Book manuscript: Arkhipov S.V. Medical Record: The Contribution of a Middle Bronze Age Egyptian Physician to the Book of Genesis. Kyrö: Author’s Edition, 2026. – 312 pp. – 2 tables. – Bibliographical references: 856 entries. play.google.com , books.google.com
Chapter 6
FAMILY AND ETHNIC HISTORY
Jacob's
father, Isaac (Yitzchak), was the son of Abraham, son of Terach, born
"between Kadesh and Shur" in "Gerar" (Gen. 20:1, 21:2–3).
The city of "Kadesh," also known as "En-Mishpat," is
described in connection with the deserts of Paran and Zin on the border with
Edom, in the land of Canaan (Canaan) (Gen. 13:12, 14:7, 19:1; Num. 13:26, 20:1,
14–16). The positioning of Isaac's birth is further specified with the mention
of the "sons of Ishmael," who "lived from Havilah to Shur, which
is before Egypt" (Gen. 25:18). In turn, "Gerar" is described as
a region settled by the "Canaanites" (Canaanites), where the
"Pelishtim" king Abimelech later ruled (Gen. 10:19, 26:1).
According
to legend, Isaac's father, Abraham, was one hundred years old at the time of
his son's birth, while his mother was a decade younger (Gen. 17:17, 21:5).
According to the Book of Jubilees, Abraham was born in the year 1876 from the
creation of the world (1913CharlesRH); converting this date to modern
chronology yields 1884 BCE. If Isaac was born 100 years later, it would be in
1784 BCE.
It seems that calculations ought to rely on the time of the Santorini volcanic eruption and the date of the destruction of Ur. In accordance with these benchmarks, Jacob was born approximately in 1677 BCE. His father was sixty years old at that moment (Gen. 25:26). The Book of Genesis does not specify the exact date of death, merely reporting sparingly that Isaac died at the age of 180 (Gen. 35:28). Based on this, he would have been born in 1737 BCE and died in 1557 BCE. However, a different chronology appears more accurate to us. At the time of his father's death, Jacob was in the land of "Canaan" (Gen. 35:27, 37:1). His grandson Joseph had not yet been sold into Egyptian slavery (Gen. 37:36). Thus, Isaac died no later than 1629 BCE and no earlier than 1639 BCE.
Abraham,
son of Terach, son of Nachor, named "Abram" at birth, hailed from the
city of "Ur-Kasdim" (Gen. 11:27–28, 31). Archaeological excavations
have demonstrated the reality of this settlement, which flourished in the
region of Sumer in Southern Mesopotamia (1961ВуллиЛ). Abraham departed from Ur on his journey
(Gen. 11:31, 15:7). In one episode of the narrative, he sends a
"servant" to the place of his own birth, instructing: "you shall
go to my country and to my birthplace" (Gen. 24:4). The worker then goes
"to Aram-Naharaim, to the city of Nachor" (Gen. 24:10). Terach,
Abraham's father, had two other sons: Nachor and Haran (Gen. 11:26). The
youngest, Haran, died "in the land of his birth, in Ur-Kasdim" (Gen.
11:28). From these details, one can conclude that Abraham and Haran were born
in Southern Mesopotamia (1961ВуллиЛ).
It
is possible that the second intra-family name for this settlement was
"Aram-Naharaim" (Gen. 11:28, 24:10). Another explanatory option is
that Nachor migrated to the city of "Aram-Naharaim" after the sacking
of Ur in 1739 or 1740 BCE (1969BrinkmanJA).
At
that same time, Terach left "Ur-Kasdim" with Abraham, and they moved
to Haran (Gen. 11:31). In the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE, it
flourished at a crossroads of trade routes, serving as an outpost for merchants
from Ur (1996GreenTM). Apparently, the road to Haran was known to Terach.
Abraham lived there until his father's death (Gen. 11:32). Afterwards, together
with his wife and nephew, the patriarch set out "for the land of
Canaan," that is, to the southern Levant (Gen. 12:5). According to the
terminology of the Book of Genesis, Haran was located in
"Paddan-Aram" (Gen. 28:5, 10). Consequently, "Paddan-Aram"
designates Northern Mesopotamia, while "Aram-Naharaim" refers to the
territory of Southern Mesopotamia – the region of Sumer. The literal
translation of "Aram-Naharaim," meaning "Aram of the Two
Rivers," supports this assertion (1999ГерцЭ). This implies a settlement in the southern
Mesopotamian lowland, where the courses of the Tigris and Euphrates converge.
