The Annu of On (Iunu)

This image of a Annu/Ainu priest shows him holding the staff and wearing a cap with a frontal piece typical of Ainu chiefs in Japan and Eastern Canada. Tera (Terah) means priest and neter (ntr/ntjr)refers to God. Het is a reference to the front of the temple which was east-facing. Akhet is the ancient Egyptian word for horizon.

The Nilotic Annu/Ainu priests were associated with the most prestigious shrine and temples of the ancient world, including Nekhen and Biblical On (Heliopolis). The shrine at Heliopolis was known as Iunu, place of pillars. Heliopolis was one of the places were the Habiru (Hebrew) Horites served as priests. Joseph married a daughter of the priest of Heliopolis.

Plato wrote "Tell me of the God of On, which was, is and shall be." Plato studied under a Horite priest of Heliopolis for thirteen years. Heliopolis was the geodetic center of Egypt. The pyramid triads at Giza, Abusir and Saqqara are aligned to the obelisk at On. Baalbek (Heliopolis) in Lebanon, also aligns to On as well.

The Nilotic origin of the Ainu has been well established. None is surprised that the Ainu can be traced genetically to the Nile Valley. Africa is the point of origin of humans. The Ainu dispersed along water ways and mountain ridges. They took with them their religion, rituals and expertize with metal work and stone work. It was their custom to build shrines near water and at high elevations near ancient rock shelters. Their priests performed rituals at these shrines. They also built circular monuments of standing stones called kar. Kar-nak along the Nile means stone monument where rituals are performed. In Exodus 25:11 Ki-kar refers to a circle; ki-kar za-hav ta-hork, means "circle of pure gold."

Haplogroup C-M217, also known as C2 (and previously as C3), is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is the most frequently occurring branch of the wider Haplogroup C (M130). M217 is found at high frequencies among Central Asian peoples, indigenous Siberians, and some Native peoples of North America.

Haplogroup C-M217 comprises more than ten percent of the total Y-chromosome diversity among the Manchus, Koreans, and the Ainu of Hokkaido and Okinawa. Recent DNA studies reveal that the Ainu of Hokkaido and the Ryukyuans of Okinawa have a closer genetic affinity than either group has to the Japanese. It is likely that these populations which practiced clan endogamy retain cultural and physical characteristics of the earlier Jomon who had dispersed throughout the various islands of Japan 14,000 years ago.

Traditional Ryukyuan family tomb called kamekōbaka.
These resemble the stone tombs of Horites living in other regions.

There are Ainu in Eastern Canada also. The grandson of an Ainu elder living in Eastern Canada reports that not all the native people of North America came via the land bridge from Siberia. His Miqmaq people came to North America via Scandinavia, a fact that has been confirmed by DNA studies (Haplogroup X2b5).

Haplogroup X is one of the five haplogroups found in the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It occurs at a frequency of about 3% for the total current indigenous population of the Americas. However, among the Algonquian peoples it comprises up to 25% of mtDNA types.

Y-SNP lineages C-M217 have been identified in South American populations. The study suggests a late introduction of C3 into South America no more than 6,000 years ago via coastal or ocean routes.

 

Related reading: The Nile-Japan Ainu Connection; Horned Altars and Horned Sacred Vessels; A Kindling of Ancient Memory; Solving the Ainu Mystery

 

Was King Arthur a Descendant of Dispersed Hebrew Rulers?

Alice C. Linsley

In the ancient world, the Nile River was called Ar, meaning "venerable". The Ar prefix is found in the names of many rulers and ruler-priests. Joseph Ar-Mathea is an example. He belonged to the venerable (Ar) clan of Mathea (Matthew). 

The name Ar-thur is composed of two elements that described his status and his character. He was Ar, meaning a high-status person such as a clan chief, a regional ruler. or a king. The term thur refers to purity. THR in Hebrew means to be pure. It corresponds to the Ancient Egyptian TR, meaning pure.

It is thought that Arthur's name is related to the Brittonic root arto, meaning bear. However, Ar-thur might be of a descendant of the venerable Hebrew who dispersed into Roman Britain before the time of Christ. 

