So is it possible that Sanskrit and Hebrew were in contact in the distant past and influenced one another? According to traditional linguistics, the two languages developed in isolation of one another and hence any similar sounding words (with perhaps a few exceptions) are in no way related to one another. Since the Vedas are dated to roughly 1500 - 1000 BCE and were written in South Asia, there can be no relation to the flowering of civilization that typifies this era in the Levant.
In the strictest sense, the naysayers are certainly right that the Hebrew and Sanskrit languages developed out of larger and unrelated language groups with their own vocabularies and unique grammatical structures. Yet, there is not only a good case to be made that the language families came into contact with one another but also that they existed in close proximity and undoubtedly influenced one another.
Indeed, much to the chagrin of Hindu Nationalists, the oldest textual examples for an Indo-European language, do not originate anywhere near the present-day border of India, but rather originate in the Mitanni Kingdom. This Kingdom, which ruled over a huge area from northern Iraq to Asia Minor and south into Syria (see map) may have existed as a confederation of Hurrian-speaking tribes.
Yet, at the same time, three important Mitanni texts that have been uncovered suggest what has been termed an "Indo-European superstrate" that was perhaps spoken by the Mitanni elites. These texts include a treaty between the Mitanni and the Hittites, the world's oldest horse-rearing manual, and a text describing the solstice festival of vishuva.
Among other things, the texts include Indic names for gods such as A-ru-na (the Vedic chief-god of water Varuna), Mi-it-ra (the Vedic god Mitra and Roman god Mithras), In-da-ra (Vedic god of rain and thunder), Na-sa-ti-ya-na (Nasatya or the Ashvins of the Rig Veda), and a-ak-ni-ish (Agnis, the Vedic god of fire). The other documents include numerous Indo-European names, numerals, and technical terms for horse-rearing (See this Wiki).
What these texts demonstrate is that, at the very least, a segment of the Mitanni population and probably the ruling elite spoke an early variant of an Indo-European language that was not far removed from Sanskrit. Moreover, since it is impossible to separate language and culture, there is no doubt that the Mitanni were not only familiar with Vedic lore, but also practiced some form of early Vedic "Hinduism." Otherwise, why would they seal a treaty with vows to these gods?
To be clear, though forgotten today, as this treaty demonstrates, the Mitanni were a large, centrally located empire that had close relations with their neighbors. Indeed, the Mitanni were connected to Egypt through bonds of marriage and Tadukhipa, the sister of the Mitanni King Tushratta was betrothed both to Amenhotep III and his son Akhenaten of El Amarna fame. Eventually, the lands of the Mitanni Kingdom would become part of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. That there were regular contacts with Canaan is not only possible, but quite likely. This, I believe, would go a long way to explaining the existence of Indo-European and Semitic cognates such as Veda and Vada/Yeda.
No less important, the Bible tells us of an important forefather who spent a significant portion of his life in the Hurrian heartlands. "Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there." (Genesis 11:31). We will, however, save this discussion for our next post, where we will begin to explore Abraham's possible connection to Vedic India.
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