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Oil, Balfour and Jews

135:

After the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Senate of the Roman Empire passed a decree establishing a Roman province called Palestine. According to the senate’s plan, this word was to substitue such words as Judea and Israel in the mankind’s vocabulary.

1906:

For centuries, oil has been used for lighting, and partially in construction and medicine. In the late 19th century, the development of industrial technology led to a burst of oil demand. At the beginning of the 20th century, the United States gained the first place in oil production and fully satisfied its needs.

Chart 01 – leading countries in oil production in 1906

Balfur 01 1906

The shortage of oil threatened Europe with economic and military setback in competition with America.

In a feverish blaze of struggle for existence, the countries of Europe began to search for oil throughout the world. Mesopotamia appeared to be the closest large oil-bearing region to Europe. The Ottoman Empire controlled access to the area and, together with Germany, was engaged in oil exploration there.

Chart 02 – Ottoman Empire and Mesopotamian oil-bearing regions in 1906

Balfur 02 1907

1907:

Persia, located east of the Ottoman Empire, was divided into spheres of influence: the north was assigned to Russia, and the west and south were annexed to England.

1913:

The discovery and development of large oil fields in the south of Mesopotamia resulted in the construction of an oil refinery on the island (Persian) آبادان Abadan (the northern coast of the Persian Gulf). The refinery was guarded by British warships of a new generation with diesel engines, which were refueled here.

 June 28, 1914:

In Sarajevo, the Serbian terrorist Gavrilo Princip killed the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This murder ignited World War I.

It ignited the war, but not caused!

The Entente countries (England, France, and Russia) unleashed a war against the Axis powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire) to seize oil fields in Mesopotamia.

Chart 03 – Axis powers are marked in red, Entente countries – in green

Balfur 03 1914

1917:

World War I is coming to an end. Geologists report the discovery of huge oil fields in central Mesopotamia. The safest (from the point of view of England) oil delivery route to the Mediterranean will pass through the territories controlled by England.

Chart 04 – areas of influence of the winning nations and the proposed oil delivery route

Balfur 04 1917

Oil transportation over a distance of 1,000 km is a challenge (there were no oil pipelines in those days). The British government decides to mobilize the Jews’ sentimental attitude towards Palestine to achieve this objective.

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November 2, 1917:

Here is the text of Lord Balfour’s declaration:

Foreign Office November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet

His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours,

Arthur James Balfour

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1920:

At the end of World War I, a number of agreements were signed (Treaty of Versailles 10.01.1920, Treaty of Sèvres on 10.08.1920, San Remo conference in 1921, the British Mandate in 1922, the French Mandate in 1923), according to which the Middle East and Mesopotamia were divided into spheres of the influence of the winning nations – borders appeared on the map of the Middle East; Palestine and Mesopotamia became a UK mandated territories.

Chart 05

Balfur 05 1920

July 24, 1922:

Text of the Mandate for Palestine (selected articles):

MANDATE FOR PALESTINE

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country; and

Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country;

Article 2.

The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the preamble, and the development of self-governing institutions, and also for safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion.

Article 4.

An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognised as a public body for the purpose of advising and co-operating with the Administration of Palestine in such economic, social and other matters as may affect the establishment of the Jewish national home and the interests of the Jewish population in Palestine, and, subject always to the control of the Administration, to assist and take part in the development of the country.

The Zionist organisation, so long as its organisation and constitution are in the opinion of the Mandatory appropriate, shall be recognised as such agency. It shall take steps in consultation with His Britannic Majesty’s Government to secure the co-operation of all Jews who are willing to assist in the establishment of the Jewish national home.

Article 6.

The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage, in co-operation with the Jewish agency referred to in Article 4, close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes.

Article 7.

The Administration of Palestine shall be responsible for enacting a nationality law. There shall be included in this law provisions framed so as to facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian citizenship by Jews who take up their permanent residence in Palestine.

Chart 06 – Territory of the British Mandate for Palestine in the first edition

Balfur 06 1922.07

September 16, 1922:

Less than 2 months after establishing the Palestinian Mandate, England divided Palestine and appropriated the territory east of the Jordan River named Transjordan. This was done to invalidate the Balfour Declaration and the Palestinian Mandate regarding this territory. At the same time, a “finger” was attached to Transjordan, pointing northeast in the direction of the oil fields of central Mesopotamia.

Chart 07 – secession of Transjordan from Palestine

Balfur 07 1922.09

1927:

In Iraq, in the suburbs of the city of Kirkuk, a field of high-quality gushing (and therefore cheap) oil was discovered. The task of building the oil pipeline from Kirkuk to the Mediterranean coast has become urgent.

1931:

The route exploration was completed, and it was agreed to build the Kirkuk-Haifa oil pipeline.

Chart 08 – oil pipeline route

Balfur 08 1931

The decision of the British government to start the construction of the Kirkuk-Haifa oil pipeline became a critical point in England’s policy towards Palestine. There was no longer a need to attract Jewish labor and Jewish capital to develop infrastructure in Palestine. From that time on, the policy of the British government related to the repatriation of Jews to Palestine completely contradicted the Balfour Declaration and the wording of the Mandate for Palestine.

1935:

The installation of the Kirkuk-Haifa oil pipeline was completed and the supply of crude oil to Europe began.

1939:

Haifa refineries began to operate. Throughout the entire period of World War II, they supplied the army of England and its allies with fuel.

 The pipeline route and the territory of the factories were declared a zone under the British government’s direct control and outside the sphere of influence of state, municipal, and other Palestinian authorities. They were guarded by the British army, navy, and anti-aircraft artillery.

May 14, 1948:

The State of Israel was proclaimed. The Kirkuk-Haifa oil pipeline ceased to function.

December, 1948:

British troops left the territory of the Haifa oil refineries after all oil reserves had been pumped out of the oil storage facilities.

Summing up:

In 1917, the British government was in dire need of cooperation with Jews to set up logistics for the delivery of Mesopotamian oil to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea – the text of the Balfour Declaration is imbued with warmth, sympathy, and a desire to help the Jewish people in “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.

In 1931, the British government found a cheap and easy way to deliver Mesopotamian oil to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea – from that moment, it made every effort to prevent “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.

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There are other articles on this site. Here is the list of these articles.

The Beginning of the Iron Age

In 2019, after analyzing geological exploration data, a group of researchers from the University of Ariel arrived in the Negev mountainous desert, 100 km south of the city of Beer Sheva between the Paran Gorge and the Neqarot Gorge.

Map 01

ferrum 01

They found rust-colored stones scattered all over the land surface.

Photo 02

ferrum 02

Chemical analysis revealed that these ore fragments comprise up to 80% iron.

Illustration 03

ferrum 03

The researchers invited experts in ancient iron processing technologies and conducted the following experiment:

1. They collected 100 kg of iron ore fragments from the land surface.

2. A hearth was made from local clay.

3. They heated the material in the hearth to the melting point of iron.

4. They got an iron bloom.

5. The slag was separated by forging.

6. They got about 20 kg of pure iron.

Illustration 04

ferrum 04 En Ru

The area in which this experiment was carried out is in the same pristine condition as it was 3,800 years ago.

Photo 05

ferrum 05

There is reason to believe that the Iron Age of mankind began in the 18th century BC, but not in the 12th century BC, as it is usually claimed. How it happened is also described in the article “Who are you, Pharaoh?

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There are other articles on this site. The list of these articles is here.

The Road to … is Paved with Incense

In the 12th century BC the existence of mankind acquired the sense – the principles of Morality were formulated as 10 Commandments. After 1,200 years, the people of the sons of Edom spread the Moral throughout the world and disappeared. This story is about it.

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BROTHERS – ENEMIES

The forefather Isaac had two sons: Esau and Jacob.

Esau settled in the Edom mountains, that is why he was nicknamed “Edom”, and his descendants are called Edomites or Idumaeans.

Jacob defeated the God’s messenger in battle, so he received the nickname ישראל [israel] = he who conquered the God, and his descendants are called Hebrews. Why? See the article “The Fear of Isaac”.

The Edomites and the Hebrews – the descendants of two siblings Esau and Jacob – are near relatives.

 Figure 01 – Kinship tree

 Incense 01 En

Esau, the son of Isaac and Rivka, is a Hebrew, therefore his descendants are Hebrews in the opinion of Arabs.

 All of Esau’s wives are not Hebrews, therefore, in the eyes of the Hebrews, his descendants are non-Hebrews. One of Esau’s wives was Ishmael’s daughter, so Esau’s descendants from her are Arabs in the eyes of the Hebrews.

 By the 10th century BC the Hebrews had created 3 kingdoms: Aram, Israel, Judea (see the article “And they made their lives bitter …“). The Edomites are their closest neighbors in the south.

 Map 02 – The Middle East in the 10th century BC after King Solomon’s death

Incense 02 En

Despite the close relationship, the chronicle of the relations between the Hebrews and the Edomites is full of sad pages. Here is a partial list:

 – in 1194 BC after leaving Egypt, the Hebrews accepted the first battle with the descendants of Amalek, Esau’s grandson (see the article “The Enemy Never Sleeps”).

 – nearly 40 years later, the Edomites prevented the Hebrews from passing through Edom on their way to Canaan.

 – in the years of Biblical judges, the Edomites oppressed the Hebrews, and King Saul had to fight with them.

 – the Edomites supported the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the First Temple in 588-586 BC.

 – during the Babylonian exile in 586-539 BC, the Edomites terrorized the inhabitants who remained in the Judea area.

 – in 539 – 516 BC, King Cyrus sent an army to Jerusalem to protect the Hebrews rebuilding the Temple from the Edomites.

 – in 220 – 142 BC, the Edomites supported the invasion of the Assyrians who were Hellenized, which resulted in the Maccabean revolt.

 Further relations between the Hebrews and the Edomites had a significant impact on the entire history of mankind, and therefore they are worthy of detailed description.

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THE INCENSE ROUTE IS THE EDOMITES’ ROUTE

 In 323 BC, Alexander the Great, having conquered Egypt and Asia, suddenly passed away (see the article “Alexander the Great – him too?“). The most important consequence of his activities was the Hellenization of pagan peoples in the conquered territories. Worshiping the beauty of the human body became a cult – these peoples’ elite turned into a mass consumer of incense.

 In the 3rd century BC, the “incense trade route” blossomed, by which incense was imported from India to Greece, Assyria, and Egypt.

Map 03 – The incense trade route

 Incense 03 En

Map 04 – A length of the incense trade route in the Middle East

 Incense 04 En

The city of Petra, located in the Edom mountains, became the central intersection on the incense trade route.

