Dr. Einar C. Erickson
Ancient Document Mormon Scholar
Main Menu
Search
Statistics
Articles View Hits
2047959

Quote

What is however different from the source is the idea that the content of this book was revealed to Seth by Adam. According to psuedo-Dionysus, it was sealed and handed on from generation to generation up to the time of Noah who gave it to the ancestors of the Magi. Any reference to such books points to the fact that they were dictated by Adam who speaks about salvation and judgement in the future.

INTRODUCTION

For anyone who studies Biblical religion and Mesopotamian archaeology, apart from the great restoration through Joseph Smith, the Prophet, ancient Mesopotamia initially presents itself as a vast and uncomfortable world, bewildering in its complexity and alien in its modes of religious expression. At times it is bazaar and other times perverse. Without the mediation of a continuous living tradition, or revelation,  such as is had by the restoration of the gospel, the ancient attesting to its accomplishments can only speak haltingly, incompletely, unable to address the minds and hearts of men as surely as once they did long ago. The ancient diviner's or priests erudition may momentarily impress, and the priest's skill in maneuvering through complex ritual prescription may entertain, charm and persuade, but all too often the spiritual legacy of Mesopotamia  appears to contain little of any great value or consequence for someone at home in the restoration of the gospel today, except for unique parallels and the names inscribed on tablets and stone . When one does recognize gems of ancient doctrines it confirms the restoration,  but it is realized than only one familiar with the restoration could make such a recognition and connection. The rest of the world of scholars are left in the dark. They are only chasing shadows in the night.

Theirs was a world presided over by countless gods and goddesses, more than 500, no less, whose stories unfold in dramatic myths, one in which magic and divination represent orthodox "science", but indeed it may offer contemporary men and women few points of access to its ancient inner life. Sometimes the familiar features are not the sum and total of Mesopotamia's religious achievement. Most often times studies have focused attention exclusively on what is strange and alien in it from the perspective of Biblical religion without the benefit of a knowledge of the ancient gospel or the present restoration of   it. The uniqueness and profundity of biblical faith when viewed against the backdrop of the ancient spiritual and intellectual milieu show there  are features held in common by all three of the traditions, the Biblical, the Mesopotamian and the Restored gospel, consciously or unconsciously suppressed  and excluded. Without the restoration one comes away with a distorted picture of Mesopotamian religion and an even more distorted picture of the real faith of ancient Israel because of what has been lost, but recently restored in the vast restoration of doctrines of the gospel.  The Mormon scholar finds resonances in the ancient texts within the biblical tradition of the ancient gospel, including the concept of a "personal God" and "Patriarchal religion", and the "God of the fathers" where one can direct his own  appeal to the deity as "my God", my "father".  The common noun "god",  ilum, in Akkadian, and dinger  in Sumerian, or ilsu, "my lord" in Akkadian, is recognized as designations of the personal god.  There is always a certain amount of uncertainty surrounding the character of deity or the nature of the relations to a human protégé.  But the restoration has it correct and complete.  So the Akkadian and Sumerian onomasticon of the third millennium BC with emphasis on the names is very productive, extremely so. (Di Vito pp. 1-2)  After all, Abraham was born in UR, a Sumerian city that for a long time was subordinated to the Akkadian Empire.  The challenge is to discover all of the depths and heights that are present in the languages and in the names and in the history.  Some of this will show up in all of the discussions that are being made about names; it is always interesting, it is never dull. 

THE NAMES

On the left are the names  from the Book of Mormon. On the right are names from the Akkadian Dictionary.  Following  the name AMGID discussed in PART 5 of this series, the next name on the Book of Mormon list is AMINADAB,  it has the identifying prefix element  AMI-

