The term Semite comes from Shem in the Old Testament[Gen. 10:1] through the Latin of the Vulgate. The traditional explanation that the so-called Semites are descended from the eldest son of Noah, and therefore racially homogeneous. There are some striking points of similarity in the tonpues of the Assyro-Babylonian, Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic and Ethiopic. Therefore, their languages are cognate. In the case of each one of these languages the verbal stem is triconsonantal; the tense has only two forms, perfect and imperfect; the conjugation of the verb follows the same model. The elements of the vocabulary, including the personal pronouns, nouns denoting blood-kinship, numbers and certain names of members of the body, are almost alike. A scrutiny of the social institutions and religious beliefs and a comparison of the physical features of the peoples who spoke these languages have revealed likewise impressive points of resemblance. Therefore, the ancestors of these various peoples_____Babylonians, Assyrians, Arabians, Chaldaeans, Amorites, Aramaeaans, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Abyssinians_____before they became thus differentiated must have lived at some time in the same place as one people.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 06:47:22 +0000
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