 Photo 05 – The Edomites’ palaces carved into the rocks of Petra

 Incense 05

Edom grew rich day by day. The trade helped to strengthen ties between the rulers of Edom and Assyria.

 In the first half of the 2nd century BC, the rulers of the Hellenized Assyria increased pressure on the people of Israel to force them to abandon the traditions of Judaism and introduce them to Hellenism – this ended in the Maccabean revolt in 167 BC (see the article “20,000 Righteous of Sword”). In this clash, Edom supported Assyria in the south.

 Map 06

Incense 06 En

As a result of the revolt, the Hebrews freed themselves from the Assyrian yoke, but the hostile pressure from Edom did not cease.

 The turning point occurred during the reign of Johanan (John) Hyrcanus I (134 – 104 BC).

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RELEASE OF THE EDOMITES FROM THE EDOMITES’ YOKE

In 125 BC, Johanan Hyrcanus I invaded Edom to cease the age-old feud between the two peoples. He succeeded.

 Archaeologists note that almost no traces of this war have been found on the territory of Edom.  The ruins of burnt palaces were found in the two richest Edom cities, Maresha (Marissa) and Adoraim (Dura, Adora), and pagan cult buildings were destroyed in some other cities. The dwellings of the inhabitants of Edom were not damaged.

 Map 07

 Incense 07 En

Johanan Hyrcanus I suppressed the Edomite elite and left territory of Edom. It turned out that the Edomites, not provoked by their elite, were ready to live in friendship with the brotherly Jewish people. A lot of the Edomites converted to Judaism (underwent Giyur).

 In the 1st century BC, the Edomites, deprived of a central unifying power, settled along the incense route in several main trade areas:

- cities on the Aegean Sea coast,

- the western part of modern Syria and the southeast of modern Turkey,

- the road from Petra to the north to Syria,

- the road from Petra to the northwest to Gaza,

- the road from Petra to the south to Hejaz and Yemen.

Together with the Edomites, Judaism came to these places.

 Map 08 – Areas of the Edomites’ settlement

Incense 08 En

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GLOSSARY

To avoid confusion, let’s get the terms in order:

 – Israelis are the citizens of the State of Israel,

 – The sons of Israel or the people of Israel – descendants of the patriarch Jacob,

 – Hebrews are descendants of the forefather Jacob’s wives (see the article “The Fear of Isaac”),

 – Jews are the people who recognize Judaism as the moral canon of their life.

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THE BIRTH OF CHRISTIANITY

By early Christian era, the pagan world was mature to assimilate the Morality, based on the 10 Commandments. However, the previous 1,200 years had shown that Judaism was not a suitable tool for spreading it – it is too difficult for pagans to understand. And the Hebrews having got burned on King Herod who converted to Judaism for pragmatic reasons, treated proselytes with distrust and significantly complicated the conversion process.

Christianity arose among the Jews-Edomites (the Edomites who followed Judaism). The first worshipers of Christ considered themselves to be one of the branches of Judaism, like the Pharisees, Sadocees, and others. During the siege of the Temple by the Romans, members of this sect left Jerusalem, refusing to take part in its defense, the paths of Christians and Jews diverged.

The Apostle Paul sincerely wanted to make the world a better place and was convinced that Christianity was the right tool for this. He devoted himself to encouraging his tribesmеn Edomites-Jews to spread the Morality. ALL travels and letters of Paul (see the New Testament) were directed to the habitats of the communities of Edomites-Jews – the Aegean Sea coasts, Asia Minor, Aram (later Syria), and Edom. It was from the Edomites-Jews that the missionaries emerged, converting the pagans in Europe, West Asia, and northeastern Africa to Christianity.

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THE HIMYARITE KINGDOM

The word “Edom” comes from the word אדום [adom], which means “red” in Hebrew. This word names a mountainous area located southeast of Judea. The people who lived in the Edom mountains are called the Edomites.

 The root חמר [hmr] also means “red” in Aramaic. Words in various Semitic languages originated from this root. They are:

 – Hebrew: חַמְרָה [hamra] = clay (red earth),

 – Aramaic: חַמְרָא [hamra] = wine (red),

 – Arabic: adjective حمراء [hamra] = red.

 No wonder that the kingdom created by the Edomites in the 1st c. BC in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, received the name “Himyar”, which is the translation of the word “Edom” into the local dialect of the Aramaic language

 Because the Apostle Paul did not get here, the population of Himyar did not know about Christianity up to a certain time. From the 1st century BC and up to the 5th century AD, Himyar was ruled by different kings, 8 of whom professed Judaism. Jewish kings and pagan kings succeeded each other without revolutions and palace coups, suggesting the relations of good neighborliness and tolerance between Jews and pagans in Himyar.

 In 325, Ezana, the ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum, adjacent to Himyar, appointed the head of the church a Syrian Christian-Edomite by the name (Greek) Φρουμέντιος [frumentius]. Since that time, the kingdom of Aksum has become the center of the spread of Christianity in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

 Map 09

 Incense 09 En

Approximately in the late 4th or early 5th century, a Christian-Edomite named (Greek) ποιμήν (Femion or Pimen) arrived from Syria to the city of Najran, situated in the north of Himyar, inhabited by the Jews-Edomites and the pagans-Edomites. The missionary activity, which he initiated, led to the fact that at the beginning of the 6th century the Christian community of Najran refused to obey to the Jewish king of Himyar Yosef Dhu Nuwas. A synagogue was burned down in the city and, according to rumors, two Jews were killed. In 523, Dhu Nuwas brought an army to the city and besieged it. Having secured guarantees of immunity from Dhu Nuwas, 340 representatives of noble Christian families, headed by the head of the city named Hareta (or Arefa or Garita) (Greek) Αρέθας, (Arab) الحارث بن كعب), left the city and came to the Dhu Nuwas’ camp to sign a peace treaty. Documents that have come down to us state that Dhu Nuwas imposed heavy taxes on the Christians of Najran.

  Around this event, rumors spread that Dhu Nuwas allegedly offered the messengers a choice: conversion to Judaism or death and, after their refusal, beheaded them and threw the corpses into the river. Various sources mention the number of victims from 200 to 20,000.

 As is known, Judaism rejects and prohibits missionary activity, so it is obvious that the rumors about this massacre are fiction. On the contrary, Christianity encourages missionary work. In those days, forced baptism began to be an everyday legitimate practice, so it is no wonder that it was among Christians that these rumors were born – it was not the last blood libel against Jews in the history of Christianity.

Eventually, rumors spread. They reached a man named Dus ibn Talaban who got an audience with the Byzantine emperor Justin I and, having told him about the atrocities of the Jews in Najran, showed the half-burnt Gospel, allegedly saved by him from the fire in a church burned by the Jews. Justin I turned to Kaleb the king of Aksum كلب إل إصبحه بن تزن [kaleb il isbaha bin tazan] with a demand for revenge and sent about 70 ships to help him. In 525, Kaleb brought his entire army to an oath of allegiance to Christ, crossed the Red Sea on these ships and defeated the army of Yosef Dhu Nuwas in several battles. The last Jewish king of Himyar committed suicide by jumping into the sea.

The Aksum’s army ravaged with fire and sword across Himyar. A large number of Jews and pagans were killed, Jewish and pagan temples were destroyed. By order of the king, churches were built on the sites of these temples. Christianity became the only religion allowed on the territory of the former Himyar.

 After the events described above, King Kaleb ruled Aksum and Himyar for about 15 years. It is known from the documents that survived that Christian missionaries who visited those places were delighted with the number of churches he had built. Then King Kaleb left his country and spent the last years of his life in a monastery in Jerusalem.

 After about 30 years, in 570, the Prophet Muhammad was born.

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THE JEWISH ROOTS OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD

 For about 700 years before the birth of Muhammad, the city of Yathrib was inhabited by three clans of the Jews-Edomites: Qurayza, Nadir and Qaynuqa.

 In the 5th century, under the pressure of Christianity gaining strength in Himyar, two more clans of the Jews-Edomites moved from Najran to Yathrib: Khazraj and Aus. Thus, Yathrib turned into a large city (possibly the largest on the Arabian Peninsula), inhabited by the Jews-Edomites.

 Muhammad’s mother آمنة بنت وهب [Aminah bint Wahb] was from Yathrib. About 577, Amina and seven-year-old Muhammad were visiting relatives in Yathrib. On the way from Yathrib (nowadays Medina) to Bakkah (nowadays Mecca), Aminah died and was buried in the village of الأبواء [Al-Abwa].

In 1998, Amina’s tomb was destroyed by Islamic fanatics.

 Map 10 – The burial place of the Prophet Muhammad’s mother

Incense 10

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THE BEGINNING OF ISLAM

The city of Bakkah where the main Arab place of worship of the Kaaba was (and is), was inhabited by the people of the Arab clan قريش [quraysh], which traced its ancestry from Ishmael. Abdullah, the father of the Prophet Muhammad ( دبد الله بن عبد المطلب [Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib]) was a respected person in this respected clan.

How did Muhammad see himself with his own eyes? On the paternal side, he was a descendant of Ishmael, the son of Abraham. On the maternal side, he was a descendant of Esau, the grandson of Abraham. Affinity respected enough to long for being a leader and prophet.

At the beginning of the 7th century, the population of the Arabian Peninsula consisted of:

 – Edomites – Jews and Christians,

 – Arabs who were pagans, but they lived in contact with the Edomites for 700 years. Therefore, they were well acquainted with the idea of monotheism.

It was obvious to Muhammad that monotheism was the most effective means of uniting large masses of the population. He had two such instruments at his disposal: Judaism and Christianity. However, to achieve the goals set by Muhammad, both of these tools were not suitable:

 – Judaism did not fit, because it did not allow missionary activity, and the experience of the last 700 years had shown that local pagans were not inclined to voluntarily accept Judaism.

 – Christianity did not fit, because the presence of a central figure of Jesus Christ left Muhammad the right to a secondary role, to which he did not agree.

And then Muhammad developed a new simple monotheistic formula pertaining to two rules:

 – rule No.1: there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet,

 – rule No.2: Allah will punish everyone who disagrees with rule No.1 with painful death.

The first “clients” to convert to Islam were the pagan Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula.

In 610, Muhammad began to prophesy, in the first place trying to impose monotheism on his paternal relatives – the Quraysh.

By 622, the number of Muslim Quraysh reached 70 – the Quraysh clan expelled the Prophet Muhammad and his supporters from Bakkah. What should a person who is denied by his paternal relatives do? Muhammad went to Yathrib to stay with his mother’s relatives. The first Muslims who moved with him received the honorary title المهاجر [al- Muhajir] = the Migrants.

