Sometime ago, I put up a picture of the original bronze statue of Charlemagne the Great (748 – 814 AD) when it used to lay in the Coronation Hall of the Aachen Town Hall in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia (northwest Germany).
The sculpture depicts Charlemagne, protector of the Roman Catholic Church, as holding up in his left hand a Globus cruciger (‘Cross-bearing Orb’), a symbol of authority as it is interpreted, which is essentially a Christian adaptation of the ancient Egyptian Shen Sphere/Orb (not Ring as erroneously regarded).
A few days ago, I stumbled on an illustration of further Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (1122 – 1190 AD), also a protector of the Church, as a crusader that appears in the “Historia Hierosolymitana” (1188 AD) where he is also displayed holding the same symbol up in his left hand.
Shen Spheres/ Orbs were potent symbols of eternity as well as eternal protection that featured particularly with depictions of mighty falcon god Horus and vulture goddess Nekhbet, patron of Upper Egypt, in ancient Egypt.
On top of that, the cross that appears atop the Globus cruciger is clearly an adaptation of the Ankh which was a prominent hieroglyphic symbol of life, actually meaning literally ‘life’ itself, in ancient Egypt incidentally.
Όπως ανέφερα σε πρόσφατο post μου, το όνομα του Ίον (μάλλον ‘Γιον’ σε πρώιμη μορφή) από τον οποίο πήραν το όνομά τους οι Ίονες (ή πιο σωστά Ιόνες), οι πρώην Αιγιαλείς Πελασγοί, είναι σημιτικό με ρίζα το ‘Ιό-‘ (‘Yoḥ-‘)* ως προς τη σημασία του ‘αφέντης, κύριος, άρχοντας.’
Η Θάλασσα της Γαλιλαίας ή Γεννησαρέτ
Η ίδια ακριβώς λεξική ρίζα στην αρχή εμφανίζεται μάλιστα και σε μερικά σημαντικά σημιτικά ονόματα όπως για παράδειγμα το Johan(n)an (‘Yōḥānān’) το οποίο αποδίδεται σε γνωστά αντίστοιχα ‘δυτικά’ ονόματα ως Ιωάννης, Giovanni, John, Johan(n) και Johannes μεταξύ άλλων.
Το όνομα αναλύεται ως ‘Yο-ḥa’nan’ (σε κάποιες σημιτικές/εβραϊκές διαλέκτους τονισμένο αντιθέτως ως ‘Yο-‘ḥanan’) που αποδίδεται ως ‘Ο Άρχοντας/Κύριος (‘Yoḥ-‘) είναι φιλεύσπλαχνος (‘-ḥa’nan’), όπου το πρώτο συστατικό (εναλλακτικά και ‘Yeḥ-’) αποτελεί μια σύντομη μορφή του θεού Yahweh (ή Yehovah).
Ωστόσο, το όνομα εμφανίζεται παλαιότερα και ως Yeho-cha’nan ή Yo-cha’nan όπου ‘cha-‘nan’ (‘κ(χ)α-νάν’) μπορεί να σημαίνει επίσης ‘βασιλεύει, κυριαρχεί’ από το ρήμα ‘k(h)ana’ που έχει τη σημασία ‘κυριαρχώ, κατέχω, υποτάσσω’ ως προς την απόδοση ‘Ο Yoḥ (Άρχοντας) βασιλεύει/κυριαρχεί’ κατά την άποψή μου.
Ο Yahweh (ίσως και Yohweh) ή Yehovah (Ιεχωβά στη γλώσσα μας) ήταν ένας πολεμικός και καιρικός θεός που οι Ισραηλίτες και Ιουδαίοι υιοθέτησαν στο πολυθεϊστικό τους σύστημα μέσω των Βεδουίνων κατά τον 14ο αιώνα περίπου π.Χ. πριν αργότερα ‘συγχωνεύσουν’ με τον κύριο θεό τους El γύρω στον 10ο ή 9ο αιώνα π.Χ. και τελικά επικρατήσει ο ίδιος σαν μόνος θεός τους από τον 6ο αιώνα π.Χ.
