Number Symbolism in the Bible

Alice C. Linsley


From very ancient times humans have recognized number patterns and derived meaning from the patterns. Consider the Pythagorean triangle. According to the Delphic priest Plutarch (46 - 120 A.D.), the Egyptians attributed the sides of the triangle the numbers 3, 4 and 5. The vertical line of 3 is the Osiris line and number. The horizontal line of 4 is the Isis line and number, and the hypotenuse was the Horus line and the number 5. The triangle then represents the male and female principles and the issue of the unity of male and female. That said, the verticality of the hypotenuse indicates that the son is like the father in sharing uprightness or virtue.

The association of the number 4 with the horizontal line also explains why 4 represents the whole earth, over which the Sun makes its daily journey from east to west.  There is also the relationship of the 4 cardinal directions which, when connected, form the perpendicular lines of the cross, a fundamental symbol in creation.

Referring again to the triangle, the vertical (masculine) line and the horizontal (feminine) line suggest a third line just as the relationship of man and woman suggest reproduction. In this sense, the 2 gives way to the 3 and the 2:4 relationship gives way to the 5.

In music, the 2:3 interval on a string instrument and keyboard determines the vibration of the perfect fifth. All other harmonic intervals relate to this 2-3 harmonic interval. This suggests something about human communication also, that single phonemes will seek a second and third.  We see this among the oldest known languages of the Afro-Asiatic group. The Chadic/Kushitic languages of Abraham's ancestors tended to have 2-syllable words whereas Hebrew and the languages of Mesopotamia tended to have 3-syllable words.  There is an interplay between 2 and 3-syllable words in the Hebrew Bible that speak of the mystery of God, an area for further investigation. The 3-syllable words build on the 2-syllable roots, so that Ka-Ba becomes Kaba-lah.

A similar interplay is seen between 2 sons ans 3 sons in the genealogies of Genesis. There are usually 3 first-born sons listed, but the plot of the narrative will involve competition or intermarriage between only 2 of the 3 first-born sons. The third son is often "hidden" or dies.  In Genesis this points to the hidden issue of the Woman (Gen. 3:15). Kain, Seth and Abel were brothers, but Abel was killed by Kain. Terah's sons were Haran, Nahor and Abrham.  Haran is said to have died in Ur. Abraham had 3 first borns sons: Joktan (Yaqtan), Ishmael (Yishmael) and Isaac (Yitzak).  Joktan was probably Abraham's oldest son. The biblical interplay between 2 sons and 3 sons is highly symbolic.

The number 3 compels us to seek the hidden, just as Abraham sought guidance about his unknown future at the Diviner’s Oak near Hebron (Gen.13:18) between Ai and Bethel. Here he later looked up and saw 3 “men” coming to him and ordered 3 measures of flour to make cakes and brought to his visitors 3 gifts: curds, milk and a calf. And Abraham interceded for Sodom 3 times (Gen. 18).  It is in the context of this proliferation of 3s that the Lord announces that Sarah will bring forth a son.

In the Hebrew gematria 90 is the value of the Hebrew word for Water - Mem (mem-yod-mem), but the letter W as the symbol for water comes from the ancient Egyptians who would have used W to represent the waters above and M to represent the waters below, the 3 "feet" of the letters determine the location of the waters.  As they didn't use zero numerically, the 3 above and the 3 below would be regarded as belonging to the one cosmos represented by the sphere - 0.

Numbers are an interesting and useful device in tracking the tribal and ethnic origins of a document. For example, the Chinese avoid using the number four, which they regard as a bad omen, yet four is a sacred number to the Plains Indians of North America and is used in ceremonies and rites, such as the Vision Quest.

The number forty

In the Bible we are able to track the origin of some narratives using number symbolism. The Hebrew Bible comes to us from the Afro-Asiatics whose number symbolism can be classified into western and eastern traditions. In the Nilo-Saharan tradition the number forty appears often, as the Nile flood lasted 40 days, but forty doesn't appear in the Mesopotamia-Babylonian tradition.

For example, the story of Noah's flood speaks of rain for "forty days and forty nights", reflecting the 40-day flooding of the Nile. In the Book of Daniel, which is rich in number symbolism, the number forty doesn't appear even once. Noah's homeland was near Lake Chad in west central Africa and the Book of Daniel comes from ancient Babylon. So "the forty days and forty nights" in reference to Noah indicates that the context of his story is not Mesopotamia, but Africa. Likewise Israel's forty years of wandering in the wilderness indicates roots in Egypt.

The number seventy-two

The number 72 is highly symbolic in the Bible. Moses and Jesus appointed 72 to serve. The number represents the sum of the members of the heavenly Council. The idea can be traced back to the astronomy of the Nilo-Saharan ruler-priests.

The rabbinic idea that there are 36 tzaddikim in each generation is a semitic version of the Asian bodhisattva. The number 36 is half of the number 72 which was the number of deified rulers who would judge the world. They are called Horim. It was believed that half stayed in heaven and half served on earth. In the Qur'an these are called Houris. They have been cast as virgins in popular Islam. In a note to his fellow hijackers, September 11 ringleader Muhammad Atta reminded them of their impending "marriage in Paradise" to the 72 virgins promised in the Qur'an to the faithful departed. However, Islamic scholar Dr. Maher Hathout says that Houris refers to "beings of distinction."

These are deified rulers and to them we must add the saints. The seven angels with their seven trumpets of Revelation are accompanied by an angel who offers the prayers of the saints with a great amount of incense (Rev. 8:3). This angel is among the hosts that stand before the throne of God and who appear with the Lord at the Judgment. Consider Deuteronomy 33:2: "The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand." Seir was one of the principal regions belonging to the Horites (Gen. 36).

The Egyptian pyramids correspond in form to the number 72, as does Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The number 72 represents the precession of the equinoxes, that is it represents the numerical sequence linked to the earth’s axial precession, which causes the apparent alteration in the position of the constellations one degree every 72 years. It has been noted also that Angkor Wat is located 72 degrees of longitude east of the Giza Pyramids.

Related reading:  Ezekiel's New Temple; Is Gematria Helpful in Decoding the Genesis King Lists?; The Genesis King Lists; Horite Temples; The Seven Bowls of Revelation; The Seventh Seal and Silence in Heaven

Te-hut's Victory over Te-hom

Alice C. Linsley


Te-hom (Hebrew: תְּהוֹם‎), the chaotic deep, and te-hut, divine wisdom and order, represent aspects of the world in which we live.  We observe both daily. When God spoke the creation into being He also ordered the creation by fixing boundaries which those who honor God will observe and not trespass.  When we trespass divinely established boundaries we invite chaos (te-hom) into our lives and into the world.