AMINADAB, AMINADI: AMIKU, AMILANU, AMIREANIS, AMIRU, AMISU

 AMINADAB

AMINADAB  was "a Nephite by birth, who had once been a member of the Church of God but had dissented from them" (Hel. 5:35),  and then had gone over to live with the Lamanites. He is identified by name in Hel. 5:37. When Nephi and Lehi, about 30 BC, came preaching to the Lamanites in the land of Nephi they were cast into prison. (Hel. 5:20:21)  Aminadab had taken an interest in the prisoners and was present when a cloud of darkness overshadowed the Lamanites and Nephite dissenters at the prison (Hel 5:22-35). He turned and through the cloud he saw the uplifted faces of Nephi and Lehi, seemingly conversing with an unseen heavenly being. Aminadab cried to the multitude to look, and then he explained that Nephi and Lehi were conversing with angels (Hel 5: 36-39). What he saw must have had an immediate effect on him. He may have been an unhappy camper who had gone over to the Lamanites in spite. The darkness, Aminadab told the Lamanites, would be removed if they would repent and pray "until ye shall have faith in Christ" (Hel 5:40-41). He was going to repent and he did. Glorious manifestations followed their prayer and conversion to Christ (Hel 5:42-48; Largey p. 40).

In the name AMINADAB, the initial element and prefix is AMI-, and the suffix is -NADA with a B ending.  Anciently the 'B" ending may have been an abbreviation of deity intended to refer to one of the ancient gods in a pantheon of more than 500.  The name AMINADAB  may have been obtained from the Mulekites because the 'B' element is found in the Phoenician and Punic inscriptions. It is common in Semitic names, and has been found on a proto-Canaanite script on a seal from Aijalon. (Benz p. 257)  Depending on where it appears it may have the meaning of 'father' derived from 'AB'  as in Abba Father, translated by some as 'Daddy', reflecting an intimacy used most often when Christ prayed to his Father.  It could also be used at the end as an intended reference to the 'Father God' and is therefore a hypocoristicon of deity.

The name AMINADAB could also have been obtained from the records of Lehi's colony, names and a knowledge of names they brought with them, or it may have been on the Brass Plates because the AMI-- element is found in three names in the Amorite dictionary, a people who were interactive and interfacing with the northern tribes after 1200 BC (Gelb p. 92). Most likely the AMI- prefix element was transmitted down from Neo-Assyrian time where, in their extensive dictionary, there are more than twelve names listed with the prefix with meanings, depending on the suffix element: of "Trustworthy" and  "Witness", and  also listed is "Commander" in Arabic, with references to West Semitic, Iranian, Akkadian and Neo-Assyrian names. (Radner p. 101)  In the Akkadian Dictionary there are at least ten names with the AMI- element, all modified in meaning by the suffix: AMIKU  (a tree); AMILANU (a medicinal plant) ;  AMIRANIS "like a deaf man"; AMIRU "obstruction of the ear", or "deaf"; AMISU "enemy".  Variations in the names are also given but where the meaning stays the same, such as in the name AMILANU with four variations:  AMILIS, AMILTU, AMILU, AMILUTU (Black p. 15).  A brief look at the suffix NADA confirms that it is ancient, and most likely originated around Early Akkadian times. In the Akkadian dictionary there are more than a dozen names with the element NADA in general meaning "to cede, give way".  Nine of these include: NADAU(M), "to cede, give way" NADAL, "a garden plant" , NADANIS, "for giving", NADANU, "gift", NADANU(M), "to give",  NADAQU, meaning unknown, NADARU(M),  "to be wild, furious",  NADARUM, "to vow",  NADASUM, meaning unknown, all transmitted down to Old Babylonian. As noted some of these names have variations but with no change in the meaning.  Four of these names preserve the general meaning of  "give away, giving, gift and  to give." (Black p. 229) Note that the two names with the element AMI- mentioned above, AMIKU and AMILANU, meaning a "plant", with the element NADA added , would identify the plant as a "garden plant".  (Black pp. 15, 229)  In the Neo-Assyrian dictionary there is only one name with the element NADA, but it is a real name, perhaps meaning "an abbreviated name", and confirming that the usage of the element was concentrated in Akkadian times, which could have been transmitted down through the Brass Plates and/or the Jaredite records. It must be noted that in the name AMINADAB  the suffix element  -NADAB, is listed in the Phoenician inscriptions before 600 BC as NDB, meaning "to be noble". (Benz p. 359).  Because this element is found in Phoenician it seems likely that the name was derived from the Mulekite colony because they were Phoenicians. MULEK, the son of Zedikiah, may have had a Phoenician mother who escaped with her baby son from the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple when the second Babylonian capture and destruction took place about 586 BC. MULEK and his Phoenician colony were brought to the Americas when he was older, Zarahemla was a descendent of Mulek. It has been noted that the name is also theophoric containing the Egyptian name component AMM, to be discussed later, the great Egyptian universal god of the empire. The name is similar to AMANATHABI,  who was a chief of a Canaanite city (Phoenician) under Egyptian domination. (Nibley p. 27) Nibley also sees a similarity to the Meriotic inscription of the name  AMINAP. (Nibley p. 194)  He also sees a possible derivation in the Edomite name AMINNADBBI. (Nibley p. 195)  Most of the resources now being used were not available at the time of Nibley's research.  He did very little research on names after 1976. Most of the resources being used in these studies are after 1980 and 1995. A Hebrew translation of the AMINADAB gives the meaning: "My (divine) kinsman is noble".  (A parallel from the Biblical Hebrew is  ABINADAB, "My Father is noble". ( Carlton p. 9) Finally, there is in the Tanakh (Jewish Scriptures) the HEBREW name AMI, meaning "Reliable", (Mandel p. 49) with only one other name with the prefix AMI-. (Mandel p. 50)  In summary, in the Book of Mormon name AMI-NADAB the prefix AMI- is a real name and the suffix, -NADA-B, is also real, and both have experienced a complex history in being transmitted down through time in one form or another in most of the Semitic Languages of the Middle East. 

