Hebrew Ruler-Priests at the Ancient Sun Cities

 

The pillared Hypostyle Hall at Karnak

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The sun city of Heliopolis was called Iunu (Iwnw) by its residents. In the Hebrew this is rendered "On" in Genesis 41:45. Iunu refers to pillars. The temples of the sun cities had many pillars. As was the custom at royal temples, many of the pillars were inscribed in honor of rulers, royal officials, and priests. Inscriptions also commemorated righteous ancestors, coronations, treaties, and victories at war. The hieroglyphs for Heliopolis are a pillar (on left), a pot to hold water and offerings, and the sign for roads leading to an enclosure (below the pot).

Joseph married Asenath, a daughter of a Hebrew priest of Heliopolis. The pillars at Karnak (shown above) give a sense of the grandeur that Joseph would have known. "Kar" refers to a high place or a rock fortress and "nak" refers to rituals.

It is not a coincidence that Joseph married Asenath. It is likely that she was his cousin. Cousin marriage among the high-status Hebrew rulers was a common arrangement. The marriage of Joseph and Asenath is an example of the caste endogamy practiced by the Hebrew ruler-priests. Analysis of their marriage and ascendancy pattern clarifies the “houses” to which Asenath’s sons belonged. Asenath's firstborn son, Manasseh, belonged to her father’s household and the Heliopolis temple Potiphar served, whereas Asenath's younger son Ephraim belonged to Jacob's household. This explains why Jacob gave Ephraim the blessing that pertained to the firstborn (Genesis 48:14).

Heliopolis was the most prestigious and the largest religious complex of the ancient world. It would have been a hive of activity similar to Vatican City. 

Royal sun cities such a Heliopolis emerged in many parts of the ancient world, especially from the Fifth Dynasty (2465-2323 BC). Heliopolis is mentioned in Isaiah 19:18 as one of five Egyptian cities that swore allegiance to the Lord of Hosts. The temples were oriented so that the rays of the rising sun would shine through the east-facing entrances. 

For more than 2,500 years, Heliopolis was dedicated to the worship of the High God Ra (later Atum) who was believed to reside within the temple’s most sacred enclosure. Ra is a variant of the Egyptian word Re, meaning “father.” The High God's symbol was the sun. 

Ra’s son HR/Horus was honored at Heliopolis, as was his mother, Hathor. Hathor's divine appointment is depicted in ancient images of her being overshadowed (cf. Luke 1:35).

Amulet of Hathor found at Hazor in the land of Canaan.

Heliopolis was believed to be the birthplace of the nine spirits (Ennead) who protected On and would return there to resolve disputes. This may be the origin of the later conception of the “Watchers” in Enoch, and the Divine Council, an assembly of spiritual beings over which the High God presides.

The Solar Symbolism of the Early Hebrew

The solar symbolism of the early Hebrew (4400-2000 BC) relates to territorial claims. In the ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts, the "Lord of All" declares, "I will sail aright in my barque; I am the Lord of the waters, crossing heaven" (Utterance 1,130). Ancient images of the High God in his solar boat sometimes show a falcon perched on the mast. The falcon was the totem of HR, the son of God.

The ram was another sign pointing to the son of God. This was the sign given to Abaham on Mount Moriah concerning the future incarnation of the Son of God. For the early Hebrew the ram was the sign of HR (Most High One) who rose in the east as a lamb and set in the west as a ram. Abraham believed the sign given to him about the future arrival of God’s son and by faith in that promise he was justified. About Abraham’s faith Paul says: “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:20–21). Jesus spoke of the Mount Moriah event when he declared, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56).

The two wives of a high-status Hebrew ruler resided in separate settlements on a north-south axis. This reflects deference to the High God whose presence was perceived to be like that of the Sun which makes it daily journey from east to west. The east-west arc of the sun represented the High God’s sovereignty over his territory. This explains why none of the early Hebrew rulers placed their wives’ separate settlements on an east-west axis, except for the Lamech the Elder who is remembered as a braggart (Genesis 4). The Bible scholar Theodore Gaster noted that the names of Lamech's two wives, Adah and Tzilla (Zillah), suggest dawn and dusk (The Schocken Bible, Vol. 1, p. 28). Since Lamech’s two wives would have lived in separate settlements, their names represent a vast territorial claim.