I learned about te-hom in seminary when we studied Genesis. Te-hom is an ancient concept of a watery and disordered deep which God put in order by His Word (hu or hut). I was never taught that te-hom is related to the Egyptian word te-hut.  Instead my seminary professors insisted that te-hom and Genesis one have a Babylonian cultural context.  This is true to the degree that the Babylonians shared certain Afro-Asiatic beliefs with the ancient Egyptians.

A central experience of ancient Egyptian life was the Nile inundation. As rains fell during the spring in the Ethiopian headlands the Nile River in Egypt rose above its banks, flooding the Nile Valley between June and October. The flooding lasted for 40 days. This turned the valley into large lakes and deposited fertile silt which renewed the earth. As the waters receded, only the highest mounds of earth would been seen at first. Even after the waters crested and began to recede, families didn't return to their homes for another 40 nights. This is the origin of the biblical phrase "forty days and forty nights" and the context is not Babylonian, but Nilotic.

The victory of te-hut over te-hom relates to the annual inundation of the Nile and helps us to understand the Egyptian concept of creation. One of the oldest creation myths of the ancient Egyptians envisioned the first place in the world as a mound emerging from the waters of a universal ocean. Here the first life form was seen as a lily, growing on the peak of the primeval mound. The mound itself was named Tatjenen, meaning "the emerging land".

In Hindu and Buddhist mythology the mound that emerged is called Mount Meru. It emerges from the center of the Cosmic Ocean, and the Sun and 7 visible planets circle the mountain. Mount Meru in Hinduism is a mythological mountain. However, there are 2 mountains called Meru in Africa, one in Kenya and the other in Tanzania.

The name meru is meri in Egyptian and Mary in English.  The Virgin Mary, whose womb swelled with the Son of God, is sometimes portrayed in icons as the mountain of God. The Prophet Daniel saw a mountain, from which a stone was cut by the hand of God (Dan. 2:34, 45).

This conception of Earth emerging from a universal ocean likely originated in the Upper Nile region where stone pillars and mounds of earth were erected. In the Lower Nile region small pyramids were carved from a single block of stone. These were known as a bnbn (benben), from the root, bn, meaning to "swell forth". Benben have been from India to Nigeria. Below is a photo of a benben found in Lejja, Nigeria.

The image of the sun resting at or swelling forth from the peak of the pyramid or mountain is represented in the sign of tnt (tanit) and in the Agadez crosses made by the Inadan metalworkers of west central Africa. The Egyptian word for the rising sun is wbn, which comes from the same root as benben.

Recently discovered tombs of officials from the 4th Dynasty were surmounted by conical mounds that represent the benben. These tombs, along with the royal tombs at Giza, indicate that the ancient rulers hoped to rise from the place of death as the Sun rises.

The Egyptian royal pyramids correspond in form to the number 72, as does Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The number 72 represents the precession of the equinoxes, that is it represents the numerical sequence linked to the earth’s axial precession, which causes the apparent alteration in the position of the constellations one degree every 72 years. It has been noted also that Angkor Wat is located 72 degrees of longitude east of the Pyramids of Giza.

Here we have further evidence of a common worldview and cosmology throughout the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion.  This worldview spread with the Horite ruler-priests or Harwa who moved north and east from ancient Nubia.  They were a priest caste who were devotees of Horus, who was called "son of God."  The name Angkor correlates with the ancient Egyptian Anhk-Hor, meaning "May Horus Live".

These are but a few examples of how biblical scholars and seminary professors have neglected the African context of Abraham's Horite people and in so doing have often misrepresented biblical material.


Related reading: Sacred Mountains; Peaks and Valleys; The Nilotic Substrata of Genesis

Noah's Sons and Their Descendants

Alice C. Linsley

The earth was not re-populated by Noah's sons after a worldwide flood, but there is genetic evidence that these archaic rulers did have many children. Their R1 DNA has been found from Lake Chad to the Nile Valley to Europe and China.

The Hungarians, for example, claim to be descendants of Noah's son Japheth. In the Hungarian origin stories, Nimrod had two sons: Magor and Hunor. Magor is the equivalent of the Afro-Asiatic name Magog and the Hungarian word Magyar. Magyar is the name for the Hungarian people. Some Magyar still live in the Upper Nile area where they are called the Magyar-ab, the Magyar tribe.

This study compared the Y-DNA of Hungarians with other Finno-Ugrian populations to understand why modern Hungarians have so little of the typical Uralic haplogroup N1c. A few individuals from a 10th-century cemetery were tested and half of the individuals belonged to N1c. Ob-Ugrian is in the the macro-haplogroup N, with its sibling M, and is a descendant of haplogroup L3, originating in the Nile Valley. The Ob River is the main river of Western Siberia. It originates far to the south in the Altai Mountains and flows northward until it empties into the Kara Sea (part of the Arctic Ocean). Ob is an Afro-Asiatic word meaning ruler. Some rulers among the ancient Horites had the title Oba and the first ruler of Petra in Horite Edom was called Obadas.

According to Toomas Kivisild "the lack of L3 lineages other than M and N in India and among non-African mitochondria in general suggests that the earliest migration(s) of modern humans already carried these two mtDNA ancestors, via a departure route over the Horn of Africa."  Kivisild notes that the DNA is consistent with the caste practice of endogamy.

Tree of Life on Magyar sabertache (tarsoly) plate

Genesis tells us that Noah had three sons: Ham, Shem and Japheth. To these sons and their wives were born diverse peoples who we call "Afro-Asiatics." At the point in history of Noah's sons, they are more African than Asiatic, as is evident by the name given to Ham's son "Kush" (Gen. 10:6), the ancestral head of the ancient Kushites or Nubians who ruled the Upper Nile region. Ham is also the ancestral head of peoples identified with ancient Egypt, Ethiopia and Canaan.

It was the custom of these rulers to have 2 wives in separate households on a north-south axis. This made it easier for the rulers to control and tax commercial traffic moving through their territories. Remembering that Noah and his sons lived in the part of Africa through which the Nile flowed northward from its headlands in Nigeria, we can understand the practicality of this custom. In Canaan the commercial traffic moved in a north-south direction also.

In Genesis, 3 sons represent a tribal unity and there are many such units listed. Consider these 3-clan confederations:

Jubal, Jabal and Tubal-Kain
Ham, Shem and Japheth
Haran, Nahor and Abraham
Yisbak, Esau and Jacob
Og, Magog and Gog
Uz, Buz and Huz

Within these confederations three priest lines consistently intermarried. So the lines of Ham and Shem intermarried and the lines of Nahor and Abraham intermarried. It appears that Japheth's descendants moved out of the Upper Nile area into Europe and the Near East.