Only two of the five clans living in Yathrib, Khazraj and Aus, warmly welcomed Muhammad and the Muhajirs and settled them in their homes. Hence, it can be assumed that Muhammad’s mother had ancestral relationship particularly with these two clans.

Muhammad managed to persuade the heads of all 5 Jewish clans of Yathrib to sign a document that was titled: The Constitution of Medina. This document consists of 51 clauses. Clause 1 of this document reads:

 إنهم أمة واحدة من دون الناس

They are United People to the Last Man

 “They” are all the inhabitants of Yathrib – the Jews-Edomites and the Qurayshites-Muslims.

Soon it became clear that Muhammad needed this unification to mobilize the Edomites-Jews to fight the pagan Qurayshites from Bakkah.

In 624, the Battle of Badr took place – Muhammad defeated his Quraysh relatives from Bakkah. Riding the wave of this victory, the Jewish clans Khazraj and Aus swore allegiance to Muhammad. It should be noted here that in the days of Muhammad there was no Koran yet, Islam was not yet perceived as a religion, so the vow of the Khazraj and Aus clans did not look like a betrayal of Judaism.

Having become Muhammad’s closest assistants, Khazraj and Aus clans received the honorary title أنصار [ansar] = the Supporters. It was them who became the vanguard in the wars that led to the establishment of the rule of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, and later throughout the entire territory of the Muslim Caliphate.

After the victory over the Quraysh, the need for the unity of the inhabitants of Yathrib disappeared – the time had come to put an end to Jewish liberalism.

Muhammad offered the Qaynuqa clan a choice: convert to Islam or leave Yathrib. The Qaynuqa clan left Yathrib and generally left the country for the north. Qaynuqa’s property was divided among the Muhajirs.

If the Qaynuqa were Hebrews, it would be logical to assume that they would settle in the vicinity of Jerusalem. However, Qaynuqa were not Hebrews – they were Edomites, so they, passing Jerusalem, went further along the incense trade route and settled in the vicinity of the Syrian city of Daraa, inhabited by their tribesmen.

 Map 11 – Qaynuqa migration route

 Incense 11 En

After the deportation of Qaynuqa, it was the turn of the Nadir and Qurayza clans.

Jews from the Nadir clan were forced out of Yathrib. They settled in the Khaybar oasis, located about 150 km north of Yathrib, and their property was divided among the Muslims.

The Jews from the Qurayza clan suffered an even more sad fate – men were beheaded (according to various sources, from 400 to 900 people), women and children were sold into slavery, and property was divided among Muslims.

In 629, Muhammad went to the Khaybar oasis for the Final Solution to the Jewish Question.

 Photo 12 – a fortress in Khaybar

 Incense 12

The Jews, besieged in Khaybar, proposed negotiations, to which Muhammad consented. According to the tradition at that time, thirty of the most respected warriors came to the negotiations without weapon. The Muslims killed them. Left without leaders, the Jews laid down their arms with all the ensuing consequences.

From then until now, Muslims have threatened the Jews with complete and inevitable defeat, referring to the following expression:

 خيبر خيبر يا يهود جيش محمّد سوف يعود

Khaibar, Khaibar Jews! Muhammad’s army will come back!

 Figure 13

 Incense 13

In 630, Muhammad’s army besieged Bakkah, which surrendered without a fight. All Quraysh accepted Islam.

In 632 the Prophet Muhammad passed away. Since that time, Muslims have called the city of Yathrib المدينة المنورة [el-medina el-munavwara] = the spectacular city, in English it is “Medina”, and the city of Bakkah – مَكَّة الْمُكَرَّمَة [mecca el-mukarrama] = the most respected mecca, in English it is “Mecca”.

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THE QURAN

In 610, when Muhammad was 40, God’s grace descended on him, and he began to prophesy.

Since Muhammad could not read or write, many of his prophecies were written down by his secretary, a Jew-Edomite from the Khazraj clan named زيد بن ثابت [Zayd bin Tabet] and the other people around him, the rest went orally. While Muhammad was alive, there was no need to interpret his prophecies – one could always address to the source for explanations.

Twenty years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, a commission was created to collect his prophecies. This commission collected scattered notes made on bones, stones, leather, palm leaves, in brief, on everything that was used then for writing, and everything that could be remembered. All this, written down in the order established by the commission, constituted the first copy of the Quran. Each prophecy in the Quran is formalized in the form of a sura (chapter) with its own title – 114 suras in total. It is worth noting that the members of the commission failed to come to a consensus on the issue of the chronological order of the collected prophecies, therefore the order of the suras established by the commission is not chronological.

It is clear to the reader of the Holy Quran that this book is an instruction to believers on correct behavior. The Torah served as the main source of knowledge in this aspect for Muhammad. The books of the Jewish prophets and the New Testament are also mentioned in the Quran.

Here is the frequency of some words used in the Quran:

  • Torah – 26
  • Abraham – 69
  • Ishmael – 12
  • Isaac– 17
  • Jacob– 16
  • Israel – 43
  • Yosef – 26
  • Moses– 136
  • Jesus– 12
  • Gospel – 12
  • Jews– 22
  • Christians – 15
  • Muhammad – 4

 Muhammad treated the Torah with the greatest respect and considered it the message of God:

 سورة آل عمران

 وَمُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَلِأُحِلَّ لَكُمْ بَعْضَ الَّذِي حُرِّمَ عَلَيْكُمْ ۚ وَجِئْتُكُمْ بِآيَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ

Sura 3: Family of Imran

(50) And verifying what lies before me of the Torah, and to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you. I have come to you with a sign from your Lord; so fear God, and obey me.

 Muhammad says that the land of Canaan belongs to the Jews at the behest of God and even threatens the Jews on behalf of God in case they retreat:

 سورة المائدة 

 وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ يَا قَوْمِ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ جَعَلَ فِيكُمْ أَنْبِيَاءَ وَجَعَلَكُمْ مُلُوكاً وَآتَاكُمْ مَا لَمْ يُؤْتِ أَحَداً مِنْ الْعَالَمِينَ      يَا قَوْمِ ادْخُلُوا الأَرْضَ الْمُقَدَّسَةَ الَّتِي كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَلا تَرْتَدُّوا عَلَى أَدْبَارِكُمْ فَتَنْقَلِبُوا خَاسِرِينَ

 Sura 5: The Table Spread

(20) And Moses said to his people: “O my people, remember Allah’s mercy to you, when He established among you prophets, and made you kings, and bestowed on you what He did not grant to any of the worlds. (21) O my people! Enter the sacred land that Allah has ordained for you, and do not turn back so as not to be injured to you.”

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THE MOTHER OF CITIES IN THE QURAN

Let’s go back 1400 years for some time.

In 731 – 701 BC, Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III defeated Aram and Israel and scattered 10 tribes around the world (see the article Full Circle).

In 586 – 582 BC, Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar smashed Judea and, destroying the Temple of Jerusalem, drove all the educated inhabitants of Judea and all the nobility to Babylon.

Statehood of the Hebrews ceased to exist. The Hebrews were scattered throughout the world. They lost their homeland and hope.

But!

In 538 BC, Cyrus, the king of Persia, adopted a law known as the “The Edict of Cyrus”, according to which the Hebrews were charged with the obligation to relocate to their historical homeland and actively engage in rebuilding the Temple. He supplied the Hebrews with money and sent an army to Jerusalem to guard the builders of the Temple. The construction was completed during the reign of king Darius I, who supported the initiatives of his father-in-law, king Cyrus.

The restoration of the temple was completed in 516 BC. Judea again became the national center of the Hebrew people. It was at this time that words such as Judaism and Jew appeared in demand. At the same time Jerusalem received a new name – the Mother of Cities.

A huge number of Hebrews were scattered across different countries. The phrase “The Mother of Cities” appeared in all languages, including Greek:

 – μητέρ [miter] = mother

 – πόλις [polis] = city → πόλεια [polia] = cities

 – μητέρ + πόλεια → μητρόπολεια [mitropolia] = the mother of cities

The word μητρόπολεια passed into Latin → metropolia, and then into other European languages. Until the end of the era of the Crusades, i.e. the end of the 13th century, this word was the SYNONYM for the word “Jerusalem”. Later, cities with colonies began to be called with this word.

The words “The Mother of Cities”, which means Jerusalem, is often found in historical literature, for example, in the greatest historical work of the early 12th century “The Russian Primary Chronicle” (see the article The Mother of Rus’ Cities).

It is also found in the Quran:

 سورة الأنعام 

 وَهَذَا كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَاهُ مُبَارَكٌ مُصَدِّقُ الَّذِي بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَلِتُنذِرَ أُمَّ الْقُرَى وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالآخِرَةِ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ وَهُمْ عَلَى صَلاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ

 Sura 6: Livestock

(91) And the Book that We sent down, blessed, sanctified by His hands and promised to the Mother of Cities and all around it and believers in the Hereafter will believe in it and their prayers will be perpetuated.

 In this verse, Muhammad, on behalf of God, says that the Torah was revealed to Jerusalem. The next verse tells us about God’s relationship with the Hebrews and their role in the world.

سورة البقرة 

 يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتِي الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَنِّي فَضَّلْتُكُمْ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ

 Sura 2: The Heifer

(46) O children of Israel! Remember My favor which I bestowed upon you, and that I favored you over all nations.

 However, in another chapter of the Quran, we come across a different opinion:

 سورة المائدة 

 يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَتَّخِذُوا الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى أَوْلِيَاءَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّهُمْ مِنْكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ

  Sura 5: The Table Spread

(50) O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies; some of them are allies of one another. Whoever of you allies himself with them is one of them. God does not guide the wrongdoing people.

 In case Muhammad had respect to the Torah and the Hebrews so much, why did he forbid Muslims to be friends with Jews?

In Muhammad’s opinion, there was a significant difference between the Jews-Edomites and the Hebrews. The Edomites were carriers of a rival ideology in the Arabian Peninsula – they were expelled and destroyed by Muhammad on his final pace. The Hebrews are the people of the Book – the people whom He preferred over the worlds.

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WARS OF APOSTASY

Most of the Arab clans treated Muhammad with great respect. Muhammad, but not Islam. In their eyes, Islam was a tool designed to legitimize the cult of Muhammad’s personality. After Muhammad’s death, they stopped adhering to the rules of Islam and returned to their pagan ancestors’ customs.

The first caliph to succeed Muhammad in 632 was أبو بكر الصديق Abu Bakr the Righteous. He waged a series of wars, which was called حُرُوْبُ الرِّدَّةِ  [khurub el-ridha] = Ridda wars = wars with murtadds in the history of Islam.

