ANCIENT SEMITIC LANGUAGES
The world and time of the Akkadians fits nicely into the Book of Mormon scheme of things, and especially as it pertains to the great epic of the Book of Ether, or what is called the Jaradites. The world and time of the Jaredites "was a period of great importance and activity, and a really high civilization." (Nibley p. 415) Great ruins and sites, especially inscribed tablets, remained behind to be discovered in our day to reveal the complexity and magnificence of it all. "From prehistoric Egypt and Mesopotamia to the remotest regions of the North and at the farthest stretches of Asia it is the same story: The great conquerors are the great city-builders and their cities last no longer than their empires." (Nibley p. 418) And among the city states and empires were EBLA and MARI, and one of the great Conquerors was Sargon of Akkad. Most of what we now know of this period and these cities and this great Conqueror has been recovered from the ruins and records of Mesopotamia; just since 1975. (See my CD No. 11, EBLA, THE DISCOVERY OF THE KINGDOM AND THE ROYAL ARCHIVES; Also articles in the web site series on Ebla and Mari and other cities they were in contact with).
In 1969 Sabatino Moscati assembled critical data for a chart on the Semitic Languages in the Near East and Middle East, from about 3000 BC to AD 1600. In 1985, Weiss constructed a revised chart of the Semitic Languages updating the details and showing on his chart Proto-Semitic as the projected origin of the language and divided that ancient proto-type into Northwest Semitic, Southwest Semitic, Southeast Semitic and East Semitic. Under the latter he posted Abu Salabikh one of the great ancient cities, which is the subject of an entry in this Web Site. And under Abu Salabikh he placed Old Akkadian and proposed a date of 2750 BC, subject to revision as language studies continue; and perhaps as old as 3000 BC. Under Old Akkadian, Weiss placed Old Assyrian, 2000-1500 C, and Old Babylonian, 2000-1500 BC. (Weiss p. 39) Hebrew, a Semitic language, did not come along until about 1200 BC. Tablets found in Mesopotamian areas reflecting these time periods also reflect the changes in the Semitic languages, but only slight changes in names. One of the most useful compilations of events from the time of Adam to the present, is that assembled by Shulman. Important dates are suggested by his study of Biblical Events that may be useful to establish one working time frame for a time line in the Book of Mormon. One of these dates that he provides is for the Flood. That date is about 1656 years from the creation, or the time starting with Adam, which would put the Flood at about 2244 BC. He also computed another earlier date, 1256 from the time of Adam, based on when Jepheth was born, Jepheth was 100 when the flood occurred and Noah was 600. (Shulman p. 19) The first date is the most common one used. (Anstey pp. 68-72) However, it is now known that Ebla was destroyed around 2250 BC, so the first date is too late. It needs to be tweeked and considerable adjustments made.
There is a peculiar passage in the Pearl of Great Price that suggests an entirely different time frame for the details of the birth of the three sons of Noah and the flood. "And all the days of Noah were four hundred and fifty years old, and he begat Japheth: and forty-two years afterward he begat Shem of her who was the mother of Japheth, and when he was five hundred years old he begat Ham." (Moses 8:12) This passage seems to suggest that Japheth and Shem had the same mother, who may have died and within a year Noah had remarried, about a year later Ham is born; Noah was then 500 years old when Ham was born. Is the mother of Ham the wife Noah took with him into the Ark? It seems that Noah had one son when he was 450 years old and then two sons when he was 498 and 500 years old? Note that the PGP reference suggests that the first two sons had the same mother, as if to say that the last son, Ham, had a different mother. (Moses 8:12) And Noah was 600 years old when the flood came. Shulman did his research in a gulag camp of Russia and of course had no access to the works of Joseph Smith. One thing most do not consider is that Adam died on the day he partook of the tree of knowledge of good and evil at the age of 930. Kolob's day was a thousand years, did Adan spend 70 years in the garden before becoming mortal? The time of the flood debate will go on for while yet, though some new dating considerations are now being given to the entire concept along with new archaeological information. New resources will permit another analysis to be made in a future study to correlate the Biblical scene with the archaeological data. The Archaeology work at Ebla suggests that Ebla had reached its peak politically and economically after the flood. Another useful date Shuleman provides is that for the birth of Abraham, which is 1948 from the Creation or about 2052 BC. A great amount of his subsequent chronology is based using that date for Abraham. (Shulman p. 22) This date has more acceptance than the one for the flood.
THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES AND THE SCATTERING OF THE PEOPLE
A modified copy of the Moscati-Weiss language chart and outline is provided in PART 1 of this series. The chart provides a model to work from and enables one to understand Near Eastern Languages and their relationships. On the Chart, the Semitic language of Ebla, (Tell Mardikh), was placed tentatively under Northwest Semitic. When tracking down name parallels to those names derived from the Jaredite record or the Book of Ether, in the Book of Mormon, the time period of interest is generally considered to be around 2400-2000 BC. It is assumed for various reasons that the Adamic language was the prototype or underlying language before the Tower of Babel, which most likely may have been the language of the Jaredites, the language that was to be 'confused' at the time of the Tower Babel. Adam spoke to God in the Adamic language, his Book of Remembrance (Moses 6:6) was in that language, and the Jaradites had the ancient records, so did Abraham. (Hunter pp. 161-163) So, a long time ago and far, far away men built a great tower, called "'Babel' because there the Lord made a babble (Heb: balal) of men's tongues... simply playing-not without strain-on the name Babel, i.e., Babylon, which really means 'Gate of God' (Bab ili)." (Graves p. 147) Near Babylon there are the ruins of a massive structure or ziggurat, called Esagilia, often identified as the site of the ancient tower. (Gaster-Myths p. 1138) The brother of Jared was told by the Lord that he was going to confound the languages of the people and also scatter the people, he cried to the Lord pleading that his people might be spared from the confounding of their language. The Lord showed compassion and did not confound their language and also revealed to Mahonri Moriancumer, a plan for them to migrate (scatter) to a promised land. (Ether l:33-43; Largey pp. 434-437) This was very strange. Their migration was to be of epic proportions, probably one of the most extended and distant migrations in all history, from one hemisphere to the other. To the everlasting credit of the Book of Mormon, the Epic Migration of the Jaredites is one great verifying truth. "Real epics tell the truth...A genuine epic can only be the product of a genuine epic milieu...epic Literature cannot be faked." (Nibley p. 407) The current research into names, and there are many, found in the Book of Ether, now being found on ancient tablets recently recovered and translated, affirm the masterful Jaredite abridgement by the Great Moroni as a true historical epical record. Moroni's own name could have been derived from the ancient Jaredite record- from Moron, the 42nd descendant of Jared. (Largey p. 431) It could have also been on the Brass Plates which has such a complete history back to Adam. Was it the Adamic language that Mosiah translated into the language of his time? (Mosiah 28;10-20) And Moroni, when he translated the text did he put an ancient language into Reformed Egyptian? A Semitic language!
When studying languages and looking for names in the ancient texts, mostly tablets, that are parallels, similar or exactly, or in some way related to the Book of Mormon names, whether in detail, or containing a prefix, core, or suffix that is like the Book of Mormon names, we find that the tablets from Akkadian sites, Old Assyrian sites, Old Babylonian sites and from the many tablets found at Ebla, yield the most such parallels for that time period.
EBLA: TELL MARDIKH
This ancient site, known for centuries as Tell Mardikh, is located about 36 miles south of Allepo, probably the largest city in Syria. Tell Mardikh was one of the largest ancient sites in inner Syria, almost 60 hectares in area. The University of Rome has been excavating the site since 1964. The first decade of excavation resulted in establishing that the city flourished during the period 2400-1600 BC, the period of greatest interest, and yielded detailed information about the Old Syrian period of the early second millennium BC. The excavations did finally indentify the ancient mound known as Tell Mardikh as ancient Ebla, already known from some Sumerian, Akkadian, Egyptian, Hurrian and Syrian sources. From those it had been hypothesized to be located in southern Turkey, but it was finally found in Syria. In 1969, Pettinato one of the excavators, deciphered an inscription on a statute they found that identified the site as Ebla. (Pattinato p. 17) Mesopotamian history was changed forever. In 1975 the largest portion of the cuneiform documents of the royal archives was discovered yielding an archival inventory of more than 17000 items including 2000 complete tablets from the Proto-Syrian period of ca. 2500-2250 BC. While there is considerable settlement history on the site going back to ca 3500 BC, (identified as Mardikh I: ca. 3500-2900 BC), the main peak time of the city was during Mardikh IIA period 2400-2000 BC (Weiss p. 136; Pettinato p. 17) And in that time period, of most interest is that of MARDIK HB I.