Ham
Ham was the father of great kingdom-builders whose territories spread from Nigeria to southern India.  Kush was one of Ham's sons and Kush fathered the rulers Raamah and Nimrod by 2 different wives. Nimrod build a vast kingdom in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley and Raamah's kingdom stretched from Tyre and Sidon to the cities of the Dead Sea Plain.  Raamah's sons were Sheba and Dedan, who intermarried with the people of Shem.  Genesis 10 tells us that Nimrod's son by his patrilineal cousin was Asshur, but this son technically belonged to the House of Shem. Likely Arpachshad was Nimrod's son by his half-sister wife.

Shem
Shem's descendants intermarried with the descendants of Ham. Rulers of Shem's house include Asshur, Arpachshad, Selah, and Eber. Eber's two sons were Peleg and Joktan (see diagram). These were born of different wives and the Bible tells us that a "division" took place in this generation (Gen. 10:25).  One of Joktan's sons was Sheba, the grandson of Sheba the Elder, the grandson of Kush, the son of Ham.  Sheba the elder's brother was Dedan.  The Dedanites were the first to use Old Arabic script. The Asshurites and the Elamites used a different script so it is clear that there was a division linguistically.

Japheth
The descendants of Japheth are found in Europe, Turkey, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Upper Nile. This explains the linguistic similarity between some Afro-Asiatic names and some Turkish, Pashtun and Mongolian names, including Jochi, Beri, Malik and Khan. Khan was originally a title meaning king. Today it is a common surname in Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Mongolia. It is equivalent to the Afro-Asiatic Kain or Kayan.

Genghis Khan married a woman of the Olkut’Hun, or Ogur Hun meaning the Hun clan/community. The word ogur means clan/community and appears to be equivalent to the Pashto orkut, meaning community. So ogur, orkut and olkut are cognates and likely related to the Kandahar dialect, which has Tir-hari as a principal dialect. Tir is a form of the name Tiras, mentioned in Genesis 10 and hari is a form of the word for Horite, which relates to Horus and his devotees. It appears that Genghis Khan married into a community with connections to Abraham's Horite Hebrew people.

In Genesis 9:27, we are told that "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem." This doesn't support the view that Japheth and Shem were separated by great distances. It appears that the two lineages dwelt together and intermingled. The descendants of both Japheth and Shem are found in Europe, Turkey (ancient Anatolia), Pakistan, Bactria, Mongolia and the Upper Nile. This explains the linguistic similarity between some Afro-Asiatic/Semitic names and names/titles in Turkish, Pashtun and Mongolian, including Jochi (Joktan/Yaqtan), Beri, Malik and Khan. Khan was originally a title, meaning king. Today it is a common surname in Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Mongolia. The biblical equivalent is Cain or Qayan. Some of the Pashtun tribes adopted Malik as the ruler's title instead of Khan. Malik is equivalent to the Afro-Asiatic/Semitic Melek, meaning king.


Related reading: Where Dwelleth Japheth;  Haplogroups of Interest to Biblical Anthropologists; Was Earth Repopulated By Noah's Descendants?; Who Were the Horites?; The Extent of Noah's Flood; The Lines of Ham and Shem Intermarried; Y-Chromosome Haplotypes in Egypt; African Religion Predates Hinduism

Received Tradition: Pushing Back the Veil of Time

Alice C. Linsley

The Bible scholar and the biblical anthropologist approach the Bible differently. The difference isn't simply that the first focuses on the Hebrew and/or Greek and its theological implications while the second focuses on culture traits. The Bible scholar is usually content to trace a word or a belief back to the early days of Judaism, but rarely beyond. The biblical anthropologist seeks to push back the veil of time and is always looking for antecedents. We want to know when and where a belief or practice first appeared. This means looking beyond the beginnings of Judaism (about 580 B.C.) and trying to understand Judaism's development from earlier expressions.When investigating the antecedents of Judaism, things start to get interesting about 4,000 years ago. That's when we can identify evidence of something very like Messianic expectation.

What most Jews believe and practice emerges from something non-Jewish or "proto-Jewish". This means that Jews received a tradition. They didn't invent one.  Received tradition is one of the characteristics of organic religions, that is religions that develop in a traceable way from antecedents of great antiquity. Such traditions are passed down through families, clans and tribes. I must have a tradition that tells me to expect a savior before I will live in expectation.

Tradition is said to live as the continuous expression of the Spirit's guidance and revelation and is the basis for spiritual authority. For an anthropologist this definition raises more questions than it answers. What exactly is the substance of the revelation? Is it fixed or does it change?

Looking at the tradition which Abraham received one finds an unchanging tradition that was already well developed among Abraham's ancestors.  None can claim that this tradition was invented by Jews or by Christians since it existed before either religion took shape. For convenience, we will call this the "Edenic tradition".  It is a very old tradition that speaks of God coming to the aid of mankind as a priest.

When we go back 4000 years ago we find two distinct religious traditions: one involving priests and the other involving shamans. While priests and shamans serve similar functions within their communities, they represent distinctly different, even opposite worldviews. Underlying shamanism is the belief that there are powerful spirits who cause imbalance and disharmony in the world. The shaman’s role is to determine which spirits are at work and to find ways to appease the spirits. This often involves trances, encantations, and mind-altering substances, but rarely involves blood sacrifice.

Underlying the priesthood is belief in a single supreme Spirit or God to whom humans must give an accounting, especially for the shedding of blood. In this view, one God holds the world in balance and it is human actions that cause disharmony. The vast assortment of ancient laws governing priestly ceremonies, sacrifices, and cleansing rituals clarifies the role of the priest as one who offers sacrifice according to sacred law. The law represents received tradition preserved through the priestly lines.

The origins of the faith of the Son of God came to Abraham, not as special revelation, but as a tradition received from his forefathers. The distinctive traits of this tradition align remarkable well with the key features of catholic faith and practice:

1. All-male ruler-priests
2. Blood sacrifice at altars
3. Expectation of the appearing of God
4. As in heaven, so on earth - interpreted by morehs (prophets)
5. Belief in an eternal and undivided Kingdom

The Edenic tradition is a consistent and cogent account of the people to whom a promise was given in Eden (Gen. 3:15). Because of this promise they lived in expectation of the Son of God and taught their children to do so. Because of this promise, they intermarried in expectaion that the Seed of the Woman would come of their priestly lines. In other words, the Edenic tradition is a family-tribal tradition. This is evident when one studies the genealogies and discovers that the ruler-priests of Abraham's people were allied by intermarriage and shared common beliefs and practices, such as circumcision, animal sacrifice by priests and divine guidance through prophets.

When we push back the veil of time to before Moses and Judaism, we find a tradition that appears not to have changed in substance and only somewhat in outward expression. We still have priests, altars, expectation of God's appearing/return, and belief in an undivided and eternal kingdom. Some say we still have prophets, but these days they seem few and far between. For all our technological prowess, there are few among us who can read the signs.

