Gaza-Philistia coin that seems to depict the god as "Yhv" (Fontanille et al., 2023, p. 130 Type 1):
Back in 2019, I began a journey to understand the god of my religion better. I am a huge fan of prehistory, so I thought that I could use the methods that I learned researching prehistory in my free time to learn about the god of Christianity better. I was put on a lot of twists and turns, but I finally came to a clearer understanding of who this entity was. Unfortunately, it didn't match with what my religion, Roman Catholicism, said it was. I want to make a thorough investigation into the god of the
Bible, which is why I created this post. This post contains a lot of information from my "The Demonic Deity Unveiled" post, but also more information that I find later on.
YHVH (the Tetragrammaton):The Tetragrammaton (Ortlepp, 2010, p. 41), or YHVH (
Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3068. Yhvh [Yehovah]) (
Bible Hub, Strong’s Hebrew. 3069. Yhvh [Yehoveh]) comes in many forms: "Ya," "Yaw," "Yahu," and "Yah" (Langdon, 1931 [1964 reprint], p. 43) (Biglino, 2013, p. 63). From what I've found, it's also spelled as YHWH. There are also two main spellings of it: "YHW" and "YHWH." The spelling of the name as "YHW" is found on a Judean coin from the 4th century BC (399-300 BC) (Langdon, 1931 [1964 reprint], p. 43) (Hulster, n.d., What Did Yahweh Look Like?, para. 3; Judean Coin). YHW is also found on a "folded lead tablet" that contained a curse proclaimed by the god. The tablet dates back to the "Late Bronze Age II" (Stripling et al., 2023, Abstract; Paleographic analysis of the "Inner B" inscription). The date given by the authors is the middle-late 13th century BC (1250-1200 BC) (The archaeological context, para. 1-2). Langdon (1931 [1964 reprint]) said that YHW means "Yaw," and that the translation of the name as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah" never existed (p. 43).
According to Ortlepp (2011), the spelling of the name as "YHWH" is the proper one because it has been written the most. YHW, and even YH, are not the proper spelling. As for archeological finds, the spelling of the name can be seen on the Mesha stele, which dates to the 9th century BC (p. 41) (Biblical Archeology Society, 2013, para. 3). The Mesha stele is also called the Moabite stone (Biblical Archeology Society, 2013, Biblical Artifacts Found Outside the Trench: The Moabite Stone, para. 3). The stele/stone helped the tetragrammaton to be known by Israel's and Judah's neighbors (Drummond, 2023, para. 6). Interestingly, the Mesha stele is later (9th century BC) than the Late Bronze Age 2 tablet's spelling of the god's name (13th century BC)...
An older spelling of the name, "YHW3," was found in Egypt from 1390-1352 BC. This form of the name is associated with a people called the Shasu (Fleming, 2020, Ch. 2 p. 23). It was found in a temple of Amun-Ra in Soleb (Kennedy, 2019, p. 175 and p. 176 Figure 1; pp. 183-184 Figures 5-6a). However, the spelling of the name could also be YHW (Najovits, 2003, p. 198) (D.M. Murdock/Acharya S, 2014, p. 186), or YHWA (Hen, 2021, p. 4). Kennedy (2019) said that YHWH was also spelled "I-H-W3-3," and Shasu was spelled "S3SW" (p. 177). Clarke (2005) spells YHWH as "IHUH" or "YHUH" (Ch. 2: Gods of the Individuation Process in Egypt). Massey (1907) also stated that the Tetragrammaton in Egyptian was IHUH (Vol. 1, pp. 498-499, and 519). "S3SW" and "YHW3" (IHW33) were also found at Amara from the early 13th century BC (1400 BC) (Kennedy, 2019, pp. 177 and 189). It seems that the tetragrammaton (YHVH, YHWH, YHW3, and IHW33) is older than YHW. The "3," or two commas, is Egyptian in origin (Hen, 2021, p. 4). It's unknown precisely what it sounded like, but comparing it to the Semitic dialect, it probably made an "R" and "J" sound (Peust, 1999, p. 127 [in Gottingen, 1999]).
As for trying to pronounce the name properly, nobody seems to know how to do that (Drummond, 2023, para. 4-5). However, given the fact that Israelites used this god's name in their own names (Ex.: Elijah, Jeremiah, etc.), then that might be a way of saying the name (para. 4). Using "Yaw" as inspiration, I'm assuming the pronunciation is "Jah/Iah." A very helpful tip comes from an Egyptian god named Iah (Hart, 2005, p. 77). Also spelled "Iu" in Egyptian, this god had the same name as YHWH as Iah (Massey, 1907 [2013 edition], Vol. 1, p. 501). Iah (pronounced "Yah") is also found in the Ars Goetia Corpus, a supposed magic book belonging to King Solomon (Karnas, 2020, Sayfa 5, Presentation). As for the "WH" in the name, or "W3," it seems that it was pronounced as "U" (Clarke, 2005, Ch. 2: Gods of the Individuation Process in Egypt):
Pic 1:
Pic 2:
Parke-Taylor (1975 [2006 edition]) said that several pronunciations have been put forth. YH was "IH," Egyptian for "moon," and WH was "one." The whole name in Egyptian was "Yah-We," but "Yah-Weh" in Semitic. This was put forth by Norman Walker. However, both Friedrich Delitzsch and John Allegro say that YHWH came from the Babylonian, and Akkadian, word "IA-U" (p. 49). Iah's name in Egyptian is also "IH" (Garcia-Fernandez, 2017, p. 222, Abstract). The Greek version of the name is IAO (Diodorus Sicullus,
The Library of History, Book 1, Ch. 94, Section 2) (Massey, 1907 [2013 edition], Vol. 1, p. 506).
If IH (YH) is "Iah" (Garcia-Fernandez, 2017, p. 222, Abstract) (Massey, 1907, p. 498) and WH is "U" (Clarke, 2005) (Parke-Taylor, 1975 [2006 edition], p. 49 [Akkadian form of YHWH]). Therefore, the name could be spelled, and pronounced, as "Iahu." This was stated in Massey (1907) (Vol. 1, pp. 498-499). Another form of this is "Yahu" (Biglino, 2013, p. 63) (Romer, 2015, pp. 30 and 32) or Yaho (Romer, 2015, pp. 30-32). "Yah[u]" is in Isaiah's name, based on a bulla discovered with his name on it (Shuster, 2018, para. 6). It seems that the Egyptian form of the Tetragrammaton is IHW33, while the Hebrew version of the name is YHW3/YHWH.
However, after looking at the Soleb inscription of the Tetragrammaton myself, and after spending weeks trying to read Egyptian hieroglyphs and learn Hebrew, it seems that the Egyptian Tetragrammaton is actually "YH3U," "YH3W," or "YH3O."
Egyptian Tetragrammaton inscription from the Amon-Ra temple in Soleb (Kennedy, 2019, p. 183 Figure 5):
Using Figure 5 from Kennedy (2019), the hieroglyphs are two reeds, a house, a vulture (although Titus said this was a hawk [p. 184]), and a rope that looks like a noose. The two reeds are either "i" or "y," the house is an "h," the vulture is a "3" (two commas) or an "a," and the lasso (noose) is either "ua" or "o" (Budge, 1920 [2010 edition], Vol. 1, pp. xi, xiii, xxvi, xliv, 1ix-lxi, cxxii, 144, 438, and 592) (Frazer, 2012, pp. 64, 69-70, and 81) (
University of Memphis, Institute of Egyptian Art and Archeology: Events: Write Your Name in Hieroglyphs) (
Australian Museum, Documents: Egyptian Hieroglyphs). Based on most of my sources, it seems that the lasso is an "o."
