ARE THE DINKA-NUER PEOPLE THE ANCIENT PHILISTINES?

Philistines, Amalekites, Japheth, and the giants of Anakim. If you're familiar with the Bible (Hebrew Bible, King James Version, and Septuagint especially), you've no doubt heard these names before. When researching ancient people, especially those from particular tribes such as these, the assumption by so-called experts is generally that they are "long lost" or "went extinct", usually because after they do their archaeological digs, comb through incomplete historical records, and conduct their (sometimes faulty) DNA studies, they are usually left with more questions than answers. If they had bothered to extend their search to deep within Afrika, in terms of "long lost", as you will see with the Amalekites, the Philistines, the Anakim, and Japheth, a son of Noah, that is far from being the case. 

Enter the Dinka people, and the Nuer people. These tribes are currently residing in Sudan (I don't use the European/Arab political terms "North Sudan" or "South Sudan"), and all are known for their extreme height in comparison to other tribes and races, a fact which will come in handy later on in this post. When studying the languages, clan systems, totems, spirituality, and overall culture of these tribes, and juxtaposing them with what we know of the biblical Amalek, Philistim, and the people, places, and things they engaged with, it becomes clear that there is a link here. I believe that the sons of Japheth, the giant race of the Anakim, the Amalekites, and the Aegean-rooted Philistines are NOT in fact "extinct", they simply migrated, and their current form resides in North East Africa. 

Linguistic archaeology, which is the science of retroactively tracing the origin of things using language, is always tricky, and if done by a person who is not very diligent and scholarly detailed, can be prone to error. Modern words may sound similar to ancient words, and may even have the same phonetic root, but in many cases, meanings change over time, especially over a timespan of more than 3500 years. However, that hasn't stopped Europeans from using linguistic archaeology in tracing their current languages to many "Proto-Indo-European languages" such as ancient Greek, Old High German, Old Norse, and even Sanskrit. But this same science has not been as widely applied to Afrikan languages, for many underhanded reasons which I will not get into here. 

Keeping all those things in mind, below are my comparisons and contrasts, gathered over hundreds of hours over the past three months from combing through Dinka & Nuer pdf dictionaries, websites, articles, books on Jstor and by E.E. Evans Pritchard, and many more (all sources are posted at the bottom). See for yourself, and if you speak Thuongjang (Dinka language), Thoknaath (Nuer language), or Thokreel (Atuot language), comment below and let me know if what is compared is valid and if you believe that there is a long lost connection here. 

Let's go! 

AMALEK: the name of the ancestor of the war-like people called "Amalekites", who had many battles with the Israelites. Hebrew sources wrongly theorize that the name means "people who lap like a dog" or "people who wring the neck of birds". I say "wrong" because these definitions are more than likely Hebraic attempts at disparaging their ancient enemies using language, not to honour them

AMAMLÉK: a Nuer portmanteau which translates to "the attacking Lék", as Lék, or Leek, is the name of a Nuer clan. This definition fits in with the "war-like" personality of the Amalekites more than the false Hebrew theory

AMÄÄLALEEK: a Dinka portmanteau which translates to "the ram leads the fight", and similar to the Nuer portmanteau above, this directly fits with what the Amalekites were known for: fighting. The word "aleek" in Dinka means "a leader in battle or hunting"

AMALLEK: from a Dinka portmanteau combining "amal" (he is staying, he remained) and "lek"  (to stab with a spear), which combined means "he remained and stabbed with a spear". This, once again, fits in with the warrior notoriety of the Amalekites

MALEK: the name of a town in Dinka country, from a word which means "grey spotted, black and white bull". This word is related to the ancient god Molek (spelled Molech, or Moloch, in other sources), who is regularly depicted as an anthropomorphic bull deity. This god was not known to be a Philistine or Amalekite deity, however, but they did have dealings with the people who are theorized to have revered the god, the Kanaanites

AGAG: Hebrew spelling of the name or title of an Amalekite king, which is said to mean "shelter" by Hebrew sources

AGAAK: Dinka word which means "rooftop", essentially matching the Bible version of the name in both sound and meaning

AKAK: Dinka portmanteau which means "subduing" and "cutting", and was probably the actual ancient meaning of the "agag" title/name for the king of the Amalekites due to their warlike nature