African Context of Biblical Material

The Bible tells us that Kushites moved out of Africa into Mespotamia. One kingdom-building Kushite is specifically named: Nimrod. He established his kingdom "in the land of Shinar," which included the cities "Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh" (Genesis 10:10). Babylon and Erech have been identified with certainty, and consistent with the kingdom-building pattern of Abraham's ancestors these are on a north-south axis.  Nimrod is not the first African to build cities. Kain is said to have built a city in honor of his first-born son, who would rule after him.  This settlement was probably what has become the city of Kano in northern Nigeria (directly north of the prehistoric site of Nok/Enoch, where Kain's cousin-wife dwelt.)

Archaeologist Thomas Strasser (Providence College) and his team have found 130,000 year old stone hand axes on Crete that are identical to 800,000 year double-edged axe heads found in African, suggesting that humans left Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago and traveled on seagoing vessels to Europe and the Near East via larger islands in the Mediterranean.

In his 20 years of work on Crete, Strassser has discovered several hundred double-edged cutting implements at nine sites in southwestern Crete that date to 130,000 years ago and earlier. Strasser reported that hand axes he found on Crete were made from local quartz but are identical to those fashioned in Africa about 800,000 years ago. (Read more here and here.)

It is clear that peoples from Africa were migrating eastward to Pakistan, southern India, and Sri Lanka. The Sudra (Sudanese) who inhabited these areas were black. The Sudra Kingdom, mentioned in the epic of Mahabharata, was one of the ancient Saraswati Valley kingdoms. Herodotus referred to the Sudra/Dravidians as the “eastern Ethiopians” and described them thus: “The Eastern Ethiopians differed in nothing from the other Ethiopians, save in their language, and the character of their hair. For the Eastern Ethiopians have straight hair, while they of Libya are more woolly-haired…”

The Indus civilization had several large cities, including Mohenjo-daro and Harrapa. That civilization is known by the name “Harappa” and the people of this civilization were Dravidians. The Indian archaeologist, B. B. Lal, contends that the Dravidians came from southern Egypt and Sudan (Nubia). This would explain their dark complexion. Lal writes: "At Timos the Indian team dug up several megalithic sites of ancient Nubians which bear an uncanny resemblance to the cemeteries of early Dravidians which are found all over Western India from Kathiawar to Cape Comorin. The intriguing similarity extends from the subterranean structure found near them. Even the earthenware ring-stands used by the Dravidians and Nubians to hold pots were identical." The Nubian megaliths of which Lal speaks date from around 1000 B.C.

Evidence of much older connections between Africa and India comes from the Onge of the Andaman Islands at the eastern edge of the Bay of Bengal. They are believed to have migrated from Africa around 60,000 years ago. They resemble African pygmies. Analysis of the Y-chromosome of 46 Onge men revealed an ancient genetic trait of African races, especially the Pygmies. The initial research was done by Dr. Lalji Singh, Director of India's Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad and was annoucned in 2001. Dr. Singh's findings paralleled those of Dr. Erika Hagelberg, a Cambridge scientist, who analysed Andaman hair samples which had been stored in Cambridge since 1907. She found that clusters of DNA from the hair were most similar to those in southern African pygmies.
 

Onge woman and child

 
This corresponds to the evidence in linguistics which connects the languages of southern India with the languages of the Upper Nile Valley and the Lake Chad region. Consider these examples:
 
Chief is "neb" in Egyptian and "nab" in Dravidian. This may be the origin of the semitic nabi = prophet.
 
Father is "abba" in Hebrew, "baba" in Hausa/Hahm, "appa" in Dravidian, and "apu" in Mundari.
 
The Hebrew root "thr" = to be pure, corresponds to the Hausa/Hahm "toro" = clean, and to the Tamil "tiru" = holy. All are related to the proto-Dravidian "tor" = blood.

Small is "sr" in Egyptian and "siru" in Dravidian.
 
The prefix ke or ki denotes smallness: "ke" in Coptic, "kenna" in Dravidian and "kina" in Nubian.

Woman, daughter is "asa" in Dravidian and "as" in Cushitic/Nubian.
 
Day is "ulla" in Dravidian and "ul" in Nubian.
 
Stone or rock is "kal" in Dravidian and "kulu" in Nubian.
 
Mountain is "male" in Dravidian and "mule" in Nubian. (Read more examples here and here.)

As we explore the African context of Abraham's ancestors we uncover possible explanations for the names found in Genesis. Consider the name of Abraham's barren wife, Sara, who is said to have laughed when she received the news that she would bear a son in her old age. The association of laughter with the name Sara is suggested by several Afro-Asiatic languages. The verb to laugh in Hausa, a Chadic language, is dara. Dara and Sara may be regarded as cognates since the letters d and s are interchangeable in Dravidian and many African languages.

Sara might also be related to the Amharic sak', meaning to laugh, which is a cognate to the eastern Chadic Kambaata word osalut, meaning ‘laughter’.

It is interesting to note also that the largest population group in Chad is called the Sara. Sara society is organized by patrilineal descent from a common male ancestor. There is a 3-clan confederation such as characterizes Abraham's people. The qir ka are the eastern Sara, the qin ka are those living in central Chad, and the qel ka are the western groups. According to legend, there were giants among the Sara.

Closer examination of the African cultural context of Abraham's ancestors promises to bring greater understanding of the older layers of the biblical material. It is time for biblical scholars to turn their eyes to Africa.

Climate Cycles and Noah's Flood

Alice C. Linsley


People are talking about the heat and strange weather this summer. Stephen Hawking thinks that it is time to abandon earth because of global warming and the threat of the Sun devouring Earth. You hear weather specialists talk about El Niño and La Niña, about ocean temperatures, about wind currents, and about the shrinking Arctic ice cap, but nobody is talking about the expanding Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina and Pio XI glacier in Chile.

There's plenty of talk about how humans have caused atmospheric pollution leading to the greenhouse effect, but the magnitude of the gas emissions involved in the atmospheric warming by greenhouse gases is inadequate to account for the magnitude of temperature increases. Total human contributions to greenhouse gases account for only about 0.28% of the "greenhouse effect". So what causes the up and down cycles of global climate change?

One factor that nobody is talking about is the cycle of Earth's Great Year which brings fluctuation in the great river systems and affects sea levels. "The expansions and contractions of those environments have pretty profound effects on life on Earth," says Shanan Peters, a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor of geology and geophysics. Over the course of hundreds of millions of years, the world's oceans and rivers have expanded and contracted in response to climate change and the shifting tectonic plates.

About 150,000 years ago there was a major uplift of the Angolan ridge in the area of the equator in Africa. This meant a permanent supply of water running to the Upper Nile and prompted migration to that area and the building of a great Nubian (Sudanese) civilization.

