Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Biblical Hebrew: Is it West or Central Semitic Family?

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: rob acosta <robacosta AT hotmail.com>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Biblical Hebrew: Is it West or Central Semitic Family?
  • Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:50:10 -0600



Mr . Ishinan
If I may put my two cents in, I believe current opinion is that the
"semitic" languages belong under the larger umbrellaof the Afro Asiatic
languages family, which includes Berber, Egyptian, Arabic, Hebrew, etc. This
is well known so I agree with Mr Williams that Hebrew is in no way a special
language. Nor do I find its classification as "Semitic" as necessarily an
insult although it may well be outdated. I believe it was George Rawlinson
in his book "The Five Great Monarchies of the Eastern Ancient World" who
discovered a strong Ethiopian influence in the development of ancient
Assyria and Babylon and consequently the languages of the region.. Aside from
the archeological evidence, he relates the records of Homer, Herodotus and
Strabo who mention the Ethiopian "kingdom" as once extending into Asia and
beyond in ancient times. The Babylonian/ Assyrian/Ethiopian connection
seems to be supported by the fact the ancient Greeks and Armenians considered
Belus, the Babylonian god of war said to be founder of Babylon a
Cushite...and give an extensive genealogy that includes Canaan and Libya. I
say all of this to offer just one possibility as to why both the Semitic and
Arabic languages belong under the Afro Asiatic umbrella along side Egyptian
and the languages of East Africa..There was,undeniably, a great
interconnection between the Ethiopians and the inhabitants of the Fertile
Crescent in the ancientrecords as is made clear by the ancients and their
mythology, which may go a long way into explaining the development of the
languages of the region, including Hebrew.

Rob Acosta




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page