GAAG/GAAGWONG: Similar to the Amalek connection above, in which "Lék" is a Nuer clan, Gaag, or Gaagwong, is also a clan of the Nuer. If the Nuer are the descendants of the Amalekites, as is being suggested, then the biblical Agag character may either be the originator of this clan or a member of it, based on his name

AGAK: Nuer word which means "quarreling, vexation", once again fitting into the battle nature of the Amalekites 

GOG: Septuagint spelling of "Agag", the name or title of an Amalekite king, said to mean "shelter"

GUGUK: Nuer word which means "to be sheltered", essentially matching the Septuagint version of the Amalekite word and matching the proposed Hebrew definition

GÖK/GÖÖK: Dinka word which means "very great". Whether "Gog" or "Agag" was a name or title of the Amalekite king, if the Dinka are connected to these ancient people, this definition is the perfect encapsulation for a monarch and possibly could have descended from an ancient word which actually meant "king"

TIMNA: mother of Amalek, whose name is said to mean "restraint" by Hebrew sources. The following city was possibly named after her by the Amalekites before it was invaded and stolen by the Israelites 

TIMNATH/TIMNAH/TIMNATHA: Hebraic spellings of a Philistine town that was retaken from the Israelites, who took it from the Amalekites, and the name is said to mean "alloted portion" by Hebrew sources. 

TIMNA: Dinka portmanteau which means "it is a tree". This would tie into the biblical character Timna "bearing fruit" and becoming the mother of a nation of people via her son Amalek. This definitional tie, if merited, points to Timna being a mother goddess or matriarchal ancestor figure that the nation of Amalek worshipped, and was represented by a tree, similar to many other nations who did the same with other deities

TIMNATH: The word "nath" or "naath" in the Nuer language means "people" (as in "thok nath", the name of their language which means "the people's language"), and the Nuer even refer to themselves as "Neitinath", which means "native people". The word "tim" means "honour, revere" in Nuer, and placed together with "nath", the portmanteau "Timnath" would mean "people of honour" or "honour the people"

THAMNATHA: Septuagint spelling of the city of Timnah, where Samson found Delilah and began to give in to her temptations and seductions

THEMNĢATH: Dinka portmanteau which means "hope to test" or "hope to tempt", which describes the Samson-Delilah narrative perfectly of her being used as a willing agent of temptation in aiding the Philistines to destroy Samson. The "NĢ" in this word is pronounced the same as the "ng" in the English word "long". 

GOLIATH: a giant "champion" of the Philistines said to be born in a town called Gath

GOLYATH: the words "gol" (Rek dialect, pronounced "gawl") and "yath" (Agar dialect) both mean "totem" in Dinka, and a totem is a protective spirit of a clan (Golgol/Golgawl in Rek, Golyath in Agar). Another variant meaning of the word "gol" itself also translates to "clan". Therefore, Golyath was probably one word in ancient times which split into two, and literally would have meant "the protective spirit of the people". This then points to the ancient Goliath character as the personification of a protective spirit of the Philistines, hence why he was seen as their "champion". The story of Goliath was probably a Philistine folktale that was added to the Bible, but rewritten to fit the biblical narrative of being a hero that was destroyed by an Israelite, essentially a case of Israelite propaganda. More credence given to this theoretical connection is the fact that both the Dinka & the Nuer are famous for their height, as they generally tower over most non-Dinka/Nuer/Atuot tribes and people in general. Interestingly, in other Anuic languages (Afrikan & Papuan), "Gol" and "Kol" are nouns, prefixes and suffixes which speak to being tall, big/large, strength, fighting, and saviourism/heroism, all aspects relating to the Golyath/Goliath story. Some examples being: golba = grow tall (Zulgo-Gemzek language), kolmototik = big, huge (Kipsigis-Kalenjin language), golo & ndagolo = tall, tall person (Mombo-Dogon language), golo = strong, hard (Lopit language), ngola = big (Azumeina language), egolu/ugolu = fight (Ega language), golo = save, rescue (Dholuo language), akolali = ancient giant ancestor race (Wiru language)

