The Sunday Mail
AS an English word, “Adam” is derived from the Hebrew “Adamah,” pronounced “Ah-dahm,” spelt as ADM, whose schema is “Aleph-Daleth-Mem” (ADM).
We first come across the name “Adam” in Genesis 1:26-27; “And Elohim said, Let us make Adam” and so “Elohim created Adam … male and female created he them”.
“Adamah” (Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon #H127 and 128) is said to mean “of the Earth, earthlings, ground or land”, and related to the Hebrew words adom (red), admoni (ruddy).
By informed deduction, this shows that “Adam” is not originally a Hebrew personal name of a male person but a generic word for humanity while “adamah” is the word for earth or ground.
“In Hebrew, ‘adam’ is a common noun, used to signify … mankind in a generic sense (since) the noun for an individual man is ‘ish’.” (Joseph Wheless, “Is it God’s Word?)
Although “Adam” is a Hebrew generic word for humanity, it later became a name for a male person. This will make the two verses re-read as, “And Elohim said, Let us make humanity” and so “Elohim created humanity … male and female created he them”.
In Genesis 5:2, it says, “Male and female he created them and called their name Adam.”
A male and female are together and collectively called “Adam”. This means the phrase “their name” in Genesis 5:2 may not be a typographical or textual error.
The Hebrew word “Adamah,” is formed out of “damah” and “demut”.
“Damah” means “likeness or resemblance” from “dam” (DM) for blood, meaning that a child has likeness or has resemblance of his/her parents; and “demut” for “image or resemblance” of the Divine, the impersonal life force.
This is related to Genesis 1:27 and Isaiah 14:14, “I will be like the one above.”
The Hebrew word “Adamah” (ADM) was derived from “Adapa”, the Sumerian word for “humanity”.
Sumerian “Adapa” is in turn derived from “Atum” (ATM), the name of the primal creator as called by ancient Egyptians. This was discovered by French Egyptologist Eugene Lefébure as referenced by Gerald Massey and Ahmed Osman.
In the ancient language of India, Sanskrit (pre-Buddhist Upanishads of Hinduism), “Atma” is also the Divine Self and the immortal spark of Essence.
According to “The Search for God in Ancient Egypt” by Jan Assmann, the ancient Egyptian “Atum/Amun/Amen” (derived from Egyptian “tm” for “completion” or “totality”) is presented humanly and is said to have created himself (or arose out of nothing) and created the first divinities, “Shu”/Air and “Tefnut”/Moisture, from his saliva.
The Memphite and Heliopolitan creation myths of ancient Egypt puts “Atum/Amun/Amen” as the first creation of Ptah (the Principle of Life and Light), who simply mentioned “his name and he came into being”.
“Atum/Amun/Amen” was revered not only as the progenitor among the cosmic energies or divinities (“neteru”) but also as the father of the pharaohs. The title “Son of Atum/Amun/Amen” was included in the many titles of the king, even after the pharaohs styled themselves “Sons of Ra”.
The ancient Egyptian cosmic energies (“neteru”) were humanised multiple aspects of the Divine, the sexless, infinite, eternal and impersonal Life Force or Cosmic Energy, whose chaotic behaviour created and endures the universe.
Attributes and functions of such a Divine were presented as human beings or with humanoid attributes associated with animals for instance falcon (Heru/Horus), a bull (Anubis), an ibis (Thoth/Tehuti), and so forth.
Lets reach for the naked truthas we patiently chisel. Till next week.
References:
Richard H Wilkinson, “The Complete Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Egypt”
Gerald Massey, “A Book of Beginnings”
Ahmed Osman, “Moses and Ankhenaten: The Secret History of Egypt at the Time of the Exodus”
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