Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 28/09/2005 19:01, Vadim Cherny wrote:

> Genesis 2:6 opens with the word 'ed, commonly translated as "mist" or "inundation." 
>
> The last translation, alluding to the flooding of Mesopotamian plains, relies on the 
> Akkadian edu, "flood." Ancients knew that floods are related to rains; ...

Not necessarily. The Egyptians (to whose lexicon you appeal later) did 
not know that the flooding of the Nile related to rains thousands of 
miles away in central Africa, although they may have suspected it. 
Indeed this was probably not demonstrated until the late 19th or even 
early 20th century- that's CE or AD! To return to Mesopotamia, this is 
not even true, as the flooding there is mostly caused my melting of snow 
in Anatolia. The snow of course fell as snow, and we probably have no 
idea whether the Akkadians knew that snow was a form of rain, let alone 
whether they knew that melting of snow caused flooding.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/