Και όπως μπορεί να καταλάβατε, ο Yahweh ή Yehovah είναι ο θεός που γνωρίζουμε ως… ‘Θεός’ στη χριστιανική θρησκεία, όπου το τελευταίο δεν είναι τίποτα άλλο από ένα επίθετό του (όπως και ‘Κύριος’). Ενδεχομένως, πάντως, το όνομά του να είναι ουσιαστικά ‘Yoḥ’ ή/και ‘Yeḥ’ με το Yahweh ή Yehovah να αποτελεί μια ‘προέκταση’ με τη σημασία ‘Ο Άρχοντας υπάρχει.’
Θα πρέπει να σημειωθεί ότι και το όνομα Canaan (λατινικά), Καναάν (ελληνικά) ή Χαναάν (Κοινή), ανάμεσα σε διάφορες παραλλαγές, έχει την ίδια ρίζα με το δεύτερο συστατικό (‘-chanan’) και πολύ πιθανώς σημαίνει ‘κατεχόμενη/δική μας γη’ ή ‘πεδινές περιοχές’ (που βρίσκονται χαμηλά).
Από τα παραπάνω έτσι προκύπτει, με δεδομένη τη ‘βραχύτητα’ του ‘ο,’ ότι το Ιωάννης (όπως και το Ιωάννα) λανθασμένα αποδίδεται με ‘ω’ και κανονικά θα έπρεπε να γράφεται με ‘ο’ ως Ιο-άννης (και Ιο-άννα αντίστοιχα), μια μορφή που υπάρχει.
Η ίδια ρίζα ‘Yoḥ-‘ ή ‘Yeḥ-‘ εμφανίζεται επίσης και στο όνομα Yo-shua ή Ye-shua (Yeshu/Yešu, με ουρανικό ‘σ,’ στα Αραμαϊκά) που δεν είναι άλλο από το (Βιβλικό) σημιτικό όνομα του Ιησού με τη σημασία ‘Ο Άρχοντας (Yoḥ/Yeḥ) σώζει’ σε αναφορά με το θεό Yahweh.
Η ηχητική απόδοση του Ιησούς ως ‘Ι-ι-σούς’ στη γλώσσα μας οφείλεται στην Κοινή και προφανώς προέρχεται από μια προγενέστερη μορφή του ονόματος όπου το ‘η’ προφερόταν ως (μακρό) ‘ε,’ πιο κοντά στη σημιτική του απόδοση, όπως θα ήταν στις ελληνικές ή φρυγικές διαλέκτους.
Let’s look a little at the names of some prominent archangels that appear in the theology of Christianity, Judaism and Islam:
Micha-El: means ‘Who is like El?’ (rhetorical question), from Hebrew/Aramaic ‘Mikha’el’ (/mîḵāʾēl/).
Gabri-El: means ‘El is powerful,’ from Hebrew/Aramaic ‘Gabri’el’ /gaḇrīʾḗl/.
Rapha-El: means ‘El heals,’ from Hebrew/Aramaic Rap(h)a’el ‘ (/rāp̄ā ḗl/).
Uri-El: means ‘El is (the source of) light,’ from Hebrew/Aramaic ‘Uri’el’ (/ʾūrīʾēl/) – that first component of ‘ur-,’ with the same pronunciation, suggests Hurrian and even earlier Akkadian/Sumerian origin.
Sam(m)a-El: probably means ‘Venom (Dark side?) of El,’ from Hebrew/Aramaic ‘Sam(m)a’el’ (/sammāʾēl/).
Jophi-El: means ‘Beauty (wisdom?) of El,’ from Hebrew/Aramaic ‘Yop(h)i’el (/yōp̄īʾēl/).
Azra-El: means ‘Assistant of El,’ from Aramaic ‘Azar’el’ (/ăzarʾēl/).