MARDIKH HB 1
This period is most likely that of the world of the Jareditres. It might be worth while to learn a little more about Ebla which reflects the world of the Jaredites quite nicely. The ancient city of Ebla reached its economic, political, and cultural apogee during the Mardikh HB-1 period, dated usually as ca. 2400-2250 BC. (Pettinato p. 17) Because this is well within the time period of the Jaredite migration out of the Mestopotamian region, it is of greatest interest. During that time the city expanded to more than 50 hectares. A large palace complex was constructed over much of the acropolis, including its southern and western slopes. Three wings of the Palace have been identified by excavating in this southern area with the central complex in the southern part, the administrative quarter in the western area and then the southern quarter. By 1985 the administrative quarter with its large audience court had been completely excavated. Here they retrieved thousands of additional cuneiform tablets including economic, administrative, juridical, lexical, literary, and royal communications. They considered these thousands of tablets to be a royal archive. Continued excavations have found more. (Weiss p. 137) Consider that each tablet has a sender or preparer, nearly always identified, sometimes the name of the person who authorized the tablet or communication. And the name of the recipient or person receiving the tablet, thus at least two or three names are on each tablet, cumulative this means thousand of names are on the tablets and as they are becoming translated, lists of names can be tabulated and many are now found to be similar to, or exactly, having prefix and suffix parallels, to Book of Mormon Names. Thus this important product of archaeological excavations is providing extremely significant confirmation that Joseph Smith did not write a fictional book, or conjured up a book on his own, because there was no way he would have been familiar with or had access to any source that would have provided him the names, that are found in the Book of Mormon.
During the excavation one large floor area of the palace seemed to have been a trading center, important artifacts illuminate the international relations of the city. On the main floor 20 kilograms of prime, raw, lapis lazuli from far away Afghanistan were found, along with fragments of rare diorite, alabaster bowls of Pharonic Egyptian provenance. This large audience court appears to have been a center for commercial activity. Here officials could have organized the trading caravans which distributed the products of Ebla, such as textiles, gold and silver, probably collected as part of tributes required from distant subordinated regions. Tablets indicate there were food rations received and stored for distribution, and there were records of royal accounts. Here messengers and emissaries from foreign powers were received and dealt with. (Weiss p. 137) During this period Ebla probably controlled all of northwestern Syria from Hama to the south up to the Euphrates and Balikh Rivers. The city had close relations with other urban centers, such as the important competing city of Mari to the south, along the middle Euphrates, and with cities along the Tigris in northern Mesopotamia. (Weiss p. 137) But it was in ancient Akkad that Sargon had established his empire and seat of government, and he and his grandson, Naram-Sin expanded their conquests northward and Ebla fell under their military might. The Royal Palace and the remainder of the city of Ebla was destroyed by fire by Naram-Sin during the reign of Ibbi-Zikir, the last Ebla king mentioned before the destruction, which was about 2250 BC. The Jaredites may have moved through the territories of Ebla before this destructioni because afterwards the periods that followed were much poorer and smaller settlements were built over the top of the ancient city. The city had its times of greatness and then was reduced to poverty for another seven phases until the Mardikh VIII, ca. 300-500 AD. when it was abandoned with only a small monastic presence. (Weiss p. 137)
The discovery and recovery of ancient Ebla was unanticipated, it proved there was a rich urban culture in inner Syria outside of southern Mesopotamia because it was immediately contemporary with the city-based societies of Sumer and Akkad, with a sophisticated administrative organization, with rich linguistic, ethnic and cultural characteristics, economic, religion and art which needed to be taken into consideration in the reconstruction of ancient Syria. (Weiss p. 139) All of this was indicated in the Jaredite records and the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price. In Ebla and Mari, archaeology has recovered a detailed knowledge of the world of the Jaredites. "Consider the new materials, the scope, and detail of the epic sources, now being read with a new understanding and a new sense of reality ...the salient features of heroic times of migration..ages of feuding...nothing....trivial." (Nibley p. 423) Nibley pointed out the epic nature and historical reality of the Jaredite world long before Ebla was discovered. Ebla totally vindicated Nibley's great contributions and insights. For name parallels, we again turn now to the Akkidian Dictionary. First will be given the Book of Mormon name, sometimes identifying the Prefix and Suffix elements, then the name or names that may be parallel that contain the whole name, or one of the elements; a prefix or suffix element.
