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Monday, March 18, 2024

The Ruler's Staff Between His Feet

 

King Ashurnasirpal II holding the royal staff. 
From Nimrud, Iraq (865-860 BC), British Museum

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Among the early Hebrew the symbol of male authority was the rod or staff, and the symbol of female authority was the spindle. (See K. Veenhof and P. Sanders onthe spindle in Prov. 31:9 and 2 Sam. 3:29.)

The biblical Hebrew rulers held staffs as a sign of their authority. This tile found by Flinders Petrie shows a Sethite priest of a temple of the Nilotic Anu people. Tera-neter refers to a priest. The priest holds a staff as a sign of his authority.




When standing, the ruler firmly held the staff in an upright position. When seated on a throne, the staff was held between the ruler’s feet. This extremely ancient custom is attested in Genesis 49:10 - "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh [Messiah] come: And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be." 

This is the fourth foreshadowing of Messiah in the Book of Genesis. (The four Messianic allusions are Gen. 3:15; Gen. 4:1; Gen. 22, and Gen. 49:10).



This photograph of Mindanao Sultan Jamal ul-Kiram (seated at center), with his chiefs shows them holding knob sticks as a sign of their rank. The photo also shows a US Army officer and some visiting Muslims. (Photo taken c. 1899-1901; credit Jose Bulang.)

Horned altar found at Beersheba (c. 1000 BC).


The ideas of God's apophatic presence "between the horns" of the altar, and God's overshadowing presence between the bull horns worn by Horus' mother, predate Judaism. 

The horn and the staff are found in an early reference to the name Yesu (Jesu), a name clearly related to the name Yeshua or Jesus. Yesu is comprised of the following hieroglyphs:
 


Source: Bill Manley, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Thames and Hudson Ltd., London (2012).


The feather (letter Y) stands for one who judges, measures, or weights. The next symbol represents horns. The third symbol is the sedge plant which represents a king's staff, and finally the falcon, the totem of Horus, the patron of kings.


Related reading: Symbols of Authority Among the Biblical Hebrew; The Serpent on Moses' Staff


Friday, March 8, 2024

Rabbis and Priests

 



A member of the Facebook group The Bible and Anthropology has asked, "Could a priest be a rabbi and vice versa? Those are always mentioned as two distinct categories, or so it seemed to me."


Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Many rabbis were also priests. The roles are different but could overlap. Rabbis taught and preached in the local synagogues. If their synagogue was in a town with a priestly division such as Nazareth, they also served for a term at the Temple in Jerusalem. 

During the Second Temple period (586 BC-70 AD) the twenty-four priestly divisions or "courses" served in the Temple in rotation. Each course served twice a year for a duration of two weeks. A list of priestly divisions is found in 1 Chronicles 24:7-18.

Nazareth was the home of the eighteenth priestly division, ha·pi·TSETS (Happizzez). In 1962 excavators discovered in the ruins of a synagogue at Caesarea a small piece of a list of the twenty-four priestly divisions. This third to fourth-century marble fragment is inscribed with the names of the places where four of the divisions resided, including Nazareth, the residence of Happizzez.

The priests lived in settlements throughout Israel. When it was "time for the division to go up [to Jerusalem]" (Mishnah, Ta'anit 4:2), the priests went up to Jerusalem to fulfill their obligations. When their appointed time of service in Jerusalem ended, the priests returned to their homes. When not functioning as a priest, these individuals went about their normal routines, tending to their various occupations: stone masons, miners, tomb builders, potters, tent makers, shepherds, goatherds, farmers, merchants, smiths, and carpenters. They also taught and preached in the local synagogues.


Deeper Roots

The point of origin of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste is the Nile Valley long before the time of Abraham. That caste had a moiety system, meaning that it was organized into two ritual groups, the Horite Hebrew and the Sethite Hebrew. Both groups built and maintained shrine and temples along the Nile. The oldest known site of Horite Hebrew worship is at Nekhen on the Nile (4200 BC). 