In ancient Mesopotamia, such places included the city of Sippar, as well as
Agade with a less defined location (2009BryceT). In Northern and Southern
Mesopotamia, the main rivers are separated by significant distances.
The
exact date of Abraham's birth is found only in the Book of Jubilees. It states
that he "saw the light" in "the seventh year of the thirty-ninth
jubilee," or in the year 1876 from the creation of the world
(1913CharlesRH). Recalculating the dates from the ancient Hebrew calendar to
the Gregorian calendar gives approximately 1884 BCE. In our own calculations,
we relied on the assumed year of the sacking of Ur. It seems to us that Abraham
migrated from Southern Mesopotamia at approximately 25 years of age, when his
wife was past 15. Consequently, the patriarch was born around 1765 BCE.
Having
left Ur, Abraham proceeded through Haran "to the land of Canaan,"
specifically to "Shechem" (Gen. 12:5–6). Between 1900 and 1750 BCE,
"Shechem" (modern Nablus) exhibited signs of urbanization, and in
1650–1550 BCE, it was already a prosperous city (1992FreedmanDN). As the gloss
testifies: "The Canaanite was then in the land" (Gen. 12:6).
Presumably, this ethnic group had not yet been displaced by the Philistines
("Pelishtim" / Palestinians?) or the descendants of Abraham the
Hebrew (Gen. 14:13, 26:14). Inhabitants of Canaan are mentioned in letters from
the Mari archives dating back to the first half of the 18th century BCE
(1956Munn-RankinJM; 1988DurandJ-M). In the mid-18th century BCE, the people
referred to as "Canaanites" lived south of the kingdom of Qatna (south
of modern Syria), where they also thrived in the Late Bronze Age
(1994Na'amanN).
Further,
Abraham migrated from the territory of the Southern Levant to Egypt (Gen. 12:10–11,
14). During the onset of an epidemic, by order of the pharaoh, the family was
"escorted" out of the country under guard (Gen. 12:17, 20). Abraham
returned to the territory of modern Palestine and Israel, as the gloss states:
"The Canaanites and the Perizzites lived then in that land" (Gen.
13:7). The toponyms Ur, Haran, Shechem, and Canaan are well documented in the
historical record. From what has been said, it is clear that Abraham traversed
the entire Fertile Crescent from east to west. According to our calculations,
he – or his prototype – traveled approximately from 1740/1739 to 1732/1731 BCE.
At least, that is what the authors of the Book of Genesis attempted to show.
Knowledge of Abraham's dialogues and dreams leads one to think not of an actual
historical figure, but merely of a literary character.
At
the end of his life's path, Abraham was in the land of "Canaan" (Gen.
13:12). Here he died and was buried "in the cave which was in the field of
Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan" (Gen. 25:9, 49:30–31).
The land of "Canaan" is described as a region "from Zidon as you
go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza, as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and
Zeboiim, as far as Lasha" (Gen. 10:19). Moreover, the specified territory
did not include the surroundings of the Jordan River (Gen. 13:11–12). In this
land, Abraham considered himself a settled alien (Gen. 23:4).
The
date of Abraham's death is not specified in the Book of Genesis, which merely
reports that he died at 175 years of age (Gen. 25:7–8). The Book of Jubilees
notes that Abraham died "in the first week of the forty-third jubilee, in
the second year" (1913CharlesRH). This corresponds to the year 2060 from
the creation of the world, or 1700 BCE. We believe that Abraham's death should
be dated to the interval between the marriage of Isaac and the birth of Jacob,
which falls at the beginning of the 17th century BCE – specifically earlier
than 1677 BCE.
Abraham lived toward the end of the Old Babylonian period in Mesopotamia, which is reckoned from the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur to the Kassite conquest (20th–17th centuries BCE) (1983КозыреваНВ_ЯкобсонВА). In relation to the history of Egypt, the patriarch's life spanned the end of the Middle Kingdom (2040–1640 BCE) (2002BunsonMR).
