Patriarchal Palestine

Not so long ago it was the fashion to declare that such coincidences between Babylonian and Hebrew literature could be due only to the long sojourn of the Jews in Babylonia during the twenty years of the Exile. But we now know that the traditions and legends of Babylonia were already known in Canaan before the Israelites had entered the Promised Land. It was not needful for the Hebrew writer to go to Chaldæa in order that he might learn them; when Moses was born they were already current both in Palestine and on the banks of the Nile. The Babylonian colouring of the early chapters of Genesis is just what archaeology would teach us to expect it would have been, had the Pentateuch been of the age to which it lays claim.

Here and there indeed there are passages which must be of that age, and of none other. When in the tenth chapter of Genesis Canaan is made the brother of Cush and Mizraim, of Ethiopia and Egypt, we are carried back at once to the days when Palestine was an Egyptian province. The statement is applicable to no other age. Geographically Canaan lay outside the southern zone to which Egypt and Ethiopia belonged, except during the epoch of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties, when all three were alike portions of a single empire. With the fall of that empire the statement ceased to be correct or even conceivable. After the era of the Israelitish conquest Canaan and Egypt were separated one from the other, not to be again united save for a brief space towards the close of the Jewish monarchy. Palestine henceforth belonged to Asia, not to Africa, to the middle zone, that is to say, which was given over to the sons of Shem.

There is yet another passage in the same chapter of Genesis which takes us back to the Patriarchal Age of Palestine. It is the reference to Nimrod, the son of Cush, the beginning of whose kingdom was Babel and Erech, and Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar, and who was so familiar a figure in the West that a proverb was current there concerning his prowess in the chase. Here again we are carried to a date when the Kassite kings of Babylonia held rule in Canaan, or led thither their armies, and when the Babylonians were called, as they are in the Tel el-Amarna tablets, the Kassi or sons of Cush. Nimrod himself may be the Kassite monarch Nazi-Murudas. The cuneiform texts of the period show that the names borne by the Kassite kings were strangely abbreviated by their subjects; even in Babylonia, Kasbe and Sagarta-Suria, for instance, being written for Kasbeias and Sagarakti-Suryas, the latter of which even appears as Sakti-Surias, while Nazi-Murudas itself is found under the form of Nazi-Rattas. Similarly Duri-galzu and Kurigalzu take the place of Dur-Kurigalzi. There is no reason, therefore, why Nazi-Murudas should not have been familiarly known as Na-Muruda, more especially in distant Canaan.

Indeed we can almost fix the date to which the lifetime of Nimrod must be assigned. We are told that out of his kingdom "one went forth into Assyria," and there "builded" Nineveh and Calah, The cuneiform inscriptions have informed us who this builder of Calah was. He was Shalmaneser I., who was also the restorer of Nineveh and its temples, and who is stated by Sennacherib to have reigned six hundred years before himself. Such a date would coincide with the reign of Ramses II., the Pharaoh of the Oppression, as well as with the birth-time of Moses. It represents a period when the influence of Babylonia had not yet passed away from Canaan, and when there was still intercourse between the East and the West. Ramses claims to have overcome both Assyria and Shinar, and though the Shinar he means was the Shinar of Mesopotamia and not Chaldæa, it lay within the limits of Babylonian control. The reign of Ramses II. is the latest period down to which, with our present knowledge, we can regard the old influence of Babylonia in Canaan as still continuing, and it is equally the period to which, if we are to listen to the traditional teaching of the Church, the writer of the Pentateuch belonged. The voice of archaeology is thus in agreement with that of authority, and here as elsewhere true science declares herself the handmaid of the Catholic Church.

INDEX

 (deity), 256

Abel (place), 153

Abel-mizraim, 201

Abiliya, 126

Abimelech, 123, 127, 128, 129

Abram (in Babylonian), 169

Achshaph or Ekdippa, 211, 219, 229

Acre (Akku), 134, 154, 155, 157, 229, 235

Adai, 142

Adami, 219, 228

Adapa or Adama, 265

Addar, 153

Adon, 131

Adoni-zedek, 75

Adullam, 212, 221

Ahitub, 154

Ahmes I., 88, 94

Aia, 207

Ajalon, 137, 142

Akizzi, 131

Akkad, 55

Alasiya, 67, 107, 157, 223

'Aluna or 'Arna, 97, 228

Amalekites, 26, 35, 40, 41, 53

Amanus, 62, 107

Amber, 85, 242

Amenôphis II., 106, 110

Amenôphis III., 111, 112, 135

Amenôphis IV. or Khu-n-Aten, 71, 86, 112 et seq.