The Hebrew are probably the oldest known caste. They served at shrines, temples, and mortuary sites at least 1000 years before the caste system of India emerged. Their preserved their ethnic identity by marrying only within their caste (caste endogamy).

During the Old Kingdom (c. 2575-2130 BC) the Hebrew priests were organized in groups called "phyles." Each phyle served a two-week duration at the royal temple before returning home. The later organization of priests in Israel appears to have developed from the earlier Hebrew phyle system.



Sanhedrin Members

The Great Sanhedrin (the highest Jewish court) met in the Hall of Hewn Stones in the Temple in Jerusalem. It convened every day except festivals and Shabbat. Its members included priests, high ranking rabbinical authorities (rabbis), and wealthy Jews whose pure Hebrew ancestral lineages could be verified. The daughters of Sanhedrin members only married priests and rabbis. Only Jewish men belonging to prominent families were members of the Great Sanhedrin (the Beth Din HaGadol). The lesser Sanhedrin courts had members who were priests and rabbis also, but these courts had less authority.

The New Testament reports that many priests became followers of Jesus (Acts 6:7). At least three of Jesus' followers were members of the Sanhedrin: Nicodemus, Joseph Arimathea, and James the Just. The first priests in the service of Christ in southern England were likely ordained by Joseph Arimathea with the written consent of 2 other Sanhedrin members who were followers of the Way.

Members of the Sanhedrin served under the presidency of the high priest much as priests today serve under the presidency of their bishop. The high priest bore the title nasi (ruler, king, prince) and retained this title even after the presidency was transferred to other hands. Similarly, in Anglican and Roman Catholic orders a bishop retains the title "bishop" even after he has stepped down from serving in that office.

Jewish ordination was called semichah and it was necessary for membership in the Great Sanhedrin (The Great Court). Ordination was also required to serve in the lesser courts. Ordination was required to be a member of the Sanhedrin and that was obtained by the imposition of hands by someone who himself had been properly ordained. This is the precedent for the concept of Apostolic Succession in the Church. 

The Sanhedrin members served under the presidency of the high priest much as priests today served under the presidency of their bishop. The high priest bore the title nasi (ruler, king, prince) and retained this even after the presidency was transferred to other hands. Similarly, in Anglican and Roman Catholic orders a bishop retains the title "bishop" even after he has stepped down from serving in that office.

As individuals within the Sanhedrin passed away, or became unfit for service, new members were ordained in what Jews describe as an "unbroken succession" from Moses to Yehoshua the priest of the two crowns (Zec. 6:11), to the elders of Israel, to the prophets (including Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi), to the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah or "Men of the Great Assembly" founded by Ezra c. 520 B.C., to the sages of the Sanhedrin of the Second Temple (c. 520 - A.D. 70).

The second in charge was a ruler-priest who was called ab bet din (father of the court). The role of the ab bet din appears to have been a combination of the roles of the bishop's chaplain and the chancellor of the diocese who serves as the chief legal consultant to the Diocesan bishop. The polity and ordination procedures of the Anglican Church seem to parallel the Sanhedrin. As priestly ordination in Judaism was abolished in 358 AD, Christian priests stand alone as the living succession of priests in the Messianic Faith that we call "Christianity."

The third century Rabbi Johanan enumerates the qualifications for members of the Sanhedrin as follows: they must be tall, of imposing appearance, of advanced age, and scholars. They were also required to be adept in the use of foreign languages. When testimony was given to the Sanhedrin in a foreign language, at least two members who spoke that language were required to examine the witness. There was also a third member who understood the language. These three members constituted a minor court of three, who then reported the testimony to the entire Sanhedrin.