The paternal grandmother bore the name "Sarah," originally named "Sarai" at birth, and became betrothed to Abraham during their stay in "Ur-Kasdim" (Gen. 11:28–29, 17:15). Sarah belonged to the same ethnicity as her husband. Abraham himself speaks of their kinship: "And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother" (Gen. 20:12). The age gap between the spouses was ten years (Gen. 17:17). The grandmother's year of birth has been clarified based on Abraham's birth date – approximately in 1765 BCE. Taking into account this age difference, Sarah was born around 1755 BCE. According to the primary source, she lived for 127 years, dying in "Kiryath-arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan" (Gen. 23:1–2). According to the Book of Jubilees, Sarah died approximately in the year 2020 from the creation of the world (1913CharlesRH). This roughly corresponds to 1740 BCE. According to our calculations, death overtook Sarah prior to Isaac's marriage in the early 18th century BCE.
Jacob's
mother was Rebekah (Rivka), the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean and sister of
Laban the Aramean (Gen. 25:20); Bethuel was the son of Nachor, Abraham's full
brother (Gen. 22:20–22). Bethuel's children were Rebekah and her full brother
Laban, who served as Jacob's uncle and employer in Haran (Gen. 27:43, 29:5).
Prior to her marriage, Rebekah resided in Abraham's homeland, in Aram-Naharaim
(Southern Mesopotamia), in the "city of Nachor" (Gen. 24:4, 10). We
suggest that the "city of Nachor" was located in the same region as
Ur. Apparently, Terach's middle son, Nachor, migrated there (Gen. 11:26).
The
Book of Genesis does not specify Rebekah's date of birth. Information regarding
her emerges during Isaac's adolescence (Gen. 22:12, 22). She was likely around
5 years younger than her husband, having been born in 1692–1691 BCE. According
to the Book of Jubilees, Rebekah died in the year 2157 from the creation of the
world (1913CharlesRH). Converting these dates yields approximately 1603 BCE.
According to our own calculations, Rebekah's death occurred between 1660 and
1640 BCE. At the time of Jacob's flight to Haran, his mother was still alive
(Gen. 27:43-46). Subsequently, the text contains no further information
regarding her fate. According to the authors' design, this character had
already played out her role. Rebekah was "delegated" the task of
orchestrating a dynastic overthrow within the family through a conspiracy,
aimed at establishing the younger son as the principal heir to the lineage's
traditions (Gen. 27:6–10). Following this action, Joseph could legitimately lay
claim to primacy within the tribe, thereby nullifying the claims of his other
brothers.
The father of Jacob's mother, Rebekah, was Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nachor, Abraham's brother (Gen. 22:23, 24:15). Bethuel's father, Nachor, is listed as Terach's middle son, whereas Abraham was the eldest (Gen. 11:26). In turn, Bethuel was recorded as the eighth and youngest son of Milcah (Gen. 22:20–23). Thus, it is reasonable to assume that Bethuel originally lived in Aram-Naharaim (Southern Mesopotamia), in the "city of Nachor" (Gen. 24:10). The Book of Genesis does not indicate that he ever departed his homeland, yet it seems he later resided in Paddan-Aram (Northern Mesopotamia), specifically in Haran alongside his son Laban (Gen. 27:43, 28:2, 5, 7). It cannot be ruled out that Bethuel, much like Abraham, migrated to Haran following the collapse of Ur in 1740–1739 BCE and the subsequent decline of economic activity in the surrounding area (1961ВуллиЛ; 1969BrinkmanJA). Establishing the date of Bethuel's birth or passing proves impossible due to the fragmentary nature of the information in the primary source.
The
name of Rebekah's mother is unknown. Bethuel's wife appears to have also been
the mother of Laban, Rebekah's brother (Gen. 24:29). At the time of her
daughter's relocation to Canaan, she was still living (Gen. 24:55). Jacob's
maternal grandmother resided in Aram-Naharaim (Southern Mesopotamia), in the
"city of Nachor" (Gen. 24:10). Her exact dates of birth and death
have not been established by us.
[viii]
According
to the Book of Genesis, Jacob married at the age of 47 (Gen. 25:24–26, 26:34,
29:20–21). He had two wives: the elder Leah and her younger sister Rachel, as
well as two concubines – his wives' maidservants, Zilpah and Bilhah (Gen.
29:16, 23-24, 28-29). With them, he fathered a daughter, Dinah, and twelve
sons, named: Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehuda, Issachar, Zevulun, Gad, Asher,
Joseph, Binyamin, Dan, and Naftali. These children produced Jacob's
grandchildren, among whom the following are known: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron,
Carmi, Yemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, Shaul, Gershon, Kohath, Merari, Er,
Onan, Shelah, Perez, Zerah, Tola, Puvah, Yov, Shimron, Sered, Elon, Jahleel,
Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, Areli, Jimnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah,
Serah, Menashe, Ephraim, Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim,
Huppim, Ard, Hushim, Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. The names of certain
great-grandchildren have also been preserved: the sons of Perez: Hezron and
Hamul, and the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel (Gen. 35:23–26, 41:50–52,
46:8–25).
