Followers

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Understanding "Biblical" Marriage Practices

 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley


This recently came across my Facebook feed. It is misleading and reveals ignorance of the social structure of the biblical Hebrew and their Jewish descendants.



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 using kinship analysis.

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 "first lords of the earth". 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.

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 Hebrew hierarchy of sons

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 sent-away son, and those sons usually went to live with their maternal uncles.

Solomon is criticized for taking many wives and concubines in order to forge political alliances. However, that was a common practice, and his father David did it also.

The payment of dowries was a widespread practice among the many diverse biblical populations. 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.

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. 

Hebrew rulers over territories maintained their two wives in geographically separate settlements. Territorial boundaries were marked by the wives' settlements. 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. 

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.


Monday, February 5, 2024

The Influence of Hebrew Wives

 


Dr. Alice C. Linsley

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.

The Hebrew wife was viewed as her husband’s helper (Gen 2:18,22). Adam’s wife is described as his ezer, 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.

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 the teraphim by which she could claim some inheritance for Jacob. According to Hurrian/Horite legal records, possession of the ancestor figurines validated claims of inheritance.
 
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 birthright and the blessing due to his proper heir.






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 sent away 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.

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.




Wednesday, January 17, 2024

My Life as a Blogger



Alice C. Linsley

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.

Just Genesis (Began March 2007)
This blog examines the Book of Genesis through the lens of cultural anthropology, genetics, linguistics, and archaeology. The INDEX of topics considered at this blog is accessed by seminary students, Bible scholars, clergy, and members of the international Facebook group The Bible and Anthropology.


Reflections on the Writing Life (Began March 2007)
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: Reflections on the Writing Life: INDEX of Topics (teachgoodwriting.blogspot.com)


Ethics Forum (Began April 2008)
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: Ethics Forum: INDEX of Topics (college-ethics.blogspot.com)


Biblical Anthropology (Began Sept. 2010)
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: BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: INDEX of Topics at Biblical Anthropology


Distinctive Discipleship (Began July 2013)
I started this for Ed Lundwall, Jr., a retired Army chaplain. I contribute posts, as does my sister Hope Rapson. The INDEX is here: DISTINCTIVE DISCIPLESHIP: INDEX of Topics (edwardlundwall.blogspot.com)


STEM Education (Began August 2013)
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: STEM Education: INDEX of Topics (asa-cwis.blogspot.com)


Philosophers' Corner (Began March 2013)
I started this blog to help my Philosophy students at Lexington Christian Academy and Midway University (both in Kentucky). The INDEX is here: Philosophers' Corner: Topics at Philosophers' Corner (justgreatthought.blogspot.com)



Monday, January 8, 2024

Exploring Isaac's Story




Isaac ruled over his father's territory in ancient Edom. 
The territory extended between Hebron and Beersheba, both shown on this map.



Alice C. Linsley

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. (Gen. 26:12-14)

Isaac was a high-ranking prince of ancient Edom. His name is derived from iššakkum, a Sumerian title designating the ruler or prince. He was a man of great wealth.

He was Abraham's proper heir, 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 Horite Hebrew ruler-priests listed in Genesis 36. 

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.


Questioning Isaac's existence

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.

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. 

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. 

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).

Abraham's cousin wife Keturah 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.”

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, Abraham's eight sons were given gifts and sent away from Isaac's territory before Abraham died.

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.

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 he had two wives. 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.

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).


Friday, December 15, 2023

The Roots of the Gospel are in Africa






Dr. Alice C. Linsley


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.

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.


In the beginning...

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)

The Nilotic narrative speaks of total darkness. "There was no sunlight... the whole land was in darkness." (Gikuyu of Kenya)

"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)

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.

The Nilotic Luo call the chaotic water of creation the "Dog Nam".

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.

Consider this song of the BaMbuti Pygmies:

In the beginning was God
Today is God,
Tomorrow will be God.
Who can make an image of God?
He has no body.
He is as a word which comes out from your mouth,
That word! It is no more,
It is past and still it lives!
So is God.

