Homosexuality was declared a sin by worshippers of Baʿal (Bel) five or six thousand years ago but the ban rests also on a “natural” but unspecified danger. Later religions followed suit
In Akkadian: “pilpilû: [Human being]: a homosexual lover.” The word is of Sumerian origin also used in Akkadian as pipilû: [Religion]: → pippilû: a sin. Another form of the word is: pilpilânu [Human being]: a homosexual (?) / a gay person (?) / a sodomite (?).
For some reason the closest we have to pilpilû is ‘bulbul’ “nightingale”. The name appears to be a Dual Nuclei *BL, *BL. The original meaning is something wet or soft extended to mean rain or any other water wetting something. Dual Nuclei are very ancient preceded only by roots, and very common in Arabic vernaculars. The era of the invention of this structure was a happy era, probably the beginning of the Agrarian Era. It is possible the birds were associated with their habitant in lush spots.
The Akkadian lexicographers are not sure of the meaning (a sodomite?) but adding ‘a’ and ‘n’ to certain words is very common in Arabic in cases where the named are famous, significant or simply to emphasise the meaning of the word. For example, ‘farah’, a noun, is happiness. A slight change ‘farih’ makes it an adjective but ‘farhaan’ (suffixed by ‘an’) is also an adjective describing somebody who is very happy, and both words (Farah and Farhan) are common as proper nouns.
Pilpilânu, therefore, could have the same meaning as pilpilû but it may indicate somebody who’s a committed homosexual.
Homosexuality, then, is attested by Sumerians but homosexuality is documented in some animals, including horses, with a number of videos on YouTube for the curious. Assumption may be made that human beings indulged themselves in homosexuality but it is difficult to specify how prevalent it was and what was the social attitude to it. We found no entry for ‘lesbian’ in Akkadian and the Arabic word for it, ‘suhaq’, looks derogatory and very modern. It simply means “to crush”, an unlikely description of soft sex unless some girls had female bulldozers for lovers.
The ancient Akkadians considered homosexuality a sin on religious grounds. This is before the bible so what religion was it?
Several Akkadian entries are presented for further consideration including: ḫiṭṭu, ḫiṭītu, arnu, gillatu, gullultu, nerṭû, šērtu (2), ḫaṭû
The first one: ḫiṭṭu → ḫīṭu: [ŠE.BI.DA:] (later: ḫiṭṭu; plural ḫīṭāni: error, lack; crime, penalty): [Legal]: harm, crime; penalty 1) failing, defect (commodity, person) 2) crime, sin, error, a fault; ḫiṭṭu ša muāti: mortal sin; ḫiṭṭu ḫaṭû: to sin against; ḫāṭiu / ḫaṭû: (adjective): sinful; zakû: sinless; bēl arni / bēl gillati / ḫāṭiu / ḫaṭṭā ‘ u: a sinner.
“Mortal sin” doesn’t seem to apply to homosexuality unless they knew something like Aids. Variants include ḫiṭṭu but several other words are also suggested for consideration including: bēl ḫīṭu, ša ḫīṭu, ḫīṭu emēdu, ḫīṭu šadādu, pippilû.
In the entry for ‘bēl ḫīṭu’: [dialect=32]: ša ḫīṭu: [Legal]: guilty person.
Comparison with other Semitic languages: Syriac: ḫaṭāia, ḫuṭaita “sinner (masc. and fem)”.
The word is in Arabic ‘ḫaṭāia’ “sins” but it is also in Akkadian either as a root or an extension:
ḫaṭāmu: [Human → Speech] 1) to block, to stop up, to shut, to close 2) to muzzle, to muffle, to dampen (a sound), to deaden (a sound), to dull, to cushion (a shock);
ḫaṭāṭu: [City → Buildings] to dig out;
ḫaṭṭu: [Government] staff, sceptre;
ḫaṭû (2): [Moral life → Fault] amiss, that goes wrong;
ḫaṭû: G. to harm, do wrong towards s.o. (+ana) D = G Š. to cause s.o. to neglect; to lead into wrongdoing.
The last word means nothing more than “do something, take a step to do something or towards something” but the meaning of the root and at least two of its extensions carries “natural” danger and serious warning. From the root is ‘ḫaṭar’ “danger”, ‘ḫaṭa’ “took a step or walked” (m.), ”ḫaṭu’ (This is the root *ḪṬ) “a line, writing”, ‘ḫaṭb’ “asked for the hand of a girl in marriage”, ‘maḫaṭ’ “blow his nose”, ‘muḫaaṭ’ “snot”.
The meanings may look all over the place but they are all very well connected, like all words in the majority of categories. The original meaning is the trace left on the sand by a slithering snake, the ultimate source for fear for our ancient ancestors. The snake may not be there but its trace is evident and unmistakable. The traces are screaming “danger, keep away!”
Why “snot”? Because it comes out from the nose like a line. Why “writing”? Because this how the early writing looked like. Why “to propose”? Because the habit was for man to stand outside the home of the girl and give a speech of honeyed words and promises. From it ‘khateeb’ “an orator” but originally somebody who relied on a written text.
Clearly, this is a natural “danger’ adopted by religion in Mesopotamia.
But what religion was it?
Above is “bēl ḫīṭu, [dialect=32]: ša ḫīṭu: [Legal]: guilty person.”
What is “bēl”, exactly?