Of course, as I have already mentioned before, ‘ang-El’ means ‘Messenger of El’ where El was the chief god of the polytheistic system of Judeans and Israelites through the second millennium and up to around tenth century BC.
Yule (also Yul or Jól) was a prominent winter festival that was celebrated by the Norse and Germanic peoples from very ancient times as far as even the best part of the Early Middle Ages before incorporated by the Christians to shape the backbone of the festivities of Christmas, eventually ending up as very much a synonym.
Etymology
The spelling ‘Yule’ actually renders the modern English form which derives on the so-called Old English(1) ‘ġeōl’ (likely pronounced as ‘/jo:l/ or /ju:l/) and that in turn ultimately on Old Norse ‘Jól’ apparently meaning ‘feast’ or ‘joy,’ associated with supreme god Odin as ‘Jólnir’(2) (apparently meaning ‘feast/joy bearer’) or ‘Jólfaðr’ (father of the feast/joy).
According to Agrip, a history of the kings of Norway (12th century), the festival’s name descended from the above former mentioned epithet of Odin’s while other gods were also tied to the festivities identified with the plural appellation of Jólnar, spelling ‘Yule-beings.’
Yule, Midwinter and Winter Solstice
The affair lasted a good twelve days that commenced on Midwinter Night which many scholars interpret as the Winter Solstice (December 21 or 22 nowadays but December 25(3) on the Julian Calendar in effect back then) yet some opt for the start of the middle phase of winter, albeit the two standpoints could eventually meet.
For that matter, the Norse actually acknowledged only two seasons round the year, unlike the rest of Europeans, where Vetr or Vintr (winter(4)) stretched from mid October through to mid April so much so that the winter solstice would most likely fall at or around the beginning of mid winter at the end of the day.
The Anglo-Saxon Ġēola
Bede or Beda (quite likely also Bedda, a name either Frisian or Danish(5) in origin), a monk and author that roughly lived between 672/3 and 735 AD in the so-called Anglo-Saxon Britain, mentions that ‘Ġēola’ (‘time of ġeōl,’ nowadays Yule) covered the entire winter solstice spell in his treatise titled ‘De temporum ratione’ (The Reckoning of Time, c. 725 AD).
Moreover, he interestingly calls ‘Ǣrra (preceding) Geōla’ the part of December up to and ‘Æftera (after, following) Geōla’ the part of January following Ġēol (Yule). With the shades of the so-called Anglo-Saxon invasion still fresh in his time, this reckoning and practice was most likely carried over and reflected that held in the lands whence the Saxons, Angles, Frisians and Jutes came from.
Ýlir, the month of Yule
The second month on the Norse calendar was that of Ýlir, a cognate of Jól, Jul (also attested in the Old Germanic calendar) and ultimately Yule that consequently spells a connection to Odin, which extended roughly from mid or late November to mid or late December with the winter solstice usually at its end.
Seeing it was a lunar calendar, namely revolving around the cycles and phases of the moon, Ýlir shifted as regards dates from year to year and thereby so could likely the festival of Yule towards its end – unless the Norse directly associated it with the winter solstice and could locate that within the month regardless of the moon.
After all, midwinter may have not necessarily carried the meaning of the centre of the winter for the Norse and the Germanic peoples but rather either the two middle months therein or even more so a spell over the darkest days of the year, as was the case in many regions Europewise, marking the transition of days from drawing in into drawing out and by extension the death and rebirth of the sun.
Gormánuður, the month preceding Ýlir (Norse calendar)
Now, the previous month to Ýlir was that of Gormánuður (meaning ‘slaughter’) when the Norse would go on to slaughter most of their domestic animals since they couldn’t feed them during the harsh phases of the winter. That would yield an abundance of meat that had to be consumed within the next few weeks since they could hardly preserve it so deep into the winter.
Which, in turn, provided them with an excellent opportunity to hold generous feasts and socialize between them at large with meat and drink aplenty at the same time that the most significant event of the winter solstice lay at hand. By implication, that shapes a sound ground to virtually rule out any suggestion by some historians that Yule may have been held in January instead.