The Ar-element appears among the Hebrew ruler-priests. Joseph Arimathea is an example. Many rulers of history have names with the Ar prefix. Consider the following: Arpachshad, Archelaos, King Arwium of Kish, Ar-Shem, Ar-Paši, Artix, Araxes, Araunah of Jerusalem, Artaxerxes, Artabanus, Arêtes, King Aretas (Nabatean), King Arthur, and King Arviragus, Arba, the father of Anak, one of the "mighty men of old" (Gen. 6). A Horite Hebrew named Arishen ruled in the central Zagros between 2400-2301 B.C. (before the time of Abraham). Aramaic scrolls have been found written by the satrap Arsames to his Egyptian administrator Psamshek and to an Egyptian ruler named Nekht-Hor. (A.T. Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire, Chicago, 1948, pp.116-117.) 

The Ar affix is probably a shortened Horus name as is suggested by the Nabataean King Harithath IV who bears the Horus name. King Harithath is called King Aretas in 2 Corinthians 11:32.

There also are many place names (toponyms) with the Ar prefix. Arish, Aram, Arabia, Arsamea, Ararat, Armagh, Aragon, and Armenia are examples. Genesis 10 speaks of the Ar who controlled the kingdoms of Tyre and Arvad. This appears to be a 3-clan confederation, consisting of Ar, Arvd, and Arkt. The last two clans are called “Arvadites” and “Arkites” in Genesis 10:15-18. Deuteronomy 2:9 states that the settlement of Ar was given to the Moabites, Lot's descendants.

Another example is the place name Arrapha, a center of Hurrian/Horite culture. Ancient Arrapha was a part of Sargon of Akkad's Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 B.C.). Akkad was a principal city of Nimrod's territory. Nimrod was a Kushite city builder (Gen. 10), and a great grandson of Noah.

Textual Evidence

Arthur appears to be an historical person. An ancient funerary verse written around 650 AD mentions Arthur as a "mighty defender". In a lament called The Death-Song of Cynddylan, a princess named Heledd mourns the death of her brother the king, saying how he and his family were descendants of a mighty hero called Artir – the spelling Arthur found in Old Welsh, the language spoken at the time. The text says that Heledd’s brothers were, “the heirs of great Arthur, the mighty defender." 

This work, which survives in a manuscript catalogued as MS 4973B in the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, was written 500 years before the first of the medieval Arthurian Romances were compiled.

Builders of Fortresses and Monuments

Rulers such as these built their strongholds at high elevations near water sources. This was true along the Nile, in the Baltic region, in Southern China, and in Cornwall. The Cornish fortress of Tintagel or Trevena is an example. In Cornish, it is called Tre war Venydh, meaning "village on a mountain."

Remains of Tintagel Fortress

Legend has it that King Arthur was born at Tintagel Castle. The ruins of Tintagel Castle stand on an island dominating the 300 feet (90 meters) high cliffs. Tin (or din) means fortress and tagel refers to a constriction or narrows, as in the neck of an island. Arthur was born into a Christian noble family of Cornwall which exercised influence on Christian missions and the defense of the Faith against Pagans from about 480-530. Christian priests were already well established in Cornwall, Devon, and Ireland by 44 AD.

The Ravenna Cosmography, compiled around 700 A.D. from Roman material 300 years older, lists a route running westward into Cornwall. On this route is a place then called Duro-cornovio. The Latin Duro-cornovio corresponds to the British Celtic duno-Cornouio-n, which means "fortress of the Cornish people." 

There may be a connection between Duro-cornovio and the Akkadian dûr which refers to a fortress, as in Dûr-Sharrukin, meaning “Sargon's fortress." The Akkadian word dû means hill.

However, the original name for Cornwall was Kernow, which appears to be related to words designating royal sites at high elevations. "Kar" refers to cliffs, mountain tops, rock shelters, and locations of burnt offerings and bonfires. 

Many rock shelters have been identified in the Carpathian Mountain range. The range is called Karpaty in Czech, Polish, and Slovak, and Карпати in Ukrainian, Carpați in Romanian, Karpaten in German, Kárpátok in Hungarian, Karpati in Serbian, and Карпати in Bulgarian. In Albanian, karpë means "rock."

In Dravidian car means "sheltered together" and kari refers to a river. In Manding, kara means "to assemble." Apparently, these were places where fires were maintained because kar is associated with charcoal, soot and the color black. The Turkish kara means "black." In Magyar, korom refers to soot, as does the Korean word kurim. Among the Nilotic Luo, kar specifies a place with boundaries.

