GENESIS RECORD

An Excerpt From The Dawn Magazine's "Ancient Records and the Bible"

The Search for a Reliable History of Mankind

GENESIS RECORD

In contrast with the untrustworthy nature of much of man’s earliest records—and the exaggerated chronological data in particular—it is astounding to find that the Bible, from the very start in the Book of Genesis, gives the most marked attention to the matter of dates, intervals of time, and epochs. An early chapter of this book—Genesis 5—lists the genealogy of the patriarchs, from Adam to Noah, in great detail. It is a nearly perfect specimen of chronology from beginning to end, and includes a built-in arithmetical checking procedure to assure the accuracy of the whole. It has been estimated that if Genesis 5 had been exhumed as a tablet from Egypt or Mesopotamia, it would have been hailed as the most authentic and valuable relic of all antiquity.

It seems significant that one piece of archeological evidence from Egypt, known as the “Abydos Tablet,” actually corroborates the Genesis genealogy of earliest man, though little has been heard of this find in recent years. Uncovered in the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I, and now preserved in the British Museum, it appears to be an accurate record of human rulers back to the first man, Adam. The list of Pharaohs is shorter than on other tablets, evidently because it omits the names of gods and demigods about the period of the Deluge. This is the feature which singles it out as of special value, in that it records only the purely human line back to Adam. A description of this table can be found in the Dawn publication, “The Photodrama of Creation,” where it says: “The Abydos Tablet fully agrees with Genesis. … It shows Adam [Mena] as the first Pharaoh, and Noah the twentieth, while the intermediate eighteen correspond with Genesis with remarkable accuracy. Mena’s wife was Shesh—Hebrew, Isha—‘woman.’ Her first son was Pharaoh II—Greek, ‘eta-Khent’—‘guilty one,’ Hebrew, Kanighi; Latin, Athos; English, Cain. The table for Abel represents him as ‘the non-resistant one.’

“The Abydos Tablet shows the same order as Moses (Gen. 4-6), giving first the line of Cain down to Jabal, who was [named] Kakan. At that time, evidently, the gods and demigods began to fill the Earth with violence. Seti’s list omits the names of these. All demigods were destroyed in the Deluge. Noah is next in order with a regal title. But since he was not of Cain’s family, the Abydos Tablet there goes back, mentions Abel and Seth, and Seth’s line just as given in Genesis (untitled), down to Noah. These all, as Pharaohs, have their royal ovals, but no supertitle. After Noah (Nofru), Pharaoh XX, the line runs through his son Ham (Chamu Chufu). Appropriately, Noah’s other sons are ignored; for Shem and Japheth went to Asia and Europe, while only Ham went to Egypt.”

HIGHER CRITICISM

Beginning especially in the 19th century, the authenticity of the Scriptures with their historical reliability began to be questioned by Bible scholars themselves. At the same time that Bibles were being made available everywhere in the civilized world, the challenge of the critics was raised.

Stemming first from European theological seminaries, schools of ‘higher criticism’ developed, which began to cast disrepute upon the origins of the Bible and the belief that it represented the authoritative and indisputable Word of God. Liberal views of theology arose in tandem to the developing evolutionary world view which not only minimized matters of doctrine but also bluntly regarded Genesis as mere mythology. And thus, that which had come to be thought of as man’s most authentic and valuable source of information of his own mysterious past, was now disclaimed even by contemporary Bible scholarship, an attitude which gradually worked its way through the ranks of society.

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY

This is generally where matters stood until well into the twentieth century, when Biblical archeology assumed the status of a legitimate science. Under the leadership of such capable investigators as William Albright and G. Ernest Wright, one breathtaking discovery after another was made, much to the chagrin of critics. An overwhelming mass of evidence, brought to light from the lands of the Bible, methodically began to document the historical foundations and general chronology underlying most of the Scriptures.

Only the Creation and Flood accounts, the exact antiquity of man’s past, and the later wanderings of Abraham, and the story of Moses and the Exodus remain difficult to verify (There is more and more of this evidence being discovered almost daily.). Yet, even here, the traditions of widely scattered cultures throughout the world combine to attest to the occurrence of the former events, while showing some distinctive variations from the Genesis record. And with the everincreasing tempo of archeological discovery, there is strong reason to believe that the specific exploits of Abraham and Moses will also eventually be uncovered.

A commentary on such investigations in the book, “Essentials of Bible History,” by the historian, Elmer Mould, said: “For a really adequate appreciation of this vast archeological work which is under way in every corner of the ancient Biblical world, one has only to … visit our great museums which treasure the specimens of Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian, and Palestinian archaeology. … New discoveries follow every year, and from the light thus thrown upon the past there emerges a steadily deepening understanding of the Bible and the peoples who move across its pages. Much that used to be mere speculation and conjecture has now given way to certainty, [and] bafflement to understanding and appreciation.”

We now have concrete examples of the verification of people and places mentioned even in the early chapters of Genesis. Chapter Ten, which has been described as the ‘Table of Nations,’ gives the genealogy of Noah’s descendants and lists the specific geographical locations to which Shem, Ham, and Japheth—the three sons of Noah and their families—migrated. Professor Albright, in his book, “Recent Discoveries in Bible Lands,” says:

“The tenth chapter of Genesis has long attracted students of ancient Oriental geography and ethnography. It stands absolutely alone in ancient literature, without a remote parallel, even among the Greeks, where we find the closest approach to a distribution of peoples in genealogical framework. But among the Greeks the framework is mythological and the peoples are all Greek or Aegean tribes. . . .

“Many of the names of peoples and countries mentioned in this chapter have been discovered on the monuments for the first time: e.g., Tubal—Tabal; Meshech (properly Moshech with the Greek Bible)—Mushke; Ashkenaz—Ashkuz … Togarmah—Tegarama; Elishah—Alashi (Alashiya); Tarshish—Tarsisi … Cush—Egyptian (E)kosh, Assyrian Kusi … Phut—Putu; Seba and Sheba—Saba; Dedan—Ddn; Accad—Akkadu; Shinar—Shanghar … Asshur—Assur (Babylonian Ashshur); Rehoboth—Rebit Ninua … ; Calah—Kalkhu; Pathrusim—the inhabitants of Patorese (Upper Egypt); Caphtorim—the inhabitants of Caphtor—Kaptara; Heth—the land of the Hittites, Khattu; the Amorites are the inhabitants of Amurru, etc. In this list we have not included the numerous names of places and peoples which were already known from Graeco-Roman sources, upon all of which the monuments have shed much additional light.”

Areas in red are my additional comments.

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