[asa] "Enoch = Uruk" question for Dick

Dick,
 
I understand that you believe a literal individual named Cain built a city and named it Unuk ("Enoch") after his son. I believe you are right that "Enoch" is probably a variant of "Unuk", which in turn is the same as the mesopotamian city "Uruk". However, I take Cain and his son Unuk to be archetypes of early mankind rather than as literal individuals. I believe they represent mankind's early efforts to develop civilization ("...Cain built a city..."). Theologically, observing the placement of this statement in the account, this tells us that mankind was continuing to trust the works of his own hands as he began building cities, just as Cain had earlier trusted the works of his own hands when he brought the offering of grain that he had gotten by working the fields; an offering that God rejected (the name "Cain"="smith" being a reference to the act of forging things, working with his own hands to make things). The next person in line after Unuk is "Irad", whose name mean
 s "city of a fugitive," so we see that city building did not bring salvation to the line of Cain, and after Irad comes "Mehujael"="cursed of God," and then "Methushael"="Man of Sheol (death)."
 
In either case, whether Cain and Unuk are literal individuals or archetypes representing mankind, what I am wondering is what's the historical or theological significance of the city Uruk? You have posted here that Uruk was not the first city in Mesopotamia. Was it the first Akkadian city? Was it the first ruling city, or the first truly major city? Was it the best known Mesopotamian city to the descendants of Noah and Abraham? Did it have any significance to God's covenant people beyond the statement that Cain built it and named it after his son?
 
Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide on this!
 
Phil
 
________________________________________________________________________
AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Mon Mar 26 21:49:06 2007