The two brides in the Song of Solomon also represent a territorial claim. One bride is described as fair as the moon (6:10) and the other is described as “dark as the tents of Kedar" (1:5). These two wives represent the horizons of dawn and dusk and as such express a territorial claim that corresponds to the solar arc.

An open-air sanctuary dating to c.1300 BC was found in Canaan. It is similar in form to those found at the earlier sun temples of the Nile. The sanctuary was oriented toward the rising sun, and included a large, round stone altar with an attached basin, both covered with plaster. The discovery is more evidence of the dispersion of the Hebrew into many parts of the ancient world.

Related reading: The Ministry of Hebrew Woman at the Sun Cities; The Dispersion of the Early Hebrew; Temple Women; The Enigma of Joseph; Hebrew, Israelite or Jew?; Cousin Brides Among the Hebrew

Hebrew Lexicon

Some readers have asked about basic Hebrew words. Perhaps this short lexicon of Hebrew words will be helpful. The lexicon is ordered alphabetically by the first letter of the English translation of the Hebrew word.

אָדָם (adam) - man, mankind, human

אֲדָמָה (adamah) - ground, soil, earth

עָתִיק (atiq) - ancient, venerable, old

אָב (av) - father

עין (ayin) - eye

בָּמָה (bamah) - high place, fortress at a high elevation, mountain shrine or temple

בַּת (bath) - daughter

ברא (bara) - to give substance to, to fatten (1 Sam. 2:29)

ברך (barak) - to kneel down, blessing

בן (ben) - son

דעת (da’at) - knowledge

דם (dam) - blood

דֶּרֶךְ (derek) - way, road, journey

אם (em) - mother

ארץ (eretz) - land, earth, territory

עֵץ (ets) - tree

גִּבּוֺר (gibor) - strong, mighty, powerful (also gebirah - powerful woman, queen mother)

גור (gur/gor) - to abide, gather, dwell. Also refers to lion cubs.

הַר (har) - mountain, hill

חכם (hhakham) - wisdom, skill, understanding, to make distinction/separate

חמה (hheymah) - cheese

כָּרָה (karah) - to trade, get by trade

כהן (kohen) - priest

לֶחֶם (lehem/lékhem) - bread

מים (mayim) - water

מֶלֶךְ (melek) - king, monarch, sovereign 

מִקדָשׁ (mikdash) - temple, sanctuary, shrine

נָהָר (nahar) - river, stream, current

נפש (nepeš) - life force

אהל ('ohel) - tent

עולם (olam) - world (space) and age (time)

אושר (osher) - happiness

קרא (qara) - to call out

קרה (qarah) - to meet

קדם (qedem) - east (space), ancient (time)

קרבן (qorbān) - offering, gift, sacrifice

רשע (rasha) - to depart

ראשית (reshiyt) - beginning

ראש (rosh) - head, summit, top, as in Rosh Hashanah, “Head of the Year."

שַׁלוָה (shalom) - peace, serenity, tranquility, harmony, safety, calmness

שמים (shamayim) - sky, heavens

שֶׁמֶשׁ (shemesh) - sun

שִׁיל֔וֹ (Shiloh) - capital city in the time of the Judges, a Messianic reference in Genesis 49.

תבון (tavun) - understanding, discernment

תהלה (t’hil’lah) - beginning (Gen. 13:3)

צלם (tselem) - an outline of a shadow, a representation, or image of the original

ידע (yada) - to know intimately

יום (yam) - day

יצר (yatsar) - to form (as shape from clay)

זָבָה (zava) - to flow, as in "a land flowing (זָבַת) with milk and honey."

Hebrew is a relatively new language. Abraham did not speak Hebrew. Many of the Hebrew roots (radicals) can be traced to older languages such as Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Akkadian.