Early History

From 400,000 BC to 200,000 BC, archaeological finds of flint axes and blades indicate that people were living in Devon and moving through Cornwall which was a good hunting ground, as it was too far south to be under the ice sheet. By 40,000 BC settlements dotted Southwest Britain.

Carn Euny, Sancreed, near Penzance

Carn Euny is an Iron Age settlement consisting of courtyard houses and the remains of round houses. The village dates from the the 1st century BC, though there is evidence that the site had been settled since the Bronze Age. Carn Euny is best known for the well-preserved fogou, a large underground passageway, which is more than 65 feet (20 metres) long. This fogou runs just below the surface of the ground and is roofed with massive stone slabs typical of the tunnels built by the R1b stone masons.

Mining in Cornwall and Devon began in approximately 2150 BC. From that time Hebrew mining experts were present in Cornwall. In the 1st century AD, one of those experts was Joseph of Ar-Mathea, which means Yosef of the Venerable (Ar) clan of Matthew.

About 70% of native British men have Y-DNA R1b ancestry which is the same as King Tut.

Genetic studies have confirmed that the early Hebrew dispersed widely across the ancient world. Their earliest known places of worship were along the Nile, and they are described as having a reddish skin tone. Interestingly, an early population living in Cornwall were the Dam-oni, which means “red people.” 

The word Dam-oni is derived from two words found in the Bible: dam, a reference to blood and the color red (dammu in Ancient Akkadian), and On, a reference to the great shrine city of Heliopolis (biblical On, Gen. 41:45). The Hebrew ruler Joseph married the daughter of a high-ranking priest of On. Some of the early Hebrew are described as red or ruddy: Adam, Seth, Esau, and King David. 

The Dam-oni may have come from Carnac (Karnac) in Brittany because the stone monoliths in Damnonia are like those in Carnac, though smaller. On the Nile, the ancient shrine at Karnak was built with huge stones by skillful craftsmen under the authority of rulers and priests, possibly ancestors of some early inhabitants of Cornwall.

The region where Joseph Arimathea visited in Cornwall is said to have Hebrew place names like Marazion, meaning "sight of Zion" and Menheniot, which is derived from the Hebrew words min oniyot, meaning "from ships." Menheniot was a center of lead mining.

Related reading: The Ar Rulers, Stone Work of the Ancient World; R1b Genetic Ancestry in Britain; The Mighty Men of Old; Origins of the Irish Scottish, Welsh and English R1b-M222 Population, The Priesthood in England (Part 2); King Tut and the Dispersion of R1b Peoples

Biblical Anthropology and the Question of Common Ancestry

Alice C. Linsley


Since Biblical Anthropology concerns itself with cultural antecedents and human origins it is natural that a Biblical anthropologist would explore the question of common ancestry as it is posed by Evolution.

If humans and apes (or humans and pigs) share a common genetic ancestry there must certainly be evidence for that in the fossil record. Frankly, I do not see it. Instead, the evidence points to humans appearing suddenly and de novo about 4 million years ago. The Australopithecus afarensis and the more recent Australopithecus africanus show every evidence of being fully human despite the small cranium. I have argued here that, given the totality of other evidence that favors human identity, brain size is a less important indicator than the binary feature of the brain and of primitive thought.

For example, the cerebral hemispheres exhibit strong bilateral symmetry in structure and function. That said, the left hemisphere has some dominant features. The lateral sulcus generally is longer in the left hemisphere than in the right, and Broca's area and Wernicke's area are present only in the left hemisphere in greater than 95% of the population. Thus the human brain exhibits both functional and structural asymmetry in the binary feature.

Levi-Strauss and others have noted that the binary sets are the basis of complex thought about the world and a commonality among primitive peoples. Similarly, computer science demonstrates that great complexity emerges from binary language.

Abraham's Nilo-Saharan ancestors named in the the Genesis king Lists observed binary sets in the order of creation, such as east-west, male-female, day-night, dry-wet, raw-cooked, life-death, and heaven-earth. The regarded one of the entities of the set to be superior in some observable way than the other. The sun is greater than the moon. The male is large and stronger than the female. In other words, the binary feature of which I am speaking entails a greater-lesser aspect which is quite different from dualism.

The Yin Yang is often cited as an example of binary thinking, but as it is understood today it represents dualism. This was likely not the case originally. The yin-yang concept appears to be rooted in a much older binary framework related to the religion of Tian, the oldest name for the Creator in China. Tian means the Most High of the Anu. The Anu or Ainu did indeed hold a binary worldview which was based on their observations of the Sun. The Sun was held to be greater than the Moon, the light greater than the shadow. So in this view too, at least in its origin, there is dominance on one side.