It was at this time that the term رَّدَّةِ [radha] = murtadd – a person, who renounced Islam, appears in Arabic.

 Picture 14 – From Google Translate Dictionary

 Incense 14 En

Having ravaged with fire and sword across the Arabian Peninsula, Abu Bakr united all Arabs under the banner of Islam.

Having done away with the murtadds, Abu Bakr moved north in 634 with the aim of Islamizing the territory of Mesopotamia and what is now state of Jordan. Having reached the Yarmouk River (today it is the border between Syria and Jordan), he died, leaving in his place a second caliph named عمر ابن الخطاب Umar ibn Al-Khattab.

This was the time when Byzantium and Persia fought perpetual wars and exhausted each other to a large extent. Umar ibn Al-Khattab took advantage of the poor state of his enemies and, crushing them, conquered vast territories in West Asia and North Africa.

 Map 15 – the Islamic caliphate territory in the middle of the 7th century

 Incense 15

In those days, a warrior born in the Arabian Peninsula was forbidden to buy property in the conquered countries. So, the far-sighted caliph took care of the racial purity and ensured the flow of the conquered riches to his homeland.

A simple system of taxation was introduced in the conquered territories:

 – tax جزْية [jizia] – the tax paid by a non-Muslim man,

 – tax خراج [kharaj] – the tax on land use.

The amount of these taxes was different in different places. Without going into details, one can conclude that the principle of taxation was as follows: a Muslim paid 20% of the revenues to the Caliph’s treasury, and a non-Muslim – 50%.

There is no need to explain why ALL the population of the Muslim-conquered countries within 3-4 generations converted to Islam. This led to the emergence of a great number of dialects, which were a mixture of the local dialect and Arabic. And today, residents of different Arabic-speaking countries, for instance, Syria and Morocco, while communicating, do not understand or hardly understand each other.

The Arabs realized that the sincerity of the conversion of the conquered peoples to Islam was questionable and therefore treated the newly-minted Muslims with distrust.

In 638, Umar ibn Al-Khattab conquered the Roman province of Palestine and entered Jerusalem. Following the precepts of the Prophet Muhammad, Muslims strove to reach Jerusalem in order to fraternize with the sons of Israel – the People of the Book. However, they were disappointed here – the Hebrews, unlike other peoples, refused to accept Islam. Many of the Hebrews, unable to withstand the unbearable taxes, left their long-inhabited places.

They could not go east, south, or west – Islam was already there. They could not go to Asia Minor and to Europe – in those territories, the Roman Empire, under the threat of the impending Islam, began to practice the violent widespread Christianization.

The Hebrews left to the north and settled in the territory between the Volga and the Dnieper – it was at this time and it were them that became the reason for the emergence of the Jewish Khazar Khaganate in this territory (see the article The Mother of Rus’ cities).

 Map 16 – the migration of Hebrews from Palestine to Khazaria

 Incense 16

Offended in their best feelings, Muslims nicknamed the fugitive Hebrews ردة [radha] = murtadd.

This word spread throughout the caliphate, and then all over the world as a synonym for the word “Hebrew”. In the trade and geographical literature, there are words derived from this word – radhanites, radanites, rahdanites – the names for Jewish merchants and Hebrews in general.

In the 7th-10th centuries this word was also widely used in the Hebrew language as a synonym for the word “Hebrew”:

 ردة [rada] → רדה [rada] → plural רדיים [radaim]

From the Hebrew language, the word “radaim” migrated to the Russian language. Below is an example of how this word is used in “The Russian Primary Chronicle”.

In 872, Prince Rurik, dying, appointed Oleg to reign, since Rurik’s son Igor was too young:

Photo 17

 Incense 17

The translation of this passage into English is as follows: “When he died, Rurik handed over the reins to Oleg that was a radaim, having given him his son Igor into his arms, because Igor was still a child.”

As stated in the text, Prince Oleg was a radaim, i.e. Hebrew.

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THE MOOR HAS DONE HIS DUTY, . . .

As mentioned above, in 638 Umar ibn Al-Khattab conquered the Roman province of Palestine and established his authority in its cities, including those inhabited by the Edomites.

The Edom city of Shivta, with a population of about 2,000, was on the western part of the incense route between Petra and Gaza.

 Map 18

 Incense 18 En

Judging by the number and splendor of the churches, most of the city’s population professed Christianity.

 Photo 19

 Incense 19

There were also several synagogues in the city.

Having captured the city, the Muslims first of all built a mosque on the central square. To erect the mosque, stones of another building, dismantled for this purpose, were used – an image of a cross has been preserved to this day on one of the steps of the mosque.

 Photo 20

 Incense 20

The confrontation between the Christian and Muslim worlds led to the fact that the incense route ceased to function at the end of the 7th century. The population left Shivta a short time after the arrival of Muslims – this is obvious because only one mosque was built in the city. The inhabitants of all the cities of Edom suffered the similar fate.  Fleeing from Islam, they left their homes, were scattered among the peoples of the world and vanished. Thus, ended the history of the people of Edom who played a key role in the emergence and spread of Christianity and Islam.

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THE WORLD THROUGH ARAB EYES

Assumption is that there are 22 Arab states in the world – that is a misperception. Arabs, descendants of Ishmael, live on the Arabian Peninsula, while the inhabitants of all other Arabic-speaking states are not Arabs.

The establishment of the Islamic Caliphate in the 7th century caused the disappearance of Western Asia states. The entire territory was divided into spheres of the family clans’ influence.

Clan = (Arab.) حَمُولَة [hamula]. Hamula is a group of people and their family members having a common ancestor.

The Near East is divided into hamula spheres of influence from the 7th century to the present (2021) days. The states’ borders, defined during the British Mandate in the 1920s, did not change this tradition.

The two oldest and largest Near East hamulas are the Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael, who live on Arabian Peninsula, and the Jews, the descendants of Yitzhak, who live in Israel.

Jewish repatriation to Palestine in the late 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries boosted the economic activity. A large number of Arabic-speaking (but not Arab) hamulas, attracted by the opportunity to find work or to rob, migrated to Palestine. For example, in the Galilee in the village of الرينة [rayne] near Nazareth, there is a hamula طاطور [tatur], with circa 5,000 people, which, according to its sheikhs’ testimony, originates from the Tatars who came to the Middle East with the Chingizid army in 1260.

Almost all Arabic-speaking residents of the State of Israel and the surrounding territories are not Arabs.

Arabs, descendants of Ishmael, live on the Arabian Peninsula to the present time. According to them, the population of our planet is divided into 4 groups:

  • Hebrews, descendants of Yitzhak brother of Ishmael, are close relatives and people of the Book.
  • the Arabs have sentiments to those Egyptians who are descendants of the ancient Egyptians – because the Ishmael’s mother and wife were Egyptians.
  • Arabic-speaking descendants of the peoples conquered in the 7th century, who converted to Islam, yielding to circumstances, are a plebs that can and should be used.
  • all the rest are pagans.

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The Enemy Never Sleeps

The legend of the birth of Amalek

To the east of the land of the Philistines, where Jacob lived, there are mountains red in color. Why they are red, see the article “Who are you, Pharaoh?”. The Hebrew for “red” is אדום [adom], hence the name the Edom mountains.

Amalek 01 En

תורה, ספר בראשית

לו,ו וַיִּקַּח עֵשָׂו אֶת נָשָׁיו וְאֶת בָּנָיו וְאֶת בְּנֹתָיו וְאֶת כָּל נַפְשׁוֹת בֵּיתוֹ וְאֶת מִקְנֵהוּ וְאֶת כָּל בְּהֶמְתּוֹ וְאֵת כָּל קִנְיָנוֹ אֲשֶׁר רָכַשׁ בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶל אֶרֶץ מִפְּנֵי יַעֲקֹב אָחִיו  לו,ז כִּי הָיָה רְכוּשָׁם רָב מִשֶּׁבֶת יַחְדָּו וְלֹא יָכְלָה אֶרֶץ מְגוּרֵיהֶם לָשֵׂאת אֹתָם מִפְּנֵי מִקְנֵיהֶם  לו,ח וַיֵּשֶׁב עֵשָׂו בְּהַר שֵׂעִיר עֵשָׂו הוּא אֱדוֹם

 Torah, book 1 Genesis

36,6 And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the souls of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan; and went into a land away from his brother Jacob. 36,7 For their substance was too great for them to dwell together; and the land of their sojournings could not bear them because of their cattle. 36,8 And Esau dwelt in the mountain-land of Seir, Esau is Edom.

The firstborn son of Esau, (Hebrew) אליפז [Elipaz], took after his father –  he was peculiar and did not delve into moral issues. The married Hurrian woman who lived next door got pregnant by Elipaz and gave birth to a girl named (Hebrew) תמנע [Timna].

Timna grew up into a beautiful girl. The time had come and she wanted to get married. The most powerful clan in the area was the Jacob’s clan. And Timna came to Jacob and said: “Look at me. I am so beautiful. Marry me to one of your sons”. But Jacob was reputedly the guardian of morality and proudly replied that his sons would not marry girls born from an extramarital affair.

Then Timna came with the same offer to Esau. He did not dig into details and gave her to Eliphaz (take it or leave it, to her father!). Elipaz and Timna had a son (Hebrew) עמלק [Amalek].

There is no reason to envy Amalek. Even in the very distant past, a child born by an illegitimate mother, and, moreover, as a result of incest, was not well regarded by people around him. Amalek grew up in an atmosphere of contempt and hatred. He became an adult that way – hateful and aggressive.

Esau never forgave Jacob the stolen birthright. Having aged and sensing the approach of the end, Esau called his grandson Amalek and told him: “If it were not for the meanness of Jacob, you would be the favorite of the Lord, and the heir of the Promised Land. You will revenge Jacob’s descendants for his treachery in stead and stall.”

Be on alert Israel – Amalek never sleeps!

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They Are Us

Arameans and Hebrews are one and the same people

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ETYMOLOGY

The English term Jew originates from the Biblical Hebrew word Yehudi, meaning “from the Kingdom of Judah“. It passed into Greek as Ioudaios and Latin as Iudaeus, which evolved into the Old French giu after the letter “d” was dropped. A variety of related forms are found in early English from about the year 1000, including Iudea, Gyu, Giu, Iuu, Iuw, and Iew, which eventually developed into the modern word Jew.

The modern word “Jewish” and the Biblical word “Hebrew” are synonyms. The events described in this article took place in biblical times, that is why we will use the word “Hebrew” for their description.

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ARAM-NAHARAIM

Here is the first reference to a place named Aram in the Torah.