Names beginning with the prefix element AM- were common at the ancient city of MARI  and were derived from the word, Ham (father in Law) or the Qatabanian god (South Arabic) AMM-. (Huffman p. 166) Note that there are 18 names in the Book of Mormon beginning with AM-. It is quite clear that Joseph was provided with authentic ancient names and was not pulling names out of thin air.

AMINADI                                                                 

AMINADI,  also with the prefix AMI-  first appears in Alma 10:2, "I am AMULEK; I am the son of GIDDONAH,  who was the son of Ishmael, who was a descendant of AMINADI; and it was that same AMINADI  who interpreted the writing which was upon the wall of the temple, which was written by the finger of God. 3. And AMINADI  was a descendant of Nephi, who was the son of Lehi who came out of the land of Jerusalem, who was a descendant of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph who was sold into Egypt by the hands of his brethren." (Alma 10:3)  If the genealogy of Lehi goes back to Joseph and his father in law, Poti-Pherah, does it not seem logical that it continued back to Shem, and on his line back to Adam?

These two verses in Alma are filled with treasures.   AMULEK is a Phoenician name and has been discussed in earlier entries of this series. He says he is the son of GIDDONAH, which is the Phoenician name for the great port city of SIDON, discussed in PART 5 of this series and in those entries on PHOENICIAN CONNECTIONS, and that GIDDONAH was the son of Ishmael.  This is an unknown Ishmael, because in verse  3,  we find that AMINADI  was a descendant of Nephi, perhaps because Nephi had married a daughter of the first Ishmael who came over with Lehi. Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh and Ishmael was a descendant of Ephraim their two families merged in marriage so most of their descendants would have shared heritage and often used famous names over and over again, called Patrimony. Modern Lamanites are from both of Joseph's sons.  AMINADI would have been somewhere in the line of posterity from Nephi, a line that stretches back for nearly 500 years before AMINADI, about which the abridger Mormon gave little information. But we know that Ishmael who came over with Lehi, is a descendant of Ephriam, (Lorenso Snow Vol. 23, Journal of Discourses, p. 184).  AMINADI seems to have been a holy man, a prophet, who "interpreted the writing which was upon the wall of the temple" spoken about as if a reader would know the details, similar to the experience of Daniel. This could have been in the first temple that was built by Nephi which is THE temple.  It is an interesting event about which it would be nice to know more, but perhaps it was deliberately left out, and all we have is telescoped genealogies of a great man, AMULEK, companion to Alma, and his relationships to others, back to Ephraim and Joseph. 