Further, the Ainu whose great shrine city of Heliopolis was the point to which many ancient monuments aligned, appear to have regarded this binary feature as a fixed and unchanging characteristic of Nature. I'm wondering if indeed this is a general pattern in Nature?


Related reading: The Nilotic Origin of the Ainu; African Ancestry of Chinese; The Nile-Japan Ainu Connection; Binary Sets in the Ancient World; A Kindling of Ancient Memory; The Binary Aspect of the Biblical Worldview; Questioning the Common Ancestry Hypothesis; Evolution and the Illusion of Randomness

Does Genesis 10 Describe the Ainu Dispersion?

Alice C. Linsley


Here is an interesting paper on the origins of the Ijo of Nigeria and other peoples who may have a connection to Noah's ancestors. It mentions the seafaring Oru (also called the Anu, Hanu or Ainu) who were the an important people of the Nile Valley civilization and the complexes at Lake Chad and Nok. Lake Chad was Noah's homeland and Nok is probably the Biblical Nod to which Cain wandered. The words Nod נוד and Nok נוך are virtually identical in the Hebrew script.

Genesis 10 tells us that Noah and his people spread out from Bor-No (Land of Noah) to populate the earth. Though all the peoples of the earth did not come from Noah's three sons, many modern peoples can be traced back to Noah's ancestors, the Nilotic Ainu, through molecular genealogy.

The Ainu were aboriginal peoples of the Upper Nile. They were the first rulers of the Lower Nile. One of their sanctuaries was called Annu, the original name for Heliopolis (Biblical Onn), to which the great pyramids were aligned.

The Ainu were seafarers and had a written language which they introduced to the lands where they traveled and settled. They spread from the Nile to Japan. This explains why the Japanese alphabet is almost identical to the Hebrew alphabet.  Both are based on the Ainu writing system.

The Ainu of Japan and the Ainu who crossed into North America through Finland, Greenland and Labrador are in the same haplogroup. In the northern climates the bear appears to have been the symbol or totem of the Creator, and a young bear that has been raised about the Ainu is sacrificed. The owner of the cub invites all the people of his village to come and take part in the sacrifice and the feast that follows. The Ainu elders arrive wearing crowns made of the sacred willow shavings. These have an bear's head ornament on front.

Among the Nilotic Ainu the symbol or emblem of the Creator was the sun and this was displayed resting over the Nile between two lions (ruti), or cradled between the long horns that crowned Hathor, the mother of Horus. A principal Ainu shrine city along the Nile was Heliopolis (Biblical On). Joseph married the daughter of a priest of On (Gen. 41:45). The oldest known shrine dedicated to Hathor and Horus is Nekhen. Images from Nekhen, a 3,500 year old Horite shrine city, show ruler-priests carrying flails and crooks and wearing iron beads around their necks. The flail and crook became the symbols of authority for the Pharaohs.


Ainu Physical Features

Accounts of the Ainu of Hokkaido (Yezo), a northern island of Japan, dating for the late 19th century describes Ainu women in these words: "Some of them, especially the younger ones, are quite good-looking. Their features are a little round, perhaps, and the cheek-bone somewhat high; but their complexion is of a pleasant, rosy kind." They have dark eyes and they are tattooed. The elders insisted on this, saying, "Our ancestors were thus tattooed, so therefore must we be." (From here.)

Ainu women. One on right with beard

The red skin tone is not always pronounced, but other features among the Ainu men are distinctive. These include full beards, wide foreheads, bushy brows, headgear with a frontal piece, and decorative motifs on the embroidered robes. Compare these photos.

Ainu of Eastern Canada

Ainu elder of Hokkaido, Japan

My Ainu friend Sea’Key tells me that the Ainu of eastern Canada have a red skin tone and are bearded. Some have green eyes. The red skin hue may appear as rosy cheeks or a reddish tone over tanned skin like that of Egyptians who work in the sun (I Sam. 16:12; 17:42). King David was described as having this red skin tone. The Hebrew word for red or ruddy is edom. Edom is equivalent to the Hausa odum, meaning red-brown and to the word Adam, the first man formed from the red clay which washed down to the Upper Nile Valley from the Ethiopian highlands. These soils have a cambic B horizon. Chromic cambisols have a strong red brown color.