THE NAMES
ABISH, ABI-SH: ABI
ABISH was a Lamanite women who was a servant to King Lamoni, (Alma 19:13) about 90 BC. She lived in the land of Ishmael, perhaps named after Father Ishmael who came over with Lehi. She was converted to Christ as a result of a vision her spiritually attuned father received, but she chose to keep her beliefs secret. She was a perceptive participant to the marvelous conversions and resultant joy of king Lamoni, his wife the queen, and the king's house, when, overpowered by the spirit all had fallen to the ground. (Alma 19:13) Recognizing an unusual opportunity for many to witness the power of God, and no doubt prompted by the spirit, she rushed from house to house with the news of what had occurred. (Alma 19:17) But to her disappointment, the assembled group contended about the meaning of the happening, and questioned the presence of Ammon, a Nephite. Seizing her chance and to avert discord, Abish took the queen by the hand that perhaps she might raise her from the ground. (Alma 19:29). The queen arose and in turn so did the king. After rebuking the people , the king taught the words of Ammon, which resulted in many conversions. (Largey p. 25) It would be nice to know more about Abish's visionary father and her own spirituality which was high according to the brief account in Alma. To name his daughter Abish, her father may have had access to that name in family history or in the Brass Plates or in the Jaredites plates which Mosiah had provided a translation just a few generations earlier. The fact that the name shows up in Alma about 90 B.C. would suggest it came from the Jaredite record because it has great antiquity.
In the dictionaries of the Neo-Assyrian times there are more than 65 names having the prefix Abi. (Radner pp. 8-15) Recall, that in Part l, of this series, the name Abinadi also has this prefix. That prefix or first element, Abi, in the name ABISH, means 'my father', it is found in 2 Kings 18:2 in the 8th century B.C. ABISH as a prefix for "father' is found in six names in the Tanakh, (Mandel pp. 12-13). In Hebrew there is also the name Abishmael "My (ancestral) father was Ishmael". As mentioned, she could have been a descendant of Father Ishmael. (Carlton p. 3) The prefix element, Abi has been used alone as a name, it was the name of the daughter of Zechariah, and also the name of the wife of King Ahaz of Judah and the mother of his successor, King Hezeikiah. She was also called Abijah in 2 Chronicles 38:1. (Mandel p. 4) The second element or suffix, 'jah' ending in Abijah is a hypocoristicon, or abbreviation, for Jehovah or God, so the name Abijah would mean: 'God is my Father'. (Mandel p. 7)
There are also seven names in the Akkadian dictionary that have this prefix, the prefix seems to have persisted in use down through the Neo Assyrian and Babylonian to the time of the development of Hebrew after 1400 BC. In the Study of Eblaiate language from Ebla and the names recovered from the document and tablets found there, Fagan provides an extensive discussion under: " PRIMARY NOUNS, 5.1.2.... the elements ab, (a) b means 'Father", a-bi/abi means 'my father' and a-ba/aba means 'is father' but of greater antiquity is the Sumerogram found in Old Akkadian names...abum meaning only 'father'." (Fagan pp. 200-201) But note the ending of 'um'. This ending, of great antiquity, is found in many Jaredite names. In ancient Summer, the area where cuniform writing was developed, is the location of the oldest city, Uruk. There was a lack of essential natural resource creating a huge demand for raw materials, which served to stimulate trade and turned southern Mesopotamia into a great trading region. What was called the Uruk expansion occurred about 3600 BC, Professional traders and merchants developed a vast pan-Mesopotamian import-export network which required a recording system and scribes. It was to last for centuries. (Chadwick, p. 270) "The best documented early dynasties are those of Kish, Uruk, Ur, and Lagash..the region that came to be known as Sumer. " (Andrews p. 27) The first three of these have been discussed in some detail in these web site studies; Lagash will be the subject of a future study. Abraham was born in Ur, just a short distance from Uruk. Ur was by then one of the great cities states of the era. How did Joseph Smith without all the recent discoveries have accommodated and correctly used the various prefix, suffix and special endings of names, and kept them correctly related to the chronology of the Book of Mormon and provide an accurate world view for the Jaredites and time of Abraham, let alone the Semitic uniqueness of the names other than a few of those found in the bible. The names coming from the tablets of Ebla date to before the city was destroyed in 2250 BC. Abraham appears on the scene about 2052 BC, but what about his name before he was called Abraham?