Christmas traditions drawing on Yule
Many of the traditions and conceptions of Christmas nowadays draw heavily on Yule starting off with the Twelve Days of Christmas, getting underway on Christmas Day (doubling as the old winter solstice on the Julian Calendar), that originate from nothing else but the twelve days that the festivities of Yule lasted commencing at Midwinter, which apparently doubled as the winter solstice.
The Yule log or clog (also known as Christmas block) comes a long way from the traditional burning of large logs, usually an oak or ash tree trunk carved with runes, in the main hearth (fire place) of Norse longhouses for several days during Yule so that symbolically some light would remain in the darkest spell of the year awaiting the return of the sun as well as providing warmth.
Moving on, the singing of carols door-to-door is yet another Christmas practice that has its origins in Yule and more precisely in the Wassailing(6), meaning ‘Wishing good health/fortune,’ where people would be singing and offering drink from a wassail bowl door-to-door in exchange for gifts.
Wassail was actually a hot beverage that in the early days was warmed mead with roasted crab apples that with time developed into a mulled punch of cinnamon, sugar, ginger and nutmeg interspersed with sops of toast. ‘Smoking Bishop,’ mentioned by Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’s novel ‘A Christmas Carol’ (1843), was a popular type of wassail, punch or mulled wine at Christmas in Victorian England.
Furthermore, the Yule boar or Sonargöltr, Old Norse apparently meaning ‘sacrifice boar,’ was a boar sacrificed as part of the festivities of Yule where solemn vows would be taken over its bristles as regarded future actions in a tradition called Heitstrenging which is still reflected nowadays in the pig-shaped cakes in Sweden or the Christmas ham in northern Europe and Britain at Christmas.
This tradition was apparently linked to the golden-bristled boar called Gullinbursti, made out of pure gold by the dwarves Eitri and Brokkr, that Freyr (meaning ‘Lord’) of the Vanir (gods) would ride, potentially on Midwinter Night among other occasions, or had his chariot pulled by.
The Christmas tree and decorations as well as the Yule goat and the mistletoe are further customs that come all the way from the pagan Yule as the Norse would take in evergreen trees, likely representing Yggdrasil (the Tree of Life), and adorn them with small carvings of gods, food and clothes while also affording warmth to the vættir, spirits they believed that lived in them.
The Wild Hunt and Odin as gift-bringer
Coming to a close, Yule was also associated with the Wild Hunt, also known as Oskoreia (apparently meaning ‘Asgard’s Ride’ or ‘Odin’s Army/Hunters’) among the Norse, that was led by mighty Odin himself (also known as Woden in parts of northern or western Europe) accompanied by other fearsome ghostly riders such as Gudrun, other Æsir (gods of Asgard), Valkyries and even slain warriors from Valhalla on a relentless chase sweeping the skies over Midwinter.
Odin rode his lightning fast eight-legged Sleipnir, meaning the ‘Slipper’ or ‘Smooth,’ and children would leave their boots out by the hearth filled with straw, hay and sugar so that the divine horse could eat during the Hunt.
Odin would come down and visit homes of mortals, take the food for hungry Steipnir so that he could keep up the pursuit with renewed vigour and leave candies or gifts for the generous children in their boots in return.
A practice that certainly rings a bell and demonstrates that Odin has most likely been the inspirational figure behind far later Santa Claus (also known as ‘Father Christmas’ in an analogy to Odin’s ‘Jólfaðr’), a prominent Christmas tradition, rather than the ‘lame’ candidate of Saint Nicholas of Myra put forward by scholars and church.
(1) ‘Old English’ is more of an exaggeration by modern historians and linguists as it was actually no more than a number of mainly Frisian and Low German as well as Norse dialects, some not mutually intelligible between them, that arrived along with the large numbers of Germanic and Norse peoples that settled in Britain in two extended waves over the second half of the first millennium AD.
