Alice C. Linsley
Last summer I had a fascinating conversation with a very smart lady - Susan Burns - who lives on Hood Canal in Washington. She started me thinking about the relationship of the VaV or tent peg/hook to the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion. Here are some thoughts that came out of that conversation.
The Greeks introduced the waw/vav to the Latin alphabet: Ύψιλον (Úpsilon). In Spanish, the letter Y is called the i griega, in Romanian i grec, in Polish igrek - all meaning "Greek i". It is derived from the Phoenician waw which the Phoenicians borrowed from the Egyptians.
The waw/vav orignally symbolized the crook/hook of the ruler or the tent peg of the ruler's tent. As a glyph this represented a cluster of related ideas including:
The waw/vav speaks of an ancient world in which settlements near water were ruled by elders and a chief. Travelers moved from settlement to settlement and the ancient water laws were generally generous to those who wa-ndered. Wells were neutral ground for waring parties or enemies, but were fought over, as in the story of Moses driving away the intruder shepherds at the well of the Midianite ruler-priest Reu-el. (Exodus 2:16-19). It was common for the river, lake, oasis or well to have a shrine over which their was a priest. So it is not surprising to read that Moses' future father-in-law was a "priest of Midian." As such, he was a direct descendant of Abraham by Abraham's cousin bride, Keturah.
Many words in various languages today still reflect this ancient world. Consider these examples: wa-ter, wa-gon, va-gabond, va-grant, va-gar meaning "to wander" (Spanish), wa-kdar meaning "ruler" (Pashto), and ya-raki meaning "power" (Persian).
Those who needed water went from Y to Y, which is to say "from water settlement to water settlement."
The great chiefs of the biblical world were designated as such by the initial Y in their names. This is more evident in Hebrew than in English. Consider the following:
Yishmael - Ishmael (Abraham's son by Hagar)
Yitzak - Issac (Abraham's son by Sarah)
Yaqtan - Joktan (Abraham's firstborn son by Keturah)
Yishbak - Yishbak (another of Abraham's sons by Keturah)
Yacob - Jacob
Yeshua - Joshua/Jesus
Consider the importance of wells in the lives of these biblical figures. Ishmael's life was saved when an angel revealed a well or spring to his mother. Abraham's servant found Isaac a wife at a well. Moses met Zipporah at a well. Jesus met the Samaritan woman (Photini) at Jacob's Well.
Related reading: Egyptian Shrines on the Horus Way; Water Systems Connected the Nile and Central Africa; The Jordan River; Wells and Brides; The Migration of Abraham's Kushite Ancestors; A Woman at a Well; Susan Burns on Hadhramaut of Arabia
Last summer I had a fascinating conversation with a very smart lady - Susan Burns - who lives on Hood Canal in Washington. She started me thinking about the relationship of the VaV or tent peg/hook to the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion. Here are some thoughts that came out of that conversation.
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| Egyptian was |
The vav or waw is designated by the letter Y in Hebrew. The symbol is much older than Hebrew. It originated with the ancient Egyptians who wrote from left to right like the Phoencians who also employed the Y. The Phoenicians had a close cultural affinity to the Egyptians. In ancient Egypt the Was was a symbol of a scepter carried by deities and deified rulers.
The Greeks introduced the waw/vav to the Latin alphabet: Ύψιλον (Úpsilon). In Spanish, the letter Y is called the i griega, in Romanian i grec, in Polish igrek - all meaning "Greek i". It is derived from the Phoenician waw which the Phoenicians borrowed from the Egyptians.
The waw/vav orignally symbolized the crook/hook of the ruler or the tent peg of the ruler's tent. As a glyph this represented a cluster of related ideas including:
- the ruler himself
- the ruler's authority
- the ruler's territory
- the ruler's clan or tribe
- the ruler's resources such as his flocks and water sources
The waw/vav speaks of an ancient world in which settlements near water were ruled by elders and a chief. Travelers moved from settlement to settlement and the ancient water laws were generally generous to those who wa-ndered. Wells were neutral ground for waring parties or enemies, but were fought over, as in the story of Moses driving away the intruder shepherds at the well of the Midianite ruler-priest Reu-el. (Exodus 2:16-19). It was common for the river, lake, oasis or well to have a shrine over which their was a priest. So it is not surprising to read that Moses' future father-in-law was a "priest of Midian." As such, he was a direct descendant of Abraham by Abraham's cousin bride, Keturah.
