"Brit-Am Now"-610
Contents:
1. Summary of and Commentary on Sweeney
2. Steve Coneglan: 13 Stars and the Magen David
3. Orjan Svensson: Gematria
a. Britain, Norway and the Covenant?
b. USA and Israel
c. MENASHEH and the USA
1. Summary of and Commentary on Sweeney
In "Brit-Am Now"-609 item #5. Sweeney: Megalithic Monuments in Recent Ages?
we recommended
http://www.consciousevolution.com/Rennes/arthurandstonehenge.htm
ARTHUR AND STONEHENGE: BRITAIN?S LOST HISTORY
Emmet Sweeney
We said that the information:
<<is important for the Brit-Am understanding that the megalithic path
of monuments mentioned by Jeremiah 31 as a sign of Israelite origins did originate
with Israelites after these Israelites had been exiled and had migrated to the
west.>>
see our article
The Dolmens
http://britam.org/dolmen.html
Since we disagree with much of the other things that Sweeney said and not everybody has the time
to wade through Sweeney and discern the relevant passages, here is a summary of salient points
together with Brit-Am commentary. The Brit-Am points are noted by square parentheses [ ] .
Brit-Am Remarks and Summary of Sweeney:
ARTHUR AND STONEHENGE: BRITAIN'S LOST HISTORY
Emmet Sweeney
2001
CHAPTER 1
A LAND OF LEGEND
Re chapter one
Diodorus Siculus quotes Hecataeus of Abdera ca 300 BCE as saying that Stonehenge was in use in his time. Stonehenge was in use before the 300s BCE and after them.. Standing stone-circles are found throughout Britain and traditionally were raised by the Druids.
[Stonehenge was linked with the cult of Apollo and of Lotana the mother of Apollo. Robert Graves remarked on the Cult of Lotan mother of Apollo that connected Philistia, the Nabataeans, Greece, and Britain. The Israelites had also been influenced by this cult which in its turn probably borrowed aspects from Israel. Philistines along with Phoenicians (Amos 1:6, 9 4:2) were responsible under Assyrian direction for transporting Israelites to the West, to Spain, Gaul, and probably also to the British Isles. At all events those Israelites who were taken to Spain later moved further westward to Britain and Ireland. Lotan (Leviathan) is the Dragon that later became the national symbol of Wales.]
Irish tradition believed that megalithic monuments had been dedicated to the god Beal meaning Baal.
"The standing-stone circles, they said, were temples where the god Beal or Balor was worshipped, and to this day stone circles in Ireland are named Beltanies (ie. Bealtaine "Fire of Beal"), whilst the Irish word for temple - timpeall - is the same as the word for circle. "
[Baal was the name of a pagan god. The name "baal" connotes "master" or "lord" and in some cases could be applied to the God of Israel, cf. Hosea[Hosea 2:16] AND IT SHALL BE AT THAT DAY, SAITH THE LORD, THAT THOU SHALT CALL ME ISHI; AND SHALT CALL ME NO MORE BAALI. ]
Stonehenge is associated with the Stone Age which actually hardly ever existed. Stone Age implements were used alongside those made of Bronze and Iron. "Megalithic" Stone monuments such as Stonehenge are considered to have been contemporaneous with the "Barrow" graves or burial mounds. The same type of burial mound was found amongst the "Bronze" and "Iron" Age Celts and Germans and therefore Stonehenge and related monuments should also be ascribed the same date. So too, menhirs or standing stone monuments such as those of Brittany in Western France that are ascribed to the Stone Age are also found in Scandinavia where they are inscribed with runes and can be accredited to Viking times (ca 700s CE). Amongst the Vikings as well the barrow grave was to be found.
[Barrow Graves were also found amongst the Anglo-Saxon invaders of England and archaeologists explain this by saying that the invaders were simply imitating an ancient form.]
