Some researchers and commentators have made a link from Edomite king Job-ab with the Patriarch Job in the bible. If such is the case, then Job is the most famous Edomite in the Bible after Esau himself.
Job has forty-two chapters dedicated to the story of his righteousness – one of the three most righteous men listed in the Bible [Ezekiel 14;14], with the antediluvian Patriarch Noah and the Prophet Daniel – and his subsequent testing by the Adversary, with the Eternal’s agreement. The written structure of the book of Job is unusual, in that it combines prose and poetry. No other book in the Bible uses this ‘prose-poetry-prose pattern.’ Job is considered the most ancient book in the Bible [Job 19:23]. In addition to its profound biblical message it is regarded as a literary masterpiece. The book contains dialogue between Job and his four friends as well as Job’s conversations with the Creator. There is much wisdom to glean as well as valuable information regarding the pre-Adamic or angelic world, particularly impressive creatures such as Leviathan and the Behemoth – ostensibly dinosaurs and allegorically, angelic beings.
The Book of Job: Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence, Gerard Gertoux, 2015:
‘Many people who think themselves wise assume that Job was a fictional character like the Good Samaritan, a parable to teach morals. This assumption is illogical and even absurd. Indeed, what is the importance of knowing many insignificant details… [about his life] (Job 42:9-14)… If the Book of Job was a parable Satan would have persecuted a fictional character. Those who suppose that Satan must be the principle of evil lead to an absurdity because in that case God would[n’t] have discussed with “it”… [the details regarding Job’s character] (Job 1:8-10).’
The name Jobab means ‘to call’ or ‘cry shrilly’ from the verb yabab, whereas Job means ‘returning enemy’ or ‘the persecuted.’ Job was blessed greatly after his trial, with much more than all he possessed before his series of vicissitudes.
Job 42:10-17
Common English Bible
10 Then the Lord changed Job’s fortune when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord doubled* all Job’s earlier possessions. 11 All his brothers, sisters, and acquaintances came to him and ate food with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him concerning all the disaster the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a qesitah [an amount of money: value not known] and a gold ring. 12 Then the Lord blessed Job’s latter days more than his former ones. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys… 16 After this, Job lived 140 years*and saw four generations of his children [4 x 35 years]. 17 Then Job died, old [210 years old]and satisfied.
In the Jewish Encyclopedia, “Jose B. Ḥalafta [states] that Job was born when Jacob and his children entered Egypt and that he died when the Israelites left that country.” This equals two hundred and forty-one years. It would place Job’s testing around 1587 BCE at the age of one hundred and his birth in 1687 BCE. This scenario fits, though a marriage to second wife Dinah does not work – to be discussed later – and how did Job live a staggering one hundred years longer than any one else of his generation?
The orthodox view maintains that the Book of Job belongs to the era before the Exodus and if Eliphaz is linked rather to Ishmael – as a Tema-nite – and not Esau’s son by the same name, then the patriarch Job lived sometime between the time of Ishmael, who died in 1754 BCE and the children of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt in 1446 BCE. Saying that, Esau’s grandson would have been born circa 1725 BCE and sits convincingly in the same time frame.
Chuck Swindoll says regarding Job:“Though we cannot be certain, Job may have lived during the time of Jacob or shortly thereafter.” A chronology based on Job living seventy years, then receiving an additional one hundred and forty, would mean that he lived after Jacob. Jacob died in 1670 BCE and Job would have been born fourteen years later in 1656 BCE – the beginning of Jobab’s reign as king of Edom for ten years. This suggests that Jobab and Job were two different people.
If Job lived one hundred and forty years after his testing, being blessed doubly, then his age at his testing in 1586 BCE, would have been seventy. Job living to two hundred and ten* would have been a very special blessing and reward, as he was afforded an extra seventy years or so on top of what people were usually living at that time; about one hundred to one hundred and forty years. Job’s death in 1446 BCE, would indicate he would have known the Israelites had been freed, for he ‘died satisfied.’ His birth would have been some forty years after Jacob’s family entered Egypt and when Joseph was seventy years old and had been Vizier for forty years.
Moslem tradition posits that after his father died, Job journeyed to Egypt to marry Rahme or Rahma, the daughter of Ephraim – or possibly Manasseh according to some sources – ‘who had inherited from her grandfather Joseph his beautiful robe [of many colours].’ The chronology supports this scenario, as a daughter being born circa 1660 BCE is likely and would mean she was the same age as Job when they married – circa 1615 BCE, a year after Joseph’s death – and would have time to have ten children by 1586 BCE.
Job 1:1-22
Amplified Bible
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job;and that man was blameless andupright,and one who feared God (with reverence) and abstained from and turned away from evil (because he honored God).
2 Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3 He also possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke (pairs) of oxen, 500 female donkeys*, and a very great number of servants, so that this man was the greatest [and wealthiest and most respected] of all the men ofthe east.
To be located in the east, means Job may not have been an Edomite or living in the land of Uz associated with Seir [Genesis 36:28]. The alternatives for the location of Uz include a son of Aram called Uz and a son of Nahor [Genesis 10:23; 22:21]. Both equate to some admixture and as the peoples of northern and central Italy today [refer Chapter XXV Italy: Nahor & the Chaldeans]. This writer considers it a distinct possibility that Job is from, or could be an ancestor of, an Italian lineage as opposed to a Jewish one. We will compare the evidence as we progress.
4 His sons used to go (in turn) and feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send word and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When the days of their feasting were over, Job would send (for them) and consecrate [H6942 to set apart, to be holy] them, rising early in the morning and offering burnt [sin] offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job did this at all (such) times.
It has been inferred by some that ‘on his day’ refers to Job’s birthday or the son’s birthdays and that his day was a special occasion; but the Hebrew wording indicates, that his refers to each of the brothers in turn. As there were seven of them, it follows that they likely held a banquet every day of the week, rotating from house to house, as indicated in verse five. This is evidence of the brothers’ prosperity, as well as the close relationship they maintained with one another. Job’s concern for them and offering sacrifices on their behalf could mean the brothers were debauched in their carousing and leading their sisters astray. Or more likely from the context, that the sons were righteous, as Job could only consecrate or sanctify someone holy. The fact that Job is offering sacrifices on their behalf and not his own, would indicate that he was a priest. If so, Job would have been a priest of the Most High, of the Order of Melchizedek. Perhaps ‘a man in the land of Uz’ is an inspiration for the film The Wizard of Oz or the poem Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
The support for Job being a priest of note is found in the Book of Jasher, where the Pharaoh of Egypt summoned his two counsellors, Reuel the Midianite and Job the Uzite – ‘from Mespotamia, in the land of Uz.’ When studying Abraham’s son Midian we looked at Moses’s father-in-law Jethro and his status as a High Priest and possibly one of three priests acquainted with the Pharaoh, including Job and Balaam. Recall that Reuel is Jethro’s last or family name from his father and Jethro his priestly name [refer Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia]. Notice that the reference to Uz is in Mesopotamia and not Edom, Canaan or Arabia. This lends support towards the Uz from either Aram or Nahor.
It is worth noting, that support for Job living east of Edom, is the fact that the prophet Balaam was from a city called Pethor [Numbers 22:5; Deuteronomy 23:4].
Numbers 23:7
Amplified Bible
Balaam took up his (first) discourse (oracle) and said: “Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram (Syria), from the mountains of the east…
Balaam lived in the east and he was from Aram. Now the city of Pethor was situated in northern Mesopotamia, on the banks of the Euphrates River. In the region we have discussed when studying Nahor, the very area known as Aram-Naharaim discussed in Chapter XXV. Jethro from Midian, lived in the east, in the north of the Arabian Peninsula, east of Egypt and south of Canaan. Balaam from Aram-Nahar-[aim] lived in the east, in Mesopotamia, north of Canaan.
The time frame means that Jethro, Job and Moses were contemporaries towards the end of Job’s life, just as Job was with Joseph when he was younger. The fact Job visited Egypt and may have married Joseph’s grand daughter, means he must have surely met Imhotep the Vizier of Egypt [refer Appendix VI: Joseph & Imhotep – One man, different name?]. The later Pharaoh prior to the Exodus, apparently was not enamoured with Job’s counsel regarding the Israelite slaves and who could well have been Moses’s adopted father, Amenemhet III – who reigned from 1529 to 1484 BCE – the sixth king of the 12th Dynasty [refer Appendix VII Moses & the Exodus – Fabrication or Fact?].
The land of Uz may well have been a separate land unique in its connection with Edom – indications are that it could have been northerly in the Hauron Valley of Bashan in the Transjordan, or southerly on the Kings’s Road between Bozrah and Elath adjoining the Red Sea – and named after Seir’s great grandson Uz, the brother of Aran, also similar to the name Aram and the son of Dishan, who was in turn the son of Lotan.
As Job is not Jobab, then his descent from Edom is questionable. It hinges in part, on his four friends and their origins. We have already linked the Uz of Aram and Uz of Nahor as the modern Italians. Gether, another son of Aram is the ancestor of the Spanish [Chapter XXIII Aram & Tyre: Spain, Portugal & Brazil]. The link with Spain is through the Sephardic Jew, who were located in the Iberian Peninsula. Jews had a strong presence in Italy, as highlighted by William Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice. Lotan of Seir may have a connection with Lot’s sons Moab and Ammon, the modern day French. Could these links with Spain and France find an answer within the peoples nestled there, known as the Basque and Catalonians? [Chapter XXVI The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran]
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them.
7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.” 8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil[because he honors God].” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not put a hedge [of protection]around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands [and conferred prosperity and happiness upon him], and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But put forth Your hand now and touch (destroy) all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” 12Then the Lord said to Satan,“Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.”So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.
The Creator barred the Adversary from actually killing Job, though all else was available to Satan in seeking to turn Job from his devotion to the Eternal. Satan did not understand Job’s heart; in thinking Job’s faithfulness was based on what the Creator had given or done for him. The Almighty though, seeks those who love and trust Him, regardless of what He does for them. Those individuals with that mindset will later be given all things, even though it is not that, that fires their passion for loyalty. one wonders, if Satan only ever loved the Almighty because of what they had been given. Thus their loyalty could be broken. Whereas Job’s faith, could be tested indefinitely and he would still remain steadfast. When the Creator says there is none like Job, this would have been in approximately 1586* BCE. Now Jacob died in 1670 BCE and all his sons with Levi being the last – died by 1611 BCE. Joseph had lived for the first forty years of Job’s life from 1656 to 1616 BCE and so the statement is immense; though stated thirty years after Joseph’s death and sixty years before Mose’s birth. We know that Joseph pleased the Eternal and was richly blessed.
Genesis 41:38
English Standard Version
And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?”
Hebrews 11:22
English Standard Version
By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
13 Now there was a day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 and [1] a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans [terrorising robbers from SW Arabia] attacked and swooped down on them and took away the animals. They also killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, [2] another [messenger] also came and said, “The fire of God (lightning) has fallen from the heavens and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, [3] another (messenger) also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and have taken them away and have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was still speaking, [4] another [messenger] also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly, a great wind came from across the desert,and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.
The dramatic succession of the loss of Job’s possessions and family, quickly turned from the sublime to the ridiculous… with the such seemingly coincidental catalogue of strange disasters to afflict Job. It is not clear who the Sabeans were. They could at a stretch be the Seba and Sheba from Cush [Chapter XIII India & Pakistan: Cush & Phut]. Geographically closer and far more likely – due to the reference to the Chaldeans – they are either Sheba from Joktan or Sheba of Jokshan, the son of Abraham [refer Chapter XXIV Arphaxad & Joktan: Balts, Slavs & the Balkans and Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia]. Sheba, son of Joktan would be my preferred guess, who would equate to the Romanians today. Coincidently, Ophir another son of Joktan and brother of Sheba, is mentioned in Job 22:24. The reference to the Chaldeans is important, for if Job was descended from Uz of Nahor, then Job would be a Chaldean himself. Why would his own people be attacking him. Yet, this is not a valid reason as some of the worst atrocities are committed by family members against each other.
The fact Job’s sons and daughters are described as young, fits with what we know already about Job and his Ephraimite wife, Uzit. Recall, Isaac was described as young when he was thirty years old. Job and his wife would have married circa 1615 BCE and their ten children would have been born somewhere between 1615 to 1595 BCE. Thus, the eldest at the time of their deaths would have been about twenty-nine and the youngest between nineteen and perhaps twelve*. It would explain how all the children had inheritances and the sons, their own dwellings; particularly as Job was a wealthy ruler, the equivalent of a king.
Job 29:1-25
English Standard Version
2 “Oh, that I were as in the months of old… 7 When I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the square [similar with Lot, Genesis 19;1], 8 the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose and stood; 9 the princes refrained from talking and laid their hand on their mouth; 10 the voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth… 12 because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. 14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. 16 I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. 21 “Men listened to me and waited and kept silence for my counsel. 22 After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them. 23 They waited for me as for the rain… 25 I chose their way and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.
20 Then Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head (in mourning for the children), and he fell to the ground and worshiped (God). 21 He said “Naked (without possessions) I came (into this world) from my mother’s womb, And naked I will return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.
Job 2:1-13
Amplified Bible
Again there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them to present himself [H3320 – yatsab: ‘set, stand’ or ‘station oneself, present oneself’] before the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.” 3 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God]. And still he maintains and holds tightly to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to destroy him without cause.” 4 Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! Yes, a man will give all he has for his life. 5 But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh [and severely afflict him];and he will curse You to Your face.”6So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life.”
The Amplified Bible says regarding verse four, one possible meaning is that ‘according to Satan, Job would be willing to give up his wife (his remaining loved one) to save his own life, thus surrendering his integrity (verse 3). Another is that Satan is hypothetically offering to give up his own life if Job is actually willing to die for his integrity. In any case, this is a bluff on the Adversary’s part, probably to make what they really desire (verse 5) appear less drastic.’
7 So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome boils and agonizingly painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And Job took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes (rubbish heaps). 9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still cling to your integrity [and your faith and trust in God, without blaming Him]? Curse God and die!”10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the [spiritually] foolish women speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God’s will]. Shall we indeed accept (only) good from God and not (also) accept adversity and disaster?” In [spite of] all this Job did not sin with [words from] his lips.
The Septuagint states: “After taking an Arabian wife, he became father to a son whose name was Ennon. But he himself was the son… of his mother Bosorra (Bozra)…” Job’s wife does not appear to be led by the Holy Spirit in the same way as Job. She reminds one of Lot’s wife. Her lack of understanding is indicative of an unconverted mind. For she thinks that Job is placing precedence in his own righteousness and faith, rather than perceiving that Job is actually focusing foremost, on the the will of the Eternal. Islamic tradition calls Job’s wife Rahma and Jewish sources state her name as Uzit, [in the Greek Sitidos (Sitis)]. Sitis may have the same root as Satan in Hebrew or Sotah, meaning ‘unfaithful wife’ [Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega]. Uzit was Job’s first wife and is believed to have died during Job’s afflictions.
11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place, [1] Eliphaz the Temanite [possibly ‘Eliphaz the one of Teman’ meaning ‘the man of Teman (city)’ rather than ‘Eliphaz the descendant of Teman’ or Eliphaz the Tema-nite of Ishamel], [2] Bildad the Shuhite, and [3] Zophar the Naamathite; for they had made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him. 12 When they looked from a distance and did not recognize him [because of his disfigurement], they raised their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe [in grief] and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky [in sorrow]. 13 So they sat down on the ground with Job for seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
Eliphaz stated here, is assumed by most to be the son of Esau and Adah. Eliphaz had been taken captive by Joseph and according to the Book of Jasher, Eliphaz was a notable military leader and killed in Rameses, Egypt at the age of eighty-three. If he was born approximately when Esau married Adah, in circa 1777 BCE and died in 1694 BCE; he was not alive in 1586 BCE when Job was afflicted. Therefore, this Eliphaz is a different person, though could still be a descendant of Eliphaz via his son Teman and a potential cousin of Job. Edom and by extension Teman in the Bible are described as ‘wise men’ with ‘understanding’ which is an apt description, of the Jewish intelligentsia [Obadiah 1:8-9].
There remains the argument, that this Eliphaz is descended from Tema, a son of Ishmael. Thus the Temanite description could actually be a reference to Tema and not Teman. Later in the Book of Job, Tema is mentioned with a Sheba. From the context, most likely Sheba the nephew of Midian; though Sheba of Joktan cannot be ruled out.
Job 6:19
English Standard Version
The caravans of Tema look, the [travellers] of Sheba hope.
There is a scripture in Job which alludes to Eliphaz possibly being old when he speaks with Job. It is Job’s father who is referenced and Eliphaz measures his own age with other men who are older even than Job’s father.
Job 15:9-10
English Standard Version
9 What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us? 10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father.
Bildad is humorously regarded as the shortest man in the Bible, as he is only a ‘shoe height’ [Shu-hite]. The Shuhites are considered descendants of Shuah, the sixth and youngest son of Abraham and Keturah and the ancestor of the Swedes.
Zophar in the Septuagint LXX: Sophar, meaning ‘to chirp’ or ‘to leap’, the Naamathite, meaning ‘sweet, pleasant’ is proposed by a number of sources as the king of the Minaeans in Arabia – possibly a link with Abraham’s children by Keturah. He is also linked with Eliphaz’s son Zepho or Zephi, grandson of Esau.
Recall, Zepho – meaning ‘watch’ or ‘gaze’ – had also been taken prisoner by Joseph at the time of Esau’s death during the battle of the burial of Jacob in 1670 BCE. It is possible that if it is Zepho, he was still alive and approximately one hundred and forty. There was a town in the land of Judah called Naamah [Joshua 15:41]. Possibly the hometown of Zophar the Naamathite?
We are left with the following two options for Job’s three locutionary friends being an Ishmaelite, a Shuite from Shuah and let’s say a Naamathite from Judah; or alternatively, three Edomites. Either way it does not prove that Job was or wasn’t an Edomite. Though the various references throughout, to Arabia and the east, favours the first option and therefore points towards Job having a closer tie with the Uz from Nahor or Aram rather than the Uz of Seir and Edom.
Later in the Book, there is a fourth friend of Job who becomes exasperated with the other three, mentioned in Job chapter thirty-two, Elihu the Buzite: descended from Buz, the brother of Uz, the son of Nahor [Genesis 22;21].
Job 32:1-10
The Message
1-5 Job’s three friends now fell silent. They were talked out, stymied because Job wouldn’t budge an inch – wouldn’t admit to an ounce of guilt [because he was righteous in his own eyes]. Then Elihu lost his temper. (Elihu was the son of Barakel the Buzite from the clan of [A]Ram.) He blazed out in anger against Job for pitting his righteousness [justifying himself] against God’s [as if God was in the wrong].He was also angry with the three friends because they had neither come up with an answer nor proved Job wrong [even though they had declared Job to be in the wrong].
Job 32:2-3
Living Bible
Then Elihu… became angry because Job refused to admit he had sinned and to acknowledge that God had just cause for punishing him. 3 But he was also angry with Job’s three friends because they had been unable to answer Job’s arguments and yet had condemned him.
Elihu had waited with Job while they spoke because they were all older than he. But when he saw that the three other men had exhausted their arguments, he exploded with pent-up anger.
6-10 This is what Elihu, son of Barakel the Buzite, said: “I’m a young man, and you are all old and experienced. That’s why I kept quiet and held back from joining the discussion.I kept thinking, ‘Experience will tell. The longer you live, the wiser you become.’ But I see I was wrong – it’s God’s Spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible. The experts have no corner on wisdom; getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense. So I’ve decided to speak up. Listen well! I’m going to tell you exactly what I think.
Elihu’s lineage as a Chaldean, lends considerable support for Job being of the same extraction. Elihu clearly sees Job’s predicament better than his other friends and grasps the trial Job is going through. Is this a clue to Job being a Chaldean descended from Nahor too? It is worth remembering that Job though not in the heart of Edomite territory, could have been on the periphery to the northeast or southeast even. Job had easy access to the Pharaoh in Egypt and this supports a southeastern Canaan location at the least. Plus, he was in striking distance of the Sabeans in Arabia and the Chaldean raiding parties from the north.
Job could well have migrated from southern Mespotamia, or even from Paddan-Aram or Haran, like Abraham. This might explain his status as a Priest and his acceptable sacrifices to the Eternal; in that he was not Aramean or Edomite, but rather descended from Abraham’s brother Nahor. A Chaldean who was related to his cousins Bethuel, Rebekah, Laban, Leah and Rachel. Bethuel being the eighth son and youngest brother of Uz the eldest and Buz the second born son of Nahor and Milcah – the sister of Sarah and eldest daughter of Haran. Once the friends begin speaking they start well enough, though soon descend into Uzit’s territory of mis-reading Job, his predicament and the Eternal’s involvement. Their words and his torment lead Job into a less than positive mindset. Even so, he refuses to blame the Almighty, but rather bemoans himself.
Job 3:1-4
Common English Bible
Afterward, Job spoke up and cursed the day he was born. 2 Job said: 3 Perish the day I was born, the night someone said, “A boy has been conceived.” 4 That day – let it be darkness; may God above ignore it, and light not shine on it.
Job 7:1-4
Common English Bible
Isn’t slavery everyone’s condition on earth, our days like those of a hired worker? 2 Like a slave we pant for a shadow, await our task like a hired worker.
3 So I have inherited months [or years] of emptiness; nights of toil have been measured out for me. 4 If I lie down and think – When will I get up? – night drags on, and restless thoughts fill me until dawn.
Job 14:5
Amplified Bible
“Since [mans] days are determined, The number of his months [years] is with You (in Your control), And You have made his limits [a death gene or accident] so he cannot pass (his allotted time) [Ecclesiastes 3:2, NIV: ‘… a time to be born and a time to die’].
