Get to Know the Biblical Hebrew!

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

An important feature of the Hebrew social organization was their moiety structure. They were organized into two separate ritual groups (moieties), and it is clear from the biblical data that the moieties associated with one of the Hebrew ancestors more than the other. 

The Kenite and Midianite metalworkers associated with Cain/Kain whose descendant Tubal-Cain is described as a metal worker in Genesis 4.

The Sethite Hebrew associated with Seth who appears to have been a deified Nilotic ancestor, as is suggested by the discovery of Seth images at Nekhen on the Nile, the earliest known Hebrew site.

The two moieties helped each other but were often in competition. Descriptions of the Horites and Sethites are plentiful in ancient texts such as the Ancient Pyramid Texts (2400-2200 BC). These descriptions indicate that the Horites and the Sethites maintained separate settlements. Utterance 308 addresses them: "Hail to you, Horus in the Horite Mounds! Hail to you, Horus in the Sethite Mounds!"

The more prestigious Hebrew settlements were those of the Horites. These were at a higher elevation that those of the Sethite Hebrew. Utterance 470 of the Ancient Pyramid Texts contrasts the Horite mounds with the mounds of Seth, designating the Horite Mounds "the High Mounds."

The Hebrew married only members of their royal priest caste. Marriage between members of the moieties strengthened the Hebrew identity. and preserved the caste's wealth. For example, the lineages of Cain and Seth are linked by a pattern of recurrent marriage between the numerous Horite and Sethite clans.

Bride exchange between the descendants of two brothers such as Cain and Seth, or Ham and Shem, was a common practice among the Hebrew. The diagram above shows that Naamah, a descendant of Cain, married her cousin Methuselah, a descendant of Seth. The Horite and the Sethite moieties were bound together by the exchange of high-status women between the Hebrew clans.

Cousin brides were especially important links between the Horite and Sethite Hebrew clans. The Hebrew men who ruled over territories maintained two wives in separate settlements. The firstborn son of the first wife ruled over the territory after his father died. The firstborn son of the cousin wife was sent to serve the household of his maternal uncle. Jacob was sent to serve his maternal uncle Laban. Likewise, Joseph went to serve his maternal uncle Potiphar in Egypt.

Other sons who were sent away include Cain whose descendants the Kenites were living in Canaan, which is כנען, pronounced kena'an. Moses served his maternal uncle Jethro in Midian (avunculocal residence). The practice of sending away non-ascendant sons is mentioned in Genesis 26. Abraham gave gifts to his sons and sent them away from his proper heir Isaac. 

The custom of sending away non-ascendant sons drove the Hebrew dispersion out of the Nile Valley well before the time of Abraham (c. 2000 BC).

Applying kinship analysis to the biblical texts makes it possible to detect the historical realities behind Jewish midrash. Certain literary devices are used to develop the Jewish narrative. One is the device is jealousy among brothers. Though the Genesis story does not explain why Cain killed Abel, midrash supplies the explanation that he was jealous. Likewise, Joseph’s treatment by his brothers is explained as an act motivated by jealousy.

Midrashim often employ the device of slavery to explain why a prominent Hebrew is not living in Judah, Israel, or the land of Canaan. It is used to explain why Joseph was in Egypt, why Daniel was in Babylon, and why Mordecai and Esther were in Persia. In the sixth century BC, many Judean noblemen were taken to Babylon, and Babylon was conquered by the Persians who took captives to Susa. These events have been historically verified. Midrash often embroiders historical events to convey a theological message.

Related reading: The Hebrew Were a Caste; Competition Between the Horites and the Sethites; Why Nekhen is Anthropologically Significant; Royal Sons and Their Maternal Uncles; Literary Motifs of Jewish Midrashim; Cousin Brides Among the Hebrew

The Historical Mary: What We Know

 

Dr Alice C. Linsley

The biblical and historical data that helps us to understand Mary's social status is evident in the reaction of the first century Jews who hated her. They had to admit that she was a descendant of kings and governors. Concerning Mary, Sanhedrin 106a says: “She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters.”

