Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jonathan D. Safren" <yonsaf AT beitberl.ac.il>]

Kurt Oertel wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> in his book "The Land of the Bible" Yohanan Aharoni makes the following
> statement about the Jebusites, the inhabitants of pre-Davidian
> Jerusalem:
>
> "The Jebusites obviously were a people from the north, Hurrians or
> Hittites (not Canaanites or Amorites) and we do not know when and how
> they got to Jerusalem" (retranslated by me from the 1984 German edition,
> p. 222).
>
> [snip]
> I would like to know what made Aharoni state this with such an emphasis
> of certainty and if this viewpoint is shared by other listmembers
> (especially our listmembers from Israel).

There are several pieces of evidence, both Biblical and extra-Biblical,
that
I remember offhand:

The El Amarna Period king of Jerusalem, Abdi-(or Puti-)Hepa, with the
Hurrian theophoric Heb/pa(t).
The last Jebusite king of Jerusalem, Awarna/Arawna (or Ornan) generally
understood as the Hurrian honorofic ewir.
Uriah the Hittite, one of David's commanders.
Perhaps other listers could add other support.
Sincerely,
--
Jonathan D. Safren
Dept. of Biblical Studies
Beit Berl College
Beit Berl Post Office
44905 Israel
Tel. 972-9-7476397
Fax: 972-9-7476398