INTRODUCTION:
So far these studies on the BOOK OF MORMON names have made it evident that the influence of the Jaredites on the names in the BOOK is great, and there is still more than half the names to study. The study of the names in the Book of Mormon is a singular and unique way to become convinced that the Great Joseph was truly a prophet and had before him authentic records spanning nearly three thousand years of history and geography. Anyone can try to conjure up more than 300 names, some incredibly complex and unusual, but then he must stipulate they must be found on clay tablets all over Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and among some places in the Western Hemisphere and the Islands of the pacific. This is what the Great Joseph did!
HAGOTH: HA-BALU(M).
"And it came to pass that HAGOTH, he being an exceedingly curious man, therefore he went forth and built him an exceedingly large ship, on the borders of the land Desolation and launched it forth into the west [Pacific] sea, by the narrow neck [Isthmus of Tehuantepec] which led into the land northward." Alma 63:5) (See maps 3 and 4 in Sorensen) This area, as described, was probably the home port of HAGOTH. There on the Pacific side of the Isthmus or narrow neck, were shallow lagoons, two in particular, that have invited maritime activity. Nearby was timber so desirable that the Spaniards cut it, floated it downriver to the Atlantic side, and shipped it to Cuba for building ships. This is an unusual confirmation of the validity of the HAGOTH story, he was a ship builder, making ships of different sizes, he knew where the preferred timber grew, and recognized the lagoons as places to build and train crews for the northward movement of people he was supporting. (Sorenson p. 136-138) Mesoamericanists agree that over a period of many centuries large seagoing "Ships" or boats of some kind that were sea worthy, from Ecuador actually came up the Pacific coast to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and beyond on trading expeditions. "No other spot north of Panama fits the Hagoth story as well as the Pacific coast by the narrow neck of land." (Sorenson pp. 366-374; Parry p. 298)
What happened to HAGOTH? Did he leave on one of the boats and never return? Whatever boat it was, some tradition would have been developed by those that settled, wherever they did. The traditions abound in the South Pacific, they recognize the boat's captain and family, but nothing more is heard about the Builder. Native Americans along the west coast ought to have some kind of tradition that would fit into this story. There are traditions of large sea-going craft known off Ecuador and Peru. There is concrete evidence that there was sea travel all along the Pacific coast from Mexico all the way to Ecuador. No doubt it will eventually be found that it was a regular practice, going farther north and south. The Book of Mormon just merely happens to mention of one singularly important occurrence and locality. (Sorenson p. 268)
A second ship also set sail toward destinations unknown. (Alma 62:6-8) Nothing is heard or known about the north bound ships. Somewhere there must be Native American traditions about north bound travelers from a well known southern origin. (Sorenson pp. 630-633) HAGOTH, a man well founded in artisanship and technical abilities and sea faring, gets little credit or recognition, but someday more data will emerge about this curious man. (Pinegar p. 61)
GOTH AND GATH
With the change of the vowel, O, in the name GOTH, to an A, the vocal sound is not changed by much, and the meaning does not seem to change. Note that the consonantal elements of these two names are the same GTH. There is no O in Akkadian, (Black p. 260), but the Jaredites used the O, so the sound of the name would be best served if an A was used. But here there is a suggestion of a linkage to Phoenician sources. (Book of Mormon p. 533) So, let's look deeper into the name GATH, which has a meaning suggestive of "WINE PRESS," it might be a stretch to consider this as an allusions to He who trod the wine press alone?
GATH was the name of one of the five principal PHILISTINE (PHOENICIAN) cities formerly occupied by the ANAKIM, (Jos. 11:23) in the early days of the conquest of the Promised land. When the Philistines captured the ARK they took it to Ashdod which suffered great ills, so it was moved to GATH, where the people were struck with bubonic plague. So they moved it again to Ekron, (1 Sam. 5:6-19), anyone with the ark was stricken, so they took it back.
GATH is best known for being the home of GOLIATH, whom David killed with a sling shot. David had to feign madness to avoid retribution at a later date from Achish, king of GATH; living a year in his territory. Later David added the territory to his own dominions and added a mercenary contingent from GATH to his forces. (2 Sam, 6:10-11) There followed centuries of additional adventures for GATH, again becoming an enclave of the Philistines until conquered by Sargon of Assyria. The site has not been identified as yet, though several tells or ruins are candidates. (Douglas pp. 542-543)
During the reign of Jehoahaz, Jehu's son and successor, HAZAEL the Assyrian king of ARAM, extended his INCURSIONS into the area west of the Jordan valley about the 880 BC. Hazael pushed into Philistia proper as well, where he captured GATH according to II Kings 12:18. Philistia in Iron Age II was a group of individual city-states, therefore HAZAEL'S attack on one was an attack on all. In the course of the action he took GATH, because Gath was a gateway to the Judean hills and thence to Jerusalem. Joash, the king of Judah, bought him off by sending him the treasure of the Temple. Joash then became a vassel of Aram. HAZAEL was a serious opponent of ancient Israel. (II Chron. 24-25; II Kings 12, 20-21; Lipinski pp. 284-289)
GATH is included in the name GATH-HEPHER the birth place of the prophet JONAH, only a few miles from Nazareth. (Douglas p. 543) With this possible link to the ancient Phoenicians, it may be that the shipbuilder had a long family history in association with the Phoenicians who brought Mulek, himself a Phoenician, to the Americas, and then note, the name appears in the Book of Mormon record after the absorption by the Nephites of the Mulekites.