The marriage of Mary and Joseph of Nazareth represents an endogamous marriage pattern. The Hebrew married only members of their caste. Their marriage represented the connection between the priestly order of Abijah in Bethlehem (the home of Mary's mother Anne) and the priestly order of ha·pi·TSETS (Happizzez) in Nazareth (the home of Mary's father Joachim).

Abijah was the eighth priestly division and Happizzez was the eighteenth division. During the time of Mary and Joseph, the twenty-four priestly divisions served in the Temple at Jerusalem in a rotation system. A list of priestly divisions is found in 1 Chronicles 24:7-18. However, this system was already in place among the early Hebrew priests of the Nile Valley. During the Predynastic period (c.4000-3000 BC) and the Old Kingdom (c. 2575-2130 BC), the Hebrew priests of the Nile Valley were organized into "phyles". Each phyle served a two-week duration before returning home. The later organization of priests in Israel appears to have developed from the phyle system.

When Joseph took Mary as his second wife, he was marrying a temple-dedicated virgin of high status. Her high status is depicted in some icons that show her holding a spindle.

The Virgin Mary holds a spindle, the symbol of a Rabitu, a Bronze Age title for a queen mother.

It is likely that Mary was dedicated to the Temple by her parents, as was Samuel dedicated by his parents Hannah and Elkanah. The duties of the Temple virgins included singing and playing musical instruments such as the sistrum and the tambourine. They ministered to women who came for ritual purification. The women performed practical tasks such as drawing water, baking bread, and brewing beer. They were skilled weavers who produced veils and vestments. The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew describes how Mary and the other Temple virgins were spinning purple thread in the Women's compound when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. 

Mary is designated almah in the Scriptures. 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. The King James Version refers to the alamot as “damsels”. The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels. (KJV, Psalm 68:25)

Some temple-dedicated virgins chose not to marry. Entering the service of the Temple made that choice possible. Some daughters were denied marriage for political reasons. Some were released from their vows and returned to their fathers' houses. Some who were released, married. Depending on the vow, some who married remained celibate. This was the case mainly with cousin brides who were not expected to produce an heir. As a righteous man, Joseph honored Mary’s vow of celibacy. He already had a proper heir by his first wife.

Mary's conception of Jesus was by divine overshadowing as the Angel Gabriel explained (Lk. 1:35). This is exactly what the early Hebrew anticipated concerning the Son of God, and it is a significant detail of the ancient Messianic mystery. The Magnificat expresses Mary's wonder at being appointed to this unique role, especially because her lineage was deemed unworthy of honor by the Jewish elites after the time of Herod the Great. One of Mary’s ancestors Matthias (Mattat), the 61st High Priest and a descendant of David, was deposed and had limited political influence with the House of Zadok. The ancestral family of Jacob ben Mattat, once a favorite of Herod the Great, appears to have been ostracized from Jewish political life.

That Jesus was the son of Mary is not doubted. He took his flesh from the Virgin Mary, the daughter of Anne and Joachim. As a descendant of the Hebrew ruler-priests who married only within their caste, Mary's bloodline is traceable to the early Hebrew (4000-2000 B.C.) who expected one of their temple virgins to conceive the Son (HR) by divine overshadowing, exactly as the Angel Gabriel explained to Mary (Luke 1:26-38).

Mary's Perpetual Virginity

 
Mary is believed to have been a virgin before, during, and after the birth of Christ. This belief, known as the doctrine of Mary’s perpetual virginity, was officially declared at the Fifth Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 553 AD.

Writing in 210 A.D., Hippolytus of Rome believed, “But the pious confession of the believer is that . . . the Creator of all things incorporated with Himself a rational soul and a sensible body from the all-holy Mary, ever-virgin, by an undefiled conception, without conversion, and was made man in nature, but separate from wickedness. . .” (Against Beron and Helix: Fragment VIII)

Athanasius wrote in 360 A.D. against those “who deny that the Son is by nature from the Father and proper to his essence deny also that he took true human flesh from the ever-virgin Mary” (Discourses Against the Arians 2:70).

