Dr. Alice C. Linsley
This article explores connections between Nimrod and the spread of religious beliefs and practices associated with the early Akkadians. According to Genesis 10, Nimrod was a Nilote (son of Kush) who built his kingdom in Mesopotamia. He is one of "the mighty men of old" described in Genesis 6. These earliest kingdom builders constructed cities, temples, and fortified high places. They controlled commerce on the major water systems of the ancient world. They migrated out of the Upper Nile Valley in different directions, and they were served by a prestigious caste of priests who later became known as Hebrew.
Akkad was one of the principal cities of Nimrod's kingdom. The language of his territory was Akkadian, the oldest known Semitic language. The Indian scholar, Malati J. Shendge, concluded that the language of the Harappans of the Indus Valley was Akkadian.
Ajay Pratap Singh has written, "Comparisons of Akkadian and Sanskrit words yielded at least 400 words in both languages with comparable phonetic and semantic similarities. Thus Sanskrit has, in fact, descended from Akkadian."
The Semitic words svam or samyim and the Sanskrit svah refer to the sky or heavens and resemble the Proto-Dravidian word van, meaning heaven.
The Semitic word wadi and the Sanskrit nadi mean river.
The Hebrew root thr means to be pure. It probably corresponds to the Tamil word tiru, meaning holy, and to the proto-Dravidian tor, meaning blood.
The Hebrew word for mother is iya and corresponds to the Dravidian ka ayi, meaning mother.
There also is a correspondence between the names Ram/Rama, Kush/Kusha, Karnak/Karnataka, and Hari/Hori which are found in Vedic and Hebrew texts. Other places names include Orisha in Nigeria and Orissa in India.
The word "Har-appa" is comprised of two words. One is Nilotic and the other is Dravidian. HR refers to the Most High God, symbolized by the Sun. "Appa" means father in Dravidian. Harappa means the Most High God is Father. Evidently, the Horite Hebrew priests spread their religion from ancient Kush to Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.
Artifacts
Further evidence of the connection between the Nile and Indus Valley is demonstrated by comparing early Egyptian and Indus pottery inscriptions. Note that 17 figures under the headings "Indus Valley" and "Egyptian" (two columns on left) are almost identical.
Harappan artifacts are similar to those of the ancient Nile. The Indian archaeologist, B. B. Lal contends that the Dravidian artifacts reflect the pottery and structures of the Upper Nile Valley. 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."
Various sciences confirm an early Nile-Indus connection: DNA studies, linguistics, archaeology, and anthropology. Michael Petraglia (University of Cambridge) and his team found stone tools at Jwalapuram in Andhra Pradesh in southern India. These were above and below a thick layer of ash from the Toba super eruption (74,000 years ago). Petraglia noted that the tools found in southern India are like those from the African Middle Stone Age about 100,000 years ago. He states, “Whoever was living in India was doing things identical to modern humans living in Africa.”
DNA research has shown that there have been two major migrations into India in the last 10,000 years. One originated from the Zagros region in south-western Iran between 7,000 and 3,000 B.C. The Zagrosian herders mixed with the earlier inhabitants of the subcontinent, descendants of the Out of Africa migrants who had reached India around 65,000 years ago. Together, they went on to create the Harappan civilization.
Paleontologists B.K. Chatterjee and G.D. Kumer reported in "Comparative Study and Racial Analysis of the Skeletal Remains of the Indus Valley Civilization" that the 18 Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa skulls that they examined are "similar to skulls from Nubia during the third to second Millennium B.C." (See Wayne Chandler: "The Jewel in the Lotus: The Ethiopian Presence in the Indus Valley Civilization" in African Presence in Early Asia, Ivan Van Sertima et. a1. eds., 1985 p. 87)
Some old Hindu fire altars were constructed in the shape of a falcon. The falcon was the totem of Horus (HR), the son of the High God. This explains why the Shulba Sutras state that "he who desires heaven is to construct a fire-altar in the form of a falcon."
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It appears that the early Hebrew ruler-priests spread the Proto-Gospel concerning God Father and God Son. In the Axial Age, their faith degraded into polytheism and the proliferation of numerous world religions, including Hinduism and Judaism.
The Egyptians say that they came from a land called “Punt” located across the Sea (Ranganathan, Babu G, Indian Origin of Egyptian Civilization, April 3, 2010, http://bgrnathan.blogspot.com/2010/04/indian-origin-of-egyptian-civilization.html, Retrieved January 14, 2015). However, there is no clarity on the location of Punt. Some favor Somalia as the location. The following points augur in favour of the Indus:
ReplyDeleteOne, the journey to Punt was regarded by the Egyptians as “long and dangerous” and was attempted by the sea route roughly once per dynasty. Such a grand voyage would be appropriate in the context of India located far away across the Indian Ocean, rather than Somalia which was located nearby and also accessible from the land route.