In the form of GOTH, historically there were the, OSTROGOTHS, and the VISIGOTHS that figure prominently in southeastern Europe and southern Russia, and in the famous sacking of ROME in 410 AD.
The main point is that the name HAGOTH, is not a made up or fictional name. Again, it testifies the Great Joseph was translating from an authentic ancient text!
Many Nephites set sail northward on the large ship that was built, carrying abundant provisions. A ship building industry may have sprang up
The name HAGOTH breaks down into several elements: HA, GOTH, GT, GTH, and TH. In the Akkadian Dictionary there are fifteen pages of names with the prefix HA. Many of the names and words with HA, as a prefix the meaning is "to," "to be," with the "to be" the most frequent. (Black p. 98) Often the suffix determines the meaning of the prefix. The name AHA is a hypocoristicon based on West Semitic 'ah' or Akkadian AHU, meaning "brother" (Radner p. 56) It is used in the expression AHA AHA in Old Akkadian, meaning "one by one." (Black p. 6) In the resources available, the element or suffix -GOTH does not appear. In any form the name is not recorded in the Jewish Tanakh, so seemingly it is not related to Hebrew. Lehi may or may not have found it in the Brass Plates. It does not appear in the Book of Mormon record until about 55 BC.
Looking closely at the GT, GTH, and TH elements, some of these appear in the Phoenician records, an inscription of the GT element is found on the tomb of MICIPSA, (Benz p. 282) and the TH element was found as part of a fragment of a name, (Benz p. 449) but with no meanings given. As time goes on and discoveries of clay tablets and translations of those already found continue, those names that are not now tied down specifically may become so.
NATIVE AMERICAN INSIGHTS
Reynolds reported: "California Indians attribute a large artificial mound of mussel shells and bones of animals, on Point of St. George, near San Francisco, to a prehistoric people which they called HOHGATES...According to the traditions, the HOHGATES were seven strangers, who arrived from the sea and who were the first to build houses in which to live in that part of the country. They hunted deer, sea lions, and seals, They gathered mussels from the nearby rocks, and the refuse from their meals was piled up around their dwellings. One day-so the traditions run- they saw a gigantic seal into which they managed to drive a harpoon. The wounded animal fled seaward, dragging the boat with it toward the unknown world. At the moment the mariners were about to be engulfed, the seal disappeared and the boat was flung up into the air. Since then, the HOHGATES, changed into stars, to return no more. (Reynolds p. 320-321) I have found it worthwhile to look into the traditions of Native Americans for information, though perhaps distorted and exaggerated, they often contain some elements of truth and history.
My second son, Ty B. Erickson, prepared a preliminary book on the Book of Mormon names, nearly a half century ago, it was turned over to the archives of FARMS at BYU. At that time there was someone working on names, but apparently they did not fully mature their study as nothing has come out of FARMS or any other source, on names, except the references to Hugh Nibley's work, referred to above. Ty, in his study, stated that he had in his possession at that time, a copy of a family group sheet submitted by a William A. Cole, that lists the temple work of a man and his wife who were born about 88 BC. He was the CAPTAIN of Hagoth's boat and his name was HAWAII LOA, born in KAAINAKAIMELEMELEAKANE, (AMERICA) . His wife's name was HUALALAI and their children's names were MAUI, OAHU, and KAUAI. These are the names of the Hawaiian Islands. I also obtained a copy of this document and used it in many firesides. I understand that the Temple in Hawaii has it in its archives, this information as well as a book called ISRAEL IN THE PACIFIC, which has genealogical data on other Pacific linkages, provides a great deal of additional detail. (Cole Preface & p. 114)
John L. Sorensen, a devoted and erudite defender of Meso-America as Book of Mormon Lands, was himself a missionary to Polynesia, and was well aware of the faith of the devoted that the Hawaiian Islands were named after the Captain of Hagoth's boat and his family. So far, evidence that Hagoth himself ended up in Polynesia, other than the temple records and genealogical records of Polynesians, has not surfaced. But, again that may be a matter of finding the records. The LDS traditions stand until proven otherwise because evidence from several central and southern Mexican locations and migrant influences in the pacific and areas of Mexico, such as Monte Alban in Quaxaca, have been compiled in support of the traditions. The search goes on and the results will be rewarding. (Sorensen pp. 268-269)
HAMATH
HAMATH is Biblical, it is a city mentioned in a quote from ISAIAH 10 (2 Ne. 20:9), and ISAIAH 11 (2 Ne 21:11), where ISAIAH is saying the Destruction of Assyria is a type of destruction of wicked at the Second Coming. Few people will be left after he comes again and the Remnant of Jacob, who are being gathered by the expanding missionary force of the Church today, shall return in that day, and they are returning, but so far only from half the world. In time all the world be will be contacted one way or the other before the second coming.