Abraham means “burnt father” and refers to his reddish skin color. In Arabic, the word ham means burnt. The Nilotic peoples were referred to burnt because they had a reddish skin tone. This included some Nubians, as is evidenced from the drawings of Jean-Francois Champollion who lead the French-Tuscan Expedition of 1828. One drawing depicts a scene from the Great Temple at As in which some Nubian captives of Ramesses II are black and others are red.

Red and black Nubians
Detail from a Champollion drawing 

The Matagi hunters of the Tōhoku region of northern Japan have much in common with the bear cult of the Ainu. Hunting bears for meat and fur is a winter activity. In the spring a young bear cub is captured and raised in the Ainu village. It is a symbol of the young god who is sacrificed before the snow falls. The sacrifice is followed by a great feast. Two of Abraham's ancestors are remembered for their hunting prowess: Nimrod, the son of Kush, and Esau who was said to be hairy and red.

The place names of the Ainu of Japan also reveal connections to the Nile. Horo-betsu, Kotan, Assuru, and Kanari are found among the Nilo-Saharans. The Japanese word yama or the Chinese mn came to be suffixed to Ainu names. Yama means mountain. Thus we have Usu-yamn, Sawara-yama, Iivaki-san, Fuji-san, and many other similar names. However, the Ainu word for mountain is nuburi.

The Ainu Dispersion

The Ainu of Eastern Canada are in mtDNA haplogroup X. The dispersion of haplogroup X is shown below. The greatest concentrations are indicated by the darker shade. MtDNA traces lineage by the mitochondria, received from the mothers.

DNA analysis have been made on skeletons from Viking tombs. The mtDNA haplogroups found were the same as those found in Europe, but with a higher percentage of the now rare haplogroups I and X. Haplogroup X emerged about 30,000 years ago from haplogroup N (mitochondrial DNA). Haplogroup N spans many continents and is derived from the ancestral L3 haplotype that represents the 'Out of Africa' migration. 

  Note the small dot in Southern Siberia. This is the only known archaic HgX population in that entire region, indicating that the Ainu of Eastern Canada did not come to North America across the Bering Strait.

If Abraham's Ainu ancestors spread far and wide as Genesis 10 reports, we would expect them to be an early stock from which many other modern peoples come. This has been confirmed by Luigi Cavalli-Sforza's genetic distance chart which places the Ainu at the center.

Genetic studies confirms that the Nilotic peoples called "Kushites" in the Bible dispersed widely and among them were some of Abraham's Ainu and Nubian ancestors who took with them their religious beliefs and practices, including their expectation of a righteous divine son who would be born of their ruler-priest bloodlines. This is the origin of Messianic expectation and it precedes the emergence of the Jewish people by about 4000 years.

Related reading:  Scientific Verification of the Genesis 10 Dispersion; A Kindling of Ancient Memory; The Nile-Japan Ainu Connection; First People at Genetic Center; Abraham's Ainu Ancestors; Abraham's Kushite Ancestors; The Nubian Context of YHWH

The Nilotic Substrata of Genesis 1

The chaotic waters were put in order by the Divine Word
Te-hut overcomes Te-hom

Alice C. Linsley

Analysis of the Genesis 1-3 narratives reveals that the closest thematic parallels are found in African origin stories. These themes include the concept of a beginning, the primal waters, the generative power of the Word that goes forth, and the distinction between heaven and earth.

Genesis 1 describes the beginning, when God ordered the work of creation.  The Biblical narrative uses the words tohu (formless or confused) and bohu (empty or void). The Hebrew phrase "formless and void" (Gen. 1: 2) is tohu wa-bohu and is of Nilotic origin. The word tohu in Isaiah 34:11 means "confused" so it appears that Genesis 1 refers to matter in a confused or chaotic state before God set things in order.

In Nilotic mythology chaos or disorder preceded creation. The Egyptians believed that chaos (tehom) dwelt south of Yebu (Elephantine Island) as a great river serpent between the Nile's east (bahku) and west (manu) banks. Tehom was overthrown by Tehut, divine Wisdom.

The oldest known moral code was the Law of Tehut and dates to about 5800 years ago. It was established by King Menés who made Memphis the capital after uniting the Upper and Lower Nile. From there, he administered justice and issued edicts which were designed to improve food production and distribution, guard the rights of ruling families, improve education, and enhance knowledge of the natural world through geometry and astronomy.