Ammi, 22, 64, 206

Ammi-anshi, 63, 206

Ammi-satana, 63

Ammiya, 131

Ammon, 22, 36, 38, 64, 179

Ammunira, 124

Amon (god), 87, 99, 110, 114

Amon-apt, 128, 152

Amorites, 28, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43 et seq., 56, 58, 65, 100, 110, 112, 119, 124 et seq., 152, 160, 163, 186, 239

Amorites, god of, 257

Amraphel, 64, 66, 67

Anab, 221

Anaharath, 229

Anakim, 36, 37

Anat, 82, 232, 257

Anu, 82, 169, 257, 259, 260

Anugas or Nukhasse, 98, 102, 107, 110

Aphekah, 239

Apphadana, 111

Aqabah, Gulf of, 26, 108

Aram-Naharaim (Mitanni), 72, 85, 86, 94, 101, 103, 108, 111, 131, 138, 149, 157, 163

Ararat, 46

Argob, 23

Ariel, 213

Arioch (see Eri-Aku), 63, 168

Arisu, 162

Arka, 26, 52, 128, 131

Article, definite, 248

Arvad, 52, 85, 100, 106, 129

Arzai, 143

Asher, 219

Ashêrah, 191, 255

Ashiti-Khaur, 260

Ashkelon, 141, 150, 160, 236

Ashtaroth-Karnaim, 35, 36, 133, 153, 161, 228

Ashtoreth, 168, 253 et seq., 264

Asphalt, 70

Assyria, 99, 105, 153, 155, 157

Aten-Ra, 113

Augustine, St., 41

Aupa (see Ube), 132

Avim, 54

Ayâb, 152, 153

Aziru, 124 et seq., 129, 131, 133

Baal, 253

Baalbek, 24

Babylon, 66, 67, 91, 102, 105

Babylonia, 55, 62, 72, 83, 100, 111, 124, 138, 142, 143

Babylonians, 87, 89

Balaam, 22, 64, 154

Bashan, 23, 35, 36, 38, 64, 95, 112, 133

Bedad, 257

Beduin, 26, 35, 53, 95, 124, 127, 133, 156, 209, 210

Beer-sheba, 180, 182, 183, 189

Bek'a, 25

Belshazzar, 175

Bene-berak, 135

Beth-anath, 157, 160, 164, 232, 235, 236, 239

Beth-el, 152, 153, 157, 190 et seq., 196, 212, 222, 232, 235

Bethels, 261 et seq.

Beth-lehem, 39, 75, 82, 197, 260

Beth-On, 192

Beth-Sannah, 143

Bethuel, 125

Beth-Ya, 232

Beya or Bâya, 151

Beyrout, 25, 124, 126, 164, 210, 211, 217

Bin-sumya, 136

Biridasyi, 133

Biridî, 134, 135

Bliss, Mr., 85, 119

Bosra, 133

Botanical Gardens at Thebes, 102

Burna-buryas, 111, 153 et seq.

Buzruna, 133

Calah, 269

Camel, 170

Cana, 222

Canaan, 41 et seq., 154, 157, 267; art of, 243 et seq.; merchants in, 154, 243

Canaanite words, 216, 245-8

Canaanites, 41, 106

Carchemish, 44, 45, 62, 66, 86, 99, 107

Carmel of Judah, 72, 146, 157, 160, 232, 235, 236, 239

Carmel, Mount, 29, 164, 229, 236, 238, 262

Cedars, 19

Chedor-laomer, 35, 64, 168

Chimham, 157, 235

Chinneroth, 228

Chiun, 258

Circumcision, 176

Copper, 57, 62, 85, 109, 242

Creation legends, 267

Cush, 91, 149, 268

Cyprus, 57, 60, 85, 98, 103, 157, 160

Dagon, 82, 169, 259

Damascus, 24, 35, 65, 98, 133, 176, 227, 236

Dapul, 160, 220, 236

Dead Sea, 21, 22, 74, 165, 177

Debir, 80, 221, 236, 237, 239

Deluge story, 267

Dor, 26

Dothan, 227

Doughty, Mr., 262

Dragoman, 146

Dudu, 125

Ea, 87

Ebed-Asherah, 89, 126 et seq.