Writing in 374 AD, Epiphanius of Salamis, affirmed the creedal faith: “We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things, both visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . who for us men and for our salvation came down and took flesh, that is, was born perfectly of the holy ever-virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit” (The Man Well-Anchored 120).

Others who believed in Mary’s perpetual virginity include Ambrose of Milan (339-97 A.D.), John Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.), Jerome (347-420 A.D.), and Augustine (354-430 A.D.). Many Protestant reformers affirmed their belief in the doctrine, including Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Huldrych Zwingli. In England the belief was held by Hugh Latimer (1487-1555 A.D.), Thomas Cranmer, (1489-1556 A.D.), John Jewel (1522-1571 A.D.), and Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626 A.D.).

Related reading: Mary's Perpetual Virginity and Authority; Another Look at Genesis 3:13-15; The Virgin Mary's Ancestry; Cousin Brides Among the Hebrew; Denying Marriage: A Cunning Royal Strategy; BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Temple Women

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

Distinguishing Midrash from Historical Realities

 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The Feminist professor, Vanessa Lovelace, defines midrash as "a Jewish mode of interpretation that not only engages the words of the text, behind the text, and beyond the text, but also focuses on each letter, and the words left unsaid by each line". This approach lends itself well to Jewish mysticism, but it is not helpful for those who employ an empirical, data-seeking approach to the Bible.

Midrash is the rabbinic method of interpreting events that took place thousands of years before Judaism emerged. The centuries-long process of Midrashic accounts began with the redaction of the Bible around 450 B.C. That means that Genesis has a narrative overlayer that comes from anonymous sources dating to nearly 1700 years after the time of Jacob. 

Midrash has influenced on the shaping of the Jewish narrative more than the Hebrew Scriptures. Consider the book of Malachi, written c. 430 B.C., well after the emergence of Judaism. Here it is asserted as "divine revelation" that God loves Jacob but hates Esau (Mal. 1:2). The writer of the book of Hebrews refers to this discrimination against Esau's Hebrew people by stating that Esau was godless and immoral (Heb. 11:1). However, the same writer later contradicts himself by claiming that Esau was blessed (Heb. 11:20).

Both Esau and Jacob were Hebrew, and their descendants were Hebrew. Their lines intermarried, as did the lines of Cain and Seth, and Ham and Shem, and Abraham and Nahor. Though these were brothers, their descendants often were in competition. The Hebrew kinship pattern and hierarchy of loyalties reveals segmentary lineages. The first loyalty is to the lineage of the father and his principal wife and their son, the proper heir. The second loyalty is to the father and his second wife (usually a cousin) and their son who belongs to the household of his maternal grandfather. The third loyalty is to the household and clan of the cousin. A Bedouin proverb summarizes the philosophy behind segmentary lineages:

I against my brother

I and my brother against my cousin

I, my brother, and my cousin against the world.

 

Knowledge of the social structure of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste explains why many things happened the way they did. However, the midrashim in the Old Testament often give a different explanation for events that took place before Judaism. 

Midrash is characterized by some narrative devices such as famines that drive the Hebrew people into other lands. Famines in Canaan are a device to explain why Abraham went to Egypt and why Noami and her family went to Moab. These Hebrew people went where they had kin. The rabbis disguise the fact that there were Hebrew people living in Egypt and in Moab. The earliest known Hebrew clans lived in the Nile Valley, and the Moabites and Abraham share a common ancestor in Terah, Abraham’s father.

Another device of Midrash is jealousy among brothers. Though the Genesis story does not explain why Cain killed Abel, midrash supplies the explanation that he was jealous. Likewise, Joseph’s treatment by his brothers is explained as an act motivated by jealousy.

Midrash employs the ghastly practice of slavery to explain why Joseph is in Egypt, why Daniel is in Babylon, and why Mordecai and Esther are in Persia. In the sixth century B.C., many Judean noblemen were taken to Babylon, and Babylon was conquered by the Persians who took captives to Susa. These events have been historically verified. Midrash embroiders historical events to convey a theological message.