Egyptian lasso hieroglyph (Frazer, 2012, p. 81):
Rope (lasso) hieroglyph (
Australian Museum, Documents: Egyptian Hieroglyphs):
Egyptian alphabet hieroglyphs (
University of Memphis, Institute of Egyptian Art and Archeology: Events: Write Your Name in Hieroglyphs):
We read hieroglyphs from top-to-bottom. The hieroglyph figures are also facing the right in the Soleb inscription, so we need to read from right-to-left. So it's top-to-bottom, right-to-left (
Glassgolife, How to read Egyptian hieroglyphs) (
Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Lesson 1). At first, I got "YH3O" or "YHAO." After re-reading Kennedy (2019), it's suppose to be YHO3 because the falcon (vulture) is the last hieroglyph (p. 184). The lasso is slightly above the vulture, and directly underneath the house. This gives us YHO3/YHOA instead of YH3O/YHOA. It made sense to me after I saw a similar example from the
Egyptian Hieroglyphs website using the name Amun (imn) (
Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Egyptian Hieroglyphs: Lesson 1):
Now, the vulture hieroglyph ("3"/"a") is a glottal stop in ancient Egyptian. A modern example is saying "thro'le" in English instead of "throttle" (don't say the "t" sound) (Zauzich and Roth, 1992, p. 10) (McDermott, 2001 [2016 edition], p. 22). Therefore, pronouncing the Egyptian Tetragrammaton would be something like "YHO'." The "y" in the Egyptian language sounded like "ee" (Frazer, 2012, p. 69), so the sound would've been "EEHO'."
As for the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, the ancient Jewish writer Josephus said that the Tetragrammaton consisted of "four vowels" (
Josephus, Jewish War, Book 5, Ch. 5, Section 7). I've read various ways to try and pronounced the Tetragrammaton, but I think I've found my own way to pronounce it. Hebrew is read from left-to-right (Clarke, 2005, Ch. 2: Gods of the Individuation Process in Egypt). First, I using the words "Jews" and "Judah" for help. The hei (H) in both words are either silent, or help the yod (Y). In Hebrew, the word "Jewish" or "Jews" is "Yehudi." However, the "Ye-" (yod with a vowel underneath it) is "Je-," and the "-u" is the hei plus the vav with a vowel on the left side of it. However, the word in English is "Jews" (
Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew. 3064. Yehudi). In Hebrew, the word "Judah" is Yehudah. The "Yehu-" part is the same as in Yehudi/Jews, but comes out as "Ju-" in English for Judah. The last hei is connected to a letter with a vowel underneath it in Yehudah (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew. 3063. Yehudah), so the hei would probably show in the Hebrew Tetragrammaton.
Tetragrammaton (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3068. Yhvh ["Yehovah"]):
Yehudi (Jewish/Jews) (
Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3064. Yehudi):Yehudah (Judah) (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3063. Yehudah):Notice how Yehudi and Yehudah have the Hebrew letters yod, hei, and vav, in them. These are the first three words in the Tetragrammaton (Yhvh).
Just when I thought that the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton was "Yehuh," the name Ea throws a monkey wrench into this idea. Margoliouth (1868) said that Ea, Sin/Nannar, and the god Aa/Ya, are El Elyon and Yahweh (in The Contemporary Review, Vol. 74, pp. 586-589). In fact, "The name Yahweh" was "lengthened, as archaeologists rightfully think, from Aa or Ya," (p. 587). Jensen (1890) said that Ea was also spelled as "Ia" (p. 271 [German]). Cook (1914) said that the name Iao comes from the name Ea/Eau, also spelled Iau, and is Ea (Vol. 1, p. 188 note 2; p. 228). Iao "corresponds to the Ju in Jupiter, and the Iac in Iacchus (Dionysus)," (Bennett, 1880, p. 523). Clay (1923) said that "the pronunciation of" Ea "is certainly very close to Jah," (p. 102). In Exodus 3:14, Yhvh told Moses "Ehyeh asher ehyeh" (Bible Hub, Exodus 3:14 [Interlinear]). Rossel (2007) said that Ehyeh is a name for God (p. 87). The Jewish letters yod and hei for "yeh," which are the first two letters of Yhvh (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3068. Yhvh), are in Ehyeh (Bible Hub, Exodus 3:14 [Interlinear]). Kitz (2018) said that Yhwh and Enki/Ea got their names from the root words "hwy" and "hyy," pronounced "haya and/or haway." "Hwy" for Yhwh means "to be," and "hyy" for Ea means "to live" (Abstract). Kitz also said that Ea's name is "a Stative third person masculine singular verb." It can be spelled as haya, hayay, hawa, haway, yahwa, yahayya, among others (p. 212). The spelling of the name as yahway is "attested in the Egyptian Shasu texts, the earliest form which dates to ca. 1388-1351 (B.C.)." It's also in the later "epithet yahwe sebaot," (p. 214). Rossel (2007) said that YHVH, and Ehyeh, have the same root word that means '''to be' or 'to exist'" (p. 87). Ehyeh is actually the word hayah (Bible Hub, Exodus 3:14 [Interlinear]) (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 1961. hayah), and the letters yod and hei are in hayah too (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 1961. hayah).
Espak (2006) said that the "'e" in Ea originated in the proto-Akkadian language as "ha." Then, it turned into "'a." Finally, "'a" turned into '''e." In total, Ea would've been pronounced as "ha-a" in Akkadian originally, and then the name turned into "Ea" (2.2.1 [pp. 1-2]). Ha-a looks like the word hayah. Espak also said that the root word for Ea is, at best, "*hyy" (2.2.1 [p. 3]). Deitrich and Loretz (1999) said that the name Ea, according to E. Lipinski, is written as "Hyn" in Ugaritic literature. This would render the name as "Hayan or Heyan." Lipinski also said that the "sound 'e" was turned into "'a for a |ha|." This would turn the original spelling of the name "'E-a-an (or similar) to Hyn," (in Dietrich and Loretz, 1999 [2000 edition], Vol. 31 pp. 165 and 168). Dietrich and Loretz said that, outside of Ugaritic poetry, the name Ea has "the initial vocal sound of the name with the laryngeal stop (Alif)," (p. 169). This brings us back to Exodus 3:14. For the word Ehyeh, there is an alef (the letter "a") (Jewish Virtual Library, The Hebrew Alphabet [Aleph-Bet]) in front of the word hayah. This would translate into "'Ahayah" (or "Aahayah") (Exodus 3:14 [Interlinear]):
This would make 'Ahayah the Israelite spelling of the name Ea.
It's inescapable to me now that Yhvh is actually the name of Ea. Ea was the original "supreme god" of the first "primeval form of faith." He was later split into different deities. The monotheistic faith of Ea-Ya-Yahweh survived though, mainly through the Hebrews (Margoliouth, 1868; in The Contemporary Review, Vol. 74, p. 592).
The root word for Yhvh is havah
(Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3068. Yhvh, NAS Exhaustive Concordance):
Havah means "to become," (
Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 1933b. havah):
Havah is actually spelled "hava'" (or havaa) (
Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 1933. hava'):
The alef is silent (Jewish Virtual Library, The Hebrew Alphabet [Aleph-Bet]) (Jewfaq, The Hebrew Alphabet), so that seems to be why there's an apostrophe in place of it.
With hayah, the yod and hei spell "yah" (
Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 1961. hayah):
Both hayah, and havah, mean "to become" (
Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 1961. hayah) (
Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 1933b. havah). It seems that "hwy" from Kitz (2018) could be havah, while hyy is hayah.
As for yod and hei in the Tetragrammaton, it spelled out "Yah," (
Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3050. Yah):
Yah is the "contrasted form of" the Tetragrammaton (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3050. Yah, Strong's Lexicon: Word Origin).
Taking everything together, the Tetragrammaton comes out as "Yahavah."
The final "h" in Yhvh could be a "'matres lectionis'" for the final vowel, and it might've been silent. Its purpose would be to make the vowel that was before it short (Ortlepp, 2010, pp. 146-147):
According to Garrett and DeRouchie (2009 [2019 edition]), the mater (matres) lectionis "does not count as a consonant or close a syllable," but "is simply a vowel," (Ch. 2: Pointed Vowel Letters and the Silent Shewa, E. The Basics of Syllable Division):
Joshua, spelled Yehoshua (or Yehoshua') in Hebrew, has yod, hei, and vav, in it. The name originated "from Yhvh and yasha" (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3091. Yehoshua [Yehoshua'], Strong's Concordance; NAS Exhaustive Concordance):With our new spelling of Yhvh, it seems that Joshua could've been spelled as Yahavashua' (or Yahavashuaa).
The Jews would've named themselves after their god, leading to the creation of the name "Jew." Clarke (2005) stated this as well (Ch. 2: Gods of the Individuation Process in Egypt). Interestingly, there is no letter for w in the Hebrew language. The vav is a "v," or an "o," or an "u."
