by Jim A. Cornwell, Copyright © 1995, all rights reserved
In Louis Waddell’s chart the Scorpion would be dated at 2725-2671 B.C. as King no. 37 and called "Sargon the Great" with Sumerian names of Guni (or Gani or Gin), Shar-Guni (or Shar-Gani), Kin (Sharru-Kin, Qenites, Qain, smiths, stemmed from Sumerian KIN, fashioner) or Sargon and his Dynasty," who reigned for 55 years. In the Indian List he presents the names as Kuni Sha-Kuni or Sagara (Pra-Vira "Foremost hero" or Puru II), Vira = Sumerian Pir. Of interest is Genesis Chapter 15:19-21 regarding the Ten tribes of Canaanites where we find names such as:
- for KINites (Qenites),
- Kenites (Heb. Qeyniy, kay-nee', or Qiyniy, kee-nee' as in 1 Chron. 2:55, a patron of Heb. Qayin, kah'-yin, from Heb. quwn, koon, a primary root to strike fast in the original sense of fixity, a lance or spear, with a play upon the affinity to Heb. qanah, kaw,naw', as to a member of the tribe of Kajin, possibly Cain or Kain (as to Heb. kayin, smith, and Heb. Tuwbal Qayin, too-bal' kay'-yin, offspring of Cain, Tubal-Kajin, Tubal-cain, but specified as one of the ten cities in Josh. 15:57), thus leading to a Kenite), one source calls them by Heb. ha-qeni, smith) perhaps the same as those doomed by the prophecy of Balaam (Num. 24:21-22).
- As to the descendants of Hobah, the brother-in-law of Moses (Judg. 4:11, probably the Midianites), who visited him when Israel left Sinai and he invited him to act as pathfinder (Num. 10:29-32) which he did.
- Later, Heber the Kenite (4:11) separated moved north to Kedesh near the Sea of Galilee, making peace with Jabin king of Hazor.
- Kenites (Heb. Qeyniy, kay-nee', or Qiyniy, kee-nee' as in 1 Chron. 2:55, a patron of Heb. Qayin, kah'-yin, from Heb. quwn, koon, a primary root to strike fast in the original sense of fixity, a lance or spear, with a play upon the affinity to Heb. qanah, kaw,naw', as to a member of the tribe of Kajin, possibly Cain or Kain (as to Heb. kayin, smith, and Heb. Tuwbal Qayin, too-bal' kay'-yin, offspring of Cain, Tubal-Kajin, Tubal-cain, but specified as one of the ten cities in Josh. 15:57), thus leading to a Kenite), one source calls them by Heb. ha-qeni, smith) perhaps the same as those doomed by the prophecy of Balaam (Num. 24:21-22).
- Kenizzites (Heb. Qenizziy, ken-iz-zee') a name derived from the unknown Kenaz (Heb. Qenaz, ken-az', probably from an unused root meaning to hunt, hunter, from whom they were descended. Some believe that the Edomite tribe descended from the Kenaz, grandson of Esau (36:11, 15), Caleb of the tribe of Judah (Josh 14:6, 14) is called the "son" of Jephunneh the Kenizzite.
- or Kadmonites (Heb. Kadmoni or Qadmoniy, kad-mo-nee', the same as Heb. qadmowniy; from qadmown, kad-mone', from Heb. qadam, kaw-dam', meaning eastern or east, thus seen as (of time) anterior or (of place) oriental, meaning ancient, they that went before, east, (thing of) old, thus meaning i.e. aboriginal). Some sources call them children of the East) a very ancient tribe.
although of interest is the
- Girgashites (Heb. Girgashiy, ghir-gaw-shee', patrial from an unused name (of uncertain derivation), one of the seven tribes conquered by Joshua (Deut. 7:1), as descendants of Ham (Gen. 10:15-16), tradition says they fled to Africa.
- "conquest of the land of the Muru (Amorites)." Amorites always singular (Heb. ‘emori, mountain dwellers) as in Gen. 10:16 descendants of Canaan.
- The Mari tablets show that Amraphel of Shinar (Gen. 14:1) was one of their kings.
- They dwelt in Hazazon-tamar (Hazazon of the palm trees, KJV Hazezon-tamar) the ancient name of a town on the west coast of the Dead Sea, occupied by the Amorites, but conquered by four great kings of the East.
- "the Tin-land country which lies beyond the Upper Sea [Mediterranean]." Possibly the tin-mines of Cornwall, and proposed that during the Bronze Age 2800 B.C. the Amorites influenced Britain."
- "Egypt or Mishir or Mizir" was one of his frontiers. Preceding the historical or dynastic period are a number of prehistoric cultures that are known in general outline. Egypt (Mizraim, Heb. mitsrayim, Gr. Aigyptos), a term of which the form and derivation are unknown. The Egyptians themselves had a number of names they used for their country; usually it was called "the Two Lands," which has reference to the origin of the nation in the 3100 B.C. union of Upper and Lower Egypt, other names were Kemet, "the Black Land," the rich alluvial soil of the valley, as opposed to Desheret, "the Red Land," the barren waste of the desert.
Rice continues on pg. 49 stating that, "After the emergence of the fetishes, the next phase of Egyptian god-making turned to invest certain animal forms with the prerogatives of divinity. The slate palettes which are amongst the earliest graphic representations to survive provide much evidence of this practice: scorpions, lions, bulls, the ubiquitous falcon, the ibex, gazelle, hounds are all shown as personifications of the gods, assisting the King in putting down his enemies or in conducting the rituals of the state. Men needed the power of animals; even the early Kings, in the later Predynastic period and the First Dynasty, called themselves by animal names: Scorpion, Catfish, Fighting Hawk, Serpent are four of the best known." Rice confirms in Ch. 3 pg. 87, "The scorpion had a powerful appeal apparently to the Hierakonpolitans, one of those whose chiefs evidently adopted it as his own symbol. It had an important significance to the people of Elam and the Gulf, in the latter case up to a thousand years later, witnessed by the frequent appearance of scorpions in the design of the Gulf seals."