Dark, poignant and timeless truths are expressed by Job. We are born into a flawed and decaying world. There is not much to celebrate. Being physical on this earth, means enduring bondage and slavery in a corrupt world, serving evil masters. We enter and exit this life, according to the Almighty’s will and the timing of His plan for us. When Job had endured the testing and trials sent to him for long enough and the Eternal recognised a humble change in an already righteous man, then he restored Job’s wealth and family. Sources record that Job’s second wife was in fact Jacob’s daughter and Zebulon’s twin, Dinah.
Dinah though, was born in 1741 BCE and marrying a seventy year old Job when Dinah was one hundred and fifty-five seems unreasonable. As Job, may have already married an Israelite, it is plausible he did so again; just as Jacob had married into Nahor’s family… Job was doing the reverse. A romantic solution, is that there is some truth in the record and that it was a descendant of Dinah – a great… granddaughter – who Job married.
The Creator doubled all of Job’s assets and wealth and restored the number of ten children he had previously. Curiously, the three daughters are named, though the sons are not.
Job 42:10-16
Common English Bible
10 Then the Lord changed Job’s fortune when he prayed for his friends… 12… the Lord blessed Job’s latter days more than his former ones… 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named one Jemimah [Dove], a second Keziah [Cinnamon, ‘ended’], andthe third Keren-happuch [Darkeyes (from mascara) or ‘radiate with beautiful eyes’]. 15 No women in all the land were as beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave an inheritance to them along with their brothers [The message: Their father treated them as equals with their brothers, providing the same inheritance].
The fascinating reason Job’s daughters are named, while his sons are not, is that the daughters are clearly new born girls; whereas, the sons were not new; with no need to introduce them, as the same sons had returned, or simply: they had been resurrected. We are presented new daughters but not new sons. The sons names being omitted is not a mistake, but a clue. In Job chapter one we learned that Job’s sons were righteous. This is why Job offered sacrifices for them and how they could have been resurrected. For Satan took their lives without good cause. The Adversary killed them before their time, to spite Job. Job knew full well, that his children could be resurrected.
Job 33:28-30
The Message
28 But God stepped in and saved me from certain death. I’m alive again! Once more I see the light!’ 29-30 “This is the way God works. Over and over again He pulls our souls back from certain destruction so we’ll see the light – and live in the light!
Immeasurable joy must have filled Job to have his seven sons miraculously raised from the dead. The three original daughters had houses and an inheritance, but they were not inviting their brothers or being hospitable. The fact they were not resurrected implies they were not converted like their brothers.
The new daughters given to Job through his second wife Dinah, were given an inheritance like their half-brothers. Job’s replacement daughters were not like the first three. Job’s new daughters were the most fair and stunning women in that region of the world. The KJV says: “And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job…” The Hebrew word for fair or beautiful, is the same word used for Sarah, Rachel and Esther. King David is also described the same way, as is Joseph. It does mean beauty or handsomeness, though includes the description of one being fair in complexion. They are not described as ruddy or red like Esau and David; for the implication is that Sarah, Rachel, Esther, Joseph and Job’s three daughters, Jemimah, Keziah and Keren-happuch were blond and blue eyed. Whereas, Rebecca and Moses though beautiful, are not described as fair. Nor are Hagar, Keturah, Abraham, Isaac or Jacob.
Genesis 39:5-6
King James Version
5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. 6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly [H8389, an attractive ‘figure or appearance’], person,and well favoured [H3303, fair, beautiful].
AMP: “… Now Joseph was handsome and attractive in form and appearance.” YLT: “… And Joseph is of a fair form [or well built], andof a fair appearance [or good-looking].”
The Book of Job – Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence, Gerard Gertoux, 2015:
‘Why does the Bible specify that God gave 140 years of extra life to Job? Only the context allows us to answer this question. According to the Talmud, Moses wrote the Book of Job (Baba Bathra 15a) and this information is very likely true for the following reasons: the writer of the Book of Job knew him intimately because he was able to give the names of his three daughters (Job 42:12-14) as well as the exact assessment of his cattle and herds, it can be assumed that he must have met him after his trial around 1640 BCE [1586 BCE]. When Moses (1613-1493) [1526-1406 BCE] came in Midian (from 1573 to 1533) [1486-1446] he had to have met Job (1710-1500) [1656-1446] who was around 137 years old [170 and Moses was 40 years of age] at that time. Job probably heard through Moses that the Israelites were under the yoke of Egypt (since 1748 BCE) [1593 BCE] and that he had tried to stop their oppression, but without success. In the same manner that Job saw the end [to] his suffering, he also saw the end of suffering for the Israelites, 33years before his death [in 1446 BCE].
If God had given him only 100 additional years, Job would not have been able to see this extraordinary deliverance. Similarly, Moses saw the Promised Land before he died (Deuteronomy 32:48-52) [in 1406 BCE, the year of his death].’
Excerpt from Chapter XXIX Esau: The Thirteenth Tribe
The fifth and youngest son of Shem, is Aram. Aram is the only son of Shem in the Bible, to list Shem’s grandsons. This signifies that they must be identifiable nations and peoples as we learned with the sons of Gomer, Javan and Cush. Though not as disparate or numerous as the Canaanites with over forty nations of descent or Mizraim with over thirty nations. It is recommended to read in tandem with this section: Chapter XV The Philistines: Latino-Hispano America.
Genesis 10:23
English Standard Version
The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
Origin of the Nations, Herman Hoeh – capitals his, emphasis & bold mine:
‘Trouble is boiling up in the Middle East. Syria is now the focal point of intrigue [written in 1957]. Where is Syria mentioned in the Bible? Who are the Syrians? The Syrians are the descendants of Aram, a son of Shem. Everywhere in the Old Testament where the word “Syria” or “Syrian” appears in English, the word in Hebrew is Aram or Aramean. The Arameans were called Syrians by the Greeks because they once formed part of the Assyrian Empire dominated by Asshur, the Germanic [rather, Russian] people.’
As discussed, the nation of Syria is an Arab nation and they descend from Ham’s son Mizra [refer Chapter XIV Mizra: North Africa & Arabia]. The words Aram and Aramaean are translated as Syria and Syrian in the Bible. The sons of Aram, dwelt to the northwest of Asshur in northern Mesopotamia and hence the similar sounding names of As-syria and Syria. Other descendants of Aram dwelt to the southwest – near and on the coast of northern Canaan, in juxtaposition to the later Philistines on the southern coast. The sons of Jacob inherited the central coastal region.
‘Now we are about to find an unusual characteristic of the children of Aram. Aram had four sons listed in Genesis 10:23: Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash. Compare this with I Chronicles 1:17. Here the sons of Shem include “Aram, AND Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech.” First, notice that the sons of Aram are raised to the level of brothers in I Chronicles 1 – they are on an equal footing with their uncles!* Further, the name Mash is changed into Meshech, because Mash became associated with Meshech, the son of Japheth!’
We will learn that Mash from Aram, is not associated with Meshech descended from Japheth [refer Chapter X China: Magog, Tubal & Meshech].
‘Why should these sons be elevated to the position of fathers of distinct peoples?Because the sons of Aram must have possessed extremely divergent characteristics. Here is the proof! Where are the sons of Meshech or Mash today? We ought to find them in Russia, since that is where Meshech the son of Japheth is! And indeed we do find them there! In the far north of European Russia dwell the little-known Zyrians or Sirians or Syryenians – the name is spelled in half a dozen different ways.
They are related to numerous small tribes scattered throughout European Russia. And where are the sons of Hul? According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Hul, the brother of Mash, founded Armenia, a land in the Caucasus between the Black and Caspian Sea (Book I, chapter vi, section 4). The Armenians are a very business-like people. Many have migrated to America. The name “Armenian”, like the word “Syryenian” (applied to Mash or Meshech) means a son of Aram, or son of Syria. The ending “-ian” means “son of” in the Armenian tongue!’
We have learned that Gomer and a number of other identities are ascribed to either Armenia or Turkey. So many identities cannot all be Armenian or Turkish. What this shows, is how many diverse peoples at different times, lived at this strategic east-west crossroads in Asia Minor before continuing to migrate. The Armenians and Turks are just the last to arrive and dwell in a region of high migratory activity – they are not descendants of Aram.
‘Present-day Syria, on the Mediterranean, was founded by Uz, according to Josephus. As the descendants of Gether are nowhere mentioned in prophecy, their movements do not need to be included here. See Josephus’ ANTIQUITIES and the article on “Afghanistan” in the BRITANNICA for their present location. No wonder the sons of Aram were raised to the rank of distinct people. They are extremely divergent in national characteristics. Who would ever guess today that all these people had the same father, Aram?’
As it turns out, these divergent people are not all the sons of Aram. The people previously identified as Canaanites and Javan by Dr Hoeh are in fact Aram. Aram’s four sons are all distinct peoples today, though their Haplogroups reveal they are closely related and not as diverse as proclaimed. Finally, relying on Josephus at best has limited value as he addressed what he understood at the time of his writing and at worst, he has been found to be less than reliable in numerous instances. Peoples and nations had a long way to travel in their respective migrations before a settled picture could come into somewhat clearer focus from circa 1600 when the American colonies were forming, more specifically by 1870 when the German and Italian states had united to form nations and particularly from between 1918 to 1945 with the redrawing of European boundaries.
We have seen how the sons of Shem thus far, are located on the periphery of Europe proper: Lud in Iran, Elam in Turkey and Asshur in Russia.
The four sons of Aram are similarly located on the outer edges of Europe, in Spain and Portugal on the Iberian Peninsulaand stretched across the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil, South America. Descendants of Aram are also located throughout the Americas and particularly in Uruguay, Argentina and Chile; though these nations are mixed [refer Chapter XV The Philistines: Latino-Hispano America]. Similarly, descendants of Aram are also located in Italy, though the Italian Peninsula contains more than one lineage of people as we will discover.
In Genesis 25:20, a wife was found for Isaac from Abraham’s brother’s family. This brother had a close association with Aram. Dwelling in the same territory as one of Aram’s sons Uz so that a shared name of Paddan-Aram describes them both. We find in Genesis chapter twenty-two a list of sons, where Uz and Aram are both shared family names.
Genesis 25:20
English Standard Version
… and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuelthe Aramean of Paddan-aram,the sister of Laban[father of Leah and Rachel]the Aramean, to be his wife.
Genesis 22:21-23
English Standard Version
21 Uz [or Huz] his [Nahor’s] firstborn,Buz his brother,Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 (Bethuel fathered Rebekah)…
The word Paddan in Hebrew means ‘a field’ or ‘a plain.’ Therefore, the field or plain of Aram. Both of the sons named Uz from Aram and from Nahor, are the firstborn of their brothers.
Jeremiah 25:19-22
English Standard Version
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz [Italy] and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod) [Spanish speaking Central and South America]; 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre [Aram], all the kings of Sidon [South Africa], and the kings of the coastland across the sea [East & South East Asia]…
Abarim Publications – emphasis & bold mine:
‘Uz in Hebrew means, ‘Contemplation, Inner Strength’, from the verb (‘us), to create inner strength by contemplation.
The name Uz is assigned four times in the Bible:
A [firstborn] son of Aram, a son of Shem… (Genesis 10:23).
The first-born son of Nahor and Milcah (Genesis 22:21).
A descendant of Seir the Horite (Genesis 36:28)…
A location… where Job lived (Job 1:1).
The name Uz probably arose in a language other than Hebrew… but spelled as is, it is identical to the verb (‘us) meaning to counsel, regard:
Noun (‘osma) means strength… Adjective (‘asum) means mighty or numerous. Noun (ta’asuma) is a plural and intensive formmeaning might but a whole lot of it.
The very common noun (‘es) means tree (whose fruits proverbially show its “heart”). Collectively, trees are known as (‘esa)… [such as] the cedars of Tyre…
Probably a by-form of the previous, the verb (‘us) means to counsel or regard with deep inner contemplation. To a Hebrew audience the name Uz would have meant Counsel or Contemplation, an interpretation that is confirmed by Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names, which reads Counsellor. NOBSE Study Bible Name List takes a different approach and goes possibly through the root (‘sh) that yields the noun (es) meaning tree, wood or timber. Hence NOBSE reads Firmness.’
We will study Italy separately, for now looking at the remaining three sons of Aram; Hul, Gether and Mash who none of which are specifically mentioned again in the Bible, even though they are distinct peoples as advocated by Dr Hoeh. Two of the three are prominent and are stated, though with different nomenclature. One is called Tyre throughout the Bible and the other sometimes as Aram or Syria, though invariably by its capital city, Damascus. Damascus as the capital of Aram included primarily the descendants of Gether and today they equate to the Spaniards of Spain. Hul and principally Mash or Meshech, are associated with Portugal and Brazil.
Abarim Publications, bold mine:
‘Aram meaning: ‘Elevated, Citadel’ from the verb (rum), to be high.
Altogether, the name Aram or Syria occurs 12 times in the New Testament [Other] Biblical Arams are:
A son of Shemer, son of Heber, son of Beriah, son of Asher, the eighth son of Jacob and the second of Zilpah (1 Chronicles 7:34).
A district in Gilead (1 Chronicles 2:23).
… the King James and the Darby translations list an Aram in the genealogy of Christ, but this Greek Aram is due to an odd transliteration of the Hebrew name Ram. Modern English versions of the Bible speak of Ram (Matthew 1:3, Luke 3:33).
The name Aram comes probably from the common Hebrew verb (rum) meaning to be high, rise up: The verb (rum) means to be high or high up in either a physical, social or even attitudinal sense, and may also refer to the apex in a natural process: the being ripe and ready-for-harvest of fruits. Subsequently, our verb may imply a state beyond ripe (higher than ripe, overripe), which thus refers to rotting and being maggot riddled. This means that to the ancients higher did not simply mean better, and an arrogant political status that was higher than it should be equaled rot and worms (Acts 12:23).
Derived nouns, such as (rum) and related forms, describe height or pride. Noun (ramut) describes some high thing. The noun (‘armon) refers to a society’s apex: a citadel or palace. The noun (re’em) describes the wild ox, which was named possibly for the same reason why we moderns call a rising market a “bull” market.The similar verb (ra’am) means to rise.
The noun (‘armon), meaning citadel, is thought to derive from a root (‘rm), which, according to BDB Theological Dictionary, is probably a by-form of the Hebrew verb (rum) and which is identical to our name Aram. The name Aram, in fact, may derive from the ideaof a global capital…’
The aspect of being at high altitude is reflected in Spain’s capital Madrid, which averages 646 metres above sea level. This is not necessarily high for a number of towns or cities, though it is the highest capital in the world. Parts of Madrid can be 750 meters above sea level. Some have made note of 666 metres for parts of Madrid and the correlation with the number of the Beast. A film incorporating Madrid as the birthplace of the Antichrist was made by Spanish film director Alex de la Iglesia called, The Day of the beast. Notice the reference to the bull, recalling its strong link with the Philistines and still within Spain’s traditions today [refer Chapter XV The Philistines: Latino-Hispano America]. Finally, the idea of a global capital is insightful; remember this point when we study Italy in Chapter XXV. One source says Aram can mean a flaming fire. Aram’s capital – mirrored by Spain’s capital Madrid today – is represented by Damascus in the Bible and means, a sack of blood. The son of Aram who populates Spain is Gether.
Abarim Publications – emphasis & bold mine:
‘Gether meaning: ‘Winepress Of Vision’, ‘Circle Of The Winepress’ or ‘Fear.’
From (1) the noun (gat), winepress, and (2) the verb (ra’a), to see or understand… and… the verb (tur), to explore or survey… From the verb (gur), to fear.
Jerome suggests that [Gether] consists of two elements.. The verb (yagan) probably meant to beat or press… The second part of the name Gether, according to Jerome, may come from the verb (ra’a), meaning to see: The verb (ra’a) means to see, and by extension to understand. It may mean to become visible (of, say, an angel) or to become understandable (of, say, a theory). Noun (ro’eh) means either seer, or prophetic vision, and noun (mar’a) means either vision as means of revelation, or mirror.’
The Spanish are known for their wine production.
‘The verb (garar) means to drag or drag away, mostly in a circular or repetitive* motion. The verb (gara) means to strive or agitate strife, obviously not by means of one singular assault but rather by repeated provocations and withdrawals. Noun (tigra) means contention or opposition. Nouns (gor) and (gur) both denote lion cubs. Perhaps young male lions were named after the verb (gur) because they are expelled from the pride and are forced to roam adjacent territories. Perhaps a third identical verb (gur) means to dread, but perhaps it describes dread that is built up over time and from many little threats and suspicions. Nouns (magor) and (megora) mean fear or terror…’
Judges 10:6
New Century Version
Again the Israelites did what the Lord said was wrong. They worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth, the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, and Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. The Israelites left the Lord and stopped serving him.
Judges 18:7
Bible in Basic English
Then the five men went on their way and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, living without thought of danger, like the Zidonians, quiet and safe; for they had everything on earth for their needs, and they were far from the Zidoniansband hadno business with Aram.
2 Samuel 8:6
English Standard Version
Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
Isaiah 7:8
New King James Version
For the head of Syria [Aram] is Damascus, And the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, So that it will not be a people.
Isaiah 9:12
English Standard Version
The Syrians [Spanish] on the east and the Philistines [Central and South America] on the west devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
Isaiah 22:6
Bible in Basic English
And Elam [Turkey] was armed with arrows, and Aram came on horseback; and the breastplate of Kir [wall or boundary with Moab] was uncovered.
2 Kings 16:10
English Standard Version
When King Ahaz [King of Judah] went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details.
Jeremiah 49:23
English Standard Version
Concerning Damascus: “Hamath [Nigeria] and Arpad [Ethiopia] are confounded, for they have heard bad news; they melt in fear, they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
Ezekiel 27:18-19
New Century Version
“‘People of Damascus became traders for you because you have many good things and great wealth. They traded your goods for wine fromHelbon, wool from Zahar, and barrels of wine from Izal. They received wrought iron, cassia, and sugar cane in payment for your good things.
Amos 1:5
Amplified Bible
“I also will break the bar [of the gate] of Damascus, And cut off and destroy the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven (Wickedness), And the ruler who holds the scepter, from Beth-eden (Damascus); And the people of Aram [conquered by the Assyrians] will go into exile to Kir,” [Moab] Says the Lord.
The reference to ‘the gods of Aram, Baal and Ashteroth’ as well as their altar, is the same religion of their neighbours or affiliated peoples. Today, the descendant religion of this ancient false system of worship is the universal church of Catholicism. Notice the Syrians and Philistines in the Bible are linked frequently, just as Spain and Spanish Central and South America are closely linked by history, culture, migration and religion. The Aramaeans have had an influential role in the affairs of Ephraim and Judah [refer chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes and Chapter XXXIII Manasseh & Ephraim – the Birthright Tribes]. Damascus is highlighted as an economic power in the past, as Spain historically and today, is one of the biggest economies in the world.
Spain is located on the eastern Iberian Peninsula in south west Europe. The peninsula has witnessed a lot of activity over the centuries with the influx of numerous peoples and empires. The Phoenicians arrived in the ninth century BCE or earlier, followed by the Carthaginians, the Greeks and the Romans; with the Romans having a lasting impact on Spain’s culture, naming it Hispania. The invading Visigoths drove out the Romans circa 500 CE. In 711 the Moors, including returning Alans and Vandals came across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa and re-conquered most of Spain, naming it al-Andalus – alAn[s] and -[V]Andal’s. They would remain there for hundreds of years until the Europeans retook Spain as part of the Reconquista [refer Chapter XV The Philistines; Latino-Hispano America].
In 1137, the Kingdom of Aragon was formed and in 1139, the Kingdom of Portugal was established. In 1469, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon married. The infamous Spanish Inquisitions began in 1478 and a year later, the Kingdom of Spain was formed when Isabella and Ferdinand were made King and Queen uniting Aragon and Castile. In 1492, the Reconquista ended with the conquest of Grenada and Columbus [re]discovering the New World, while searching for India – hence the naming of the West Indies.
During the 1500s and the Age of Exploration, Spain became the most powerful country in Europe and realistically the world. Fuelled by their North and South American colonies and the great wealth of gold they acquired. A turning point in the year of 1588 was the battle of the world’s two greatest navies, with the British – led by Sir Francis Drake – defeating the Spanish Armada.
Spanish men
In 1761 Spain joined the Seven Years’ War against their old nemesis Great Britain. In 1808 the Peninsular War was fought against the Napoleon led French Empire and the Spanish American wars of independence began. By 1833 the majority of the Spanish territories in America had gained their independence. The Allies won the Peninsular War in 1814, with Spain being freed from French rule. Spain later lost the Spanish-American war of 1898 and ceded huge territory in the continental United States as well as Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
Spanish women
Spain became a republic in 1931 and in 1936, Spain endured a civil war. The nationalist forces won – beating the Republicans – with a General, Francisco Franco becoming leader and commencing a dictatorship lasting until 1975. From 1959, the Spanish miracle, began; a period of sustained economic growth and prosperity. Spain had a GDP of $1.39 trillion in 2019, making it the 14th largest economy in the world.
‘The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Spanish global shipments during 2021.
Vehicles: US$54.9 billion
Machinery including computers: $26.3 billion
Mineral fuels including oil: $24.9 billion
Electrical machinery, equipment: $20.5 billion
Pharmaceuticals: $20.3 billion
Plastics, plastic articles: $16.2 billion
Fruits, nuts: $12.5 billion
Iron, steel: $10.8 billion
Meat: $10.6 billion
Articles of iron or steel: $9.4 billion
Mineral fuels including oil was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 100% since 2020. In second place for improving export sales was iron and steel which rose 69.6%.’
Abarim Publications – emphasis & bold mine:
‘Hul meaning: ‘Circle, Writhing.’ From the verb (hul), to writhe.
The name Hul comes from the root group (hul I & II): Verb (hul I) denotes a whirling in circular motions.* It comes with quite a cluster of derivatives, most notably the noun (hol), meaning sand; the noun(hil), meaning pain so bad that it makes one writhe (specifically childbirth)… Verb (hul II) means to be strong, and the important derived noun (hayil) means might. A by-form of the previous: the verb (halam I) means to be strong.’