Here we find the belief in the generative Word, another common theme among Africans. The Nilotic Luo have a saying: Wach en gi teko which means "a word has power." The Prologue of John's Gospel identifies the Word with the Son of God. 

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.

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).

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."

In South African narratives, the point where heaven touches the earth is called bugimamusi, and this is the place where the women could lean their pestles against the vault of heaven.


The Creation of Humans

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.

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.

The Hebrew word for red is edom and it is a cognate to the Hausa word odum, meaning red brown. Both are related to the word dam, 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 land of the red people. Adam was formed from the red clay that washed down to the Upper Nile Valley from the Ethiopian highlands.


Founding First Parents

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 the historical Adam and Eve as the earliest known ancestors of the biblical Hebrew.

This is a common theme in African stories. The first parents of the Mbuti Pygmies are called Tole and Ngolobanzo.

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."


Estrangement from God

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.

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. The Religious World, MacMillan Publishers, 1982, p. 38).

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, Christianity in Culture, Orbis Books, 1990, p. 153)


The Gift of God's Son

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 Sacred White Cow. 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. 

The Nilotic Hebrew 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).

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 lamb-to-ram sequence found in the story of Abraham on Mount Moriah.

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 Horite Hebrew song 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".

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) 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).

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.


Thursday, December 14, 2023

Time to Jettison Young Earth Creationism

 

100,000-year red ocher burial at Qafzeh (Israel). Red ocher was a symbolic blood covering.


Dr. Alice C. Linsley

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.

Proponents of Young Earth Creationism include the Baptist Pastor and biochemist Duane Gish, Terry Mortenson, a missionary for 26 years with Campus Crusade, and Henry M. Morris, a civil engineer and author of several books on Young Earth Creationism.

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.

Young Earth Creationism is criticized for lacking a scientific basis. It also should be criticized for lacking a biblical basis. Consider the following points:

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: anāku and the Ancient Egyptian anochi, a reference to one who ascends. The word anochi is also found among African populations. Among the Igbo, anochie means "a replacer" or "to replace". Among the Ashante the word anokyi 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 anochie also means "direct heir to a throne."

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 melech, which means king. According to the Bible scholar Umberto Cassuto, Lamech is related to the Mesopotamian word lumakku, 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).

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 The First Lords of the Earth.

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.

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.

Lamech the Elder had a daughter named Naamah. She married her patrilineal cousin Methuselah. This marriage took place c. 4300 B.C.  





One of their descendants was Nimrod, a Kushite kingdom builder (Gen. 10:6-12). He married a Sumerian princess 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.

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.), The Sumerian World (PDF). London: Routledge. pp. 68–95. ISBN 9781138238633.)


A Better Approach to the Biblical Material

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 same caste and they are historical figures.

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.

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 Rulers of the Ancient Water Systems.)

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. 

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.


Related reading: The Roots of the Gospel are in AfricaArtifacts of Great AntiquityNimrod's Sumerian Wife; YEC Dogma is Not Biblical; YEC's Silence on Anthropology; Facts About Human Origins; YEC Hinders Understanding of the Bible; Think Like a Biblical Anthropologist; A Healthy Approach to the Bible


Friday, December 1, 2023

Nimrod's Sumerian Wife

 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

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.  





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 (Unug in Sumerian, Erech 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 (Sumerian "Dilmun") 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.

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.

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”.

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).

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.

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 Warka Vase, the marble Mask of Warka, the earliest known naturalistic sculpture of the human face. The mask is also known as the "Lady of Uruk" and was found in the temple precinct of Inanna in Uruk.



Inanna receiving offerings from a priest.


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.

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.

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 Jewish mikveh). Women came to these places seeking to conceive and deliver healthy children. They prayed and made offerings to Inanna/Hathor.

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.

Nimrod's homeland was in East Africa. He is designated a son of Kush in Genesis 10:8. As a sent-away son, 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 first lords and ladies, and people of great influence and power in the ancient world.