Hebrew alphabet (
Jewish Virtual Library, The Hebrew Alphabet [Aleph-Bet]):
Hebrew alphabet (
Jewfaq, The Hebrew Alphabet):
This also helps to support hwy being havah instead of "haway."
Rev. Taylor (1833) said that "JEUE" means Jew when "pronounced as one syllable," and when the word "Pater, or father," is added, we get Jupiter. The name Jehovah comes from Jupiter, but Rev. Taylor says that Jehovah is an incorrect pronunciation. Jeue is also spelled as Jeve, and eventually became Jove. The name Jove is replaced with Dominus ("Lord") in the "liturgical Latin of the Psalms" and "the Latin Bibles of Dathe and Castalio," (pp. 340-341):
The full name of the Hebrew god would be Yahavah Pater, also called Jove Pater-Jupiter! Interestingly, according to Drummond and Walpole (1810), the spelling of the name as "Jao-pater, or Jeu-pater" was "corrupted into Jupiter." They also stated that "Ion, Io, Iao, and O" were "the root of the Latin Janus, Jovis, and Jupiter," and they "are all taken from the name of Jehovah," (p. 62):
However, the Jews just called him by the first part of his name (Yahavah). Rev. Taylor said that Pater is sometimes dropped from the name (p. 341). Massey (1907) said that the "Jews of Cornwall" were "the prehistoric Jews who are to be known by the name of the god they worshipped," (Vol. 1, p. 501). The Jews named themselves after their god, which means that the Tetragrammaton was pronounced similarly to the word "Jew." I'm going with Yahavah (Yahavah Pater).
YHWH is typically spelled as "Yahweh", and "Jehovah" (Langdon, 1931 [1964 reprint], p. 43) (Tice, 1997 [2007 edition], pp. 5 and 7) (Hulster, n.d., What Did Yahweh Look Like?, para. 3; Judean Coin). However, Yahweh and Jehovah "never existed," according to Langston (1931 [1964 reprint]). Yaw/Yah was extended to be "Yahweh." The vowels from the word "Adonai" were put on the name, and that's how we get "Jehovah" (pp. 42-43). Romer (2015) said that Yahweh has a "more recent origin than 'Yaho' or 'Yahu'," (p. 32). In the Tanakh ("Old Testament"), Yahavah's name is usually translated as "I am who I am" (Exodus 3:14 [NASB]), or "ehyeh asher ehyeh" in Hebrew (Bible Hub, Exodus 3:14 [Interlinear]). As stated before, ehyeh means "I am" and ehyeh is Ea. He is also called "The LORD" and "The Lord God" (Jeremiah 1 footnote a [NASB]). However, Paul Tice says that Jehovah was an angel called Sabaoth (Tice, 1997 [2007 edition], p. 15). Sabaoth means "Lord of Hosts" (1 Samuel 4:4 [BSB]), or "Lord of Armies" (1 Samuel 4:4 [NASB]) (Zechariah 13:2 and 7 [NASB]). Jehovah was a cherubim, also known as "shining ones," and they were led by the angel Gabriel. Jehovah had the same power, or status, as Gabriel, due to being in the middle/above the cherubim (Tice, 1997 [2007 edition], p. 15) (1 Samuel 4:4 [BSB and NASB]). Another name for Jehovah is Samael, which means "blind god" (Tice, 1997 [2007 edition], p. 51). Samael is a particularly dangerous equation because he is Satan in Judaism (Jewish Virtual Library, Samael)! Samael is also the name of Yaldabaoth in the Gnostic text The Apocryphon of John. What's also scary about this is that Yaldabaoth, in the text, does everything that Yahavah does in the Tanakh. However, Yaldabaoth is also the bad guy in the text!
Here's the creation story according to The Apocryphon of John:
God the Father, the Invisible Spirit and first aeon, created the goddess/second aeon Barbelo, who was His first thought/deed and the image of the Father. Barbelo is the "womb of the everything," "the Mother-Father," "the thrice powerful" and "thrice-named androgynous one," etc. Together, the Father and Barbelo create Christ, "an only-begotten child of the Mother-Father which had come forth" and the "Autogenes." Christ was put in charge of overseeing everything. That's the best way that I can describe this story so far!
As for Sophia, also called "Sophia of Epinoia," she is an aeon and created Yaldabaoth without the help of the Father or her male consort. Yaltabaoth is an archon (I'm guessing that archons are bad guys), and he stole power from Sophia. Yaltabaoth is also called Saklas, and Samael. Yaltabaoth used Sophia's powers to create a bunch of beings: angels, demons, etc. In order to get her powers back, Sophia went to the Father. He told Yaltabaoth to create something, which turns out to be man (Adam), and Yaltabaoth lost Sophia's powers as a result. The Father sent Epinoia, also called Life (Eve!), to be Adam's helper. Eve is Sophia! She became Adam's helper, since her power is now in Adam. She also took on the bodily form of a woman (I think the Father did this). Sophia is mankind's helper in this text.
As stated before, Cook (1914) said that the name Iao comes from the name Ea/Eau, also spelled Iau. Iao is also spelled "Iaw," and it is the Greek translation of the Tetragrammaton (The New International Encyclopaedia [Second Edition], 1915, Vol. 12 p. 625) (Vasileiades and Gordon, 2021, Figures 5-6). This is confirmed by Iao being in "The Aramaic papyri from the Jews at Elephantine," and the Septuagint
translation "of Leviticus among the Dead Sea scrolls, 4Q120, dating probably from the first century AD," (pp. 115-116). The fragment 4Q120 can be seen in Vasileiades and Gordon (2021) (Figure 6). The Greek "w," called omega, was pronounced "o" with a line above it (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Greek Alphabet). Sophocles (1854) said that omega was pronounced "oh, or French eau in beau," (pp. 50 and 60). Professor Muntz from the University of Arkhansas said that omega was "pronounced like the o in ode." Omega was also "always long" (University of Arkansas, The Bibliotheke, Greek Alphabet and Pronunciation, 2011). The name Ea was also spelled as "Aos" (Langdon, 1918, p. 434) (Coulter and Turner, 2000 [2021 edition], p. 161), which looks similar to Iao. Iao, or Iau according to Clemens, is "a God of the Sun and Fire, there seems to be no doubt." Other spellings of the name are "the Sumerian Iabe," Iahveh, Iaau which is also Iahav and Iahaveh (Bunsen, 1860, Vol. 4 p. 193 note 23; p. 194). "Iahav" is Yahav (Yhv), and "Iahaveh" is very close to Yahavah. Zeus was called Iw/Io, Kouros the son of Kronos, and was the leader of daimones (Kershaw, 1997, pp. 160-161). Cook (1914) stated that, in 168 B.C., Antiochus IV Epiphanes "transformed the temple of Jerusalem into a temple of Zeus Olympios." The name Iao/Iaw was also associated with Zeus. An Egyptian incantation, associates Zeus with Iao as "Zeus Iao," (Vol. 1, p. 233). The oracle of Apollon Klarios described Iao (Yahavah-Ea) as "the greatest of all gods." It said that Iao was Zeus in the Spring, Helios in the summer, Iao in the autumn, and Hades in the winter (p. 234).
Litwa (2019) said that the Phibionite Christian sect listed Iao as the moon, and Sabaoth (who represents the Jewish Sabbath) was Saturn. Jupiter is the sixth planet, which is ruled by Yaldabaoth. This would make Zeus and Yaldabaoth the same deity (p. 34; Figure 1.4):
Epiphaneus is the source of this chart, but said that Yaldabaoth and Sabaoth are interchangeable in their positions (
Panarion, Book 1 Section 2 Number 26, 10.1-10.3 [Williams, 2009 translation, p. 98]). This would make Iao (Yahavah) the moon god, and Yaldabaoth and/or Sabaoth the god of Saturn.
Phibionite demons (Epiphanaeus,
Panarion. Book 1 Section 2 Number 26. 10.1-10.3 [Williams, 2009 translation, p. 98]):
Yahweh (Yahavah) was equated to Iao. According to the scholar Dr. David H. Kelley, Iao was a "'syncretism of Hebrew Yahweh with Egyptian ideas of a supreme creator, himself a syncretism of ancient Egyptian concepts with Hellenized Greek ideas,'" (Murdock, 2014, p. 433).