HEARTHOM:
At the beginning of the Book of Ether, the writer, Ether The Prophet, provides a genealogy of JARED, in the list HEARTHOM is given as No. 32 (Largey p. 431, Ether l:17). The Book of Ether is essentially about his genealogy and family and the descendants of Jared, of which he is one. In the family line HEARTHOM is given as the Son of Lib. (Ether 10:29) Ether also points out, and many fail to read it, that "I give not the FULL account, but a part of the account...)," (Ether l:5), but we don't know all of what is missing. Some have tried to make a chart to account for some gaps in the genealogy and king line. (Petersen pp. 67-70). HEARTHOM ruled during the years representing the middle of the sequence of leaders between JARED the founder of the Jaredite nation, and ETHER, the last Prophet.
HEARTHOM succeeded his father Lib and reigned for twenty-four years. He had the kingdom taken away from him, (it doesn't say by whom) and lived until he died in captivity, (Pinegar p. 62), and the next five generations of HEARTHOM'S family lived in captivity until a descendant, COM, drew away half of the kingdom for 42 years; he died of old age, but was known as a protector of the prophets who came into the land to warn them about their destruction, which ultimately occurred. (Ether 10:30-34, 11:1-6)
As we take a close look at the name we note there are MANY consonantal elements in the name: H, HRT, HR, HRTHM, TH, THM, HM, TM, more than in most names, but not all of them are significant. The main prefix is H- or HR-, the abbreviation for the divine name for HORUS. When discussing names under H, that consonant was an abbreviation for HORUS and was discussed in detail. The H abbreviation is also found in Abydos, Egypt. (Benz p. 306) We found that HORUS, The FALCON GOD, has origins in the misty past, a long time ago. There may be a link to ancient Egypt in the name HANA-HARU, "HORUS HAS BEEN MERCIFUL", or HA-NO-HURA. (Baker p. 449)
In the hypocoristicon "HA" for HAM... - meaning and origin unknown- is a prefix for many ancient West Semitic and Aramaic names. (Ibid pp. 444-449) The element HR means "mountain, sanctuary, citadel," in Phoenician. (Benz p. 303) The TH element has also been found in a Phoenician setting in a fragment of a name, with an unknown meaning. (Benz p. 449) The element TM in the suffix portion of the name is found in ancient Phoenician and means "complete, perfect" which could be interpreted as a meaning for the name "Horus is perfect" suggesting that the "God is Perfect," which He is! (Benz p. 429)
HELAM: HELU(M), HERAM, HALAM, HELEM
HELAM and several of the names that follow, all have the consonant construct HLM. So much of what is said about one, will apply to the others as well. It is an authentic root found among Amorite personal names at MARI, a great city-state contemporary with Ebla, Akkad, and other cities that would have been familiar to the JAREDITES. (Huffmon p. 195)
HELAM was one of the believers assembled by Alma the Elder, who had been converted by ABINADI, at the Waters of Mormon about 147 BC. HELAM was the first to be baptized into the church by ALMA (Mosiah 18:12-15), both having escaped the wicked king Noah. Here are the words of ALMA: "HELAM, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life. through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world. And after ALMA had said these words, both ALAM and HELAM were buried in the water; and they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit." (Mosiah 18:13-14) A highly unusual episode, for there was none to baptize ALMA, but he had the authority, as he says, from the ALMIGHTY GOD; no doubt following instructions impressed on him as what to do; like Joseph when he baptized Oliver after John the Baptist had given them authority. There are other unusual "FIRSTS" similar to this in the early history of the Church. This was called THE RULE OF EXCEPTION, "succinctly stated in the Nauvoo Temple Records." (Ehat p. 26)
HELAM is found in the Akkadian Dictionary in the form of the ancient mimation, and vocalized using a U in place of the O. Recall that Akkadian does not have an 'O' so the vocalization would use a U or an A. In the pronunciation given in the Book of Mormon (Page 533), it is given as HELUM, in the Akkadian dictionary and OLD AKKADIAN, as HELU(M), (Black p. 113), attesting to its antiquity and another piece of evidence as to just how much Akkadian is in the ADAMIC language. A remarkable parallel. It has the meaning of "to be bright, cheerful." The parents of HELAM must have accessed the Jaredite records translated by Mosiah not too much earlier. They would have had a choice from the records thay could access of any one of the three versions of the name: HELEM, HELAM or HALAM. They chose HELAM.