GOLLIATH: Nuer portmanteau which means "the place of death". In the famous David and Golyath story, the duel between them was always fashioned to be a battle to the death, as they were both representing their people as chosen heroes. To speculate even further, this Nuer connection gives credence to a theory that "Goliath" may NOT have been the original name of the giant character, but the name of the place where they did battle. Details such as these always get confused when fables are passed down orally

APHEK: a place where the Philistines camped out in preparation for battles that took place with the Israelites in the same area

APEK: Dinka word which means "offering for the ancestors", or "sacrifice for the dead". The word "aphek" is most likely a Hebrew or Greek transliteration for the original Philistine name, and if the Philistines are tied to the ancient Dinka people, then this place would have been a region of high importance to their ancestral practices. It is then understandable why they would fight the Israelites for this land, because it would have been the highest form of disrespect to their ancestors to have this site desecrated by Israelite nationalism

GATH/GETH: Hebrew and Septuagint names of a major Philistine town which was the birthplace of Golyath/Goliath. Hebrew sources speculate (once again, most likely wrongly) that this word simply means "winepress"

GETH/GEETH: Dinka word which means "towns, cities", and thus, has an obvious connection to the ancient Philistine town mentioned above

GATH/GAAT: Nuer word which means "child"; the word for a person from Gath was said to be "Gittite". As with anything that is written down multiple times, and had changes made, this may very well be a mistranslation, and the correct term for a person from Gath may have originally been written as "Gaatite", a child of Gath. The next section goes into more detail. 

GITTITE: The designation for a person from the Philistine town of Gath or Geth

GIT: Nuer word which means "to repeatedly stab with a spear"; if the Nuer connection to the ancient Philistines is true, this may have been a title for a specific kind of warrior in biblical times, making the word "Gitt" actually something akin to a "general"; therefore, when the Bible says "Golyath the Gittite", it would have meant "Golyath the general", and thus not necessarily describing that he was from Gath

GIT: Dinka word which means "make a sign of blessing on a stick"; if the word "Gittite" was the designation for a person from Gath, and the Dinka have any connection to this, then the name must have had some spiritual significance to the ancient Philistines, as with most town/city/village names in ancient times, which was usually named after a deity, a spiritual practice or philosophy, or a sacred place of origin

GITH: Dinka word which means "steal, carry away"; the Philistines have been theorized to be the identity of the illusive "sea peoples" that terrorized many towns and empires with pillaging and quick hit & runs, including ancient Khamit, who mentions them in their records. The Philistine cities were all along the coast of the Mediterranean, and if these were the same "sea people", then a Gittite from Gath/Geth/Gith would fit right in to the meaning of this Dinka word

GILGAL: a place where Samuel the prophet killed king Agag after he was saved and given shelter by king Saul of Israel, who refused to completely destroy the Amalekites as commanded by God

GILGIL/GILGAL: Gilgil is a name for Nuer males which means "to persuade repeatedly, "to refuse", or "to argue", matching the tidbit of the story mentioned above perfectly as there was a dispute due to the king refusing to follow specific divine instructions. Gilgal means "to refuse and hesitate", still matching the topic of the story, and the place where the story happens, both in definition and phonetics

GELGAL: Dinka portmanteau which means "shelter the clan". This ties it to the same Samuel-Saul-Agag triangle above since King Saul gave King Agag shelter instead of killing him along with his people

TUTTUL: Name of an ancient Syrian city where the god Dagon/Dagan was revered, a god of high importance to the Philistines, who at one point conquered the region. This city is not mentioned in the Bible but in extant texts.

TUTTUL: A Dinka portmanteau which means "the goose appears", combining the word "tut/tuot" (a type of goose) and tul (emerge, appear). Why is this phonological and definitional tie important? Well, because ancient Philistine pottery and pieces of other artifacts found all over the Middle East have the image of geese, which represented the personification of the Earth to the Philistines, as well as the Khamites (Egyptians), who used the goose to personify Geb/Keb/Kab, the Earth god. Syria was one of the many cities conquered by the Philistines, and if this connection is true, then the name of the city was given based on the name of a Philistine earth deity that was represented as a divine goose, whose name may have simply been "Tut" or "Tuut", related to "Tuuti", a pair of goose gods in the Ha Tuaut/Ha Duat (the underworld) of the Khamites (Budge's Egyptian Dictionary, pg.868). Tuot also means "goose" in Nuer, while "tut" means "strength" or "greatness", associated with the name of the Nuer omnipresent god Tutgar

