Kamal Salibi
In 1984 the Lebanese professor
Kamal Salibi caused a stir with his book
The Bible Came from Arabia. He claimed that the stories of the Old Testament were not situated in Palestine but in south-western Arabia, between Mecca and Yemen! His book is much more serious than Wilkin's book about
Troy, but his theory is almost as unlikely. Nevertheless it is a fascinating book. If a professor can seriously claim that there is no evidence that the stories are situated in Palestine, then how certain is it that Jerusalem was the real capital of David and Solomon, or that the supposed Jericho was the real Jericho that Joshua destroyed? Or that the supposed Ai was the Ai that Joshua destroyed and massacred after Jericho? It is remarkable that nearly all finds that have anything to do with the Old Testament have been made in other countries (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt etc.) and not in Israel. Today Salibi seems to be director of the Center for Inter-Faith Studies in Amman (Jordan).
Ezion-geber, Solomon's harbour on the Red Sea
Another problem is the location of Ezion-geber, the harbour of Solomon on the Red Sea. According to 1 Kings 9:26 it was near Eloth in the land of Edom. In Deuteronomy 2:8 'the way of the plain from Elath, and from Ezion-geber' is mentioned. The harbour is thought to be near Elat on the Gulf of Aqaba, but nothing was found there. A little island in the vicinity would be a better place for a harbour, but nothing was found there either. When I was pondering over Salibi's theory I wondered whether Eloth could not be Al Lith, a seaport to the south of Mecca. On the map it looks like a good place for a harbour and according to Salibi there is a region called Edom there. Now I do not believe in Salibi's theory anymore, but it is still possible that the goods were transferred from ships to camels in Arabia. In Roman times, goods destined for Egypt were transferred in Berenice, a seaport to the east of Aswan. That seems illogical, but apparently it was very difficult to sail on the Red Sea. In the 19th century the Suez Canal killed the commercial sailing ships, which had to sail around Africa while steam ships could go through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.
Perhaps Ezion-geber was Jizan, a seaport near the border of Yemen. This also looks like a good place for a harbour and the name is similar. The queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon, probably came from Yemen. According to the historian Philo of Byblos there were forests of palms near Eloth, but no suitable timber for shipbuilding, so one was forced to bring timber from elsewhere on 8000 camels. According to Salibi there were large woods of juniper trees near Jizan that were more suitable for shipbuilding than the cedars of Lebanon. It's quite possible that Solomon and his partner King Hiram chose Jizan to build their fleet because there was good timber nearby. Jizan is also close to the only area in the whole of Saudi Arabia which is suitable for agriculture. This must have been very important for the food supply. Minerals are also found here: gold, lead, iron. Incense came from Yemen.
According to 2 Chronicles 8:17, Solomon went to Ezion-geber and Eloth himself. Immediately after this, it is said that the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon and came to Jerusalem with an impressive train of heavily loaded camels. Perhaps she heard that a king was visiting nearby Jizan and paid him a visit there. Solomon probably invited her to visit Jerusalem. Yemenite art shows Phoenician influences, perhaps from Ezion-geber.
Jizan is located opposite Ethiopia. According to the original Ethiopian legend, the
Ark of the Covenant was brought to Ethiopia by Menelik, the son of Solomon and the queen of Sheba. There has been a migration from Arabia to Ethiopia. If Menelik did indeed live shortly after Solomon, he may have had something to do with Ezion-geber. Perhaps he traded with the biblical kings.
The Egyptians called Byblos 'Kepen' (and sea-going ships 'kepenit'), but Salibi thinks they did not refer to Byblos but to Kepny, a seaport near Jizan. The name 'Geber' is not unlike 'Gebal', another name for Byblos. Could Ezion-geber have been Kepny? It is also remarkable that in this region there is a 'Lubnan'; this has the same letters as 'Libanon' (LBNN). There is also a village called Samiran (Samaria?).
In Numbers 33:36 it is said that the sons of Israel, after wandering through the desert for forty years, went past Ezion-geber. After this, Aaron died on Mount Hor; according to Salibi, al-Harra in the mountains of Zahran, to the north-east of Jizan. The mountain Jabal Harub near Jizan could be Mount Horeb. According to Salibi, however, it is a different mountain, Jabal Hadi. To the north-east of Jizan there is a wadi called Wadi Idimah (=Edom?). I have always found it rather strange that the Israelites walked around in circles in the Negev for forty years; it seems much more likely that they wandered across Arabia. In later times may Jews lived in the Hijaz, the area north of Mecca, and also in Yemen. Strangely enough mount Hor is also mentioned in Numbers 34:7-8 in connection with the northern border of the promised land. Perhaps this was Jabal Houerta to the north-east of Laboué in Lebanon.
In Numbers 33:36 'the wilderness of Zin, which
is Kadesh' is mentioned. Unfortunately this undermines the whole theory, because Zin is on the southern border of the promised land (13:21, 34:3). Of course it may be that the whole theory is wrong, but it is also possible that the exact location of Ezion-geber was later forgotten. I have also wondered whether 'Zin, which is Kadesh [=the holy place]' could have been the holy well Zamzam in Mecca. Perhaps Mecca was already a holy place at that time. In that case Mount Hor was probably near Mecca rather than near Jizan. According to Islamic tradion Zamzam was the source at which Hagar quenched her thirst (Gen. 21:19). This happened after Abraham had moved to 'the south country' and settled in Gerar, between Kadesh and Shur (Gen. 20:1).
Salibi devotes an entire chapter to Gerar. In his opinion it was situated to the north of Jizan, on the main road between Kadas (Kadesh) and Al Abu Tur (Shur). Beer-sheba (Spring of Seven) is Sjaba'a and the same as 'Seven Springs' which is mentioned by Strabo as one of the places along which the Roman general Gallus, who attempted to conquer Arabia, marched. So Kadesh is probably not Mecca after all, but Abraham is an important character for the Arabs and it is quite possible that they transplanted a legend about one spring to another when Mohammed had made Mecca an important holy place. It is also quite possible that places in the Negev were later called 'Gerar' and 'Beer-sheba' because of the story about Abraham.
Velikovsky writes in his article 'The "Great and Terrible Wilderness"' - available on the Internet - that he also thinks that Moses went to Arabia. That 'we compassed mount Seir many days' (Deuteronomy 2:1) means 'that they went southward along the mountainous chain not far from the shore in the region of Hedjaz. It is difficult to understand why the historians and Bible exegetes agreed that the decades of wandering of these tribes were confined to a very small area which may be crossed in a week or two.' Velikovsky thought that 'Midian' was connected with Medina, although the old name of Medina was 'Yathrib' and it is thought that it was only called 'the city of the prophet' in Islamic times. But perhaps the name is older and 'Yathrib' has something to do with the priest Jethro. In Deut. 2:20 'Zamzummims' are mentioned - after the holy well Zamzam? Velikovsky thought that Kadesh-barnea was Mecca; according to Bar Droma it was Medain-Salib, 450 km to the south of Petra (Jordan).
According to Deuteronomy 2:21 the Zamzummims were giants who were later destroyed by Jehovah. Strangely enough there used to be a 'tomb of Eve' in Jeddah, the seaport of Mecca, which was no less than 146 m long! Nobody knows how old it was. In the middle was a stone which represented Eve's navel and which was often touched by infertile women. There was also an oracle where you could ask whether a ship had been shipwrecked and things like that. It was often visited by pilgrims from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and in 1853 by Sir Richard Burton. Unfortunately it was destroyed in 1928 by the Wahhabites. The size of the tomb indicates that there used to be giants here according to legend.
Did the bible come from arabia?