Hul’s meaning of strong is similar to Uz, of strength and Hul’s circular motion is the same as for Gether. Both Gether and Hul writhed in motion and gave ‘birth’ to nations. Hul identifies with Portugal as it gave birth to the nation Brazil. Brazil equates to the youngest of Aram’s four sons, Mash; specifically addressed as Tyre in the Bible. The Mash or Meshech from Aram does share with Meshech from Japheth the trait of being part of or compressed with, a larger body of people. As Meshech of China is with Tubal and Magog; Mash of Aram is merged with Hul [refer Chapter X China: Magog, Tubal & Meshech]. Brazil has significant numbers of African and American Indian peoples. Prior to that, large numbers of Italians emigrated, corresponding with their eldest brother Uz.
Abarim Publications – emphasis & bold mine:
‘Mash meaning: ‘Departed, Drawn Out’ From the verb (mush), to depart, or (masha), to draw out, or (mashak), to draw or drag.’
The definition of mash is relevant when viewed in the context of the formation of Brazil.
‘In Genesis 10:23, Mash is listed as a son of Aram, who is a son of Shem… In 1 Chronicles 1:17 the same genealogy occurs, although the various generations are now all listed as sons of Shem. And Mash is called (Meshech). Another man named Meshech is mentioned as a son of Japheth, who is another son of Noah (Genesis 10:2). He is mentioned about half a dozen times in the Bible… and it’s clear that these are the names of nations rather than individuals…
The name (Mash) does not occur as regular word in Hebrew, but it may be viewed as a contraction of the word (mush), meaning depart or remove (or rather: could be viewed as an expansion of an original): The verb (mashash) means to feel; to sense or search for tactilely. This verb has no derivatives but does show up in two alternate forms, namely (mush) and (mish).
An assumed whole other verb (mush) or (mish) means to depart or remove… Perhaps these two verbs relate in the sweeping or scanning motion* that usually accompanies tactile reconnaissance. This same motion could be applied to describe[as] being footloose or untethered. Verb (nasa’) describes an upward motion, generally of something that is being pulled upandout so as to remove it.
Noun (nasi’) describes a lifted-up one, i.e. (1) a captain or chief, or (2) a mist or vapor. Noun (si’) means loftiness or pride [see Aram]. Noun (se’et) means dignity, swelling or outburst, a rising-up. This noun is spelled the same as (she’t), ruin or devastation, from the verb (sha’a), to be noisy or ruinous.’
Abarim Publications – emphasis & bold mine:
‘Tyre meaning: ‘Rock‘ From the noun (sur), rock.
Tyre is the Greek/Latin name for the famous Phoenician city often mentioned together with Sidon (Joshua 10:29). It still exists today, being situated south on the coast of Lebanon, just north of Israel. Famous Biblical Tyriansare Hiram, the builder of the temple of Solomon, and Jezebel the wife of king Ahab. Another famous Phoenician was Hannibal of Carthage, which was a Tyrian colony.
The name Tyre could be considered a Hebrew equivalent of the Greek name Peter, and when Jesus said that upon this “rock” he would build his church (Matthew 16:18), his original audience doubtlessly remembered how Solomon built the temple of YHWH on the rock of Phoenician knowledge and resources (1 Kings 5:1-12).
In New Testament times the city of Tyre was still a booming town (spelled in Greek as, Turos). Jesus referred to it (Matthew 11:21), preached to visitors from it (Luke 6:17) and retreated to its region (Matthew 15:21). The apostle Paul spent seven days there while the ship he was travelling with was unloading…
The Semetic, and thus original, name for Tyre is pronounced Zor or Zur… scholars assume that the Hebrew name for Tyre, equals the regular word (sur) meaning rock (Jeremiah 21:13, Job 14:18). In Deuteronomy 32:31 the author compares the gods of the nations to the living God and says, “Indeed, their rock is not like our Rock”: Verb (sur II) means to confine, secure or besiege. Noun (masor) means siege and (mesura) means stronghold. Verb (sur III) means to be an adversary. Verb (sur IV) means to form or fashion. Noun (sura) means form and noun (sir)means image. Verb (sur V)… probably means to be sharp.
The important noun (sur) means rock, and is equivalent to the Greek noun (petra), from which comes the name Peter. Verb (sarar I) means to bind… Adjective (sar) means narrow. Nouns (sar) and (sara) mean distress and yield denominative verb (sara), meaning to suffer^ distress. Verb (sarar II) means to show hostility and relates to verb (sur III). Noun (sar) means adversary.Noun (sara)means vexer or rival-wife. Verb (yasar) means to fashion or form… Verb (srh) probably describes the bleeding of an odoriferous tree. Noun (sari) denotes a kind of costly balsam.’
In the future, Tyre will be become a powerful and problematic political entity. Especially, when allied with the Philistines – the Spanish speaking descended nations in Central and South America, particularly Mexico – against the United States of America [refer Chapter XV The Philistines: Latino-Hispano America].
Joshua 19:29
English Standard Version
Then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to thefortified city ofTyre. Then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea…
1 Kings 7:14
English Standard Version
He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.
2 Chronicles 2:14
English Standard Version
… the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan [elder brother of Naphtali], and his father was a man of Tyre.
He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood,and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sortsof engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father.
Psalm 87:4
New English Translation
I mention Rahab [Egypt] and Babylon to my followers. Here are Philistia [Central and South America] and Tyre [Brazil], along with Ethiopia [India]. It is said of them, “This one was born there.”
Isaiah 23:1,8
New King James Version
The burden against Tyre. Wail, you ships of Tarshish! [Japan] For [Tyre] is laid waste, So that there is no house, no harbor; From the land of [Kitim (Indonesia)] it is revealed to them. Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city,Whose merchants are princes, Whose traders are the honorable of the earth?
Isaiah 23:15-17
Revised Standard Version
15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot: 16 “Take a harp, go about the city, O forgotten harlot!Make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.” 17At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her hire, and will play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth [refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega and Chapter XXV Italy: Nahor & the Chaldeans].
Jeremiah 47:4
BBE
Because of the day which is coming with destruction on all the Philistines [Central and South America], cutting off from Tyre [Brazil] and Zidon [South Africa] the last of their helpers: for the Lord will send destruction on the Philistines, the rest of the sea-land of Caphtor.
Joel 3:4
English Standard Version
“What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily.
Zechariah 9:3
BBE
And Tyre made for herself a strong place, and got together silver like dust and the best gold like the earth of the streets.
Acts 21:3
English Standard Version
When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left [east] we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre…
Brazil was born in the modern age in the year 1500, when Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvarez Cabral, with thirteen ships and twelve hundred men discovered Brazil; thinking it was a large island, while on route to India – subsequently claiming the land for Portugal. In 1532, Sao Vicente was established as the first permanent settlement in Brazil by Portuguese explorer Martim Afonso de Sousa. The primary export was sugar. In 1565 the city of Rio de Janeiro was founded. The Dutch established a colony called New Holland on the northwest coast of Brazil in 1640; while Portugal declared its independence from Spain. The following year, Portugal officially took over the territory of New Holland from the Dutch. In 1727, the first coffee bush was planted in Brazil by Francisco de Melo Palheta. Brazil ultimately became the world’s largest producer of coffee.
Slaves were imported from the Sub-Sahara Western Africa slave trade – as well as the Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique in East Africa – to work the fields. Nearly three million slaves were brought from Africa during the three centuries from 1500 to 1800. The Portuguese during this time had defeated the French to re-take Rio de Janeiro; as well as taking control of several Dutch and British outposts. In 1763, the capital city was moved from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro.
In 1807, the Portuguese royal family escaped from Napoleon and fled to Brazil. In 1815, the former colony was elevated to a kingdom. Although the king, Dom Joao VI, returned to Portugal in 1821, his son Pedro remained in Brazil; declaring Brazil’s independence in 1822, after annexing Uruguay as a province in 1821. Pedro I became emperor of the newly created Empire of Brazil. In 1824, the first constitution of Brazil was adopted and the fledgling country was recognised by the United States. In 1888, slavery was abolished by the Golden Law, with four million slaves being set free. In 1889, the short-lived monarchy was overthrown by a military coup led by Deodoro da Fonseca and replaced with a federal republic. Since then, the country has been ruled by elected presidents as well as enduring^ military coups and martial rule.
Brazilian men
‘The following export product groups categorize the highest dollar value in Brazilian global shipments during 2021.
Ores, slag, ash: US$48.7 billion
Oil seeds: $39.2 billion
Mineral fuels including oil: $38.4 billion
Meat: $18.2 billion
Iron, steel: $14.3 billion
Machinery including computers: $10.7 billion
Sugar, sugar confectionery: $9.4 billion
Vehicles: $9 billion
Food industry waste, animal fodder: $8 billion
Woodpulp: $6.7 billion
Ores, slag and ash was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 68.6% from 2020 to 2021. In second place for improving export sales was the oil seeds product category via a 64.5% increase. Brazil’s shipments of mineral fuels including oil posted the third-fastest gain in value up by 54.2% year over year.’
Brazil has the ninth largest economy in the world and is the dominant economic power in South America, with a GDP of $1.84 trillion in 2019. Brazil’s very ‘diversified economy runs the gamut from heavy industries, such as aircraft and automotive production, to mineral and energy resource extraction. It also has a large agricultural sector that makes it a major exporter of coffee and soy beans.’
Brazil has steadily grown in importance as a prime breadbasket of the world; exporting five of the world’s major crops. The country has two key agricultural regions; one in the Southern region which is fertile from higher rainfall and also a drier North Eastern region. The former is responsible for a big percentage of the nation’s grains, oil seeds and export crops while the latter produces its cocoa and tropical fruits. Other important agricultural products in the country include wheat, rice, sugarcane, corn, citrus and beef. Cattle farming in Brazil is massive with millions of tonnes produced yearly, so much so that deforestation of the Amazon Rain forest has become a critical issue. Nether-the-less, Brazil remains the world’s leading meat exporter. Brazil is also the leading sugarcane producer in the world with a total yield of about six hundred million tonnes every year. Amongst the world’s top soybean producers, Brazil is ranked second. The country also produces vast amounts of corn and is the world’s third largest exporter.
Brazil also ranks highly at number six of the top ten countries with the most natural resources, one place behind Russia. ‘Brazil possesses commodities worth $21.8 trillion, including gold, iron, oil and uranium. The mining industry focuses on bauxite, copper, gold, iron, and tin.’ Brazil impressively, contains the ‘largest gold and uranium deposits in the world and is the second-largest oil producer.’ Timber remains the country’s most valuable natural resource, which accounts for over 12.3% of the world’s total timber supplies. This has echoes of the Cedars of Lebanon, so important to the Phoenicians of Tyre and the Kingdom of Israel for ship building and subsequent mercantile and commercial trade routes throughout the Mediterranean and well beyond the Pillars of Hercules – the Straits of Gibraltar.
There are two distinct identities for Aram, apart from Uz which is incorporated within Italy. The Aram-Damascus component comprised of Gether in Spain and the Hul-Mash descendants of Portugal and Brazil. Aram-Damascus-Gether historically, were arch rivals of the sons of Jacob and up until the modern age remained so. Tyre-Mash-Hul had an economic-trading relationship with Israel, which has been mirrored in recent history. We will study Aram initially and then concentrate on Tyre. The further we go back into pre-history these two identities are blurred, then as we enter the time of Abraham around 2000 BCE, the two begin to become clearer as separate entities. One of the most distinctive identifying points of interest is language. Aramaean was one of the most prominent languages amongst the descendants of Shem and today, the descendant romance languages are equally influential and widespread.
Brazilian women
2 Kings 18:26
English Standard Version
Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah [Hebrew]within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
The top ten spoken languages in the world today include three romance languages of which Spanish and Portuguese are included. Some of the top ten are obviously included like China, India, the Arab nations, Russia and Indonesia which all have sizeable populations, or influence on near neighbours. Whereas, England, France and especially Spain and Portugal have much smaller populations. Their extensive colonies have contributed to the volume of people who speak their languages. The ancient world was no different. The ancestors of the Spaniards and Portuguese travelled the breadth of the world via mercantile trade and in so doing, spread the Aramaic and Phoenician languages.
World Atlas:
1. English – 1.13 Billion Speakers
2. Mandarin – 1.12 Billion Speakers [China]
3. Hindi – 615 Million Speakers [India]
4. Spanish – 534 Million Speakers
5. French – 280 Million Speakers
6. Standard Arabic – 274 Million Speakers
7. Bengali – 265 Million Speakers [Bangladesh]
8. Russian – 258 Million Speakers
9. Portuguese – 234 Million Speakers
10. Indonesian – 199 Million Speakers
Aramaeans were distinctively defined by their use of either the West Semitic Old Aramaic Language between 1100 BCE and 200 CE, written using the Phoenician alphabet and also a modified Aramaic alphabet. As early as 900 BCE, Aramaic competed with the East Semitic Akkadian language and script of Assyria and Babylonia; spreading throughout the Middle East. By 800 BCE, Aramaic had become the lingua franca of the Neo Assyrian Empire and also ‘during the Achaemenid period as Imperial Aramaic. Although marginalised by Greek in the Hellenistic period, Aramaic in its varying dialects remained unchallenged as the common language of all Semitic peoples of the region until the Arab Islamic conquest of Mesopotamia in the [seventh century CE], when it [was] gradually superseded by Arabic.’
The Phoenician language was a member of the Canaanite branch of the Semitic languages. Its descendant language spoken in the Carthaginian Empire was Punic. Their evolved language descendant re-surfaced as Latin, from which we derive the Italian and French languages. Though it is Spanish, which is the biggest heir to ancient Aramaic; and it is Portuguese that comes from a direct line of descent from the original Phoenician – notice the letter P – from Phoenician to Punic, to Portuguese.
Romance Languages of Europe
Who were the Arameans? Is There a Connection Between the Amorites and the Arameans? Daniel Bodi – emphasis & bold mine:
‘In Sumero-Akkadian texts from the period from 2400 to 1600 BCE, Sumerian MAR.TU, Akkadian amurru occur as a geographical term… In OB times, the Amurru region embraced the great Syrian desert, the Orontes River valley, and the Amanus Mountains. In later Assyrian texts, Amurru was an established name for Syria-Palestine.
While in the 24th century BCE, Eblaite sources refer to a “king (LUGAL) of Mar-tu,”… the specific reason why the Amorites began migrating to the south-east of Mesopotamia in the course of the 21st century BCE still eludes us. The period stretching from 2000 to 1595 BCE is sometimes called “The Amorite era,” with reference to the political influence assumed by the Amorites and their epigones. During the 17th century BCE the Amorite power began to decline with the final demise experienced under the attacks of the Hittite king Mursili I, around 1595. There is no surviving Babylonian account of the conquest of Babylon by the Hittites. After this date the Amorite kingdoms are replaced by the establishment of new entities directed by new ethnic groups like the Hittites, the Kassites and the Hurrites. In Late Bronze Age, the kingdom of Mittani… also known as Ḫanigalbat and as Nahrin “Rivers” occupied northern Syria, between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Geographically, the Amorites and the Aramean clans originally occupied thesame region.
Another valuable corpus of texts useful in the reconstruction of the geographic and linguistic continuity between the Amorites and the Arameans is provided by the so-called Suhu texts, from the MB period. Just as with the term Amorite, the term Aram can stand for a toponym, a geographic region in Syria, a conglomerate of tribes, and a language. The earliest attestation of the term Aramu appears as a toponym. The Ebla texts dating from the end of the 3rd millennium BCE mention a toponym a-ra-mu. The Aramean invasions of Mesopotamia from the west began at the latest during the late 2nd millennium BCE and are attested from the time of Tiglath-pileser I (1114-1076 BCE) of Assyria and Marduk-nadin-ahhe (1099-1082 BCE) of Babylonia.
Ahlamu, forerunners of the Arameans, had been present in Mesopotamia in the Kassite period…The Amorites spoke a language belonging to the Northwest Semitic ones to which Phoenician, Aramaic… represent some chronologically more recent offshoots. There seems to exist a linguistic continuity between the Amorite and the Aramaic languages.R. Zadok has suggested that certain eastern members of the Amorite dialect cluster, which were spoken in the Djezireh and on the fringe of the Syrian desert, were the ancestors of the Aramaic language.
In the Hebrew Bible there are two examples where two daughters are offered to the same man. First among the patriarchal stories, Laban offered Jacob two daughters for wives, Leah and Rachel, and later Saul offered David likewise his two daughters, first Merab then Michal. The coarse Jacob-Laban story in Genesis 29:26-28, narrates how the former obtained the two sisters Leah and Rachel for wives seems to serve the purpose of showing how the nemesis or divine retribution is at work.
Jacob cheated his older brother Esau, now he gets cheated in turn by waking up in the morning finding himself in bed with the older daughter Leah while he desired Rachel, the younger one. This patriarchal tradition of incestuous marriages chronologically precedes the strict prohibition of a marriage to two sisters at the same time found in Leviticus 18:18.
The ancestors of the Hebrew tribes issued from Laban’s sister Rebekah (with Isaac) and his two daughters Leah and Rachel (with Jacob, Rebekah’s son) lived inpaddan–‘aram, an expression to be connected with Akkadian paddanu, padanu “the way, the path,” meaning in this case“the way of the Arameans”(Genesis 25:20 “Rebekah [Isaac’s wife], was the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean”; After marrying Rachel and Leah the daughters of Laban the Aramean, Jacob returned to Canaan: Genesis 48:7 [Jacob says] “for when I came from Paddan, Rachel to my sorrow died in the land of Canaan”).
The incestuous practice of giving two daughters to the same man is attested among the Amorites as the Mari documents show. As R. Zadok suggests, the nucleus of some of the chronologically later Aramean tribes seems to have evolved from the previous conglomerate of the Amorite ones.They both occupied Northern Mesopotamia and thrived in the same geographical area.
Moreover, scholars are becoming increasingly aware of the similarities in the marriage transactions between the Amorite semi-nomads and the ancient Hebrews. J. Sasson compares the way Isaac obtained Rebekah, Laban’s sister from the“city of Nahor”inHaran, as a spouse as described in Genesis 24:1-27, with the way the Sim’alite Amorite warlord Zimri-Lim negotiated his marriage with Sibtum, the daughter of Yarim-Lim from Ḫalab (Aleppo), by a proxy as described in several cuneiform letters from Mari ARMT XXVI 10; 11; 13. Both marriage transactions share numerous specific details which are best explained as being due to the conservatism of marriage customs in Northern Syria. They tend to confirm the continuity between the Amorite tribes and the Aramean ones…
Rebekah’s and Sibtu’s betrothals share the following elements: long-distance negotiations by wise servants or ambassadors, rich gifts to the bride and the family of the bride, the veiling of the bride, her own acceptance of her new status, the attachment of maids to her person, the merging of two families, the anxiety of the bride’s family, the long trek back, and the preparation of a chamber for the new mistress of the house. In the case of Jacob being offered two sisters Leah and Rachel as wives, it reflects Laban the Aramean’s indelicate attempt to manipulate and control him.
As a result of intensive scholarly research on ancient Amorite traditions, history and customs, it has become increasingly evident that there exists a connection and a geographical, historicaland linguistic continuity between the OB Amorite nomadic tribes and the MB Aramean ones. The geographic area where the ancient Amorites settled corresponds to the area occupied by the Aramean tribes at the end of the second millennium BCE.’
I have included the author’s expose of Jacob and his wives as we will study the family he married into in Chapter XXV. It is well to remember that the Paddan-Aram of Nahor’s family though linked, are distinct from the Aramaeans from Aram. Abraham’s brother Nahor is represented by the peoples known as the Mitanni, as we will uncover. The link between the Amorites of this period and the later Aramaeans is supported in the fact that these Amorites are described in historical sources as including people with blond hair. Therefore, they cannot be the original black peoples descended from Canaan; nor is it likely that they were all Nephilim of similar name [refer Chapter XII Canaan & Africa and Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega].
The Mitanni empire was composed of different smaller kingdoms spread throughout the region between Anatolia and Babylon – modern Turkey and Iraq. The Mitanni took control of the Tigris and Euphrates basin after the fall of Amorite [Aramaean] Babylon to the Hittite King Mursili I circa 1595 BCE and the Kassites in turn ruled the fallen Babylon. The Mitanni had good relations with the Kassites and Hurrians. The Hurrians as we will learn, are descendants of Abraham’s other brother, Haran. Notice the word Hur-[ri]-an contains Haran, their original forefather within its spelling. We will explore this relationship further when we study Abraham’s brothers, Nahor and Haran. After the Battle of Megiddo circa 1482 to 1457 BCE, Egypt and the Mitanni fought each other relentlessly. This was mirrored, when the Visi-goths of Geth-er clashed with the Alans, Vandals and Moors of Casluh and Caphtor, the Philistines centuries later.
Prior to this, the Hurrians had been based in the region surrounding Urkesh and Arrapha in northern Ur; not Ur in southern Mesopotamia some six hundred miles away near Babylon.
They appear to have formed a successful relationship with the Mitanni circa 1600 BCE. The Hurrian warrior nobility enabled the combined peoples to coalesce into a feudal state, that by 1500 BCE were dominating their neighbours. By 1420 BCE the domain of the Mitanni king Saustatar stretched from the Mediterranean all the way to the northern Zagros Mountains, in western Iran. Saustatar ‘sacked the Assyrian capital of Assur, and humiliated its inhabitants by sending the doors from the city’s famous temple to Wassukanni, the capital of Mitanni.’ This led to a cease fire between Egypt and the Mitanni kingdom and an alliance was forged between the next king of Mitanni, Artatama I – who succeeded Saustatar – and the Egyptians.