(2) The Old Norse suffix ‘-(n)ir’ apparently carries the meaning of ‘bearer/bringer’ added at the end of verbs to form nouns.
(3) On the Gregorian calendar, which came in use in 1582 AD, December 25 from the preceding Julian calendar would translate to December 23 in the seventh century and December 22 in the eighth century AD for instance.
(4) English ‘winter’ most likely derives on Old Danish ‘wintær’ and that in turn on (East) Old Norse ‘vintr.’
(5) The Angle or Engle (Angles) came from what is south Denmark and part of northeast Germany nowadays so shared many similar or identical names with the Danes while their dialects were closely related.
(6) Middle English form apparently originating from Danish ‘Wes hál’ with the latter in turn ultimately out of the Old Norse ‘Ves heill’ meaning ‘be healthy/fortunate’ by means of wish
Μιας και η Κυριακή αποτελεί την ουσιαστική ‘κορύφωση’ και ‘άξονα’ της ελληνικής εβδομάδας, ας ρίξουμε λοιπόν μια ματιά στο τι σημαίνει το όνομα της μέρας και από που προέρχεται το όνομα αυτό.
Η Κυριακή είναι μια μέρα που εμφανίστηκε ως όνομα στην Κοινή, η οποία ήταν μια γλώσσα επαφής, και κατά τους χριστιανικούς χρόνους η οποία σημαίνει ‘Αφιερωμένη (μέρα) στον Κύριο (Θεό)’ ως ‘Κυρι-ακή,’ η θηλυκή μορφή του ‘κυρι-ακός’ με την ίδια έννοια.
Δεν ήταν, ωστόσο, ελληνική μέρα και δεν υπήρχε στα ελληνικά (αρχαία) ημερολόγια ενώ είναι απίθανο και να την υιοθέτησαν αργότερα δεδομένου ότι δεν συγκινήθηκαν ιδιαίτερα από τον χριστιανισμό και συνέχισαν να λατρεύουν τους αρχαίους θεούς.
Και γι αυτό το όνομα ‘Έληνας’(1) (Κοινή, ‘Χελένος’ στα ελληνικά) πήρε τη σημασία του ‘ειδωλολάτρης’ κατά την χριστιανική εποχή της Ρωμαϊκής Αυτοκρατορίας(2).
Η έννοια της ημέρας πηγάζει στο ‘κύριος’ το οποίο προέρχεται από το αρχαίο περσικό Κύρος (Cyrus), πιστεύω θα θυμόσαστε τον Κύρο τον Μέγα, που για τους Πέρσες ήταν και προφερόταν ωστόσο Κūr-uš (κούρους, με ουρανικό ‘s’), που στα ιρανo-πέρσικα εμφανίστηκε και ως Kūr-os (κούρος) πολύ αργότερα.
Η ρίζα του ήταν το αρχαίο περσικό ‘Khur-,’ ή εναλλακτικά και ‘Khor-,’ που σημαίνει ‘ήλιος’ αλλά επίσης μπορεί να σημαίνει και ‘νέος/α’ όπου το όνομα αλλά και η αντίστοιχη λέξη στα ελληνικά αποδιδόταν ως ‘Κούρ-ος’ (‘Κόρ-ε’ για μια νέα) με τις ίδιες σημασίες.
Άλλωστε, το ‘υ’ προφερόταν ως ‘ου’ από τους Έληνες ούτως ή άλλως και το ‘-ος’ είναι μια κατάληξη που επίσης κληρονομήθηκε στις διαλέκτους τους, όπως και στην Παλαιά Λατινική(3), από την Φρυγική και τις Λούβιες γλώσσες.
Αλλά οι Έληνες, ή Χελένοι πιο σωστά, το κληρονόμησαν ακριβώς ουσιαστικά με την ίδια μορφή πολύ νωρίτερα από το προ-ελληνικό ‘kūrós’ (κουρος, ίσως και με ισοτονισμένες συλλαβές) που ήρθε τόσο από τους Hurrians όσο και τους Φρύγες και άλλους πολυάριχθμους Ανατολίτες που εγκαταστάθηκαν στο χώρο της σημερινής Ελλάδας τη δεύτερη χιλιετερίδα π.Χ.
