive Horite marriage and ascendancy pattern that they shared. Samuel's father was a priest with two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. It was the custom for Horite ruler-priests to have two wives. The two wives lived in separate households on a north-south axis. One was a half-sister (as was Sarah to Abraham) and the other was a patrilineal cousin or niece (as was Keturah to Abraham). The first wife was the sister bride, married at a fairly young age. She was the wife of the man's youth. The second wife was taken close to the time of the heir's ascension to the throne.

Likely, one of Jesse's wives was located in Bethlehem of Galilee and the other in Ramah of the hill country to the south. Ramah has a long association with prophets; Samuel being one of the greatest. Judges 4:4-6 states that Deborah, “the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet” who judged from her tamar (date nut palm) between “Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim." Ramah was named for Kush's son Ramah (Gen. 10:7). Samuel's father was a priest of Ramah. Samuel anointed David as king over Israel.

Bethlehem of Galilee was known as a fruitful place and therefore called Bethlehem "Ephratha." This is the Bethlehem of David's ancestors Ruth and Boaz. It was a region known for fruit and grain. It was connected to the royal house of Tyre. Tyre was one of the ancient seats of wisdom. Hiram I of Tyre helped David build his palace. Tyrian craftsmen also helped Solomon build the temple. The rulers of Tyre were considered to have roots in ancient Eden.

Jesus went to Tyre and there His true identity was recognized, according to Mark's Gospel (cf. Matt. 15:21). Hiram I, David and Jesus share a common Horite ancestry that extends back to Eden. The Horites believed that the promised Seed of the Woman would be born of their ruler-priest lines and they expected Him to visit them. In Mark 7:24, this expectation was fulfilled when the Son of God visited Tyre. Mark explains that there Jesus “could not pass unrecognized.”

The prophet Ezekiel traces the rulers of Tyre back to Eden. "Son of Man, raise a lament over the king of Tyre and say to him: Thus says the Lord God: You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and flawless beauty. You were in Eden, in the Garden of God; every precious stone was your adornment... and gold beautifully wrought for you, mined for you, prepared the day you were created." (Ezekiel 28:11-18)

Related reading:  David's Bloodline; The Ethnicity of Abraham and David; Samuel's Horite Family; Which Bethlehem was Jesus' Birthplace?; Who is Jesus?; Why Jesus Visited Tyre; The Royal Priest Lines of Matthew; The Ark Rested in Bethlehem


Lyrics to Once in Royal David's City

Once in royal Davids city,
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby,
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ, her little Child.

He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall:
With the poor, and mean, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Saviour holy.

For He is our childhood's pattern;
Day by day, like us, He grew;
He was little, weak, and helpless,
Tears and smiles, like us He knew;
And He cares when we are sad,
And he shares when we are glad.

And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that Child so dear and gentle,
Is our Lord in heaven above:
And He leads His children on,
To the place where He is gone.

How the Deuteronomist Changes the Genesis Narrative

The Joktanite clans of Southern Arabia
Among them were Horite Hebrew priests.

Alice C. Linsley

The whole canon is inspired and has been superintended by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is self-interpreting. We must use our God-given intelligence to sort through the material, context by context, to discover the various concerns of Biblical writers. For example, the Deuteronomist Historian seeks centralized worship at the Jerusalem temple, and the reshaping of the Passover and Tabernacles into national observances. This theological account does not align well with the historical, archaeological, and anthropological data concerning Abraham and his cattle-herding ancestors.

The Deuteronomist Historian is the final hand on the Genesis. This presence represents fundamentalism and iconoclasm and attempts to reshape Hebrew history. The book of Genesis contains information about Abraham and his ancestors who lived long before the Neo-Babylonian Period (about 700-300 BC), the period of the Deuteronomist Historian.  The DH stresses rejection of images, exclusive devotion to Yahweh, and obedience to his prophet Moses (Deut. 18:18; cf. Mark 6:125; Matt. 16:13-20; John 1:21).

Thankfully, this source preserved the King Lists in Genesis, by which another version of the history of Abraham's ancestors is told. These were the Nilo-Saharan and Saharo-Nubian cattle herding rulers who lived between the Nile and Lake Chad. Analysis of their marriage and ascendancy pattern reveals that Moses, Aaron and their half-brother Korah were Horite priests, as was their father Amram. The idea of Moses as a prophet is an anachronism.

From the Neo-Babylonian perspective, Genesis is about the people who dwelt in the Western Asian satrapy of Eber-Nahar which was comprised of Syria, Phoenicia, and Cyprus. Eber-Nahar or Eber ha-nahar means the "territory beyond the river." Eber as the eponymous ancestor of the Hebrews is problematic since analysis of the Genesis king lists makes it clear that Eber is a descendant of both Ham and Shem and the father of both Afro-Arabians (the Joktanite clans of Southern Arabia) and Afro-Asians (the Mesopotamian clans of Peleg).