ABRAHAM (BRHM), ABRAM (BRM): ABR(U ), ABRU, ABRUM, ABRUTU, ABRATU(M)
Abraham, (Hebrew, Father of Multitude)--whose original name was Abram, (Hebrew Exalted Father, which he surely was) until God changed his name, is the earliest biblical character whose biographical data can place him, to a limited extent, within world history. " 4. But as for thee, behold, I will make my covenant with thee and thou shall be a father of many nations. 5. And this covenant I make, that thy children may be known among all nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but they name shall be called Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 6. And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee, and thy seed." (Gen 17:1-6/JST 17:1-10; Anderson p. 141) Abraham was the Great Patriarch, the traditional ancestor of the Hebrews, the Arabs, and many other nations. (Gen 11-23). He was called Abram until he was ninety-nine years old. He was born in and lived his youth in Ur of the Chaldeans, a great Sumerian city in the Euphrates valley, near the Persian Gulf (Sasson p 2959). He was the tenth generation from Noah, through the line of Shem. His father was Terah, and his brothers were Nahor and Haran. While living in Ur, Abram married Sarai--whose name God later changed to Sarah (Princess). Sarah was Abraham's half sister. (Gen. 20:12) Nahor married his niece Mileah, daughter of Haran. Melchizedek had met Abram sometime while in Ur, taught him and had given him the priesthood. (D&C 84:14) Abram also received the Urim and Thummim while in Ur, (Abraham 3:1) evidently having become a very righteous person, he had been commanded to be perfect. (Anderson p. 141, v. 1) Melchizedek had also taught him the duties concerning the bread and the wine and gave to Abram his ordinances including a garment like the one made for Adam in the Garden of Eden. (Graves p. 147, TC) About the time that Haran died, the Lord told Abraham to leave Ur and go to the land of Canaan. (Abraham 2:3-4) This account is different than that found in Genesis. Terah soon followed. Abram was then seventy five years old. He took with him Sarai, and his nephew Lot, the son of Haran, and traveled to the city of Haran way north of Ebla. Haran was situated between the Euphrates and the Tigris in northern Aram, today's Turkey, near its frontier with Syria. There was a quay at Karkamish on the Euphrates River west of Haran making this an important river crossing location. When the Jaredites were led north by the brother of Jared, then the Lord said I will meet there and: "I will go before thee into a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth." (Ether 1: 42) Did they pass through this way? While this once may have included all of the northern half of the Western Hemisphere, it is generally now, considered, on the basis of other internal evidence to mean America.
Again, Abram received a divine call and a promise of nationhood, in response to which he proceeded, together with his wife and nephew Lot, to the land of Canaan, which God told him would be given to him and his descendants. In Canaan, Abram stopped near the city of Shechem, today's Nablus, where he built an altar to the Lord. God again appeared to him and re-attested his promise to give the land to his descendants. From Shechem, Abram went to Bethel, here as elsewhere he was dwelling in a tent, here he also built an altar. Shortly thereafter he moved on southward to the Negev where a famine in the land forced him to move westward into Egypt. This stay in Egypt is aptly described by Nibley in his several books including ABRAHAM IN EGYPT, and the MESSAGE OF THE JOSEPH SMITH PAYAYRI. (See the CD on ABAHAM) While in Egypt, Abram taught the Egyptians astronomy, (Abraham Facsimile No. 3) about which he knew a great deal. (Abraham 5) He had learned about Kolob (Abraham 3:l-4; See the CD on KOLOB) "the first great grand governing fixed star which is the fartherest than ever had been discovered by the father's, which was discovered by Methusela and also Abraham." (Smith p. 34) Kolob was the "the first beginning to the bodies of this creation,[mortal world such as ours] the first creation...the eldest." (Smith p. 28) "The Head One of the Gods called together the Gods, and the grand councillors sat in grand council...to bring forth the world and contemplated the creation of the worlds that were created at that time." (Cannon p. 39) Kolob was the First Creation of worlds of this order. (See CD on KOLOB)
Abram then returned to Canaan and settled near Bethel. He had become wealthy, powerful and well known and respected. He was able to rescue his nephew Lot from his capture by Ehedorlaomer King of Elam (Shinar, southern Iran) and an alliance of other kings, defeating them chasing them back almost to Damascus; recovering all the loot, liberating Lot and many other prisoners and their possessions. Abram met with Melchizedek soon after to whom he paid his tithes, (Alma 13:15) and participated in the correct order of a sacrament of bread and wine. (Hunter p.239) The correct order of sacrament was present in earlier dispensations.