The prefix AMI- has been discussed above, but there is more, it means "reliable, trustworthy". The name appears in the Jewish Tanakh in Esra 2:57 as AMI, a real name, a Hebrew name. Like another Hebrew name, AMITTAL, both mean "truthful"(Mandel pp. 49-50), the additional suffix ending did not change the meaning much.  The suffix, -NADI in AMI-NADI is most interesting.  NADI is an actual Akkadian name and means "praised". (Baker p. 915) The name could also mean "be praised, you are reliable and trustworthy".  There are more than twelve names with additional variations in the Akkadian Dictionary, some with suffix modifiers that change the meaning, sometimes as noted,  but not by much.  (Black p. 229)  In the Neo-Assyrian dictionary there are more than 25 names and variations with this suffix and modifiers but most of them preserving a meaning related "to be praised" (Baker pp. 915-921). So NADI was very much used in Akkadian  times and subsequent centuries.  Recall another name with this suffix, ABI-NADI, which could mean "Father (GOD) is reliable, trustworthy and truthful" or "My God is reliable and trustworthy".  ABINADI was discussed in earlier PARTS of this series.  Because these prefixes and suffixes were present in some abundance in Akkadian and cultures that followed and with precise parallels, the evidence continues to increase just how miraculous the Book of Mormon is, Joseph always got it right.  It is incredible that AMI and NADI, are both real names and were found on clay tablets found in the desert ruins of MESOPOTAMIA. It is hard to imagine that two men purportedly translating an ancient gold record on the banks of a river in New York,  would within 85 days come up with more than 330 unique names that would be found on clay tablets someday, and inscriptions of all kinds all over the place.

AMLICI, AMLICITES:

AMLICI was a Nephite dissenter about 87 BC, (Alma 2:11) the prefix AM- is well documented in Akkadian, Neo-Assyrian but the suffix, LICI , is not found in the dictionaries of Semitic languages so far available.  It may be found at some future date. It should be noted, however, finding it in ancient Akkadian may be likely because there are more than 80 words and names with the element LI in them. (Black pp. 660-665)  In the Neo-Assyrian dictionary there are a few more than 35 names with the LI element, (Black pp. 181-184) less than half the number in the Akkadian sources, so perhaps the name  AMLICI reflects an ancient name brought over by the Jaredites, or contained in the Brass Plates.  More than fifteen hundred year later in the AMORITE dictionary the suffix LI  is listed as a preposition, "'to"  or "for", and is used in only a few names in that record. (Gelb pp. 23-24)  The Jewish Tanakh has two names with the element LI.  But a precise parallel to AMLICI, has not yet been found, only enough to know that it is most likely a real name and most likely Akkadian.

AMMAH: AMM, AH

AMMAH first appears in the Book of Mormon in Alma 20:2. With his companion Muloki, they preached in the city of Ant-Anti. There they were joined by Aaron. They had little success, so they went over to Middoni where they were cast into prison and horribly treated.

During his missionary service, Ammon established a church in the land of King Lamoni. Lamoni desired that they go to the land of Nephi to see Lamoni's father who is king over all the land. The Lord warns Ammon not to go, telling him Lamoni's father will seek his life, but instructs Ammon instead  to go to the Land of Middoni where his brother Aaron along with two of their brethren, Muloki and AMMAH are in prison. (Alma 20:1-20)  Lamoni asks AMMON who told him about the prisoners. Ammon tells him that God did. Lamoni then suggests that he go with him, he knows the Lamanite king of Middoni, Antiomno,  and thinks he can exercise some influence on him to get the prisoners released. They go, on the journey they meet Lamoni's father, insults and an altercation ensues, the king wants Lamoni to kill Ammon,  Lamoni refuses, Ammon defends Lamoni from the king who tries to slay his son.  Ammon tells the king if he kills his son he will be taking innocent blood and lose his soul. (D&C 132) The king turns on Ammon and Ammon wounds him, but grants him life if he will release the prisoners, reconcile with his son, and grant freedom of religion. The king, to save his life, agrees. Later Ammon teaches the king about the atonement and converts him and his household. This great story occupies Chaps. 17-22 in Alma. AMMAH and Muloki continue their missionary work.  They may have been converts from the Mulek Colony and joined the original group of missionaries that included Alma, Aaron and the Sons of Mosiah, including Ammon. Otherwise they disappear from the record.  

