BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Friday, October 19, 2018

INDEX of Topics at Biblical Anthropology

Learn to read the Bible through the lens of cultural anthropology and you will never read it the same way again. If you are new to this research, it would be helpful to begin with these articles:

Biblical Anthropology is the Work of Christians
The Bible and Science (4-part series)
The Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew (7-part series)

INDEX (Current as of 19 October 2018)

Abraham
The Calling of Abraham
The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of Abraham's People
Abraham's Complaint
Abraham's Authority and Ancient Law Codes
Abraham, Descendant of Both Ham and Shem
Roads Connected Abraham's Territory
What Language Did Abraham Speak?
Who Was the Bigger Liar, Abraham or Isaac?
Were Abraham's Ancestors Rulers or Refugees?
Abraham and Job: Horite Rulers

Activities of Archaic Peoples
Threshing
Sheep Cotes
Swimming and Diving
The Northern Range of Archaic Humans
Some Marks of Prehistoric Religion
The Stone Age
The Age of the Earth and Evidence of Human Occupation

Adam
Blaming Origin Sin on Adam
The Historical Adam
Adam Was a Red Man
Adam and Eve: The Blood and the Birther
Elder Joseph on Adam and Eve

Africa
The Africa Chesterton Never Knew
The Shrine City of Nekhen
Why Nekhen is Anthropologically Significant
The Mega-Nile
Africa is Archaeologically Rich
Sudan is Archaeologically Rich

Afro-Arabians

Peleg: Time of Division
The Joktanite Tribes
The Jebusites Unveiled
Intermarriage Between the Dedanites and the Edomites

Afro-Asiatics
Interview with Christopher Ehret
Ethics and Religious Practices of the Afro-Asiatics
Afro-Asiatic Rulers and the Celestial Archetype
Nimrod, an Afro-Asiatic Kingdom Builder
Afro-Asiatic Kingdom Building
The Afro-Asiatic Dominion
The Spread of the Afro-Asiatic Worldview
Afro-Asiatic Symbols that Speak of God

Agriculture
Horticulture in the Ancient World
Olive Oil Production in the Ancient World
Threshing Floors and Solar Symbolism
32,000 Year Flour Processing Plant

Ainu/Annu
Solving the Ainu Mystery
The Annu of On (Iunu)
The Nile-Japan Ainu Connection
Abraham's Ainu Ancestors
Ainu at Genetic Center
A Kindling of Ancient Memory
The Bible and the Question of Race

Akkadian
Akkadian Lexicon

Amorites
The Amorites: Caste of Royal Scribes
The Amorites: Aryan Canaanites?
The Ar Clans

Anatolia
The Prehistoric Anatolians Lived Well

The Hittites of Anatolia

The Last Days of Hattusa
The Luwian: Another Theory
A New Hieroglyphic Inscription from Pancarlı Höyük
The Trapezoid in Ancient Architecture and Technology
ÇATALHÖYÜK 2005 ARCHIVE: Çatalhöyük Research Project

Ancestor Veneration
Teraphim: Idols or Ancestor Figurines?
The Nephilim: Angels or Ancestors
The Bosom of Abraham
Recovering the African Background of Genesis

Animals in the Bible
Celestial Horses
The Animals on Noah's Ark
The Rooster in Biblical Symbolism
Ram Symbolism of the Ancient World
The Red Heifer
The Ostrich in Biblical Symbolism
Did Abraham's People Have "Easter" Eggs?
The Fatted Calf
Why Cows Were Sacred in the Ancient World
Elephants in the Time of Abraham
Abraham's Camels
Dogs in the Bible
Noah's Birds
The Lion and Judah
Jesus: From Lamb to Ram
Animal Totems Used to Trace Ancestry
Goats: In Memory of Ellen and Gordon Hatcher

Anthropology
Why Nekhen is Anthropologically Significant
Genesis Through the Lens of Anthropology
Anthropological Evidence for the Exodus

Apocalyptic Literature
The Seventh Seal and Silence in Heaven
The Seven Bowls of Revelation 16
Number Symbolism in Revelation
The Dragon and the Beast of Revelation
Revelation 12: The Woman, The Child, and the Dragon
The Signs of Revelation 12
Christ's Message to the Seven Churches

Aaron
The Aaronic Blessing Speaks of the Gospel
Moses' Wives and Brothers

Architecture
The Ancient Tumuli of Nobles
The Pillars of Solomon's Temple
Sun Cities of the Ancient World
Prehistoric Obelisk Found in Judah
Circumcision and Circles of Standing Stones in the Judean Hills
Horite Temples
The High Places
The Shrine City of Nekhen
77,000-Year Settlement in Sudan
Europe's Oldest Prehistoric Town Unearthed in Bulgaria
The Trapezoid in Ancient Architecture
Sheep Cotes

Ark of the Covenant
The Ark Rested in Bethlehem
Was the Pattern of the Ark Original?

