In the Beginning

by Isaac Asimov

  Assyria was part of the Akkadian Empire and then, later, part of the Amorite Empire. When the Amorites fell before the invading Kassites (the Middle Eastern Cush), Assyria became an independent region with its capital at Asshur.

  316. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria in the last century of its existence. Although it did not exist (or was, at best, a small village) before 700 b.c., it was during the following century that Assyria was at its mightiest and was overlord of Judea. To the later Jews, Nineveh was the very epitome of Assyria and is bound to be mentioned at once.

  317. Rehoboth is unknown as a city, except for the mention in this verse. The word may be a distortion of a phrase meaning “broad streets.” The phrase “Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth” might, perhaps, more accurately be translated as “Nineveh, a city of broad streets.”

  318. Asshur was the first capital of Assyria when it was an obscure nation. The Assyrian king Shalmaneser I (the father of Tukulti-Ninurta I) built a new capital at Calah, about twenty miles south of the eventual site of Nineveh. The verse thus mentions the three capitals of Assyria: Asshur, Calah, and Nineveh.

  12 And Resen 319 between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.320

  319. No city by the name of Resen or anything like it can be found in the ancient inscriptions. A word something like “Resen” refers to some sort of water reservoir, and it may be, conceivably, that the Bible is referring to such a reservoir or an aqueduct between the two chief cities of the later Assyrian Empire.

  320. The “great city” is not a reference to Resen, but to either Nineveh or Calah or, possibly, both.

  The whole passage in verses 8 through 12 is a very brief and very garbled résumé of the history of the Tigris-Euphrates region stretching over a period of about twenty-five hundred years. It covers Sumeria (Erech), Akkad (Accad), the Amorites (Babel), and Assyria (Asshur, Calah, and Nineveh). Nimrod, in whose name all this is recited, seems to be a telescoped memory of a number of the conquerors of the region: Gilgamesh, Lugal-zaggisi, Sargon, Shalmaneser, Tukulti-Ninurta.

  13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim.321

  321. Presumably these names are all associated with regions in or near Egypt (Mizraim), but what or who they are cannot be determined.

  14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, 322 (out of whom came Philistim 323) and Caphtorim.324

  322. Pathrusim and Casluhim, like the Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, and Naphtuhim of the previous verse, have the -im suffix of the Hebrew plural. They are not the names of people or of eponymous ancestors, but the names of tribes. All these tribes are Egyptian-related.

  323. The Casluhim are here reported to be the ancestors of the Philistim, a Hebrew word elsewhere translated as “Philistines.”

  The Philistines controlled the southern coast of Canaan in later times and were important enemies of Israel during the time of the Judges and of King Saul. They are here listed among the descendants of Ham and are particularly related to Egypt.

  Actually, in the thirteenth century B.C., toward the closing days of the decaying Egyptian Empire, there were barbarian invasions descending on the Egyptian coastline. The Egyptians called them “the Peoples of the Sea” and beat them off, in the process just about consuming the last energies of the Empire. The Peoples of the Sea, ricocheting off Egypt, so to speak, settled on the Canaanite Coast (as the Philistines) just as the Israelites were entering Canaan from the east. The Israelites, noting that they came from Egypt, considered them descended from Mizraim.

  It is generally felt that the Philistines were, at least in part, of Greek descent, so that it might have been more appropriate to make them descendants of Japheth rather than Ham. (Similarly, since Nimrod was related to the Middle Eastern Cush, at least geographically, rather than the Nubian Cush, he should have been made a descendant of Shem, rather than of Ham.)

  324. Although this verse states the Philistines to have descended from Mizraim by way of the Casluhim, there are later references in the Bible that make it seem they descended by way of the Caphtorim. The Philistines are spoken of as “the remnant of the country of Caphtor” (Jeremiah 47:4), and there is also mention of “the Philistines from Caphtor” (Amos 9:7).

  The trouble is that we don’t know where Caphtor is. There have been suggestions that it was Cyprus, Crete, the southern coast of Asia Minor. Perhaps all these regions contributed contingents to the Peoples of the Sea, but which particular one the Biblical writers had in mind we cannot say. (Most of the confusion in this chapter arises from the J-document, more flamboyant and legendary, rather than from the sober P-document.)

  15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, 325and Heth, 326

  325. Canaan is pictured as the father of the various Canaanite tribes. Since these are known in detail to the Israelites, numerous descendants are listed.

  Sidon is a city on the Mediterranean, about 130 miles north of Jerusalem. The area about it is now known as Lebanon and was known to the Greeks as Phoenicia.

  Since the Phoenicians were never conquered by the Israelites, and since Sidon was the strongest of the Phoenician towns during the Israelite Monarchic period, Sidon is listed as the firstborn of Canaan.

  326. Heth is the eponymous ancestor of the Hittites, who are sometimes referred to in the Bible as the “sons of Heth.” Because the Hittites are invariably mentioned in the Bible as among the tribes of Canaanite, one might feel they were a minor people.

