about adam

“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.



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.”