Megalithic Monuments in Britanny can in some cases in fact be ascribed to the late Gallo-Roman period (ca. 300s CE??). Similar menhir monuments to those found in Southern France and dated to the 2000s BCE are found in Corsica and dated to after 1000 BCE and in Northern Italy and dated to the Etruscan Period (ca. 800 BCE or later). [Brit-Am says they were all erected well after ca. 600 BCE]
New Grange in Ireland also has monuments dated to the "Megalithic" Period of ca. 2000 BCE.. The evidence actually shows that New Grange belongs to the La Tene Iron Age period (ca.400 BCE). Iron Age finds were found undisturbed in the "foundation layer" of New Grange by the archeologist Raftery (1943). Raftery explained the anomaly by assuming that New Grange had originally been built in Megalithic times then taken apart and reconstructed piece by piece in the Iron Age. There appears to have been no evidence for such an action other than the finding of Iron Age materials at the foundation levels. These included Iron Age "bone plaques were actually in the stone-hole of one of the orthostats in the passage" [An orthostat in this case apparently means part of the wall, i.e. they were inserted into the construction]. Alternately Raftery suggested that the use of New Grange may have continued into the Iron Age. Irish tradition and historical records show Megalthic monuments being erected in Iron Age times as well as in the Christian Period.
[Stonehenge is similar to the Stone circle of Dacia that the Romans destroyed. The Dacians believed in One God, had customs similar to the Druids, and after being defeated by the Romans moved to Denmark and later participating in the Anglo-Saxon conquest of England.]
Sweeney (chapter 7, NEW HORIZONS, The Megalithic Peoples)
Stone tools are frequently found in late Iron Age settlements. See eg. Brian Laceys report on the excavation of a rath in Antrim (1991) In parts of the Near East, such as Egypt, stone implements were used even into the 19th century AD. Noting this, Gaston Maspero commented upon the difficulty of assigning Egyptian flint implements to any particular epoch; Until quite recently the flint implements which had been found in various places [in Egypt] could not be ascribed to them [the earliest Egyptians] with any degree of certainty, for the Egyptians continued to use stone long after metal was known to them. They made stone arrowheads, hammers, and knives, not only in the time of the Pharaohs, but under the Romans, and during the whole period of the Middle Ages, and the manufacture of them has not yet entirely died out. A History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria Vol.1 (1906) pp.61-2
Radiocarbon dating is unreliable due to the presence of moisture causing samples to appear much older than they actually are and also due to changes in the environmentally presence of Carbon 14.
Sweeney also points out (ch.7) that the builders of the first "Megalthic" monuments in Western Europre are assumed to be "the Long Barrow people, from the shape of their graves, whilst the first metal-using people, who are believed to have initiated the Bronze Age around 1,600 BC., are named the Beaker people, on account of the distinctive shape of their pottery."
They, "absorbed the earlier Neolithic settlers, just as their descendants were in turn overrun by the Celts". "Beaker people are found occupying exactly the same areas and villages as their Neolithic predecessors" [R.R. Hughes and D.R. Brothwell The Earliest Populations of Man in Europe, Western Asia and Northern Africa in The Cambridge Ancient History Vol.1 part 1 (3rd ed.) p.170]. Later authorities admitted that Beaker folk and their Stone Age "Neolithic" predecessors co-existed side by side in the same areas. Stone and Bronze Age cultures were not different from each other and did not take place at different times. It is also proven that the builders of Megalithic monuments in Ireland came from Spain. In England Bronze Age civilization (associated with Stonehenge) reached great heights and is referred to as Wessex culture.
Diodorus Siculus ii,47-50 quoting Hecataeus of Abdera's History of the Hyperboreans:
"Opposite the coast of Celtic Gaul there is an island in the ocean, not smaller than Sicily, lying to the North - which is inhabited by the Hyperboreans, who are so named because they dwell beyond the North Wind. This island is of a happy temperature, rich in soil and fruitful in everything, yielding its produce twice in the year. Tradition says that Latone was born there, and for that reason, the inhabitants venerate Apollo more than any other god. They are, in a manner, his priests, for they daily celebrate him with continual songs of praise and pay him abundant honours. In this island, there is a magnificent grove (or precinct) of Apollo, and a remarkable temple, of a round form, adorned with many consecrated gifts. There is also a city, sacred to the same god, most of the inhabitants of which are harpers, who continually play upon their harps in the temple, and sing hymns to the God, extolling his actions."[1]
Sweeney Notes: [1] Diodorus Siculus ii,47-50 quoting Hecataeus of Abdera's History of the Hyperboreans. It should be remarked here that Latone, the mother of Apollo, has a name identical to that of Lotan (Leviathan), the Phoenician dragon of the watery abyss. The national emblem of Britain, of course, is the dragon.