Related: Ancient Egyptian Lexicon; Ancient Akkadian Lexicon; Ancient Words for Priests; Hebrew Names and Titles

The Influence of Early Hebrew Women

 

Joseph married the daughter of a Heliopolitan priest.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Most of the women in the Bible were members of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste which is the oldest known caste. There is a great deal of information about these women in the Bible and in extra-biblical sources. They were instrumental in preserving their Hebrew identity. They influenced fashion trends and court customs, ministered to women, and some became women of independent means. Though they are the backstory of the Bible, their importance cannot be over-emphasized.

There is much false information about women of the Bible. We have been told that Rahab was a prostitute, yet the biblical data does not support that depiction. Rahab is described in the Bible as a zn. The ZN root could refer to zonah (one who sells her body) or to the word zon, an innkeeper or tavern owner. The archaeologist and Bible scholar D. J. Wiseman noted that tzond can be translated as “barmaid.”

Rahab married a righteous Hebrew named Salma who was one of the elders of Bethlehem. Since the Hebrew rulers married only members of their ruler-priest caste (endogamy), we may assume that Rahab was a Hebrew woman living in Jericho. Before the Israelites arrived in Canaan, there were many Hebrew people living throughout Canaan. 

The names of some of the early Hebrew rulers appear in Genesis chapters 4, 5, 10, 11, 25 and 36. Women named in these chapters include Eve, Naamah, Keturah, Anah, and Oholibamah. Others are not named, but their presence is evident. Such is the case with the wives of Cain and Seth and the wives of Noah’s sons, all of whom appear to be cousin brides and second wives. The marriages to second wives (usually cousins) took place long after the Hebrew rulers’ marriages to their first wives. Recognizing this two-wife pattern is essential to understanding the social structure of the early Hebrew.

Jewish commentators claim that Ruth converted to Judaism, yet the religion of Judaism did not exist when Ruth lived (c.980-950 BC). Informed Jews recognize this. They know that Abraham was not a Jew. He was Hebrew, and he was not the first Hebrew.

In a September 2007 NOVA interview conducted by Gary Glassman with Dr. Shaye J. D. Cohen (Harvard Divinity), Cohen was asked “Was Abraham the first Jew?” He replied, “The biblical narrative gets going with Abraham in Genesis chapter 12. Abraham in turn Isaac, in turn Jacob, in turn Joseph and the twelve tribes, this brings us directly to the people of Israel and the covenant at Sinai. So Abraham is thought of as the first Jew, the archetype. Historically speaking, of course, this doesn't make much sense. It's hard to talk about Jews living around the year 1800 B.C.E. or anytime near that. We don't have any of the institutions, beliefs, social structures in place that will later characterize Jews and Jewishness. So in a mythic kind of way we can say that Abraham recognizes God and that Abraham launches the process—biological and social and cultural—that will culminate in the people of Israel, who in turn will become Jews and the purveyors of Judaism.”

The faith of Abraham the Hebrew was not Judaism. It is much older, and it involved belief in God Father and the veneration of God’s son, HR. Judaism emerged later in the Axial Age (1000-200 BC), a time when many new religions came into existence. Because it rejects belief in the Son of God Judaism departs from the faith of the early Hebrew. Rabbi Stephen F. Wise, former Chief Rabbi of the United States, explains: "The return from Babylon and the introduction of the Babylonian Talmud mark the end of Hebrewism and the beginning of Judaism.”

Indeed, the Talmud, a collection of rabbinic disputations, defines Jewish beliefs. Rabbi Morris Kertzer (American Jewish Committee) further explains, “The Talmud is the very foundation of Jewish life. It is taught to Jewish children as soon as they are old enough to read.”

Most of the women of the Old Testament were Hebrew, not Jewish. They married only Hebrew men and observed Hebrew practices. The higher the Hebrew woman’s status, the more responsibilities she had related to the local shrines and temples. The early Hebrew (5000-2000 BC) served at many temples built at high elevations with permanent water sources. Some Hebrew women oversaw ministries to women who came to the temples and water shrines for ritual cleansing and healing.

Hebrew men and women lived and served at some of the most prestigious temples of the ancient world, including Nekhen and Heliopolis (biblical On), both on the Nile. Thought widely dispersed before Abraham's time (c.2000 BC), the Hebrew ruler-priests and their families lived along the major water systems. Hebrew wives ministered to women who came to the water shrines for purification and healing.