Midrash tends to point to God or supernatural intervention as an explanation for why things happened. An example is Joseph’s declaration to his brothers: “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” (Genesis 45:5-7)

Another example is Mordecai’s declaration to Esther: “Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:12-14)

Sermons from countless pulpits draw on midrash to make theological points. An example is Genesis Rabbah, a collection of Jewish homiletical interpretations of the Book of Genesis. Those who attend church and synagogue are more familiar with the Jewish narratives in Genesis than with the actual social structure of the biblical Hebrew.

Related reading: Midrash in Genesis; The First Lords of the Earth is a Paradigm-Shifting Book; The First Lords of the Earth and Messianic Expectation; The First Lords and Their Authority

The Virgin Mary's Life in the Temple Cloister

 

The Virgin Mary with a spindle, a symbol of feminine authority.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley


Mary was Joseph’s cousin bride, and she was betrothed to Joseph as one dedicated to the Temple. That is why she is designated “almah” in the Scriptures. 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.

Their duties included weaving, sewing, drawing water, singing, brewing beer, 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)

Mary and Joseph had common ancestors as is evident in the repetition of some names in the two New Testament genealogies. Their ancestors intermarried, as was the custom of the Hebrew from before the time of Abraham.

Hippolytus of Thebes records that Mary’s mother Ana was one of three daughters of a priest named Matthan. Variant spellings of Matthan include Matthew, Matthias, Mattha, Matthat, Mattathias, Mattaniah, and Mattai. The name and its variants appear six times in Luke’s list. The name derives from the word “gift” and can refer to the “giving” of Torah. The name Mattaniah is found among the priests in I Chronicles. According to Matthew 1:15, Mary’s husband Joseph was of the priestly line of Mattai.

If Joseph married according to the pattern of his Hebrew ancestors, Mary would be his second wife, the bride of his later years. The brothers and sisters of Jesus mentioned in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 are the children of Joseph by his first wife. Joseph had been betrothed to Mary for some time before he married her. Until that time, Mary remained a young woman dedicated to the Temple by her priest father, Joachim.

Hebrew sons and daughters were often dedicated to the service of the temple. Samuel, the son of the priest Elkanah and his wife Hannah was dedicated to the temple (1 Sam. 1:11). From a young age, Samuel served Eli, the Ephraimite priest of Shiloh. Samuel later married, and his sons, Joel and Abijah, served as judges in Beersheba (1 Sam. 8:1-9; 1 Chr. 6:28).

Hebrew daughters dedicated to the temple were free to marry. However, depending on the daughter’s initial vow to God, they might remain celibate. Abstinence from sexual relations did not pose a problem for a husband who already had an heir by his first wife. Joseph’s heir would have been one of Jesus’ half-brothers, probably James. In Jewish Antiquities (20.9.1), Josephus describes James as "the brother of Jesus who is called Christ."

According to tradition, the Annunciation took place when Mary was in the Temple spinning purple thread. Some icons and paintings of the Virgin Mary show her holding a spindle and spinning purple thread. Purple thread was used to make the Temple vestments and the garments of high priests.

As the cousin bride, it was Mary’s prerogative to name her only son after her father. However, as was anticipated by his Hebrew ancestors, Jesus was conceived by divine overshadowing of the Holy Spirit (Lk. 1:35) and Mary was to name her son Yeshua, which means “salvation.” The name is related to the ancient Egyptian name Yesu.

The hieroglyphs for Yesu indicate royal authority and show the falcon, the totem of HR (Horus in Greek) who was called the "son" of God.

Related reading: Behold, a Virgin Shall Conceive; The Virgin Mary's Ancestry

Sun Cities of the Ancient World

Great Hypostyle Hall within the Karnak temple complex

Alice C. Linsley

The Sun Cities of the ancient world extended from the Nile Valley to Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. These were royal complexes with a temple dedicated to the High God whose symbol was the Sun. 

Head of Userkaf, recovered from his sun temple.

The sun cities were built near rivers and lakes and on elevated sites to avoid flooding. At the center of these royal cities were the temple, the palace, housing for priests, and quarters for the royal guard. The temple typically was aligned to the solar arc and was called O'piru, which means "house of the Sun."