2. Steve Coneglan: 13 Stars and the Magen David
From: Steve Coneglan <swaggerz@hotmail.com>
Subject: gematria of Israel
Dear Yair,
I was interested to see that you published something in "Brit-Am Now" 607 concerning gematria.
...it did bring to mind something very interesting that I'd seen some time ago on this subject.
Anyone who looks at an American dollar bill will see the Great Seal of the United States as part of its design. The obverse side of this Seal depicts an eagle with a constellation of thirteen stars above its head. These stars are arranged in the form of a hexagram, i.e. a shield of David design.
It so happens that in recreational math, very few numbers - when represented as uniform circular counters or coins of the same denomination - are actually able to be arranged to form a star of David hexagram. Thirteen is the second term in the series after one.
The interesting part is that the tenth such number in the series is 541, and this happens to be the gematria sum of Israel! In effect, the name Israel, when read for its numerical rather than lexical content, forms the very symbol by which the nation is known today!
[yod = 10 + shin = 300 + resh = 200 + aleph = 1 + lamed = 30 sums to 541]
Anyone who feels like having a bit of fun might like to check it out for themselves. All that's required is 541 uniform circular counters (!) and a bit of patience.
While gematria is a controversial subject, and one that I feel you to be justifiably reticent about, the word itself appears to have an interesting history. It apparently comes to the Hebrew from the Greek (usually it's the other way round, the Greek adopting the Hebrew), gematria being 'geometria' in Greek; from which is derived the English 'geometry'.
Best wishes in your continued research,
Stephen Coneglan
3. Orjan Svensson: Gematria
a. Britain, Norway and the Covenant?
b. USA and Israel
c. MENASHEH and the USA
From: Orjan Svensson <o_svensson@yahoo.com>
Brit-Am Note on Gematria: Nachmanides said that Gematria was legitimate ONLY in special instances
where it was accompanied by tradition. MOST authorities however would seem to
consider Gematria as legitimate without such restraining limitations.
We recognize Gematria but do not study it.
To understand Gematria one would ideally need to know Hebrew,
have some mathematical inclinations, and be interested in the subject.
This would exclude a great many of us.
Here are the messages from Orjan:
Shalom,
a. Britain, Norway and the Covenant?
According to sources on the Internet the word BRIT (or
BeRiTh) occurs 286 times in the Old Testament (TaNaK).
I therefore find it interesting that the gematria of
Britain ["Britaniah"] in Hebrew is equal to 2 + 200 + 10 + 9 + 50 +
10 + 5 = 286.
[beth, reish, yed,, Tet, nun, yed, heh
The same value is obtained for Norway: 50 + 6 + 200 +
6 + 6 + 3 + 10 + 5 = 286.
["norveigiah"= nun, vav, reish, vav, vav, gimel, yud, heh]
b. USA and Israel
The USA is in Modern Hebrew known as "ARTZOT Ha BRIT".
Calculating the gematria value for this yields:
1 + 200 + 90 + 6 + 400 + 5 + 2 + 200 + 10 + 400 =
1314.
Now it turns out that this number has a quite special
relationship with the gematria number of Israel, which
is 541.
More specifically 1314 can be written as:
541 + 541*10/7 + 1/7
or as:
541*(17 + 1/541)/7
or as:
541 + 5411/7
1314, the Hebrew gematria value of the USA, is
therefore equal to a striking combination of 541 (the
gematria number of Israel) and the numbers 1, 7 and
10.
c. MENASHEH and the USA
--------
The gematria of Menasheh is 40 + 50 + 300 + 5 = 395.
395 can be reduced to 3 + 9 + 5 = 17.
Now it turns out that the gematria of the USA in
Hebrew is equal to approximately a seventh part of
this number of MENASHEH, i.e. 17, multiplied by the
number of ISRAEL, i.e. 541.
Because 17*541/7 = 1313.85714...., which is
approximated by 1314, which is the gematria value of
the USA in Hebrew, as I already explained.
Regards,
rjan