בראשית

כד,י   וַיִּקַּח הָעֶבֶד עֲשָׂרָה גְמַלִּים מִגְּמַלֵּי אֲדֹנָיו וַיֵּלֶךְ וְכָל טוּב אֲדֹנָיו בְּיָדוֹ וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶל אֲרַם נַהֲרַיִם אֶל עִיר נָחוֹר

 Torah, book 1 Genesis

24,10 And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his master, and departed; having all goodly things of his master’s in his hand; and he arose, and went to Aram-naharaim, unto the city of Nahor.

Figure 01

They are We 01 En

These events happened around 1775 BC. In those days, the northern part of Mesopotamia was called by the name of Aram. For more accurate identification, this area is called Aram-Naharaim due to the following reasons:

*   the Hebrew word for “river” is נהר [nahar]

*   the equivalent for the word combination “two rivers” in Hebrew is נַהֲרַיִם [naharaim]. The region Aram is situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, so it got the name אֲרַם נַהֲרַיִם [aram naharaim], i.e. “Aram-Naharaim”.

*   the word Mesopotamia originated from Greek. The Greek word μέσος [mesos] means “between”, and another Greek word ποταμία [potamia] denotes “rivers”. Hence, Μεσοποταμία [mesopotamia] = Mesopotamia. Geographically, Aram-Naharaim is Upper Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamia is surrounded by water on all sides (the Tigris and Euphrates rivers), that is why this area is called الجزيرة [aljazeera] = (Eng) The Island in the Arab countries.

A state referred to as Aram has never existed in this area.

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WHO ARE YOU, HEBREWS?

We know where the Biblical Aram was. Now we will investigate who the Arameans are.

The forefather Abraham and his wife, the foremother Sarah came to Canaan from the city of Haran, which was located in Aram.

Foremother Rebekah, the wife of the forefather Isaac, is from Aram. The Torah reports that her father Bethuel and her brother Laban are Arameans.

בראשית

כה,כ   וַיְהִי יִצְחָק בֶּן אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה בְּקַחְתּוֹ אֶת רִבְקָה בַּת בְּתוּאֵל הָאֲרַמִּי מִפַּדַּן אֲרָם אֲחוֹת לָבָן הָאֲרַמִּי לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה

 Torah, book 1 Genesis

25,20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean, of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife.

All four wives of the forefather Jacob are also from Aram, two of whom, Leah and Rachel, are the daughters of Laban the Aramean.

Conclusion No. 1: the forefather Abraham and all the foremothers are Arameans.

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HEBREWS, YOU ARE ARAMEANS!

The word “Hebrew” is first used in the Torah in the following verse:

בראשית

יד,יג   וַיָּבֹא הַפָּלִיט וַיַּגֵּד לְאַבְרָם הָעִבְרִי וְהוּא שֹׁכֵן בְּאֵלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא הָאֱמֹרִי אֲחִי אֶשְׁכֹּל וַאֲחִי עָנֵר וְהֵם בַּעֲלֵי בְרִית אַבְרָם

 Torah, book 1 Genesis

14,13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew – now he dwelt by the terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were confederate with Abram.

 

The English word “Hebrew” originates from the hebrew word העִבְרִי [haebri], denoting “passed to” – the forefather Abraham and all the foremothers were the first who moved from Aram to Canaan, therefore their descendants were later called “Hebrews”. In biblical times, the word “Hebrew” did not denote a nationality – it was a symbol of a person’s belonging to a group of people who are descendants of six foremothers. As for their belonging to the people, all Hebrews considered themselves Arameans and spoke Aramaic.

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RISE OF THE ARAM KINGDOM

In 1624 BC the family of the forefather Jacob descended to Egypt. After about 80 years the power structure in Egypt was changed. The hostile attitude of the new government forces a considerate share of Hebrews to leave Egypt and settle on the shores of the Mediterranean and Black Seas. At this stage (15th-13th centuries BC) they continue to consider themselves Arameans and speak Aramaic, just like those Hebrews who remained in Egypt.

Figure 02

They are We 02 En

In 1274 BC the Arameans gave battle to Pharaoh Raamses II at the city of Kadesh.

Figure 03

They are We 03 En

As a result of the victory in this battle, the Arameans advanced south-east and in the middle of the 13th century BC created the Kingdom of Aram with its capital in the city of Damascus. By this time, the area of Aram-Naharaim became part of the Kingdom of Assyria.

 Figure 04

They are We 04 En

Conclusion No. 2:

*   the forefather Abraham and all the foremothers were Arameans, as they were from Aram-Naharaim;

* when being in Egyptian bondage, the Hebrews considered themselves Arameans, because they were descendants of the foremothers;

*   the Hebrews who fled from Egypt and settled on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea considered themselves Arameans, as well as the Hebrews who remained in Egypt;

*   the Hebrews in the Mediterranean basin founded the kingdom and named it Aram, since they considered themselves Arameans.

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THREE COUNTRIES – ONE PEOPLE

The historical literature refers to the descendants of the forefather Jacob who came from Sinai to Canaan as Hebrews.

 Figure 05

They are We 05 En

 For 40 years in the Sinai desert the Hebrews:

*   joined the faith in One God.

*   created an improved dialect of the Aramaic language, which we call the Hebrew language (the Torah is written in it).

*   brought the Hebrew alphabet to the state which we still use now. Since then, only the form of letters has changed. The number of letters, their sound and meaning remained unchanged.

In 1154 BC the Hebrews entered Canaan and settled there.

Around 1000 BC the Hebrew state arose in the territory of Canaan, which was split into 2 kingdoms: Israel and Judea about 930 BC.

Figure 06

They are We 06 En

Ethnically, the population of the kingdoms of Aram-Damascus, Israel and Judea are homogeneous – they are all descendants of the foremothers. However, historical literature artificially divided them into two nations and called the inhabitants of Aram-Damascus Arameans, and the inhabitants of Israel and Judea – the Hebrews.

Conclusion No. 3: the Hebrews and the Arameans are two names of the same ethnos.

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THE WAY TO GLORY MAY BE PECULIAR

The attitude towards faith in One God differentiated the Hebrews from the Arameans:

*   the inhabitants of Judea had the 40-year experience in Sinai and were united by faith in One God;

*   the inhabitants of Aram were pagans;

*   the inhabitants of Israel, who were believers in the beginning, left the faith and connected with the pagan cults under the pressure of the Aramaic queen Jezebel.

The spread of paganism in the territory of the Kingdom of Israel led to a breakdown in the bonds between people and to the degradation of a person’s sense of belonging to a people.

Around 840 BC, a prophet Elijah received from the Almighty the task of bringing the people of Aram and Israel back to the path of righteousness:

מלכים

א יט,טו וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֵלָיו לֵךְ שׁוּב לְדַרְכְּךָ מִדְבַּרָה דַמָּשֶׂק וּבָאתָ וּמָשַׁחְתָּ אֶת חֲזָאֵל לְמֶלֶךְ עַל אֲרָם  א יט,טז וְאֵת יֵהוּא בֶן נִמְשִׁי תִּמְשַׁח לְמֶלֶךְ עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת אֱלִישָׁע בֶּן שָׁפָט מֵאָבֵל מְחוֹלָה תִּמְשַׁח לְנָבִיא תַּחְתֶּיךָ  א יט,יז וְהָיָה הַנִּמְלָט מֵחֶרֶב חֲזָאֵל יָמִית יֵהוּא וְהַנִּמְלָט מֵחֶרֶב יֵהוּא יָמִית אֱלִישָׁע  א יט,יח וְהִשְׁאַרְתִּי בְיִשְׂרָאֵל שִׁבְעַת אֲלָפִים כָּל הַבִּרְכַּיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא כָרְעוּ לַבַּעַל וְכָל הַפֶּה אֲשֶׁר לֹא נָשַׁק לוֹ 

 Book of 1 Kings

19,15 The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 19,16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 19,17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 19,18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

The efforts of the prophets did not help – the Kingdom of Aram and the Kingdom of Israel were defeated by the Assyrian Kingdom in the war of 731 – 701 BC, and their Hebrew pagan population was scattered throughout the world (Ten Lost Tribes).

By a strange coincidence, it was at that time that civilizations arose, which are mentioned as Ancient Greek and Etruscan in the historical literature.

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There are other articles on this site. Here is the list of these articles.

The Fear of Isaac

Why didn’t the forefather Abraham stab Isaac to death?

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WHO ARE THEY, THE FIRST HEBREWS?

 Here is a quote from the Torah, in which the word “Hebrew” is written for the first time in human history:

בראשית

יד,יג וַיָּבֹא הַפָּלִיט וַיַּגֵּד לְאַבְרָם הָעִבְרִי וְהוּא שֹׁכֵן בְּאֵלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא הָאֱמֹרִי אֲחִי אֶשְׁכֹּל וַאֲחִי עָנֵר וְהֵם בַּעֲלֵי בְרִית אַבְרָם

 Torah, book 1 Genesis

14,13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew – now he dwelt by the terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were confederate with Abram.

The English word “Hebrew” originated from the Hebrew word העִבְרִי [haebri] in the meaning “passed to”, “crossed over”.

The Haran (Harran) district in the land of Aram is the birthplace of the Jewish people. Forefather Abraham and foremother Sarah were the first to move from Haran to Canaan, so they are the first Hebrews. The reasons for this transition are mentioned in the article “Who are you, Pharaoh?

Figure 01 – transition from Haran to Canaan

 Fear of Isaac 01 En

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ETYMOLOGY OF THE VERY FIRST HEBREWS’ NAMES

Hebrew man No. 1 got the given name אַבְרָם [avram] = אַבְ + רָם = the great father. After concluding an alliance with God (Torah, book 1 Genesis, chapter 17, verse 5), the Hebrew letter ה [hey] was added to this name, so it slightly changed the sounding – אַבְרָהָם [avraham].

Hebrew woman No. 1 got the given name (Heb.) שָׂרָי [sarai], the root of which is the (Heb.) word שר [sar] = governor, minister. The English word “Sir” originated from this word. Upon concluding an alliance with God (Torah, Book 1 Genesis, chapter 17, verse 15), the Hebrew letter  י [yud] in this name was substituted by the Hebrew letter ה [hey], so the name also slightly changed the sounding – שָׂרָה [sara].