We get a further attestation of antiquity. In the consonant construct, HLM, it is an authentic root found among AMORITE personal names recovered from excavated clay tablets from the city state of MARI, (Huffmon p. 195) a contemporary city of Ebla and the shortly after the time of the Jaredites. Also the name shows up in the Phoenician dictionary as HLM, where it is indicated that inscriptions with the name were found at Ugarit. That could suggest that Lehi may have visited this city of metallurgy and furnacing, to obtain his bullion of gold and silver and noticed the name, or it could have been included in the Brass Plates where the northern tribes were sharing common borders with the Amorites.
HELAM is also the name of a geographic land area, (Mosiah 23:20) where the prospering people of Alma also built a city. When Alma and his new converts fled into the lands the found a beautiful uninhabited valley where they prospered and built their city, probably they named the land and city after the faithful HELAMAN. (Largey p. 326) "It was said to be a very beautiful and pleasant land [note the Akkadian meaning mentioned above, "bright, cheerful...shine brightly,"] a land of pure water." (Mosiah 23:3-4; Sorenson p. 132) "For certain ceremonies conducted by the Maya People, it was necessary to obtain special ritual water, called zuhuyha (meaning "uncontaminated, virgin, fresh"), from the underground. It seems significant that Alma, wrote so pointedly of the "pure water" of the land of HELAM. That expression sounds very Mesoamerican. Of the two most plausible locations for this land, one has water that "gushes out of the opening in the base of the "Cuchumatanes Mountains" near an ancient ruin, while the other possible location, some 20 miles away springs "gush forth from beneath massive limestone beds" of the same mountains. The Maya would consider water from such a source to be "pure."' (Sorenson pp 132-133) Mosiah 18:30 reports of the waters of Mormon, [lake Atitlan, in Guatemala] "how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer." (Sorenson p. 133-135) HELAM was a bright beautiful waters and a land pleasant and cheerful. HELAM was a planned city and a place of refuge. (Sorenson pp. 295-206)
The city of Helam was also the place of interesting miracles. One was the city being strengthened to bear up under severe bondage to Lamanites who captured their city, and the other their escape under divine providence from that bondage. (Largey p. 326; Mosiah 18:9; 23:21-24; 24:13-14)
Also see the discussion on HELEM below.
HELAMAN
HELAMAN, has, including all of the above under HELAM, an additional -AN, tacked on as a final suffix, adding to the meaning of "God is perfect," "to, for, to be perfect." (Black p. 16) While there are many hieroglyphs in Egyptian for AN, one usage does agree with the ancient Akkadian: AN, meaning "...to, for..." (Budge p. 56) Since the Book of Moron was written in reformed Egyptian, we don't want to overlook tacked on or added abbreviations that can direct us into a new area of linkages.
HELAMAN was a son of King Benjamin about 130 BC. Benjamin had all of his three sons, Mosiah, Helorum and Helaman, taught in all the language of his fathers, and personally taught them the importance of the writings, contained in the brass plates, and the plates of Nephi (Mosiah l:2-8).
HELAMAN was also the name of the eldest son of ALMA, and keeper of the sacred records, the interpreters and the LIAHONA. He was high priest and military leader. (Alma 31: 7, 17:1-3, 21, 38-41; 46:6; 53:19; 56:9) He was a great military leader, well known as the leader of the "stripling warriors" the 2060 sons of the ANTI-NEPHI--LEHIES. (Alma 53;13; 53:10; 56:7-8) He was a great missionary and teacher. (Largey p. 127) Mormon considered himself and his brothers as "Men of God" (Alma 48:18-19)
HELAMAN was also the name of a son of HELAMAN and grandson of ALMA. SHIBLON, HELAMAN'S father's uncle made him Keeper of the Records, he wrote the first part of the Book of Helaman. He wrote of the destructive role of the GADIANTON ROBBERS. (Hel 2:13-14) When he became judge they tried to kill him but instead it led to the death of KISHKUMEN the GADIANTON LEADER. He is a perfect example of a father teaching his sons, Nephi and Lehi, the great doctrines of the Atonement, and that they must anchor their lives on Christ, the Son of God. (Hel 5:9-12) This HELAMAN died about 39 BC.
THE BOOK OF HELAMAN is named after him.
Children of converted Lamanites, known as Ammonites, about 64 BC were frequently given the name Helaman, probably for reasons found in the meaning of the name described below.