In summation, YHVH (the Tetragrammaton) should be translated as Yahavah at best. The short form is Yah. Another version of the name is 'Ahayah (Aahayah).
Surprisingly, translating YHVH as Yahavah isn't a new phenomenon. It's been going on for about a hundred-and-a-half years. Bowen (1868) translated Jehovah as Yahavah. He also said the word Ahava ('Ahayah?), which is a river in Babylon, was named after Hea (Ea). Bowen also stated that the original spelling of Yahavah's name was Iah, or Jah. The name was lengthened later on (into Yahavah), just like El's name was (
in Morse and Marvin, 1868, Vol. 3 p. 84).
On 5/7/25, I noticed something. In the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of Yhvh, it said that the Tetragrammaton came "From hayah." However, in the NAS Exhaustive Concordance, it said that the origin of the name came "from havah," (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew: 3068. Yhvh):So, the translation of the name could be Yahavah, or... Actually, I don't really know what the name could be using hayah. I believe that the first part is "Yah-" using hayah, but I don't know what the "-vh" could be. It would definitely mean that Ea, 'Ahayah in Exodus 3:14, and Yhvh, are the same name since hayah is the root word for Ea's name and 'Ahayah. On the other hand, I think I found a solution to this problem.I've decided to learn Paleo-Hebrew. Well, technically it's Phoenician but the Phoenician alphabet is the Semitic alphabet (Brown University, Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Archaeologies of the Greek Past: Alphabet [Early Greek]). Arabic, and Hebrew, are Semitic languages too (Daggumati and Revesz, 2023, p. 15 [5. Discussion of the Results]). Interestingly, the Greek alphabet also came from the Phoenician alphabet (Healey, 1990, p. 39) (Daggumati and Revesz, 2023, p. 9 [4. Experimental Results]; p. 14 [5. Discussion of the Results]; Figures 16-18), or from the "North Semitic script in the 8th century BCE," (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Greek alphabet, para. 1). I've decided to use both the Phoenician, and Greek, alphabets to guess what the Tetragrammaton could've been.
Classic Greek alphabet (Healey, 1990, p. 39):
Phoenician and Greek alphabet (Bourogiannis, 2018, Figure 1):Phoenician and Greek alphabet (Daggumati and Revesz, 2023, Table 2):Egyptian, Semitic/Phoenician, Greek, Roman, and Hebrew, alphabets (Brown University, Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Archaeologies of the Greek Past: Alphabet [Early Greek]):Greek alphabet (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Greek alphabet):Using the sources that I have, the yod is an "i"/iota in Greek. The hei is an "e"/epsilon. Finally, the vav (or waw) is either an "u"/upsilon, or a "f"/digamma. For the Tetragrammaton, I think the upsilon works better since the vav is also a "u" (Jewfaq, The Hebrew Alphabet). The Tetragrammaton would thus be "Ieue." I'm guessing that it was pronounced "I-u." The "-ue" probably sounded like the "-ue" in the words "hue," or "Sue." Rev Taylor (1833) also stated that Jeue (Ieue) was pronounced "Jew" (pp. 340-341). In the Greek
Septuagint translation of Jeremiah 23:6, Yhvh tsedek (Hebrew Interlinear) is spelled as "
Iwsedek/Josedek" (Io sedek) in Greek (
Septuagint, Jeremiah 23:6 [
Ellopos]) (
The Orthodox Churchman's Magazine, 1802, Vol. 2 p. 375 [Sacred Criticism]). The spelling of Yhvh as Ieuw (Ieuo) was another Greek spelling found in Sanchoniatho's book
Phoenician History (Sanchoniatho,
Phoenician History [Rev. Cumberland, 1720, translation], p. 10) (
The Orthodox Churchman's Magazine, 1802, Vol. 2 p. 374 [Sacred Criticism]) (D.M. Murdock/Acharya S, 2014, pp. 430-431). We already know that Iaw/Iao is in a fragment from the
Septuagint translation of Leviticus. Iw/Io and Iaw/Iao, are extremely similar to the Egyptian Yho', and Ieuw/Ieuo is basically Ieue. We're on the right track here! "Ieu" is also in the name "Judah," spelled "Yehudah" in the modern Jewish language. I think it would be spelled as "Ieude," using our new technique. Havah would be spelled as "Eue" (pronounced "E-u"). Hayah would be spelled as "Eie" (pronounced "E-i"). 'Ahayah would be spelled as "Aeie" (pronounced "A-i"). Since the "a"/aleph is not pronounced, it would be spelled as "'Eie" and pronounced as "E-i." That's very close to Ea! So far, this is a very consistent method.
Speaking of the Egyptian Tetragrammaton, it could've been Ieo' (Ieoa), using our new system and Brown University. This is very close to the Greek Iaw (Iao) and Iw (Io).
I'm not the first person to say that Ieue is the true spelling of Yhvh (Rev. Taylor, 1833, p. 187) (Higgins, 1878, Vol. 1 pp. 459 and 461) (D.M. Murdock/Acharya S, 2014, p. 291). I'm going to stick with this method from now on. Finally, in his 2023 preprint, Maranz (2023) said that Ea is Aeie and Yahweh is Ieue, Yahweh is Ea, Ea is in Exodus 3:14, that "'I3.A" is Ea or Yah, and that the Jews chose Ea while in Babylonian captivity because he helped Ziusudra-Atrahasis-Noah (pp. 16-18, 22-23, 28, and 35). This solidifies Ea and Ieue as the same deity.In summation:
1.) Yhvh is Ieue. It was probably pronounced "I-u."
2.) Ahyh ('Ahayah) is Aeie (Ea), and spelled as 'eie. It was probably pronounced "E-i."
3.) Yhvdh (Judah/Yehudah) is Ieude. It was probably pronounced "I-u-de."
Links:
Fontanille et al., (2023) (P. 130 Type 1; pp. 131, 145, and 148 for Yhv, Gaza, and Philistine info.):
https://books.google.com/books?id=QOrxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA136&dq=Zeus+Iao&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivyMufodaKAxWsj4kEHeGGMSQ4ChDoAXoECAgQAw#v=onepage&q=Zeus%20Iao&f=false
Ortlepp (2010) (P. 41):
https://books.google.com/books?id=k9JEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA41&dq=mesha+stele+tetragrammaton&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwia8sTZtI-BAxWbMlkFHbL9ANkQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=mesha%20stele%20tetragrammaton&f=false
Bible Hub. Strong's Hebrew. 3068. Yhvh ("Yehovah"):
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3068.htm
Bible Hub. Strong’s Hebrew. 3069. Yhvh (“Yehoveh”):
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3069.htm
Langdon (1931 [1964 reprint]) (P. 43):
https://archive.org/details/MythologyOfAllRacesVolume5/page/n59/mode/2up?q=Yahweh
Biglino (2013) (P. 63):
https://archive.org/details/MauroBiglinoTheBookThatWillForeverChangeOurIdeasAboutTheBible2013/page/n61/mode/1up?view=theater&q=Yahu
Hulster. n.d. What Did Yahweh Look Like? Bible Odyssey:
https://www.bibleodyssey.org/passages/related-articles/what-did-yahweh-look-like/
Stripling et al., (2023):
https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-023-00920-9
Biblical Archeological Society. 2013. Biblical Artifacts Found Outside the Trench: The Moabite Stone:
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/artifacts-and-the-bible/moabite-stone-mesha-stele/
Drummond (2023):
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/inscriptions/the-history-of-the-tetragrammaton/
Hart (2005) (P. 77):
https://books.google.com/books?id=0L83uBijeZwC&pg=PA77&dq=iah+egyptian+god&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZkIjt97v9AhX9LFkFHV1zBRQQ6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q=iah%20egyptian%20god&f=false
Karnas (2020):
https://books.google.com/books?id=ELUOEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=72+demons+of+YHWH&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ov2=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjnvaatlLz_AhUYFlkFHXiZD_IQ6AF6BAgDEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false
Parke-Taylor (1975 [2006 edition]) (P. 49):
https://books.google.com/books?id=XZhkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA49&dq=yah+egyptian+god&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj9oo726rCBAxUhGFkFHcnOCEYQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=yah%20egyptian%20god&f=false
Garcia-Fernandez (2017):
https://www.academia.edu/40760080/The_Moon_god_Iah_in_ancient_Egyptian_religion
Diodorus Siculus. The Library of History. Book 1 Ch. 94 Section 2:
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/diodorus_siculus/1d*.html
Fleming (2020):
https://books.google.com/books?id=cfwAEAAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gbs_navlinks_s
-Ch. 2 (First para.):
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/yahweh-before-israel/yhw-of-shasuland/119116DC7806AE299828B5D58EA06539
Kennedy (2019):
https://escholarship.org/content/qt07x6659z/qt07x6659z_noSplash_b41d2cc59a80dd132c3838e7ec75c0f8.pdf?t=q2zg3k
Najovits (2003) (P. 198):
https://books.google.com/books?id=UrR848g3gp8C&pg=PA198&dq=shasu+of+yhw&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi576v8xI-BAxXNlYkEHcOEDfgQ6AF6BAgLEAI#v=onepage&q=shasu%20of%20yhw&f=false
D.M. Murdock/Acharya S (2014) (PP. 186, 291, 430-431, and 433):