In taking the name apart we find that AMMAH has a specific prefix, AMM-, and a suffix -AH. The  prefix AMM- is a hypocoristicon from AMM-,  meaning "paternal uncle" in West Semitic, in Southern Arabic Semitic is means 'moon god', or AMM, it can also be in the form of AMMA, AMMAIA, AMMI-AIA and AMMUA, (Black p. 102)  all meaning the same thing. The suffix --AH is also a hypocoristicon, theophoric or  abbreviation for Jehovah. At one time considered to be of Hebrew origin.  With the discovery of Ebla and its thousands of tablets dating to 2250 BC, this has changed. "At one time in the history of  Ebla, the name of El in people's names was replaced by Ya. This pointed to the acceptance of Ya instead of El, Ya is the abbreviated  ending in such names in the Bible as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, Elijah, and Beniah. That "one time" in Ebla's history was just the time when Eber was king. Thus the recognition of Yahweh in the new way is very possibly linked with the people who had ethnic association with the people later known in the Bible as Hebrews." (Wilson p. 93) It seems that during the reign of Eber and his dynasty  "Ebla reached its greatest splendor, and it was just during his reign that AKKAD, so one tablet reports, paid tribute to Ebla." (Wilson p.65)  However, "Another king, Irkab-Damu, was on the throne when Naram-Sin finally destroyed the city about 2,250 BC."  (Wilson p. 65)  Naram-Sin was the grandson of Sargon, empire builder of Akkad. Sargon firmly established the Akkadian Language. The Jaredites no doubt had more than a casual contact with the Akkadians.

There is no name of just AH- in the Akkadian dictionary.  There is a listing for AHA, which means "one by one" and is Old Akkadian, but AH does not stand alone.  But it is a common prefix. There are more than 90 names with the prefix AH- in the Akkadian dictionary, for there not to have been the element AH in some form or another in the Book of Mormon it could have been a cause for concern. In the Neo-Assyrian dictionary there is the name AHA, which means 'brother' with an abbreviated or hypocoristicon form of just AH, this prefix is in 190 names with their variants, the  suffix dictating the meaning of the name, but most referring to brother in some way. (Radner pp. 56-88) There are a number of variants in the suffixes to make the reference to a "sister" or "mother",  giving the feminine slant or ending to the name or word. (Radner p. 88)   

As noted above, in the South Arabic region of the Qatabanians, their chief god was AMM. (Huffman p. 166)   More on this below.

As has been noted before in these Web Site entries, if you check the name list in the back of the Book of  Mormon, on page 532, you will not find the name AMMAH in the list.  It is found in An Exhaustive Concordance of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine Covenants Pearl of Great Price. where, counting AMMAH, there are seven names that begin with AMM-. (Shapiro p. 40-42)  The Index to the Book of Mormon also lists the name on page 10. 