Hebrew temple women had many responsibilities and privileges. Their duties included weaving, sewing, drawing water, brewing beer, singing, and playing musical instruments such as the sistrum and the tambourine. Psalm 68:25 refers to the women singers: “The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.” The Hebrew word that appears here is alamot, referring to cloistered women. The Hebrew word almah (עַלְמָה) is derived from a verb meaning “to conceal” or “to hide away.” Temple virgins were “alamot” because they were cloistered until they married. In Antiquitates judaicae, the historian Flavius Josephus (c.37-100 AD) refers to the cloisters in Book XV, Chapter 11.

Hieroglyphic writing for Neith. Note the wavy sign that signifies water.

Joseph's wife, Asenath was named for Neith, the Nilotic patroness of water shrines, rivers, pregnant women, and women in childbirth. It is likely that Neith was a holy woman who lived at one of the early water shrines along the Nile before Egypt emerged as a political entity (c.3200 BC).

 

Related reading: The Ministry of Hebrew Woman at the Sun Cities; Temple Women; Horite and Sethite Mounds; Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives; The Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew

Red Ocher Burial Signifies Religious Belief

 

100,000-year red ocher burials at Qafzeh Cave south of Galilee.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Red ocher burial has been traced from as early as 100,000 years ago (Qafzeh Cave) to as recently as 500 years ago (Glacial Kame Culture). The practice is found primarily among Old World populations in Macro-haplogroup L (mt DNA) and Haplogroup R (Y-DNA). L represents the most ancestral mitochondrial lineage of all modern humans, and R is a widely dispersed Afro-Asian group with subgroups R1b and R1a.

The list that follows indicates that burial in rec ocher, a symbolic blood covering, was not an isolated custom. 

100,000 years before the present (YBP) - Red ocher burial of young male in Qafzeh Cave, Lower Galilee.

50,000 YBP - A boy buried with a seashell pendant and covered in red ocher was found in the Lapedo Valley near Leiria, 90 miles north of Lisbon.

45,000 YBP - A man was buried at Chapelle-aux-Saints in southern France in red ocher.

32,000 - 29,000 YBP - Four bodies were buried in red ocher at Sunghir in Russia.

Identical twins were buried in red ocher at Krems am Wachtberg, Austria.

Male ("Red Lady") was buried in red ocher in Paviland Cave, Wales.

23,000 - 19,000 YBP - The "Fox Lady" of Dolni Vestonice, Czechoslovakia, was buried in red ocher.

The cremated remains of Lake Mungo Woman (LM1) were sprinkled with red ocher.

A man buried in Bavaria was surrounded by mammoth tusks and submerged in red ocher.

The remains of an adult male found at Lake Mungo in southeastern Australia were copiously sprinkled with red ocher.

The Lady of El Mirón in northern Spain was buried in red ocher. 

13,000 - 9000 YBP

Red ocher burials have been found at the Natufian cave site Hilazon Tachtit in Israel. 

Girl buried was in red ocher in the Tanana River Valley in central Alaska.

Red ocher burials have been found at Çatalhöyük (Central Anatolia, Turkey)

8000-3000 YPB - At a cemetery at Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov in northwest Russia 177 bodies were found buried in red ocher. 

Discovered in Finland, the burial in red ocher of young girl and a dog or wolf.

Two skeletons buried in red ocher were found at La Braña-Arintero cave in the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain.

Two flexed burials were found in Mehrgarh, Pakistan with a covering of red ocher on the bodies.

Conclusion

Anthropologists agree that red ocher used in burial is symbolic of blood. They do not agree as to the nature of the blood. Does red ocher burial testify to a belief that the buried individual is returned to the womb of Mother Earth? Is it symbolic of placental blood? Or is it symbolic of a sacrifice of an animal that was then eaten? Did the red ocher symbolize sacrificial blood covering? 

While anthropologists do not agree on the nature of the blood being symbolized, they do agree that the practice of red ocher burial suggests the hope for life after death among Mesolithic and Neolithic populations. 