Η ρίζα του ονόματος βρίσκεται στα Khurri (Κούροι) ή Khurrite(s) (Κουρήτες) που ήταν άλλα ονόματα (όπως και Hurri ή Churri) για τους Hurrians, ένα πανάρχαιο λαό που εμφανίστηκε στη Μεσοποταμία και εξαπλώθηκε στo Λεβάντε και την Ανατολία ενώ πέρασαν σε μεγάλους αριθμούς και άφησαν αισθητή τη ‘στάμπα’ τους στην δεύτερη εποχή της λεγόμενης ‘Μινωϊκής’ Κρήτης – αλλά και άλλες περιοχές της σημερινής Ελλάδας όπως η Αιτωλία.
Το πρώτο συστατικό του ονόματός τους ‘Khur-,’ εναλλακτικά επίσης και ‘Khor-,’ επίσης σημαίνει ‘ήλιος’ ή και ‘νέος/α’ και πολύ πιθανώς αποτελεί την πηγή και του αντίστοιχου πέρσικου καθώς οι Πέρσες εμφανίστηκαν αρκετά αργότερα στην ίδια ουσιαστικά περιοχή ενώ και η γλώσσα τους δείχνει αρκετά κοινά στοιχεία.
Από τις τάξεις των Khurri ή Khurrite δείχνουν πολύ πιθανό να ξεπήδησαν αργότερα και οι Φρύγες επίσης.
Και γυρνώντας στην Κυρ-ιακή, η ουσιαστική και βαθύτερη σημασία του ονόματος είναι ‘Μέρα του Ήλιου,’ κατά συνέπεια, δεδομένου μάλιστα ότι οι αρχικοί χριστιανοί δείχνουν να ταύτιζαν τον Ιησού με τον Ήλιο και δείχνουν να τον λάτρευαν ως θεό τον ίδιο.
(1) Η μορφή ‘Έλληνας’ με ‘-λλ-‘ δείχνει να είναι μια πολύ κατοπινή, ίσως και σχετικά πρόσφατη, γλωσσική εξέλιξη όπως αντίστοιχα και τα παράγωγα ‘ελληνικός,’ ‘ελληνική’ και ‘ελληνικό.’
Για λόγους εξοικείωσης, χρησιμοποιώ τη μορφή του μονού ‘-λ-‘ μόνο με το όνομα ‘Έληνας’ και ‘Έληνες’ εδώ.
(2) Συμπεριλαμβανομένης και της λεγόμενης ‘Βυζαντινής,’ που για την ακρίβεια ήταν η Ανατολική Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία (το ‘Βυζαντινή Αυτοκρατορία’ και ‘Βυζαντινοί’ ήταν κατοπινή επινόηση του Hieronymus Wolf).
(3) Πολύ πιθανή επηροή σε αυτό μπορεί να αποτέλεσε και η πολύ κοντινότερη Ετρουσκική γλώσσα.
A very popular (first) name in England and many, if not most, European countries is Michael along with cognates such as Michel (France) and Miguel (Spain, Portugal) among others. But what does the name mean and where does it come from?
Well, the name actually derives on the Hebrew name ‘Mik(h)a’el’ (or Aramaic Miha’el) and breaks down into ‘mi-ha-‘El’ that constitutes a rhetorical question that has “Who (is) like El?”
Now, who is El? Well, El is no other than the principal deity among the gods and goddesses of Israelites and Judeans during the second millennium and even into the tenth century BC.
Hence the name Israel that breaks down into ‘isra-‘El’ that means something like “the people of El.” He is very much the God that we see through the so-called Old Testament.