Between 12,000 and 8,000 years ago all of the region between Lake Chad and the Nile was wet. The climate had changed, ushering in years of persistent, heavy rains. The Nile was transformed from a slow stream into a roaring river with mile-deep gorges. This was the beginning of the wet period that would turn the Sahara into vast grasslands able to support elephants, antelopes, gazelles, ostriches, giraffes, and hyenas.

Lakes formed in the basins, large enough to support fish, crocodile and hippopotamus. Early hunters camped along the lakes, as evidenced by heaps of domestic refuse at many sites along the lakeshores. Lake Chad filled and merged with the Mega-Chad Sea, creating a body of water comparable in size to the state of Sudan. The overflow spilled southwest out the Benue River to the Atlantic.

The flood of Noah likely occurred during the peak of the rainy period when Mega-Chad would have been 5 times the size of Lake Superior. The surrounding land was spongy and there was great flooding at the confluence of the Niger, Benue, Yobe and Osimili Rivers. The floodwaters created a disaster of such proportions that it is still remembered. Rainbows would have been a common sight over the region due to rising mists.

A black mahogany dugout from this period was found in the Land of Noah buried at a depth of 16 feet under clays and sands whose alternating sequence showed evidence of deposition in standing and flowing water. The Dufuno dugout (shown below) is 8000 years old. By comparison, Egypt's oldest boat is only about 5000 years old.

About 12,000 years ago, the Nile connected to the Chadic and Niger water systems through a series of shallow lakes in the Sahara Desert. Because of this, a common plant and animal species is found in all three river systems.

The Lake Chad region is the location of Noah's flood, and the area is called "Bor-Nu", which means Land of Noah. Today the area is dry, but rains are returning to the Sahara. West Africa is receiving abundant convective rainfall also.

Now that Earth's Great Year is beginning a new cycle, the great water systems of Noah's day may again approach the size they once were, as indicated by their footprints seen from space.

This year the Indus River in Pakistan seems to be seeking its old boundaries. NASA photos reveal that in a matter of a few months the Indus has swollen to the proportions it was known to have 10,000 years ago.   See the contrast from one year ago.

Indus River August 2009

Indus River August 2010

Since the close of Earth's Great Year in July 1998, global temperatures have dipped.  This fact primarily reflects the sudden spike in land and sea temperatures around the time that the precession of the equinoxes formed a perfect erect cross in July 1998. Subsequent temperatures have been lower. Even the highest temperatures of 2010 have not reach the temperatures that occurred at the the close of the 25,000-28,000 year sidereal cycle.

(To see other graphs that confirm this, go here.  To read more about axial precession, go here.)

There appears to be a reversal of hemispheric norms as we enter the new sidereal cycle.  The global south appears to be growing cooler and drier and the global north appears to be growing warmer and wetter. This explains the flooding in Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa where it appears that the Great Lakes are seeking a return to their ancient boundaries visible from satellite photos.

We are seeing verifiable climatic changes that involve wide distribution of water in what are today some of Earth's driest regions. With the close of the sidereal cycle dry places that were formerly under water may be returning to wet conditions.Such fluctuations can explain Noah's flood in the area of Lake Chad and suggest a factor in the decline of the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion.  As the major river systems of the ancient Near East and Africa shrank, the Afro-Asiatic rulers found it more difficult to control larger territories that were once joined by water.

If the picture given us in Genesis is taken seriously, we must recognize that the swelling and shrinking of earth's major water systems brings political as well as ecological change. The ancient Afro-Asiatic rulers lost control when the great river systems they controlled began to shrink. It was no longer possible to control huge areas of land since they were no longer connected by the water ways that made swift movement possible. Today the devastation in Pakistan is of such huge proportion that it could easily bring down that government. Katrina continues to have political impact on American leaders 5 years later. There is a good reason for the world's leaders to be concerned about global climate change, but they are foolish to think that they can control a 25,000-28,000 year cycle like Earth's Great Year.

END


Editor's Note
Nature News reported on recent studies that cast doubt on a comet as the cause of the Younger Dryas Ice Age, which took place 13,000 years ago. A study posted in the journal Nature has found that the period may have actually been one of warming and thawing of glaciers in the Southern Hemisphere. While the change in ocean temperatures at the time did block the Gulf Stream, preventing warm water from reaching the colder north, it seems that other climate altering currents, known collectively as the conveyor belt, were also stopped from bringing enough deep, cold water to the south, resulting in a thaw.

An international team led by Michael Kaplan of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, studied a part of New Zealand called Irishman Stream, an area littered with soil deposits and boulders displaced by glaciers during the ice age, to see what effects the Younger Dryas period had on the area. By doing chemical analysis on the rocks in the area, the team found that the rocks were deposited as the glaciers were retreating. Further analysis of the isotope beryllium-10 found that the rocks were first exposed to open air between 11,100 and 13,700 years ago, meaning these glaciers were melting away well within the Younger Dryas period that sent much of the Northern Hemisphere into a near-glacial freeze. For more, see the report from ScienceNOW.



Related reading:  Two Environmentalists Knock Heads

What Does a Biblical Anthropologist Do?

Alice C. Linsley

David Noel Freedman said: “The Hebrew Bible is the one artifact from antiquity that not only maintained its integrity but continues to have a vital, powerful effect thousands of years later.”

Biblical anthropology seeks to understand the cultural contexts and beliefs of biblical populations, of which there are many. See a partial list here: Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in the Bible.

My research focuses mainly on the early Hebrew, that is, Abraham's ancestors. I have identified the distinctive features of their social structure. The Hebrew were a ruler-priest caste.

The key principle of discovery in this field is the pursuit of antecedents. What came before what is described in the text? How far back in time can a culture trait be traced? One discovery is that the expectation of a Righteous Ruler first emerged among the biblical Hebrew as early as 6000 years ago. They were the first known people to believe in bodily resurrection.

People are astonished when faced with the anthropological evidence of Jesus as the fulfillment of a very ancient expectation concerning a Righteous Ruler who would overcome death and lead His people to immortality. They erroneously think of Jesus as the founder of Christianity, rather than as the fulfillment of this ancient expectation. Until we better understand the religious beliefs and social structure of Jesus' Hebrew ancestors, we will continue to impose incorrect or inadequate interpretations on the Bible.

Anthropologists and archaeologists alike turn to the Bible for clues and data that help us to gain a more accurate picture of biblical populations of the past. Very often this has led to wonderful discoveries!

A biblical anthropologist, like a biblical archaeologist, uses the Bible as a resource to gain a better understanding of the archaic world when "mighty men" established territories from Lake Chad to the Indus River Valley. These Hebrew ruler-priests were married to mighty women whose influence on the populations of the Ancient Near East and Fertile Crescent was significant.