CAPHTOR/GAPHTHOR: Hebrew & Septuagint names for a Philistine city whose name is said to potentially mean "crown"; Caphtor is said to indicate the capital on top of a pillar, named after Crete as the place from which they were first imported

KÄPTHOR/KEPTHOR: Dinka portmanteau meaning "the first crown", from the words "käp/kep" (lift something on to the head) and "thor" (begin, first, pronounced "thawr"). Even though the word "käp/kep" does not directly mean "crown" in the Dinka language ("dar" or "nģak" are the words for "crown"), the fact that it speaks to lifting an object on to the head fits in with the Hebrew theorization which lists one of Caphtor's potential meanings as "crown", an object which is placed on the head. This also makes sense due to Caphtor being theorized as being a city placed on top of a pillar.

KÄPDAR: Dinka portmanteau which means "lift the crown unto the head". As the Hebrew theorization above states that the potential meaning of "Caphtor" is "crown", this definitional tie, if correct, would give credence to this theory and complete the full meaning of the name: that this place, Caphtor, was not only the first establishment of the Philistines, but the most important to their ancient royal line.

KAPDOR: Nuer portmanteau which means "to take hold of an open space", which would tie it into the theory above that Caphtor may have been the original establishment of colonization for the Philistines, and they gave it a name to match this act of conquest

PHILISTINE/PHILISTINI/PHILISTIM/PHILISTI: Biblical kingdom of people who are always recorded as being a warmongering adversary of the Israelites. Many theories have emerged about the etymology of the name "Philistine" but none have been conclusive. It is said to be the etymological root of the name of the country Palestine, said to come from "Palash", meaning to "burrow" like an animal or "grieve by rolling around in ash" according to Hebrew sources, but none of those sources deal with the last part of the name, "tine" or "tim". Keep in mind that the very terms "Philistine/Philistim" are Greco-Roman renderings of the original name of these people, and was, most likely, not what they called themselves in their own language. In Khamitic (Egyptian) records, an enemy of the Khamites called the "Pereset" are speculated to be referencing the Philistines. In the bible, they are sometimes mentioned in conjunction with the Amalekites and the Anakim. 

PILITHIN: Dinka portmanteau which means "enter into a place by force with a noise", from the words "pil" (enter without permission or by force), "lit" (to come down with a noise), and "thin" (place). Because of the Philistines always being associated with war, I theorize that whatever the original form of the name of these people may have been in their own language (which was not Hebrew or Greek), it would have had something to do with strength, power, and possibly war, as opposed to Hebrew theories that it simply meant "to burrow". However, the hedgehog, a burrowing animal, is a totem of the Dinka, one of several; therefore, I also theorize that if the Dinka are connected to the Philistines, the very name of these ancient people may have been paying homage to a very important totemic burrowing animal that represented the nation

PALATHTIN/PALATHTIM/PELATHTIN: The first Nuer portmanteau here translates to "come to the surface, anointed people", the second translates to "come to the surface and anoint with honour", while the third translates to "the clever and anointed people". In the Nuer language, "tinwin" means "people of the past, those of long ago", while "tim" means "to honour, revere". Since none of the Hebrew theorizations deal with the "tine" or "tim" syllable in Philistine/Philistiim/Palestine, I put forth that this Nuer connection is the source. The word "tin" in Nuer does not mean "people" (that word is "nath"), however, that may have been close to its original meaning in ancient times based on "tinwin" being a designation for an ancient people, but was later possibly replaced with the word "nath" as the language evolved over thousands of years. It could also have been the name of a special group of people, such as a royal clan, Tin, who are simply remembered as "tinwin" in current times

JAPHETH: Name of a son of Noah, who is said to have taken root in the regions of Turkey, Greece, the Aegean (Philistines are speculated to be from there), and the surrounding areas. Hebrew sources say his name means "to expand formlessly", "to enlarge", and "to spread widely"

YAPET: Dinka portmanteau meaning "to spread". This connection speaks for itself, very clearly.

JAPITH: Nuer portmanteau which means "it grows". The word "grow" is synonymous with expansion and enlargement, so again, this connection also speaks for itself. 