Wassukanni is thought to be Tell al-Fakhariyeh in present day Syria. The pharaohs of Egypt called the Mitanni region, Naharina – also Nahrin and Maryannu – after the Assyro-Akkadian word for river. Notice the word Nahar-ina has Nahor, their original progenitor within its spelling. The Me-ta-ni region was also known as Aram-Naharaim, the ‘Rivers of Syria.’Assyrians always referred to the Mitanni as Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat and the Hittites – a related people – used the appellation Hurri. ‘The earliest attestation of the term Hanigalbat can be read in Akkadian within the “Annals of Hattusili I” (circa 1650-1620 BCE) along with the Hittite version mentioning “the Hurrian enemy”.’
The combined Hurrite-Mitanni kingdom was a regional power from circa 1500 to 1300 BCE. The Hurrians were gradually overshadowed by the Hittites on the west and the Assyrians to the east and weakened by internal strife; while the Mitanni kingdom was relegated to province status and a pawn within the Middle Assyrian Empire.The people of Mitanni have been incorrectly linked by some scholars with the Gutians, of Gether from the previous millennia.
We have spoken of the Guti previously, regarding the northern four king alliance led by Chedorlaomer of Elam [refer Chapter XIX Chedorlaomer & the war of Nine Kings]. The fourth King, Tidal king of Nations was a ruler of the Gutium and not of Assyria, as some Biblical researchers propose. The Gutian’s early history is as mysterious as is the subsequent Mitanni’s. The Guti had lived in the Zagros Mountain range and had gradually settled in increasing numbers in Akkad and Sumer. Then circa 2200 BCE, had swept down in force; defeating the Akkadian Empire and subjugating most of Sumer, ruling for about a century before being driven westwards.
Going forward two thousand years, the ‘Germanic’ Visigoths were the Western Got-h-s, the descendants of the Gut-i from Get–h-er, separated from their Ostrogoth brethren in the Italian Peninsula by the divisions of their peoples circa 270 CE.
The Visigoth kingdom had been based north of the Danube, in the region of modern Bulgaria and Romania and was created with the consent of Rome. Later, falling out with Rome, the Goths after a sojourn via Scandinavia established their own kingdom with a capital in Tolosa, modern day Toulouse and the province of Gallia Aquitania in south western Gaul. The Goths then forced out the Alani and Vandali [Alan and Vandal] tribes from the Iberian Peninsula, when they migrated southwards into Hispania.
The Visigoth Kingdom lasted for three centuries from 418 to 711 CE. In 507, they were defeated – and their King Alaric II was killed in battle – by the Franks, led by Clovis I. The Visigoths were then hedged in and limited to, Hispania south of the Pyrenees, with the Kingdom of the Suebi in north eastern Iberia. It is possible that the word Got-h is a derivative name, for the Gut-ones, the people who migrated from Scandinavia and anciently were known as the Gut-i, descended from Get-her.
In the modern era, ‘Spain ruled one of the largest empires in history which was also one of the first global empires, spawning a large cultural and linguistic legacy.’The origins of the Roman name Hispania and the modern Espana are presumed to have derived, from the Phoenician and Carthaginian reference to the region as Spania, or from the Iberian word Hispalis meaning ‘city of the western world.’ The root of the Phoenician term span means to forge metals, thus i-spn-ya would mean, ‘the land where metals are forged.’ Another plausible explanation is the the claim that Hispania derives from the Basque word Ezpanna meaning ‘edge, border,’ a reference to the Iberian Peninsula constituting the southwest corner of the continent of Europe.
In 1492, ‘the combined forces of Castile and Aragon captured the Emirate of Granada from its last ruler Muhammad XII, ending the last remnant of a 781 year presence of Islamic rule in Iberia.’ The Austrian Hapsburg monarchy who ruled Spain, ‘was one of the leading world powers throughout the [1500s] and most of the 17th century, a position reinforced by trade and wealth from colonial possessions and became the world’s leading maritime power.’ Spain achieved the first circumnavigation of the world in 1519 to 1521. It was the first empire on which it was said that the sun never set. ‘It reached its apogee during the reigns of the first two Spanish Habsburgs – Charles I (1516-1556) and Philip II (1556-1598).’
Flag of Spain
The population of Spain is 46,801,176 people. The PLVS VLTRA on the Spanish flag means ‘further beyond’ in Latin. In the context of the coat of arms of Spain, it means beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, referring to the Americas and the former Spanish territories and to go beyond.
The word Canaan, with regard to the land of [and pronounced ‘keinan’ since circa 1500, due to the Great Vowel Shift, beginning in southern England] comes from the Hebrew knʿn and the Greek Χανααν, Khanaan. It appears as ki-na-ah-na in the Amarna Letters [14th century BCE], and knʿn is found on coins from Phoenicia in the last half of the 1st millennium. The etymology is uncertain, though the term derives from the Semitic root knʿ ‘to be low, humble, subjugated’ as studied in Chapter XII. Some scholars have suggested that this implies an original meaning of lowlands, in contrast with Aram, who was located further east inland at higher altitude, in the highlands. Ephraim Avigdor Speiser in 1936 alternatively suggests, the term derives from the Hurrian, Kinahhu, purportedly referring to the colour purple; thus Canaan and Phoenicia would be synonyms for the Land of Purple, as previously discussed [refer Chapter XII Canaan & Africa].
‘Tablets found in the Hurrian city of Nuzi in the early 20th century appear to use the term Kinahnu as a synonym for red or purple dye, laboriously produced by the Kassite rulers of Babylon from murex molluscs as early as 1600 BC and on the Mediterranean coast by the Phoenicians from a byproduct of glassmaking.’ The Purple cloth of Tyre was a renowned Canaanite export mentioned in the Book of Exodus and the Romans attached nobility and royalty to it.
‘In 2003, Christine Marie Thompson identified the Cisjordan Corpus, a concentration of hacksilber hoards in Israel and Palestine.’ The hoards are all silver dominant; with the largest hoard found at Eshtemo’a, present-day as-Samu and contained 26 kg of silver [recall Zechariah 9:3]. In this geographical region that was part of Phoenicia, the hoards date to circa 1200 to 800 BCE. There is no other known concentration of silver hoards in the Mediterranean and its date range overlaps with the reigns of King Solomon of 970 to 930 BCE and that of Hiram of Tyre between 980 and 947 BCE.
The Hacksilber objects in these Phoenician hoards, have lead isotope ratios that match ores in the silver producing regions of Sardinia and Spain. Anciently, the island of Sardinia was associated with metal trading and was also called by the ancient Greeks as ‘Argyrophleps nesos’, Island of the silver veins. The Hacksilber evidence confirms what Homer and the Greek historians Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus all stated; that the Phoenicians were exploiting the metals in the western Mediterranean and Atlantic, prior to making them permanent colonies [recall 2 Chronicles 2:14]. Before the Phoenicians, Tarshish had dwelt in the same Mediterranean locations and similarly traded [refer Chapter IX Tarshish & Japan].
For the Phoenicians to successfully travel and trade, they needed the best ships.* From 1200 BCEthe Phoenicians built large merchant ships and developed the Keel on the underside of the hull for ocean going stability. Pegged mortise and tenon joints proved an innovative forefront adaption for hundreds of years. The Phoenicians were possibly the first to introduce the bireme – two decks of oars, around 700 BCE – also used by the Greeks and Assyrians. An Assyrian account describes Phoenicians evading capture with these ships. The Phoenicians are also credited with inventing the trireme; regarded as the most advanced and powerful vessel in the ancient Mediterranean world, again adopted by the Greeks and Romans.
The Phoenicians developed several maritime inventions. The amphora, a type of container used for both dry and liquid goods, which became a standardised measurement of volume for nearly two thousand years. The remnants of self-cleaning artificial harbours have been discovered in Sidon, Tyre, Atlit and Acre.
Carthage
The first example of admiralty law appears in the Levant at this time and the Phoenicians also contributed greatly to cartography in succeeding centuries. In modern times, the Portuguese and Spanish – ancient ‘Phoenicians’ from Hul and Mash and ‘Arameans’ from Gether – were many decades ahead of the Dutch, French and British who all later, developed successful merchant and military navies.
Thought Co, N S Gill, 2018 – emphasis & bold mine:
‘Phoenicians from Tyre (Lebanon) founded Carthage, an ancient city-state in the area that is modern Tunisia. Carthage became a major economic and political power in the Mediterranean fighting over territory in Sicily with the Greeks and Romans. Eventually, Carthage fell to the Romans, but it took three wars. The Romans destroyed Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War, but then rebuilt it as a new Carthage. Although Alpha and Beta are Greek letters that give us our word alphabet, the alphabet itself comes from the Phoenicians, at least conventionally. Greek myth and legend credit the dragon-teeth-sowing Phoenician Cadmus as not only founding the Boeotian Greek city of Thebes but bringing the letters with him.
The 22-letter abecedary of the Phoenicians contained only consonants, some of which had no equivalent in Greek. So the Greeks substituted their vowels for the unused letters. Some say that without the vowels, it was not an alphabet. If vowels aren’t required, Egypt can also make a claim for the earliest alphabet. Were this the only contribution of the Phoenicians, their place in history would be assured, but they did more. So much, it seems as though jealousy prompted the Romans to set out to annihilate them in 146 B.C. when they razed Carthage and were [rumoured] to have salted its earth.’
The Phoenicians are also credited with:
Inventing glass.
The bireme (two tiers of oars) galley.
The luxurious purple dye… known as Tyrian.
Circumnavigating Africa.
Navigating by the stars.
‘The Phoenicians were merchants who developed an extensive empire almost as aby-product of their quality merchandise and trading routes. They are believed to have gone as far as England to buy Cornish tin, but they started in Tyre, in an area now part of Lebanon, and expanded. By the time the Greeks were colonizing Syracuse and the rest of Sicily, the Phoenicians were already (9th century B.C.) a major power in the middle of the Mediterranean. The principal city of the Phoenicians, Carthage, was located near modern Tunis, on a promontory on the Northern Coast of Africa. It was a prime spot for access to all areas of the “known world.”
The people of Carthage seem more primitive compared to modern sensibilities than the Romans or Greeks for one main reason: They are said to have sacrificed humans, babies, and toddlers (possibly their first born to “ensure” fertility). Unlike the Romans of their time, the leaders of Carthage hired mercenary soldiers and had a capable navy.
They were extremely adept at trade, a fact that allowed them to rebuild a profitable economy even after the setbacks of military defeat during the Punic Wars, which included a yearly tribute to Rome of almost 10 tons of silver.Such wealth allowed them to have paved streets and multi-story homes, compared with which proud Rome looked shabby. According to Polybius (born circa 204 B.C.), the Greek historian Timaeus of Tauromenion (circa 357-260 B.C.), dated the founding of Carthage to 814 or 813 B.C.’
The author raises two salient points which show the link between the Phoenicians and their descendants, the Portuguese of Portugal and Brazil. The correlation of Greek stemming from Portuguese has been replicated with Latin deriving from Phoenician-Punic and then giving rise to the Romance languages. We will discover that the Greeks modern day descendants also speak a Romance language and are bound in language to the Portuguese as they were anciently. The Phoenicians like the Portuguese after them, were adept traders and capable ship builders, even possessing a Navy, though they were not imperialistic militarily and did not maintain an army or seek to fight wars.
The story of the Phoenicians is one of two halves, east and west. In the east with the rise of the merchant traders of Tyre and the other Phoenician coastal cities; then west, in Cyprus, Sicily, Sardinia, Spain and particularly Carthage. Carthage was an excellent location for commanding Mediterranean mercantile trade routes. It was halfway along the North African coast, perfectly situated for facilitating the commercial and mining transactions in copper and silver between the rich mines of Spain or Britain and the empires of the Eastern Mediterranean. It is an obvious replication when twenty-three centuries later, we see the east to west transference again; from Portugal of the Iberian Peninsula to Brazil in South America.
The Phoenicians: Mysterious Merchant Mariners Whose Inventions Impacted the World Forever, Dhwty, 2019 – emphasis & bold mine:
‘The Phoenicians were an ancient people who once ruled the Mediterranean. Despite little being known about them as very few of their inscriptions have survived, their legacy has had an enormous impact on the world, which is still felt today.
Scholars have speculated that the Phoenicians referred to themselves as ‘Kena’ani’ (‘Kinahna’ in Akkadian, or ‘Canaanite’ in English). Interestingly, in Hebrew, this word also meant ‘merchant’, which is an apt description of the Phoenicians. The term ‘Phoenicians’, however, is commonly used today, as it was the Greeks who called these people by this name.
The ancient Greeks referred to the land of the Phoenicians as ‘Phoiniki’, which is derived from the Egyptian ‘Fnkhw’, meaning ‘Syrian’.
The Greek ‘Phoiniki’ is phonetically similar to their word for the color purple or crimson (‘phoinix’). This is due to the fact that one of the most valuable objects produced and exported by the Phoenicians was a dye known as Tyrian purple. Thus, the Phoenicians were known also as the ‘Purple People’.
According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Phoenicians were originally from the Red Sea* area, but later emigrated to and settled along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. Archaeologists today, however, regard Herodotus’ account of the Phoenicians’ origins as a myth.
In addition, there is a lack of evidence to support the claims that the Phoenicians emigrated to the eastern Mediterranean from other areas of the ancient world. Instead, it is accepted that the Phoenicians were originally from the eastern Mediterranean and may have developed from the Ghassulian culture, which is an archaeological stage in southern Palestine dating to the Middle Chalcolithic period, i.e. the 4th millennium BC.
The Phoenicians flourished during the 1st millennium BC. During that time, there were other Canaanite cultures inhabiting the region as well, and archaeologists are unable todifferentiate between the Phoenicians and these other cultures*in terms of material culture, language and religious beliefs. This is due to the fact that the Phoenicians were themselves Canaanites [as in inhabitants of the region not blood relatives of the original son of Ham, Canaan].’
There were other peoples and cultures in the densely populated and very popular land of Canaan. Other sons of Aram, the sons of Isaac, the sons of Lot and further sons of Abraham as well as Elioud giants. None of these peoples – like the Phoenicians – were Canaanites by race, only by their residency in the land of Canaan. This is an extremely important point to comprehend. The belief that all these peoples were Canaanites, has blurred and blinded the endeavour to actually identify all these disparate peoples.
‘Glass was already being produced by other civilizations including the Mesopotamians and Egyptians. The glass produced by these civilizations was colored and it is speculated that the Phoenicians were the first ones to produce transparent glass. Yet another produce of Phoenicia was cedar wood, which the region is famous for, as far back as the Mesopotamian period. One of the main consumers of cedar wood during the 1st millennium BC was Egypt, as the demand for wood by the Egyptians was greater than the local supply. Therefore, cedar wood was imported into Egypt from Phoenicia. During the 14th century BC, for instance, the Phoenicians paid tribute to Egypt by offering cedar wood, as attested in the Amarna Letters.
We do not know to whether the Phoenicians had ashared identity*and if they considered themselves as asingle nation.Nevertheless, we do know that they established city states which were politically independent. It seems that each city state was ruled by a monarch, whose power was limited by a powerful oligarchy. In addition, there is no evidence that the cities banded together into a federation. Instead, they operated independently. Among the most notable Phoenician city states were Tyre,Sidon and Byblos.
Byblos (known today in Arabic as Jbail) is located about 30 kilometers (20 miles) to the north of modern day Beirut. Byblos is considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world… Like Byblos, Sidon (known today in Arabic as Saida) was already an ancient city by the time it became an independent city state. Sidon was established during the 3rd millennium BC and prospered in the following millennium as a result of trade.
On the other hand, Tyre (known today in Arabic as Sur) was probably originally founded as a colony of Sidon. In time, Tyre surpassed Sidon as the most important Phoenician city state as it traded and established its own colonies in other parts of the Mediterranean. According to tradition, the famous city of Carthage was established as a colony of Tyre in 814 BC. Both Sidon and Tyre are also mentioned frequently in the Old Testament. For instance, the king of Tyre, Hiram, is recorded as providing Solomon the materials required for building the temple in Jerusalem. One of the major battles of Alexander’s campaign against the Persian Empire was the Siege of Tyre, which occurred in 332 BC.’
The early history of Sidon is difficult to ascertain. It may have well founded Tyre. The important point is that in time, Sidon though Phoenician was peopled by different people to the Aramaeans of Tyre. We have studied Sidon briefly in Chapter XII Canaan & Africa, regarding Canaan’s descendants. We will also investigate the British descended peoples as well as the Dutch Afrikaners. It is these Dutch ancestors* who became the prominent peoples of Sidon and were also called ‘Phoenicians.’ Again, their primary endeavour as was Tyre’s, was to create wealth through trade and not a conventional empire based on an imperialist model. This was replicated by the Dutch millennia later, just like the Portuguese. Spain tellingly on the other hand, was intent on building an empire and derived its wealth accordingly. To be clear, the Phoenicians were the Hul-Mash line of Aram; today featured as the Portuguese and Brazil, whereas the Syrians of Damascus were the Gether line of Aram corresponding to the Spaniards of Spain. The Uz line of Aram blended with Nahor’s children and we will investigate them separately.
The southwest of Iberia was already a very old Roman province founded in 27 BCE, when it was invaded in the fifth century. Named Lusitania after the Lusitani people, it comprised much of the southern half of modern Portugal and the westernmost parts of modern Spain. The peninsula was successively invaded by the Vandali – the Vandals and Alans descended from Caphtor and Casluh from Mizra – and the Suevi from Hul and Mash of Aram. The other major invader were the Visigoths from Gether of Aram.
Flag of Portugal
Portugal itself first emerged as a march, border county of the kingdom of Asturias in 868 CE. It was one of the few areas not fully conquered by the Umayyad Moors; though Portugal became a vassal of the Kingdom of Leon. It slowly grew in strength and in 1071 Garcia II of Galicia was declared King of Portugal. Portugal subsequently broke away from the Kingdom of Galicia in 1095.
Afonso Henriques proclaimed himself King of Portugal in 1139. Eventually in 1179 a papal bull officially recognised Afonso I as king. The Algarve was fully reconquered from the Moors in 1249 and in 1255 Lisbon became the capital. In 1373 Portugal formed an alliance with England:
‘… which is the longest-standing alliance in the world. Over time, this went far beyond geo-political and military cooperation (protecting both nations’ interests in Africa, the Americas and Asia against French, Spanish and Dutch rivals) and maintained strong trade and cultural ties between the two old European allies.’
This alliance was ratified by the Treaty of Windsor in 1386 and has continued until the present day. When we study the identity of the four peoples of the United Kingdom, we will appreciate the significance of this alliance between the modern Phoenicians and England is more than a passing coincidence. The early genesis of the Portuguese Empire began when the Portuguese Armada sailed to the rich Islamic region of Ceuta in North Africa in 1415. The decisive event though was when Portuguese explorer, Bartolomeu Dias discovered the southernmost part of Africa in 1487; the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa – modern day Sidon.
The Age of Discovery for European nations venturing outside the Mediterranean, began with Portugal, the modern day Phoenicians. During the 1400s and 1500s, Portugal ascended to the status of a world power, building a vast global maritime and commercial empire – economically, politically and culturally to rival England, France and Spain. Though Portugal was not a power within European affairs, its worldwide colonies and trade were supreme, founded on a strong thalassocracy.
A thalassocracy or thalattocracy is defined as a sea power:
‘… is a state with primarily maritime realms, an empire at sea, or a seaborne empire.Traditional thalassocracies seldom dominate interiors, even in their home territories. Examples of this were the Phoenician states of Tyre, Sidon and Carthage and the Italian maritime republics of Venice and Genoa.
The Ancient Greeks first used the word thalassocracy to describe the government of the Minoan civilisation [Philistines], whose power depended on its navy. Under the direction of Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese developed a new, much lighter* ship [as the Phoenicians before them], the caravel, which could sail farther and faster,and, above all, was highly maneuverable and could sail much nearer the wind, or into the wind.’
The Portuguese discovered the valuable Spice Islands in Indonesia and Malaysia in 1512, landing in China a year later. In 1513, Spaniard Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama, reaching the ‘other sea’ from the New World. Europe first received news of the eastern and western Pacific within a one year span. ‘East and west exploration overlapped in 1522, when a Castilian expedition, led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and later by Spanish Basque navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano, sailing westward, completed the first circumnavigation of the world’ for Spain.
Joao Rodrigues Cabrilho, was a Portuguese navigator who sailed for the Spanish Crown and was the first European to set foot in California, landing on the shore of San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542; claiming California for Spain. In 1543, the arrival of the Portuguese in Japan initiated the Nanban trade period, where the Japanese adopted several technologies and cultural practices, such as European styled ships. When the Chinese banned direct trade by Chinese merchants with Japan, the Portuguese filled this commercial vacuum as intermediaries between China and Japan.
The twist of the Phoenician descendants impacting the trading mercantile descendants of modern day Tarshish is not lost [refer Chapter IX Tarshish & Japan]. The Portuguese bought Chinese silk, selling it to the Japanese in return for Japanese mined silver. Silver was very highly valued in China, so that the Portuguese could use Japanese silver to buy even larger stocks of Chinese silk. By 1573, when the Spanish established a trading base in Manila, the Portuguese intermediary trade was ended because of China’s new source of incoming silver originating from the Spanish Americas.
By the 1600 and 1700s, Portugal retained most of its colonies, though had gradually lost its competitive edge in wealth as the Dutch, French and English, from 1495 entered and dominated the respective spice and slave trades. Portugal was progressively weakened by a series of events, beginning with Spain’s abortive attempt to conquer England in 1588 by means of the Spanish Armada. Portugal was in an uncomfortable dynamic, having contributed many ships to the Spanish invasion fleet, due to its union with Spain. The country then suffered further setback when the destruction of much of its capital city occurred during an earthquake in 1755. The occupation by the French during the Napoleonic Wars and the subsequent loss of its largest and prized colony Brazil, in 1822 were decisive. Lastly, from the middle of the 1800s to the late 1950s, nearly two million Portuguese departed Portugal to live in Brazil or the United States. Today, Portugal has a declining population that currently stands at 10,121,612 people.