The Nile flows north between mountains that form the east and west banks of the river. The mythical mountain that flanked the Nile on the east was called bahku. The word bohu is likely a reference to Bahku, the mountain from which the Sun rose and filled the valley with divine light. (And God said, "Let there be light and there was light.")  The mountain on the western horizon was called Manu, a name also associated with Menés, the ruler who united the Nilotes.

In Abraham's time, Bahku and Manu were expressions for the extreme east and west. The two peaks were guarded by twin lions called Aker.  To this day, twin lions flank the throne of the Patriarch of the Coptic Church. The lion is also the totem of St. Mark, the Evangelist, whose Gospel reveals strong Egyptian influence.

In the Egyptian concept of creation, the first place in the world was a mound emerging from the cosmic waters. The mound was called Tatjenen, and is related to Tjenu, the name of Menés' kingdom in the Upper Nile. Tjenu is likely related to Tehenu (Thnw), a people living in the northern Nile valley of Lybia and Sudan. Tehenu rulers wore pointed beards and were referred to as pale-skinned and red-headed, like the Ainu (ha-Annu) rulers, to whom they were related. They also were related to the Nehesi (Nhsj) of the Upper Nile, who according to Cheikh Anta Diop were black or dark-skinned.

Ancient images show both red and black skinned Nilotes.

Red and black Nubian captives

Menés united these peoples through a combination of war, diplomacy and marriage. Some believe that Menés was Ahauiti on the basis of an ivory tablet engraved for a ruler whose Horus name was Ahauiti, the Warlike. However, the name that appears on the tablet is actually Manu, perhaps a reference to the ruler's place of origin.

The earliest evidence of the kingdom of Tjenu dates to 4000 B.C. and is contemporaneous with the thriving citadel of Nekhen (Hierakonpolis) in Sudan. Nekhen is the oldest known center of Horite worship. Votive offerings at the temple were ten times larger than the normal mace heads and bowls found elsewhere, suggesting that this was a very prestigious shrine city. Horite priests placed invocations to Horus at the summit of the fortress as the sun rose.

Related reading: The Themes of Genesis 1-3;  The Mountains and Horizons of Ancient Egypt; Ainu at the Center of Cavalli-Sforza's Genetic Distance Chart; Abraham's Ainu Ancestors; Menés: Fact and Fiction

Jebusites: Extant Biblical Tribe

Alice C. Linsley


The Jebusites have living descendants whose culture, religious beliefs and kinship pattern can be studied today among the Ijebu, a Yoruba people living in Nigeria. This is true of many of the tribes and clans mentioned in the book of Genesis who ancestors spread out of Africa to other continents. For example, there are connections between the Edo of Nigeria and Benin and the Edomites of Petra. The title of their rulers is evidence. The ruler of the Edo is called "Oba" and the first ruler of Petra was the deified Nabataean King Obodas.

This means that peoples who have been regarded as extinct or lost have living descendants who can be traced and studied. These "first peoples" cling to the traditions of their ancestors which means that their present practices and beliefs can shed light on biblical practices and beliefs. Such is the case with the Ijebu who appear to be the living descendants of the Biblical Jebusites.

It is probable that the Jebusites were a Nilotic people originally. Some migrated westward along the connected water systems of central western Africa and settled at the confluence of the Niger and Benue Rivers in Nigeria. Here their rulers controlled the major water ways at the conjunction of the rivers and the Atlantic near modern Lagos. This was documented as recently as 1892 in the New York Times. The New York Times reported on the Jebu control of the water ways of the Port of Lagos. The king of the Jebu levied taxes on all products carried through his territory. This is consistent with the biblical information concerning Abraham’s ruler-priest ancestors who controlled water systems in Nigeria (where Jebu still reside), Canaan and Mesopotamia.

The Jebu also moved eastward into the land of Canaan where Melchizedek, the ruler-prist of Salem (Jerusalem) lived in Abraham's time (Gen. 14:18). Jerusalem was a Jebusite city when David took control of the oldest and highest areas. This is why Abraham payed tribute to Melchizedek and received a blessing from the great ruler-priest (Gen. 14:18-20).