Ascendancy Patterns

The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of Abraham's People

Sent-Away Sons

Sons Who Stayed Home
Abraham's Complaint

Petra Reflects Horite Beliefs

Egypt
Ancient Egyptian Lexicon
Etymology of the Vav
Egypt in the Christmas Narrative
Exploring Hosea 11:1 - "Out of Egypt"
The Sudanese Origins of Pharaonic Egypt
Egypt in the Book of Genesis
Ancient Egyptians Were Seafaring
Medical Care in Ancient Egypt
The World's Oldest Book Found in Egypt

Ethnicity
The Ethnicity of David and Abraham
Who Were the Kushites?
Ashkenazi Represent Judeo-Khazar Admixture
Were the Natufians Kushites?
The Bible and the Question of Race
Who Were the Horites?
What Color Was Abraham?
Abraham and the Mahra/Masek

Eve in the Bible
The Biblical Meaning of Eve
Eve's Sin

Exodus
Anthropological Evidence for the Exodus
Number Symbolism in the Bible

Ezekiel
Ezekiel's New Temple

Fertility/ Fertility Images
Fertility Images Among Abraham's People
Sacred Mountains and Pillars
Peaks and Valleys in Biblical Symbolism

Food
Food Prohibitions and Religious Belief
Horticulture in the Ancient World
Olive Oil Production in the Ancient World
Nubian Beer
Wine Use in Antiquity
Why Cows Were Sacred in the Ancient World

Galilee
The Significance of Galilee in Matthew's Gospel

Genesis (Book)
Genesis in Anthropological Perspective
Index of Topics on Genesis
The African Cultural Context of Genesis 1-12
Christ's Resurrection in Genesis

Gezer
The Gezer Calendar
Circumcision and Standing Stones in the Judean Hills
The Peoples of Canaan

Hebrews (Book)
Paul to Hebrew Christians: Hold Fast the Faith of Your Horim
Paul to Hebrew Christians: Persevere in Hope
Hebrews 10: Christ's All Sufficient Sacrifice

High Places (Tamana/Ophel/Oppidum/Kar/Car)
The High Places
Karampetsos, Karambet, Karoutes
Kushite Shrines

Hittites
The Hittites of Anatolia
Abraham and the Hittites
The Last Days of Hattusa

Horites
Who Were the Horites?
Horite Temples
Was King Arthur a Horite Ruler?
The Nubian Context of YHWH
Totems and Tracing the Horites in History
Jesus' Horite Lineage
Samuel's Horite Family
The Men Who Spied on Canaan
Meroe on the Orontes

Hosea
Exploring Hosea 11:1 - "Out of Egypt"

Hungarian (Magyar)
Hungarian Lexicon

Human Origins
Fully Human From the Beginning
Overview of Human Origins
A Scientific Timeline of Genesis
Genesis and Genetics
Q and A on Creation and Evolution
Is Genesis Really About Human Origins?
Getting the facts About Human Origins

Idols/Idolatry
Graven Images and Idols
Fundamentalism and Syncretism in Hebrew History
Teraphim: Idols or Ancestral Figurines?

Jebusites
The Jebusites Unveiled
Jerusalem Under the Jebusites
The Jebu, Sheba, Joktan Confederation
The Priestly Order of Melchizedek

Jethro
Who Was Jethro?
A Bridegroom of Blood

Jesus
Jesus' Horite Lineage
Who is Jesus?
Mother and Son Pierced

Jerusalem
The Jerusalem that David Knew
Jerusalem Under the Jebusites
Jerusalem Pilgrimage

Jews
Ashkenazi Represent Judeo-Khazar Admixture
Sub-Saharan DNA of Modern Jews

The Myth of Jewish Racial Purity

Hebrew, Israelite or Jew?