Many propose that Portugal derived its name from the Callaeci people of Calle. The Romans built a port at the mouth of the Douro, which they called Portus Calle in 200 BCE, after defeating the Carthaginians. Portus became Porto from which Oporto derives and Calle became Galle. Cale or Caileach was the name of a Celtic deity. Port of Cale became Portucale and by the seventh century, Portugale and finally by the eleventh century Portugal. The Celtic word cale or cala meant ‘port, an inlet’ or ‘harbour.’ It is likely that Galacia in Spain has derived from Callaeci and Gallaeci[a].
Portuguese men
Some scholars ‘propose that the Celtic branches [P-Celtic and Q-Celtic] all share the same origin, and place names such as Cale, Gal, Gaia, Calais, Galatia, Galicia, Gaul… all stem from one linguistic root.’ Certain French scholars support the belief that the name may have come from Portus Gallus, the Port of the Gauls. In this, there may be the truth. Gael and Gaul may be linked as in the ‘Port of the Gael.’ It is very possible that the Callaeci or Gallae-ci were originally Gaels. The Gaels eventually left Portugal and migrated to Ireland. We will return to this journey in detail.
Portuguese women
The word Brazil is linked with the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once was plentiful along the Brazilian coast.In Portuguese, brazilwood is pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology ‘red like an ember’, formed from brasa [ember] and the suffix -il [from -iculum or -ilium]. Brazilwood produces a deep red dye and was highly valued by the European textile industry. It was the ‘earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil.’ Not a coincidence, that the Phoenicians were famous for their purple dye over 2,500 years earlier. Throughout the 16th century, huge amounts of brazilwood were harvested along the Brazilian coast. The official Portuguese name in original Portuguese records was the Land of the Holy Cross – Terra da Santa Cruz.Sailors and merchants called it simply the Land of Brazil – Terra do Brasil – due to the brazilwood trade.
The Federative Republic of Brazil is the largest country in South America and in Latin America, with 216,432,856 people. Brazil is the world’s fifth largest country by area and the sixth most populous. The federation is composed of the union of twenty-six states. Brazil is one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations in the world.
Brazil is a regional and middle power in international affairs. ‘On account of its international recognition and influence, the country is subsequently classified as an emerging, potential superpower. A potential superpower is a state or a political and economic entity that is speculated to be – or to have the potential to soon become – a superpower.’
The United States once a superpower is now a hyper power – one that dominates all other states in military, culture, economy, technology and diplomacy. Several nation states are potential superpowers, though all have aspects that may hinder them attaining superpower status. They include the European Union and the BRIC economies of Brazil, Tyre-Mash-Aram; Russia, Asshur; India, Cush; and China, Magog, Tubal and Meshech. Japan, Tarshish, is labeled a cultural superpower due to the large scale influence of Japanese popular culture. Its status as a potential superpower has eroded due to an ageing, declining population since the 1990s and lack of substantial economic growth since the 1980s.
Brazil as Tyre in the scriptures, will ultimately become an economic world powerhouse; if not necessarily a political or military superpower. An article in The Diplomatic Courier, by former British Ambassador to Brazil, Peter Collecott, ‘identifies that Brazil’s recognition as a potential superpower largely stems from its own national identity and ambition. Collecott points out that for the past two hundred years Brazil has sought to emerge as a serious global economic and political power, a position “that [Brazil] instinctively feels is her due.”’
An online Encyclopaedia – emphasis & bold mine:
‘In his 2014 publication, The BRICs Superpower Challenge: Foreign and Security Policy Analysis, professor Kwang Ho Chun carefully assesses the likelihood of the BRICs countries [Brazil, Russia, India, China] attaining the status of superpowers.
Regarding Brazil, Kwang Ho Chun highlights that the country possesses enormous and almost untouched “strategic” natural resources, including valuable minerals, a tenth of the world’s fresh water and Earth’s largest remaining rainforest. Because of this, Kwang Ho Chun feels it is likely that Brazil could gain a dominant role in international relations, especially when it comes to environmental issues. This soft power influence is further enhanced by Brazil’s policy makers seeking to engage in as many international organizations as possible and forming alliances, most notably on social, diplomatic and economic issues.’
These traits and aspirations mirror ancient Tyre closely, as a state with considerable global economic influence. Brazil this century, could realistically challenge Germany, 4th; Japan, 3rd; and even possibly China for number two ranking of largest world economy.
‘Despite its economic potential and Brazil’s “self-image as a country with a great destiny,” Kwang Ho Chun believes that the country “falls far short of the levels required for a superpower.” Supporting his belief, he emphasises Brazil’s apparent lack of “traditional hard power” (i.e. military power and global security influence) as a major obstacle. Kwang Ho Chun writes that Brazil has”little incentive to invest in its military” as “the country developed in an environment with hardly any inter-state security threats”, therefore Brazil “may never be in a position to accumulate enough influence on global security matters to meet the criteria of being a superpower.”Instead, Ho Chun feels that Brazil will emerge as a great power with an important position in some spheres of influence but limited in others such as international security.’
This is insightful, as again it describes ancient Tyre. Its military was simply to defend its ‘Rock-island’ isolation position. Tyre was not interested in becoming an imperialistic military empire, as Brazil seeks economic influence over military power, for now.
The motto of the Brazil flag: Order and Progress
According to the Brazilian National Research by Household Sample [PNAD] of 2008: 48.43% of the population, approximately 104 million people, described themselves as White; 43.80% or 94 million as Pardo or Brown; 6.84% or 15 million as Black; 0.58% or 1.2 million as Asian; 0.28% or approximately 599,000 people as Amerindian [officially called Indigena or Indigenous]; and 0.07% or approximately 150,000 people did not state their race.
It is probable that some people have self identified as white, when in fact they are mixed, even slightly and then a certain proportion of those who claim to be brown may be mixed in varying degree and are more white^^ than brown. Thus the figure for White people may be higher than forty-eight percent and for Brown people lower than forty-three percent. As we have studied the Amerindian Haplogroups in Chapter II Tiras the Amerindian and the African Haplogroups in Chapter XII Canaan & Africa, we will concentrate on the people descended principally from Aram.
It is challenging finding up-to-date comprehensive research on the White population of Brazil, though what is available shows they are unsurprisingly, most similar to the Portuguese and then Italians, the two dominant lines of Brazilian descent.
The Ancestry of Brazilian mtDNA Lineages, multiple authors, 2000 – emphasis & bold mine:
‘Brazilians form one of the most heterogeneous populations in the world, the result of 5 centuries of interethnic crosses between peoples from three continents: the European colonizers, represented mainly by the Portuguese; African slaves; and the autochthonous Amerindians. When the Portuguese arrived, exactly 500 years ago, there were ~ 2.5 million indigenous people living in the area of what is now Brazil. The Portuguese-Amerindian admixture started soon after the arrival of the first colonizers. Mating between European men and indigenous women became commonplace and later (after 1755) was even encouraged as a strategy for population growth and colonial occupation of the country.’
‘The Amerindian tribes underwent a drastic demographic decline due to conflicts with the European colonizers and diseases to which they were not adapted. Today [2000] there are ~ 326,000 Amerindians in Brazil, living on land set aside for them by the federal government. Africans were introduced beginning in the middle of the 16th century, brought to Brazil as slaves to work on sugarcane farms and, later, in the gold and diamond mines and on coffee plantations. Historical records suggest that between 1551 and 1850 (when the slave trade was abolished), ~ 3.5 million Africans arrived in Brazil. As to the European immigration, it is estimated that ~ 500,000 Portuguese arrived in the country between 1500 and 1808. From then on, after the Brazilian ports were legally opened to all friendly nations, Brazil received increasing numbers of immigrants from several parts of the world.’
‘Portugal remained by far the most important source of migrants, followed by Italy, Spain,andGermany. In the 20th century, Asian immigration took place, mainly from Japan, as well as from Lebanon and Syria. According to Callegari-Jacques and Salzano (1999), 58% of the immigrants who arrived in Brazil between 1500 and 1972 were Europeans, 40% were Africans, and 2% were Asians.The question that arises is, How much did these different groups actually contribute to the gene pool of present-day Brazilians?’
Haplogroup Frequencies within the Three Continental Fractions of Brazilian mtDNA Pool
Frequency in brazil
Haplogroup
Overall
Northern
Northeastern
Southeastern
Southern
NativeAmerican:
A
0.30
0.15
0.37
0.39
0.27
B
0.29
0.31
0.27
0.30
0.27
C
0.24
0.38
0.09
0.18
0.27
D
0.16
0.15
0.27
0.12
0.18
Total
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
African:
L1a
0.10
…
0.18
0.06
0.17
L1b
0.04
…
0.05
0.03
0.17
L1c
0.19
0.29
0.09
0.23
0.17
L2
0.20
0.14
0.23
0.23
…
L3d
0.06
…
0.09
…
0.33
L3e
0.30
0.43
0.32
0.32
…
L3*
0.04
…
0.05
0.06
…
U6
0.06
0.14
…
0.06
0.17
Total
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
European:
H
0.44
0.27
0.65
0.45
0.39
pre*V
0.03
0.07
…
0.03
0.03
V
0.06
…
0.06
0.13
0.03
HV*
0.01
…
…
…
0.03
U
0.16
0.13
0.18
0.16
0.15
pre*HV
0.01
…
…
…
0.03
J
0.11
0.20
0.06
0.03
0.18
T
0.14
0.27
0.06
0.13
0.12
I
0.01
0.07
…
…
…
X
0.03
…
…
0.06
0.03
Total
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
‘The Brazilian sample includes mtDNA lineages from almost all the familiar European haplogroups, except for some marginal ones, such as W and other quite-rare haplogroups related to haplogroup I. The frequency of the dominant haplogroup H (44%); in the European fraction is somewhat higher, on average, than that observed in Europe but is well within the range of western-European H frequencies… [and] suggests predominantly western-European ancestry. Considering that 30% of the European immigrants (including the Portuguese colonizers) to Brazil came from Italy, one can expect that a considerable number of mtDNA lineages in the Brazilian sample have Italian ancestry.’
The mtDNA Haplogroups for Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Catalonia and the Basque.
Brazil: H [44%] – U [16%] – T [14%] – J [11%] – V [9%] – HV [2%] –
X [3%] – I [1%]
Portugal: H [43.9%] – J [6.8%] – U5 [6.5%] – L [6.4%] – T2 [6.3%] –
K [6.1%] – HV0+V [4.8%] – T1 [3.3%] – U [3%] – I [2.2%] – X [2%] –
W [1.8%] – U4 [1.7%] – U2 [1.2%] – U3 [0.9%] – HV [0.1%]
T2 [6%] – K [5.3%] – X [2.3%] – U [1.9%] – T1 [1.5%] – W [1.1%] –
U2 [1%] – HV [0.8%] – U4 [0.8%] – I [0.6%] – L [0.3%] – U3 [0.3%]
When comparing the main mtDNA Haplogroups, the similarity between Portugal and Spain is surprisingly striking. The two distinct enclaves of settlement within Spain, Catalonia and the Basque country are quite different from each other in Haplogroup H and Catalonia appears the odd one out in the group; though only in comparison with Haplogroup H. The higher percentage of Haplogroup L in Portugal mainly reflects the Black immigrants from Brazil.
H HV0+V J T2 K U5 L
Portugal 44 5 7 6 6 7 6
Spain 44 8 7 6 6 8 2
Basque 49 8 8 6 5 12 0.3
Catalonia 30 8 7 8 10 10 3
Brazil’s maternal mtDNA Haplogroup percentage sequence is unsurprisingly close to Portugal, where most of its White population has originated.
H U T J HV X I
Brazil 44 16 14 11 2 3 1
Portugal 44 13 10 7 0.1 2 2
Spain 44 14 9 7 0.7 2 1
Basque 49 16 8 8 0.8 2 1
Catalonia 30 22 9 7 0.5 3 1
The relatedness of these peoples is highlighted by their common ancestry, cultures and languages. Identity experts have persistently taught that these Latin nations are Canaanites from Ham or sons of Japheth’s son, Javan. The constant reader would hopefully discern that these explanations are lacking solid support [refer Chapter VII Javan: Archipelago South east Asia & Polynesia and Chapter XII Canaan & Africa].
Spain: H [44.1%] – J [6.6%] – T2 [6.4%] – K [6.3%] – U [1.8%] – HV [0.7%]
Russia: H [41.2%] – J [7.8%] – T2 [6.5%] – K [3.7%] – U [2.2%] – HV [1.8%]
Turkey: H [30.8%] – J [8.9%] – U [6.3%] – K [5.6%] – HV [4.8%] – T2 [4.3%]
Iran: H [16.9%] – J [13.8%] – U [11.8%] – HV [7.4%] – K [7.3%] –
T2 [4.9%]
It is worth noting that as one heads west, key Western Eurasian mtDNA Haplogroup H increases in the above prominent nations descended from Shem studied so far. Haplogroup T2 also increases, whereas Haplogroups J, U and HV decrease. In contrast with Haplogroup T, Haplogroup U is one of the oldest and most diverse of the European Haplogroups.
As mentioned previously, ‘of all the peoples descended from Japheth and his seven sons; Ham and his four sons; Shem and two out of his five sons, who have exhibited black or brown hair and brown eyes – regardless of skin tones – the Russians… are the first peoples on our identity journey, who possess a marked increase in fair hair and blue eyes.’ The descendants of Aram are a halfway between in that they possess higher levels of fair hair and blue eyes than the Turks of Elam and the Persians of Lud; yet lower than the Russians from Asshur.
H HV HV0+V J T2 U U5 K
Brazil 44 2 11
Portugal 44 0.1 5 7 6 3 7 6
Spain 44 0.7 8 7 6 2 8 6
Russia 41 2 4 8 7 2 10 4
Turkey 31 5 0.7 9 4 6 3 6
Iran 17 7 0.6 14 5 12 3 7
Comparing Portugal, Spain and Brazil with Russia, Turkey and Iran reveals that Lud, Elam, Asshur and Aram are clearly distinct from each other; though still also visibly related as cousins. If we compared their Haplogroups with India or China it is palpable that these nations are from the different unique line of Shem rather than from Ham or Japheth. It also clearly delineates the similarity of Portugal, Spain and Brazil with each other as brothers. As well as the fact that Russians through distantly, as evidenced by principal component analysis, are as Asshur closer to the peoples of Iberia and Aram, than those of Turkey or Iran.
‘The oldest city in Iberia is Cadiz, which was founded by the Phoenicians as Gadir or Agadir in 1104 BCE. The Phoenicians also founded Almunecar, Malaga, Cartaya and Huelva, and settled in other existing cities such as Tartessos and Carmona.
Based on the haplogroups found in modern Lebanon and in their former colonies, the Phoenicians seem to have carried a mixture of haplogroup J2a, J1, E1b1b, G, R1b-M269/L23, T, L, R1b-V88, R2 and Q1b, roughly in that order of frequency. It is not easy to assess the percentage of modern Iberian lineages of Phoenician origin because many other peoples brought similar haplogroups. The most uniquely Phoenician lineages, which were normally not found among the ancient Greeks and Romans, are Q1b, R1b-V88 and R2. And indeed all of them have been found, mostly in Portugal and south-west Andalusia, but only at trace frequencies (under 0.5%).’
It is the view of this writer that these three Haplogroups on the end are doubtful as being ‘Phoenician’; whereas the first four in bold are spot on, with the exception of R1b which would be first. The article has the preconceived view that Phoenician equals North African or Arab, which is incorrect. They are also relying on the Lebanese sequence of Y-DNA Haplogroups which are J2 dominant with less R1b.
‘The island of Ibiza was another major Phoenician colony, which has the particularity of having been left in isolation for most of its subsequent history. It is therefore likely to have more Phoenician lineages than average. That is probably the case as Adams et al. (2008) found 17% of haplogroup T on Ibiza, by far the highest percentage in Europe for the Middle Eastern lineage, but also 13% of haplogroup G (more than anywhere else in Iberia) and 4% of E-M123 the Levantine variety of E1b1b.
Not surprisingly, the second highest percentage of haplogroup T identified in Iberia is in Cadiz (10%). Like haplogroup T, E-M123 is mostly found in Murcia, Andalusia, Extremadura and Portugal, suggesting that this is where the Phoenicians had the largest genetic impact. Not surprisingly haplogroups J1 and J2a also peak in these regions.’
Haplogroups J1 and J2 are more reflective of the Moors genetic legacy than the Phoenicians.
‘In 406, the Alans (who were not Germanic but of Iranic origin [nor were the Vandals]), the Suebi [modern day Portuguese] and the Vandals [modern day Central and South America] crossed the Rhine together, invading Gaul, then three years later, they crossed the Pyrenees into Roman Hispania. The Suebi migrated to the western half of Iberia, where they established the Kingdom of Gallaecia (409–585). The Vandals and the Alans went south to Andalusia, then crossed over the North Africa in 429, where they founded a kingdom that also comprised Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.
The Suebi… As a Germanic tribe, they would have brought haplogroupsI1, I2a2a, (M223, formerly known as I2b1), R1b-U106 andR1a (L664, Z282 and Z283 subclades) [rather R1b-S116*] to the Iberian peninsula, and indeed all of them except R1a are found essentially in the western half of the Iberian, especially in Portugal and Galicia. R1a is found in northern Castile, Asturias and Cantabria, and could… have been brought there by the Visigoths… [rather, the Alans and Vandals]
The Basques are indeed somewhat different genetically from other Spaniards. They have a bit more Northwest European ancestry [similar to southwest France]… The absence of Red Sea and Southwest Asian admixture indicates that the Basques do not have any Phoenician [Aramaean], Jewish, Greek, Roman or Arabic ancestry. Looking at maternal lineages, the Basques also stand out from the rest of the peninsula, lacking many haplogroups… This is in perfect agreement with the fact that Basque language is non-Indo-European. What generally comes as a surprise is that 85% of Basque paternal lineages belong to the Proto-Celtic R1b-P312.
Interestingly the Catalans also lack the Southwest Asian ancestry, but do have some Red Sea and Caucasian genes. The Southwest Asian admixture is slightly more common in southern Portugal and Andalusia, which is consistent with the higher historical presence of Phoenician, Roman and Arabic people in that region. The Basques and the Catalans are the only Western European completely lacking genetic contribution from Southwest Asia. This is also translated in an extreme scarcity of Y-haplogroups J1, E-M34 and T, which are all typically Southwest Asian linages.’
‘Varieties of R1b, a common Y-DNA haplogroup in western Europe, are found in abundance among Portuguese men. About 60 percent of Southern Portuguese and about 83 percent of Northern Portuguese belong to the subclade of R1b known as the Atlantic Modal Haplotype (AMH). There are even some areas in Portugal where the AMH is found in about 90% of men.
The mtDNA haplogroups H, U, and L were found in substantial numbers in the population of Portugal in ancient times (including the Epipaleolithic, Neolithic, and Chalcolithic eras) just as they are today.
Millions of mixed-race (white/black/Amerindian) descendants of Portuguese live in Brazil today. Some Portuguese of Portugal themselves have a small portion of black ancestry as well. This is true of the mainland, in part since African slaves were brought to southwestern Portugal’s Alcacer do Sal region in the 1400s-1800s…Portuguese people occasionally match European Jews in the autosomal DNA databases as a result of having shared Sephardic Jewish ancestors.’
Peter Ralph and Graham Coop.“The Geography of Recent Genetic Ancestry across Europe.” PLOS Biology (May 7, 2013). Excerpts:
“… Patterns for the Iberian peninsula are similar, with both Spain and Portugal showing very few common ancestors with other populations over the last 2,500 years. However, the rate of IBD [identical-by-descent] sharing within the peninsula is much higher than within Italy – during the last 1,500 years the Iberian peninsula shares fewer than two genetic common ancestors with other populations, compared to roughly 30 per pair within the peninsula – Italians share on average only about eight with each other during this period…”
“Genetic characterization of uni parental lineages in populations from Southwest Iberia with past malaria endemicity.”American Journal of Human Biology 22:5 (September-October 2010): multiple authors, pages 588-595. Excerpts from the Abstract:
‘…in Pias, the Mediterranean influence might be traced to ancient contacts with Greeks, Phoenicians, and Carthaginians, who established important trading networks in southern Iberia.”’
“Relatedness among Basques, Portuguese, Spaniards, and Algerians studied by HLA allelic frequencies and haplotypes.” Immunogenetics 47:1 (1997): multiple authors, pages 37-43. Excerpts from the Abstract:
‘The results of the present HLA study in Portuguese populations show that they have features in common with Basques and Spaniards from Madrid…’
“Meta-Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA Variation in the Iberian Peninsula”, 2016, multiple authors: Excerpts from the Results section:
“…Within the Iberian Peninsula, Spain has overall higher values of haplotype diversity than Portugal… Nucleotide diversity has its highest value in the Mediterranean area, but it is also high in Portugal… The high frequency of haplogroup H in the North of Iberia spans all along the Portuguese territories, where frequencies range from 49% in the North to 45% in the South. Haplogroup U constitutes the second most frequent haplogroup in Iberia; its frequency is similar in the main Iberian regions; it reaches the highest frequency in North of Portugal (26%)…”
“Portuguese mitochondrial DNA genetic diversity– An update and a phylogenetic revision”, multiple authors, 2015. Excerpts from the Abstract:
“In general, a typical Western European haplogroup composition was found in mainland Portugal, associated to high level of mitochondrial genetic diversity. Within the country, no signs of substructure were detected.”
“Diversity of mtDNA lineages in Portugal: Not a genetic edge of European variation”, Annals of Human Genetics 64:6, multiple authors, (November 2000): pages 491-506.
