A single discovery can completely upend strongly held convictions. Consider the above picture that charts the evolution of ancient semitic languages. There is one change since I previously wrote on the subject. The text box showing Amorite formally read Canaanite.
Until recently, Amorite was a largely unknown language. The amount of source material was woefully miniscule. Some scholars went so far as to claim that Amorite was an invention of modern scholars. This has changed. Two ancient cuneiform tablets were seized by customs during the 1990 gulf war as they were being smuggled out of Iraq. Sometime later, they were transferred to private collections in the US and then forgotten. Decades passed. Then two top-notch Assyrialolgists (Andrew George and Manfred Krebernik) took notice and meticulously analyzed the cuneiform writing contained. Their findings were published in a respected peer-reviewed journal in 2022.1
The text on the tablets contains two columns. The left represents a formally unknown language; the right is written in Old Babylonian Accadian. The script is dated to the time of Hammurabi (the author of the famous law code). After careful study, the source language on the left was identified as Amorite, a people whose influence peaked around 1800 BCE. Journalist Tom Metcalfe writes:
In effect, the tablets are similar to the famous Rosetta Stone, which has an inscription in one known language (ancient Greek) in parallel with two unknown written ancient Egyptian scripts (hieroglyphics and demotic).2
The tablets resemble what we might anachronistically call a Berlitz travel guide. There are phrases and sentences describing how to communicate with indigenous peoples in common everyday speech. Subjects include: religious rituals, stars, love language, poetry, cooking, diplomatic protocol, and more. Grammar, syntax, and vocabulary are all present. Yoram Cohen of the Tel Aviv University Archaeology Department calls this discovery a “paradigm change” of “very fundamental significance.”3 Scholars can now learn Amorite with this kind of information. These tablets will likely be studied for years to come.
This discovery has implications for biblical studies. It turns out that the Amorite language is extremely close to Hebrew in grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Yoram Cohen states that Amorite is the “mother of Hebrew” and
“beyond a shadow of a doubt” already in the second millennium B.C.E there was a spoken language that was very close to Hebrew, which has been heretofore only known from the first millennium B.C.E.3
His colleague Nathan Wasserman (Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology) comments:
It’s pretty incredible. They were actually speaking a kind of Hebrew. It’s not really Hebrew, but it’s close to Hebrew,3
Translating Cuneiform
Cuneiform is an ancient form of writing. The picture on the left shows a section of the clay tablets described in this article. To most of us, it is gibberish. Unlike modern writing with alphabets, this system consists of different combinations of marks representing sounds, words, and even concepts. Scribes push the marks into pre-burned clay tablets using the pointed end of a reed. The advantage of this system is that unlike paper, the tablets remain readable for thousands of years.
Writing in Semitic languages like Arabic, Syriac, and Hebrew take a different approach. They write alphabetically. A problem! Their alphabets lacked vowels. A sentence like “The girl went to the store” would be written “Th grl wnt t th str.” It’s up to the reader to recognize the words and fill in the missing phonemes. Eventually, Hebrew scribes (Masoretics) felt it necessary to update their scrolls so proper readings could be possible in synagogues. Their solution was to add dots and dashes above and below the letters. This way, the original sacred texts could remain unaffected. This innovation occurred in medieval times, well after the time of Christ; none of the Dead Sea Scrolls have these markings.4
Cuneiform to Hebrew
This brings us back to the subject at hand. To translate the cuneiform tablets to the Hebrew alphabet, we focus on the consonants and eliminate the vowels. Consider the Hebrew word for bread as an example. Every first year Hebrew student learns this word (l ekh em ). The Amorite translation (including vowels) is l akhm u. Notice the bolded consonants. They are identical.
A few other examples follow in the chart below. The endings sometimes differ, which is expected in ancient languages. Otherwise, Amorite and Hebrew are near identical. Akkadian is also a semitic language but notice how significantly it differs.5
Amorite Hebrew Akkadian
n a’l un a’al shenum (“sandal”)
l ey al ian atseriya (“to me”)
sh ulkh an am sh ulkh an pashshuram (“table”)
y ay an am y ay in karanam (“wine”)
‘imm a ‘im shumma (“if”)
m al ’ak um m al ’ak mar shipri (“messenger”)
m al ik um m el ek sharrum (“king”)
z ab akh az eb akh niqam (“sacrifice”)
Hammurabi and Abraham
There are biblical implications to consider. These tablets are dated to approximately 1800 BCE. How might this relate to Abraham? Genesis 14:1–16 the war of nine kings, provides a possible answer.
