20 George Dahl, 



" moving in a circle," " surrounding," etc., is doubtless the basis 

 of the Hebrew, Arabic and Babylonian forms. The name Dor 

 undoubtedly antedates the Hebrew occupation of Palestine'. The 

 same element 'dor' occurs also in the town names "Endor" and 

 " Hammoth-Dor "^. Evidently the name Dor in Palestine is the 

 same word as the Babylonian Du-ru, and like it signifies eventually 

 "a place or fortress surrounded by a wall or rampart "\ 



' It was not until a late period tliat the Hebrews secured possession of 

 Dor (Josh. 17: 11, 12). They certainly did not give the name to the city. 



^ At the present time (see S.W.P. Mem. II, 294) there is a small village 

 Diirah about ten miles due east from Bethel, i. e., northeast from Jerusa- 

 lem. Probably this name ought to be added to the list of Palestinian names 

 containing the element ' dor '. 



•^ Prof. Fritz Hommel (Gnindriss, pp. 27 f.) propounds the ingenious but 

 far-fetched theory that the name Dor is derived from the name Teucri ; 

 these were, he holds, among the sea-peoples who invaded Palestine c. 1300 

 B. C. But it is only by doing violence to the laws of etymology that he can 

 obtain even the most insecure foothold for his hypothesis. The mere state- 

 ment of the equation he must make is enough to rule out his theory from 

 the realm of probabiUties. This is the equation : Dor = Do'or = Dokor = 

 Takkar = Zakkalu = Teucri. A far cry from Dor to Teucri ! Hitzig (Fhil- 

 istaer, pp. 135 if. ; cf. Schenkel, Bib. Lex. s.v. Dor) compares Dor with 

 Endor lying on the same parallel, and propounds the theory that the names 

 are Indogermanic and given by the Philistine settlers. Dor then wovdd 

 mean "pass", "entrance", "door". Endor would be "the other" Dor. 

 The two would resemble the front and rear doors of a house. This theory 

 is too refined and lacks support. The town doubtless had the name Dor 

 long before the Philistine invasion. Hitzig's derivation of Dor from the 

 Sanskrit dvar is improbable. 



