Aamu

Aamu (Egyptian language: 𓂝𓄿𓅓𓅱 ꜥꜣmw) was an Egyptian name used to designate Western Asiatic foreigners in antiquity.[1] It is generally translated as "Western Asiatic", but suggestions have been made these could be identical with the Canaanites or the Amorites.[1][2]

For the acronym AAMU, see Alabama A&M University and Museum of Contemporary Aboriginal Art.
Procession of the Aamu
A group of West Asiatic foreigners, possibly Canaanites, labelled as Aamu (ꜥꜣmw), including the leading man with a Nubian ibex labelled as Abisha the Hyksos (𓋾𓈎𓈉 ḥḳꜣ-ḫꜣsw, Heqa-kasut for "Hyksos"). Tomb of 12th-dynasty official Khnumhotep II, who served under Senusret III, at Beni Hasan c. 1900 BCE.[1][2][3][4]
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Aamu
in hieroglyphs
The leader of the Aamu in the painting is a man described as "Abisha the Hyksos"
(𓋾𓈎𓈉 ḥḳꜣ-ḫꜣswt, Heqa-kasut for "Hyksos").
Tomb of Khnumhotep II (circa 1900 BC).[1]

Contemporary Egyptian sources from the time of the wars against the Hyksos also refer to the latter as ꜥꜣmw. Although they have left no inscriptions in their own language, some of their personal names have turned up in Egyptian records, which are a syntactical and lexical match for West Semitic dialects.[5] An ancient Egyptian painting in the tomb of 12th Dynasty official Khnumhotep II, at Beni Hasan (c. 1900 BCE), shows a group of West Asiatic foreigners, possibly Canaanites, labelled as Aamu (ꜥꜣmw), including the leading man with a Nubian ibex labelled "Abisha the Hyksos" (𓋾𓈎𓈉 ḥḳꜣ-ḫꜣsw, Heqa-kasut for "Hyksos").[1][2][3][4] The Aamu from this relief are further labeled as being from the area of Shu, which may be identified, with some uncertainty, with the area of Moab in southern Palestine (region), around the Jordan river, or generally the southern Levant, just east of the Jordan river and the Red Sea.[6]

Abraham could have been related to the Western Asian people known to have visited Egypt during the second millennium BCE, such as the Aamu or Retjenu.[7] David Rohl proposed to identify Abraham with the Aamu, well known in Egyptian sources as a people of West Asia.[8] In Egyptian, the reading of the second aleph, when there are two consecutive alephs in a word, change to "r" or "l", so that the word Aamu, which has traditionally been suspected to mean Amorites, may actually be read "Aramu", referring to the Arameans, and associated with Abraham through the name given to his people, although one source states "Abraham the wandering Aramaean",[8] this is based on glossing the actual expression, "a wandering Aramean was my father".[9]

An Egyptian glazed steatite profile head of an Asiatic 1540-1190 BCE[10]
  • Word "Aamu" (from right to left) in two Egyptian scripts, in the Procession of the Aamu, circa 1900 BCE
    Word "Aamu" (from right to left) in two Egyptian scripts, in the Procession of the Aamu, circa 1900 BCE
  • A more recent description of the word (left to right, 1898)
    A more recent description of the word (left to right, 1898)
  • Aamu people ('𓂝𓄿𓅓𓅱' characters spread alongside each individual) in the Book of Gates (rendering)
    Aamu people ('𓂝𓄿𓅓𓅱' characters spread alongside each individual) in the Book of Gates (rendering)

References
  1. Mieroop, Marc Van De (2010). A History of Ancient Egypt. John Wiley & Sons. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-4051-6070-4.
  2. Bard, Kathryn A. (2015). An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. John Wiley & Sons. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-118-89611-2.
  3. Curry, Andrew (2018). "The Rulers of Foreign Lands - Archaeology Magazine". www.archaeology.org.
  4. Kamrin, Janice (2009). "The Aamu of Shu in the Tomb of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hassan" (PDF). Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections. 1 (3). S2CID 199601200.
  5. Redford, Donald B. (1992). Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times (1st ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 100. ISBN 0-691-03606-3.
  6. Kamrin, Janice (2009). "The Aamu of Shu in the Tomb of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hassan" (PDF). Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections. 1 (3): 25. S2CID 199601200.
  7. Najovits, Simson (2003). Egypt, the Trunk of the Tree, Vol.II: A Modern Survey of and Ancient Land. Algora Publishing. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-87586-257-6.
  8. Rohl, David (2010). The Lords Of Avaris. Random House. p. 196. ISBN 978-1-4070-1092-2.
  9. Deut 26:5
  10. Ancient Sculpture and works of Art part II, Sotheby's, 2019 "It is possible that this object formed part of the handle of an implement; see for example the acacia wood spoon in the Musée du Louvre (N.1738), which depicts a bearded Syrian supporting a large amphora on his left shoulder (Edward Brovarski, et. al., Egypt's Golden Age: The Art of Living in the New Kingdom, Boston, 1982, pp. 208-209, cat. 245)."


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