Seats of Wisdom

Alice C. Linsley


Jeremiah refers to Edom and Teman of Edom as seats of wisdom. The prophet writes: Concerning Edom: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed? (Jeremiah 49:7)

The wisdom to which Jeremiah refers is that of the Horite ruler-priests who were renown in the ancient world for their wisdom. Edom was Horite territory. Seir the Horite is listed in Genesis as one of the Edomite kings. He is a contemporary of Esau the Elder.

Reference: Genesis 36

Note that there are 2 named Esau. 
Esau the Younger is the grandson of Esau the Elder.

The wisdom of the Horites extended to medicine, astronomy, writing, commerce, navigation, natural sciences, and architecture. The 400-acre Edomite complex at Petra reflects Horite beliefs.

The Horites were the inventors of the earliest known writing systems. They were the early scribes and wise men or prophets. Naba-tean refers to Naba or Nabu, the guardian of scribes and prophets. The cult of Nabu was introduced into Mesopotamia and Babylon by the Kushites. Kushite kings sometimes bore the name Nabu, as with Nabu-shum-libur, an early Kushite king in Babylon and Nabu-aplu-iddina. This is the origin of the Hebrew word nabi, meaning prophet. 

The worldview of the Horites is essentially Kushite. As the Kushites spread across the ancient world, they took their wisdom with them. This wisdom is expressed in proverbs, poetry, descriptions of battles, travels, astronomical observations, commercial accounts and medical texts. It is represented in the huge collection of ancient Arabic texts found at the oases of Teman and Dedan. Teman and Dedan were caravan stops along the trade route from Sheba to Babylon. Genesis 10:7 designates Sheba and Dedan as Kushites.

Approximately 11,000 Thamudic inscriptions have been found scattered from the regions of Dedan and Teman to Syria. These represent the proto-scripts of the Biblical Afro-Asiatics. Similar inscriptions have been identified along the Nile in Sudan. These are accompanied by petroglyphs showing humans, oxen, cattle, circles and spirals. Abraham's Proto-Saharan ancestors venerated cattle.

The wisdom of the Horites was so extensive that it was unrivaled in the ancient world before the rise of Greece and much of the wisdom ascribed to the ancient Greeks was borrowed from the Horites. Iamblichus wrote that Thales of Miletus insisted that Pythagoras go to Memphis to study because the priests there were esteemed for their knowledge and wisdom. Plato studied for 13 years in Egypt under the priest Sechnuphis and his conception of the eternal Forms was based on Horite metaphysics.

The Greek word for boundaries in creation is oros or horos, a reference to the celestial archetype of Horus who was said to be the marker of boundaries. Horus was born of Ra by the Virgin Queen Hathor-Meri who became pregnant when overshadowed by the Sun, the emblem of the Creator. Hathor's totem was a cow and temple images show her holding her son in a manger. This is an early expression of Messianic expectation and it is based upon the Edenic promise that a Woman of the Horite lines would bring forth the "Seed" who would crush the serpent's head and restore Paradise (Gen. 3:15). Jesus identified Himself as that Seed in John 12:24 when he told his disciples, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

In the works of Plato and Aristotle horos or horismos refers to landmarks, boundaries and categorical limits. From Horus come the words hour, horoscope, horologion, horotely and horizon. The association of Horus with the horizon is evident in Har-ma-khet, meaning "Horus of the Horizon". Horus was said to control the winds and to establish the cardinal points. The stars, planets and constellations were fixed in place by Horus, and as Ben Sira reminds us, not one of the heavenly bodies "has ever got in the way of another, and they will never disobey his word." (Ecclesiaticus 16:24)

Horus shrines and temples were located at major water systems and Horus ruled the waters. This is why the Horus name appears in the word for river in Hebrew and Arabic (nahar/nahr) and in Aramaic (nehar). Abraham’s older brother controlled commerce on the Tigris River between Ur and Haran. His Horus name is Na-Hor (Gen. 22:20).


Ancient Tyre

Another seat of wisdom was ancient Tyre. This island city was a Horite shrine as ancient as Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The artisans who served the temple at Tyre lent their architectural and metal-working expertise to the construction of David's palace and Solomon's temple.

The wisdom of Tyre is associated with the Edenic Promise, as is the wisdom of Edom. "Son of Man, raise a lament over the king of Tyre and say to him: Thus says the Lord God: You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and flawless beauty. You were in Eden, in the Garden of God; every precious stone was your adornment... and gold beautifully wrought for you, mined for you, prepared the day you were created." (Ezekiel 28:11-18)

Tyre was the home of Hiram I, the father of the Tyrian king who helped to build Solomon’s temple. Hiram I was kin to David and sent skilled artisans to help David build a palace in Jerusalem, “the city of the Great King” (Matt. 5:35). Hiram is also known as "Huram" and "Horam", which are versions of the names Hur, Hor and Harun (Aaron), as in Jabal Harun, the Mountain of Aaron.

According to Midrash, Hur was Moses’ brother-in-law, Miriam’s husband. Hur’s grandson was one of the builders of the Tabernacle. I Chronicles 4:4 lists Hur as the "father of Bethlehem". Bethlehem was in the heartland of Horite Hebrew territory. David was born about B.C. 1040, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a Horite shepherd-priest. The settlement was originally known for the sacrifice of sheep and rams. The meat was distributed to the poor, which is why the settlement was originally called "House of Meat." This meaning is retained in the Arabic name for the town: "bêt lahm".