Then who is the God that we see in the New Testament on the other hand? Well, that is Yahweh, a war god that Israelites and Judeans adopted into their own polytheistic system from the Bedouins through the caravans around the 14th century BC.
Which, by induction, means that the God of the Old and the New Testament are not the same.
Turning back to the name itself, the respective female names Michelle, Michèle or Michaela share the very same root as Michael via a Latin origin.
Generally, the word ‘angel’ is held as coming via the Old English ‘engel’* from the Old French (Frankish) ‘angele’ and the latter in turn from Latin ‘angelus’ and that in its own turn from ‘angelos’ in Koine (Common, the long ancestor of modern Greek).
Although there is a possibility that the Latin word appeared earlier in time but I will elaborate on that on a different occasion. In fact, prominent Dutch linguist Robert S. P. Beekes suggested a potential Oriental loan in ‘angelos’ and he could as well be right.
Nevertheless, that suffix ‘-el’ at the end of ‘angel,’ the Latin and Koine forms with the addition of ‘-us’ and ‘-os’ respectively, leads me to speculate a potential Hebrew/Aramaic root as it appears more or less in the names of all archangels**.
Hence the names of Micha-El (‘Who is like El?,’ a rhetorical question), Gabri-El (‘El is strong’) and Rapha-El (‘El heals’), where El is none else than the chief god in the polytheistic system of Israelites and Judeans in the second millennium BC.
Thereby also the name Isra-El (‘the people of El’) since El doubles as the ‘God’ that appears over the best part of the Old Testament before he was merged with the imported deity of Yahweh, who eventually prevailed to shape the ‘God’ that appears in the later Old and the New Testament.
Since ‘angel’ effectively seems to mean ‘messenger,’ the first component ‘ang-‘ could quite likely come from Persian ‘ang-arā’ (message, letter) which in turn derives on Aramaic ‘eng-arā’ with the same meaning.
On top of that, there was a word ‘ang-aros’ that particularly meant ‘Persian mounted courier (horseback)’ which was apparently a loan from Persian.
Therefore, ‘ang-el’ most likely has a deep Aramaic origin and simply means ‘messenger of El.’
** By extension, Uri-El means ‘El is (source of) light’ (that ‘Uri-‘ probably of Hurrian or even deeper Sumerian/Akkadian origin), Sam(m)a-El probably means ‘Venom (Dark side?) of El’ and Jophi-El means ‘Beauty of El.’
Renowned English polymath Isaac Newton, among the greatest minds to have walked the earth, calculated astronomically the birth of Jesus down to 14 Nisan, a ‘shifting’ Hebrew month of Assyrian origin, although which year is not mentioned.
Most definitely, that came to pass before 4 BC (by our reckoning) since Herod I (or the Great), a client king of Judea for the Romans, was dead by March of that year judging by the accounts of famed contemporary historian Josephus.
According to the gospels of both Matthew and Luke, Jesus was born during the reign of Herod and therefore likely somewhere between 7 and 5 BC for that matter.
Nisan (or Nissan) was a 30-day-long month that was the very first of spring and spread evenly around the first full moon on the 14th, which further coincided with the Hebrew Passover (Easter).
Therefore, if Jesus was born in either 5 or 7 BC, an odd year (by our reckoning) that is, then 14 Nisan would fall somewhere in late March but if in 6 BC, an even year (by our reckoning), that would fall towards mid April.
On top of that, he was consequently born on the day of Passover (Easter).
Actually, Nisan was the month of barley ripening and its name derives on Assyrian ‘Nisanu’ which is given in turn as originating from even earlier Sumerian ‘Nisag,’ the latter meaning ‘first fruits.’
Personally, yet, I feel instead that the second component ‘-an(u)’ has got to do with Anu (Assyrian) or An (Sumerian), the king sky god, so the name likely breaks down as Nis-an(u), an apparent aspect of his (likely associated with agriculture).
PS There has got to be said that Jesus is not a historically attested character which spells that whether he ever existed is questionable and a matter of endless debate.
Breaking through History 