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