The
birth dates of Leah and Rachel remain unknown. According to the Book of
Jubilees, Rachel passed away in the year 2143 from the creation of the world,
while Leah died in 2167 from the creation of the world (1913CharlesRH). When
converted to the Gregorian calendar, this corresponds to approximately 1617 BCE
and 1593 BCE, respectively. From our perspective, Rachel died in 1639–1629 BCE,
closer to the latter figure. At the time of her death, she was approximately 36
years old. Thus, Leah passed away between 1629 and 1607 BCE. She was presumably
1–2 years older than her sister and 8–9 years younger than Jacob.
Infant
and child mortality exhibited a fluctuating pattern throughout early human
history. During the Neolithic period, mortality stood at 31.22%, and by the end
of the Bronze Age it rose to 44.08%, despite social and economic advancements
(2026ArnottR). In Ancient Egypt, it was believed that a married man ought to
demonstrate his virility by conceiving as many children as possible (2016ДжарманОА_МикиртичанГЛ).
In
the Bronze Age, sons represented primarily a free labor resource, whereas daughters
served as a commodity. A substantial number of offspring served as a guarantee
of support during illness and old age. Given the generally unfavorable living
conditions, predominantly physical labor, and high child mortality rates, the
maximum possible number of children was required. A similar strategy in biology
allows a species to be preserved under environmental pressure. Child labor
contributes to survival under conditions of poverty, though not education. In
19th-century Britain, child slavery was widespread. United States legislation
regulated juvenile labor only in the 20th century. In Nigeria, children still
work in illegal mines on a permanent basis, whereas in Finland child labor is
practiced during school holidays.
In
essence, Jacob's family raises offspring much like farmers, considering their
own future while intuitively striving to preserve the species. Furthermore,
within Abraham's tribe, it became customary to purchase additional laborers,
akin to livestock (Gen. 17:12–13). Today, lacking the capacity and desire to
raise children, governments in developed nations import migrants and welcome
refugees. The drive to secure cheap labor is cloaked in pious rhetoric
regarding care and compassion. Depressed nations, for their part, while welcoming
high birth rates, survive through the production of abundant offspring among a
short-lived population, thereby avoiding pension payouts and healthcare
expenditures. Such tactics are reflected in our primary source, composed in the
Middle Bronze Age, when social systems were non-existent. In a developed,
peaceful society, what is expedient is not the mass reproduction of human
beings, but rather of ideas.
In places, the Book of Genesis depicts conjugal relations as planned economic activity aimed at increasing family size (Gen. 29:27–30). In accordance with this, Jacob was able in his later years to shift the main workload in the field onto his sons' shoulders; they were also tasked with long-distance journeys to obtain provisions (Gen. 37:2, 12, 42:1–2, 43:2). A lighter physical burden and adequate nutrition allowed the head of the family to live for approximately 70 years. Under favorable conditions, King Pepi II of the 6th Dynasty lived for about a century and ruled for 94 years (2002BunsonMR).
The
nationality "Ivri" (Hebrew) is mentioned for the first time in the
Book of Genesis in relation to Abraham (Gen. 14:13). The concept of
"Ivri" appears to have originally been applied to people belonging to
the Sutean tribes who "in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE
migrated from Northern Mesopotamia across the Euphrates into the Syrian Desert
and further into Palestine" (2000ТантлевскийИР). According to R. Friedman (2011), the passage
mentioning ethnic identity should be attributed to the intervention of a
redactor who combined the "J" and "E" sources into the work
known to us. It is assumed that this "redaction" of the text took
place after the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE.
The
nationality "Ivri" is attributed to Jacob's son Joseph in Egypt,
presumably because he "was stolen out of the land of the Ivrim" (Gen.