‘A study consisting of mitochondrial DNA samples from 100 Northern Portuguese, 82 Central Portuguese, and 59 Southern Portuguese. Portuguese people have more genetic diversity than some of their neighbors.They carry “all the most important European haplogroups…” They also carry the mtDNA haplogroups U6 and L, both of African origin. U6 is “restricted to North Portugal whereas L was widespread all over the country.”’
Catalonians and Gascons of France
Being Western Europeans, it is no surprise that the most common Y-DNA haplogroup among Catalans is a branch of the R1b haplogroup. R1b1b2a1 is nearly exclusive to western Europe, and the sub-haplogroup R1b1b2a1a2c is common among Catalans and Gascons.’
The Basques, Catalonians and Gascons have as much or more in common genetically with the southern French than Spaniards. We will delve into this further when we study the France.
The Phylogeography of Brazilian Y-Chromosome Lineages, multiple authors, 2001 – emphasis & bold mine:
‘The Amerindians [Tiras] originally peopled South America… Centuries later (on April 22, 1500), the Portuguese “discovered” Brazil, by then inhabited by 2.4 million Amerindians… Colonization of the new country initially involved men only; the immigration of European women during the first centuries was insignificant… Thus, the first Brazilians arose by mating between European males and Amerindian females. During the period 1500–1808, 500,000 Portuguese, mostly men, arrived in Brazil.
The most frequent Y chromosomes in white Brazilian males belonged to haplogroup 1 [R1b] (54%), which has been observed in high frequencies (40%–80%) in Europe and seems to be absent from Africa and Japan. Accordingly, this haplogroup was seen in 60% of the Portuguese tested. In Brazil, haplogroup 1 showed discrete regional variation, with the lowest frequency in the south.
Second in frequency (18%) was haplogroup 2 [E1b1b], which has a rather wide geographical range that includes Europe, Africa, and Asia. This haplogroup was also the second most common among the Portuguese (13%) and is known to be especially frequent in Italy, from where 30% of the European immigrants to Brazil originated. Haplogroup 2 showed regional variation, having the highest frequencies in the south (29%) and in the northeast (18%). Its relatively high frequency in the south of Brazil is probably related to the large Italian immigration to this area.
The same applies to haplogroup 3 [I1 & I2], geographically distributed in northeastern Europe and Asia, which was observed in 3.5% of the Brazilian males. The fact that it was seen almost exclusively in the south of Brazil suggests a European origin.
Haplogroup PN2 [J2] was the third in frequency, having been seen in 10% of Brazilians, with even regional distribution. This haplogroup is observed in 50% of the North Africans and in frequencies >29% in Egyptians, Greeks, Italians, and Lebanese. Haplogroup 21 [J] has been shown to have a north-south cline in Portugal, climbing from a frequency of 10.6% in the north to 24.5% in southern Portugal. Haplogroup M34 [J1], defined by the M34 mutation, is a subtype of haplogroup 21 and, apparently, has a low frequency but a quite broad geographical distribution in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It was seen in 3% of the Brazilians and 2% of the Portuguese samples.
The 12f2 deletion at DYS11 defines haplogroup 9 [G], the next most common Y-chromosome lineage observed in Brazil (8%). This haplogroup shows maximum frequency in Jews and other Middle Eastern populations, but it is also found in North Africans and Europeans. Portugal, where haplogroup 9 was seen in 6% of the individuals studied, seems to be the major source of these Y chromosomes in Brazil. There was a large Jewish population in Portugal until 1509, when Jews were deported during the Inquisition. To avoid expulsion, many Jews converted to Catholicism and became “New Christians,” many of whom immigrated to Brazil, carrying haplogroup 9 Y chromosomes. However, there were contributions from other populations. For example… haplogroup 9 shows the highest frequency (16%) in the north of Brazil. Intrigued by this observation, we searched the historical records and discovered that in the early 19th century there was a significant immigration wave of Moroccan Jews to the Amazon area, with eventual settlement in Manaus and Belem.
With the exception of an unknown number of colonizers who arrived during the Dutch 30-year domination of the northeast of Brazil in the 17th century, Portugal was the only significant source of European immigrants to Brazil until 1808. Starting in the mid-16th century and continuing until 1855, 4 million African slaves were sent to Brazil… In 1808 the Portuguese court, fleeing Napoleon’s army, moved to Brazil and opened its seaports to trade with all nations. This was soon followed by the arrival of settlers from other countries. During the period 1820-1975, 5,686,133 immigrants, mostly Europeans, arrived officially in Brazil… Portuguese and Italian immigrants arrived in almost equal numbers (comprising almost 70% of the total), followed by immigrants from Spain, Germany, Syria, Lebanon, and Japan.’
Brazil has been populated by contributions from the three other sons of Aram: Hul, Portugal; Uz, Italy; and Gether, Spain. The prime Portuguese element in Brazil descends principally from Mash. Mash like Meshech in China, is at once large and yet bound easily with other related peoples.
‘Now, after 500 years, it is worthwhile to ask about the genetic composition of the Brazilian population. We decided to try to partially answer this question by using lineage markers to ascertain the ancestry from different continents. In the first part of this project we analyzed 247 Brazilian mtDNAs and were surprised to findthe high Amerindian (33%) and African (28%) contributions to the total mtDNA pool of white Brazilians…
In the present study, we analyzed Y-chromosome UEPs in 200 Brazilian males from four different regions in Brazil (a subset of the 247 individuals typed for mtDNA). Our data demonstrate that the vast majority^^ of Y chromosomes in white Brazilian males, regardless of their regional source, is of European origin, with a very low frequency of sub-Saharan African chromosomes and acomplete absenceof Amerindian contributions. Together, our results configure a picture of strong directional mating in Brazil involving European males and Amerindian and African females. This is in consonance with the known history of the peopling of Brazil since 1500.’
Male Lineages in Brazil: Intercontinental Admixture and Stratification of the European Background, multiple authors, 2016 – emphasis & bold mine:
‘Brazil is a country of continental extension, and it is currently divided into five main geopolitical regions (North, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast and South) with diverse histories of colonization and settlement, a fact that is reflected in the genetic structure of the current Brazilian population. The sample from the Northern region presented the highest Native American ancestry (8.4%), whereas the more pronounced African contribution could be observed in the Northeastern population (15.1%). The Central-Western and Southern samples showed the higher European contributions (95.7% and 93.6%, respectively). The Southeastern region presented significant European (86.1%) and African (12.0%) contributions.
The subtyping of the most frequent European lineage in Brazil (R1b1a-M269) allowed differences in the genetic European background of the five Brazilian regions to be investigated for the first time. Further studies using SNPs to increase the discrimination between lineages inside haplogroup R-M207 were performed in large samples from West Asian and European populations, revealing different gradients for R1b1a-M269 sub-clades inside Europe. The L11-derived allele (also known as S127) separates Western European from the Eurasian lineages. Inside R-M207, the frequencies of these sub-haplogroups were all investigated in each geopolitical region [of Brazil].
The haplogroup Q1a2-M346 and its sub-lineages, mainly Q1a2-M3, are almost completely restricted to Native American populations… haplogroups E1b1b-M123 and J-P209 present higher frequencies in Central-Western Brazil (4.1% and 16.0%, respectively) than in Portugal (1.2% and 10.4%, respectively). More than 50% of the Y chromosomes belong to the R1 branch, namely to the sub-lineage R1b1a-M269…
Haplogroup R1b1a-S116*, which has its greatest frequency in Iberia was, by far, the most frequent haplogroup observed in our sample, representing 32.5% of the Y chromosomes investigated… the haplogroup R1b1a-S116* was the most frequent in the five geopolitical regions of the country emphasizing the strong influence of the early Portuguese colonization…Portugal was estimated to be the main source of the male European lineages to Central-West, Southeast and South Brazil. The North and the Northeast showed the highest contribution from France and Italy^, respectively… [and] the Northeast appears to have a higher Eastern European^ contribution than do other Brazilian regions. The highest migration rate from Lebanon was to the Central-West, whereas a significant migration from Germany was observed to the Central East, Southeast and South.
The sub-haplogroup R1b1a-U106 (S21)is more frequent in Central and Eastern Europe, reaching 66.8% in Germany, while R1b1a-S116, more frequent in the Western portion of the continent, is further subdivided into several haplogroups.
The sub-lineage R1b1a-S116 is the most frequent in the Iberian Peninsula, R1b1a-U152 is more frequent inFrance and Italy, and R1b1a-M529has higher frequencies in England and Ireland. The sub-lineages R1b1a-M153 and R1b1a-M167were described at high frequencies inBasque Country. R1b1a-M167was also found at high frequencies in thePyrenees [Catalonia].’
The principal R1b sub-Haplogroups in Brazil are shown in the table below. The L23 is of Eastern European origin. The predominant R1b is S116 which originates in the Iberian Peninsula, stemming from both Portugal and Spain. The extent of Italian and German immigration is shown by the levels of R1b U152 and U106, respectively. Notice that the five geopolitical regions of Brazil are genetically closer to Portugal and Spain than any other nation of Europe.
We will discover that the English and Irish are from the same familial line – that is, they share the same paternal ancestor – and the French and northern Italians are related, in that their paternal ancestors were brothers. The peoples of the Iberian Peninsula share the same R1b-S116 with Brazil, confirming their shared status as brothers descending from the same father, Aram.
As we progress through the descendants of Shem, we will find the levels of R1b vary, though gradually increase. We will keep a record of the levels for the two main R1b sub-Haplogroups for some of the nations we will study. R-M269 stretches across Europe, with levels increasing as one heads westwards. R-U106 stretches from western Europe eastwards with its epicentre in Central Europe. Turkey and Russia are the first two nations and both have lower levels of R1b, possessing higher levels of other Haplogroups, for instance for Turkey, it is Haplogroup J at 33% and for Russia it is Haplogroups R1a at 46% and N1c1 at 23%.
Turkey: R-M269 14% – R-U106 0.4%
Russia: R-M269 21% – R-U106 5.4%
Portugal: R-M269 60%
Adding Portugal’s R1b national percentage clearly highlights the marked difference between the eastern regions of Shem’s descendants from those of western Europe. We will continue to see evidence of this pronounced genetic demographic as we progress.
Y-DNA distribution across Brazilian regions and an intriguingly high % of Y-DNA I, 2017 – emphasis & bold mine:
‘I’ve just read this study (Male Lineages in Brazil: Intercontinental Admixture and Stratificationof the European Background) on the distribution of male lineages of Brazilians and there is something that struck me as very intriguing and, I think, difficult to explain… what do you think can explain this:
There is a surprisingly high percentage of haplogroup I, 8.9% as a whole and reaching a (for me) astounding 11.5% in the Northeast^ of Brazil, the region that least received the post-1830 non-Iberian immigration, and until the 1880s the most populous region (now the 2nd one). I thought I1 and I2 lineages would correlate a more Eastern/Northeastern European influx, but that definitely isNOT the origin of most Northeastern colonial immigrants from Europe as far as I know.
Could the Dutch have left such a noticeable impact on Y-DNA when their Dutch Brazil in the northeast lasted less than 30 years, and also – according to their Portuguese defeaters, at least – they were expelled en masse from Brazil? There was also some short settlement and longer trading voyages by Frenchmen in the Northeastern coast. These hypotheses, though, wouldn’t solve the issue that I is also strong in the North (10%), never occupied by the Dutch or French.
I thought of a clear mistake in the analysis or a very skewed and misleading sample, but looking at the other Y-DNA percentage they look totally reasonable and explainable: highest E1b1a (8.2%) in the Northeast, the largest center for slaves in roughly ~1530-1780; highest R1(xR1b), i.e. mostly R1a, in the South (5.5%), by far the main destination of the Germans and Slavs; highest Q1a2 (8.1%) in the North, the last region to be effectively colonized outside the coastal region and still today with the largest Amerindian population. So, everything fits just right, except for that high I1+I2 percentage in the Northeast/North!
As an aside, I found it interesting that, even with the relatively minor contribution of non-Western European Y-DNA (Amerindians, Africans, other Europeans), the haplogroups E1b1b (10.9%), J (10.1%) and G (5.1%) are very present, adding to a full 26.1%, more than 1/4 of the male lineages. That really indicates how strongly the (traditionally/originally) non-IE lineages resisted in Portugal.
Another interesting finding, though maybe coincidental due to patterns of the demographic formation, is that the Y-DNA distribution of the Brazilian Northeast appears as the most Central European-shifted among the 4 regions (i.e. a bit closer to France and, [less of] Italy), while the Southeast has the Y-DNA makeup closest to Portugal’s, even though it’s received the largest and most diversified number of immigrants from 1860 to our days. I really don’t know what to make of those results, how to explain them fitting into Brazilian history. What would you suggest/hypothesize?’
Judging from the article preceding, it would appear that the answer includes the presence of people from north-eastern Europe. High percentages of Y-DNA Haplogroup I are present in certain Slavic speaking nations from northern Europe and not just concentrated in south-eastern Europe – for instance, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Keeping in mind as well that certain areas of Spain have similar levels of Haplogroup I, such as Aragon, Andalusia, Valencia, Catalonia and not forgetting Portugal.
The Y-DNA Haplogroups for Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Catalonia and the Basque.
From a Y-DNA Haplogroup sequence perspective, particularly the first key three Haplogroups for three of Aram’s sons, the strong regional identities of the Basque resemble the Spanish and Catalonia surprisingly, parallels Portugal. From a percentage perspective, the Catalonians sit with Spain as a whole and the Basque remain distinctly unique.
It would be interesting to have more insight in how the Casluh and Caphtor element has shaped Spain’s genetic history and its current Haplogroup composition. Comments from a geneticist regarding Spain’s national genealogy would be welcome with regard to the impact on the Spanish Visigoths who reside on the Iberian Peninsula and those Spaniards who left for the New World – the Alans, Vandals and Moors.
Within Spain there is wide variance in each Haplogroup.
[It is interesting to note that Spain without Portugal resembles the head of a Bull, with its horns of Galicia and Cataluna either side.]
For instance after the Basque country and Catalonia, it is Castille-La-Mancha with the highest R1b at 66%; yet neighbouring Extremadura has the lowest percentage of R1b at 50%. Extremadura in turn has the highest E1b1b at 18.5% and aside from the Basque, it is Aragon and Castille-La-Mancha with the lowest at 5%. It is again Extremadura which possesses the highest levels of J2 at 11.5% and aside from the Basque it is Cantabria with the lowest level of 3%.
Cantabria on the other hand has the highest percentage of G2a at 10.5%, with Aragon and Valencia the lowest with 1%. All Spanish regions are low in J1, I1 and I2a2. Regarding I2a1, Aragon has the highest levels at 14.5% and Asturias and Castile & Leon with the lowest at 2%. Haplogroup R1a is low throughout Spain with only Cantabria having a relatively higher percentage of 8.5%.
This seemingly unconnected mix is confusing and it is difficult to extrapolate meaningful data. It would seem that Extremadura shows the greatest evidence of a higher rate of admixture with the Moorish occupation by its lower levels of R1b and higher percentages of E1b1b and J2.
R1b E1b1b J2 I G R1a T
Mexico 50 10 [10] 4 4 4
Brazil 54 11 10 9 5 4
Portugal 56 14 10 7 7 1.5 3
Catalonia 67 9 8 7 5 1.5 1
Spain 69 7 8 7 3 2 3
Basque 85 3 3 6 1.5
What does this all mean? Well, the Y-DNA Haplogroup table explains why the Basques may not feel comfortable living as part of Spain and their desire to achieve independence as a separate state. It certainly confirms their isolation and non-mixing with neighbours over the centuries. In marked contrast are the 7,710,126 people in Catalonia who are in fact very similar with the rest of Spain in their Y-DNA Haplogroups. Spain would not be supportive of any independence claims by Catalonia as we witnessed in 2017. The impact on Spain’s economy would be enormous should Catalonia gain independence, as it is the 2nd largest economy in Spain by nominal GDP.
This is in stark contrast to the mtDNA Haplogroups we saw earlier, which showed the opposite, in that the Basque though slightly removed were considerably more aligned with Brazil, Portugal and Spain. It was in fact the Catalonians, which stood out differently. We will investigate the Basque and Catalonians more fully when we study the French, as the surprises do not end here. The addition of Mexico highlights the difference between Mexican’s of ‘Spanish’ descent and the Spanish within Spain [refer Chapter XV The Philistines: Latino-Hispano America].
Comparing the Y-DNA Haplogroups found more frequently in Southern Europe, where they have origins in peoples presently living in North Africa, the Middle East, Levant and Caucasus.
E1b1b J1 J2 G2a
Brazil 11 [10] 5
Portugal 14 1.5 10 7
Spain 7 1.5 8 3
Basque 3 0.5 3 1.5
Confirmation if required that a Moorish or Arabic genetic footprint in Iberia is possibly negligible. It is more pronounced in Portugal and less so in Spain, with the Basque proving their isolation and lack of admixture.
Adding Spain’s Y-DNA Haplogroup sequence with those select larger nations previously studied, highlights Aram’s dominant Haplogroup of R1b compared with R1a for Asshur, J2 for Elam and J2 for Lud. We will learn that Shem’s remaining son, Arphaxad and his descendants are predominantly split between R1a and R1b; with a few exceptions, where I1, N1c1, I2a1 and E1b1b are also dominant.
Continuing the Y-DNA comparison table begun with the Persians of Iran in Chapter XVII.
J J1 J2 E1b1b G R1a R1b R1
Georgia 43 16 27 2 30 9 10 19
Armenia 33 11 22 6 12 5 30 35
Turkey 33 9 24 11 11 8 16 24
Iran 32 9 23 7 10 16 10 26
Portugal 13 3 10 14 7 1.5 56 58
Brazil 10 10 11 5 4 54 58
Spain 10 1.5 8 7 3 2 69 71
Russia 3 3 3 1 46 6 52
Georgia still bookends one end with the highest Haplogroup J percentages and lowest R1 and Russia retains the other bookend, with the lowest Haplogroup J levels and contrastingly the highest R1a. Georgia possesses the highest level of J2 as well as Haplogroup G2a; while Russia has the highest percentages of R1a. Portugal has the highest levels of E1b1b and Spain the highest percentage of R1b. Comparing Aram’s descendants with those of Shem’s studied so far, portrays the difference of their inherited levels of Y-DNA Haplogroups as well as admixture. Iran and Turkey are J2 driven, with J1 showing greater recent intermixing with the Arabs.
As discussed previously, four of the five sons of Shem live on the periphery of Europe, surrounding where Arphaxad’s descendants dwell. Asshur, Elam and Lud – Russia, Turkey and Iran – live in the East and to the Southeast of Europe. The sons of Aram also dwell in peripheral locations within and outside Europe; in Italy, Iberia, Brazil and partially throughout the America’s, particularly the southern region of South America.
Focussing on the key Y-DNA Haplogroups associated with the majority of the European nations in the north and east. Haplogroups R1, I1 and I2 segment Europe roughly into quarters. Haplogroup R1b is prominent in the west; R1a in the east; I1 and I2a2 in the north and west; with I2a1 in the south and east. Added to this, is N1c1 prominent in the north – in counter balance to J2, J1, E1b1b and G2a common in southern Europe.
R1a R1b I1 I2a1 I2a2 N1c
Portugal 1.5 56 2 1.5 5
Spain 2 69 1.5 5 1
Brazil 4 54 [9]
Turkey 8 16 1 4 0.5 4
Iran 16 10 0.5 1
Russia 46 6 5 11 23
The comparison table shifts in emphasis when northern European Y-DNA Haplogroups comprising I1, I2a2 and N1c1 are included. With the inclusion of Spain and Portugal for instance, the pattern shows an increase in R1b correlating with a decrease in R1a heading westwards. Nor are the northern Haplogroups of I1, I2a2 and N1c1 displayed more than minimally in the southern latin nations of Iberia.
Brazil, Portugal and Spain are all similar, exhibiting low levels of R1a due to virtually no interaction with eastern Europe directly and only principally received through immigration of peoples to Brazil; plus, high levels of R1b, as is common with peoples throughout western Europe and the Americas. As Russia has much in common with Slavic speaking eastern Europe genetically, we will learn that the Spanish and Portuguese share a closer genetic template with the Italians and French.
People with good sense know what I say is true; and those with knowledge know my words are right.
Proverbs 8:9 New Century Version
“Most people believe most of the things they believe only because they believe that most people believe them.”
The earliest known historical figure connected with Elam, is Enmebaragsei, the penultimate king of the first Dynasty of Kish who reigned over much of Sumer, possibly as late as circa 2615 to 2600 BCE. The Sumerian King List says he reigned nine hundred years [dividing by 60 derives 15 years according to an unconventional chronology]. Enmebaragesi is a key figure as he bridges the divide between myth and history. He is the earliest ruler to be evidenced directly from archaeology. Four inscriptions have been found with his name. En is an honorary title and not part of his original name. Me means ‘crown’, bara means ‘ruler’ and si ‘to fill’.
Enmebaragsei fought a successful campaign against Elam, capturing Uruk, confiscating their weapons and imposing his kingship – he “who made the land of Elam submit.” He preceded the Old Elamite period dated circa 2600 to 1500 BCE, which broadly incorporates three main dynasties from approximately the end of his reign. The Awan I and II era circa 2600 to 2300 BCE and 2300 to 1930 BCE consecutively; the Shimashki or Simaski era circa 1955 to 1840 BCE; and the Sukkalmah era, circa 1840 to 1500 BCE. It is the end of the 1st dynasty and the beginning of the 2nd with which we are primarily interested.
The Awan or Avan II dynasty was contemporary with the Mesopotamian emperor Sargon I or the Great of Akkad, reigning from 2224 to 2169 BCE. He defeated the 12th Awan king Luh-Ishshan, from circa 2194 to 2169 BCE and subjugated Susa. Historical sources concerning Elam now become more frequent, as the Mesopotamians had developed an interest in resources, such as wood, stone and metal from the Iranian plateau; thereby encouraging more frequent military excursions to the region.