Back again to linkages with Egyptians. The name HELAMAN has as its second consonant the letter "L." The Semitic "L" in Egyptian is always written as an "R." There is no "L" in Egyptian, it is replaced by "R," therefore note the Egyptian name HERAMON, which means "in the PRESENCE of AMMON, (or God), is really HELAMAN . The full Egyptian parallel is the name HERI-I-HER-IMN. (Nibley p. 26) AMMON "... is the commonest name in the Egyptian Empire, the great Universal GOD of the empire. (Nibley p. 25) It should be noted that there is profound doctrine in the name AMMON. The name means IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. The Egyptian God here referred to is AMON, (other versions of his name are: ATUM, AMEN, AMEN-RA, THE SUN GOD, HIS MOST FREQUENT NAME) which is Equated with HORUS, he is called RA-HERAKHTY (RA-HORUS THE HORIZON-DWELLER). (Shorter p. 5) And very Egyptian is the rarely used MORMON name for this supreme being "in the language of ADAM, MAN OF HOLINESS, is his name and the name of his only begotten is the SON OF MAN, even JESUS CHRIST..." (Moses 6:57) So, in the Book of Mormon the name HELAMAN would mean: "in the presence of MAN." The suffix of -MAN used in the Pearl of Great Price is correctly employed in the name HELA-MAN!
For three generations the same name was used for key individuals. This is a perfect example of Nephite papponymy! Most people are unaware of this practice, but many exercise it. I am named after my great-grand father.
HELEM: HELU, HEL(U)M, HALAM
HELU, or, HEL(U)M is an abbreviated name, meaning the same as HELEM, 'light colored, bright;" it is Old Akkadian (Black p. 113) We are thus, back in the world of the Jaredites.
HELEM was a member of a sixteen-man search party sent out by king Mosiah around 121 BC to locate the expeditionary force that had left around 200 BC to return to the land of their origins in the south. The leader of the search party was Ammon, a descendant of Zarahemla. He took HELEM, AMALEKI, and HEM with him to meet with Limhi, then king over the Nephite colony, (Mosiah 7:6) being strangers they were captured and imprisoned for a time until Limhi was able to determine that they were indeed from Zarahemla and were prepared to help him and his people to escape from Lamanite bondage. (Pinegar p. 62)
All that was discussed briefly for the above several names applies equally as well to HELEM. HELEM in the TANAKH was the name of one of the nobles taken as a captive to Babylon in the sixth century and when the exile was over, ZACHERIAH, the prophet, together with TOBIAH and JEDIAH, went to the house of Josiah, son of Zephaniah, there they made crowns of gold and silver to be placed on the head of the high priest JOSHUA, son of Jehozadiah. The crowns remained in the Temple as a memorial to these gold-smiths who donated them. In Hebrew the name means 'DREAMY.' HELEM was also called HELDAI. (Zechariah 6:10-14; Mandel p. 198)
HELEM, also known as HOTHAM, was the chief of a clan of the tribe of Asher, the son of Heber. (l Chronicles 7:32-35; Mandel p. 1980) Because of this connection with one of the twelve tribes the name was no doubt in the Brass Plates. The name had a long history.
In the list of kings that ruled EBLA, prepared by Professor Pettinato, the linguist on the excavation team, the first one was TGRISH-HALAM (Wilson p. 59), The vowel A in the name could be interchanged with an E, and it would not change anything. HALAM from ancient EBLA is nearly an exact match for the Book of Mormon name.
HELORUM
HELORUM was the son of king Benjamin ( Mosiah 1:2) about 130 BC.
Bezelel Porton suggests that the -um ending, (mimation) a common west Semitic suffix, is a hypocoristicon for Jehovah names. (Porten p. 139-140) There are fourteen names in the Book of Mormon that have this suffix, or ending. The -um ending was also a prevalent hypocoristic suffix among the names found in the MARI texts ( Huffmon p. 132). The use of mimation goes back earlier than the Jaredites into ancient Sumerian names, (Kleinerman p. 378-380). Nearly everyone of the names with a mimation ending are Jaredite names or can be assigned to the time of the Jaredites or earlier.
The consonantal elements include HL, H, HLR, HR, HM, HLM; some of these are discussed above. The HL element without meaning is given in the Phoenician dictionary, though Benz indicates it may also be an abbreviation for a deity. (Benz p. 309) The H element is Phoenician is an abbreviation for a deity; in Egyptian it would be the abbreviation for HORUS, who has been discussed often in this series. In the Egyptian episodes that involve the two gods who participated in the creation of man, PTAH and AMON, who had formed man and put breath into his nostrils, then messengers were sent to instruct man, specifically to instruct him to carry out certain ordinances. The very highest of all in authority, sent others to fetch HORUS "that he might carry out the necessary ordinances that" (Nibley pp. 249-250, 599) are required. The first man, Adam, [Abr. l:3] says: "I was sleeping in the thought of my heart. For I saw three men [Peter, James and John?] before me whose appearance I could not recognize...saying to me..."Arise Adam out of the sleep of death. And hear about the aeon [this world and time] and the seed of that man to whom life has come, [Jesus Christ] who came [will come] forth from you and from Eve your consort." (Forester p. 16) (See the CD on the NAG HAMMADI).