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PHILISTIMLIAN WELCOME RECEPTION

Citation from the Torah:

בראשית

כ,ב וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָהָם אֶל שָׂרָה אִשְׁתּוֹ, אֲחֹתִי הִוא; וַיִּשְׁלַח אֲבִימֶלֶךְ מֶלֶךְ גְּרָר וַיִּקַּח אֶת שָׂרָה  כ,ג וַיָּבֹא אֱלֹהִים אֶל אֲבִימֶלֶךְ בַּחֲלוֹם הַלָּיְלָה וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ . . .  כ,יד וַיִּקַּח אֲבִימֶלֶךְ צֹאן וּבָקָר וַעֲבָדִים וּשְׁפָחֹת וַיִּתֵּן לְאַבְרָהָם; וַיָּשֶׁב לוֹ אֵת שָׂרָה אִשְׁתּוֹ  כ,טו וַיֹּאמֶר אֲבִימֶלֶךְ הִנֵּה אַרְצִי לְפָנֶיךָ  בַּטּוֹב בְּעֵינֶיךָ שֵׁב  כ,טז וּלְשָׂרָה אָמַר הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי אֶלֶף כֶּסֶף לְאָחִיךְ הִנֵּה הוּא לָךְ כְּסוּת עֵינַיִם לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר אִתָּךְ וְאֵת כֹּל וְנֹכָחַת.  . . . כא,א וַיהוָה פָּקַד אֶת שָׂרָה כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמָר וַיַּעַשׂ יְהוָה לְשָׂרָה כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר  כא,ב וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד שָׂרָה לְאַבְרָהָם בֵּן לִזְקֻנָיו לַמּוֹעֵד אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֹתוֹ אֱלֹהִים  כא,ג וַיִּקְרָא אַבְרָהָם אֶת שֶׁם בְּנוֹ הַנּוֹלַד לוֹ אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לּוֹ שָׂרָה יִצְחָק  כא,ד וַיָּמָל אַבְרָהָם אֶת יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ בֶּן שְׁמֹנַת יָמִים כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֹתוֹ אֱלֹהִים  כא,ה וְאַבְרָהָם, בֶּן מְאַת שָׁנָה בְּהִוָּלֶד לוֹ אֵת יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ

Torah, Book 1 Genesis

20,2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife: ‘She is my sister.’ And Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 20,3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him . . .  20,14 And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and men-servants and women-servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. 20,15 And Abimelech said: ‘Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.’ 20,16 And unto Sarah he said: ‘Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver; behold, it is for thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee; and before all men thou art righted.’ . . .  21,1 And the LORD remembered Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as He had spoken. 21,2 And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 21,3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. 21,4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 21,5 And Abraham was a hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.

This citation results at least in two conclusions:

  • Sarah spent no less than one night in Abimelech’s house;
  • Sarah conceived and gave birth to Isaac.

There seem to be some questions:

  • why did Abimelech give Abraham “sheep and oxen and men-servants and women-servants” and a thousand pieces of silver?
  • what really happened between Abimelech and Sarah that night?

In the Torah we read about Sarah’s pregnancy immediately after she spent one night in Abimelech’s house – a rather transparent hint that Abimelech is Isaac’s biological father. Hint, but not proof! Only Sarah knew the truth. Isaac, out of childish naivety, was sure that he was the son of Abraham, and Abraham lived in the hope that Isaac was his son.

But people around them were not sure of it. It was this doubt floating around that gave Ishmael, Abraham’s eldest son, a sense of superiority and the right to scoff at Isaac.

 בראשית

כא,ט וַתֵּרֶא שָׂרָה אֶת בֶּן הָגָר הַמִּצְרִית אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לְאַבְרָהָם מְצַחֵק  כא,י וַתֹּאמֶר לְאַבְרָהָם גָּרֵשׁ הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת וְאֶת בְּנָהּ כִּי לֹא יִירַשׁ בֶּן הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת עִם בְּנִי עִם יִצְחָק  כא,יא וַיֵּרַע הַדָּבָר מְאֹד בְּעֵינֵי אַבְרָהָם עַל אוֹדֹת בְּנוֹ

 Torah, Book 1 Genesis

21,9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, making sport. 21,10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham: ‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.’ 21,11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight on account of his son.

Ishmael, the son of Abraham, mocked Isaac, an illegitimate child. Sarah, upholding her honor and that of Isaac, demanded from Abraham to cast out Hagar and Ishmael – an extremely cruel requirement. In those days, exile was tantamount to death from hunger or thirst. Abraham’s disagreement could be perceived by others as mistrust of his lawful wife Sarah. Abraham expelled the concubine Hagar and his son Ishmael, and thereby showed everyone his full confidence in Sarah.

Nevertheless, the demonstration of confidence and confidence are two totally different things.

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WHO IS A MAN HERE?

 Abraham was the head of a rather large tribe:

בראשית

יד,יד וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָם כִּי נִשְׁבָּה אָחִיו וַיָּרֶק אֶת חֲנִיכָיו יְלִידֵי בֵיתוֹ שְׁמֹנָה עָשָׂר וּשְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת וַיִּרְדֹּף עַד דָּן

 Torah, Book 1 Genesis

14,14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.

As it follows from the quotation, Abraham had 318 combat-ready men. From this we can conclude that the whole tribe totaled up to 2,000 people. Everyone in the tribe knew that Abraham cast out his son Ishmael upon Sarah’s request, who was defending her apparently illegitimate son, Isaac. That was not a manly conduct, to put it mildly.

For several years, Abraham suffered from humiliated dignity, and in the end it was these sorrows that forced him to seek a solution to the problem with a knife blow.

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BINDING OF ISAAC

 According to Torah, at the time of the sacrifice Isaac was aged 6 – 13 years. Most likely 6 years old – Abraham would not have been able to bind an older boy.

 בראשית

כב,ט וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אָמַר לוֹ הָאֱלֹהִים וַיִּבֶן שָׁם אַבְרָהָם אֶת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וַיַּעֲרֹךְ אֶת הָעֵצִים וַיַּעֲקֹד אֶת יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ וַיָּשֶׂם אֹתוֹ עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ מִמַּעַל לָעֵצִיםכב,י וַיִּשְׁלַח אַבְרָהָם אֶת יָדוֹ וַיִּקַּח אֶת הַמַּאֲכֶלֶת לִשְׁחֹט אֶת בְּנוֹ

Torah, Book 1 Genesis

22,9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 22,10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

How did Isaac feel when his father, having bound him, laid him upon the wood and stretched forth a knife over him? What did he see in his father’s eyes at that moment? What did he feel for his father when this nightmare was over? Probably for the rest of his life distrust and fear of the unpredictability of the madman settled in his heart.

And the key question is: why didn’t Abraham slay Isaac?

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THE BIRTH OF MORALITY

 Abraham lived in a cruel time, when death caused by starvation and death in the battle for food happened every day in front of everyone –  see the article “Who are you, Pharaoh?” Cruelty and mercilessness were part of the routine.

Humiliating rumors and gossip piled up around the circumstances of Isaac’s birth. Abraham’s status as leader of the tribe was shaken. To defend his honor, he decides to get rid of the reason for these gossip – Isaac. At that time, the killing of an illegitimate child would be perceived by others as a common behavior of a real man.

Why didn’t Abraham stab Isaac?

 Because he decided not to kill Isaac, even if he had to pay for it with the loss of power and humiliation.

The scene of Isaac’s sacrifice described in the Torah is the first documented episode in the history of mankind in which humanity defeated pragmatism.

Abraham is a special person. He is the first one who, regardless of the logic of survival, implemented the commandment “do not kill”. Abraham was the one who sowed humanity among humankind.

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RECONCILIATION

Isaac and Abraham didn’t get along well, but Sarah maintained the family balance.

About 30 years passed. Sarah departed. Abraham buried her in the cave of Machpelah.

Isaac, who was 37 years old, couldn’t live at  Abraham ‘s place. He left his father’s house and settled near the spring Beer-lahai-roi (the Well of the Vision of Life), just steps from the desert of Paran, where Ishmael dwelt.

בראשית

כד,סב וְיִצְחָק בָּא מִבּוֹא בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי וְהוּא יוֹשֵׁב בְּאֶרֶץ הַנֶּגֶב

Torah, Book 1 Genesis

24,62 And Isaac came from the way of Beer-lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the land of the South.

Figure 02

 Fear of Isaac 02 En

Abraham sent a servant to relatives in Haran to bring Isaac a wife. Rivka (Rebekah) moved from Haran to Canaan, so she is Hebrew woman No. 2 (after Sarah).

בראשית

כד,סו וַיְסַפֵּר הָעֶבֶד לְיִצְחָק אֵת כָּל הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂהסז וַיְבִאֶהָ יִצְחָק הָאֹהֱלָה שָׂרָה אִמּוֹ וַיִּקַּח אֶת רִבְקָה וַתְּהִי לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה וַיֶּאֱהָבֶהָ וַיִּנָּחֵם יִצְחָק אַחֲרֵי אִמּוֹ

Torah, Book 1 Genesis

24,66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 24,67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted for his mother.

Filled with gratitude to Abraham for his care, Isaac returns to Sarah’s tent to continue his life near Abraham.

Only after relations with Isaac warmed up, Abraham afforded to take a new wife named Ktura, who bore him six sons.

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WHAT COUNTS MOST

 At the end of life, Abraham decided to appoint an heir.

 בראשית

כה,ה וַיִּתֵּן אַבְרָהָם אֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ לְיִצְחָק  כה,ו וְלִבְנֵי הַפִּילַגְשִׁים אֲשֶׁר לְאַבְרָהָם נָתַן אַבְרָהָם מַתָּנֹת וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם מֵעַל יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ בְּעוֹדֶנּוּ חַי קֵדְמָה אֶל אֶרֶץ קֶדֶם

Torah, Book 1 Genesis

25,5 And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. 25,6 But unto the sons of the concubines, that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts; and he sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.

Abraham had 8 sons. Ishmael, the son of Hagar, and 6 sons of Keturah were without a doubt his flesh and blood, and he doubted only in Isaac. Why did he choose Isaac as an heir?

The answer is simple: Isaac is the only one of eight whose mother is a Hebrew woman. Was this really the most crucial thing for Abraham? Undoubtedly, yes:

  • that was why Abraham sent a servant to Haran to look for the wife to Isaac;
  • that was why, later, Rebekah sent Jacob to Haran to search wife to himself.

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FRIENDSHIP

 Isaac and Ishmael became friends.