THE QATABANIANS AND THE GOD AMM

The Qatabanians occupy part of the South Arabic region of the Arabian peninsula, their chief God was AMM. Some Book of Mormon scholars and others, as noted above,  have referred to the God AMM of the Qatabanians (Cattabanians)  as a possible source for the frequency of AMM as a prefix in Book of Mormon names. But a close look at the Qatabanians suggests one may have to look elsewhere for such an attribution.  Eratosthenes, (276-195 BC) the Greek  geographer and historian  locates the Qatabanians along the strait, Bab el-Mandeb, perhaps even to the Trucial Oman, the Straits of Hermoz, on the Persian Gulf, considered part of ancient South Arabia. Their capital was considered to be Tamna (Timna [Hajar Kohlan]) . The region occupied by the Greeks and the Romans because of the Commercial,  military and scientific interests.  A number of inscriptions in the Qatabanian dialect have been recovered giving the names of some of the Qatabanian kings, and tell of campaigns in which they fought including those against the Sabeans who were contemporaneous with Solomon, and established themselves in the Arabian area hundreds of years before the Qatabanians did. The Sabeans occupied their territory earlier then 1100 BC. The Brass Plates could have made mention of the Saba and Sabeans.  The Tanakh mention both. These as well as other peoples had a knowledge of the coming of Christ, and some of them brought gifts to Christ. See my CD #25 on the MAGI . (Psalms 72:9,10,15; Isaiah 60:3,6,9; Clark pp. 522-524) 

From inscriptions in Arabia, the Qatabanian kingdom seems to have come into existence around 500 BC and endured  until around the beginning of the Christian Era.  (Whitehouse p. 513)  Bordered by the older kingdom of the Sabeans. The  ancient site or capital of the  Sabeans has been identified 40 miles south of Marib in northern Yeman. The American Foundation for the Study of Man under Wendell Phillips and William F. Albright, began explorations and excavations there in 1950-51.  (It was Albright who officially announced the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1948).  Their work revealed thick beds of ashes marking the final conflagration in which the capital city was destroyed about 50 BC bringing to an end the independent kingdom of Qataban. (Finnegan  pp. 71. 73. 75) Lehi left Jerusalem about 600 BC nearly 100 years before the Qatabanean were established, so unless he picked up during his trek through the Arabian deserts something about Qatabanian predecessors that used that name a century after he left the Arabian peninsula, he knew nothing about them, so it is not likely he had any knowledge or tradition about the Qatabanians. The Brass plates were completed down to the time of Laban and to when Lehi left for the wilderness, we know of no tradition that any additions were made to the Brass Plates after Lehi obtained them,  therefore there would be no expectations of any  mention of that culture. (Finnagan pp. 466, 470. 475)  So, there is a need to track back in history the God AMM, it makes for an interesting trip.

''The oldest known Capital of the Sabeans was at Sirwah, a day's journey west of Marib. The Sabeans were in the region nearly 700 years before the Qatabanians. The ruins at Sirwah include a castle, an elliptical temple with a large standing block of stone, seventy-feet long, thirty-five  inches high and eighteen inches thick covered with inscriptions. There  were many monolithic pillars also inscribed. The temple was built by a Mukarrib, or priest-king, named Yada'el Dharth, and was dedicated to the God ALMAQAH.  ALMAQAH was the moon god, corresponding to the god SIN in Mesopotamia, and was the chief deity of the Sabeans...known to the Mineans by the name of  WADD, TO THE QATABANIANS AS 'AMM and to the Hadhramautians as SIN... his consort was the sun, SHAMS, the same as SHAMISH [CHEMISH] in Mesopotamia ...their son was ATHTAR ...the Babylonian ISHTAR  and the Phoenician ASTARTE ."  (Finegan pp. 470-471)  And in UR before most of the others just mentioned, there was the moon god, NANNA (SIN). (Lloyd p. 57) Earlier than that was the great temple to SIN (AMM) at old  Khafaje, (ancient Tutub),  the earliest SIN temple in Early Dynastic 1 period, (2750-2650 BC), of ancient Sumer, excavated by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, one of the two temples found was for the God AMM.  (Floyd p. 93) Most of the Semitic people worshipped AMM, but all by different names.  The apostate traditions in Sumer would trace back to the original gospel, the closer to Adam's times the less contaminated would be the doctrines. 