God again appeared to Abram (has anyone ever counted all the times God appeared or spoke to Abraham?) Abram was in a complaining mood: "2. And Abram said, 'Lord God what wilt thou give me, seeing that I continue to go childless, and Eliezar of Damascus [his chief steward] was made the steward and heir of my house? 3. And Abram said, 'Behold thou hast given no seed to me; and, lo, one born in my house shall be my heir.' 4. And behold the word of the Lord came unto him again, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he who shall be they own son shall be thine heir. 5a. And he took him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven and count the stars, if thou art able to number them." And he said unto him. 'So shall they seed be'." (Anderson p. 137) This is more than sands of the seashore! What an exceptional encounter!
Like Enoch before him and Moses after him, Abraham had presence of mind when visited by the Lord to ask questions, so Abraham was given a vision and saw the days of the Son of Man on earth. He sought assurance that he would receive the land as an everlasting inheritance in the process he experienced an unusual vision of the Lord: "5c. And the Lord Said: 'though thou was't dead, yet am I not able to give it to thee: and if thou shalt die, yet thou shall possess it, for the day shall come that the Son of Man, shall live; but how can he live if he be not dead? He must first be quickened'." (Anderson p. 137) The Lord then commands Abraham to prepare animal sacrifices to prepare himself to receive a greater re-assurance of his Plea. The animal sacrifice was elaborate and require a complicated procedure, it involved a heifer, a female goat, a ram; each three years old, a turtle dove and a young pigeon. This is detailed in the combination of Genesis and the Joseph Smith translation. (Anderson p.138) "12. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and, lo, a great darkness and dread fell upon him. 13. And the Lord spoke and he said unto Abram, 'Know of a surety that thy seed shall be strangers in a land which shall not be theirs and shall serve foreigners; and shall be afflicted and serve them for four hundred year'." (Anderson p. 138; Gen 15:112-16/JST 15:16b-19) Referring to their stay in Egypt. But they would come out with great possession. (Does one wonder where Aaron got the gold to make the golden calf, certainly not from poor people?)
One might recall the story of Hagar and the birth of Ishmael. Because of Sarah's jealousy Hagar and her son were banished, but not without Angelic intervention. Between Ishmael and Esau, Isaac's son, the Arabic nations were established. Like many nations now, they are extremely genetically diluted. The Covenant between the Lord and Abraham was sealed by the ritual of circumcision. Melchizedek and his councilors visited Abraham when he was ninety-nine years old, during a feast Abraham prepared he told Abraham that he would return the same season in a year and Sarah would have a child. Sarah standing near the door overheard and laughed. But a year later she had Isaac. Most scripture readers know the story. During their departure Sodom and Gomorrah were discussed, the cities because of their evil were to be destroyed, Lot lived there, Abraham tried to negotiate a way to save the cities if but ten innocent people might be found, but the city had few that were innocent, not even members of the family of Lot. The story of Lot and the destruction of the cities is also well known. Abraham then moved westward to Gerar near Gaza. There followed the episode with Abimelech and the well Abraham dug, called Beersheba, Well of the Swearing, again well known. There Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 years old. The account of the testing of Abraham and the near sacrifice of Isaac is also well known. Sarah lived to be 127 and was buried at Machpelah, near Hebron, soon after, Abraham married Keturah by whom he had six sons, (Mandel p. 18) two, Midian and Ishbak (Ishbah) were to play major roles in the future. "Jethro, who was the High priest of the Midianites, a branch of Abraham's family, instructed Moses in the principles of the Gospel and ordained him to the Priesthood." (Hunter p. 81) See also the entry in this web site on ISHBAH. Abraham had other children as well--about whom we know nothing (D&C 132:37). Abraham died at age 175, his sons placed him near Sarah at Machpelah, modern Hebron. I visited the tombs at Hebron in 1974, the tombs held bones claimed to be the Patriarchs, but I knew the Patriarchs were all resurrected, "Abraham received all things...and hath entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne." (D&C 132:29. 137:5) One of the great concepts that separate us from the world.