An overlooked effect of the Deuteronomist's perspective is that it cuts out of the picture the importance of the Arabians, especially the Horites of Edom (Gen. 36). The word "Hebrew" does not come from Eber, as is often reported. It comes from ha-biru and refers to an ancient priest caste that included Arabians. In fact, one of the oldest words for priest is "Korah" from which comes the Arabic word for priest which is Khouri or Hori, referring to the Horite priesthood.

Some Jews and some Arabs have Horite blood. Arab historians identify twenty Jewish clans living in Arabia, including two priestly lines. The priestly lines intermarried exclusively, with priests marrying the daughters of priests according to a fixed marriage and ascendancy pattern. This intermarriage began long before Jews can be identified as a distinct ethnic group. The ruling ancestors of Jews and Arabs intermarried so that the two groups are blood kin.

One of Moses' older brothers held the title "Korah" before Aaron was consecrated a priest. Korah relates to the practice of the Horite priests to shave in preparation for their terms of service in the temples. (See Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 2007, p.37)

The Neo-Babylonian Empire had two main provinces: Eber-Nahar and Babylonia.The satrap of Eber-Nahar resided in Babylon and he was served by governors who lived in Eber-Nari. One of the local governors was Tettenai, who is mentioned in the Bible and in Akkadian cuneiform documents.

Genesis took shape under the Neo-Babylonian rulers. In other words, the story is told from the perspective of those who lived east of Arabia. This perspective does not recognize the traditions of the Arabians who were never Babylonian subjects. The Babylonians and Assyrians were not able to defeat the warriors of Arabia. Nor were the Greeks able to defeat the Nabataean warriors. The Greeks called them the Idumea, meaning red people. 

The Deuteronomist Historian shapes Genesis in a way that distorts the image, just as photo-shopping a portrait gives a false impression. Ignoring the Arabians in Genesis makes it appear that they have no place in Biblical history. Nothing could be farther from the truth! 

The Horite ruler-priests of Arabia are among the great rulers named in Genesis 1-12. Abraham spoke Proto-Arabic dialects. His firstborn son was Joktan, which is Yaktan in Arabic. Josephus knew him as Joctan and his name is preserved in the ancient town of Jectan near Mecca. The Joktanite clans of Arabia are related to Abraham, and are the descendants of his Afro-Arabian forefathers Ramah, The brother of Nimrod, and Kush's grandsons, Dedan and Sheba.

Genesis 10:7 indicates that the Dedanites are related to the Kushite ruler Dedan. Dedan means "red" and is a cognate to the Egyptian didi (red fruit) and the Yoruba diden (red). Here we are scratching the older pre-Babylonian layer of Genesis. Old Arabic texts provide the closest cognates to the older stratum, which is Afro-Arabian. Dedan is where the largest collection of the oldest Arabic texts have been found at the oases of Tema and Dedan in the Hijaz. Tema (Taima) lies about 70 miles north-east of Dedan. Tema, Dedan and Dumah were caravan stops along the trade route from Sheba to Babylon.

Red Nubians wearing feathers
(Ippolito Rosellini)

Red Nubians wearing feathers
(Dr. Arthur Brack)

These resemble the Nabataean warriors (shown below) with their feathers and long wavy hair.

Dedan was the son of Ramah, the brother of Sheba and the grandson of Kush. This means that the peoples of the regions of Ramah, Dedan and Sheba were kin and Kushites. They appear to be related to the red Nubians. They spoke a North Arabian dialect referred to as Dedanite or Dedanitic. It has been grouped with Canaanite and Aramaic (Faber 1997).

We would expect to find parallels between Dedanite and the Kushitic/Nilotic languages. This is evident in the Dedanite and ancient Egyptian use of the root mr. The Egyptian word for love is mer which is related to the word for mother ‘m in Egyptian and in Dedanite. In both languages the word for woman is mr’t. Mer is also the root of the name Meri/Mary.

Dedanite shares some features with Hebrew also. The final /a/ was represented by –h, as in Hebrew, so the bi-consonantal word Rama (rm) becomes a tri-consonantal word Ramah (rmh). In both Dedanite and Hebrew the final /u/ is replaced by –w.

Linguistic connections between the Proto-Saharan, Nilotic, Dedanite, and Dravidian languages adds to the evidence of the Kushite expansion out of Africa. An example is the correspondence between Dedanite, the Nilotic Manding, and the Dravidian first person singular pronouns. The first person singular pronoun in Dedanite is ‘n which corresponds to the Dravidian first person singular an and to the Manding na.

It has been noted also that the qiblahs in the oldest mosques in Cairo and in Baghdad point to Dedan, about 500 miles north-northwest of Mecca.


Related reading: Abraham's Firstborn Son; Abraham and Job: Horite Rulers; Petra Reflects Horite Beliefs; The Afro-Asiatic Dominion: The Shock of Mohammed Atta's Afterlife; The Afro-Arabian Dedanites; Understanding Violence in the Old Testament by Eric Jobe