When Jesus went to Tyre His true identity was recognized, according to Mark's Gospel (cf. Matt. 15:21). Hiram I, David and Jesus share a common Horite ancestry. Their Horite lineage extends back to Eden. The Horites believed that the promised Seed of the Woman would be born of their ruler-priest lines and they expected Him to visit them. In Mark 7:24, this expectation was fulfilled when the Son of God visited Tyre. Mark explains that there Jesus “could not pass unrecognized.”

Related reading: Juan Manuel Tebes, The Wisdom of Edom; Horite Hebrew Expectancy and the Star of Bethlehem; The Wisdom of Yeshua Ben Sira; Edom and the Horites; Horite Mounds; The Antiquity of the Edomite Rulers

Hierarchy in Creation: The Biblical view

Were it possible to study DNA from the different peoples listed in Genesis 10, we would find that the majority could be classified in Y-DNA Haplogroups R1a, R1b, and J, and mtDNA Ls, M, N, H, and R and their dispersion is shown on this map.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley


Conceptually, the triangle or pyramid was regarded as the structure of the world by the ancient Afro-Asiatics. They were fascinated by the geometric properties of this shape. This is evident in the construction of pyramids and ziggurats. It is also evident in their multi-tiered cosmology which pictured the Creator at the peak of the heavens.

We find the hierarchical concept in the biblical order of creation, with the Human ranked above the other animals and the animals ranked above the plants. Within these tiers are what Genesis calls the "kinds", each reproducing according to its own kind.  The Creator's design entails boundaries which are generally recognized in reproductive science. These boundaries were largely honored by the Afro-Asiatics.

Onanism was an unrighteous deed because the seed that should fall to the earth is the seed of plants, which spring forth from the earth. The seed of man should fall on his own type (the womb), from which man comes forth. Clement of Alexandria wrote, “Because of its divine institution for the propagation of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor is it to be wasted” (The Instructor of Children 2:10:91:2 A.D. 191).

Bestiality and sodomy are also serious violations of the biblical order of creation. By extension, it was forbidden even to sow two different seeds in the same field, as was the blending of different fibers. The prohibition against mixing types, be they seeds, fibers or blood, upholds the distinction between this side of the boundary and that side, against confusing the holy with the unholy, or blurring the distinction between life and death, as happens when a baby goat is boiled in its mother's milk (forbidden three places in Scripture). Ultimately, the binary distinctions are God's way of ordering our thinking so as to preserve our lives and souls.

Pslam 8:6, which parallels the names Enoch and Adam, provides further evidence of this triangular hierarchy. Kain's first-born son was named Enoch and Seth's first-born son was named Enosh. These are linguistically equivalent names.  The name appears later in Numbers as Hanoch, the first-born son of Reuben. The point is that the names Enoch/Enosh/Hanoch stand for the first-born son in the ruling lines. He is the ruler-designate, and an historical figure. He is paralleled in Psalm 8 with Adam, the First Created Man, to whom the mandate was given to "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that move on earth." (Gen. 1:28) This is not a mandate to exploit, as is so often misrepresented by secularists. It is an assertion about the uniqueness of Mankind and our place in the order of creation. 

It is against this conception of the hierarchy in creation that we understand the nature of Eve's sin. She who represents the queen over the created order submits herself to the will of a creature who slithers on the ground. In this the original hierarchy or order in creation became inverted. Instead of listening to the Creator, Eve listened to the serpent, basest of creatures. Instead of taking from the tree of life, she took from a tree that brought death. Death already existed, as evidenced by the extinction of many species even before humans appeared on the surface of the earth. So, Eve's disobedience did not introduce physical death to the world, it brought spiritual death. This is how the Church Fathers understood the Fall. Such death could be overcome only by God acting in time and space.

The First Known Missionary Mandate 

The command to disperse and fill the earth meant that the Hebrew descendants of Adam. Eve, Cain and Seth would go into all the world with their Messian Faith in God father and God Son. Genesis 11 says that the Hebrew ruler-priest caste moved east into Mesopotamia. That has been confirmed through numerous studies in various fields: DNA studies, early migrations, linguistics, ancient texts, archaeology, and anthropology. In Mesopotamia they constructed elevated temples with observation towers. The Bible refers to these simply as "high places." The early Hebrew ruler-priests were known to do this in the service of the early kingdom builders like Nimrod. 

Apparently, life was very comfortable in the fertile plain of Shinar, and the Hebrew were content to ignore the command given to their forefathers to disperse and fill the earth (Gen. 1:28), spreading their Messianic Faith. Genesis 11:1 notes that the people spoke one language with common words/roots. Historically, that too is accurate. They spoke Akkadian, the oldest known Semitic language. Pentecost speaks of the ultimate fulfillment of what God purposes from the beginning. The Jews who had gathered in Jerusalem from many parts of the world heard about Messiah's coming, death, and resurrection, and they took that message to their homelands, some of which were far from Jerusalem.


Related reading: The Hebrew at the Ancient Sun Cities; Abraham the Hebrew; Who Were the Kushites?; The Biblical Meaning of Eve