Wednesday, October 6, 2021

From Sumerian to Ebla, Syria 3000 BCE to the Hebrews and the Bible

 Semitic languages occur in written form from a very early historical date in West Asia, with East Semitic Akkadian and Eblaite texts (written in a script adapted from Sumerian cuneiform) appearing from the 30th century BCE and the 25th century BCE in Mesopotamia and the north eastern Levant respectively. The only earlier attested languages are Sumerian, Elamite (2800 BCE to 550 BCE), both language isolates, Egyptian, and the unclassified Lullubi (30th century BCE).

 Language and Cultural Contact in the Third Millennium BCE: The Case of Ebla - youtube lecture

The Archives of Ebla and the Bible

By Jeff A. Benner


"Lord of heaven and earth: the earth was not, you created it, the light of the day was not, you created it, the morning light you had not yet made exist."

The above quotation may sound like a passage from the Bible, but it is, in fact, a passage found in three literary texts inscribed on clay tablets that were discovered in the Royal Archives of the ancient city of Ebla.

 

Up until the discovery of the Eblaite tablets the only Semitic language known to exist in 3rd Millennium BC was Akkadian. Now with this discovery, another Semitic language was found to be in use in the 3rd Millennium BC and has a very close relationship with the Hebrew language of the Bible.


Eblaite gods and the Bible

The gods of Ebla are for the most part the same gods worshiped by the Canaanites and other Semitic peoples of the area. The principle god of Ebla was Dagan and is referred to in the Eblaite texts as "Lord of Canaan," "Lord of the land" and "Lord of the gods." He is also mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible (see Judges 16:23) where it is spelled דגון (dagon, Strong's #1712). Other gods worshiped in Ebla, which can also be found in the Hebrew Bible, include Baal (בעל ba'al, see Numbers 22:41) and Ashtarte (עשתרות, see Deuteronomy 1:4).

 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, but they howl upon their beds: they assemble themselves for grain and new wine; they rebel against me." (Hosea 7:14, ASV)

The Hebrew word for "grain" is דגן (dagan, Strong's #1715), which means "grain," but is also the name of the Canaanite god "Dagan," the god of grain. The Hebrew word for "wine" is תירוש (tirosh, Strong's #1715), which means "wine," but is also documented in the Eblaite tablets as the name of the Canaanite goddess "Tirosh," the goddess of wine. With this new understanding of these words, we can read the end of the above verse as, "they assemble themselves to Dagan and Tirosh; they rebel against me."

 Most scholars date the Book of Job to between the 7th and 4th centuries B.C., but in my own research into the language of the book of Job I have concluded that the book of Job is much more ancient, probably the 3rd millennium B.C. The above studies of the words mw and min'lam in the book Job are additional evidences to support my hypothesis.

 in the ancient
Near East than previously assumed; 4) the vocabulary and grammar from Ugarit
and Ebla helps to clarify many obscure Hebrew terms and phrases and is especially
significant for the understanding of the many Hebrew hapax legomena;
there is also evidence for a much greater lexical stability in the Canaanite milieu
than previously assumed;

 Sumerian was "clearly important" to Ebla!!


 

No comments:

Post a Comment