https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZWPAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA430&dq=Iah+Yah+moon+god&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjRxej9spmKAxUfK1kFHfykJIYQ6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q=Iah%20Yah%20moon%20god&f=false
Hen (2021):
https://d-nb.info/1258383969/34
Clarke (2005) (Ch. 2: Gods of the Individuation Process in Egypt):
https://books.google.com/books?id=99l_P7uGCiQC&pg=PT433&dq=how+to+pronounce+WH+in+egyptian&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7l-jV7bCBAxWqGVkFHUE0BK4Q6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=how%20to%20pronounce%20WH%20in%20egyptian&f=false
Massey (1907 [2013 edition]) (Vol. 1, p. 501):
https://books.google.com/books?id=QcBYAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA501&dq=iah+egyptian+god&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZkIjt97v9AhX9LFkFHV1zBRQQ6AF6BAgCEAM#v=onepage&q=iah%20egyptian%20god&f=false
-(V2) Vol. 1, pp. 498-499):
https://books.google.com/books?id=3k4XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA498&dq=Atum+IHUH&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim_pXZ54mCAxXwD1kFHUR9AuQQ6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=Atum%20IHUH&f=false
Peust (1999) (p. 127) (in Gottingen, 1999):
https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/peust1999/0127/image,info
Romer (2015):
-V1:
https://books.google.com/books?id=Z59XCwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=thomas+romer+religion&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjskaukiN2BAxVKKlkFHUp6BfYQ6AF6BAgOEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false
-V2:
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Invention_of_God.html?id=XmsuCwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_entity&hl=en&gl=US&ovdme=1#v=onepage&q&f=false
Glassgolife. How to read Egyptian hieroglyphs
https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/media/jsddgccz/translating-hieroglyphs.pdf
Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Lesson 1:
https://www.egyptianhieroglyphs.net/egyptian-hieroglyphs/lesson-1/
Zauzich and Roth (2010) (P. 10):
https://books.google.com/books?id=g1XY9SRP29YC&pg=PA10&dq=how+to+pronounce+3+glottal+stop+in+egyptian&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwilj9D7-MaCAxW8EVkFHesaDawQ6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=how%20to%20pronounce%203%20glottal%20stop%20in%20egyptian&f=fals
McDermott (2001 [2016 edition]) (PP. 22 [Ch. 1]):
https://books.google.com/books?id=O66TDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA22&dq=letter+y+in+egyptian+hieroglyphics&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwilkrDCwMaCAxWCMlkFHQk9DAAQ6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q=letter%20y%20in%20egyptian%20hieroglyphics&f=false
Josephus. Jewish War. Book 5, Ch. 5, Section 7):
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/war-5.html
Bible Hub. Strong's Hebrew. 3064. Yehudi:
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3064.htm
Bible Hub. Strong's Hebrew. 3063. Yehudah:
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3063.htm
Espek (2006):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/28581203_Ancient_Near_Eastern_Gods_Enki_and_Ea_Diachronical_Analysis_of_Texts_and_Images_from_the_Earliest_Sources_to_the_Neo-Sumerian_Period
Deitrich and Loretz (1999; in Deitrich and Loretz [2000 edition]) (Starts on p. 165):
Bible Hub. Strong's Hebrew. 1933b. havah:
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1933b.htm
Bible Hub. Strong's Hebrew. 1933. hava'
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1933.htm
Bible Hub. Strong's Hebrew. 3050. Yah:
Garrett and DeRouchie (2009 [2019 edition]) (Ch. 2: Pointed Vowel Letters and the Silent Shewa, E. The Basics of Syllable Division):
https://books.google.com/books?id=X6bODwAAQBAJ&pg=PT42&dq=are+mater+lectionis+silent&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi6we3ZspyDAxXoEFkFHRuiCJkQ6AF6BAgMEAI#v=onepage&q=are%20mater%20lectionis%20silent&f=false
Bible Hub. Strong's Hebrew. 3091. Yehoshua [Yehoshua']):
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3091.htm
Jewfaq. The Hebrew Alphabet:
https://www.jewfaq.org/hebrew_alphabet
Rev. Taylor (1833) (PP. 187, and 340-341):
https://books.google.com/books?id=QbARAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA340&dq=baal+samen&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjy36qOiPj6AhW3MlkFHfxtC9AQ6AF6BAgHEAM#v=onepage&q=baal%20samen&f=false
Drummond and Walpole (1810) (P. 62):
https://books.google.com/books?id=rDMGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA62&dq=Jupiter+Iao+Jeu&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiis9rxh8eEAxW_FmIAHSNEBJMQ6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=Jupiter%20Iao%20Jeu&f=false
Tice (1997 [2007 edition]):
https://books.google.com/books?id=GYmubiLkrncC&printsec=frontcover&dq=jehovah+the+devil&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNzLXQxaz1AhV0onIEHRMrD4w4ChDoAXoECAMQAw
-V2:
https://books.google.com.mx/books?id=GYmubiLkrncC&printsec=frontcover&lr=&num=20&source=gbs_book_other_versions_r&cad=2#v=snippet&q=Jesus&f=false
1 Samuel 4:
-BSB:
https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_samuel/4.htm
-NASB:
https://biblehub.com/nasb_/1_samuel/4.htm
Zechariah 13 (NASB):
https://biblehub.com/nasb_/zechariah/13.htm
Jeremiah 1 footnote a (NASB):
https://biblehub.com/nasb_/jeremiah/1.htm#fn
The Apocryphon of John:
https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/nag_hammadi/apocjn.htm
Litwa (2019):
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Evil_Creator/hXU-EAAAQBAJ?hl=en
Epiphaneus. Panarion. Book 1 Section 2 Number 26. 10.1-10.3 (Williams, 2009 translation) P. 98):
https://gnosis.study/library/%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0/ENG/Epiphanius%20of%20Salamis%20-%20The%20Panarion,%20Book%20I%20(Sects%201-46).pdf
Kelley (2009):
https://repositorio.uca.edu.ar/bitstream/123456789/7231/1/toward-new-synthesis-god-edom.pdf
Teixidor (1977):
https://books.google.com/books?id=m5Z9BgAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA90&hl=en&source=gb_mobile_entity#v=onepage&q&f=false
Knauf (1999; in Toorn et al., 1999) (PP. 674 and 677):
https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA677&hl=en&source=gb_mobile_entity#v=onepage&q&f=false
Rossel (2007) (P. 87):
https://books.google.com/books?id=AzZlANCOIRgC&pg=PA87&dq=Ehyeh+god%C2%A0&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwik1sfShdCKAxU5CnkGHU9uNSo4ChDoAXoECAkQAw#v=onepage&q=Ehyeh%20god%C2%A0&f=false
Bowen (1868; in Morse and Marvin, 1868, Vol. 3 p. 84):
https://books.google.com/books?id=ovjQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA84&dq=Yahavah&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj5gdrR-fiKAxW0lYkEHYpeED8Q6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=Yahavah&f=false
Brown University. Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World. Archaeologies of the Greek Past: Alphabet (Early Greek):
https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/greekpast/4739.html
Daggumati and Revesz (2023) (Table 2):
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Adaptation-of-the-Phoenician-alphabet-to-the-Greek-alphabet-including-four-extra-letters_tbl2_369916621
Bourogiannis (2018) (Figure 1):
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Comparative-table-of-Phoenician-and-earliest-Greek-alphabetical-scripts-after-JN_fig1_331300441
Healey (1990) (P. 39):
https://books.google.com/books?id=0_KnI588AnkC&pg=PA39&dq=Greek+alphabet&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiGu7_I-o2NAxUtGlkFHWU2KPYQ6AF6BAgNEAM#v=onepage&q=Greek%20alphabet&f=false
The Orthodox Churchman's Magazine (1802) (Vol. 2 pp. 374-375):
https://books.google.com/books?id=QTsEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA374&dq=Ieuw+god&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwij4PSsso2NAxVtFVkFHb9LOLIQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=Ieuw%20god&f=false
Jeremiah 23:6:
-Septuagint (Ellopos):
https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/septuagint/chapter.asp?book=44&page=23
-Hebrew Interlinear:
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/jeremiah/23-6.htm
Higgins (1878) (Vol. 1 pp. 459 and 461):
https://books.google.com/books?id=udYHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA461&dq=Ieue+god&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj0hqG2nImNAxUtFVkFHaeID7cQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=Ieue%20god&f=false
Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Egyptian Hieroglyphs: Lesson 1:
https://www.egyptianhieroglyphs.net/egyptian-hieroglyphs/lesson-1/
Maranz (2023 [Preprint]):
Zenodohttps://zenodo.orgPDFAkkadian Vocabulary of Noah's Ark – N. Maranz
-V2:
https://www.cambridge.org/engage/coe/article-details/6642adcb418a5379b02ebadc
What did Ieue look like?