Above from Egypt's Making The Origins of Ancient Egypt 5000-2000 B.C., by Michael Rice, copyright 1990. As stated before that from the Main Deposit at Hierakonpolis, a piece of steatite (or chlorite) carved in the round, centrally pierced and fitted with a copper rod is a mace-head typical of fourth millennium B.C. Sumerian or Elamite carving, it is untypical of Egyptian forms. A pear-shaped mace associated with King Scorpion and King Narmer may have originated in Western Asia. In the case of Scorpion the King is accompanied by his high officer, who carries a number of standards on which are displayed symbols or fetishes identified with particular districts into which Egypt was divided. Two of these standards are Set animals, the hound which identified the god, showing the Set tribes of the south were already supporters of the royal clan: others represent falcons, a jackal, the thunderbolt of Min, and one possibly representing the mountains. It is significant perhaps that more standards are shown supporting Scorpion than is the case with the slightly later Narmer palette, on which only four standards are displayed. A rosette or star identified the kings of this period. Scorpion wore the high white crown, his name as King possibly pronounced Selkh, Sekhen. Scorpion’s capital was probably Hierakonpolis, known as Nekhen in antiquity. From the time of the Scorpion at least the King was depicted as a superhuman figure, towering over mortals, utterly splendid and awesome. The early maceheads dating from Scorpion’s and Narmer’s reigns, and the ivory labels of their immediate successors show ceremonies already highly developed and complex in form. The Sargon (SAHR gawn, Heb. sargon, the constituted king) referred to here has an unknown history before 3000 B.C. in some circles, even though the word is Akkadian. Of interest is why the Hebrew understanding of the word sargon represents the word constitute which means "make up; form as a necessary part, establish by lawful authority, appoint," which is what this king did.
Here is some updated images for the above.
The "Scorpion King," as he is called, holding a plow walking upon tilled soil with a scorpion and a flower before his face, and a subject placing a mat before his feet. The flower has seven petals, and is probably an early reference to the goddess of conception, Seshat, the creative consort of Thoth.
(Note: Compare the rosette or star identified Selkh, Sekhen against the Sumerian Girtab, Sargas).
Goddess Serket (Serqet, Selket) is a scorpion-goddess, shown as a beautiful woman with a scorpion on her head. She is the protector of Qebhsenuef, a son of Horus. If you would like to see more on this subject it will require a username and password to enter Volume III at Decan of Argo Navis
These tablets have been carbon-dated with certainty to between 3300 B.C. and 3200 B.C., provide records of linen and oil deliveries as a tithe to King Scorpion I. Only two-thirds of the tablets have been deciphered as accounts of taxes, short notes, numbers, lists of kings' names and names of institutions. As can be seen in the image below many kings before the first dynasty, such as Scorpion took the name of an animal. Records have been found of chieftains named Mouse, Falcon, Double Falcon and Elephant. Since 1985, Dreyer and associates have excavated 300 pieces of writing on clay tablets, clay jars and vases. This writing is in the form of line drawings of animals, plants and mountains, representing evidence that hieroglyphics existed before the Pharaonic dynasties developed. Therefore the debate of Sumerian verses Egyptian civilization were the first to create writing goes on. |
The full article by Vijay Joshi, and The Associated Press can be found at "http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/writing981215.html"
promoting that Writing May Come From Egypt.
a star name in the constellation of Scorpius which is a very old Sumerian word for "scorpion" (more rarely it is called Sargas, another Sumerian word). It is definitely the Sumerian word for the constellation Scorpius. Whether Gir.tab, Sargas, Sa.gaz, Sargon, is connected to King Scorpion of Pre-dynastic times is still unknown.
Also noted is Abram, the Hebrew where Hebrews - traditionally considered designated for Abram and his descendants, especially through Jacob which equates to proto-Israelites. There is the possibility, however, that in OT times that the names "Hebrew," "Habiru," "Khapiru," "Apiru," and "pr" were forms of the same word (equivalent to the Akkadian SA.GAZ), a designation without nation significance. The Amarna Letters mention the ‘apiru’ (outlaws, renegades) led by Lab’ayyu had seized the city of Shechem. Though still unconfirmed some scholars relate the word ‘apiru’ to ‘Ibrim,‘ the Akkadian word for "Hebrews." Rather, they indicated wandering peoples greatly restricted as regards financial means and without citizenship and social status. Ancient records show the "Habiru" to be scattered over western Asia for centuries until about 1100 B.C. Nomadic peoples, mostly Semites ... sometimes raiders, sometimes skilled artisans ... they frequently offered themselves as mercenaries and slaves, with individuals occasionally rising to prominence. Hebrew and Habiru were terms used prior to the name "Israel." Etymologically, it has been debated whether "Hebrew" is to be traced to Eber, the father of Peleg and Joktan (Gen. 10:24-25, 11:12-16) or is derived from the Hebrew root "to pass over" and has reference to "a land on the other side," as the dweller east of the Euphrates might think of Canaan. Habiru as to Hebrew, the Hebrew are "those who crossed over" in the sense of trespassing, i.e., "trespassers."
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This file updated on July 9, 2003.
go to the next subject The Archaic Period
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