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5.0 out of 5 stars
Best crackpot theory I've ever read, Mar 22 2002
This review is from: Bible Came Frm Arabia (Hardcover)
Most crackpot theories tend to be slapdash, clumsy affairs. Not so Kamal Salibi's exquisitely well-wrought thesis: he has the philological skills to meticulously analyze hundreds of comparative Semitic roots and reinterpret ancient Hebrew in the light of Arabic. The consonantal outlines of Semitic writing make this possible, bringing into sharp relief the similarities between different Semitic languages and obscuring the differences. I've studied enough comparative Semitics myself to appreciate how ingeniously he handles the subject. Salibi was clever enough to knit together a huge number of Semitic roots into a widespread texture of highly realistic imaginary geography closely overlaid on the real geography. It was almost as though he had bent the earth's crust, bringing together Canaan and southwest Arabia to achieve this overlay. There are some circumstantial considerations to corroborate The Bible Came from Arabia. One is the phenomenon of "land-nama": people who migrate to a new land superimpose on it names remembered from the old country (for example, all the Old World names used in America, including many Biblical names). Also, travelers to 'Asir have remarked on the mystical impression its fertility made on them amidst the surrounding desert--as though it could have been the prototype for the Garden of Eden. Salibi's ingenious skill at tying together so many philological and geographical strands almost had me believing it. Against my better judgment, he made me want to believe it. This is the mark of a superior quality crackpot theory. Read this wonderful book if only for an example of the prodigies the human brain is capable of.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Pyramids and the Hebrews, Mar 27 2002
This review is from: Bible Came Frm Arabia (Hardcover)
I have read this book years ago and I must say it makes sense, for how come the Bible is elaborate on everything except the mention of the Pyramids in Eygpt. If the Hebrews were there they could not have missed the Pyramids. Surely they were not talking about the same Egypt and the Pharoes as we now know them.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Well documented and very convincing., Sep 18 2001
This review is from: Bible Came Frm Arabia (Hardcover)
I have read the book. I have been to Saudi Arabia and bought detailed maps of the area in question to verify what the Author was claiming and it really fits. It is well worth reading and should be widely distributed. It does not change the validity and importance of religion. In the end one is left with a feeling that the fighting in Israel-Palestine is futile and senseless. The land is being used an excuse and from this book it is the wrong piece of land, Judaism originated elsewhere. It also expalains why there are (were) relativly speaking so many Jews in Yemen, Ethiopia, etc... there was migration in all directions for West Arabia. Anyway, people need to learn to live together, have tolerance and respect for others regardless of religion. A good read, a different perspective.
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