The HM element is also Phoenician, again old meanings have been lost. (Benz pp. 306-307) Another old name with an inexplicable meaning, is HLM, but may be related to the Ugaritic name HLM, also inexplicable; again Phoenician (Benz p. 311) .
HEM
HEM was the brother of AMMON (Mos. 7:16). AMMON had been appointed leader of an expedition of sixteen men, about 132 BC, sent by Mosiah from Zarahemla to the land of Lehi-Nephi to ascertain the fate of Nephite colonists who had gone there soon after 200 BC. (Mosiah 7:1-5; Omni 1:27-30; Pinegar p. 66) AMMON was a descendent Zarahemla, who was a descendent of MULEK, making the link of the name to the ancient Phoenicians. There, he and his companions, AMALEKI, HELEM , and HEM, were captured and imprisoned by guards of king Limhi. (Mosiah 7:6-12, 21:23) When Limhi heard from Ammon of their Mission, they were set free. (Largey p. 48, 66)
HEM is an Egyptian word which means, "servant" specifically of the Egyptian god AMMON, as in the title: 'Hem tp n'Imn', Chief servant of AMMON" held by the high priest of Thebes. (Nibley p. 26) AMMON, is the commonest name in the Book of Mormon, AMMON (AMON) was also the commonest name in the Egyptian Empire. AMMON was the great universal God of the Empire. (Nibley p. 25) The name is however, older and existed in the time of the Jaredites. HEM- is an element or prefix in the Akkadian dictionary for the name HEM-ERU, 'meaning to shatter,' it is the only name with that prefix. (Black p. 113) Compare this with the Egyptian hieroglyphic for HEM meaning "to cut to pieces." (Budge p. 482) HEM is a prefix element in Egyptian proper names and means the same as the extremely common ABDI element in western Asiatic names of today, extremely common in modern Arabic names: "Abddullah, meaning servant of God" ." (Nibley p. 22, 23) In the hieroglyphic form of HEM as in the Egyptian name PA-HEM-NETER, the meaning is "Servant of Menu" [a high Egyptian God] or "Servant of the God." (Budge p. 482) It is a seemingly simple, short name, but loaded with history, antiquity, and is an important confirmation Joseph was working with an ancient manuscript. Finally, HEM is used as an Akkadian prefix meaning 'Ardour.' (Black p. 471) MENU, or MIN, is imaged as a bearded man with his right hand raised holding a whip. His cult centers were at Panopolis. Akhmin and Coptos, (Kuft). Her is the God of sexual reproduction. (Shorter p. 135) Note, in Akkadian HEM has the meaning "ARDOUR."
HERMONTS: HERMONTHIS
Nibley suggests a parallel to the Egyptian word "HERMONTHIS" which was the land of Month, which was the Egyptian Pan, 'the God of wild places and things'" (Nibley (2) p. 192). In the Book of Mormon HERMONTS was a name of a 'wilderness infested by wild and beasts.' 'It was wilderness on west and north.' away beyond the borders of the land of Zarahemla. (Alma 2:37) That certainly was not just a wild guess by Joseph Smith. The combined Lamanite and Amlicite army was driven there by the troops of Alma, where many of them died of wounds and were "devoured" by beasts and vultures (Alma 2:36-38, about 87 BC; Largey p. 331).
HESHLON
HESHLON is a Jaredite name for a geographic area of Plains, (Ether 13:28)
The -ON suffix, or ending, is an authentic Hebrew Suffix characteristic of a Hebrew hypocoristicon (abbreviation, nick name) usually dropping a theophoric name component, and was found frequently in the old world in Mesopotamia especially in the MURASU texts. (Coogan p. 112) The ancient Akkadian is grouped with Semitic languages as they developed down through time, Hebrew becoming more developed after the Israelite conquest of Canaan. Therefore there is a strong relationship of Hebrew to ancient Akkadian, (Renfrew p. 13) and later Egyptian. But Joseph did not have any knowledge of this, in fact the great development in deciphering languages came during and after the life of Joseph. (Weiss p. 39)
HETH
HETH the son of Com led the jaredites in the eighth generation after Jared. Jared was the founder of the Jaredite nation, (Ether 1:26). HETH embraced the secret combinations of old and slew his own father, Com, in order to take over the leadership of the nation (Ether 9:26). These secret combinations were discussed under GADIANTON in a previous entry in this series. Under HETH, the people plunged into wickedness, rejecting and killing the prophets at his commands. The Lord sent a devastating famine into the land along with infestations of poisonous serpents. HETH himself died of starvation. (Ether 10:1) When the people repented and regained their spiritual stability, the Lord sent rain once again upon the land and "the people revived." There was fruit in the north countries and in all the countries around about, so the famine was widespread. and the "Lord did show forth his power unto them in preserving them from famine." (Ether 9:35) Shez, the son of HETH, reigned next in righteousness.