Two, the Ethiopians overran Egypt around 750 BCE and ruled that country for more than a hundred years. This conquest led to increased contact between the two lands. Therefore, we would expect more mention of the place named Punt after this time if it was a name of a land south of Egypt. However, we do not find any reference to Punt after this period. This indicates that the Egyptians did not refer to Somalia as Punt.
Three, the Hatshepsut relief indicates that an expedition to Punt brought back, among other items, cinnamon and gold. These items do not match with Somalian resources. The Somalians imported cinnamon from India (Embassy of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Kuala Lumpur, History, www.somaliembassy.com.my/about.html, Retrieved June 28, 2016). Evidence of gold mining is also not available here, though evidence of gold-rich deposits is available. The Government of Somalia has made efforts to mine these deposits only in the recent times. There is no evidence of finding of gold here in ancient times.
Four, the people of Punt had brown or reddish-brown skin. Indians have brown skin, whereas Somalians have dark brown or black skin, which does not match with this description.
Other Egyptian narratives also point towards creation having taken place in the Indus Valley. Egyptologist Gerald Massey says that Egyptian legends give the name “anta” to the place of creation. This term also means “the land of dawn” (Massey, Gerald, Ancient Egypt - The Light Of The World, Book 5, The Sign-Language Of Astronomical Mythology, Part 1, 1907, http://www.masseiana.org/aebk5.htm, Retrieved October 12, 2010). This indicates that the place of creation was located towards the dawn, or the east. The two ancient civilizations east of ancient Egypt were those of Sumer and the Indus Valley. The Sumerian tradition, in turn, asserts that creation took place east of Sumer. Therefore, the eastward location mentioned in the Egyptian texts has to be the Indus Valley.
The Egyptian Papyrus of Ani: “Hail… creator of mankind… The gods are glad [when] they see Ra in his rising… The… god… cometh unto the land of Manu… May I see Horus in charge of the rudder… may I grasp the bows of the seket boat…”
Here, (1) “The creation of humankind” tells that these events took place at the time of creation. (2) “The sun rising” places these events in the east and matches with India. (3) “The land of Manu” is momentous. “Manu” was the name of Adam in the Hindu texts, as we have shown in the first section of this chapter. “The land of Manu” could, therefore, be located in the Indus Valley. (4) “Travel in a boat” matches with the Egyptians travelling in a boat to the Indus Valley. (5) “The land of Punt” connects the abovementioned four events with Punt, by which name the Indus Valley was probably known to the Egyptians as shown above.
The abovementioned literary evidences from Egypt point to creation having taken place in India. We assume that people migrated from the Indus Valley to these places after the “creation.” They may have carried the narratives of creation from the Indus Valley to Egypt.
The Egyptians say that they came from a land called “Punt” located across the Sea (Ranganathan, Babu G, Indian Origin of Egyptian Civilization, April 3, 2010, http://bgrnathan.blogspot.com/2010/04/indian-origin-of-egyptian-civilization.html, Retrieved January 14, 2015). However, there is no clarity on the location of Punt. Some favor Somalia as the location. The following points augur in favour of the Indus:
ReplyDeleteOne, the journey to Punt was regarded by the Egyptians as “long and dangerous” and was attempted by the sea route roughly once per dynasty. Such a grand voyage would be appropriate in the context of India located far away across the Indian Ocean, rather than Somalia which was located nearby and also accessible from the land route.
Two, the Ethiopians overran Egypt around 750 BCE and ruled that country for more than a hundred years. This conquest led to increased contact between the two lands. Therefore, we would expect more mention of the place named Punt after this time if it was a name of a land south of Egypt. However, we do not find any reference to Punt after this period. This indicates that the Egyptians did not refer to Somalia as Punt.
Three, the Hatshepsut relief indicates that an expedition to Punt brought back, among other items, cinnamon and gold. These items do not match with Somalian resources. The Somalians imported cinnamon from India (Embassy of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Kuala Lumpur, History, www.somaliembassy.com.my/about.html, Retrieved June 28, 2016). Evidence of gold mining is also not available here, though evidence of gold-rich deposits is available. The Government of Somalia has made efforts to mine these deposits only in the recent times. There is no evidence of finding of gold here in ancient times.
Four, the people of Punt had brown or reddish-brown skin. Indians have brown skin, whereas Somalians have dark brown or black skin, which does not match with this description.
Other Egyptian narratives also point towards creation having taken place in the Indus Valley. Egyptologist Gerald Massey says that Egyptian legends give the name “anta” to the place of creation. This term also means “the land of dawn” (Massey, Gerald, Ancient Egypt - The Light Of The World, Book 5, The Sign-Language Of Astronomical Mythology, Part 1, 1907, http://www.masseiana.org/aebk5.htm, Retrieved October 12, 2010). This indicates that the place of creation was located towards the dawn, or the east. The two ancient civilizations east of ancient Egypt were those of Sumer and the Indus Valley. The Sumerian tradition, in turn, asserts that creation took place east of Sumer. Therefore, the eastward location mentioned in the Egyptian texts has to be the Indus Valley.