Ebed-Sullim, 129

Ebed-Tob, 51, 71, 72, 75, 78, 88, 118, 121, 135, et seq., 155, 174

Ebyôn, 245

Edom, town of, 153; god, 229, 256

Edomites, 39, 53, 108, 206, 248

Ekron, 231

Elam, 56, 63, 88

Elephants, 101

Eliezer, 176

Elimelech, 140, 148

Elimelech of Tyre, 129

Ellasar (Larsa), 64, 69

El-rabi-Hor, 131

Emim, 36, 37, 38

En-athon, 136, 154

En-gedi, 40

En-han-nabi, 153

Ephraim, Mount, 30; sons of, 202, 231

Eri-Aku (Arioch), 63, 65 et seq.

Eta-gama (or Aidhu-gama), 129, 131, 132, 133

Ethiopia, 142, 149

Euphrates, 96, 101

Fenkhu, 104, 226

Galeed, 192

Gath, 137, 143, 144, 203, 230, 231

Gath-Carmel, 138, 143, 146, 148, 231

Hadad, 82, 257

Hadad-dan, 151

Hadad-el, 143

Hadad-Rimmon, 257

Hadad-sum, 250

Hadashah, 74, 160, 165, 236, 238, 239, 241

Hamath, 43, 53, 164, 211, 219, 227, 239

Harankal, 98, 110

Har-el, 77, 184, 231

Harran, 73, 166, 259

Havilah, 62

Hazezon-tamar, 40, 50, 179

Hazor, 94, 129, 211, 219, 228

Heber, 147

Hebrew language, 246 et seq.; words in tablets, 247

Hebron, 36, 37, 43, 46, 93, 146, 148, 164, 172, 185 et seq., 197, 201, 232, 239

Hêkâl, etymology of, 73, 249

Hêkalim, 231

Helkath, 232

Hermon, 18, 29, 52, 164, 239, 262

Herodotus, 43, 262

Hin, 245

Gath-Rimmon, 135

Gaulos, 245

Gaza, 94, 96, 110, 143, 144, 150, 157, 181, 215, 236, 239

Gaza or Khazi, 134, 226

Gebal, 43, 53, 85, 89, 94, 123 et seq., 152, 211, 217

Gebel Usdum, 178

Gerar, 181, 189

Gezer, 94, 134, 136, 141, 144, 151

Gibeah, 232

Gilu-khipa, 111

Girgashites, 43, 51

Goshen, 201

Gudea, 62, 70

Hittites, 41, 43, 46 et seq., 86, 89, 102, 104, 107, 110, 118, 124, 131, 156, 157, 163, 185, 209, 251

Hivites, 43, 52

Horites, 35, 39, 52, 64

Horus, 92

Hui, 156

Hyksos, 88, 91 et seq., 170, 201

Ibleam, 229

Ihem or Iha (see Yahem), 96, 239

Ilgi, 129

Inuam, 98, 110, 133, 157, 235, 236

Ionian, 127

'Ir, 249

Ir-Shemesh, 238

Iron, 84, 224, 242

Isaiah, 74

Israel, meaning of name, 194

Istar (Ashtoreth), 87, 168, 253

Ituraea, 23

Jabbok, 193

Jachin and Boaz, 161, 262

Jacob-el, 160, 164, 194, 202, 232, 236, 239

Jacob's well, 195

Jebusites, 43, 51

Jehovah-jireh, 77

Jephthah-Hadad, 122, 139

Jerusalem (see Salem), 29, 43, 50, 51, 71, 75, 77 et seq., 88, 142, 143, 160, 165, 173, 236, 239; etymology of name, 73

Joktheel, 239

Joppa, 150, 151, 213, 230

Jordan, 21, 74, 212, 237, 239

Joseph, 200 et seq.

Joseph-el, 202, 230

Kadesh on the Orontes, 43, 96, 98, 104, 111, 131, 132, 157, 163, 209, 217, 226

Kadesh-barnea, 35, 39, 58, 64, 180

Kadmonites, 63, 206

Kaft, 83, 85

Kana'an, 41, 157

Kanneh, 132

Kassites, 88, 147, 149, 269

Kedesh (goddess), 256

Keilah, 71, 144, 145, 146

Kenites, 224

Khabiri, 51, 122, 138, 141, 143, 144, 146 et seq.