Let’s see:
balāt(a): without;
balāt: without;
balu: without; without permission of s.o., without knowledge of s.o.; conj + subj.: without doing sth., without having done sth.;
Balāt: without; balāt šarri without (the consent of) the king;
bēl *, bēlī *: Sir;
bēl palluḫi: [Religion] worshipper;
bēlāni *: Messrs;
bēlat *: Ms;
bēltānu: [Human being] like a lady of high rank, ladily / haughtily (?);
bēltī*: ma’am;
bēltu: [Government] lady, mistress;
bēlu: [Government] boss, chief, master, lord; owner;
bêlu: [Government] G. to rule, control; to subdue, take possession; stat.: to be lord; to detain s.o.; to manage, be in charge of sth. (+acc.); to be responsible for sth., lay claim to s.o. D. to keep s.o. in power N. to be detained; to be claimed;
bēlūtu: [Legal] rule, domination / dominion, ownership, empire;
bēt bēli: [Government] government.
Let’s now look at some modern texts:
Bel: (The narrative of Bel and the Dragon).
Bel: “(/ˈbeɪl/; from Akkadian bēlu), signifying “lord” or “master”, is a title rather than a genuine name, applied to various gods in the Mesopotamian religion of Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia.
Baal: Baal, also rendered Baʿal (Biblical Hebrew בַּעַל, pronounced [ˈbaʕal]), is a North-West Semitic title and honorific meaning “master” or “lord”[1] that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu. A Baalist or Baalite means a worshipper of Baal” (Wikipedia).
Primary applied etymology would discard all the names presented by all the authors except for baʿal which is rendered correctly in Aabic (بعل), a trilateral of the type of prefixed specdifier extension (letter+root).
The extension letter is ‘b’, the root is *ʿL. It is a proper noun not a title. The confusion by authors is to think of names outside the common stock of vocabulary. In true Ariba (Semitic) languages, names of all types, including, proper (personal) nouns are derived from the same roots like all other words. If original, they all mean something but the root must mean something or something.
The letter (ʿ) also (ʻ) is a unique letter originally a human approximation of sounds made by animal in ancient environments.
Revealing what animals made the sound is to reveal to you the power of primary etymology.
The letter is called ‘ayan’. You can listen to it here but jump to 1:13 if you don’t have the time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0ro6b50-Lk
The girl presenting some Arabic letters provides the first example as ‘ayn’ “eye”. This same word means “water hole” which was frequented by animals. The animals are identified by a prehistoric root “An” (*ʻN). The is a linguistic container in which words of various but connected words are held.
The words apply to dozens of animals with the exception of predators. So we know the sound was copies from some of these animals that frequented the water hole like our ancestors did. From the same linguistic cluster is ‘n*Nʻja’ “ewe”. So the sound appears to have been borrowed from sheep.
Viewers who read our posts on the origin of Allah may still remember that the root looks like *ʻL in b*ʻL (Baʿal) but the first letter in *ʻL is different. It is a hamza or a short ‘a’ or the cockney ‘t’ (IPA ’ – *’L). We have examined and re-examined the linguistic clusters of both *ʻL and *’L and concluded *ʻL is a Yemeni replacement for *’L. The letter ʻ is the first of a two-letter name of their nation *’D, so it is a Yemeni letter.
In Lisan Al Arab, the most extensive 12th century AD Arabic dictionary, bʻl “the name of a king, name of a known statue worshipped by the people of Jonah and also the people of Elias, master, husband”. The ancient city of Baalbak (Baalbek), in east Lebanon, was a major centre for the worship of Baʿal. The name is a nucleitic compound, the second root “bak” (*BK) means “gathering”. “Bakka” is a second name of Mecca. Clearly, pilgrims flocked to both cities for religious ceremonies.
Let’s re-link and conclude:
homosexuality was practised until it was declared a sin by the worshippers of Baʿal.
When?
The name Baʿal is a trilateral, a major linguistic component developed in response to the advent of the Agrarian Era. However, the extension is prefixed (letter + root) rather than the more common suffixed extensions (root+letter).
Prefixed extensions are favoured by priests but not exclusively. Our best guess is that the name emerged 5,000- 6,000 years ago and given by priests added emphasis on his speciality powers to help farmers particularly those who relied on rain. A clever move to attract farmers and some of the new wealth created by agriculture.
One last word: Baʿal is simply a new name for a god known earlier as ʻL who is the same god known as ’L (IL) from which Elohim, Eli and Allah are derived.
They are the same God with the same verdict concerning homosexuality – A SIN.
IMAGE: rock_art_libya_s_bishtawi_1
Image: The Greek are notorious for homosexuality but the straights did their best and managed to produce a very small nation.
“Kiss Briseis Painter Louvre G278 full” by Marie-Lan Nguyen – Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kiss_Briseis_Painter_Louvre_G278_full.jpg#/media/File:Kiss_Briseis_Painter_Louvre_G278_full.jpg
IMAGE: Kiss_Briseis_Painter_Louvre_G278_full
ADDENDUM:
A word for a homosexual person is not available in dialectal Arabic. The description heard is “fucker of boys.” In standard textual Arabic the word is lūṭi and the noun lawāṭ. The Stone Age biliteral root is *LṬ “hit, strike, steal, lay in waiting to attach,” etc.
Nothing favourable, condoning or conciliatory there, it appears.
Last modified: December 30, 2022