Among the Jebusites there are two main governmental divisions: the Nago-Jebu and the Ketu-Jebu. Of the Ketu-Jebu there is a good deal of information in Genesis. This division resided in Palestine and Arabia. Abraham payed tribute to the Ketu-Jebu priest Melchizedek, who was the ruler of the Jebusite city of Salem (Jerusalem). Abraham's second wife, Ketu-rah was of the Ketu-Jebu, as evidenced by her name. She resided at Beer-Sheba, which took its name from the ruler Sheba who controlled the well there. (Beer means well.) Keturah's firstborn son was Joktan (Yaqtan), and early ruler in Arabia where the the Joktanite clans still reside.

1000 year old Eredo rampart

The western boundary of the Jebu is marked by a 1000 year old rampart that is 70 feet high and 100 miles long. The British archaeologist Patrick Darling is credited with drawing world attention to the discovery of the Eredo system of walls. He reports, "We are not linking what we found to a city, but to a vast kingdom boundary rampart."

The Eredo ramparts are located to the south-west of the Jebu town of Ijebu-Ode in Ogun state in southwest Nigeria. This is the largest single pre-colonial monument in Africa. Local people link the Eredo boundary walls to Bilikisu Sungbo, another name for Sheba, according to Dr Patrick Darling. This discovery confirms the biblical genealogical data that links the clans of Sheba and Jebu (Afro-Arabian peoples).

Itsekiri, an eastern Yoruba dialect, is said to be close to the original Jebusite language.  These Yoruba also recognize Hor (Horus) as a great deity and their connection to Nubia and ancient Egypt has been well established linguistically.

Study of the living Jebusites enables us to trace the origin of certain enthronement practices, such as the use of palm fronds. The two Jebu in Nigeria have two divisions: Jebu Remu and Jebu Ode. The supreme ruler of both is called "awujali” and he is installed with palm branches.

Jude Adebo Adeleye Ogunade writes in his memoir about growing up Ijebu. He was warned not to touch the leaves of the Igi-Ose tree, because as his Mama Eleni explained: “That tree is the tree whose leaves are used to install Chiefs and Kings of Ijebu and as your grandfather was a custodian of the rites of chieftaincy and kingship you must not play with its leaves.” (It is interesting, given the significance of Jesus' blood, that this plant is a blood purifier according to The University of Oxford, 1937 Institute Paper, no. 7 on Medicinal Plants; reference HA1k).

Fresh palm tree fronds are used ceremonially at the installation of chiefs and kings and are used to decorate places of worship. When the people of Jerusalem used palm fronds to greet Jesus as he entered the city, they greeted him as one to be enthroned. To this day, the Ijebu use fresh palm fronds when greeting and installing a ruler or  high priest.



Related reading:  The Edomites: Another Extant Biblical Tribe; Melchizedek, Son of Sheba; Ethiopian DNA Study Ignores Significant Data

The Edomites and the Color Red

Alice C. Linsley

The point of origin for humans is Africa and from the beginning humans exhibited a wide range of physical traits, including skin color, hair textures, eye shape, etc. The San (Bushmen) are one of the oldest people groups of Africa and they have a yellow skin tone. The peoples of the Upper Nile had both black and red skin tones. Images of black and red Nubian appear on ancient Egyptian monuments.

Petrie's study of ancient images suggested to him that Egypt was the product of racial mixture. He found images of Nubians in which some have black skin, others red skin, and some have brown skin. This confirmed what had been discovered by the 1828 Franco-Italian expedition to Egypt led by Jean-Francois Champollion and Ippolito Rosellini. Below is a detail from one of Rosellini's drawings showing both black and red Nubians taken captive by the Egyptians under Rameses II (1279-1213 B.C.).

The red skin tone is especially evident in peoples of Haplogroup R1b. Among these peoples were the Edo of Nigeria and Benin and the Edomites.

The Edo and the Edomites are related genetically. These are among Abraham's ancestors who came out of Africa. These were originally river peoples who moved along river systems and mountain ridges (the "high places"). They dispersed rather widely and settled in different regions including the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley and Southern Europe. Some lived in the red city of Petra, the capital of the Nabataean territory in Edom (modern Jordan).