Job
Abraham and Job: Horite Rulers
Righteous Job and His Kin
Job's Friends and Their Contribution to the Message of Job

Joshua
The Men Who Spied on Canaan

Judah
The Lion and Judah

Judaica
Are Rabbinic Interpretations of the Bible Accurate?
Did Jews Live in Dynastic Egypt?
Challenge to Shaye Cohen's Portrayal of Abraham as the First Jew
Member of Israel's Parliament Destroys Bible
Rabbi Hirsch on the Nations
The Talmud on the Virgin Mary
Talmudic Legend vs Biblical History

Judges
The Scatter-Gather Motif in Judges

Hazor
Hazor's Destruction: Another Theory

Hebrew
The Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew (Part 1 - Introduction)
The Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew (Part 2 - Descent)
The Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew (Part 3 - Inheritance)
The Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew (Part 4 - Right to Rule)
The Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew (Part 5 - Residence)
The Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew (Part 6 - Governance)
Denying Marriage: A cunning royal strategy

Kinship Analysis
Lamech Segment Analysis
The Cousin Bride's Naming Prerogative
The Pattern of Two Wives
The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of Abraham's People
Denying Marriage: A cunning royal strategy
Analysis of the Genesis 4 and 5 King Lists
The Lines of Ham and Shem Intermarried
Kain and Seth Married the Daughters of Nok
Methuselah's Wife
Noah's Sons and Their Descendants
Abraham's First-Born Son

Abraham's Two Concubines

Cousin Brides and Their Ruler Sons

Sons Who Stayed Home

The Genesis King Lists
Joseph's Relationship to Mary

Kushites
Identifying King Tut's Father
Royal Prayers
The Kushite Marriage Pattern Drove Kushite Expansion

Levites
Who Were the Levites?

Mary (Theotokos)
Was the Virgin Mary a Dedicated Royal Woman?
The Theotokos and Weaving
The Virgin Mary's Ancestry
Mother and Son Pierced

Melchizedek
The Lineage of Melchizedek
The Order of Melchizedek
Who Laid the Foundations of Science?

Metal workers
Red and Black Smiths
Copper and Iron
Afro-Asiatic Metal Workers

Midian
The Priests of Midian
Who Was Jethro?

Migration
The Migration of Abraham's Ancestors
DNA Research Confirms Kushite Migration
Does Genesis 10 Describe the Ainu Dispersion?

Mining/Miners
Miners Venerated Hathor
V. Kassianidou and A. Bernard Knapp, Archaeometallurgy in the Mediterranean: The Social Context of Mining, Technology and Trade
Copper and Iron

Moses
Moses the Horite Hebrew Priest
Moses's Horite Family
Moses's Wives and Brothers
The Serpent of Moses's Staff
A Bridegroom of Blood
Mosaic Authorship?
Moses and Abraham: Different Origins of Israel?

Music
Lyre Music from 1400 BC

Mythology
The Christ in Nilotic Mythology
Eliade Was Right About Celestial Archetypes
The Mythological Core of Christianity
Tehut's Victory Over Tehom
Heaven or Heavens: Does It Matter?

Nahor
Are the Names Nahor and Nehesi Related?

Nahor and his Descendants

Nazareth
The Priests of Nazareth
Jesus of Nazareth, Son of David
Jesus' Home in Nazareth?

The Nazareth-Egypt Connection

Neolithic Industries and Technologies
Wine Making
Seeds from Heaven
Afro-Asiatic Metal Workers
Ancient Miners Venerated Hathor
Stone Work of the Ancient World
Genesis and the Stone Age

Nilo-Saharans/Proto-Saharans
Menes the Law Giver
Boats and Cows of the Proto-Saharans
Was Noah Mesopotamian or Proto-Saharan?
Sudan is Archaeologically Rich
Nilo-Saharan and Saharo-Nubian Populations

Noah
As in the days of Noah
Noah's Homeland
Noah's Flood: Where and When?
Saving Noah
Was Earth Repopulated After Noah's Flood?
Noah's Descendants
Noah's Sons and Their Descendants
Noah's Birds
Noah's Dog
Forty Days and Forty Nights
Noah: The Hollywood Version
Was Noah Mesopotamian or Proto-Saharan?
How Big Was Noah's Flood?

Nubia/Nubians
The Nubian Moiety
Nubian Warriors
The Nubian Context of YHWH
The Land of Wawat
Nubian Captives
Nubians Brewed Beer with Tetracycline

Number Symbolism
The Symbolism of Numbers in the Bible

Number Symbolism in the Bible Number Symbolism in Revelation
Three Sons and The Son
Is Gematria Helpful in Decoding the Genesis King Lists?