Perhaps these populations considered the blood to be a purifying agent? If so, the red ocher probably represents animal sacrifice, specifically the sacrifice of a sacred bull or horse. Which animal would depend on the cultural context. In both cases, the animal was of great value and the sacrifice would have been performed for high status individuals. It was indeed a "sacrifice."

In ancient Akkadian, the oldest known Semitic language, the word for bull is turu. It appears to be related to the words for blood, pure, and holy found in other related languages. Consider the relationship of these words: Hebrew thr - to be pure, Hausa/Hahm toro - clean; Tamil tiru - holy, Dravidian tor - blood, and ancient Egyptian tr - blood.

Horses were sometimes sacrificed in a funerary context among peoples of the Altai Mountains and other Indo-European populations. The bodies of horses. have been found buried with high-ranking persons in Great Britain, China, Iceland, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and in Tell el-Dab'a, Egypt. In Ancient Akkadian, the word for horse is sisu and among the Mongolian horsemen the word for blood is tsus.

Related reading: Artifacts of Great Antiquity; Philosophers' Corner: On Blood and the Impulse to Immortality; Blood, Animal Sacrifice, and the Hope for Immortality

Seth, Son of Adam

 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The historical Adam was the father of three sons: Cain, Abel, and Seth. The Bible does not name any descendants of Abel. Some of Cain's descendants are listed in Genesis 4 and some of Seth's descendants are listed in Genesis 5. The lines of Cain and Seth intermarried (endogamy). That is shown in the diagram.

Lamech the Elder (Gen. 4) had a daughter named Naamah. She married her cousin Methuselah and named their firstborn son Lamech, after her father. This is an example of the cousin bride's naming prerogative, a distinctive feature of the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the early Hebrew (5000-2000 BC).

The rulers listed in Genesis chapters 4, 5, 10, 11, 25 and 36 were members of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste. As is common with castes, they practiced endogamy. By marrying only members of their caste, certain genetic traits were passed to their descendants. Apparently, a red to red-brown skin tone was one of those traits. 

The Sethite Hebrew were a well-established moiety of the Hebrew caste by 2400 BC because their sacred sites are mentioned in texts that date to 2400 BC. This means that the historical Adam probably lived between c.5000-4800 BC. 

The Sethites served at the sacred high places (mounds) along the Nile and are mentioned many times in the Ancient Pyramid Texts (2400-2200 BC). One place where figurines of Seth were found is Nekhen on the Nile. The city was dedicated to the son of the High God, HR (Horus in Greek). HR in ancient Egyptian means "Most High One."

The vast majority of hair samples discovered at the predynastic cemetery site HK43 at Nekhen were cynotrichous (Caucasian) as opposed to heliotrichous (Negroid), according to The Nekhen News (p. 7). Samples ranged from a single hair to a complete headful, with the largest number originating from the disturbed Burial no. 16 of a female of around 35+ years of age.

Another fascinating find at Nekhen was the recovery of an almost complete beard in association with the redheaded man in Burial no. 79. The man had long wavy natural red hair and a full beard. 

The shrine city of Nekhen is the oldest known site of Horite Hebrew worship and there were Sethite Hebrew living there. This figurine of Seth as a red man with the head of a hippo. was found at Nekhen. Perhaps the hippo was the totem of the Sethite Hebrew, and the falcon was the totem of the Horite Hebrew. Note the red-brown tone of the figurine.

Seth is often portrayed in ancient images as a red hippo. Seth’s homeland is the land of Seti, at the northern edge of the Upper Nile. This region is sometimes referred to as the land of red earth. 

According to Genesis 5:3, Seth was a son in the image of his father Adam. This likely means that he had a red skin tone. The word “Adam” refers to blood (dam in Hebrew, dammu in Ancient Akkadian) and the color red. Adam is derived from the root אדם (A.D.M), meaning "to be red or ruddy" (Strong’s #119). Jeff A. Benner explains, Dam is the "red" blood, adamah is the "red" ground, edom is the color "red" and adam is the "red" man.

The connection between the terms adam (red man) and adamah (red soil) is evident in Genesis 2:7 which states that "the adam" was formed out of the "adamah." The region of the Nile under consideration has a cambic B horizon. Chromic cambisols have a strong red brown color. 

