Terminology Tuesday: DIRECTION & ORIENTATION

Orientation is the means by which persons determine direction. From earliest antiquity, there seem to have been the 4 cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west (N, S, E, and W). This is true of Hebrew, Akkadian, and Sumerian culture. It is also true for Egyptian. Directions were usually related to specific spatial phenomena. Often astronomical or terrestrial features served as the basis for orientation. Astronomical features would make use primarily of the sun for one’s point of reference; secondarily, specific stars or constellations might play a role in getting bearings. The rising and setting of the sun served as primary indicators of E and W in Mesopotamia and in Syria/Palestine. Terrestrial features such as mountains and seas served as indicators of direction. Heb yam, “sea,” referring to the Mediterranean, was one indicator of “west.” In a similar manner Akkadian šadū, “mountain”, was one indicator for “east.”

In other instances, once the primary bearing was determined, the individual faced that direction and used the body as a simple compass to locate other directions (when one faces N, the right hand is to the E, the left to the W, south is behind). Since the development of the magnetic compass, N has been the primary direction. Yet the very words orientation and orient point to the E, probably using the rising sun, as the primary reference point. From the OT itself there are numerous indicators that E served as the primary direction for bearings. In biblical Hebrew the related word group qedem, qēdmâ, and qādı̂m appears most frequently for “east.” These words literally mean “in front, before.” Thus E was the direction in front of one, the direction by which one gained one’s orientation and bearings. This usage of the root qdm to indicate E is not limited to Hebrew; it has a similar usage in Ugaritic, indicating E or the E wind. One of the Hebrew word groups for “west” was ʾāhôr and ʾahărôn. The “western sea” (yam ʾahărôn) referred to the Mediterranean Sea. Literally, ʾāhôr and ʾahărôn meant “back” or “behind.” Hebrew also used śĕmoʾl, “the left hand,” to indicate north and yāmı̂n, “the right hand” to indicate S.

However, not all ANE cultures used the same pattern of orientation as the Hebrews. The Egyptians, for example, had S as their primary reference point, probably because it was the direction of the source of the Nile, their lifeblood. Although they also used the body as a compass, different directions resulted from a different orientation. Facing S, the right hand (wnmy, ʾimn) indicated W (ʾimnt) and western (ʾimnty). Likewise, for the Egyptian, left and left hand (ʾiby and ʾibi) indicated E (ʾibt).

Using an astronomical basis for directions, most Semitic peoples used the rising of the sun for the primary direction and bearing. In Akkadian, ṣitū šamši, “the rising of the sun,” was a common expression used to describe E. Likewise in Hebrew, mizrāḥ (haš)šemeš, “the rising of the sun” indicated E, as did mizrāḥ alone. Similarly, Akkadian erēb šamši, “the setting of the sun” was a phrase to indicate W. The Hebrew maʿărāb also means “west,” and is cognate with the Akkadian. Hebrew also uses the phrase mābôʾ (haš)šemeš, lit. “the entrance of the sun,” as the opposite of sunrise, as sunset, and as the direction W.
JOEL F. DRINKARD, JR.

Drinkard, J. F., Jr. (1992). Direction and Orientation. In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 2, p. 204). New York: Doubleday.