Some High Priests lived in exile among foreign peoples. One example is Hyrcanus who was living among the Parthians. Members of the Sanhedrin did business in foreign parts and visited the local synagogues. Joseph Arimathea would have had Jewish contacts in Cornwall and Devon, places he visited as a mining consultant. Mining in Cornwall and Devon in England began as early as 2150 BC. The Ding Dong mine is one of the oldest mines in Cornwall. An old miner told A. K. Hamilton Jenkin in the early 1940's: "Why, they do say there's only one mine in Cornwall older than Dolcoath, and that's Ding Dong, which was worked before the time of Jesus Christ." (Hamilton Jenkin, A. K. Cornwall and its People. London: J. M. Dent; p. 347) 

Tin ingots from Cornwall dating to 2000 BC have been found in Israel and ingots from Cornwall dating to 1300 BC have been found at archaeological sites in Turkey and Greece. The tin trade brought people together from the Levant, the Nile Valley, Mesopotamia, and parts of Europe.

Local legend holds that the Din Dong mine was one of the places visited by Joseph Arimathea. According to the Sanhedrin rules of ordination Joseph could rightfully ordain the first "Christian" priests while in England. He needed the written consent of only 2 other ruler-priests, and it is inconceivable that he would have neglected to do so.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Temple Women



Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Sargon the Great lived from about 2290 to 2215 BC. Sargon's empire included the southern region of Mesopotamia, Syria, and part of Iran. When Sargon died, his son Rimush (Ramesh) by his sister-wife ascended the throne. 

Sargon's maternal grandfather - Sargon the Elder- conquered Nippur in 2340 B.C. and established his capital in Akkad (Agade/Agadez). His daughter was the mother of Sargon the Great. She was a temple dedicated Sumerian princess according to Sargon the Great's birth narrative: 

My mother was a high priestess... My high priestess mother conceived me, in secret she bore me. She set me in a basket of rushes, with bitumen she sealed my lid. She cast me into the river which rose over me. The river bore me up and carried me to Akki, the drawer of water. Akki, the drawer of water, took me as his son and reared me. Akki, the drawer of water, appointed me as his gardener. 

 

High status temple women such as Sargon the Great's mother were independently wealthy. Some served as royal officials over the king's water shrines with their luxurious gardens. That was the case for Sargon's daughter, Enheduanna. Sargon appointed Heduanna as the En (master, mistress, royal official) of the shrine at Ur. This was a shrewd political move to secure power in the south of his kingdom. En-Heduanna served the Creator God Anu, at the house or temple (pr) of Anu (Iannu). As with Roman Catholic nuns, she would have been considered “married” to the deity she served. En-Heduanna is credited with a large body of cuneiform poetry.

Some temple women went into business as tavern keepers. They were skilled beer brewers because this was one of the duties of temple women. Temple women performed sacred music and dance. They drew water, wove fabric, and ministered to women. They also baked bread and brewed beer. As early as 4000 B.C. beer was offered in the inner sanctum of the temple to gladden the deity’s heart. Some temple women were so adept at brewing beer that they operated taverns. This enabled them to become women of independent means. A tavern meant financial independence for the fortunate women who had the resources to own one. In some cases, women were able to set up a business because they had received royal beneficences. Temple women also received wealth from their mothers who were temple women.

The Sumerian King Lists name Kug-Bau as a "tavern keeper" and the single ruler of the Third Dynasty of Kish. She ruled between 2500 B.C. and 2330 B.C. The King List refers to her as lugal (ruler), not as eresh (queen consort). She was deified centuries later as the protector of the city of Carchemish. She also was known as Ku-Baba. The prefix Ku means holy or righteous.

Beer was ubiquitous in Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley, and the Indus Valley. In addition to its ritual use as an offering at the temples, it was consumed at sacred festivals. Beer was also a dietary staple and was served at taverns to local people and to travelers. It is likely that the Hebrew tavern keeper Rahab had at one time been a temple woman. She married Salma whose ancestral home was Bethlehem, and she is listed as one of Jesus Christ's ancestors. 