HETH is also the name of a son of HEARTHOM (see above) and he is listed in the genealogical line of Jared (Largey p. 431). "And Aaron was a descendant of HETH, who was the son of Hearthom." (Ether 1:16). HETH is named in the context of the leaders following Hearthom. Six generations lived and died in captivity. (Ether 10:31; Pinegar pp. 66-67)
HETH was also the name of a land or Jaredite region in which Jared, having the name of his ancestor, dwelt after rebelling against his father king Omer. (Ether 8:2) HETH is also a biblical name found in Genesis 10:15. He was the second son of Canaan and brother of Sidon. His descendants were the southern Hittites whose kingdom center was nearly at the border of modern northern Turkey, and who allowed Abraham to buy the cave of Machpelah, today near modern Hebron, and use it as a sepulcher for SARAH (Mandel p. 200). Recall that Esau lost his birthright by marrying two Hittite women, whose offspring could not hold the priesthood. The women were probably the descendants of HETH. We know the tombs at Hebron do not house any remains of the ancient patriarchs because they are all resurrected and are Gods, that includes their wives and children. Abraham has "entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne." (D&C 132:29) and they are not angels "but are gods." (Ibid:37)
In Hebrew the name means 'terror.' (Mandel p. 200)
HIMNI
HIMNI was a son of MOSIAH, about 100-74 BC. (Mosiah 27:18) What has been said above about names with the element HM, whether using an I or an E as the vowel, the meaning is going to be nearly or the same, The suffix -ni is a Hebrew element frequently found in West Semitic names. It represents the first person singular verbal suffix and is present in eight Book of Mormon name. The parallels are from documents found in Mesopotamia at MURASU (Coogan p. 109). MOSIAH may have obtained the name from the translated Jaredite plates.
Compare with HMN, a name of the Egyptian hawk-god (HORUS), symbol of the emperor (Nibley p. 28). This usage would also take the name back into antiquity.
The name HIMNI with the 'i' ending is a possible hypocoristicon of a name such as HIMNIAH, with the ending 'i' referring to JEHOVAH. This is observed in many HEBREW names.
In the New World compare with the Native American name: HINI. (Hickman p. 176)
HIM-, as a prefix is found in many names in the Akkadian dictionary, but with variable meaning depending on the suffix. (Black p. 116) This tends to verify the Jaredite usage in the name HIMNI. The suffix element -NI is found in Akkadian names often referring to a plural form of the meaning of the prefix, sometimes used as '-am' or 'to me.' (Black p. 252)
HIMNI, like his brothers, Ammon, Aaron, and Omner was a stalwart missionary of the Gospel of Jesus Christ around 90 BC to 77 BC. At first all the brothers were all "numbered among the unbelievers," (Mosiah 27:8) and were among the "very vilest of sinners" (Mosiah 28:4). The Lord sent heavenly messengers to call them to repentance, opening the way for them to bring about much good in their own land as well as among the Lamanites. (Mosiah 27:ll-37)
Theywere very committed and responded faithfully. HIMNI accompanied his three brothers on a fourteen year mission to reclaim thousands of hitherto unbelieving Lamanites and to bring them into the fold of Christ. Later, he assisted Ammon and his brethren to secure an area south of Bountiful where those converts, who were then known as the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi, or the people of Ammon, could be safe from the assaults of their former brethren among the Lamanites. (See the web entry: THEY BURIED THEIR WEAPONS, for possibly the final story of these people)
HOREB
HOREB is more popularly called SINAI. In the old Testament it is called Sinai. Travelling past Marah and Elim, the Israelites reached Sinai in the 3rd month after their departure from Egypt (Ex. 19:1), and camped at the foot on a plain from which the top of the mountain was visible (Ex. 19:16, 18, 20). There is where the Lord revealed himself to Moses, here the first and the second versions of the Ten Commandments were given. The mountain is also called JEBEL MUSA at the base of which is the famous St. Catherines Monestary where the Tischendorf bible manuscripts were found in 1844, (Kenyon p. 120) and about which much has been writen. Portion were found the year Joseph was killed, more were found during the next 16 years, from which important revisions were made to the existing bible translations including the King James version. ( Douglas pp. 1460-1461)
IMMANUEL
IMMANU-EL, the suffix -EL is an abbreviation for ELOHIM, the supreme GOD. The Mormons know him by that honorific. The name means GOD IS WITH US. (Isaiah 7:14) It is also found in one of the ISAIAH SCROLLS of the Dead Sea. (l QIs) and in the LXX, but in the King James Version it is spelled with an E., EMMANUEL (Matt. l:23) The name is a symbolic name given by ISAIAH the great ancient prophet to a child who would be born in the royal house of David and who would reject evil and choose good. This was a sign given by ISAIAH to king AHAZ of future deliverance for Judah. (Buttrick p. 685) The child would do more than that, that child was with mortals until they crucified him, but in effect he established the Dispensation of the Meridian of Time, and above all, effected the ATONEMENT by his death and suffering, for all men where ever they live on a creation of the Father's. (Mandel p. 214) Modern music extols the Christ with that name.
