古代地中海世界的“古实”

Cush/Kush in Mediterranean World

"古实"是古代地中海世界一个非常重要的术语。希伯来圣经对作为地名的古实和作为人名(部族)的古实的记载都非常详细。除了《创世记》中的古实外,所有古实(人)都是指同一地方或部族,即埃及南部的埃塞俄比亚(人)。结合犹太人古代历史与圣经中的古实记录进行考察,可以明显看出圣经中关于古实的记载与犹太历史是完全吻合的。后世学者关于古实的研究已有2000多年,基本倾向于认为希伯来传统中的古实就是埃塞俄比亚。新发现的楔形文献为研究圣经中的古实问题提供了可靠的证据,它不仅明确证明了古实就是埃及南部的埃塞俄比亚,而且填补了《创世记》中的古实与此后古实的区分的空白。希腊传统中对埃塞俄比亚(人)的认识,也为希伯来传统中的古实研究提供了重要参照。

Cush/Kush is described as both place name and person(tribe)name in Hebrew Bible in detail.All of the names of Cush(ite)refers to the same place or tribe,that is Ethiopia(n),except the Cush in Genesis.It can be clearly seen that the records on Cush in the Bible are consistent with Jewish history according to the combination of Jewish ancient history and the records on Cush in the Bible.The later scholars have seen studying Cush for more than 2000 years and they tend to think that Cush in Hebrew tradition is Ethiopia.The newly discovered cuneiform literature provides reliable evidence for studying the Cush issue,which not only clearly proves that the Ethiopia is in the southern part of Egypt,but also fills the gap between the distinction between Cush in Genesis and the other Cush in Bible.In addition,the understanding of Ethiopia(n)in Greek tradition also provides an important reference for the research on Cush in Hebrew tradition.