Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] Amalekites!

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Banyai AT t-online.de (Michael Banyai)
  • To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Amalekites!
  • Date: 13 Aug 2004 19:20 GMT

Curiously I was not able to recognise in the last couple of postings, how
they touched to the subject Amalek. However did Peter Kirk formulated an
interesting idea which deserves elaboration:


> I consider it highly probable that a traditional genealogy among the
> Edomites listed Esau as their original founder and Amalek as his
> grandson. I also consider it highly probable that such a genealogy is
> reasonably accurate (although perhaps giving a succession of leaders
> rather than a strict father-to-son listing), and that said Amalek became
> the leader of a group which became known as the Amalekites, even if he
> was not necessarily the biological ancestor of all of them.

I would like to point to the Phoenician cosmogony according to Sanchiunaton
as related by Filon of Byblos and Eusebius of Cesarea, mentioning a certain
pair of rival has brothers, one of whom being called Usoos (like Esau), a
hunter, who has invented fur clothes. This cosmogony seems to be confirmed as
genuine by its recognisable Ugarit parallels. There existed thus an
independent semitic tradition concerning Esau/Usoos, who was assimilated by
the bible writers with Edom.

The way how this story slipped into the Bible may have been the
identification of some Edom - a historical brother of a proto-Israelite king
(we may call him for conveniency Jacob) - with the eponymous ancestor of the
Edomites Esau.

There exists an Egyptian inscription concerning a certain Abdi-damu (or later
Hebrew: Obed-Edom) brother of the "prince" of Retenu, taking part into a
mining expedition into the Sinai, just on the wake of the massive (and
apparently friendly)immigration of Semites into the Delta under Amenemhat III
during the late 12-th dynasty.

Best regards,

Banyai Michael
Stuttgart




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page