Khalunni, 133

Khammurabi, 62, 66

Khani, 125

Khata, 44

Khata-sil, 158

Khatip (Hotep), 125, 126

Khayapa, 127

Khazi (Gaza), 134

Khu-n-Aten (Amenôphis IV.), 71, 113 et seq., 120

Kikar, 72, 76, 142

Kinanat, 132

Kinza, 129

Kiriathaim, 35, 38

Kirjath-Sepher, 81, 161, 220, 221

Kishion, 228

Kudur-Lagamar (Chedor-lao-mer), 65, 69

Kudur-Mabug, 65, 69

Kumidi (or Kamdu), 126, 129, 133, 157, 164, 217, 227, 235, 239

Kuri-galzu, 155

Labai, 51, 134 et seq., 141, 143, 145

Lachish, 85, 119, 122, 139, 141, 148

Lagamar, 69

Laish, 25, 228

Lakhmu, 82, 260

Larsa (Ellasar), 65, 66, 69

Lebanon, 27, 60, 62, 101, 262

Levi-el, 239

Libnah, 164, 239

Lot, 65

Lotan (Lutennu), 95, 150, 156, 206

Ma'arath, 232

Mabug, 65

Machpelah, 187, 188

Mad-ga, 70

Mafkat (Sinai), 57, 109

Magan (Sinai), 57, 60

Magoras, 164, 210, 217, 238

Malachite, 109, 110

Malchiel, 135 et seq., 141, 143, 144, 146, 152

Manahath, 150

Max Müller, Dr. W., 81, 160, 206, 221

Mearah, 217

Megiddo, 30, 31, 94, 97 et seq., 134, 135, 150, 212, 226, 257

Melchizedek, 71 et seq., 173

Melkarth, 43

Meneptah, 110, 161, 162, 181

Merom, 160, 227, 236

Midian, 57, 109

Migdol, 153, 155, 165, 230, 239

Misheal, 229

Misi, 95

Mitanni (Aram-Naharaim), 86, 89, 108, 111, 124, 150, 160

Miya-Riya (Meri-Ra), 143

Mizraim, 42

Moab, 21, 36, 38, 53, 153, 165, 180, 237

Mohar, Travels of a, 84, 189, 204 et seq., 209

Moloch, 82, 258

Moriah, 77, 184 et seq.

