19 



not to the Assyrian ruhimu (Dm), but to the Arabic raham ( Afc^ Dm) 

 which signifies multitude. 



[As to Eamu, compare my remarks on Tob, c., p. 4, and the definition 

 given by Hesychius. Mr. Girdles tone mentioned to me the other day the 

 very curious parallel of mo-rimo, a word used in a vague way by the 

 Bechuanas on the Kuruman river for some upper power, and rescued by 

 Dr. Moffat for use as the name of the true God, as it now stands in the 

 Sechuana translation of holy Scripture. It was an exotic word and seemed 

 equivalent to the DIIO cited by Mr. Girdlestone from Isaiah, &c., Mo- in 

 the Sechuana word being a prefix. H. G. T.] 



3. Ahiman is connected by you with " manu.'' It is observable that the 

 same name is given to a temple-porter after the captivity, 1 Chr. ix. 17. 

 Would a Levitical porter fresh from the Babylonian captivity be named after 

 the Babylonian god of fate ? I doubt it ; and I prefer the old derivation. 

 [It is curious to find among these porters Talm-on and Akhiman: comp. two 

 of the sons of Anak, TcUm-&l and Akhiman. H. G. T.] 



4. I am inclined to quarrel with you for your suggestion concerning 

 Melchizedek, and I know not by what authority you call ztbul a height 

 rather than a habitation. [See Cheyne, Isaiah, vol. ii. 155, and Mr. Cheyne's 

 remarks above. H. G. T.] 



The name Bath-sheba I should connect with the secondary meaning of 

 Sheba an oath rather than with the primary. Your reference to Aziz 

 reminds me of Azaz-el, the so-called scape-goat. Comp. the name Azaz in 

 1 Chr. v. 8, and the names Uzza, Uzziah, Uzziel, &c. ; see also Ps. xxiv. 8, 

 where Jehovah is called Mil? ; also note the expression in Daniel "the god 

 of Forces " (Dan. xi. 38). Was the Nabathsean Aziz a god, or an attribute ? 

 [a "divinity of Syro-phcenician origin" Pierret. Petit man. de Mythol. 100] 

 and may not the same question be raised concerning Ram, Zedek, and other 

 so-called gods ? [Zedek (Sydyk) took to wife one of the Tanides, and his 

 son was Asclepios. He was one of the two who found out the use of salt. 

 So says Philo Byblius. See Zenormant, Les Origines, &c., 541, 545. H. G. T.] 



5. On p. 9 you refer to Sekheni. What is your objection to the traditional 

 spelling Shechem, and to the topographical and descriptive sense shoulder, 

 or nape of the neck between the shoulders, so applicable to the position of 

 Shechem. Your reference to the Egyptian meaning of the word adds new 

 interest to Gen. xlviii. 22 ; where see the rendering in the Ixx. [I do not 

 know that we are tied to the diacritic point. Dr. Ebers writes (^Eg. u. d. B. 

 Mos. 231) : " We hazard a comparison between the Egyptian and the 

 Samaritan Sechein, D3K', 2v%tfj, CIKIJULA., which, as Ewald has already 

 proved, possessed an old-Canaanitish population, who adhered to Ba'al 

 Berith." As to spelling, I like kh, for it avoids the risk of the soft ch in the 

 mouth of the reader, as in French. It is Dr. Ebers who compares the 

 Egyptian Pa-sekhem. I was familiar with Dean Stanley's "shoulder "of 

 the mountain, but it is worth while to consider the alternative of "sanctuary," 

 as in Egyptian : see my paper on Joseph, Tr. Viet. Inst. xv. 86. H. G. T.] 