Rahab of Jericho

Taverns were near the city gates and were attached to the city walls with casemate cells as rooms. This sheds light on the probable arrangement of Rahab's tavern. In fortified towns such as Beersheba, Khirbet Qeiyafa, and Jericho, houses attached to the city walls had casemate foundations. Rahab’s tavern likely had casemates in which she stored provisions. Jericho’s casemate walls were engineered to prevent collapse in the event of an earthquake. The casemates were constructed of two parallel walls with perpendicular braces. Some of the casemate cells were filled with dirt to increase stability. An earthquake might cause an individual casemate to collapse without causing the rest of the wall to fall.

Rahab's city of Jericho was situated at the major commercial routes of the Via Maris and the King's Highway. Her tavern would have been a prosperous business that required considerable executive and management skills. Rahab preserved her household and business from attack when she hung a scarlet cord from a window. This was the sign that had been decided beforehand with the Israelite visitors. The cord was visible from outside the city walls.

Biblical sources used different Hebrew words to describe Rahab. One refers to a sacred prostitute (tantric sex), and the other to an inn keeper. The first word is qādēš, and the second is the biradical zn. Leah Bronner points out that the ZN root could refer to zonah (one who sells her body) or to the word zon, an innkeeper. The biblical scholar and archaeologist D. J. Wiseman noted that tzond can be translated as “barmaid.”

The hospitality that Rahab showed to the Hebrew spies suggests that she was simply doing her job. There is no evidence that Rahab was a harlot or that she ran a brothel. In fact, her marriage to a Salma, a Hebrew chief suggests that she was Hebrew since the Hebrew ruler-priests married exclusively within their ruler-priest caste

The punishment for Hebrew women who had sex outside of marriage was severe. They were to be stoned to death or burned alive. Leviticus 21:9 states, “And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.” Neither happened to Rahab. Instead, she became the wife of Salma (Salmon), a righteous Hebrew. Their son Boaz was a ruler or elder of Bethlehem. Boaz married Ruth and their son was Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of King David (Matt. 1:5).

Music, beer, and sex are found in combination throughout human history. It is likely that among the non-Hebrew the occupations of innkeeper, brothel manager, and prostitute were considered as synonymous in ancient times. Because inns gained such a bad reputation, it is not surprising that the Jews and early Christians recommended keeping an open house for the benefit of strangers. The early Christians were admonished to “not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb. 13.2) and they were encouraged to “practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another” (1 Pet. 4.9).


Temple Dancers  

Some female tavern owners were former temple dancers or “Devadasi.” They were highly trained in the mudras of sacred dance. Some came from royal bloodlines and were among the few literate women in the region. The temples were under the rule of regional kings who sometimes gave these women sufficient gold and gems to gain their independence. It was considered an honorable deed to sponsor the Devadasi.


Hindu temple dancer performs mudras. 


Mudras are gestures that convey specific meanings within Buddhist and Hindu culture. They are used in daily life and, in a very stylized form, in temple dancing. This is a photo of a temple dancer taken around 1956. Her hands say, "My heart is aflame."

Many of the professional dancers worked in taverns. Nubian women who managed taverns were known for their skill as dancers and their devotion to Hathor. These women are related to the cattle-herding C-Group peoples who migrated out of Africa. The importance of cattle to the early Nilotic and Sumerian herdsmen explains the association of Hathor with her crown of bull horns in which the solar orb rests as a sign of divine appointment by overshadowing (cf. Luke 1:35). The early Hebrew were devotees of the High God and his son who was born of Hathor. Like the Nubians dancers, Horite Hebrew temple dancers participated in ritual performances to honor Hathor, the mother of Horus (HR - "Most High One" in Egyptian). The festivals included the consumption of beer. However, the Nubian dancers and tavern keepers lost status when Islamic law forbade beer consumption and the Hindu temples in northern India were demolished.