Now that we have an idea as to what the name Yhvh is, we should now as the question: What did Ieue look like? At best, I've found at least five images of Ieue that tell us what he looked like. When we discuss the god Ea (Ieue's/'eie's Akkadian name), we will have a definite profile of what this entity looked like.
The first piece of evidence is a silver Judean coin from the 4th century B.C. It depicts the deity with the name "Yehud"/"yhd" (Hulster, n.d., What Did Yahweh Look Like?, para. 3; Judean Coin). Langdon (1931 [1964 reprint]) said that the name is "YHW," which means "Yaw" (p. 43). Cook (1914) also says the three words are "YHW" (Vol. 1 p. 232). It would be "YHV," using the modern spelling of the name. This would be "Ieu." Interestingly, Yahav is depicted as a man with a beard and a robe, and is seated on a wheel. Either Ieu has wings, or the wheel has wings (Hulster, n.d., What Did Yahweh Look Like?, para. 3; Judean Coin). Both Langdon and Cook say that it's a winged wheel (Langdton, 1931 [1964 reprint], p. 43) (Cook, 1914, Vol. 1 p. 232). There is also a falcon, (Hulster, n.d., What Did Yahweh Look Like?, para. 3), or a hawk (Langdton, 1931 [1964 reprint], p. 43), or an eagle/hawk (Cook, 1914, Vol. 1, p. 232), sitting on Ieu's arm.
Fontanille et al., (2023) gives a very descriptive history of the interpretation of the inscription on the coin. The coin was "reportedly found in Gaza," (p. 148). Originally, it was confirmed to have been "YHW." However, scholarship has tried to prove that the letters are "YHD" instead. The most recent decision on the lettering declares that the letters could've been either YHW, or YHD (pp. 130-131). As for where it was made, Fontanille et al. said that it was made in Philistia. However, other authors state that it was made in Judah (pp. 131, 140, and 148). Fontanille et al. said that the bird was a "hawk or a falcon," (pp. 143 and 145). The dating of the coin seems to be anywhere from the "late fifth century BCE," to 361 B.C. (pp. 136-137). Finally, the authors say that, although the deity on the coin could be "other celestial gods," the deity is "consistent with the nature of Yahweh," (pp. 145-146). The Philistian authors of the coin probably based their design of the deity on their own god Baal Shamen. Both Yahweh (Ieue), and Baal Shamen, shared "celestial and solar attributes, so that they were essentially indistinguishable as implied by their similar epithets." Zeus Olympios was also "identified with Baal Shamen." Yahweh (Ieue) was equated to Baal Shamen in Samaria during "the time of King Ahab," and "by the Yahwists in Elephantine." Baal Shamen is also in the "Aramaic Ahiqar" version of Proverb 13 (p. 148).
Yehud (yhd) Judean Coin (Hulster, n.d., What Did Yahweh Look Like?, Judean Coin):
Description of coin (para. 3):
Description of coin (Judean Coin):
Langston (1931 [1964 reprint])'s description of the coin (p. 43):
Gaza-Philistia coin that seems to depict Yhv (Ieu) or Yhd (Fontanille et al., 2023, p. 130 Type 1):
Cook (1914) says that the winged wheel is associated with Dionysus (Vol. 1 p. 216), and "a bearded god enthroned with an eagle on his hand is a common art-type of Zeus." The winged wheel is a symbol of the sun as well, which would make the Judean coin depicting Ieu as a "solar Zeus," (p. 232). Langdon said that the coin depicts Ieu as a sun god (Langdon, 1931 [1964 reprint], p. 44).
Dionysus on a winged wheel (Cook, 1914, Vol. 1, p. 216, Figure 159):
Fontanille et al., (2023) said that the Gaza-Philistia coin doesn't equate Ieue to Dionysus (pp. 135-136). They did state that the whinged wheel was similar to the "winged car of the "Eleusinian grain god Triptolemus as depicted on Attic red-figure vases of the fifth century BCE and in other media," (p. 133).
Triptolemos in his "winged car" (500-480 B.C.) (Fontanille et al., 2023, p. 133 Figure 4.4a): They authors also said that the deity on the Gaza-Philistia coin better relates to "Zeus aetophoros and his counterparts," (pp. 136 and 146).
Zeus aetophoros coin from Mazaeus, Tarsus (361-334 B.C.) (Fontanille et al., 2023, p. 136 Figure 4.6): As stated before, Cook (1914) said that the name Iao comes from the name Ea/Eau, also spelled Iau. Iao is also spelled "Iaw," and it is the Greek translation of the Tetragrammaton (The New International Encyclopaedia [Second Edition], 1915, Vol. 12 p. 625) (Vasileiades and Gordon, 2021, Figures 5-6). This is confirmed by Iao being in "The Aramaic papyri from the Jews at Elephantine," and the Septuagint
translation "of Leviticus among the Dead Sea scrolls, 4Q120, dating probably from the first century AD," (van Kooten, 2006; in van Kooten, 2006, pp. 115-116). The fragment 4Q120 can be seen in Vasileiades and Gordon (2021) (Figure 6):
The second image of Ieue is an "onyx" (coin) depicting a beardless Zeus with a (three-pronged) thunderbolt in his outstretched hand, and an eagle near his feet. The god has has the names "Iao Sabao[th]" (Iaw Cabaw) on the back of it (Cook, 1914, Vol. 1 p. 235).
Iao Sabao(th) (Iaw Cabaw) onyx/coin (Cook, 1914, Vol. 1 p. 235 Figure 172):
As noted before, one of Ieue's names in the
Tanakh/Old Testament is Sabaoth. We can also see this in Jeremiah 46:10.
Tsebaoth (Sabaoth) as one of Ieue's names (Jeremiah 46:10 [NOG]):
Sabaoth is actually the word "Tsaba" (
Bible Hub. Strong's Hebrew. 6635. Tsaba):
The third depiction of Ieue comes from a coin from "the Persian period" of Gaza. It depicts Yaw (Ieu) and the goddess "'Ashtart-'Anat" (Astarte-Anat) together (called "'Ashtart-Yaw'" by Langdon) (Langdon, 1931 [1964 reprint], p. 44 Figure 24):
Ieu here looks similar to the Gaza-Philistia coin depiction of him. Interestingly, Langdon said that the coin depicts a deity that is both male and female (p. 44).
The fourth depiction of Ieue shows him as a winged sun disk. Taylor (1993) said that solar worship was conducted by the Israelites (Synopsis; Ch. 1, Introduction, p. 19). Archaeological evidence includes sun emblems with "lmlk" on Judean jar handles. The emblems are a sun disk with two wings, and a "four-winged scarab." In the Tanakh, Ieue is called "semes," which means "sun." This is in Psalm 84 (p. 20). Taylor believes that there is a close relationship between Ieue and the sun, even so that Ieue might even have been the sun itself (p. 22). Fontanille et al., (2023) shows one of the Judean jar handles with "lmlk" on it. It dates to the "late eighth century BCE." The double winged disk "probably represented Yahweh as the patron god of the ruling dynasty." Judah "was subject to the Assyrian empire," so the Assyrians were more-than-likely the source of the winged disk (p. 138).