Order of Creation
Hierarchy in Creation
Genesis and Genetics
Plato and Intelligent Design

Original Sin/Inherited Guilt
Inherited Guilt of Infection of Death?
What Happened in the Garden?
Is "Good and Evil" a Biblical Merism?

Philistines
Facts and Theories About the Philistines

Priests
The Priesthood is About the Blood
Why Women Were Never Priests
Physician Priests of Antiquity
Religion of the Archaic Rulers
The Priesthood in England - Part 1
The Priesthood in England - Part 2
The Priesthood in England - Part 3
The Priesthood in England - Conclusion
Horite Priests and the Hapiru
Who Were the Hapiru?
Horite Territory
The Origins of the Priesthood
Abraham and Job: Horite Rulers
Shepherd Priests
The Horite Conception of the Priesthood
God as Male Priest
The Daughters of Priests
Shamans and Priests

Questions Asked
Questions Asked by Primitive Man
Questions High Schoolers Ask About Genesis
More Questions About Sex
Is the Enoch Mentioned in the Sumerian Text the Enoch of Genesis?

Resurrection
Deified Rulers and Resurrection
The Sting of Death
Resurrection as Mirrored Reality
Matthew's Testimony Concerning the Empty Tomb
What Abraham Discovered on Mount Moriah

Revelation (Book)
Christ's Message to the Seven Churches
Number Symbolism in Revelation
The Signs of Revelation 12
The Woman, the Child and the Dragon
The Dragon and the Beast
The Seven Bowls of Revelation 16
The Seventh Seal and Silence in Heaven

Rulers
Rulers of the Ancient World
Royal Treaties
Archaic and Ancient Symbols of Authority
The Genesis King Lists
Nimrod, Afro-Asiatic Kingdom Builder
The Mighty Men of Old

Sacrifice
The Continuing Debate of Child Sacrifice
Where Did Animal Sacrifice Originate?
Did Abraham Intend to Sacrifice Isaac?

Sacred Spaces
Sheep Cotes
Threshing Floors
Mount Mary and the Origins of Life
Sacred Mountains
Mount Moriah
Mount Meru
Reading the Magdala Stone

Saka
Was Constantine a Saka Ruler?

Samuel
Samuel's Horite Family

Seals (bullae)
3000 Year Temple Seal
Yahu Seals

Purity Seal From Herod's Temple

What We Learn From King Ahaz's Seal

Seth
The Ruler Seth
Seth's Father and Abraham's Mother

Sex
Thoughts on Sex
More Thoughts on Sex

Solar Symbolism
The Sun and the Sacred
The Brentford Shard: Chi Rho or Solar Symbol?
The Gourd in Biblical Symbolism
Threshing Floors and Solar Symbolism
Sun Symbolism and Blood Guilt
A Tent for the Sun
The Dung Beetle and Heavenly Lights
The Sun and Celestial Horses

Song of Songs
Roles Reversed in the Song of Songs?

Technologies
Who Laid the Foundations of Science
The Tool Makers of Kathu
58,000 Year South African Pigment and Glue Factory
500,000 Year Engraved Shell
Flour Processing 32,000 Years Ago
The Trapezoid in Ancient Architecture and Technology
Mining Blood
Paleolithic Industries at Jabal Harun (Aaron's Mountain)
Archaic Shell Technology

Tehom
Tehom: Tihama of the Hadramout and Aden
The Victory of Tehut over Tehom

Temples
The Pillars of Solomon's Temple
The Temple of the Winged Lions
Destruction of the Temple: Rabbinic Interpretations
Horite Temples
Orientations of Nilo-Saharan Monuments

Toponymy
Meroe on the Orontes

Totems
Totems and Tracing the Horites in History
Using Totems to Trace Ancestry and Marriage Ties
Totemism in the Old Testament
The Lion and Judah

Tradition
Received Tradition: Pushing back the veil of time
Religion of the Archaic Rulers

Trees
The Judean Palm
What Happened to the Cedars of Lebanon?
Trees as Boundary Markers
The Trees of Prophets
Trees of the Bible
The Tree of Life

Tribes and Clans
The Edomites and the Color Red
Edom and the Horites
Extant Biblical Tribes and Clans
Jebusites: Extant Biblical Tribe
The Peoples of Canaan
The Clans of Ar

Two Wives
Horite Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives
The Pattern of Two Wives

Uniqueness of the Bible
Sacred Writings and the Uniqueness of the Bible
The Bible and Imagined Morality

Water
Water and Blood
Theories of Primal Substance
The Stirring of the Water

Wisdom
Seats of Wisdom
Ancient Wisdom, Science and Technology
The Wisdom of Ben Sira
The Chiastic Center of Ecclesiasticus
Who Were the Wise Men?

