Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ishinan" <ishinan AT comcast.net>]

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URI wrote: " It is also not an accident that the Arabs, who entered that country long after Pharaonic Egypt ended, named the country Misr, which is sing, and call it by this name to this day. Dual forms  exist in Arabic of course."

 

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ISHINAN:  Uri's statement "that Arabs entered that country long after Pharaonic Egypt ended" is as usual factually incorrect.  Ironically, it has little, if anything, to do with Classical Hebrew. 

 

So lets pull back the discussion about 'Egypt' from its dead-end and redirect it to fit a meaningful linguistic context promoted by the monitors of this forum.

 

Since 'Egypt/Misr' is the topic, lets talk about something intimately related:   That of the subject of 'Goshen' or "Gesem" in the Septuagint reading.

 

When we talk about 'Goshen', there seems to be a horde of  linguistic problems which have seldom been confronted. 

 

Such as, the conspicuous absence of many essential and unique Hebrew terms referring exclusively to Egypt's landmarks (i.e. obviously giant structures that could not have been missed) the Pyramids, the Sphinx, obelisks etc..

 

Most of all, a proper name for the River Nile. Actually the name of this Mighty River is not found in the Scriptures, but frequently referred to as simply, "the river".

Absence of specific names for typically Egyptian animals like hippopotami and crocodiles.

Rather, these are translated into fantastic and vague terms such as: Leviathan, dragon or behemoth. All of which can be used to mean any fictitious monster.  Ironically, this despite the presence of a lake which lives up to its name: Lake 'TimsAH.' or the 'Crocodile' lake.

  

And then, there is of course the topic of  'cats' or the lack thereof.  This is rather puzzling, especially in the presence of the name 'Bubastis' which served as the capital of the Nome of Am-Khent. FYI, 'Bubastis' was a center of worship for the feline goddess Bas.

 

Strangely, this region lies within the vicinity of the same region sometimes called by Herodotus, Hecataeus, Hesiod and Hecataeus as the "Arabian Nome,"  in which 'Goshen' has being often suggested.  Why would the Ancients call it as such if  were not for the obvious presence of Bedouins roaming the area from time immemorial and who were contemporian to Ancient Egyptians in the Nile valley.  

Finally, when it comes to mentioning 'Camels' we have a bigger problem, in that Ancient Egyptians did not know about camels until they were introduced by Persian conquerors in 525 BCE.  This, despite Exodus 9:3 which seems to suggest otherwise, "since the Lord spoke of camels as among the prized herds of the Egyptians, along with cattle, horses, donkeys and sheep."

 

Any thoughts about the absence of these essential terms which would normally be descriptive of a long sojourn lasting for over four centuries?

 

Ishinan Ishibashi