A biblical anthropologist reads the Bible differently than would a preacher or a theologian. This means that Bible commentaries written by Jews influenced more by the Babylonian Talmud are less helpful in establishing facts than the biblical texts themselves. Discrepancies between Talmudic interpretations and the biblical data about Abraham's Hebrew ancestors reveal that the core beliefs of Christianity are closer to the faith of Abraham than to Judaism. The Apostles criticized their Jewish brothers for departing from the faith of Father Abraham. Christianity is essentially about Jesus Messiah (Christ), and it is linked to the messianic expectation of Abraham's Nilotic ancestors, the Hebrew ruler-priest caste. 

Analysis of the marriage and ascendancy pattern of Abraham's ruler-priest ancestors reveals that the ruler-priest lines intermarried and did not mix with people who were not Hebrew.  This is exactly the genetic outcome to be expected by the kinship pattern revealed in Genesis which shows that the ruler-priest lines intermarried exclusively (endogamy).

To give an example of how differently a biblical anthropologist reads the Bible, consider the “begats” of Genesis 4 and 5. Most readers of the Bible skip over this list of firstborn sons because they find the information boring. An anthropologist, on the other hand, will look here for clues as to the kinship pattern of these early Hebrew rulers. This involves making kinship diagrams to analyse the pattern. I have done that work for close to 40 years and I have identified a seventh kinship pattern. Anthropologist George P. Murdock identified six major kinship patterns based on cousin and sibling terminology. They are Eskimo, Hawaiian, Iroquois, Crow, Omaha, and Sudanese. I have identified a seventh pattern, that of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste.

Besides kinship, a biblical anthropologist pays attention to details such as the location of sacred mountains and sacred trees, often identifying what the people would have regarded as sacred centers. We note that the oak of moreh (prophet or seer), where Abraham pitched his tent, is called “the navel of the earth” in Judges 9:37. Moreh means oracle or prophet. The moreh's oak was halfway between the settlements of Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. Likewise, Deborah ruled from her palm tree halfway between Bethel on the north and Ramah on the south. The oak was a masculine symbol associated with the solar arc. The palm was a feminine symbol associated with on a south-north axis and birth. Many early Hebrew were buried with the faces to the north.

In Genesis 12:6, we read that upon his arrival in Canaan Abraham sought guidance from the prophet when he pitched his tent at the oak in Mamre. Torah, usually rendered guidance or instruction, was earlier associated with a prophet sitting under a tree.

A biblical anthropologist seeks data, as does every scientist. The data often suggests a hypothesis which requires investigation in related disciplines such as archaeology, genetics, climate studies, migration studies and linguistics. 

Linguistic evidence points to Sumerian and Akkadian as the languages most likely used by the early Hebrew rulers. The language of Nimrod's territory was Akkadian, the oldest known Semitic language. Nimrod was a Kushite who undertook famous building projects in Sumer and later in the territory of his father-in-law, Asshur. Abraham was one of his descendants.

The root sar in Sumerian and Akkadian refers to rulers. Sarah's name is derived from the Akkadian word for queen: šarratum. Sar-gon means Most High King or King of Kings. 

In addition to linguistic studies, the biblical anthropologist studies maps. There are many maps available, though the exact locations of some places mentioned in the Bible remain uncertain, and often there are multiples places with the same name. Maps can be used to identify regions associated with rulers and clans and to study their proximity to related peoples. Significantly, many key names in Genesis do not turn up in Mesopotamia, but are found in Africa, Arabia, and Canaan.

A biblical anthropologist uses anthropologically significant data in the Bible to construct a more accurate picture of Abraham and his Hebrew ancestors listed in Genesis 4 and 5. The Bible provides an enormous amount of information about the Hebrew priest caste. In some ancient texts they are called 'Apiru, Habiru/Hapiru, and Abru. In ancient Akkadian the word Abru means priest.

The Hebrew ruler-priest caste was organized into tow ritual groups (moieties): the Horite Hebrew and the Sethite Hebrew. They were devotees of Horus, called the son of the High God. One of their principal centers was at Nekhen on the Nile. The temple there is dedicated to Horus, the son of Ra, the High God.

Another Horite Hebrew shrine was at Heliopolis. The Harris papyrus speaks of 'apriu of Re at Heliopolis, the shrine of the Sun. Joseph married into this royal priest line when he married Asenath, the daughter of the priest of On. On is an earlier name for Heliopolis, one of the most prestigious shrine cities of the ancient world.

The Horite Hebrew priests of Heliopolis were known for their sobriety and purity of life, and for their meticulous devotion to the High God. Plutarch wrote that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.”

Among Abraham's Nilo-Saharan ancestors, Hathor, the mother of Horus, conceived when she was "overshadowed" by the Sun, the emblem of the High God Ra. This is the origin of Messianic expectation. The Ra-Horus-Hathor narrative is a very ancient form of the proto-Gospel. Hathor is an archetype who conceives by divine overshadowing, just as the Virgin Mary conceived by divine overshadowing, as the Angel Gabriel explained.

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."

High status Hebrew rulers had two wives. These were the daughters of priests, as the Hebrew practiced caste endogamy. It is likely that Joseph's wife Asenath was a cousin, just as Zipporah was Moses's patrilineal cousin. Biblical anthropology has made great progress in identifying the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the early Hebrew.

This brief overview provides a general picture of what a biblical anthropologist does. I hope it will encourage some to consider working in this field. It is truly wide open and potentially very fruitful. At the rate in which archaeological discoveries are now being made in Africa and the Ancient Near East (ANE), the material evidence for understanding the cultural context of Abraham and his Hebrew ancestors is falling into place. Their influence on the diverse biblical populations is becoming clearer.


Related reading: Why Biblical Anthropology?; Biblical Anthropology is Science; The Bible and Anthropological Investigation; Early Resurrection Texts; The Hebrew Were a Caste; Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives; Understanding "Biblical" Marriage Practices

The Bible and Anthropological Investigation

Alice C. Linsley

Of what value is the Bible for anthropological research? Does it contain information that can be used to further our knowledge of ancient peoples? It sure does!

An anthropologist reads biblical texts differently than a theologian, a Bible scholar, or a pastor. We read through the lens of cultural anthropology and we note details that are anthropologically significant. Such details include neolocal versus matrilocal or patrilocal residence; totemism, and relations between peoples in biblical lists such as those found in Genesis 10 and 36. We investigate data that enables us to gain a clearer picture of traditions and culture traits of very ancient people groups. We gather data that helps us understand the antecedents of later cultural developments and we check this data against the evidence of archaeology, linguistics, genetics and climate and migrations studies.

Often the biblical texts suggest a hypothesis that can be tested. This often leads to exciting new discoveries such as the Nile-Japan Ainu connection, Biblical Sheba and Nubia connection, and the Kushite-Kushan connection.