Though the foreign Guti Dynasty [refer Chapter XXIII Aram & Tyre: Southern Italy, Spain, Portugal & Brazil] had been ruling in Sumer since 2088 BCE, it was in 2039 BCE that Akkad fell to the Gutians and with it, the final and 11th king of the Dynasty of Akkad – Shu-Dural or Shu-Tural. The Gutium spoke an agglutinative language isolate like Sumer and Elam. The Gutians ruled Sumer and Elam until 1991 BCE. The last king of nineteen Tirigan, reigned for only 40 days, when Utu-hengal [1995-1988 BCE] of the 5th Dynasty of Uruk defeated him – ending the Gutian Dynasty.
Now, Utu-Hengal was the father of Ur-Namma the 1st King of the Ur III Dynasty [1988-1970 BCE] and he in turn, was the father of King Shulgi who reigned from 1970 to 1924 BCE.
These names are mentioned as there is a lot more to say about Ur-Namma as we progress, who was concurrent with King Kutik-Inshushinak of Elam the next to last king before Chedorlaomer; as well as Shulgi, the 2nd King of Ur, who was a contemporary of the Elamite King Chedorlaomer, as well as the Patriarch Abraham.
Elam declared independence under the supposedly last and 17th Awan king, Kutik-Inshushinak or Puzur-Insusinak who reigned from 1980 to 1955 BCE, throwing off the Akkadian language and promoting the Linear Elamite script in the process. Kutik-Inshushinak conquered the future principal Elamite cities of Susa and Anshan. The Shimashki dynasty arose at the tail end of the Awan Dynasties, with an unnamed king from 1955 to 1930 BCE, so that there was a crossover of some twenty-five years. Elam endured a continual threat of attacks from the Sumerians and the Gutians. The Elamite empire state of Shimashki at this time extended into northern Iran and as far as the Caspian Sea.
A century later in 1882 BCE, the Elamites allied with the city of Susa and led by their king Kindattu or Kindadu [1892-1872 BCE], the 10th king of the Shimashki Dynasty, sacked Ur in Sumer with the first Akkadian King of Isin or Issn, Ishbi-Erra [1895-1862 BCE]; and defeated the 5th and final king of the Ur III Dynasty, the great grandson of Shulgi, Ibbi-Suen – who reigned twenty-four years beginning in 1906 BCE.
The succeeding Sukkalmah dynasty from 1840 to 1500 BCE, is so named after the ‘Great or Grand regents’, the title borne by Elamite rulers. It was also called the Epartid dynasty after the name of its founder Eparti II – also known as Ebarti or Ebarat who reigned from circa 1840 to 1820 BCE – and was concurrent with both the Old Assyrian Empire and the Old Babylon period in Mesopotamia. Eparti II was a contemporary of Iddin-Dagan and his reign from 1842 to 1822 BCE; the grandson of Ishbi-Erra and 3rd King of the Isin Dynasty in Akkad – marrying his daughter.
A ruler named Silhaha – or Shilkhakha, ruling from 1820 to 1800 BCE – who described himself as ‘the chosen son of Ebarti’ is also credited as the founder of the dynasty. Ebarti II appears as the founder of the dynasty according to building inscriptions, but later kings refer to the second ruler Silhaha, Eparti’s son, in their filiation claims. Possibly, Silhaha won out over a brother; as there was an Eparti III before Shilhaha. Both their names as the founding members of the Sukkalmah Dynasty, have been found on the Gunagi silver vessels, inscribed in the Linear Elamite script. The Gunagi vessels were discovered only recently in 2004.
Notable Eparti dynasty rulers in Elam during this time include the 12th king Siruk-tuh 0r Shirukduh circa 1660 to 1640 BCE, who entered various military coalitions to contain the power of the southern Mesopotamian states; 14th ruler and a son of Siruk-tuh, Siwe-Palar-hupak [circa 1615-1595 BCE], who for some time was the most powerful ruler in the region, respectfully addressed as ‘Father’ by Mesopotamian kings such as Zimri-Lim of Mari.
The 16th king, Kutir-Nahhunte I or Kedor-nakhunta, circa 1560 to 1530 BCE, exacted revenge and plundered the temples of southern Mesopotamia, as the north was under the control of the Old Assyrian Empire. In fact, Kutir-Nahhunte dealt so serious a defeat to the Babylonians that the event was remembered nearly one thousand years later in an inscription of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, when he conquered Susa in 660 BCE.
Trade between the Indus Valley Civilisation and the cities of Mesopotamia and Elam have been deduced from numerous Indus artefacts; particularly in excavations in Susa, showing the origination of the post-diluvian society in the east and the subsequent migration west to the plains of Mesopotamia [refer Chapter I Noah Antecessor Nulla]. Objects made with shell species that are characteristic of the Indus coast, such as Trubinella Pyrum and Fasciolaria Trapezium, have been found in the archaeological sites of Mesopotamia and Susa dated circa 2500 to 2000 BCE. Carnelian beads from the Indus were found in Susa in the tell of the citadel excavation.Exchanges seem to have waned after 1900 BCE, with the eventual demise of the Indus valley civilisation.
It is to this backdrop that we read of an extraordinary account in Genesis chapter fourteen. For a Biblical account, it is remarkably detailed and it comprises two parts. A war between a confederacy of Southern Mesopotamian kings against vassal Canaanite kings to the southwest, which we will look at now and an amazing rescue operation of Lot by the patriarch Abraham which we will study later in Chapter XXVI.
Genesis 14:1-11
English Standard Version
In the days of [1] Amraphel king of Shinar, [2] Arioch king of Ellasar, [3] Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and [4] Tidal king of Goiim [or Nations], 2 these kings made war with
Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah,Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
3 And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea) [the north of the present day Dead Sea].
4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled [1907-1895 BCE].
5 In the fourteenth year [1894 BCE] Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim inAshteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim inHam, the Emim inShaveh-kiriathaim,
6 and the Horites in their hill country ofSeiras far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. 7 Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat(that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of theAmalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar.
8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 with [1] Chedorlaomer king of Elam, [2] Tidal king of Goiim, [3] Amraphel king of Shinar, and [4] Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country [Seir].
11 So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way.
The five kings of the Plain, happen to represent the exact same five cities that the angels of the Lord came to destroy, sixteen years later and in the process, dramatically rescue Abraham’s nephew Lot, for the second time in his life. The references to the Repha-im, Zuz-im and Em-im are all clans of Nephilim offspring. In fact, the Horites and Amalekites are also included with these mysterious tribes. We will discuss these peoples in depth, in Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega and Chapter XXIX Esau: The thirteenth Tribe.
Though Chedorlaomer I of Elam is listed third – he is placed first in verse nine – Chedorlaomer is the leader of the northern confederacy. The only king not stated is that of Bela or Zoar. This city and its people were the only one of the five which were not destroyed in the Creator’s wrath during the time of Lot. The timeframe is particularly critical, as this battle would need to have taken place between Abraham’s birth in 1977 BCE and his death in 1802 BCE. This would align with the end of the Awan II Dynasty and the beginning of the Shimashki.
Head of Chedorlaomer [Height 34.3 cm] in Arsenical Copper from Iran [circa 2000 BCE].
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1947
Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary defines Chedorlaomer as: a roundness of a sheaf. Smith’s Bible Dictionary as: a handful of sheaves. The full name Chedorlaomer, is not known outside the Bible, although the name is genuinely Elamite. It is composed of two elements, which do appear separately in Elamite sources. ‘Laomer’ is apparently a divine name whose Elamite form is Lagamar. ‘Chedor’ is derived from the Elamite Katir or Kutir, meaning ‘servant.’ We have seen its use in the name of the 16th Sukkalmah Dynasty King Kutir-Nahhunte. The name could also mean ‘servant of the god Lagamar.’
Easton’s Bible Dictionary – emphasis & bold mine:
‘Many centuries before the age of Abraham, Canaan and even the Sinaitic peninsula had been conquered by Babylonian kings, and in the time of Abraham himself Babylonia was ruled by a dynasty which claimed sovereignty over Syria and Palestine. The most famous king of the dynasty was Khammu-rabi [Hammurabi],who united Babylonia under one rule, and made Babylon its capital. When he ascended the throne [1894 BCE UC],the country was under the suzerainty of the Elamites, and was divided into two kingdoms, that of Babylon (the Biblical Shinar)and that of Larsa (the Biblical Ellasar).
The king of Larsa was Eri-Aku (“the servant of the moon-god”), the son of an Elamite prince, Kudur-Mabug [or Durmah-ilani] who is entitled “the father of the land of the Amorites.” A recently discovered tablet enumerates among the enemies of Khammu-rabi,Kudur-Lagamar (“the servant of the goddess Lagamar”)or Chedorlaomer,Eri-Aku or Arioch, and Tudkhula or Tidal. Khammu-rabi, whose name is also read Ammi-rapaltuor Amraphel by some scholars, succeeded in overcoming Eri-Aku and driving the Elamites out of Babylonia.’
After the Valley of Siddim campaign, Hammurabi – or Amraphel, King of Shinar and – King of Babylon, ironically chose to go against his three former allies and circa 1893 BCE, he too rebelled. As we progress, we will possess significant support for the confirmation of the four Northern kings identities as real historical figures, as well as a credible time frame for the events recorded. It is proposed that Hammurabi was born in 1912 BCE according to an unconventional chronology and ascended the Babylonian throne in 1894 BCE, at the age of 18, after the abdication of the 5th king of the Amorite Dynasty, his father Sin-Muballit, who ruled for nineteen years from 1913 BCE.
There is fevered debate over when Hammurabi of Babylon lived. This is convenient for scholars, in that it neatly throws a spanner in the works for conclusively supporting the Biblical account as accurate. Hammurabi is a colourful and prominent king in ancient history and thus for detractors it is problematic to have such a clear sign of the authenticity of the Biblical account; which in turn underpins the veracity of the existence of Abraham and his nephew Lot, who both fathered peoples who are prominent 21st century nations.
An excellent paper: Abraham and Chedorlaomer Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence by Gérard Gertoux; provides comprehensive research in presenting the evidence for Chedorlaomer’s identity and his place as a legitimate historical king. Where we firstly and slightly disagree, is in the chronology by sixty years; for he has I presume, dated the Exodus in the early sixteenth century, circa 1507 BCE as opposed to the middle of the fifteenth century in 1446 BCE. Secondly, he has adopted the most recent academic opinion regarding the time frame for Hammurabi’s rule; some 200 to 150 years later than proposed here, under the unconventional chronology. He states, emphasis & bold mine:
‘The only way to assess the veracity (historical truth) of this event is by determining its exact chronology (“the backbone of history”). Foremost one should know that until now Babylonian chronology, which is the best known, has not been yet fixed since Oppert (1863) made the start of the reign of Hammurabi in 2394 BCE, Thureau-Dangin (1927) lowered this date to 2003 BCE and Gasche proposed (1998) lowering it again to 1696 BCE. Hammurabi has rejuvenated about 700 years during the 20th century!
When T.G. Pinches (1856-1934), lecturer in Assyriology at University College, London and at the University of Liverpool, published the Spartoli tablets he made a link between the biblical names: Amraphel, Arioch, Chedorlaomer and Tidal (Genesis 14:1) and Hammurabi, Eri-e-Aku, Kudur-lahgamal and Tudḫula.Unfortunately this deduction has three major errors: 1) Hammurabi (1697-1654) reigned three centuries after the events, 2) his name is very different from that of Amraphel and 3) the reading “laḫ” of the sign KU [for Chedorlaomer] is not documented.’
These three reasons are flimsy at best and are really no more than excuses. The dating conflict regarding Hammurabi’s timeline, means it has to be reconciled with other documents to understand when he truly lived. As we will find that Hammurabi was indeed a contemporary of Chedorlaomer, Arioch and Tidal, it is fitting to parallel his timeline with them. This then resolves the dates for Hammurabi’s life.
Some scholars have made the connecting link between the names Hammurabi and Amraphel. That aside, it is not unusual for people and places to have more than one name. Amraphel may have been his given name. As he was only eighteen when he ascended the Babylonian throne after Sin-Muballit and then ruled for a lengthy forty-two years. A new name may have been chosen as monarchs have done up until our recent history. The Bible possibly records his name as Amraphel as he had just ascended the throne and was in his very first year of his reign. An accurate record, no less than his being subsequently known after his exploits as Hammurabi and recorded as such in future histories.
Etymology shows the lah is actually part of Chedorlaomor’s name, though regardless, the Kudur-…gamal is still strong evidence for the correlation with his identity. Gertoux mixes Akkadian and Elamite together, to show the kudur is Akkadian and la(h)gamal is Elamite. The Akkadian actually says: kudur-lagamar and the Elamite says: kutir-lagamol. The Greek Septuagint refers to him as Chodol-logomor and it is synonymous with the aforementioned as well as the Hebrew name: Kdorla’omer.
Gérard Gertoux – emphasis & bold mine:
‘Ku-du7-[ur-La-ga-mar] (line 13) reigned 36 years (line 14) over Akkad as king of Awan I (Elam). King List WB 444 (Weld-Blundell Prism) dated c. 1800 B.C. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (number: AN1923.44). Kudur-Lagamar’s name is located in a part of the prism which is unfortunately very damaged but three important data have been preserved: a mighty king of Elam at the end of the 3rd millennium BCE, whose name was Kudu[-], died without a successor. A chronological reconstruction based on synchronisms shows that among the dynasties from Sumerian lists the third and last Elamite king of the Awan I dynasty was Kudur-Lagamar.’
‘The three Elamite kings of the dynasty of Awan I (Puzur-Insusinak [Kutik-Insusinak 1980-1955 BCE], [-]-lu [1955-1930 BCE], Kudur-Lagamar [1929-1893 BCE]) were regarded as genuine kings of Akkad in parallel with the Sumerian kings of the dynasty of Ur III (Ur-Nammu, Sulgi). Besides they used Akkadian in their writings, in place of Elamite, and they quoted Mesopotamian gods rather than their Elamite divinities.’
The Northern kings listing in Genesis fourteen verse one could be geographical in orientation, as Larsa is south of Babylon and Elam is south of Ellasar. Some researchers believe Tidal, King of Nations refers to a very northwesterly position and the peoples of Hatti, or later the Hittites in Anatolia. This would not fit with the cluster of powers in lower Mesopotamia. Nor would assigning all four kings as Assyrian kings as at least one researcher has proposed. I believe the Gutians, to the direct north of Elam and northeast of Shinar are the fourth power in the alliance. We will look at the Gutium in more detail when we study Shem’s fifth son Aram in Chapter XXIII.
The three main regions of Shem’s children in Mesopotamia were the states of Assyria, then the Land of Shinar and thirdly, Elam. As we have learned, the land of Shinar was split into north and south. The north was known as Akkad – Akkadia or Accadia – and in time as Babylonia after its main city Babel; while the south was known as Sumer. These two regions within Shinar, were the combined offspring of Shem’s son Arphaxad.
Arphaxad had two great grandsons, Peleg and Joktan. These two sons of Eber were the forefathers of a major split in the family line which we will study – and are confirmed in the super sub-Haplogroup split of R1 into R1a and R1b. I believe there is good reason to consider Peleg’s descendants comprised the northern territory of Akkad and Joktan’s children were located in Sumer. This would explain why two separate, yet closely related cultures arose though still under the banner of the Land of Shinar. Today, the same scenario has occurred with two distinct, yet adjacent regions of eastern and western nations within Europe – all descended from Arphaxad
In the British Museum there are artefacts mentioning three of the four northern kings at the Battle of the Valley of Siddim. The first two accounts record Chedorlaomer leading a rebellion with Tidal and Arioch’s son Dursrilani, a co-regent perhaps, against the king of Shinar at Babel circa 1929 to 1909 BCE, prior to the Valley of Siddim battle in 1894 BCE. The unnamed king of Shinar then strikes back. This king would have been from the Amorite Dynasty, the same as Hammurabi, the 6th king. The two possible kings are the 4th king, Apil-Sin [1930-1913 BCE] or the 5th king, Sin-Muballit* [1913-1894 BCE]. Each are viable as Apil-Sin is Hammurabi’s grandfather and Sin-Muballit, his father. A clear and reasonable motive for Hammurabi’s later actions against Chedorlaomer, suddenly becomes apparent – revenge.
The first artefact is British Museum #BM 35404 – sp II.987, which says:
“The property and the possessions of Babylon, small and great, in their faithful counsel to Chedorlaomer [Ku-der-lah-ga-mal], king of the land of Elam”… I am a King, the son of a king… the son of a daughter of the king who on the throne of dominion have sat… Dur-sir-ilani the son of Arioch [Eri-ekua] who with the spoil of the throne of dominion sat, and with the sword was killed.”
The second artefact is British Museum #BM 34062 – sp.158 & SPII.962 and states that Chedorlaomer the king of the Elamites, turned against the king of Shinar and attacked his cities at Babil and Borsippa:
“The enemy, the Elamite, multiplied evils against Bel and Babil [Babel] which he planned evil against… there he set his mind on destroying the temple… the enemy, the Elamite, took its goods… He decreed it’s destruction… he showed his dislike for and barred the people of Bel of Ezida… the road to Sumer. Who is this Chedorlaomer[Ku-der-lah-ga-mal], the maker of this evil? He has also gathered the Unman-Manda, and the people of Bel he has ruined… the Elamite caused his yoke to be directed down to Borsippa. He set his face against and he traversed also the road of darkness, the road to Mesku. This wicked man the Elamite, destroyed its palace, the princes he subdued with the sword, and from all the temples he carried off their goods as spoils of war, and he took them back to Elam.”
Notice Babylon is referred to as its original name of Babel – its name prior to the Tower of Babel incident. Chedorlaomer was a formidable opponent, a ‘wicked man’ who had subdued a future threat in Babylon and with it, their king – either Hammurabi’s father or grandfather – before amalgamating the states into a powerful coalition.
Abraham and Chedorlaomer Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence, Gérard Gertoux adds:
‘The Spartoli tablets (c. 650 BCE) describe [the] famous attack of Babylonia by a coalition of evil kings named Kudur-KUKUmal, [ku.ku means: carrying no mercy]king of Elam, Tudhula, king of Gutium,and Eri-Aku [king of Larsa]. This coalition of kings (Sumer, Larsa, Gutium) united under Kutur-Lagamar is quite likely, because all these kings were vassals or allies of the king of Elam (and Akkad) at that time, moreover, they came from neighbouring regions. Chedorlaomer’s route and the description of his actions show that this king came to this region near Egypt in order to maintain control over this new land trade route.
This ambitious project had to have worried Amenemhat I (1975-1946) because southern Canaan was a big source of supply. In order to protect Egypt, Amenemhat I built the “Walls of the Ruler”. One can notice that the area of Sodom is called Sutu(m) in execration texts (then Moab after 1800 BCE) [Moab as a son of Lot, lived where Lot had previously dwelt].
Thus the kings of Sumer [Ur] were oppressed on two occasions: once by Kudu[Lagamar] [1909 BCE]* king of Awan, and once by Kindadu [1882 BCE], king of Simaski. These two kings of Elam left a bad unforgettable memory in Sumerian annals. After the destruction of Ur the kings of Elam were blackened because they were charged with all misfortunes that occurred in the land of Sumer.’
The Pharaoh mentioned by Gertoux, Amenemhat I [1677-1647 BCE], was actually a Pharaoh while Joseph and the other sons of Jacob were living in Goshen, the Nile delta region in Lower Egypt – some three hundred years after Gertoux’s orthodox, though inaccurate dating. The wall he built was to the east of the delta region, to protect the eastern Egyptian frontier from the inhabitants of the Sinai Peninsula. As relations with the Israelites were still favourable at this time, it would seem a benevolent act and not an insidious one to contain the prospering sons of Jacob within Egypt’s boundary; though this cannot be ruled out as a partial motive.
There is only one possible Pharaoh who ruled between 1929 BCE – the ascension of Chedorlaomer to the Elamite throne – and 1907 BCE, the first year of enforced tribute of the Transjordan City-States, that would have been concerned with the growing strength of Chedorlaomer.
The 3rd Pharaoh of the 1st Dynasty Djer, was the the son of Hor-Aha. Prominent during Djer’s reign was his grandmother, Queen Neithhotep. Cemetery evidence confirms that she lived during the reign of Hor-Aha and succeeded him into Djer’s rule. Neithoptep had been the wife of the 1st Pharaoh, Narmer also known as Menes. The First Dynasty of Egypt is incorrectly dated as beginning circa 3100 BCE. We will return to the dating and accurate sequencing of the Egyptian dynasties in the unconventional chronology. Djer ruled Lower and Upper Egypt beginning 1922 BCE for fifty-four years until 1868 BCE. What is interesting about this Pharaoh is that it was Djer, who met Abraham and Sarah in 1902 BCE, during the 20th year of his reign while there was a famine in Canaan. We will return to this story in Genesis chapter twelve, when we study Abraham in Chapter XXVII.
The third artifact is British Museum #BM 35496 – sp III.2. A new King of Shinar, namely Hammurabi – or Amraphel – counter-attacks Dursirilani, Tidal and Chedorlaomer:
“Samas [Babylonian sun god] the illuminator of… Merodach [chief Babylonian god]… the rulers who were not nourishing… he caused to be slain. Dur-sir-ilani, the son of Arioch [Eri-ekua]…his goods he carried off to the waters of Babylon and back to the temple of Esaggil… his son, with the weapon of his hands, like a lamb he was slaughtered… the child he cut off… Tidal [Tu-ud-hul-amar]son of Gazza… his goods he carried off to the waters of Babylon and to the temple of Esaggil…
His son, with the weapon of his hands, fell upon him… of his dominion, before the temple of Annunit… Elam, the city of Ahhe to the land of Rabbatu, he spoiled in ruins, he set the fortress of Akkad, the whole of Borsippa…ended Chedorlaomer [Ku-der-lah-ga-mal],his son, and with the steel sword he pierced his heart… his enemy. He took the will of these kings, the lords of sin… their rebellions… who the chief of the gods, Merodach, brought his anger against.”