JAVAN: Name of a son of Japheth, son of Noah. His name is said to mean "mud man" or "mire", the ground texture of a swamp.

JAWANG: Nuer portmanteau which literally translates to means "him swampy" or "it is swampy", matching the biblical name with almost identical phonetics and definition. 

YAWAN: Dinka portmanteau which means "to be of clay". Mire is deep, soft mud in water or slush, like a potter's clay. Once again, similar to the Yapet-Japheth connection above, this one speaks for itself. The word "wan", Dinka for "clay, ochre", is almost similar in phonetics to the Nuer word above for "swamp" or "muddy water", which is "wang"

MADAI/MEDAI/MADOI: Hebrew & Septuagint spellings of the name of a son of Japheth, whose meaning is said to be "unclear" but theorized to mean "middle", describing a geographical location. Other theories state that it may mean "my measure", and "out of the abundance of".

MÄTTHÄI/METTHÄI: Dinka portmanteau which means "put the nation together in one place" from the words "mät/met" (put together in one place) and "thäi" (people, nation, foreign tribe). As the Hebrew theorized definition states that the name "Madai" may have been describing a region of land, the Dinka connection made here would agree with it wholeheartedly. 

MEDEDAI: Nuer portmanteau translating to "until it is vacant", a term which could be applied to a geographical area, as per the Hebrew sources theorization.

MADUIDUI: Dinka portmanteau combining the male prefix "Ma" with the word "duidui", which means "Acacia tree". The Acacia was a tree of paramount important to ancient cultures around the region the bible supposedly took place, including the ancient Khamites, whose texts mention the acacia tree several times in relation to many of their gods and spiritual practices. With this in mind, I theorize that the Septuagint spelling of "Madoi", tied with this close phonetic match from Dinka, seems to be pointing to this biblical character originally being an ancient deity who was attached to the acacia tree. 

TUBAL: Name of a son of Japheth whose name is said to mean "world economy" or "flowing forth"

TUUBUOL: Dinka portmanteau which means "give milk to the soil". Cattle, and the milk they produce, are the very crux of the Dinka-Nuer traditional economy

ANAK/ANAKIM: Name of an ancient race of giants, known for the violent, warlike nature, and always mentioned in those contexts in the Bible. The word "Anak" is said to mean "long neck" or "ornament" in Hebrew, while other sources say it means "giant". Anakim is supposedly just the plural form of Anak.

ANNAK: Dinka portmanteau which means "I kill"

ɣANNAK: Nuer portmanteau which means "I kill"

ANNAKKIM: Dinka portmanteau which means "I have decided to kill". The Anakim were known as a violent race of giants, and every time they are mentioned, it is in the connotation of war, similar to their descendants the Amalekites and the Philistines. All of the above Dinka-Nuer direct phonetic matches to the biblical name of these giants match that warring mode of operation 

AKIRUM: Name of one of three Anakim rulers in the Khamitic Excretion Texts, where they are called "Iy Anaq", and are enemies of the ancient Khamites. These three rulers could be the ones mentioned in the Hebrew & KJV bibles as "the three sons of Anak" in Judges 1:20, however, in the different versions of the bible, the three sons are named as Sessi/Sheshai, Akiman/Ahiman, and Tholmi/Tholami/Talmai

AKIRRUM: Dinka portmanteau which means "the Nile is taken by force" from the words "Kir" (Nile river) and "rum" (take by force, rape). Because the Iy-Anaq/Anakim were said to be the sworn enemies of Khamit by the Khamites themselves, and the Israelites by extension since they came out of Khamit, the meaning behind this word would point to why, if it is indeed tied to the Anakim. When a person swears to take (or retake) a landmass by force, they don't come with the best intentions. 

ERUM: Name of one of three Anakim rulers in the Khamitic Excretion Texts

EERUM: Dinka portmanteau meaning "it is taken by force", so a similar meaning to the other leader "Akirum" mentioned above. 

ABIYAMIMU: Name of one of three Anakim rulers in the Khamitic Excretion Texts

ABÏYAMIM: Dinka portmanteau which means "he will become black", combining "abï" (will, shall), "ya" (be able to, become), and "mim" (charcoal, black). Both the Dinka and the Nuer are known for their pitch black skintones, so this connection is warranted. 