Biblical Anthropology is a relatively new field which I have been pioneering for over 30 years. It is distinct from Near Eastern studies because it focuses on the oldest layers of Biblical material which have an African context, not a Near Eastern context.

Perhaps the most significant application of anthropology to the Bible is the analysis of the kinship structure of Abraham's people whereby I have been able to reconstruct the unique marriage and ascendancy pattern of the Horites. This is where much of my initial research was focused. I have presented that in an essay titled "The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of Abraham's People."

The first historical persons in the Bible are Kain and his brother Seth. They lived no more than about 8,000 years. These are the first rulers mentioned in the Bible and their lines intermarried as evidenced by analysis of the genealogical data in Genesis 4 and 5, which must be taken as a unit.

Kain and Seth married the daughters of a ruler named Enoch. The African name would be Nok. Nok is a person, a prehistoric site in Nigeria, and a sphere of cultural influence. The name is anachronistic in that the antecedents of the Nok culture are older than the material evidence indicates at this time. It is also possible that the names Nok and Enoch are derived from the African word anochi which means "one who is to rule."

Clearly, Kain and Seth were not the offspring of the first humans who appeared on the surface of the Earth long before 10,000 years ago.

This misunderstanding is due to a wrong interpretation of Genesis 4:1 which reads: The human knew Havva his wife, she became pregnant and bore Kayin. She said: "Ka-niti (Qanithi)/ I have gotten a man, as has YHWH."

This is the first reference in the Bible to YHWH and the name is linked with ancient rulers. The Bible scholar E.A. Speiser noted that Qany(ty) or Qan-itti shows close affinity to the Akkadian itti, as in itti šarrim which means "with the king". Cain is associated with the concept of rule or dominion and throughout the Bible he is spoken of as a ruler.

Genesis 10 tells us that Nimrod was a Kushite, so it is not surprising to find that Akkadian shares many words with Nilo-Saharan languages. Among the Oromo of Ethiopia and Somalia, itti is attached to names. Examples include Kaartuumitti, Finfinneetti and Dimashqitti. That itti is associated with Nilotic rulers is evident in the name Nefertitti. So the proper understanding of Genesis 4:1 is not that Eve gave birth to Kain, but that she knew she was giving birth to a ruler. A variant of Kain is Kahn, which also means king.

What we have in Genesis 4 and 5 are king lists, and these are the oldest lists ever found. As was the custom of royalty until very recently, they married exclusively within their royal lines.

The lines of Ham and his brother Shem intermarried according to the same pattern as the lines of Kain and Seth, as shown below.

The lines of Abraham and his brother Nahor intermarried according to this same pattern. The pattern is found among these rulers.  Each ruler had 2 wives. The wives lived in separate households on a north-south axis. One was a half-sister and the other was either a patrilineal parallel cousin or a niece.  (Nieces were considered cousins.) The cousin bride named her first-born son after her father as this son will serve as a sort of prime minister in the territory of his maternal grandfather. The cousin bride's naming prerogative is first found here in Genesis 4 and 5 where we find that Kain and Seth's first-born sons are named Enoch after their wives' father. The pattern is revealed again in the data about Lamech (Gen. 4). His daughter Naamah married her patrilineal cousin and named their first born son Lamech after he father. Lamech belonged to the household of Lamech the Elder, not to the household of his biological father Methuselah.

Many of the names that appear in these king lists are royal titles. Enoch, Cain, Seth, Lamech are examples. According to Cassuto, "Lamech" is related to the Mesopotamian word ‘lumakku’, meaning “priest” (Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1, p. 233). Terah, the name of Abraham's father, also means priest and is related to the Ancient Egyptian tera-neter.

The intermarriage of the Horite ruler-priest lines appears to be unbroken from the Genesis kings to the time of Jesus. This endogamous pattern suggests that the Horites were a caste, rather than an ethnic group. Their ethnicity was Kushite and they dispersed into Arabia, southern Pakistan, India and beyond. However, their two points of origin were in Nekhen in Sudan and Wawat in Nubia.



Related reading: The African Cultural Context of Genesis 1-11; Talking on Facebook About Biblical Anthropology; What Does a Biblical Anthropologist Do?; Is Biblical Anthropology an Oxymoron?; The Genesis King Lists; The Mighty Men of Old

Is Biblical Anthropology an Oxymoron?

Alice C. Linsley

The Bible contains 66 canonical books. These books include sacred music, history, genealogy, legend and myth; all of particular interest to cultural anthropologists. So why the prejudice against biblical anthropology?

Some anthropologists regard the words Bible and Anthropology as an oxymoron (from Greek ὀξύμωρον, "sharply dull"). Why would a volume of poetry, prayers, oracles, sacred centers and curses, etc. stand as a contradiction to the discipline of Anthropology? Cultural anthropologists investigate such things when it comes to shamans, native healers and griots. Why not also investigate the sacred world of Afro-Asiatic ruler-priests and their Arab and Jewish descendents?

Here is what some people have to say on this topic. I'd be interested in readers' opinions on this question. Please leave a comment.

Michael F: Science and beliefs do not mix.

Alice L: Science begins in belief. One must believe something to even begin to think scientifically.

Gioiello: Bible and theology are not the enemy of the biological evolution; they are superfluous.

Alice L: That's the sort of caustic remark one reads at science sites "where graduate students, researchers, doctors and the 'skeptical community' go not to interpret data or review experiments but to chip off one-liners, promote their books and jeer at smokers, fat people and churchgoers? And can anyone who still enjoys this class-inflected bloodsport tell me why it has to happen under the banner of science? " -- Virginia Heffernan, The NYT Magazine

Susan B: There is a chasm between science and religion that needs to be bridged before our understanding of the human condition can be fully formed.

Alice L: I agree, and biblical anthropology, biblical archaeology, linguistics, and migration studies are the disciplines that must close the gap. Biblical anthropology, like biblical archaeology, uses the Bible as a resource in advancing knowledge of the ancient Near Eastern and ancient African peoples and cultures. Both seek data and material evidence, only of a different kind. The two disciplines work hand-in-hand.

Elsbeth T: An anthropologist is always seeking data. Perhaps this is the key to finding a common ground between the theologian and the anthropologist. Both are looking for evidence (data) to confirm truths (conclusions). I think that using a scientific methodology can be beneficial to all sides of the conversation.

Susan B: If the study of biblical humanity is to be undertaken then science and religion are going to have to "mix it up". I see nothing wrong with stating our personal beliefs. They are conclusions reached through research and evidence no different than an atheist declaring the fact that there is no god. Science does not have the ability to definitively prove this theory one way or the other and does not take a position. That doesn't stop popular scientists and other vocal critics from suggesting we would be better off without a "belief" system. But before religion is relegated to the trash heap of human progress, don't you think it would be a good idea to see what selective benefit it afforded us?