This was a series of bloodbath battles over a number of years imposed by the king of Shinar, violently slaughtering the other three kings and their families and in the process… ending three separate dynasties. The artefacts confirm the names of Dursirilani, Tidal, and Chedorlaomer. Possibly, Arioch was the one kingly casualty in Abraham’s raid and this is why his son, Dursirilani is listed as king of Ellasar or Larsa at the time of Hammurabi’s betrayal and revenge. Alternatively, Dursirilani may have been a co-regnt with his father Arioch.
It was after the Battle of the Valley of Siddim that Hammurabi rebelled and slaughtered his once allies now enemies, beginning in 1893 BCE.
It may now explain why Amraphel is listed first in the Genesis account. Ultimately, he killed his three rivals; each powerful rulers in southern Mesopotamia. As the king of Babylon and Akkad, Amraphel added the kingship of Sumer while subjugating both the lands of Elam and the Guti.
Regarding Chedorlaomer, the International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, on British Museum Sp. II 987 and Sp. III, 2, records:
‘… refers to the bond of heaven extended to the four regions, and the fame which Merodach set for the Elamites in Babylon, the city of his glory. So the gods, in their faithful or everlasting counsel, decreed to Kudur-lahgumal, king of Elam their favor. He came down, and performed what was good to them, and exercised dominion in Babylon, the city of Kar-Dunias (Babylonia). When in power, however, he acted in a way which did not please the Babylonians… [between 1929 and 1894 BCE].
The less perfect fragment (Sp. III, 2) contains, near the beginning, the word hammu, and if this be, as Professor F. Hommel has suggested,part of the name Hammurabi (Amraphel), it would in all probability place the identification of Kudur-lahgumal with Chedorlaomer beyond a doubt.’
This would cement an already compelling argument for the veracity of the king of Shinar’s identity being Hammurabi, who as Amraphel, was a contemporary of and briefly allied with Chedorlaomer, when he came to the throne in 1894 BCE. Amraphel then in turn, rebelled against Chedorlaomer, killing him in 1893 BCE for the humiliation perpetrated against probably his father, Sin-Muballit or possibly his grandfather, Apil-Sin.
Hammurabi and the Babylonian Empire, Dr Joshua J Mark, 2018 – emphasis & bold mine:
‘Hammurabi (also known as Khammurabi and Ammurapi… assumed the throne… and expanded the kingdom to conquer all of ancient Mesopotamia. The kingdom of Babylon comprised only the cities of Babylon, Kish, Sippar, and Borsippa when Hammurabi came to the throne but, through a succession of military campaigns, careful alliances made and broken when necessary, and political manoeuvres, he held the entire region under Babylonian control by [his death].
According to his own inscriptions, letters and administrative documents from his reign, he sought to improve the lives of those who lived under his rule. He is best known in the modern day for his law code which, although not the earliest code of laws, came to serve as a model for other cultures and is thought to have influenced the laws set down by Hebrew scribes, including those from the biblical Book of Exodus.
The fifth king of the dynasty, Sin-Muballit… successfully completed many public works projects but was unable to expand the kingdom or compete with the rival city of Larsa to the south. Larsa was the most lucrative trade center on the Persian Gulf and the profits from this trade enriched the city and encouraged expansion so that most of the cities of the south were under Larsa’s control. Sin-Muballit [1913-1894 BCE] led a force against Larsa but was defeated by their king Rim Sin I [1924-1865 BCE]. At this point it is uncertain what exactly happened, but it seems that Sin-Muballit was compelled to abdicate in favor of his son Hammurabi. Whether Rim Sin I thought Hammurabi would be less of a threat to Larsa is also unknown but, if so, he would be proven wrong.
The historian Durant writes: “At the outset of [Babylonian history] stands the powerful figure of Hammurabi, conqueror and lawgiver through a reign of forty-three years. Primeval seals and inscriptions transmit him to us partially – a youth full of fire and genius, a very whirlwind in battle [akin to Alexander the Great], who crushes all rebels, cuts his enemies into pieces, marches over inaccessible mountains, andnever loses an engagement. Under him the petty warring states of the lower valley were forced into unity and peace, and disciplined into order and security by an historic code of laws.”
‘The alliances [Hammurabi] made with other states would repeatedly be broken when the king found it necessary to do so but, as rulers continued to enter into pacts with Hammurabi, it does not seem to have occurred to any of them that he would do the same to them as he had previously to others. A technique he seems to have used first in this engagement would become his preferred method in others when circumstances allowed: the damming up of water sources to the city to withhold them from the enemy until surrender or, possibly, withholding the waters through a dam and then releasing them to flood the city before then mounting an attack.’
In 1866 BCE, the undefeated Hammurabi turned against Rim-Sin I because he had refused to support Hammurabi in his ongoing war against Elam, despite pledging troops. Hammurabi with extra troops from Mari, attacked Mashkan-shapir located on the northern edge of Rim-Sin’s realm. Hammurabi’s forces reached Larsa with alacrity and after a six-month siege the city of Larsa fell. Rim-Sin I escaped from the city but was soon found, taken prisoner and died thereafter in 1865 BCE. Rim-Sin I was the 14th and last king of the Larsa Dynasty which had begun in 2128 BCE.
In 1864 BCE, Hammurabi defeated a coalition that stood against him comprising Elam, the Guti and the Marhashi kingdom in Iran. The following year, he defeated Zimri-Lim the King of Mari, an Amorite kingdom northwest of Babylon and his former ally. Hammurabi not only broke his alliance with Zimri-Lim but also for the first and only time, completely destroyed Mari rather than conquering it. Hammurabi would subdue cities, absorb them into his kingdom, repair and improve them. Scholars have debated his reasons and believe Mari’s great wealth posed a threat and was too close in proximity, to Babylon’s designs on being the greatest city in Mesopotamia.
After Mari’s destruction, Hammurabi marched on Asshur, took control of the extent of Assyria and then Eshunna; so that by 1857 BCE – five years before his death at age sixty – he ruled all of Mesopotamia.
‘A popular title applied to Hammurabi in his lifetime was bani matim, ‘builder of the land’, because of the many building projects and canals he ordered constructed throughout the region. Documents from the time attest to the efficacy of Hammurabi’s rule and his sincere desire to improve the lives of the people of Mesopotamia. These letters and administrative works (such as directives for the building of canals, food distribution, beautification and building projects, and legal issues)
His law code is not the first such code in history (though it is often called so) but is certainly the most famous from antiquity prior to the code set down in the biblical books. The Code of Ur-Nammu… which originated with either Ur-Nammu or his son Shulgi of Ur, is the oldest code of laws in the world. Unlike the earlier Code of Ur-Nammu, which imposed fines or penalties of land, Hammurabi’s code epitomized the principle known as Lex Talionis, the law of retributive justice,in which punishment corresponds directly to the crime, better known as the concept of ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’, made famous from the later law code of the Old Testament…
By [1857 BCE]… Hammurabi was old and sick. In the last years of his life his son, Samsu-Iluna [1852-1815 BCE], had already taken over the responsibilities of the throne and assumed full reign by [1851 BCE]. The conquest of Eshnunna had removed a barrier to the east that had buffered the region against incursions by people such as the Hittites and Kassites. Once that barrier was gone, and news of the great king weakening spread, the eastern tribes prepared their armies to invade.
The vast kingdom Hammurabi had built during his lifetime began to fall apart within a year of his death, and those cities that had been part of vassal states secured their borders and announced their autonomy. None of Hammurabi’s successors could put the kingdom back together again, and first the Hittites… then the Kassites invaded. The Hittites sacked Babylon and the Kassites inhabited and re-named it. The Elamites, who had been so completely defeated by Hammurabi decades before, invaded and carried off the stele of Hammurabi’s Law Code which was discovered at the Elamite city of Susa in 1902 CE.’
Gérard Gertoux summary:
‘Kedor-Lagomer corresponds to Kudur-Lagarma which is an Akkadian transcription of Kutir-Lagamal “bearer (servant) of Lagamal”. According to the biblical text (Genesis 10:10), Shinar was a region south of Mesopotamia composed of at least three major cities: Babylon (Babel), Uruk (Erech) and Aggad (Akkad). In time the name Babylon came to mean the whole of Babylonia (Daniel 1:2). A coalition of kings (Sumer, Larsa, Gutium) united under Kutur-Lagamar is quite likely to be, because all these kings were vassals or allies of the king of Elam, moreover, they came from neighbouring regions.
During the period [1988-1894 BCE] the two main actors in the Mesopotamian world were the kings of Ur III and the kings of [late] Awan I [/II and early Shimashki].
The power of these two empires [Sumer and Elam] dependedontrade and therefore control of trade routes. They earned money through vassal kings who levied customs duties on traders passing through their territories and had to pay to their “emperors” for ensuring their security (by means of military force). Kudur-Lagamar probably wanted to create a new major trade route from Susa to Egypt. The route taken by Abraham and that one followed by Chedorlaomer are in agreement with the major communication routes of the time.
In this context, the capture of the goddess Nanaya [in 1909 BCE] served to justify the westward expansionist projects of Kudur-Lagamar. Indeed, change in titulatures confirm his new role of “king of Akkad”. The complete titulature of the kings of Awan I, as the one of Puzur-Insusinak, was as follows: governor (ENSI) of Susa, viceroy (GIR.NITA) of Elam and king (LUGAL) of Awan.
Abram…at that time… lived in Ur… he must have learned that Chedorlaomer had confiscated the statue of the goddess Nanaya [Inana or Ishtar, a Queen of Heaven]. [As the Assyrian king] Ashurbanipal refers exactly [c. 660 BC] to Ku-du[r-Lagamar], king of Awan I, in Sumerian royal lists and as the Spartoli tablets describe the attack of Babylonia by the king of Elam named Kudur-KUKUmal, this king of Elam must have been Chedorlaomer.
Prior to [1909 BCE] relationships with the kings of Elam remained cordial… From this date Kutur-Lagamar behaves as “King of Akkad” and, in the same way as Sargon of Akkad, he chose to open a new trade route to the west as far as Egypt. Titulary of Ur… kings changed… [from] King of Sumer and Akkad… [to] King of the 4 corners (of Universe) [an indicative title of the later Mede and Persian (Elamite) empire], indicating that Akkad was no longer under full control of the king of Ur…
[In summation]: King Kudur-Lagamar [reigning from 1929 to 1893 BCE]alias Chedorlaomer, actually existed since he was the third and last king of Awan I, the only Elamite dynasty mentioned in Sumerian lists.His two main actions that have passed to posterity were the capture of Uruk’s goddess (Nanaya)and[the] looting of the city of Sodom.’
The timing of two years – as deduced from Gertoux’s chronology – prior to the beginning of the tribute being exacted on the Canaanite cities in 1907 BCE, means King Chedorlaomer of Elam with his allies, Tudhula, king of the Gutium, and Eri-Aku king of Larsa, would have fought both the kings of Babylon [Akkad] and Sumer [Uruk] to gain control of the land of Shinar. This was twenty years after Chedorlaomer came to the throne of Elam and thus gave him ample time to consolidate his power, build his military capability and win or subjugate the necessary allies.
This means, we now know which king he fought against in Babel; it would have been Hammurabi’s father, Sin-Muballit [1913-1894 BCE] – the 5th king of the Amorite Babylonian Dynasty – and in Ur, King Shu-Suen [1915-1906 BCE] the grandson of Shulgi, the son of Ur-Nammu – the founder of the Ur III Dynasty. This explains the abdication of Sin-Muballit in favour of his son, Hammurabi who was probably chosen by Chedorlaomer as a puppet king. A role that the young Amraphel spectacularly did not follow.
Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible, C H W Johns & James Hastings, 1909:
‘Arioch king of Ellasar was allied with Chedorlaomer in the campaign against the kings of the plain (Genesis 14:1). He has been identified with Rim-sin, king of Larsa,and consequently Ellasar is thought to be for al-Larsa, the city of Larsa. Larsa, modern Senkereh in Lower Babylonia on the east bank of the Euphrates, was celebrated for its temple and worship of the sun-god Shamash.’
The meaning of Ellasar is very close to the meaning of Nimrod, who we will study in detail. Ellasar in Hebrew means ‘rebellious God’ or ‘onto rebellion’ from the word ‘el, God or denoting motion toward and the verb sarar, ‘to be rebellious’ or ‘stubborn’, though more in attitude rather than revolt. The city of Ellasar, is believed by most scholars to be the same city identified as Larsa. Some place it far north where the Hurrians dwelt, though this would not fit with the cluster of the other three in southern Mesopotamia. Larsa is located southeast of the very ancient city of Erech or Uruk – from which Iraq derives its name – and northwest of Ur, where Abraham’s family originated.
Tudhula of the Gutium is reputed to have ruled approximately from 1909 to either 1893 or possibly 1864 BCE. Support for these dates, is that Tidal may have come to power due to Chedorlaomer’s politicking and thus as one of his allies, would have assisted in the defeat of Babylon and Ur in 1909 BCE. Plus, Tidal if still king would have died when Hammurabi defeated his coalition with Elam in 1864 BCE – or more likely earlier in 1893 BCE as discussed.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia – emphasis & bold mine:
‘ERI-AKU er-i-a-koo’, e-ri-a-ku’: This is the probable Sumerian reading of the well-known Babylonian name written with the characters for “servant” (Sem wardu or ardu) and the group standing for the Moon-god Sin* (written En-zu = Zu-en), otherwise Aku, the whole meaning “servant of the Moon-god.” This ruler, who was king of Larsa [Ellasar], is generally identified with the Arioch of Genesis 14:9. Eri-Aku belonged to an Elamite family which held the throne of Larsa, a state which, in common with Babylonia itself, acknowledged the suzerainty of Elam… it may be noted, that the expression adda, “father,” probably means simply “administrator.”’
Gérard Gertoux adds:
‘The Akkadian name Warad-Sin, king (LUGAL) of Larsa, is written Eri-Aku (e-ri-a-ku) which is a transcription of the Sumerian name IR-AGA “servant of the lunar disc” translated into Akkadian as (u)-ar-du-a-gu Warad-Agu, an equivalent of Warad-Sin “servant of the Moon* (god)”.’
What is interesting here, is that Rim-Sin I was the final king of the Larsa Dynasty [1924-1865 BCE] and he is identified with Arioch of Ellasar or Eri-Aku of Larsa. Yet Gertoux says Warad-Sin is also Eri-Aku, or Arioch. In the king lists, Warad-Sin was the brother of Rim-Sin I and supposedly ruled for twelve years prior to his brother from 1936 to 1924 BCE and as a co-regency with his father, Kudur-Marbuk. Arioch, may then be a family name, a title, or even a descriptive name.
For we learn more about Eri-Aku in the Targum of Palestine account of Genesis 14:9, in that Eri-Aku was a giant. He was called Arioch due to his great height. Arioch is derived from Arik which means ‘tall among the giants’. Even compared to other giants, Arioch was impressive and intimidating. This is an interesting piece of information, as the Northern confederacy fought against Nephilim descended giants before turning around literally, to go against the five Canaanite kings.
Picking up the story from Genesis Six Giants website, emphasis & bold mine:
‘Of course, no ancient records exist that tell us how many giants served under Chedorlaomer. He may have had only Arioch, or that towering king plus a few others, or he may have had many such men in his service. In any event, the results of their opening battle with the Jordanian giants clearly show that he commanded a far superior force. Sweeping down the valley, his army quickly laid siege to Ashteroth Karnaim. This chief city of the Rephaim lay in the district of Bashan, [refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega and Chapter XXXIV Dan: The Invisible Tribe] about six miles northwest of Edrei. These giants worshipped Astarte, the goddess of the crested* moon.
They were greatly decimated. Continuing along what the ancients called the King’s Highway, a trade route that ran the entire length of the Trans-jordanian plateau to the Gulf of Aqabah,Chedorlaomer and his confederate kings next fell upon theenormous Zamzummim people at Ham. Some archaeologists identify this city with modern Ham, which is located in eastern Gilead, about four miles south of Irbid.
After this, the kings from Elam and Mesopotamia attacked and cut off the terrible Emim giants at nearby Shaveh Kiriathaim. These people, described as “great and many and tall,” occupied the land that the Moabites later took. Sodom and Gomorrah, at the [northern] tip of the Salt Sea, stood next in line. They quickly got ready to defend themselves, expecting the worst. But to their amazement the invaders passed them by.Pressing on southward into the rough mountain range of Seir, Chedorlaomer waged war instead against the giant Horites.’
The land of Canaan was infested with Nephilim descended Elioud and was literally the land of the giants. In verse seven of Genesis chapter fourteen, just after the Horites are mentioned, we read about the defeated Amalekites. This reveals that the Amalekites existed before Esau had a future grandson called Amalek; some one hundred and twenty years later. Esau was to marry into and live with the Nephilim related Horites. The Amalekites of the Bible are identifiable in secular sources under a different name, which we will study. The link in Genesis fourteen between the Horites and Amalek and then Esau marrying into the Horites and naming a grandson Amalek is, not only not a coincidence, but rather significant [refer Chapter XXIX Esau: The Thirteenth Tribe]. The Amalekites were also giants and related to the giant Horites.
‘He also conquered the Negev to eliminate any threat from that quarter. Having thus neutralized all the countryround, he finally turned his attention upon the rebellious Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors.
Giving up whatever security their fortified walls afforded them, “the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out,” notes Moses; “and they arrayed for battle against them in the valley of Siddim,against Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar – four kings against five.”’
The Book of Jasher 10:25-27, adds regarding these ‘Canaanites’.
25 And four men from the family of Ham went to the land of the plain; these are the names of the four men, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim. 26 And these men built themselves four cities in the land of the plain, and they called the names of their cities after their own names. 27 And they and their children and all belonging to them dwelt in those cities, and they were fruitful and multiplied greatly and dwelt peaceably.
Recall, the original inhabitants of Canaan, were the peoples descended from Canaan – the son of Ham [refer Chapter XII Canaan & Africa]. The Nephilim arrived after the Canaanites and dwelt amongst them. The Book of Jasher claims Nimrod was the king of Shinar. We have learned that Hammurabi is undoubtedly the king in question. Some 5,000 years elapsed since Nimrod and the Tower of Babel incident and though longevity was on his side, it would be unlikely he was still living at this time. Such a powerful figure such as he was, he would have been still ruling and making his presence known if alive. His inferred demise points to when the Tower was destroyed [refer Chapter XXI The Incredible Identity, Origin & Destiny of Nimrod].
‘This bold strategy to meet the invaders in the open field was decided by the surrounding treacherous terrain. Many slime pits, dug to obtain pitch or mortar for building, transversed the area.While most English translations simply describe the Valley of Siddim as being “full of slime pits,” the force of the original Hebrew language, according to Speiser, conveys to the reader a picture of “one bitumen pit after another.” The locals were most familiar with the locations of these pits. The invaders were not.
They were also accustomed to the foul-smelling, boiling waters on whose surface floated lumps of asphalt or bitumen the size of bulls. The enemy, they hoped, would be at least a little disconcerted by the unfamiliar terrain and terrible odor and afraid of falling into the boiling waters. But the pits failed to deter the invaders. Indeed, they soon turned them to their own advantage. In the resulting warfare, many in the defenders’ ranks saw death. Alarmed by the way the battle was progressing against them, the five local kings and their armies panicked and attempted to flee the field. The slime pits, however, made retreat difficult. In the confusion, two of the fleeing kings – and presumedly many men with them – fell into the tar pits. Those who escaped fled into the mountains.
For a time some scholars disbelieved this Genesis story, labeling it a fiction.Butevidence dug up by archaeologists in recent years verifies that in Abraham’s time a great destruction came upon the very places mentioned in Chedorlaomer’s invasion.
Dr. Nelson Glueck, whose work in this area extended from 1932 until 1947, when it was halted by the Israeli-Arab disturbances, reports that the highly developed civilization which flourished here during the Middle Bronze I period (c. 2100-1900 B.C.) came to an abrupt and savage end [in 1894 BCE].
This well-known archaeologist found that not only the cities mentioned in Genesis but also many villages – beginning with Ashtaroth-Karnaim and proceeding south through Transjordan and the Negev to Kadesh Barnea in the Sinai – were systematically gutted. “From southern Syria to central Sinai, their fury raged,” he writes. “A punitive expedition developed into an orgy of annihilation. I found that every village in their path had been plundered and left in ruins, and the countryside laid waste.The population had been wiped out or led away into captivity. For hundreds of years thereafter, the entire area was like an abandoned cemetery, hideously unkept, with all its monuments shattered and strewn in pieces on the ground.”’
Flying Serpents and Dragons, R A Boulay, 1990, Page 148:
‘The power of the invading kings, numbered as 800,000 according to the Haggadah, must have been overwhelming indeed, for they not only crushed these fortified cities but they never were rebuilt and the land [of the northern tip of the Dead Sea] remained unoccupied for a thousand years.’
Some will always take an opposing view and there will always be those who do not see what is in plain sight, but we have substantial verification of the Biblical account recording a devastating war; documented as historically authentic. The four northern kings are real personages and led the ancient coalition comprising the city-states of Elam, Akkad, Sumer and Aram. Acadia represented by Peleg and Sumer from Joktan – both from Shem’s son Arphaxad and collectively the land of Shinar – and with Elam and Aram, they exacted terrible revenge for disobedience by the southern kings of Ham and the Elioud giants. The modus operandi consisting of devastating destruction rings true, for we have learned how both Chedorlaomer and Hammurabi were uncompromising in their style of warfare. Possibly, a further reason why Amraphel is listed first; with his blitzkrieg style, he likely took a joint lead in the ensuing carnage, the obliteration of the opposition forces and the desolation of their land.
“Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation…”
Ecclesiastes 7:27 Christian Standard Bible
“I would rather be in minority and be right, than in the majority and wrong.”
The Lighthouse 