The Egyptian Papyrus of Ani: “Hail… creator of mankind… The gods are glad [when] they see Ra in his rising… The… god… cometh unto the land of Manu… May I see Horus in charge of the rudder… may I grasp the bows of the seket boat…”
Here, (1) “The creation of humankind” tells that these events took place at the time of creation. (2) “The sun rising” places these events in the east and matches with India. (3) “The land of Manu” is momentous. “Manu” was the name of Adam in the Hindu texts, as we have shown in the first section of this chapter. “The land of Manu” could, therefore, be located in the Indus Valley. (4) “Travel in a boat” matches with the Egyptians travelling in a boat to the Indus Valley. (5) “The land of Punt” connects the abovementioned four events with Punt, by which name the Indus Valley was probably known to the Egyptians as shown above.
The abovementioned literary evidences from Egypt point to creation having taken place in India. We assume that people migrated from the Indus Valley to these places after the “creation.” They may have carried the narratives of creation from the Indus Valley to Egypt.
There were ancient gold deposits in East Africa, especially in the Upper Nile Valley. The aboriginal Nilotic peoples (before the Bantu populations arrived there) were reddish-brown to dark brown. The early Hebrew ruler-priest caste certainly knew of the Indus Valley. They had dispersed widely. Their solar symbolism is found wherever they dispersed, and it predates the Axial Age when Hinduism emerged.
ReplyDeleteCommon mythological elements suggest the spread of religious ideas out of Africa, the point of origin of humans.
Yes. These similarities could explain. The clinching evidence, however, is the Egyptian legends that say creation took place in Punt-East-Indus Valley. Also Oppenheimer says that outward migration from Africa c. 160 kya was followed by a outmigration from South Asia c. 30 kya ago. So the genetic origin n Africa need not be the same as the "social" origin from South Asia.
DeleteYour comment is good. We need to consider the following. One, parallels do not tell causality or direction. In order to discover the direction, I feel, we have to match the descriptions with the geography of the two areas. If, for example, parallel to the Biblical flood narrative is found in many places, we may examine which geographical area the Biblical descriptions match with, i.e. water staying for 150 days, near Mountain (Ararat), rain-based flood rather than glacier melt based flood, etc. These descritptions may be matched with the various geographical areas suggested for the flood.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, as far as Nimrod is concerned the time is critical. If flood took place at c. 3000 BCE, then we have to traced the parallels at 3000 BCE to discover the location of Nimrod. You may kindly appreciate that the genetic and other evidences mentioned by you seem to be from 160 kya to 3000 BCE, that is, before the flood while Nimrod live after the flood. Thanks.
Alos this post. https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/03/an-anthropologist-looks-at-genesis-7.html
ReplyDeleteAnd this post. https://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2022/03/an-anthropologist-looks-at-genesis-8.html
ReplyDeleteAlice. I read your post on the Flood. I suggest that the Flood took place at Jalore (literally, “city of water”) in Rajasthan.
ReplyDelete1 Cattle on boat. The Indus people were seafarers and had connection with Egypt.
2 Ararat. ~ Aravalli mountains?
3 Living traditions
The Meena community claims descent from Vaivaswat Manu at whose time the fish incarnation took place. This narrative is parallel to the Bible.
4. Names. Noah = Manoah = Manu.
5 Burnt offering. Very much an Indian tradtion.
6 Baked Bricks. Tower was made with baked bricks—a sign of Indus Valley.
You may like to see this note that gives many more details. Love this conversation.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YgSPT1AusUjXeUQ8kqaWqsomyHOyEPd4/view?usp=share_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YgSPT1AusUjXeUQ8kqaWqsomyHOyEPd4/view?usp=share_link
Noah’s boat came to rest on Mount Ararat. This is parallel to Vaivaswat Manu’s boat being pulled to the Himalaya Mountain as already detailed in section “The Boat Rested on Ararat, Judi or Himalaya” on Page 81.
The Bible says that Noah’s Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat. This could be the Aravalli Mountains lying 100 kilometres south of Jalore. The names “Ararat” and “Aravalli” have the common letters “a,” “r,” “a” and “a” as we have discussed in the Common Narratives section of this chapter above. The word Ararat means “precipitation of curse” in Hebrew. The word Aravalli too indicates hostility.
Noah’s Hebrew name “Noach” has its origin in the Hebrew word “nuwach,” which means a “resting place.” This may refer to the boat having rested on the Ararat Mountain. The Sanskrit language, however, provides a more direct connection of the name with the Flood. The Sanskrit root “nau” means ship, boat or vessel. This meaning may lie at the root of the names Noah and Nuh, used in the Bible and the Quran for the Prophet given his overpowering association with the boat on which he escaped the Flood.
Very interesting, Baharat. Thanks for sharing that information. You might be interested in my book "The First Lords of the Earth: An Anthropological Study". Available on Amazon.
ReplyDeletehttps://justgreatthought.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-first-lords-and-messianic.html