With regard to the first element of the name Jerusalem, Uru-salim in Assyrian, that is to all appearance the Sumero-Akkadian uru (from an older guru), “city,” in the dialect eri, from which the Hebrew 'ir, “city,” has to all appearance come. The vowel-change from u to e or i is shown in tu, dialectic te, “dove”; uru, dial. eri, “servant”; duga, dial. ṣiba, “good,” etc. As is usual with two nationalities dwelling at no great distance from each other, borrowings of words took place between the Semites on the one hand and the Sumero-Akkadians on the other, which have left traces on the vocabularies of both.
Chapter VII. Isaac, Jacob, And Joseph.
Jacob, Yakub, and Yakub-ilu—Joseph, Yasup, and Yasup-ilu—Other similar names—The Egyptian monuments and the Semites.
With the disappearance of Abraham from the scene of his earthly wanderings, a prominent figure connecting Babylonia with Palestine vanishes from history. His son Isaac and his grandson Jacob retain, however, their connection with those of the family who resided at Haran, taking their wives from among their relatives there—Isaac because his father wished it, Jacob because the souls of his father and mother were vexed on account of the daughters of Heth whom Esau, Jacob's brother, had married. In this primitive story of three generations of a primitive family there is much to interest the student of ancient west Semitic manners and customs—the love of Isaac for Esau, because Isaac loved the savoury venison which the former provided for him; how Jacob, “the supplanter,” obtained his brother's birthright and the blessing which he ought to have had; Laban's covetousness and duplicity—all these things furnish material for the student of manners and customs and of human nature, but very little for the comparative archæologist who wishes to find connections between Abraham's descendants and the country which gave their father (or their grandfather) birth. Nevertheless there are points which deserve illustration.
To all appearance the manners and customs of the families of the patriarchs had not changed since they came out of Babylonia. There is the same pastoral life, the same dislike (and probably mistrust) of strangers and foreigners, the same freedom on the part of the men, even the most honoured among them, with regard to the marriage-tie, the same tendency to add to this world's goods, and to become great and mighty chiefs in the land (would that Jacob had done this otherwise), as at first. The Babylonian spirit of commerce and the desire for “supplanting” was well developed in the father of the twelve tribes, and may be regarded as adding, as far as it goes, to the confirmation of the theory (but the question is more one of fact than of theory) that Abraham was of Babylonian race.
Exceedingly interesting are all the names borne by the patriarchs, and the reasons why they were given to them. Indeed, the punning references to circumstances concerning their birth are similar in their character to those of the patriarchs before the Flood. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that many of the names found in this part of the sacred narrative are not by any means unique. Thus the name of Jacob occurs many times in the tablets of the period of the first dynasty of Babylon under the forms of Yakubu, Yakubi, etc., and there are also forms with the word îlu attached—Ya'kubi-îlu, Yakub-îlu, etc. In like wise we find what is apparently the same name as that of Joseph, namely, Yašupum with its longer form Yašup-îlu, types of many others, such as Yakudum, Yakunam, etc., Yabnik-îlu, Yagab-îlu son of Yakub-îlu, etc. As far as I have at present been able to find out, however, none of the names of this class, except Yakub-îlu and Yašup-îlu, have as yet been discovered in both forms (i.e. with and without the element îlu), which may turn out to be of importance, or may be simply a remarkable coincidence.
This, naturally, leads to the question: What are the meanings of these names? According to Genesis, Jacob means supplanter, or, rather, “he has supplanted,” and the further query then arises: What does the name mean when îlu is added to it? The meaning in this case ought to be “God has supplanted,” which clearly will not fit.