IRREANTUM
After eight years in the wilderness, Lehi and the group traveling with him came to the sea. Based on recent expeditions to the region of Yeman and Oman and the great frontal land facing southeast to the ocean; most likely the Arabian Sea, which they called IRREANTUM, "which being interpreted, is 'many waters,' " (l Ne. 17:4-5). While camped in this place they called "BOUNTIFUL," Nephi and his brothers built a ship, (Largey p. 339), which would take them to another land and another place they would also call 'BOUNTIFUL.' It was a land which Alma 22:32 tells us, was the land southward and nearly surrounded by water, that there was a narrow neck of land or isthmus separating a 'land northward' from a 'land southward,' which had two main divisions, the 'land of Nephi' on the far south and just north of that land there was the land of 'Zarahemla.' Eventually BOUNTIFUL and ZARAHEMLA began to refer to the same place. The southern portion of the isthmus was called "BOUNTIFUL." The north part of Bountiful at the narrow neck was the land of Desolation, and not far north of Desolation was where the Jaredites occupied the land with its many waters. (Sorenson (2) pp. 6-7) From this geographic beginning, Sorenson has gone on to reconstruct the geography of the Nephite and Jaredites. Old evidence and accumulating evidence supports his conclusions. .
Nibley says that " 'many waters' is a typical Egyptian designation that is the meaning of Fayum, [a great depression southwest of Cairo, west of the Nile where many important archaeological discoveries have been made]. It is not a Semitic name, and Lehi or more likely Mormon, even goes to the trouble of interpreting the name IRREANTUM.
It has recently been shown that one of the more common Egyptian names for the Red Sea was IARU, which is not Egyptian and the meaning of which is unknown. That would take care of the 'Irre-' element in the unusual name, while the suffix '-ANTUM' can be matched by two characteristic Egyptian forms, 'iny-t'and 'anjt', both describing large bodies of water, perhaps the former is possibly the Gulf of Suez, and the other water is Busiris,' (Nibley p. 195-196).
However, Porton suggests that the familiar '-um' suffix, or ending, is a common West Semitic suffix and is a hypocoristicon for Jehovah names. Fourteen names in the Book of Mormon contain this ending. (Porton p. 139-140)
This suggestion is supported by the root IRRA which represents a Mesopotamian deity and was found among the Amorite personal names at MARI, as already discussed, a contemporary city with EBLA and AKKAD, thus taking the name back into Akkadian times, (Huffmon p. 271) and thus the Jaredite time as well. Lehi may have obtained the name from the contact of ancient Israel with the Amorites mentioned in the Brass Plates, or from the Phoenicians, and that is why he may have had to interpret it.
Looking into the Akkadian sources we find an abbreviation of IRREATUM: IRTU(M) meaning 'FRONTAGE OF SEA' (Black p. 131). Both BOUNTIFULS would have had "frontage, perhaps even cliffs, on the sea." It is one of those very curious things, an unusual name, and unusual history, but a meaning that is loud and clear. We don't have to ask, "Joseph, where did you get such a name as IRREATUM?" Now we know.
There is another small element, IR that has been carried down through time that has been used for a name. IR, meaning 'city,' was a descendant of Benjamin, and was the father of Shuppum and Huppim. His daughter Maachab married Machir (l Chronicles 7:15). The name was probably in the Brass Plates.
The element IRA is also used as a name. It is a name common today; I have a friend by that name, and the name means 'wakefulness.' (2 Sam 20:26). IRA the Jairite was a priest in the court of King David.
IRA was also the name of the son of Ikkesh, the Tekoite, one of the THIRTY, an elite group of commanders in King David's army. IRA commanded a division of twenty four thousand men and was in charge of everything related to the army. (Douglas p.697)
IRA was also the name of an Ithrite, and like the son of Ikkesh, he was also a member of the THIRTY, but did not seem to be a commander of any force of men.
Finally, the word IRRIGATION, contains the initial element of the prefix in the name IRREATUM, with the meaning 'artificial means of watering crops' used throughout bible times in the form of aqueducts, and includes cisterns, dams, canals, and any storage of water resource, the word is now included in the English language. (Buttrick p. 128) Whatever the word was for artificial IRRIGATION, the earliest definite evidence of artificial IRRIGATION, so far known, is at the sites of CHOGA MAMI and TELL ESSAWWAN in eastern Iraq before 3000 BC., ( pp. 11-12). The Jaredites would have been very familiar with the methods. Many of the above names were no doubt in the Brass Plates. (Mandel p. 214)
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