בראשית

כה,ז וְאֵלֶּה יְמֵי שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי אַבְרָהָם  אֲשֶׁר חָי מְאַת שָׁנָה וְשִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְחָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים  כה,ח וַיִּגְוַע וַיָּמָת אַבְרָהָם בְּשֵׂיבָה טוֹבָה זָקֵן וְשָׂבֵעַ וַיֵּאָסֶף אֶל עַמָּיו  כה,ט וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֹתוֹ יִצְחָק וְיִשְׁמָעֵאל בָּנָיו אֶל מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה אֶל שְׂדֵה עֶפְרֹן בֶּן צֹחַר הַחִתִּי אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי מַמְרֵא  כה,י הַשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר קָנָה אַבְרָהָם מֵאֵת בְּנֵי חֵת שָׁמָּה קֻבַּר אַבְרָהָם וְשָׂרָה אִשְׁתּוֹ

 Torah, Book 1 Genesis

25,7 And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, a hundred threescore and fifteen years. 25,8 And Abraham expired, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. 25,9 And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; 25,10 the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth; there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

 After Abraham’s death Isaac returned to Beer-lahai-roi to live not far from Ishmael.

Abraham died in 1739 BC. About 38 centuries have passed since then, however, to this day Arabs and Hebrews pray side by side in the Cave of Machpelah.

Figure 03 – a building for worship built over the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron

 Fear of Isaac 03

It is no coincidence that the Arabs pray in the Cave of Machpel, particularly, in the Hall of Isaac.

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COUSINS

בראשית

כ,יב וְגַם אָמְנָה אֲחֹתִי בַת אָבִי הִוא אַךְ לֹא בַת אִמִּי וַתְּהִי לִי לְאִשָּׁה

 Torah, Book 1 Genesis

20,12 And moreover she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and so she became my wife.

The quote reveals that Sarah was not only a wife, but also Abraham’s sister on her father’s side and, as a result, Ishmael’s aunt.

According to Ishmael, Isaac was not Abraham’s son and, therefore, was not Ishmael’s brother. For this reason, even today, Arabs call Hebrews

“ولاد عمنا” = our cousins, the sons of an aunt on our father’s side.

In memory of those events, the Arabs still have a proverb:

بدك الحق ولا ابن عمٓة؟  =  Do you want the truth, or the son of an aunt on your father’s side?

The relationship between the descendants of Ishmael and those of Isaac are described in the article “Paved with Incense is the Road to…”.

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UNDERLYING REASON

Jacob’s son Isaac had 13 children. Twelve of them were born in Haran and moved to Canaan, so they are Hebrews. And only Benjamin was born in Canaan. Perhaps this is the reason that the Benjamin tribe was subsequently destroyed by the Hebrews (Book of Judges, Chapter 20).

It can be argued that the tribe of Benjamin was not fully wiped out. This is true, but it must be noted that all those 600 warriors, who survived, got Hebrew women from other Israelite tribes, and thanks to these women, the renewed tribe of Benjamin became a full-fledged Jewish tribe.

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There are other articles on this site. A list of them here

The Very First World War

On the world population in times of forefathers

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The war among 9 kings is spoken about in Chapter 11, the Book of Genesis:

 תורה, ספר בראשית

יד,א וַיְהִי בִּימֵי אַמְרָפֶל מֶלֶךְ שִׁנְעָר אַרְיוֹךְ מֶלֶךְ אֶלָּסָר כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר מֶלֶךְ עֵילָם וְתִדְעָל מֶלֶךְ גּוֹיִם  יד,ב עָשׂוּ מִלְחָמָה אֶת בֶּרַע מֶלֶךְ סְדֹם וְאֶת בִּרְשַׁע מֶלֶךְ עֲמֹרָה שִׁנְאָב מֶלֶךְ אַדְמָה וְשֶׁמְאֵבֶר מֶלֶךְ צְבֹיִים וּמֶלֶךְ בֶּלַע הִיא צֹעַר  יד,ג כָּל אֵלֶּה חָבְרוּ אֶל עֵמֶק הַשִּׂדִּים הוּא יָם הַמֶּלַח  יד,ד שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה עָבְדוּ אֶת כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר וּשְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה מָרָדוּ  יד,ה וּבְאַרְבַּע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה בָּא כְדָרְלָעֹמֶר וְהַמְּלָכִים אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ וַיַּכּוּ אֶת רְפָאִים בְּעַשְׁתְּרֹת קַרְנַיִם וְאֶת הַזּוּזִים בְּהָם וְאֵת הָאֵימִים בְּשָׁוֵה קִרְיָתָיִם  יד,ו וְאֶת הַחֹרִי בְּהַרְרָם שֵׂעִיר עַד אֵיל פָּארָן אֲשֶׁר עַל הַמִּדְבָּר  יד,ז וַיָּשֻׁבוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל עֵין מִשְׁפָּט הִוא קָדֵשׁ וַיַּכּוּ אֶת כָּל שְׂדֵה הָעֲמָלֵקִי וְגַם אֶת הָאֱמֹרִי הַיֹּשֵׁב בְּחַצְצֹן תָּמָר  יד,ח וַיֵּצֵא מֶלֶךְ סְדֹם וּמֶלֶךְ עֲמֹרָה וּמֶלֶךְ אַדְמָה וּמֶלֶךְ צְבֹיִים וּמֶלֶךְ בֶּלַע הִוא צֹעַר וַיַּעַרְכוּ אִתָּם מִלְחָמָה בְּעֵמֶק הַשִּׂדִּים  יד,ט אֵת כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר מֶלֶךְ עֵילָם וְתִדְעָל מֶלֶךְ גּוֹיִם וְאַמְרָפֶל מֶלֶךְ שִׁנְעָר וְאַרְיוֹךְ מֶלֶךְ אֶלָּסָר אַרְבָּעָה מְלָכִים אֶת הַחֲמִשָּׁה  יד,י וְעֵמֶק הַשִּׂדִּים בֶּאֱרֹת בֶּאֱרֹת חֵמָר וַיָּנֻסוּ מֶלֶךְ סְדֹם וַעֲמֹרָה וַיִּפְּלוּ שָׁמָּה וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִים הֶרָה נָּסוּ  יד,יא וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת כָּל רְכֻשׁ סְדֹם וַעֲמֹרָה וְאֶת כָּל אָכְלָם וַיֵּלֵכוּ  יד,יב וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת לוֹט וְאֶת רְכֻשׁוֹ בֶּן אֲחִי אַבְרָם וַיֵּלֵכוּ וְהוּא יֹשֵׁב בִּסְדֹם  יד,יג וַיָּבֹא הַפָּלִיט וַיַּגֵּד לְאַבְרָם הָעִבְרִי וְהוּא שֹׁכֵן בְּאֵלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא הָאֱמֹרִי אֲחִי אֶשְׁכֹּל וַאֲחִי עָנֵר וְהֵם בַּעֲלֵי בְרִית אַבְרָם  יד,יד וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָם כִּי נִשְׁבָּה אָחִיו וַיָּרֶק אֶת חֲנִיכָיו יְלִידֵי בֵיתוֹ שְׁמֹנָה עָשָׂר וּשְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת וַיִּרְדֹּף עַד דָּן  יד,טו וַיֵּחָלֵק עֲלֵיהֶם לַיְלָה הוּא וַעֲבָדָיו וַיַּכֵּם וַיִּרְדְּפֵם עַד חוֹבָה אֲשֶׁר מִשְּׂמֹאל לְדַמָּשֶׂק  יד,טז וַיָּשֶׁב אֵת כָּל הָרְכֻשׁ וְגַם אֶת לוֹט אָחִיו וּרְכֻשׁוֹ הֵשִׁיב וְגַם אֶת הַנָּשִׁים וְאֶת הָעָם  יד,יז וַיֵּצֵא מֶלֶךְ סְדֹם לִקְרָאתוֹ אַחֲרֵי שׁוּבוֹ מֵהַכּוֹת אֶת כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר וְאֶת הַמְּלָכִים אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ אֶל עֵמֶק שָׁוֵה הוּא עֵמֶק הַמֶּלֶךְ  יד,יח וּמַלְכִּי צֶדֶק מֶלֶךְ שָׁלֵם הוֹצִיא לֶחֶם וָיָיִן וְהוּא כֹהֵן לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן  יד,יט וַיְבָרְכֵהוּ וַיֹּאמַר בָּרוּךְ אַבְרָם לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן קֹנֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ  יד,כ וּבָרוּךְ אֵל עֶלְיוֹן אֲשֶׁר מִגֵּן צָרֶיךָ בְּיָדֶךָ וַיִּתֶּן לוֹ מַעֲשֵׂר מִכֹּל  יד,כא וַיֹּאמֶר מֶלֶךְ סְדֹם אֶל אַבְרָם  תֶּן לִי הַנֶּפֶשׁ וְהָרְכֻשׁ קַח לָךְ  יד,כב וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָם אֶל מֶלֶךְ סְדֹם  הֲרִמֹתִי יָדִי אֶל יְהוָה אֵל עֶלְיוֹן קֹנֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ  יד,כג אִם מִחוּט וְעַד שְׂרוֹךְ נַעַל וְאִם אֶקַּח מִכָּל אֲשֶׁר לָךְ וְלֹא תֹאמַר אֲנִי הֶעֱשַׁרְתִּי אֶת אַבְרָם  יד,כד בִּלְעָדַי רַק אֲשֶׁר אָכְלוּ הַנְּעָרִים וְחֵלֶק הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר הָלְכוּ אִתִּי עָנֵר אֶשְׁכֹּל וּמַמְרֵא הֵם יִקְחוּ חֶלְקָם

 Torah, Book 1 Genesis

14,1 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 14,2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela the same is Zoar. 14,3 All these came as allies unto the vale of Siddim the same is the Salt Sea. 14,4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 14,5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 14,6 and the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Eyal Paran, which is by the wilderness. 14,7 And they turned back, and came to Ein Mishpat the same is Kadesh and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazazon Tamar. 14,8 And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela the same is Zoar; and they set the battle in array against them in the vale of Siddim; 14,9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five. 14,10 Now the vale of Siddim was full of slime pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountain. 14,11 And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. 14,12 And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. 14,13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew now he dwelt by the terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were confederate with Abram. 14,14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. 14,15 And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the north of Damascus. 14,16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. 14,17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, at the vale of Shaveh the same is the King’s Vale. 14,18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was priest of God the Most High. 14,19 And he blessed him, and said: ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth; 14,20 and blessed be God the Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.’ And he gave him a tenth of all. 14,21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram: ‘Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.’ 14,22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom: ‘I have lifted up my hand unto the LORD, God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth, 14,23 that I will not take a thread nor a shoe-latchet nor aught that is thine, lest thou shouldest say: I have made Abram rich; 14,24 save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, let them take their portion.’