BIYEMIMUT: Nuer portmanteau which means "will strike at this with a spear" from the words "bi" (will), "yem" (strike at), "mimi" (this), and "mut" (spear). Given the warlike legacy of the Anakim, it would make sense for one of their famous rulers to be given such a name having a violent meaning. 

KIRIATH-ARBA: Original name of the city of "Hebron", where the three sons of Anak were supposedly driven out from. The character "Arba" was said to be the father of Anak, and according to Hebrew sources, the name "Anak" means "four". In Khamitic, the word "arb" or "arba" means "flame/burning" (pg.131, Budge's Egyptian dictionary), and this may point to Arba being a very old, pre-Khamitic god associated with fire, or the Sun itself

KIRYATH: Dinka portmanteau which means "the protective spirit of the Nile". If this connection has any merit, my theory is that the ancient Khamites and Israelites encroached on Nilotic territory that originally belonged to the Anakim, as the bible consistently speaks of them being "driven out" from their indigenous land, which the invaders then renamed "Heber-On" (Hebron). The character "Arba" then, combined with this Dinka meaning, would have been that "protective spirit", making the entire name of "Kiryath-Arba" mean "the protective spirit of the Nile is Arba", their Sun god or deified ancestor at that time.

KIRYATH: Nuer portmanteau which means "the river has been snatched/taken away". This ties into the name of one of the rulers of the Anakim, Akirrum, whose names directly translates into Dinka as "the Nile is taken by force". Since the Anakim were indeed driven out from the Nile by the Khamites and Israelites, as historical records show, then it would make sense for this region to have this very fitting meaning behind its name. 

NEPHILIM: Name for the giant offspring of half-human, half-spirit beings who wreaked havoc on the earth, associated with the Anakim. This word is said to mean "the fallen ones" or "the extraordinary ones" in Hebrew.

NËPELLEM: Dinka portmanteau which means "let the crafty be extreme in height" from the word "në" (let), "pel" (clever, crafty), and "lem" (excessive length, or extreme height). 

That was a lot to read, wasn't it? So, if you're a Dinka, Nuer, Atuot, or any of the surrounding Nilotic people, what do you think? Do these connections make sense, and point to the true ancient origins of the people of the Nile? Let me know your thoughts.

SOURCES: 

http://www.phaistosgame.com/Phaistos27.htm 

https://www.abarim-publications.com/NaLi/A-MaleBig.html 

https://www.nuerlexicon.com/search.php 

https://www.sudanarchive.net/?a=is&oid=TCD19540000-01&type=staticpdf 

https://monoskop.org/images/4/4d/Evans_Pritchard_E_E_The_Nuer_a_description_of_the_modes_1940.pdf 

http://ia600404.us.archive.org/22/items/nuerenglishdicti00huffuoft/nuerenglishdicti00huffuoft.pdf 

https://books.google.ca/books?redir_esc=y&id=Yz6vAwAAQBAJ&q=Akirum#v=snippet&q=Akirum&f=false 

https://archive.org/download/dinkadictionary/dinka%20dictionary.pdf 

https://www.biblestudytools.com/lxx/ 

https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0.htm 

https://www.biblegateway.com/ 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41716084?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3A913f4b3024757c52854fc987bd01ad48&seq=1 

https://instruct.uwo.ca/anthro/301/eppoli.htm 

https://books.google.ca/books?id=khemzjElrc0C&pg=PA433&lpg=PA433&dq=cic+dinka+totem&source=bl&ots=6lYOA0awR5&sig=ACfU3U0xzYKD5NB__TSWsG6datXgk-QhZg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi46K7UtZv2AhXLlIkEHf8CDksQ6AF6BAguEAI#v=onepage&q=cic%20dinka%20totem&f=false 

https://archive.org/download/Budge.AnEgyptianHieroglyphicDictionary.vol.1/Budge.AnEgyptianHieroglyphicDictionary.vol.1.pdf 

https://archive.org/download/BudgeEAWEgyptianHieroglyphicDictionaryVol21920/Budge%20E%20A%20W%20-%20Egyptian%20Hieroglyphic%20Dictionary%20Vol%202%20-%201920.pdf 

http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/dagan/