Women
Women Prophets and Shamans
Sister Wives and Cousin Wives

Written Communications in Antiquity
Yahu Seals
Paleolithic Ostrich Eggshells
The Urheimat of the Canaanite Y
Thamudic Scripts
Thamudic and Nabataean Inscriptions from Umm Al-Rasas by M.C.A. Macdonald
Old North Arabian Scripts
The Writing System of Menes, the First Law Giver
The World's Oldest Books
The Proto-Elamite Script
Canaanite Origins of the Alphabet
Early Written Signs
The Origins of Written Communication
The Writing of David's Realm
Enigmatic Petroglyphs of Saudi Arabia's High Plateau
The Dispilio Tablet

Zion
David's Zion Found

Zipporah
Why Zipporah Circumcised Her Son
A Bridegroom of Blood or a Groom Protected by Blood?
Why Zipporah Used a Flint Knife

Thursday, October 4, 2018

The Prehistoric Anatolians Lived Well

The prehistoric settlement of Çatalhöyük has fascinated researchers for decades. The site reveals a very sophisticated way of life. There were temples and the priests of Çatalhöyük wore leopard skins like the ancient Nilotic priests.

Excavations at Çatalhöyük reveal primary and secondary burial, obsidian blades, a clay stamp seal, and more than 2000 zoomorphic clay figurines. The majority are representations of cattle, sheep and goats. Copper beads found in 8,500-year-old graves at Catalhöyük were made by hammering native metal found in nature.

The trapezoid shape appears to have been an important symbol among the peoples of this region. The pillars at Göbekli Tepe have a trapezoidal shape. Many of the pits at Blagotin in Serbia have entrances with the trapezoid shape. The architecture of the later Hittites included trapezoidal doors such as this entrance to the chamber of Suppiluliuma II in Hattusa.

In many houses at Catalhöyük the main room was decorated with plastered bull skulls (bucrania) set into the east or west walls. These reflect the religious sun symbolism of these archaic people and the same symbolism is found among the later Hittites of Anatolia also. The bull with the sun resting on its horns represented the overshadowing presence of the Creator, whose emblem was the Sun.

Analysis of the foods in ceramic vessels reveals that the people of Çatalhöyük put both milk and meat in the same container. They also herded and ate pigs. Clearly, they were not observing Kosher guidelines. Jewish dietary law (Kashrut) dates to the latter Neo-Babylonian Period (c.730-500 BC).

The dietary restrictions outlined in Deuteronomy and Leviticus are the work of the Deuteronomist Historian, a Neo-Babylonian source. In the Book of Daniel we find three Jewish men insisting on eating differently as a way to express their ethnic and religious identity. This is one of many ways Jews have to distinguish themselves from their non-Jewish neighbors. Archaeological excavations of Iron Age I sites in Israel have shown that pigs were entirely absent from the herd-based economy of the Israelites though they were a food source for all the other peoples of the region. According to Ronald Hendel, such culinary distinctions soon became codified markers of cultural identity, whereby “the Philistine treat became an Israelite taboo.”

The diet of the people of Catalhöyük appears to have been varied and relatively nutritious, according to a recent report (October 3, 2018) from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History:

An international team led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, the Freie Universität Berlin and the University of York has uncovered details about the diet of early farmers in the central Anatolian settlement of Çatalhöyük. By analyzing proteins from residues in ancient pots and jars excavated from the site, the researchers were able to find evidence of foods that were eaten there. Although previous studies have looked at pot residues from the site, this was the first to use proteins, which can be used to identify plants and animals more specifically, sometimes down to the species level.

Knowledge of the diet of people living in the prehistoric settlement of Çatalhöyük almost 8000 years ago has been completed in astonishing scope and detail by analyzing proteins from their ceramic bowls and jars. Using this new approach, an international team of researchers has determined that vessels from this early farming site in central Anatolia, in what is now Turkey, contained cereals, legumes, dairy products and meat, in some cases narrowing food items down to specific species.