This chapter of Torah is the real mine of geographic names of that time: Shinar, Ellasar, Elam, Goiim, Sodom, Amora (Gomorrah), Admah, Zeboiim, Bela (which is the same as Zoar), the vale of Siddim (which is the same as the Salt Sea, i.e. the Dead Sea), Ashteroth-karnaim, Ham [ham], Shaveh-kiriathaim, mount Seir, Eyal Paran, Ein Mishpat (which is the same as Kadesh), Hazazon Tamar, Dan, Hobah, Damascus, the vale of Shaveh (which is the same as the King’s Vale), Salem – altogether 22 names.

The exact information about the location of the land of Shinar is presented in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 11. The city of Babylon is in the land of Shinar:

 תורה, ספר בראשית

יא,א וַיְהִי כָל הָאָרֶץ שָׂפָה אֶחָת וּדְבָרִים אֲחָדִים  יא,ב וַיְהִי בְּנָסְעָם מִקֶּדֶם וַיִּמְצְאוּ בִקְעָה בְּאֶרֶץ שִׁנְעָר וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם  יא,ג וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ הָבָה נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים וְנִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה וַתְּהִי לָהֶם הַלְּבֵנָה לְאָבֶן וְהַחֵמָר הָיָה לָהֶם לַחֹמֶר  יא,ד וַיֹּאמְרוּ הָבָה נִבְנֶה לָּנוּ עִיר וּמִגְדָּל וְרֹאשׁוֹ בַשָּׁמַיִם וְנַעֲשֶׂה לָּנוּ שֵׁם פֶּן נָפוּץ עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ  יא,ה וַיֵּרֶד יְהוָה לִרְאֹת אֶת הָעִיר וְאֶת הַמִּגְדָּל אֲשֶׁר בָּנוּ בְּנֵי הָאָדָם  יא,ו וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה הֵן עַם אֶחָד וְשָׂפָה אַחַת לְכֻלָּם וְזֶה הַחִלָּם לַעֲשׂוֹת וְעַתָּה לֹא יִבָּצֵר מֵהֶם כֹּל אֲשֶׁר יָזְמוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת  יא,ז הָבָה נֵרְדָה וְנָבְלָה שָׁם שְׂפָתָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִשְׁמְעוּ אִישׁ שְׂפַת רֵעֵהוּ  יא,ח וַיָּפֶץ יְהוָה אֹתָם מִשָּׁם עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ וַיַּחְדְּלוּ לִבְנֹת הָעִיר  יא,ט עַל כֵּן קָרָא שְׁמָהּ בָּבֶל כִּי שָׁם בָּלַל יְהוָה שְׂפַת כָּל הָאָרֶץ וּמִשָּׁם הֱפִיצָם יְהוָה עַל פְּנֵי כָּל הָאָרֶץ 

 Torah, Book 1 Genesis

11,1 And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. 11,2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 11,3 And they said one to another: ‘Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 11,4 And they said: ‘Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’ 11,5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 11,6 And the LORD said: ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do; and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do. 11,7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ 11,8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off to build the city. 11,9 Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

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About the etymology of the word “Babylon”:

The word Babylon came to English from Greek Βαβυλών [babilon] and originated from the Hebrew word בבל [bavel].

The word בבל [bavel] was derived from the root בלבל [bilbel] = mixed, confused, confounded, bewildered.

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This is the list of 6 places from the above-mentioned list, the location of which we know for sure at present: the city of Babylon, the Dead Sea, Mount Seir a.k.a. Edom, Desert of Paran, the city of Dan, the city of Damascus.

 The Very First World War 01 En

The distance from Babylon to Paran via Damascus is about 1,200 km. Even nowadays it is not a short distance. The armed conflict described in Chapter 14 of the Book of Genesis embraced almost the whole territory of the Fertile Crescent, for this reason it can be truly considered The Very First World War. As is clear from the above quotation, 9 kings participated in the conflict: 4 kings against the 5. Afterwards, Abram and his 318 trained men joined the combat and won. The suggestion here is that the total number of fighters participating in a conflict was about 1,000.

Aner, Eshkol and Mamre were involved in the event organized by Abram. They were said to be Abram’s allies, which means their forces could have been commensurate with those of Abram. Therefore, even if we suppose that the total number of fighters available to Abram amounted, for instance, to 1,000, then, the overall number of combatants taking part in the conflict could come up to 3,000.

So few people lived then in the world!

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Abraham appeared stronger than all the kings, who took part in the Very First World War. But the episode of his meeting with Abimelech made clear that Abraham was afraid of Abimelech.

The Conclusion: Abimelech was the dominant military power of that period of time – see the article “Who are you, Pharaoh?

P.S. Abraham was afraid of Abimelech and this eventually led to the Binding of Isaac – see the article “The Fear of Isaac”.


There are other articles on this site. A list of them here

Nonexistent History Creators

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THE DORIANS DID NOT EXIST

The article “Exodus: Behind the Scenes” tells us about the role of the Denyens in the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt and the side effect of the Exodus – the disappearance of the Mycenaean civilization.

Here and there it is claimed in publications that the Mycenaean civilization fell as a result of the Dorian tribes’ invasion who came to the Peloponnese from somewhere in the north. This statement cannot cope even with the briefest check:

- the Mycenaean civilization ceased to exist in the mid-12th century BC. At that time, the population of Europe was presented by primitive individuals, wandering alone or in pairs in search of food. Natural food was typically rare that did not allow people to group together (read the article “Who are you, Pharaoh?”). Therefore, the existence of the Dorian TRIBE in Europe at that time is highly doubtful.

- the Mycenaean civilization left us undeniable signs of its highest technological level: the cultivation of plants and animals for food, advanced construction technologies, iron tools and weapons, chariots and ships. Let us try to assume that a Dorian tribe existed. In order to defeat the Mycenaeans, they had to have military technologies that were not inferior to those of the Mycenaeans, and therefore, at the places of their exodus, they had to leave signs of existence of the advanced civilization. No such thing was discovered by archaeologists.

- following the disappearance of the Mycenaean civilization in Greece, the so-called “Dark Ages” came – archeologists claim that no traces of human activity were found on this territory during about 420 years. Where did the highly developed Dorian tribe who defeated Mycenae disappear? There is no answer to this question in publications!

The answer is simple: the Dorians have no relation to the disappearance of Mycenaean civilization in the 12th century BC.

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THE DORIANS EXISTED

According to Ancient Greek mythology the Dorians descended from Doros (Δῶρος), great-grandson of Prometheus (Προμηθεύς), Scythians’ king. It is known that Prometheus, chained to the rock, was rescued by Hercules, who killed an eagle that pecked at Prometheus’ liver.

Hercules lived at the end of the 11th century BC (see the article “Where is Hercules buried?”). Consequently, Prometheus’ great-grandson Doros lived, probably, at the end of the 10th century BC. For more than 200 years, from Doros to the beginning of the creation of Greek mythology in the late 8th century BC (read the article “Full Circle”), the number of Doros’ descendants could become significant enough to influence the political processes in Ancient Greece. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Dorians are mentioned in Ancient Greek myths as a significant factor. However, it can be stated with certainty that during the period the Mycenaean civilization decline in the mid-12th century BC, either Doros or the Dorians did not exist yet.

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PTOLEMY AND PROMETHEUS

We know two Greek names with a similar structure: Ptolemy and Prometheus.

(Greek) Πτολεμαῖος [ptolemayos] → (Russian) Ptolemy is the name of one of the companions of Alexander the Great (read the article “Alexander the Great – him too?”). In Hebrew, there is a root t-l-m → (Hebrew) תלם (telem) = furrow. The Greek name Πτολεμαῖος, the meaning of which – ‘paving the way, straight, purposeful’, originated from the Hebrew name תלמי [talmai].

Let us give an example of the use of the name Talmai in the Torah:

תורה, ספר ד’ במדבר

יג,כב וַיַּעֲלוּ בַנֶּגֶב וַיָּבֹא עַד-חֶבְרוֹן וְשָׁם אֲחִימַן שֵׁשַׁי וְתַלְמַי, יְלִידֵי הָעֲנָק; וְחֶבְרוֹן שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים נִבְנְתָה לִפְנֵי צֹעַן מִצְרָיִם

Torah, Book 4 Numbers, Chapter 12

22 And they went up into the South, and came unto Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.

(Greek) Προμηθεύς [promiteus] → Prometheus is the name of a Scythian king which was brought to Greece by the Denyens’ descendants after their escape from the Assyrians through Scythia (read the article “Full Circle”). Probably, that does not refer to the Scythian king, but a leader of a Denyens group who passed through Scythia during the migration process.

The word Προμηθεύς [promiteus] as well as Πτολεμαῖος [ptolemayos], came to the Greek language from the Hebrew language. The root r-m-t is the result of the distortion of the root r-m-s = (Hebrew) רמס [remes].

The meaning of the root רמס is ‘to trample down, crush, crumple, conquer’. This root is repeatedly used in the Tanakh, for example:

דברי הימים

ב כה,יח וַיִּשְׁלַח יוֹאָשׁ מֶלֶךְ-יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֶל-אֲמַצְיָהוּ מֶלֶךְ-יְהוּדָה לֵאמֹר, הַחוֹחַ אֲשֶׁר בַּלְּבָנוֹן שָׁלַח אֶל-הָאֶרֶז אֲשֶׁר בַּלְּבָנוֹן לֵאמֹר, תְּנָה-אֶת-בִּתְּךָ לִבְנִי לְאִשָּׁה; וַתַּעֲבֹר חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה, אֲשֶׁר בַּלְּבָנוֹן, וַתִּרְמֹס, אֶת-הַחוֹחַ

Bible 2 Chronicles

18 Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, “Give your daughter to my son as his wife; then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by, and trampled down the thistle.”

The name Prometheus meant “‘trampling down, conquering”. In the 7th century BC. this word has adapted to the emerging Greek language and has become a “prophet”, probably as a sign of the Greeks’ respect for the person of Prometheus

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DOROS

The Greek name Δῶρος [Doros] originated from the Aramaic word דור [dor] = generation, kindred, tribe, messenger.

According to the witnesses of Pharaoh Ramesses II’ contemporaries, a settlement named Dor existed in Canaan as far back as the 13th century BC. It still exists nowadays.

In 1154 BC the Denyens landed on the coast of Gush Dan in the vicinity of the modern city of Tel Aviv, and after a while they migrated north to the area of Mount Hermon (read the article “Full Circle”). A group of the Denyens split off in the process of migration and settled in Dor.

Dor 01 En

By the end of the 10th c. BC the city of Dor had become an important port city. It is possible that there is a connection between the name of this city and the name of the great-grandson of Prometheus, from whom the Dorians subsequently originated.


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