Judean jar handle depicting Ieue as a winged solar disk with "lmlk" inscribed on it (8th century B.C.) (
Fontanille et al., 2023, p. 138 Figure 4.9):"LMLK" means "to Molech" in 2 Kings 23:10 (Interlinear):
Psalm 84:11 states that "the LORD God (Yhvh Elohim/Ieue 'leim) is a sun and a shield," (Interlinear):
The bullae/seals of Isaiah and the Judahite King Hezekiah were discovered at the Temple Mount (old Jewish 2nd temple) (Ngo, 2018, para. 1-3) (Shuster, 2018, para. 2). On Hezekiah's bulla/seal, the symbol of "a two-winged sun disk flanked by ankh symbols" are shown (Ngo, 2018, para. 3) (Shuster, 2018).
King Hezekiah's (left) and Isaiah's (right) bullae/seals (Ngo, 2018):
A fifth depiction of Ieue is on the "magical gem; intaglio" gem from the British Museum. It depicts Seth with the name "Iaw" (Iao) underneath his left arm. Seth is holding an ankh in his right hand, and a "staff and flail" in his left hand. There are also two "six-ray" stars, and a "crescent" moon, surrounding Seth. There are also four archangels inscribed on the gem as well: Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Suriel (British Museum, magical gem; intaglio, Description; Inscriptions) (Litwa, 2019, pp. 31-32; p. 32 Figure 1.2). Litwa (2019) said that the gem depicts "Seth-Yahweh," (p. 32 Figure 1.2). This gem dates to the third century A.D. (British Museum, magical gem; intaglio, Production date). The six-pointed star equates Seth-Iao to Saturn.
Seth on magical gem; intaglio (
British Museum, magical gem; intaglio):
Gem from Litwa (2019) (P. 32 Figure 1.2):
From what we have, we can see that Ieue was depicted as Zeus (and probably Dionysus), Seth, and as a winged sun disk. As I said previously, Ea will give us a clearer picture as to what Ieue looked like. We're going to talk about him right now.
Links:
Cook (1914) (Vol. 1):
https://books.google.com/books/about/Zeus.html?id=9e9gpRpZWCYC&printsec=frontcover&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_entity&hl=en&gl=US&ovdme=1#v=onepage&q&f=false
Langdon (1931 [1964 reprint]) (P. 43):
https://archive.org/details/MythologyOfAllRacesVolume5/page/n59/mode/2up?q=Yahweh
Hulster. n.d. What Did Yahweh Look Like? Bible Odyssey:
https://www.bibleodyssey.org/passages/related-articles/what-did-yahweh-look-like/
Fontanille et al., (2023) (P. 130 Type 1; pp. 131, 145, and 148 for Yhv, Gaza, and Philistine info.):
https://books.google.com/books?id=QOrxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA136&dq=Zeus+Iao&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivyMufodaKAxWsj4kEHeGGMSQ4ChDoAXoECAgQAw#v=onepage&q=Zeus%20Iao&f=false
Jeremiah 46:10 (NOG):
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2046%3A10&version=NOG
Bible Hub. Strong's Hebrew. 6635. Tsaba:
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6635.htm
Ea:
Ea on the Adda Seal (The British Museum, cylinder seal [the Adda seal]):
The full seal:
Ea is the second male deity from the right with the eagle/Zu bird on his right arm, the bull in between his legs, and the streams of water with fish coming out of his body (The British Museum, cylinder seal [the Adda seal], Description).
Ea, also called Enki (which means "lord of the earth"), is the "lord of the earth," and the "god of water" or "fresh waters beneath the earth," (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Ea). Ea was also spelled "Hea" (Smith, 1876, pp. 52-53), and "Eau-l'Eau" (Cook, 1914, Vol. 1 p. 188 note 2) (Espak, 2006, 2.2.1 [p. 1], note 136 [translated from French]). Enki is his Sumerian name (Kramer and Maier, 1989 [2020 edition], p. 10) (Espak, 2006, 2.1) (Darshan, 2023, p. 104), and Ea is his Semitic or Semitic Akkadian name (Kramer and Maier, 1989 [2020 edition], pp. 4 and 10) (Espak, 2006, 2.2, 2.2.3 [p. 2], and 2.3 [pp. 2-3]) (Darshan, 2023, p. 104). On the An=Anum list, a list of Sumerian deities, Enki and Ea are equated to Ea (Litke, 1998; from Hallo, 1998, Vol. 3 pp. 83 and 87). I'm going to call him Ea for now on.
As stated previously, both Ieue and Ea have the same etymological root word in their names: hayah or havah (Eie or Eue). Ea is also not the only way to spell this deity's name. According to Yakubovick (2010), Ea's name is also spelled as "Iya" on the Karatepe inscriptions. Ea's name is spelled as "i-ia-sa," or "i-ia" in the inscriptions (in Cohen et al., 2010, pp. 391, 393-394).
Karatepe inscriptions (Yakubovick, 2010; in Cohen et al., 2010, pp. 391):
The name "I-ia" would come out as Ia. I used the the An =
Anum list to come to this conclusion (Lambert and Winters, 2023 [in George and Krebernik, 2023]). Thus, another spelling of the name Ea is Ia. Earlier authors have stated that Ea was also spelled as Ia. Hommel (1899) said that Ea was Ia, "the Western Semitic creator of the world and god of heaven," (in Hastings, 1899, Vol. 10 p. 48). Cook (1914) said that Iao, or Iau, is Ea. Ea was also spelled as Eau (Vol. 1 p. 188 note 2):
Bottero (1992) said that Ea's name has been translated as "Aia, or perhaps Ia/Ia'u (Ebla)" as well (p. 234). Eau/Iau/Ia'u looks like Ieue, and Aia looks like Aeie ('eie). Ea's Israelite name is 'eie (Aeie), while his Jewish name is Ieue.
As to what Ea looked like, we have the Adda seal (see above) (The British Museum, cylinder seal [the Adda seal]). This is definitive proof of what the biblical god looked like. Notice how Ea is with the eagle/Zu bird just like Ieu-Iao and Zeus are with the eagle/hawk or falcon, as we've just seen. Another depiction of Ea comes from The Enthroned Enki relief. Ea is depicted seated with the goat-fish is under his feet, holding an overflowing vase with water and fish coming out of it (Kramer and Maier, 1989 [2020 edition], p. 123 Figure 3):
This is the god of the
Bible.
Ea is represented by numerous symbols. On the "Babylonian boundary stone" from the "Kassite Dynasty of the second millennium BC," which showcases numerous symbols of many Mesopotamian deities, the goat-fish and ram of Enki (Ea) are shown (Boulary, 1999, p. 66; Figure 20
):
The ram statue seems to be the ram staff, or sceptre (Bienkowski and Millard, 2000, p. 98) (
University of Pennsylvania, ORACC, Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses. Enki/Ea, Ea's creatures: Iconography, para. 3). Other symbols, and depictions, of Ea are the streams of water with fish, and the turtle (
University of Pennsylvania, ORACC, Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses. Enki/Ea, Ea's creatures: Iconography). We can see the stream of water with fish, and the goat-fish, in The Enthroned Enki relief. There were "snake figurines and fish offerings" to Ea at Eridu (Espak, 2006, General Conclusions [p. 1]) (Duke, 1971, p. 324 note 27). These are all astrological symbols. The fish is the astrological sign of Pisces, which represents Jupiter and the Archangel Sachiel (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Sachiel-Angelic and Planetary Symbols). Pisces is also the geomantic, and astrological, signs of Neptune and Archangel Asariel (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Asariel-Angelic and Planetary Symbols). Both Sachiel and Asariel have Thursday as their special day as well (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Asariel-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences) (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Sachiel-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences). This means that Jupiter and Neptune were the same individual. Thierens (1935) said that both "Marduk-Zeus" and Ea are "Pisces (Sagittarius)," (p. 41). The ram is the symbol of Mars, and the Archangel Samael. Samael's special day is Tuesday (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Samael-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences), and one of his astrological and geomantic symbols is Scorpio (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Samael-Angelic and Planetary Symbols). Pluto and the Archangel Azrael also has Tuesday as his special day (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Azrael-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences), and Scorpio for his astrological and geomantic symbol (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Azrael-Angelic and Planetary Symbols). The turtle is the symbol of Cancer, the moon, and the Archangel Gabriel (
Archangels and Angels, The Astrological Correspondences for Cancer) (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Gabriel-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences). Ea is Saturn-Uranus, Jupiter-Neptune, Mars-Pluto, and the moon.