Six Nilotic kings are known for having built sun temples in Egypt. The temple of Nyuserre has a central sacrificial altar in an open-air courtyard. The altar is composed of a number of alabaster parts.

Some of the priests who served at the ancient sun cities were called 'apiru, ha'piru or ha'biru. The English word Hebrew is a variant of Ha'biru and likely is derived from the Akkadian word abru which means priest. (Akkadian is the oldest known Semitic language.) 

Abraham is called "Hebrew" in Genesis 14:13. The Harris papyrus speaks of 'apriu of Re at Heliopolis, a very prestigious sun city. Plato, who studied under a Horite priest at Memphis for thirteen years, wrote "Tell me of the God of On, which was, is and shall be. 

Heliopolis (biblical On) is mentioned in Isaiah 19:18 as one of five Egyptian cities that swore allegiance to the Lord of Hosts. 

The people who lived at On called it Iunu, which means "place of pillars." There were many pillars bearing inscriptions to the high king, prayers to the High God and to his son Horus. Some pillars depicted great victories in war, the details of treaties, and dedications. Isaiah 19:19 refers to a pillar erected in Egypt as a sign that the Lord will send the Egyptians a savior.

It was common for pillars to be inscribed in memory of holy ancestors, as stained-glass windows in churches are dedicated to "pillars" of the congregation. The entrance pillars of Solomon's temple were called Boaz and Joktan. Boaz was Solomon's holy ancestor on his father's side and Joktan was a holy ancestor on his mother's side.

John Ogutu notes that in his Nilotic Luo language, "O'mbiru, obiru refers to a small house built like a shrine or as a symbol among the Luo. A man who died before he could build his house would have the mourners erect one before his burial." The O'piru was a place where loved ones were memorialized.

According to Genesis 41:45, Joseph married into the royal priest family of Heliopolis. Study of the Heliopolitan cosmogony makes it apparent that Heliopolis was conceived as the sacred center of the primeval ocean, called Nun. The many pillars of the temple symbolized the connection between the waters below and the waters above (Gen. 1:7). Seeing as "he was a son of Nun" (Num. 11:28), Joshua likely belonged to a Horite Hebrew clan associated with On. 

The Prestige of Biblical On

Biblical On was perhaps the most prestigious shrine city of the ancient world. It was the geodetic center of Egypt. On was known for the purity of life of its priests. 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.” 

The Horite and Sethite priests purified themselves before entering their temples. The purification involved fasting, abstinence from sexual relations and alcohol, ritual bathing, and an intense period of prayer. Korah, Moses' half-brother, was a priest according to Numbers 16:17,18. His name means "shaved one." Shaving was part of the purification ritual.

Note that Jerusalem is near the center of the triangle of shrine cities.

Heliopolis means "city of the Sun" and there were other such cities dedicated to the Creator whose emblem was the sun. The shrine city of Baalbek in Lebanon, with its massive stones, aligned to On (see map above). The pyramids at Giza, Abusir and Saqqara were aligned to the obelisk at On. 

King Tut established another Heliopolis at Thebes. The temple of Thebes was called "Heliopolis of the South." Thebes was the spiritual center of Upper Egypt and rivaled the importance of Heliopolis in the North.

Tutankhamun's cartouche bears the words heqa-iunu-shema, which is usually rendered "Ruler of On of the South." Heqa refers to the sceptre or shepherd's crook of the Egyptian rulers. Shema or ta-shema refers to Upper Egypt, the narrow valley extending south of Memphis to Abu on the First Cataract in Nubia. King Tut's sacred center was Thebes, between Memphis and Abu.

Herodotus reported that it took nine days to sail from Heliopolis to Thebes, Tutankhamun's shrine city. By relocating his court to Thebes, Tutankhamun was attempting to regain the glory of his forefathers at a time of Egypt's decline.

Related reading: Horite and Sethite Mounds, Ancient Sun Temple Discovered in Cairo Suburb; The Unveiling of Joseph; The Shrine City of Nekhen; Solar Symbolism of the Proto-Gospel