Related reading: Horite and Sethite Mounds; Adam and Estrangement from God; Funerary Rites and the Hope of Resurrection; African = Black is a Modern Equation

Is "Male Headship" a Biblical Doctrine?

 

The Hebrew cousin bride had the prerogative to name her firstborn son after her father.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Where is the Evangelical doctrine of "male headship" found throughout the canonical Scriptures? It is cobbled together by cherry picking verses from Paul whose concern was recognition of God's supreme authority. The Apostle Paul had great respect for women and his instructions in 1 Timothy 2 address a specific situation. Most of Paul's writings on men and women are used to speak of the authority of Christ as the Head of the Church.

"For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands." (Eph. 5:23-24) Here Paul uses a marriage analogy to speak of Christ's authority. 

Paul repeats that analogy in 1 Cor. 11:3 - "But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." Again, Paul's concern is that Christ's followers recognize authority.

Paul often uses analogies. The Adam of which Paul speaks is analogical, not historical. Paul's analogy involves a typical Hebrew parallelism between Adam by whom sin and death entered and the New Adam, Jesus Christ, by whom sin and death are overcome. Clearly this analogy is not intended to be taken as history, unless we are to believe that people before 6000 years ago did not sin and did not die.

It is clear that in drawing this analogy, Paul believed Adam to be historical because both Adam and Jesus Christ acted in ways that had lasting consequences in human history. However, Paul also admits that his presentation of Adam involves typology. He writes that Adam “was a type of the one who was to come.” (Rom. 5:14)

Evangelicals maintain that God established male headship at creation. However, in the Bible male-female is a binary set. Binary sets are composed of 2 closely related entities such as male-female and sun-moon. It is universally evident that one of the entities of these sets is greater in strength than its partner. "God made the two great lights—the greater light (the sun) to rule the day, and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night." (Gen. 1:16) This is the message! The Creator is greater than the creature. Only the greater power and authority can stoop to save. Paul goes on to express the binary relationship this way: As Christ loves and protects the Church so the husband is to love and protect his wife. 

The binary reasoning of the Bible is based on the early Hebrew priests' acute observation of patterns in creation. The male of the human species is larger and stronger than the female. The sun's brilliance surpasses the refulgent light of the moon. To apply an analogy: The Church reflects Christ's light in the world. 

For the early Hebrew the sun was a symbol of the Creator because it spoke of God's rule over all the earth. It also spoke of divine authority. Those who were appointed by God were believed to be divinely overshadowed. That is why Hathor is shown with the sun resting in her crown of horns. She is the archetype of the Virgin Mary who conceived by divine overshadowing (Lk 1:35). 

The same belief about divine appointment is expressed in the Hebrew names of many rulers. The initial Y is a solar cradle indicating divine appointment. It is found in these names: Yishmael (Ishmael); Yishbak; Yitzak (Isaac); Yacob (Jacob); Yehuda (Judah); Yosef (Joseph); Yetro (Jethro); Yeshai (Jesse), Yonah (Jonah), Yeroboam (Jeroboam), Yosedech (Josedech) and his son Yeshua (Joshua/Jesus) who wore the double crown (Zech. 6:11).

Yesu (Jesu) in hieroglyphics represents one who judges and rules as God's appointed.

The binary reasoning of the Bible prevents the biblical faith from slipping into dualism, a view in which the two entities of a set are equal in every way and to be granted equality in all things. That view is represented by egalitarians. Binary reasoning also prevents slipping into views that place all authority exclusively with males (absolute patriarchy). The social structure of the biblical Hebrew was neither egalitarian nor patriarchal. My book "The First Lords of the Earth" makes that clear in chapters 6-13. The final chapter is about binary reasoning.

Gender Balance Throughout the Scriptures

A detailed anthropological study of the social structure of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste shows that it was neither patriarchal nor egalitarian. It reveals a balance of authority between males and females. There were male prophets and female prophets, male rulers and female rulers; inheritance by male heirs and inheritance by female heirs, patrilocal residence, and matrilocal residence; and an equal distribution of rights and responsibilities between the "mother's house" and the "father's house."