Moses, 267

Mosheh, 153

Most High God, 173

Musikhuna, 150

Mut-Hadad, 152

Na'amah, 231

Namya-yitsa, 129, 133, 134

Naram-Sin, 57, 59, 60, 168

Nazi-Murudas, 269

Nebo, 82, 257

Negela, 26

Ni, 101, 106, 125, 131, 132

Nimrod, 91, 269

Nin-ip, 79, 144, 174, 256, 258; Bit, 127, 144

Nukhasse (Anugas), 98, 102, 107, 116, 125, 132

On, 25, 92, 191

Pa-Hor, 126

Pakhanate, 128

Palasa, 131

Pa-ur, 142, 144

Pella, 157, 228, 235

Penuel, or Peniel, 193, 262

Perizzites, 20, 52, 162

Pethor, 22, 64

Petrie, Prof., 48, 62, 113, 120

Philistines, 17, 54, 163, 182

Phoenicia, 25, 85, 99, 152, 191

Phoenician alphabet, 251

Phoenicians, 33, 177

Pinches, Mr., 70, 231

Pu-Hadad, 150

Purple-dye, 84, 85

Qana or Qina, 97

Qatna, 107, 132

Ra, 92

Rabbah, 78, 143, 144, 146, 232

Ramses II., 21, 45, 74, 81, 110, 157 et seq., 161, 204, 234, 269

Ramses III., 21, 53, 74, 109, 110, 162 et seq., 181, 235, 240

Raphia, 222

Raphon, 37, 228

Rehob, 222, 231

Rehoboth, 189, 223

Rephaim, 35, 36, 37, 48, 228

Resheph, 21, 237, 251, 256

Rethpana, Lake of, 21, 165, 237, 239

Rianap, 150

Rib-Hadad, 89, 123 et seq., 152

Rimmon, 82, 257

Rimmon-nirari, 116

Rowlands, Dr., 39, 180

Sacrifice of the firstborn, 183, 264

Sacrifices, 263

Salem or Shalem (Jerusalem), 71, 74, 160, 165, 173, 239

Salim (god), 73, 75, 79, 144, 174

Samas-akh-iddin, 116

Sangar (see Singara), 68, 102

Saratum or Zurata, 135, 154

Sarepta, 211

Sardinians, 95, 127

Sargon of Akkad, 49, 55, 87, 167

Scheil, Dr., 121

Schumacher, Dr., 161

Seal-cylinders, 60, 83, 120, 252

Seir, 39, 53, 108, 138, 146

Sela, 160, 236, 239

Set, 251

Seti I., 41, 110, 157, 235

Seti or Suta, 134, 138

Shalem or Salem, 195

Shasu (see Beduin), 40, 41, 104

Shaveh, 71

Shechem, 29, 30, 49, 134, 160, 170, 195, 198, 211, 219

Shenir, 28, 59, 164, 239

Shiloh, 30

Shimron, 227

Shimron-meron, 220

Shinab, 70

Shinar, 67, 68, 269

Ships, 85, 247

Shunem, 135, 229

Sibti-Hadad, 152

Siddim, 35, 40, 64, 177, 178

Sidon, 42, 94, 126, 128, 129, 164, 211, 250

Sihon, 50

Sin (city), 52

Sin (god), 59, 87, 259

Sinai, 57, 58, 100, 109, 160, 259

Singara (see Sangar), 67, 108, 157

Sinuhit, 63, 205 et seq.

Sirah, 232

Sirion, 28

Sitti or Sati, 40

Socho, 160, 230, 236

Sodom, 65, 76, 172, 177, 237

Sonzar, 132

Stone of Job, 161

Subari, 87

Subsalla, 62

Sum-Adda, 154

Sumer, 55, 67

Sumerian, 249

Suri, 87

Sutarna, 111, 150

Sutatna or Zid-athon, 154, 155

Sutekh, 92

Sute, 40, 95, 127, 134, 143

Su-yardata or Su-ardatum, 137, 144, 145

Su-yarzana, 134

Taanach, 97, 150, 229

Tadu-khipa, 112

Tagi, 137, 143, 146

Takhis, 100, 110, 211, 220

Tamar (Tumur), 150

Tammuz, 262

Tanit, 194, 260

Tapun, 232

Tarqu, 222

Tebah, 245

Teie, 112, 120

Tel el-Amarna, 120 et seq.

Tel-loh, 61

Temple, 262

Terebinth, 19

Thahash, 100, 220

Thothmes II., 94, 101

Thothmes III., 36, 44, 53, 67, 78, 83, 94 et seq., 110, 146, 208, 224, 242

Thothmes IV., 110

Tibhath, 217, 227

Tidal, 64, 70

Tidanum, 59, 62

Timnah, 220

Tithes, 175

Tomkins, Mr., 37, 82

Tree, sacred, 182

Trumbull, Dr., 39, 180

Tunip, 99, 104, 107, 111, 125 et seq., 133

Turbazu, 122, 138

Tusratta, 112

Tut-ankh-Amon, 156

Tyre, 43, 85, 94, 123, 127, 129, 157, 162, 211, 218, 235, 244, 262

Ube or Ubi, 132, 216, 222

Ugarit, 106, 236

Ur, 65, 166

Uru, 73, 77

Usu, 128, 157, 211, 218, 235

Winckler, Dr., 78

Yabitiri, 150

Yabni-el, 122

Yahem (see Ihem), 230

Yamutbal, 65, 69

Yankhamu, 146, 151

Yapa-Hadad, 127

Yapakhi, 134

Yasdata, 135

Yerzeh, 150, 160, 230, 236

Yidya, 150

Yikhbil-Khamu, 140, 144

Yisyara, 121

Zahi, 83, 103

Zakkal, 163

Zamzummim, 36, 38

Zedek, 75

Zelah, 122, 139, 148, 232

Zelem, 258

Zemar, 26, 52, 100, 123, 126 et seq., 152

Zephath, 232

Zimmern, Dr., 79

Zimrida or Zimridi, 121, 122, 123, 127, 128, 129, 130, 139

Zinzar, 132

Zion, 197

Zippor, 162

Zoan, 93, 170, 198

Zorah, 137

Zurata or Saratum, 135, 154

Zuzim, 35