Monday, March 4, 2024

Elephants in the Time of Abraham






Alice C. Linsley

The oldest known elephant fossil was found in Kenya and dates to c. 4 million years. The cranium was recovered from a site on the northeast side of Lake Turkana and is about 85% intact. Known by its museum number, KNM-ER 63642, the 2-ton cranium belonged to a massive adult male of the species Loxodonta adaurora, an extinct relative of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana).

Fossil evidence indicates that the Asian elephant once roamed Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Sumatra, Java, Borneo and southern China. Elephant tooth and bone fragments found in Turkey, Syria and Lebanon indicate that elephants lived in that region in the latter part of the Bronze Age. These appear to have been wild herds.

Elephant fossils found in Mesopotamia dating to the second millennium BC are thought to be the descendants of a smaller Pleistocene variety found throughout the Mediterranean about 2 million years ago. According to R.W. Rogers, “In very early times the elephant wandered at will over the Middle Euphrates country, but it disappeared before the 13th century.” (A History of Babylonia and Assyria, Vol. 1, p. 284) 

However, textual evidence suggests that elephants were being used as service animals after the 13th century B.C. Their remarkable trunks provided a powerful gripping organ for lifting and carrying timber and other heavy materials. Sargon used Asian elephants to build his cities in Mesopotamia, and Abraham would have seen them in the region of Haran. Haran is where his father Terah died and after Terah's death, Abraham's older brother Nahor ruled over the territory in Paddan Aram.

The current distribution of elephants is greatly reduced compared to the time of Abraham. Today there remain only two species of elephants: the small-eared Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) and the long eared, long-legged African elephant. The Indian elephant has a bowed upper skull. There is a difference also in the number of toes.

An older elephant species was smaller and hairier. It had very curved, slender tusks and a more rounded head, suggesting a closer relationship to the African elephant. Such a creature appears on the tomb wall of Rekhmire (TT100). Rekhmire was Governor of Thebes during the reigns of Tuthmose III and Amenhotep II. At this time Egypt's empire extended into Syria. A wall painting in Rekhmire's tomb shows Syrians bringing tribute of carts, weapons, horses, a bear, and an elephant.


Elephant painting in the tomb of Rekhmire.


A priest of On (Heliopolis) named Rekhmire (1471-1448) may have kept elephants in his menagerie. 
The Rekhmire tomb elephant likely depicts an extinct dwarf elephant with a shaggy coat. It is believed that some were still alive 4000-3500 years ago (Masseti 2001, 2008, Theodorou et al. 2007). This dwarf species is called Elephas tiliensis. A life-sized model of E. tiliensis is on display at the Paleontology Museum of Athens. 

The elephant image in the Rekhmire tomb makes it clear that the Egyptians were familiar with the Syrian elephants known to Abraham in Haran.

Elephants are social creatures and some herds have been observed to bury their calves ritually. According to researchers Parveen Kaswan and Akashdeep Roy, "Asian elephants loudly mourn and bury their dead calves, according to a study by Indian scientists that details animal behaviour reminiscent of human funeral rites."


Elephants in Noah's time

Noah lived approximately 4000-3800 BC in the region of Lake Chad when the Sahara experienced a wet period. Elephants in the Lake Chad Basin once occupied all habitats except the driest Sahelian grasslands. This was a time when central Africa, Arabia, Canaan, and Mesopotamia were ruled by local chiefs. 

Not long after Noah's time the elephant was taken as a royal symbol. At Qustul a local ruler was referred to as "Elephant". He ruled during the early Naqada III epoch (3200 to 3000 BC).

The oldest known zoological collection was found during excavations at Hierakonpolis (Nekhen on the Nile) in 2009. The royal menagerie dates to ca. 3500 BC and included elephants. Proto-Saharan and Nilotic rulers kept ménageries. The animals were kept in pairs so that they would reproduce.

