History of Dor. 31 



might quite easily be applied to a head-covering. The peaked 

 cap known under the name of tantur bears some resemblance 

 to a tent both in shape and in the open space within ; like a tent it 

 is a covering. The Middle Latin use of the word "tentorium " to 

 denote " umbrella " is a suggestive parallel. 



Through what channels did this w^ord make its way into the Ara- 

 maic and the Arabic respectively ? The Aramaic-speaking peoples 

 came into immediate contact with the Roman legions and colonists. 

 In all probability they took over their 1^£0-5^ directly from the 

 Romans, later changing the form to TtO^lO • The Arabs, however, 

 did not usually come into such direct relations with the Greek and 

 Roman settlers; it is a fact that most of their Greek and Roman 

 loan-words seem to have come by way of the Aramaic. It is 

 furthermore most improbable that the same word should have been 

 borrowed independently both by the Aramaic and the Arabic. The 

 most probable explanation is, therefore, that the Arabs took over 

 the word from the Aramaic-speaking peoples of Syria; these in 

 their turn had borrowed it from the Romans. 



The question of how this name came to be applied to the modern 

 village, successor to ancient Dor, must be considered. Two other 

 instances of the use of tantur as a proper name suggest a possible 

 answer. Tantur Fer'on is the name given by natives to a tomb 

 just outside Jerusalem which is distinguished by a pointed peak*. 

 A natural mound outside Acre, said to have been used as a redoubt 

 in a siege of that city, bears the designation "Tell el-Tantur" 

 ("Mound of the Peak'y. There was probably here at one time 

 some sort of a peaked or pointed structure from which this name 

 was derived. Is it not probable that in both these cases the name 

 Tantur was applied because of a real or fancied resemblance to the 

 peaked cap or horn (tantur)? 



The application of the name Tantura either to the ruins or to the 

 town' was made in a similar waj'. Until January 15th, 1895 (when 



^ This tomb is otherwise known as ''Absalom's Pillar"; (Fleischer zu 

 Seetzen's Reisen IV, 256 ; S.W.P., Name Lists, p. 319). 



2 S.W.P., Name Lists, pp. 117, Ul. 



2 It is quite possible that the ruins were called Tantura before the town 

 received that name, perhaps even before the modern town came into being. 

 The name does not seem to go back very far. 