So the God AMM, is the father God, reflected in the name of the priest:  "Yada' EL, with a YA prefix, an abbreviation for Jehovah,  and a suffix of an abbreviation or hypocoristicon,  EL,  for ELOHIM,  the God of early Mesopotamia and to whom most of the temples in the Mesopotamian regions were built for centuries, dedicated to the GOD AMM, with a different name depending on the culture. But all of them worshiped a FATHER GOD,  EL, or his SON,  Ya, or both. The various cultures had gradually lost all knowledge of exactly who they were really worshipping. Even today the apostate cultures in the Middle East pattern their doctrine of deity after the Pre-existent and eternal order originally given to Adam:  Father, Mother, Son.  In the Hadhramautian region excavations began in 1937-1938 by Gertrude C. Thomson in the ancient ruins near Hureidha. The most important discovery was a temple to the moon god SIN (AMM) the first such structure to be excavated in Arabia. (Finegan p. 473)  It  seems likely that most of the Arabian peninsula was colonized by groups out of Mesopotamia mostly after 1500 BC, carrying as part of their perverted religious baggage the god AMM, certainly in some instances they colonized new areas for the trade items that existed there. The Sabeans and Qatabanians  exploited their lands for the presence of an abundance of frankincense, myrrh, cassia and cinnamon, essential items for temple worship, even for the Jews, and to prepare the body of a God for burial. Trade lanes have been found in east Arabia, that reached far north into Mesopotamia. While there is a lot more, the above summary will do, there will be more on the god AMM in the future, more Book of Mormon names have this prefix in their name. 

SOUTH ARABIAN SEMITIC LANGUAGES

South Arabian Languages are considered to be South Semitic. Old South Arabian texts are written in an alphabetic script; the direction of writing is boustrophedon;  alternate lines reading in opposite directions; start on the right and return on the left and repeat. Later they wrote from right to left. The alphabet represents each of the twenty-nine Common Semitic consonants, vowels are not normally indicated. Arabic differs from the old language only in its updated vocabulary. Arabic script is a modification of the Aramaic alphabet.  Arabic is one of humanity's most widely used languages. Sabean, or the Kingdom of Sheba, is called Sabaic. (Sasson pp. 2020-2021) The Biblical Queen of Sheba, Queen of the Sabeans, plays a prominent role in legends of Islam. From the affair between Sheba and Solomon, a son was born whose descendants have played an important role in Ethiopian history and recent history of Israel. (Finnegan p. 470.)  PART 7 will continue the study of names found in the Akkadian Dictionary and the Book of Mormon, names found inscribed on clay tablets and other inscriptions,  found in the regions of the Ancient Akkadian Empire, loud voices out of the dust.

                                                            BIBLIOGRAPHY

BENZ, Frank l., Personal Names in the Phoenician and Punic Inscriptions, Biblical Institute Press, Rome, 1972

BLACK, Jeremy Black, Andrew George, Nicholas Postgate, Ed.s,, A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, Harrassowitz  Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2004

BAKER, Heather, Ed., The  Prosopograhy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Vol. 2 Part 11, L-N, University of Helsinki, Finland, 2001

CLARK, J. Reuben, Jr., Our Lord of the Gospels, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, 1954

DI VITO, Robert A., Studies in Third Millennium Sumerian and Akkadian Personal Names, Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, Roma, 1993

FINEGAN, Jack, The Archeology of World Religions, Princeton University Pr.  Princeton 1952

GELB, Ignace J., Computer-Aided Analysis of Amorite, University of Chicago, Ill., 1980

HUFFMAN, Herbert, Amorite Personal Names in the Mari Texts, John Hopkins Pr. Balt. 1965

LLOYD, Seton, The archaeology of Mesopotamia, Thames & Hudson, London, 1978

MANDEL, David, Who's Who in Tanakh, Ariel Books, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2004

SASSON, Jack  M., Ed., Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. Hendrickson Publishing, 1995

RADNER, Karen, Ed., The Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Vol. 1/1 A,  University of Helsinki, Finland, 1998

WILSON, Clifford, The Impact of Ebla,Word of Truth Productions,  Melbourne, Australia, 1977

 

 

 

 

 

All research and opionions presented on this site are the sole responsibility of Dr. Einar C. Erickson, and should not be interpreted as official statements of the LDS doctrine, beliefs or practice.
To find out more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, please see their offical websites at LDS.org and Mormon.org