Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

yohanan,

It appears to me that KUSH is but a variant of GUSH, 'clod, lump,  
mass' (see Job 7:5), and may thus refer to any mountainous region,  
such as Ethiopia, Afghanistan, etc. It is also related to the roots  
KSH, Q$H, 'thick, heavy, huge, hard" (see Deuteronomy 32:15), and  
hence KUSHI may also mean a heavy-set, large-bodied, or strong- 
bodied,  man.

I believe the land of Goshen (=Gushen?) to be likewise situated in a  
mountainous area.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Mar 20, 2007, at 1:04 AM, Yohanan bin-Dawidh wrote:

> *How is that people always attempt to connect Kush with Ethiopia,  
> when in
> truth, while the descendents of Kush may have included the  
> Ethiopians, we
> know from the Tanakh that it did include the towns of Bavel, Urik,  
> Akkad,
> Kalneh, Nin'evah, Resen, Rehoboth-Ur and Kalah, all of which fall  
> in the
> Mesopotamia area near Bavel. We also know that it included the  
> descendents
> of Seva', Hawilah, Sav'ttah, Ra'mah, and Sav'tteka. And from Ra'mah  
> we know
> it included Sheva, and Dedan. And one idea is that Ra'mah is also  
> an area of
> the Persian gulf area, and Sheva is the land of the Sabeans, i.e.  
> Yemen, and
> not Ethiopia. We know for a fact that Bavel was a city of the  
> Kushim, but so
> many people attempt to link Ethiopia and Kush together ignoring all  
> other
> people linked to Kush, and this bothers me greatly for it gives a  
> false
> impression of what the Tanakh does, and does not state.*
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