  The old Egyptian and Babylonian records, however, speak of the Kheta or Khatti (names quite similar to Heth, when all are pronounced in their native tongues) as a powerful people north of Canaan.

  It turns out that there was a strong Hittite Empire that ruled over eastern Asia Minor and that was strong enough to fight the Egyptian Empire on equal terms and to do somewhat more than hold its own.

  The Hittite Empire declined and decayed, however, and only small remnants of Hittite centers were left at the time the Israelites conquered Canaan. It seemed by then that they were indeed a minor tribe, and their earlier greatness went unnoticed in the Bible.

  16 And the Jebusite, 327 and the Amorite, 328and the Girgasite, 329

  327. The further descendants of Canaan are not listed as individuals but as tribes. The Jebusites are a tribe whose prize possession was the town that King David, in later times, captured, fortified, and made his capitalJerusalem.

  328. The Amorites were a powerful tribe that ruled the Tigris-Euphrates region between 1700 and 1500 B.C. By the time the Israelites conquered Canaan, however, there were only relics of the Amorites left, as of the Hittites. Like the Hittites, the Amorites appear as a minor tribe with no reference to their past greatness.

  329. Nothing is known of the Girgasites.

  17 And the Hivite, 330 and the Arkite, 331 and the Sinite, 332

  330. The Hivites may well be the Hurrians, who established the kingdom of Mitanni in the upper Tigris-Euphrates and who flourished between 1475 and 1275 B.C. They were then conquered by the Hittites, just before both were shattered and absorbed in the first wave of Assyrian conquest. Again, the Israelites found only remnants and reported them as a minor tribe.

  331. Arkites were the people of Arka, a town in Phoenicia.

  332. Sinites seem to have been people of Sianna, a place near Arka.

  18 And the Arvadite, 333 and the Zemarite, 334and the Hamathite: 335 and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.

  333. Arvadites were the inhabitants of the Phoenician city of Arvad.

  334. Zemarites are the inhabitants of Simarra, another place near Arka.

  335. Hamathites are the inhabitants of Hamath, a city in Syria.

  19 And the border of the Canaanites 336 was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, 337unto Gaza; 338 as thou goest, unto Sodom, 339 and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.340

  336. The Biblical writers, having detailed the tribal content of Canaan minutely, are interested in establishing its exact extent (“the border of the Canaanites”) since it beca
me the Israelite homeland.

  337. Gerar is in southern Canaan, about 150 miles south of Sidon and about eighteen miles inland from the coast.

  338. Gaza is about as far south as Gerar but is located on the coast. In other words, Canaan is described here as having a north-south extension of 150 miles, not very much by modern standards, but quite ample in a day when people usually traveled by walking.

  339. Having established the north-south extension, it is next necessary to establish the east-west extension.

  Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim were in the southeast of Canaan. Their exact site is not known, for they were destroyed in some disaster at some early time (an event described in the nineteenth chapter of Genesis). These cities were supposed to have existed in the region of the Dead Sea, however, and some even speculate that they might be covered by the southernmost extension of the Dead Sea, that area having been flooded after an earthquake or volcanic eruption, which inspired the Biblical tale of the destruction.

  If we assume Sodom to be somewhere in the south of the Dead Sea, then the east-west extension from Gaza to Sodom is about 65 miles.

  340. Lasha is mentioned only here in the Bible, and its location is unknown. It is just possible, however, that the town that is meant is Laish, later called Dan, about twenty-seven miles southeast of Sidon.

  If that is so, then Canaan is described as a roughly rectangular patch of ground on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean with an area of somewhat under ten thousand square miles. It would be something like the size and shape of an upside-down Vermont.

  20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.

  21 Unto Shem also, 341 the father of all the children of Eber, 342 the brother of Japheth the elder, 343 even to him were children born.

  341. The genealogies of Japheth and Ham are done, and now the Table of Nations passes on to Shem.

  342. Shem is identified as the ancestor of Eber, the eponymous ancestor of the Hebrews, among whom are the Israelites.

  343. This phrase makes it look as if Japheth is the older brother of Shem, but in all other mentions of the sons of Noah, it is clear that Shem is the oldest. The King James here misphrases the matter. The Revised Standard Version has the verse read: “To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born.”

  22 The children of Shem; Elam, 344 and As-shur, 345 and Arphaxad, 346 and Lud, 347 and Aram.348

  344. Elam was a nation at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, just east of the Tigris River. It entered history in Sumerian times and remained a strong rival of whatever nation dominated the Tigris-Euphrates valley right through Assyrian times.

  345. Asshur is, of course, Assyria. Here its eponymous ancestor is made a descendant of Shem by the P-document. Linguistically, this is more correct than was its association with Nimrod, who was pictured as a descendant of Ham by the J-document, eleven verses earlier.

  346. What the name Arphaxad represents is not clear. It is the only name in this verse that does not clearly represent a nation, and it is the one of the five children of Shem who is in the direct line of ancestry of the Israelites. (From the time of Seth onward, this is the first time in which the Israelites describe one of their ancestors as anything but the eldest son of his father. Arphaxad is the third son.)