39:14, 17, 40:15, 41:12). However, it was stated above that Joseph previously
lived with his father in "the land of Canaan" (Gen. 37:1–2). From
there, namely from "the valley of Hebron," Jacob sends his son to
Shechem, which also belonged to "the land of Canaan" (Gen. 33:18,
37:12–13). It was here that Joseph's sale into Egyptian slavery took place
(Gen. 37:28). Consequently, "the land of the Ivrim" and "the
land of Canaan" are synonymous. That is, the Egyptians could have referred
to him as a "Canaanite". Joseph was born in Northern Mesopotamia, in
"Paddan-Aram" (Gen. 35:26). Joseph's mother, Rachel, was the daughter
of "Laban the Aramean," son of "Bethuel the Aramean," who
inhabited "Paddan-Aram" (Gen. 28:5, 29:16, 31:20, 24). Rebekah, who
became Jacob's mother, was Laban's full sister and Bethuel's daughter (Gen.
22:23, 24:29, 25:20, 27:6, 11).
Jacob's
father, Isaac, was born "between Kadesh and Shur" in Gerar (Gen.
20:1, 21:2–3). Jacob himself was also born in the south of Canaan, in the
vicinity of the well "Beer-Lahai-Roi," which is "between Kadesh
and Bered" in the land of "Negev" (Gen. 16:14, 24:62, 25:11,
26). Both ought to be counted among the tribe of the "Canaanites," in
biblical transcription "Canaanites" (Gen. 13:7). At the same time, in
the land of the Levant, "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the
river Perat" (Euphrates), there also lived tribes of the
"Kenite," "Kenizzite," "Kadmonite,"
"Hittite," "Perizzite," "Rephaim,"
"Amorite," "Girgashite," and "Jebusite" (Gen.
15:18-21). Notably, Abraham makes no mention of the "Pelishtim" (Philistines),
and refers to "Abimelech" as the "king of Gerar" (Gen.
20:2, 26:18). At the same time, Isaac subsequently goes "unto Abimelech
king of the Pelishtim, unto Gerar" (Gen. 26:1). In this, one discerns a
late-period redaction of the Book of Genesis.
Jacob's
grandfather Abraham and grandmother Sarah originated from Mesopotamian Ur, whence
the family set out for "the land of Canaan" by way of Haran (Gen.
11:27–28, 31). Their journey began presumably in 1740 BCE after the sacking of
Ur by the Babylonian army, but prior to the Kassite invasion. Consequently,
Jacob's predecessors on the paternal line are heirs to the Sumerian-Akkadian
civilization, more specifically Akkadians. Around 2000 BCE, the Akkadian
language came to dominate spoken speech throughout Mesopotamia (2006WoodsC).
Later, in the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), Abraham would be referred to as a "wandering Aramean" (Deut. 26:5). His forefathers came from the east to "a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there" (Gen. 11:2). This implies a migration from the Zagros Mountains or the eastern part of the Iranian Plateau to the Mesopotamian Lowland toward the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. On the maternal side, Jacob is likewise a descendant of Arameans. Joseph's son, born to a mother from this ethnic group, should also be counted among the Arameans. We believe that the appearance of the nationality "Ivri" in the text represents the intervention of a redactor from the 1st millennium BCE.
Title & Contents / Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / Chapter 18 / Chapter 19 / Chapter 20 / Chapter 21 / Chapter 22 / Chapter 23 / Chapter 24 / Chapter 25 / References / Notes
Russian-language version:
Титул и оглавление / Глава 1 / Глава 2 / Глава 3 / Глава 4 / Глава 5 / Глава 6 / Глава 7 / Глава 8 / Глава 9 / Глава 10 / Глава 11 / Глава 12 / Глава 13 / Глава 14 / Глава 15 / Глава 16 / Глава 17 / Глава 18 / Глава 19 / Глава 20 / Глава 21 / Глава 22 / Глава 23 / Глава 24 / Глава 25 / Список литературы
Author of the publication
Arkhipov S.V. – Independent Researcher, MD, PhD, Orthopedic Surgeon, Medical Writer, Finland.
Correspondence: Sergey Arkhipov, e-mail: archipovsv @ gmail.com
Publication history
October 23, 2026 - online version of the book is published.
Suggested citation
Arkhipov S.V. Medical Record: The Contribution of a Middle Bronze Age Egyptian Physician to the Book of Genesis. Chapter 6. About the round ligament of the femur. October 23, 2026. https://roundligament.blogspot.com/2026/10/medical-record-chapter-6.html
Note
Keywords
hip joint, hip dislocation, osteoarthritis, ligament of the head of femur, ligamentum teres, ligamentum capitis femoris, Minoan Eruption, Bronze Age, Ancient Medicine, Ancient Egypt, Edwin Smith Papyrus, Biblical Chronology, Genesis, Genesis Protograph, Bereshit
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