Hope R: Throughout history skeptics in the field of anthropology have denied the existence of many cities and events described in the Bible, only to have them discovered, uncovered, and confirmed by people in their own field. To quote Bill Boyd, "Faith goes beyond the evidence, but not against it."

Alice L:  But there is a bias against faith-talk in the scientific and academic communities, often even open hostility. I've experienced it. My research has been called a "mixture of faith and reason" which was meant as a slight, but which some might take as a compliment.  Still, you have to wonder about the dismissal of belief or faith. Every scientist operates on belief and faith of some kind, if nothing else than the faith that the laws of physics will be the same tonight as they were this morning.

Beside an anti-faith and anti-Bible bias, there is ignorance of the Bible and the usefulness of biblical data in making connections. Or the problem is unexamined assumptions about what the Bible says, often on the part of people who have never read the Bible. For the most part, Americans are biblically illiterate. Even church-goers according to Gary Burge, professor of New Testament at Wheaton College (Illinois). Burge is astonished by the ignorance of the Bible among the students who come to Wheaton from "Bible-believing" churches. He says, “If it is true that biblical illiteracy is commonplace in secular culture at large, there is ample evidence that points to similar trends in our churches."

Susan B: How very disappointing that Biblical Anthropology is not an accepted scientific field of study! I have been knocking at that door for many years but have been either ignored or belittled. Biblical anthropology is my passion but, unfortunately, not my career path. Until a few days ago, I didn't know we were allowed to connect those two words together.

Marty P: Biblical anthropologists start out by ignoring existing data or by assuming they are the first scholars in history to pay attention to such things as locations and genealogies! I agree with the atheists to the extent that the Mesopotamian myths are remarkably similar to the stories in Genesis 1-11. The parallels cannot be denied. I don't think Genesis is derived from those myths, but contains parallel accounts of the same historical events.

Alice L: That is an example of how a false assumption can cause confusion. Close analysis of the Gilgamesh Epic and the Genesis Flood narrative reveals that they are not similar in any detail except that both have a hero who overcomes the chaos. The Genesis creation and flood stories find their closest parallel in African narratives. The details are sometimes startling! The motifs of the tree of life, the serpent, the first parents, God walking on earth - all these originate in Africa and spread across the Afro-Asiatic Dominion. But now we have to ask: are we leaving science when we compare and contrast legends, narratives and myths? Or is comparative mythology simply another tool in the anthropologist's tool box? Can any science make progress without drawing on other disciplines?

Marty P: Interdisciplinary studies have long been conducted into the engrossing and popular topic of Middle East history. Christians, Jews, Arabs, Persians (Iranians) and secular scholars are all intensely interested in this part of the world. Scholars are so interested in all aspects of research that some of the early Middle East history experts found themselves trying to master all related scholarly disciplines. Consider, for example, Professor William Albright, described as follows:

"The fields of scholarly research that Albright controlled were vast and included archaeology, Semitic linguistics (including all branches of the great family of languages, especially the numerous dialects of Northwest Semitic, but not neglecting Akkadian and Arabic), epigraphy, orthography, ancient history, chronology, historical topography, mythology—in short, all facets of ancient Near Eastern civilization from the Chalcolithic period (ca. 4500 BCE ) through the Greco-Roman period."

Froilan S: Or Noel Freedman, a Jewish Bible scholar and well known in biblical archaeology. He says there’s a difference between the Jewish understanding of Genesis and the Christian understanding of Genesis. In the Jewish perspective Genesis is all about how the Israelites lost the land, lost the temple, and how they were in exile. Genesis is all about the story of Israel and God’s covenant with the Israelites. Genesis can only be interpreted by way of allegory, not by way of history. What’s your opinion?

Alice L: Later in his life, David Noel Freedman admitted that his allegorical scheme didn’t work perfectly. He and William Albright contributed greatly to the world’s understanding of biblical texts. They were masters in their fields but also willing to admit that not all the evidence aligned with their theories. Freedman once said: “The Hebrew Bible is the one artifact from antiquity that not only maintained its integrity but continues to have a vital, powerful effect thousands of years later.”

In the end, the Bible is as reliable and useful a resource for anthropologists as it is for Bible scholars and biblical archaeologists. But we have to keep an open mind.

Susan B: Here’s a case in point: Cyperus Esculentus is a C4 sedge and Ardi was found to have traces in molars (http://sci.tech-archive.net/Archive/sci.anthropology.paleo/2006-11/...). Chufa (Cyperus E) is a rhizome with underground storage units with protein levels equal to chimp food and much less fiber content than that consumed by chimps (http://books.google.com/books?id=vhoRdbTrjc8C&pg=PA573&lpg=...). Also, Ardi was found with many pig bones and pigs are tuber feeders. Whether Ardi consumed the pigs or not is irrelevant to the point that pigs were able to find food.

It just seems to me that chufa is a primary candidate for Paleolithic food source shared by apes, proto-humans and humans alike. Why discount it simply because it appears in the Bible? Instead of looking in remote China for the source of C4 sedge why don't they look in front of their noses? Pardon the sarcasm. C4 sedge grows in swampy areas much like rice. It is one of the oldest domesticated plant species if not the absolute oldest.

Alice L: And it grew all over the swampy grasslands of west central Africa before the Sahara started to dry out. That’s another example of how European and American researchers tend to ignore Africa when making connections. Even "Bible-believers" ignore pertinent data, such as the fact that one of Abraham's ancestors was Nimrod, the son of Kush. Kush is the ancient name for the eastern part of modern Sudan around the Upper Nile. It also designates a number of distinct people groups, such as red and black Nubians and Ainu.

I’m reminded of how anthropologists have ignored Thomas Strasser’s work on Crete. He and his team have discovered hundreds of stone hand axes dating to 130,000 years and they are identical to hand axes fashioned in Africa about 800,000 years ago. He believes that ancient Africans used rafts or other seagoing vessels to cross from northern Africa to Europe and the Near East via larger islands in the Mediterranean. This is what the data in Genesis indicates: that Abraham's ancestors came out of Africa and were great explorers and kingdom builders. Nimrod, who was from Kush (ancient Sudan and Upper Nile) left Africa and built a kingdom for himself in Mesopotamia though he lived much later than Strasser’s seafaring explorers. Although in the Bible we first meet Abraham in Ur, his ancestors came out of Africa. Biblical anthropology can help us reconstruct the African cultural context of Abraham's ancestors. In fact, it may be the best science to undertake that task.

Related reading: The African Cultural Context of Genesis 1-11; Biblical Anthropology is Science; Talking on Facebook about Biblical Anthropology; Using the Bible to Test Hypotheses; What Does a Biblical Anthropologist Do?; Africa is Archaeologically Rich; Biblical Anthropology and the Question of Common Ancestry