Many words in various languages today still reflect this ancient world. Consider these examples: wa-ter, wa-gon, va-gabond, va-grant, va-gar meaning "to wander" (Spanish), wa-kdar meaning "ruler" (Pashto), and ya-raki meaning "power" (Persian).
Those who needed water went from Y to Y, which is to say "from water settlement to water settlement."
The great chiefs of the biblical world were designated as such by the initial Y in their names. This is more evident in Hebrew than in English. Consider the following:
Yishmael - Ishmael (Abraham's son by Hagar)
Yitzak - Issac (Abraham's son by Sarah)
Yaqtan - Joktan (Abraham's firstborn son by Keturah)
Yishbak - Yishbak (another of Abraham's sons by Keturah)
Yacob - Jacob
Yeshua - Joshua/Jesus
Consider the importance of wells in the lives of these biblical figures. Ishmael's life was saved when an angel revealed a well or spring to his mother. Abraham's servant found Isaac a wife at a well. Moses met Zipporah at a well. Jesus met the Samaritan woman (Photini) at Jacob's Well.
Related reading: Egyptian Shrines on the Horus Way; Water Systems Connected the Nile and Central Africa; The Jordan River; Wells and Brides; The Migration of Abraham's Kushite Ancestors; A Woman at a Well; Susan Burns on Hadhramaut of Arabia
I am just discovering your blogs, Sister! What a treasure!
ReplyDeleteI am a linguist (English, German, French, Spanish, Greek, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and in process… Bahasa Indonesia), and especially an 'original languages' bible man. (No, I don't speak ALL those languages I listed, only the first four, with Greek and Hebrew fluently reading and praying, and the others to various degrees reading and translating. Bahasa I am learning because I am going to Indonesia for three weeks at Christmas time.)
I really appreciated this post, but I want to mention that the 'y' (as it is, the vav or ypsilon) in the words you listed is of course absolutely correct, but the names beginning with 'Y' that you listed are all spelled not with the vav/ypsilon glyph, but rather with the yod/iota. I can't tell from your post if this last list is yours or Susan Burns'. The wonderful thing about Hebrew, words, names, everything, is that it is an intensely meaning-packed language, reminding me in an odd sort of way of classical Chinese.
Hebrew words are very short as a rule and full of nuance, and even a one or two syllable phoneme can contain what it takes other languages many syllables to express. Here's my usual example… from Matthew 21:9…
Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord. (English, 11 words, 12 syllables)
Evloghimenos ho erchomenos en onomati Kyriou.
(Greek, 6 words, 18 syllables)
Barukh ha-Ba ba-Shem Adonay.
(Hebrew, 4 words, 9 syllables)
Even if you split the ha- (the) and the ba- (in the) off the main words, you still have only 6 phonemes and 9 syllables)
And how much more is implicit and yet close to the surface in each of the Hebrew phonemes!
Barukh calls to mind a whole range of related concepts formed from the triliteral root BRK (bless), even hinting at another whole set based on a similar root BRQ (lightning shaft).
ha-Ba calls to mind the acclamation of the new bridegroom and bride as they emerge from their consummation in the bridal chamber in the midst of the wedding feast, and that also gives meaning to the Orthodox kondakia (liturgical poetry) that describe Christ emerging from the tomb as the bridegroom emerging from the bridal chamber… Barukh ha-Ba! Blessed is He who comes!
This comment has ballooned (forgive me!) into a blog post all of its own, so I will end with these thoughts.
Thanks for this post and the others I am sure to read and enjoy in the future. Thanks also, Sister, for visiting my blog. I have added your blog Just Genesis to the blog roll in my sidebar, so I can easily return there and here as well.
Go with God, the faithful and true.
What a joy to read your comment! Thank you. You have given me much to ponder.
ReplyDeleteHave you studied the ancient northern and southern Arabian scripts? I'm finding these fertile ground for uncovering some of the more subtle meanings of Hebrew and Arabic words. Here are two resources that I found helpful:
http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3937.pdf
http://krc.orient.ox.ac.uk/aalc/images/stories/mcam_ancient_north_arabian.pdf
In all the scripts, except Thamudic D and C, the Y appears as a pole with a sphere on top. Only the Thamudic D has a glyph which clearly represents the Sun and this is associated with the letter S. The W is another curiosity. It is a sphere with an X of a single line. The line is either horizontal or vertical, suggesting the precession of the equinox. What do you make of these symbols?