  347. Lud is usually interpreted as representing Lydia, but Lydia has already been noted as being represented by Magog, twenty verses back, and it makes more sense to suppose Lydia to have been of Japhetic descent than of Semitic. But then what does Lud represent? It’s a problem.

  348. Aram is the eponymous ancestor of the Aramaeans, a tribe that emerged from northern Arabia about 1100 B.C. and whose raids weakened Assyria for a period after the conquering times of Tukulti-Ninurta I. Eventually, an Aramaean kingdom maintained itself north of Canaan; it is better known by the Greek name of Syria.

  23 And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.349

  349. The four sons of Aram represent, presumably, four Aramaean subtribes, districts, or cities, but which they may be, no one has been able to work out convincingly.

  24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.350

  350. This represents the line of descent of the Israelites.

  25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; 351 and his brother’s name was Joktan.352

  351. The name Peleg is similar to the Hebrew word palag, meaning “to divide,” and this explanation of the name may be a bit of folk-etymology with no clear significance. It may, however, be a reference to the legend recounted in the next chapter.

  352. It is Peleg, and not Joktan, who is in the direct line of ancestry of the Israelites. Therefore, the descendants of Joktan are given and done with in the following verses.

  26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,

  27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,

  28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,

  29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: 353 all these were the sons of Joktan.

  353. Thirteen sons of Joktan are listed, representing, presumably, thirteen related tribes or, at any rate, thirteen closely grouped tribes of similar language and culture. It is thought that the sons of Joktan represent tribes dwelling in southern Arabia.

  30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east.354

  354. Neither Mesha nor Sephar are mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, and neither locality can be pinpointed.

  31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.

  32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

  Chapter 11

  1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.355

  355. If, indeed, all of mankind existed as a single family immediately after the Flood, then, indeed, they and, for that matter, their immediate descendants would all speak a single language.

  In actual fact, in the twenty-fourth century B.C., the traditional time of the Flood, there was undoubtedly a multiplicity of languages already existing on the Earth even over the restricted area known to the Middle-Eastern civilizations of the time. Sumerian, Akkadian, and Egyptian were fundamentally different from each other, and there were undoubtedly hundreds, if not thousands, of other languages in existence outside the Middle East, all mutually unintelligible.

  We have no knowledge of when human speech drifted apart into separate languages. For one thing, we don’t know when the ability of speech originated and by what steps a formal language was developed. It is quite likely we will never know, but it seems reasonable to suppose that languages were already differentiated thousands of years before civilization began.

  2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, 356 that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; 357 and they dwelt there.

  356. The phrase “from the east” would make it seem as though the Sumerians entered the Tigris-Euphrates valley from the east; indeed, they may have done so. At least, they may have earlier inhabited the mountainous regions along the northeastern banks of the Tigris.

  However, if the ark had come to rest in Ararat anywhere near the traditional spot, then the descendants of Noah, in entering Sumeria, would have drifted in from the northwest.

  The Bible, however, doesn’t actually speak definitely in this matter. The phrase “from the east” in the King James Version may not be quite accurate. The Revised Standard Version has the verse read: “And as men migrated in the east…”

  “East” to the Biblical writers always meant “east of Canaan,” so the reference is to a migration out there in the eastern lands (of which Sumeria was part) without reference to where the migration was coming from.

  357. In the previous chapter, it
is said of Nimrod: “… the beginning of his kingdom was … in the land of Shinar.” It is often assumed for this reason that the event about to be described takes place during the reign of Nimrod and that he was the driving force behind it. However, the Bible doesn’t specifically say so.

  3 And they said one to another. Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. 358 And they had brick for stone, and slime 359 had they for mortar.

  358. In prehistoric times, moist clay was used to daub woven baskets. Dried in the sun, the clay made it possible for the baskets to carry liquids. Such daubed baskets, if left too close to a campfire, may have hardened further, and more or less accidentally, it was discovered that if clay was baked, it became a sort of artificial stone. In this way, bricks and pottery came into use.

  The oldest such fire-baked clay has indeed been found in the region that eventually became Sumeria and dates back to about 6500 B.C., some four thousand years before the traditional date of the Flood.

  359. The Hebrew word translated as “slime” here is more properly translated “bitumen” (as it is in the Revised Standard Version) or as “pitch.” Bitumen is a soft, sticky, waterproof black solid; hydrocarbon in nature. Chemically, it is related to petroleum; petroleum from which the more easily evaporated fractions are gone.

  The Middle East, as we all know today, is rich in underground oil. Some of it seeps to the surface and partially evaporates, leaving the bitumen behind. Bitumen serves not only as a waterproofing agent, but as a mortar, too, making bricks stick together and forming a wall that is all one piece.

  4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, 360 whose top may reach unto heaven; 361 and let us make a name, lest we be scattered abroad 362 upon the face of the whole earth.

  360. Agricultural peoples did tend to build cities for self-protection, and these would include towers. A tower could serve as a lookout point from which the approach of an enemy could be seen and an early warning be given. If strongly built, it could serve as a citadel, a refuge for noncombatants, the place for a last stand.