Hebrew names and titles include patronymics such as Kalev ben Jephunneh (Num. 13) and Bartholomew, an Anglicized version of the Aramaic patronymic Bar-Talmai. Patronymics are common in the Hebrew Bible. So are matronymics. Bath-Sheba is an example. Solomon's mother was of the royal house of Sheba. This is why one of the entrance pillars of Solomon's Temple commemorates Jachin (Joktan), a name associated with the clan of Sheba. Solomon bowed before Bathsheba, the queen mother, and had her sit on a throne at his right side (1 Kg. 2:19).

The Hebrew gender balance is evident in the biblical narratives which give equal attention to males and females. The blood symbolism of the Passover associated with Moses has a parallel in the blood symbolism of the scarlet cord associated with Rahab.

The abusive behavior of drunken Noah toward his sons has a parallel in the abusive behavior of drunken Lot toward his daughters.

The gender balance is evident in the New Testament narratives also. When Jesus was presented in the temple His identity as Messiah was attested by the priest Simeon and the prophetess Anna.

Men and women are among Jesus’ followers. The women reportedly provided many of the material needs of Jesus and the Disciples. Jesus restored life to Jairus’ daughter (daughter to father) and life to the son of the widow of Nain (son to mother).

Jesus’ parables in Luke 15 involve a male seeking a lost sheep and a female seeking a lost coin. Paul commends both men and women to the Gospel ministry. Among them are Apollos, Priscilla, Timothy, and Phoebe, a leader from the church at Cenchreae, a port city near Corinth. Paul attaches to Phoebe the title of prostatis, meaning a female patron or benefactor.

To understand the gender balance of the early Hebrew, we must dismiss the false narrative that their social structure was patriarchal. The traits of a patriarchy do not apply to the biblical Hebrew from whom we receive the earliest elements of the Messianic Faith we call "Christianity." Line of descent was traced through high-status wives, especially the cousin brides. Women owned property and could inherit. The biblical data reveals that the responsibilities and rights of males and females were balanced, yet distinct. There were Hebrew women of authority, but not one served as a priest at the altar. Instead, many ministered to women at the royal water shrines where women came for healing, purification, and for prayers concerning fertility concerns. 

In the Bible, both men and women of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste were persons of authority though no women served as priests. Unless the Church reflects this biblical pattern, it cannot claim to be faithful to the whole counsel of God.

Related reading: Philosophers' Corner: Is "Complementarianism" a Biblical Concept?; Male and Female are Primary in Hebrew Scriptures; The Ministry of Hebrew Woman at the Sun Cities; Solar Imagery of the Proto-Gospel; Temple Women

The Ministry of Hebrew Woman at the Sun Cities

 

Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall, eastern interior wall.

"But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays." Mal. 4:2

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The veneration of the sun as a symbol of the High God was well developed by 3200 BC, as is evidenced by at least 6 sun temples. Among them were the sun temples of Niuserra at Abu Ghurab, the Userkaf Sun Temple, and the Sun Temple at Heliopolis. The temple of Niuserra had a central sacrificial altar in an open-air courtyard. The altar is composed of a number of alabaster parts. Heliopolis, which means the “City of the Sun,” was one of the oldest cities on the Nile River. It was occupied since the Predynastic Period (c. 6000 – 3000 BC) and predates the emergence of Egypt as a political entity.

By 3000 BC, the veneration of the sun had received royal patronage. Over the centuries, temples, shrines, and royal complexes were dedicated to the sun. The wives and daughters of Hebrew rulers ministered to women at the sun city water shrines. Asenath is an example. She lived at Heliopolis, one of the most prestigious sun cities of the ancient world. In Heliopolitan cosmology the watery realms above and below (the "firmaments") were connected by the massive pillars of the temple of Heliopolis. Heliopolis is mentioned in Isaiah 19:18 as one of five Egyptian cities that swore allegiance to the Lord of Hosts.

The association of the sun’s radiance with holiness and purity was a common theme in the Ancient Near East. According to the Lukan genealogy, Mary’s husband, Joseph, was the son of a man named Heli (Lk. 3:23). Heli refers to the sun and to righteousness. 