In Noah's time Lake Chad sustained boating and fishing industries. The average fishermen used dugouts, but a ruler such as Noah owned boats constructed of reeds lashed together in bundles and sealed with pitch. Noah probably had a fleet of boats, and elephants probably were used to carry the reed bundles.

At Nekhen the bones of a juvenile savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) were found in Tomb 14. These date to around 3100 B.C. Likely, this elephant was a prized pet of the buried ruler.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Was the Yellow Emperor a Mesopotamian Priest Physician?

 


The Yellow Emperor as depicted in the album Portraits of Famous Men c.1900 AD.
Housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art


A member of the Bible and Anthropology Facebook group has asked an excellent question about the origin of Chinese medicine and a possible connection to the Yellow Emperor. He notes that according to the Book of Jubilees knowledge of medicine was given to Noah prior to the flood. This was then passed on the Shem, who has been said to be the grandfather of China's Yellow Emperor.


Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The traders and merchants of the ancient world did business along the great rivers. That is why the oldest settlements are along major rivers in Africa, Mesopotamia, India, and China. The traders carried valuable commodities as well as information and technologies. Some were royal officials who acted as emissaries between rulers. Adventurers and itinerant priests traveled with the traders for safety. In the ancient world healing was the work of priests. 

Noah and his descendants were members of a ruler-priest caste. However, Shem could not be the Yellow Emperor's grandfather because these two men lived at least 1100 years apart.

In the ancient world, only members of the elite strata of society learned and practiced medicine. One of the earliest known medical practitioners was Eanach (Enoch). He served the Pharaoh as his priest-physician, a wab sxmt (wab sekhmet). Eanach lived around 3000 B.C. and is said to have "healed the pharaoh's nostrils." Likely, this means that he performed a healing ritual that involved placing the cross-like Ankh against the Pharaoh's nose and offering prayers for his healing.

The Mesopotamian priest-physician was called azu in Akkadian, the oldest known Semitic language. Their skills probably were learned from the early Nilotic ruler-priests who moved into Mesopotamia as early as 4000 BC in the service of the early kingdom builders like Nimrod, the Kushite (Gen. 10). Genetic studied indicate that some of the Chinese are in mtDNA haplogroup N which has its point of origin in central east Africa (shown on this map).



The priest-physicians specialized in one part of the body: head, stomach, heart, etc, as was noted by Diodorus Siculus, who wrote, "The study of medicine with them was divided between specialists; each physician attending to one kind of illness only. Every place possessed several doctors; some for diseases of the eyes, others for the head, or the teeth, or the stomach, or for internal diseases." 

Priests were often leaders of their people. They were rulers and priests. Some were deified. The legendary Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) seems to fit this pattern. However, long after his time (2697-2598 BC) he became the center of a Chinese cult, and his devotees embellished his achievements. He was credited, for example, with introducing clothing, inventing explosives, and founding Taoism.

The French Sinologist Albert Terrien de Lacouperie (1845–94) wrote about early contact between Mesopotamian peoples and the peoples of China in his 1892 book The Western Origin of the Early Chinese Civilization. He claimed that Chinese civilization was founded around 2300 BC by immigrants from Mesopotamia. According to Lacouperie's hypothesis Huangdi was a Mesopotamian chief who led his people into China around 2300 BC.


Yangshao vessel 3900-3000 BC


Ancient migrating populations settled at major water systems The Pengtoushan culture thrived along the Yangtze River between 7500–6100 B.C., and the Yangshao culture flourished along the central Yellow River between 5000 and 3000 B.C. Yangshao nobles wore silk garments and many motifs found on pottery vessels such as the one above resemble the motifs found on Mesopotamian pottery.

The early priests were also embalmers who prepared the mummies that have been found along the Nile and in the Taklamakan Desert of China. The Tarim Basin population to which the earliest mummies belonged was agropastoral, and they lived c.2000 BC in what was formerly a freshwater environment.