The Greeks called the Edomites the "Idumea" or red people. Esau of Edom was described as having a red skin tone in Genesis 25:25. He was also described as hairy. Abraham's Ainu ancestors also were hairy and had a red skin tone. Abraham's father was called Tera (Terah) a royal name associated with the Ainu of the Upper Nile. These spread as far as Japan where only about 300 pure-blooded Ainu still remain on the island of Hokkaido. The original name of Tokyo was Edo. Among the Ainu the word "Tera" (Terah) means priest. Abraham's father was Terah, a ruler-priest whose territory along the Tigris River extending between Ur and Haran.

The Edomites of the Bible are related to the Edo or Idu of Nigeria and Benin. The title of their rulers is further evidence. The ruler of the Edo is called "Oba" and the first ruler of Petra was the deified Nabataean King Obodas.


The Clan of Seir the Horite (Genesis 36).

Esau the Elder and Seir were contemporaries and possibly brothers. Therir lines intermarried.

The biblical Edomites are associated with the color red. Edom means red and Genesis 25:25 links Esau to the Edomites. Esau was the name of at least two Edomite rulers. Isaac’s sons were not Jews, but Horites like their father and grandfather Abraham. That is why Esau the Elder married into the line associated with Seir the Horite (Gen. 36) and why Jacob married into the Horite line of Na-Hor. See diagram and note that there are 2 named Esau.  Esau the Elder married Adah, the daughter of the Horite ruler Elon.  Esau the Younger was Esau the Elder's grandson.  Esau the Younger married Oholibamah, a high-ranking Horite maiden.

The Edomites, along with the Jebusites, appear to have belonged to the Horite Confederation which originated in the Upper Nile region.  This is the homeland of Abraham's ancestors and is called Kush in Genesis 10. From ancient Kush, the peoples spread in many directions. Some live today in Nigeria and Benin as the Edo or Idu. 

Edo ruler called "Oba"  (Benin)

Likewise, the Biblical Jebusites have living descendants in Nigeria. They are called the Ijebu. The Jebusites built and controlled Jerusalem. Melchizedek was the priest-king of Jerusalem in Abraham's time. Very likely he and Abraham were kin. Read more here.

The Shasu were related to the Horites of Edom and according to monument inscriptions in Nubia, they called upon the God YHWH.


Related reading:  The Nubian Contecxt of YHWH; The Genesis Record of Horite Rule; Two Named Esau; A Kindling of Ancient Memory; Edo, Edom, Idumea; Edom and the Horites; The Red Heifer; The Bible and the Question of "Race"; Intermarriage Between the Dedanites and the Edomites

Using the Bible to Test Hypotheses

Alice C. Linsley

In the July-August 2011 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review Hershel Shanks speaks about the prejudice and suspicion that one encounters in academic circles and among professional archaeologists toward those who maintain that the Bible is a source of reliable information for scientists. I have had this experience as a Biblical Anthropologist and I've written about my experience here and here.

Here is what Hershel has to say:

In the highest, most sophisticated levels of professional Biblical archaeology, there is a certain prejudice against the Bible.

I take as my text a passage from a new book of which (full disclosure) the Biblical Archaeology Society, publisher of BAR, is a copublisher with the Israel Exploration Society. The book, written by my good friend Ronny Reich of Haifa University and excavator of the City of David,1 is titled Excavating the City of David (reviewed in this issue). It is a magnum opus that will be read and studied a hundred years from now; but it does treat dismissively the excavation of another good friend, Eilat Mazar of the Hebrew University. (Ronny even accuses Eilat of acting “unethically,” but that is another matter.2)

One of Eilat’s crimes, according to Ronny, is using the Bible as a guide to where to excavate. Let me unpack this: As Eilat read the Bible, it seemed to indicate just where King David’s palace might be buried in the City of David—at least, it did to her. On this basis, she decided to dig there. (Read it all here.)

In my 35 years of research, the Bible has proved to be a reliable source of information. Kinship analysis of the Genesis King lists has made it possible to reconstruct a clear picture of the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the Horite Hebrew rulers listed in the Genesis King lists. This data has also been confirmed by findings in various other disciplines, including DNA studies, climate studies, migration studies, linguistics and archaeology.

In particular, the Biblical data has explained how the royal marriage pattern drove Kushite expansion out of Africa. It has also served to identify an earlier migration of the Ainu from the Nile to Northern Japan and the Eastern seaboard of Canada.

Related reading:  What Does a Biblical Anthropologist Do?; The African Cultural Context of Genesis 1-11; Biblical Anthropology and the Question of Common Ancestry; Is Biblical Anthropology an Oxymoron?; Biblical Anthropology is Science