The sun also was associated with divine appointment. When Mary asked how she would conceive, seeing as she was a virgin, the Angel Gabriel explained that she would be divinely overshadowed (Lk. 1:35). This fulfills the expectation of the early Hebrew that a virgin of their ruler-priest caste would conceive miraculously and bring forth the Son of God (Gen. 3:15). That expectation was first portrayed by Hathor, the mother of HR (the Most High One). She is shown on ancient images overshadowed by the sun.

The prevalence of solar imagery in the ancient world is evident in the study of ancient artifacts and sacred texts. The six-prong solar symbol is found on ossuary boxes, tombs, and grave markers from Africa to Europe and the Indus River Valley. It is found on the foreheads of rulers as a sign of divine appointment. This bust, found near Jamaa, Nigeria, shows the solar symbol on the forehead of a chief.

 

Photo credit: Andre Held

Many ancient images show the sun over water. The sun resting directly over the Nile River is a sign of divine blessing upon the waters. This image (called “Aker”) shows the sun resting in the horns and flanked on the east and west by lions, a symbol of royal authority.

 

Fertility and Water Shrines

Because water is universally perceived as a substance necessary for life, women seeking to conceive and deliver healthy children visited water shrines where they prayed and made offerings. Water shrines could be at rivers, lakes, wells, or oases. They might even be a ritual bathhouse such as the mikveh. Even the mikveh is associated with natural water systems. By law, it must be composed of stationary waters and must contain a percentage of water from a natural source such as a lake, river, sea, or rain.

The Jewish actress Abbe Feder endured a harrowing, six-year journey to motherhood. Months of disappointment and repeated miscarriages left her spiritually and emotionally depleted. A Jewish friend suggested that she might find relief by frequenting a mikvah, a ritual bath. Abbe had never considered going to the mikvah as a treatment for infertility, but she tried it and eventually she conceived twins. She does not think of the mikvah as a magical treatment, but she admits that repeated visits brought her relief.

Sacred pools are mentioned in the New Testament as places of healing. Jesus sent "a man blind from birth" to the pool of Siloam to complete his healing (John 9). John 5:2 gives an account of Jesus healing a paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. These public bathing places were reserved for men, and women had their own more private locations.

The anthropologist Bronislaw Malinoski observed that women of the Trobriand Islands associated conception with sacred pools. Archaeologists found fertility offerings in Tuscany near hot springs reputed for their restorative powers. These fourth century BC offerings had the shape of newborn babies, wombs, penises, and breasts buried in the mud at the bottom of the pools. The offerings suggest that thermal baths were particularly associated with aid in fertility and the health of infants.

In Gambia (West Africa) women with infertility visit the sacred pools of Katchikaly in Bakau and Folonko in Kartong. They go there to pray, drink the water, or wash themselves with the holy water. The women make offerings of salt, sugar, kola nuts, and white candles to the old ladies who guard the pools. Often the visitors take some of the sacred water with them when they leave.


Water Shrines at the Royal Sun Temples 

Temple women had many responsibilities and privileges. Their duties included weaving, sewing, drawing water, brewing beer, singing, and playing musical instruments such as the sistrum and the tambourine. In the King James Version, the "alamot" are called “damsels” – “The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.” (Ps. 68:25) They also ministered to women who came to the water shrines for purification and healing.

The sun city water shrines were for purification and healing and the work of the Hebrew women was connected to rites of water purification, healing, and prayers for fertility of land, beasts, and women. Asenath probably ministered to women who came to the water shrine at Heliopolis (biblical On).

Royal Sun cities emerged in many parts of the ancient world, especially from the Fifth Dynasty (2465-2323 BC). The temples were oriented so that the rays of the rising sun would shine through the east-facing entrances. The sun also shone on the purification pools. Today we know that solar radiation can purify water.

The symbol of purity along the Nile River.

Related reading: BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Temple Women; Just Genesis: Solar Imagery of the Proto-Gospel; Philosophers' Corner: The Sun and the Sacred; Temple-Dedicated Daughters of Hebrew Priests; The Prestige of Biblical On; Joseph and Asenath; Sun Cities of the Ancient World