We can find other symbols, or depictions, of Ea in the various poems of Mesopotamia. In the "A Shulgi Hymn to Enki," Enki (Ea) was equated to the bull, and the sun. He is depicted as "Clad in lion-skin," and "in the entire(?) heavens." He also has some connection to the dragon. In the commentary to the poem, Mark E. Cohen said that there are multiple interpretations of the passage regarding Enki, the lion, and the dragon. What sticks out to me the most is that he said the lion and dragon are probably symbols of Enki's religion that we just don't know about yet. The dragon is called Mus-hus. As for Ea being the sun, Cohen suggests that Enki is probably the rising sun coming out of the Abzu (Apsu). He also said that the sun could be referring to Enki's priests, but said later that this doesn't seem likely. Therefore, Enki is most likely the sun (Cohen, 2005; in Sefati et al., 2005, pp. 74-80). Ea as the bull is the astrological symbol of Taurus, the planet Venus, and the Archangel Anael (
Archangels and Angels, The Astrological Correspondences for Taurus) (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Anael-Angelic and Planetary Symbols) (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Anael-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences). Interestingly, the ram is also one of the symbols of Taurus (
Archangels and Angels, The Astrological Correspondences for Taurus). Regarding Ea's relationship with the sun and the lion, this would equate him to the Archangel Michael (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Michael-Angelic and Planetary Symbols) (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Michael-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences). Interestingly, the Archangel Michael is also represented by the Hexagram (
Archangels and Angels, Archangel Michael-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences).
Ea is also connected to Mercury. Ea's special number is 40, also called d40 (Rollig, 1971, p. 500 [German]) (Parpola, 1993, p. 182 notes 87-88) (University of Pennsylvania, ORACC, Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses, Enki/Ea). Mercury in Mesopotamia is called Nabu (Green, 2015, pp. 71). Nabu's special number is also 40 (Parpola, 1993, p. 183 Figure 9) (Toorn, 1999; in Toorn et al., 1999, p. 892). This means that Ea and Nabu were the same deity. This makes Ea and Nabu the Archangel Raphael (Archangels and Angels, Archangel Raphael-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences).
Being Saturn means that Ea ruled the Seventh Heaven. Being Jupiter means that Ea also ruled the Sixth Heaven (Archangels and Angels, Archangel Sachiel-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences). He ruled the Fifth Heaven as Mars (Archangels and Angels, Archangel Samael-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences). As the moon, Ea ruled the First Heaven, which is also called Shamayim (Archangels and Angels, Archangel Gabriel-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences). Being Venus means that Ea ruled the Second Heaven (Archangels and Angels, Archangel Anael-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences). Being the sun means that Ea rules the Fourth Heaven. As Mercury, Ea is the ruler of the Third Heaven (Archangels and Angels, Archangel Raphael-Angelic and Planetary Correspondences). In total, Ea rules the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Heavens.
Ea's religion started in Eridu, which was "the cradle of civilization," according to Margoliouth (1868) (in
The Contemporary Review, Vol. 74 p. 587). The latest date that I have found for Eridu goes back to about 5,800 B.C., based on an excavation of some buildings (Liverani, 2013, pp. 51-52):
Another building, a shrine, excavated at Eridu goes back to 5,200 B.C. (Tobolczyk, 2020, p. 128 Figure 266):
The archaeological findings at Eridu paint an eerily similar picture to Eden and Genesis. Margoliouth (1868) stated that the Garden of Eden itself "has been identified with the holy grove" of Eridu, and Eridu was "the original seaport of Chaldea." The "guardian spirits which Assyrian art represented as kneeling or standing on either side of the sacred palm-tree in the same garden of Eridu" are "the cherubim with flaming sword" in Eden. The "formation of Eve out of a rib taken from Adam" seems to "parallel" the "self-reduplication of the primitive gods" to create goddesses (in The Contemporary Review, Vol. 74 p. 581).
Sayce (1888) reveals more information about the religion of Eridu. Ea was the water god, and his wife Davkina (Damkina) the earth goddess, created everything. Damkina/the earth laid on Ea/the watery abyss. Damkina was seen as the sky, and life originated from Ea/the watery abyss. Ea "took the place of the Sky-god," or Anu, in Eridu (pp. 139 and 144). Ea was the demiurge. A hymn dedicated to Ea called him the one "'who stretches out the firmament, the god of good winds,'" among other things. Of particular note, Ea is the "creator of the pure and the impure.'" Ea created the "'black-headed people,'" which are the Sumerians. He is also credited with creating mankind in general. He is also the god of incantations, and controls the gods "'like a flock,'" (pp. 140-141). Ea is also the slayer of the "'sea monster of chaos.'" He is also "'father Bel,'" (p. 141). A "Babylonian tradition placed" Eden, or Edin, "in the immediate vicinity of Eridu." In fact, a "fragment of an old bilingual hymn" even indicates that a "world tree," similar to the Yggdrasil of Norse mythology, was in Eridu (pp. 238-239).
Kramer and Maier (1989 [2020 edition]) stated that Enki wasn't always benevolent to humans. He was "depriving humankind of the me of life; by his terrifying humans with his awesome, venomous word; by his putting an end to universal human speech and thus afflicting humankind with the babel of tongues-all because he was jealous of his older brother Enlil. Enki, sad to say, suffered from an inferiority complex," (p. 2):
The biggest action Enki did was send the flood to kill mankind (
Spencer, 1915; in Kelly, 1915, Volume 75; Volume 97 p. 314):
This is based on a poem from a collection of tablets found in Nippur (pp. 313, 316-317). Ea is the one who saves Sit-Naphishti, who is Noah, during the flood (Margoliouth, 1868; in The Contemporary Review, Vol. 74 p. 590). The story in which Ea confuses the languages (Babel) is called The Spell of Nudimmud (Lowery, 2013, pp. 227-228).
So, let's see: Ea and Ieue/'eie have the same root word in their names, and were even spelled similarly sometimes (like Eau, and Iau). Ea ruled Eridu, and Eridu was the Garden of Eden. The cherubim came from Eridu. The creation story of Eve is similar to the goddess creation story in Eridu. A special tree was in Eridu, and Eden. Ea prevented mankind from "the me of life," which sounds like Ieue kicking Adam (but not Eve, from what I can tell) out of the Garden (Genesis 3). Ea caused the flood, saved Sit-Naphishti, and caused the confusion of languages (Babel). Ieue caused the flood but spared Noah and his family (Genesis 7), and caused the Tower of Babel incident (Genesis 11:1-9). Ea also terrified humans with his "venomous word." Ieue threatens people throughout the Bible. Ea is Ieue/'eie, the god of the Bible.
Map of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah (Jewish Virtual Library, The Two Kingdoms of Israel):
Ieue (Ju) was the god of Ieude (Judah). This is based on three of the four letters being in the words "Yehudi" (Jewish/Jews) (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3064. Yehudi) and "Yehudah" (Judah) (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3063. Yehudah). This can help us understand where the Jews got their name: the Ieudi (Jews) worshipped the god Ieue (Ea), and they lived in the land of Ieude (Judah).
Tetragrammaton (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3068. Yhvh ["Yehovah"]):
Yehudi (Jewish/Jews) (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3064. Yehudi):
Yehudah (Judah) (Bible Hub, Strong's Hebrew, 3063. Yehudah):
The tribe of Ieude named themselves, and their land, after their god. Israel named themselves after their god 'l (El/Enlil). Enlil is another name for Ea/Ieue. There are other gods listed in the Bible that were actually Ea/Ieue. Check out my The Demonic Deity Unveiled post for more information.
Links:
The British Museum. Cylinder seal (the Adda seal):
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