Related reading: Ancient Words for Priests; Physician Priests of Antiquity; Medical Care in the Ancient World


Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Unnamed and Forgotten Hebrew Daughters

 

Rebecca at the Well, Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini

Dr. Alice C. Linsley


The canonical Scriptures are a reliable source of information about the early Hebrew ruler-priest caste, their endogamous marriage custom, and the rights and responsibilities of Hebrew women. Because the Hebrew caste resisted innovations, their customs persisted among Abraham’s numerous Hebrew descendants. Some of Abraham's Hebrew ancestors lived in the Nile Valley, some lived in Canaan, and others lived in Mesopotamia and Anatolia. That is why it is possible to speak of Kushite Hebrew, Canaanite Hebrew, and Anatolian Hebrew.

Jacob and Esau were both Hebrew rulers as they were members of the Hebrew ruler-priests caste. A trait of castes is endogamy, the custom of marriage only to members of the caste or blood relatives. Jacob and Esau married Hebrew women, including women of the clan of Seir the Horite Hebrew (Gen. 36), and women of the clan of Nahor the Younger of Paddan-Aram. One of Esau's wives was the daughter of the Hittite Hebrew ruler, Elon. The Hittites were descendants of Heth, a Hebrew ruler listed in Genesis 10:15. Some of his descendants lived in Hebron (Gen. 23:3,7) which was in Abraham's territory.


Hebron and Beersheba were the northern and southern settlements of Abraham's territory.


Abraham's territory extended between Hebron and Beersheba (shown on the map). Both settlements were in ancient Edom. Edom was called "Idumea" by the Greeks. The place names - Edom and Idumea - refer to a land of red people. In Abraham's time, the red people were associated with Nilotic populations before the Bantu arrived in the Nile Valley about 1000 years later.
 
Some of the practices of the early Hebrew are found in Judaism: circumcision, ritual washing, dietary restrictions, etc. However, the faith of Abraham and his Hebrew ancestors predates the emergence of Judaism by several thousand years, and there were many Hebrew clans other than the clan of Jacob (Israel) which is the focus of the Jewish narrative.

The unnamed or forgotten wives and daughters of the Hebrew ruler-priests are one of the least understood biblical populations. However, the application of kinship analysis clarifies their familial relationships. These were women of high social status who kept the bonds between the Hebrew clans strong. Many were women of strength and courage. Some exercised considerable authority in their time and place as heads of clans, judges, royal officials over water shrines, and queens. The Hebrew daughters of priests at Heliopolis (biblical On) fulfilled their responsibilities to the temple there. They wove vestments, prepared dyes, baked bread, drew water, led the temple women in singing, and played instruments such as the harp, the lute, the lyre, and the sistrum. We may learn about their activities from historical studies, but other than Asenath of On, very little information about these women is given in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Some Hebrew women are named in the canonical texts, but many are not. Lot’s daughters are not named, but they are identified as the ancestors of the Moabites and the Ammonites (Gen. 19:30-38). The Bible provides very little backstory for these Hebrew daughters and no information at all about many other Hebrew daughters. For example, Jacob produced children by four women, yet only one daughter is mentioned, Dinah (Gen. 30). If the sex ratio of about 105 boys to 100 girls has remained consistent throughout the generations, Jacob likely fathered at least six daughters. Some of his daughters would have married men of Esau’s clan because marriage between the clans of two brothers was a common practice among the biblical Hebrew.

Abraham had nine sons by four women, but no daughters are named. This raises a suspicion that certain ancestors have been forgotten on purpose because they do not serve the Jewish narrative of twelve tribes of Israel as Abraham's only descendants. Given the sex ratio, Abraham likely had at least four daughters. One of them would have married her half-sibling, Isaac. She would have been Isaac’s first wife, the bride of his youth just as Sarah was Abraham’s half-sibling and the bride of his youth. Rebekah was Isaac's second wife. That marriage took place shortly before the death of Abraham. Rebekah was to Isaac what Keturah was to Abraham. Both Keturah and Rebekah were second wives, and both were cousin brides. Hebrew men of high status had two wives.