In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came . . . Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five. (Gen 14:5–12)
Who are these kings? We actually have an answer. Shinar is the Hebrew word for Babylon (this is uncontested among scholars). Cuneiform tablets are available listing the thirteen first dynasty Babylon kings along with their reign lengths.6 The sixth on these lists is Hammurabi. Phonetically this is ḫammu-rāpi which “later took the divine form ḫammu-rāpi-ili.”7 If we translate his name from cuneiform to the Hebrew alphabet, we get אמרפל (Alef, Mem, Resh, Pey, Lamed). This is an exact match for Amraphel (אמרפל) in Gen 14.
There is a bit more evidence connecting the four kings in Gen 14 to Hammurabi. Arioch of Ellasar is thought by some to be Eru-aku- of Larsa, a contemporary of Hammurabi.8
With this in mind, we can date the war of Gen 14. Hammurabi came to rule when Babylon was a minor power. At that time, Elam dominated the region. There is debate about when he reigned, but the majority view points to 1792–1750 BCE. The first part of his reign was spent refurbishing temples and focusing on infrastructure projects. Starting in his sixth year, he participated in raids beyond his border with local alliances. After a time of consolidation, Hammurabi became aggressive, eventually defeating the regional powers of both Elam and Larsa.9 From the above synopsis, the encounter with Abraham would have taken place before his war with Elam (1764 BCE) when he was allied with them against Sodom. Note that at this time Amorite was a widely spoken living language.
Conclusion
The book of Ezekiel states, regarding Jerusalem (and by implication Abraham):
Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: “Your origin and your birth is of the land of the Canaanite. An Amorite was your father , and your mother was a Hittite.” (Ezek 16:3)
your father an Amorite . (Ezek 16:45)
10 Amorite names were also very common in the semitic Nile Delta area of Egypt. This explains how Abraham was able to move between these areas and communicate easily with those he encountered.11 From our above discussion, we’ve shown how the Amorite language was very closely related to Hebrew. Moses and the semitic slaves who lived centuries later therefore spoke a language that was very likely even closer to Hebrew.
While we are on the topic of the Patriarchs, in the next article I’ll consider whether archaeology provides evidence concerning Abraham’s father, Terah. All of this shows that Scripture’s narratives in Genesis are consistent with archaeological finds, both in language and culture. Abraham and the patriarchs are not likely to be the legends that many skeptics assert.
References
Andrew George and Manfred Krebernik, “Two Remarkable Vocabularies: Amorite–Akkadian Bilinguals,” Revue d’assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale , 116.1 (2022): 113–166.
Tom Metcalfe, “Cryptic lost Canaanite language decoded on ‘Rosetta Stone’-like tablets ,” Live Science (January 30, 2023).
Ofer Aderet, “Two 3,800-Year-Old Cuneiform Tablets Found in Iraq Give First Glimpse of Hebrew Precursor ,” Haaretz (June 20, 2023).
Nehemia Gorden, “When were the Hebrew Vowels Written Down .”
J Caleb Howard, “First Sentences in Amorite Found ,” Tyndale House (Feb 27, 2023).
bm33332, bm 38122.
Christopher Eames, “Uncovering the Battle that Changed the World ,” Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology , (Nov 30, 2020).”
Edgar J. Banks, “Who was the Biblical Arioch of the Days of Abraham ,” The Open Court 9:7 (1914).
Jack M Sasson, “King Hammurabi of Babylon .”
John Burnette, “Amorites in the Bible .”
David Falk, “Manna Machine Alert!!! Amorite Tablets Found and it’s Exciting”> .”
Thanks for listening,https://secondlooknow.com/
The bit on hammurabi is new. Fascinating. Is that a chronological issue? I thought Abraham lived c. 2000bc, with Joseph in 1800bc. Curious how they can sync the chronology.