ABRAM
The name, ABRAM, attested to be old, was the name Abraham was known by for the first nearly 100 years of his life, has a prefix: 'ABR', and a suffix 'am', which is given in the Akkadian Dictionary as Babylonian and means 'a kind of priest', (Black p. 3) which Abram certainly was. Suffix endings of various sorts such as ABRU(M), a 'um' ending are often found in ancient Akkadian names, the suffix 'u(m) and 'am' mean the same. ABARUTU (ABRU), meaning 'priesthood', (Radnar p. 3) The vowels were often supplied by the reader, though cuniform marks were often used to identify the vowel, so 'u' and 'a ' could be interchangeable, most certainly and aptly applied to the man Abraham; a very definite personality in the Patriarchal Priesthood, the Great Patriarch. In Old Babylonian, as noted in the Akkadian dictionary, in the form ABRU(M) it may also mean 'strong, robust'. (Radner p. 3) Most certainly Abraham was that. The point being made, is the original name Abram given by Abraham's parents when he was born and which he bore for 100 years is an ancient name where interesting variations in the meanings reflect aspects and attributes of Abraham himself. Where the Lord changes the name He uses the prefix meaning for AB, as 'Father', and a suffix, 'rham' or 'ham' meaning, 'as nations'. Thus, Abraham would be the father of many nations. The element, 'ham', used as a suffix or prefix in Akkadian is also used in the sense of 'people' or 'prosper', which applies to Abraham who prospered as the 'Father of People', a 'multitude'. ((Baker p. 448) Abraham is also described as the 'Father of the Faithful.' ( 2 Nephi 8:20, and Biblically is found in Genesis 1l:26) There, in that Great Council, when it became time to appoint the leaders of Dispensations, Abraham was called, appointed, and foreordained to be the head of the Abrahamic Dispensation. (Hunter p. 15) All who serve in any office or calling, were foreordained to the callings received here on earth. Abraham fulfilled his appointment in great righteousness. Callings are generally not made out of sequence of those foreordained.
The Jews knew things about Abraham that only the revelations of Joseph Smith confirm and enlarge upon. R. Graves and R. Patan, in their book, Hebrew Myths, 1968, page 147, point out: "Others again say that Melchizedek (also known as Adoni-Zedek), was Abram's ancestor Shem, (D&C 138:41) and that he now taught Abram the duties of priesthood, particularly the rules governing shew-bread and wine -libation and burned-offerings... He also gave Abram the garments of skin made by God for Adam and Eve." (emphasis mine) Only Mormons understand what is going on here. As Hunter points out, the earlier dispensations had the true ceremony of the sacrament and knew a lot about temple things. (Hunter pp. 238-239) Ancient records confirm it.
AGOSH, AG-: AG. AGA.
Agosh appears in the Book of Mormon in the Jaredite record: Ether 14:15-17. It is a place name; the plains of Agosh, the site of a great battle during the last wars of the Jaredites. Lib, another name to be discussed in this series, pursued Coriantumr. Coriantumr slew Lib, but Lib's brother Shiz, continued the battle until Coriantumr fled. Interestingly enough, Agosh is ancient, but it is not Akkadian. It appears in the Book of Ether, so the Jaredites had derived a place name that is peculiar to them from some other source. The prefix element appears to be 'ag-' the consonant elements are 'G-SH'. In the Akkadian dictionary it is included in the form 'aga', there we get a clue to the antiquity of the name because it is suggested that in that form it may be Aramaic the underlying language of much of the many Semitic varieties. (Black p. 5) The prefix elements appear in the names of Ebla in the form 'a-ga', meaning 'he shone' including: 'a-ga-ma-al' and 'a-ga-mi-nu', both meaning '(divine) love (?) shone' and 'a-ga-um' also meaning 'he shone', but, depending on the suffix, the 'ag' element appears in more than 35 names. (Fagan pp. 276-277). But by the time of the Amorites, so far. only three names have been retrieved with the prefix of 'ag'. (Gelb p. 554) This makes it less likely that the name also appeared in the Brass Plates where it could have been acquired or noticed by the Tribes of Ephraim or Manasseh. They were in contact with the Amoritic peoples to the north of them when they were given their territory of inheritance. In the Tanakh, only three names contain the prefix: Agag, Agee, Agur, all old names, two of uncertain meaning, found in Proverbs and Samuel. Agag was king of the Amelekites who Samuel slew because of the disobedience of Saul. (Mandel p. 28) How such an odd place name could be conjured up by Joseph Smith that has such a complex history and linguistic origin challenges anyone who wants to declare the Book of Mormon to be fiction.
NEXT: PART 3. IT WILL CONTAIN MORE NAMES FROM THE WORLD AND TIMES OF THE JAREDITES
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