Abraham's rightful heir was Isaac so Abraham took great care to assure that he married according to the custom of the Hebrew rulers. This way Issac's rule was less likely to be challenged.

As Abraham approached his death in Beersheba, Isaac had not taken his second wife, a prerequisite for ascension to his father's throne. As the second wife was usually a patrilineal cousin, Abraham enjoined his servant to seek a wife for Isaac among the women of Paddan-Aram in the territory of Abraham's older brother Nahor. Abraham's servant asks what he is to do if the woman refuses to come back with him to Beersheba. Abraham answered: "If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there." (Gen, 24:8) Isaac was to remain in the territory over which he would rule. As Abraham's proper heir, Isaac was not to leave Abraham's territory in Edom. Abraham was confident that the Lord would ensure the servant's success, and this would not require Isaac to leave the territory over which he was to rule.

Esau's inheritance as Isaac's proper heir was consistent with the marriage and ascendancy pattern of his Hebrew ancestors. Jacob's situation (sent away to serve a maternal uncle) fits the pattern of sons born to cousin brides such as Rebekah. Esau may have been the firstborn son of Isaac's first wife, a daughter of Abraham and Keturah. In other words, Jacob and Esau were probably half-siblings and a later source poses them as twins.

Jacob's two wives and his two concubines follows the pattern of his high-ranking Hebrew ancestors. Abraham also had two wives and two concubines

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Gender Balance of the Hebrew Social Structure




Symbols of authority.


Dr. Alice C. Linsley


A close reading of the biblical texts makes it clear that the Hebrew social structure was not characterized by the typical features of a strict patriarchy: descent, inheritance, residence, right to govern/judge, and authority. These are not vested exclusively with Hebrew males.
 
Descent was traced through both the paternal and maternal lines, especially in the case of the cousin brides who named their firstborn sons after their fathers. This is called "the cousin bride's naming prerogative".

Hebrew women could inherit and some owned property. Daughters received inheritances from their mothers in the form of herds, tents, textiles, sacred objects believed to enhance fertility, jewelry, and servants. Numbers 27:8 makes it clear that daughters could inherit. The law reads: "If a man dies without a son, then the inheritance shall pass to his daughter." Moses judged that Zelophehad's five daughters had a right to inherit their father's property. If a landowner died without a male heir his land was to go to a ranking daughter. If he died without a son or daughter, his property was to go to his brothers.

Residential arrangements depended on the status of the Hebrew couple. Hebrew men who ruled over territories maintained their two wives in geographically separate settlements. Some sons were sent to live with their maternal uncles (avuncular residence). Some sent-away sons established themselves in places where they had no Hebrew kin (neolocal residence). 

Both males and females governed as clan chiefs, judges, and prophets. However, only males served as priests.


Figurine of Hathor found at Hazor in Israel.


The biblical Hebrew recognized three types of authority: derived, attributed, and achieved. Derived authority comes from divine appointment. The veneration of Hathor, an archetype of the Virgin Mary, testifies to the Hebrew recognition of derived authority among the females. Ancient images of Hathor show her with the sun resting over her head, a sign of appointment by the High God whose symbol was the sun. It suggests belief that she conceived the son of God by divine overshadowing as is described in Luke 1:35. The Angel explained to Mary, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God."

Divine appointment also was signified by the initial Y in the names of many Hebrew rulers. This solar cradle appears in these Hebrew names: Yaqtan (Joktan); Yachin (Joachin), Yishmael (Ishmael); Yishbak; Yitzak (Isaac); Yacob (Jacob); Yosef (Joseph); Yetro (Jethro); Yeshai (Jesse), Yonah (Jonah), Yoel (Joel), and Yeshua (Joshua/Jesus).

Attributed authority came with the offices of king, priest, judge, or prophet.