From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Eber (עבר Pronounced "Ey-ver" occasionally written Heber) was the patriarchal father of all Hebrews mentioned in the Biblical "Table of Nations". According to the Septuagint he was the son of Qainan (קינן) but also, universally, he was the son of Salah, the son of Arpaxad. Possible meanings of the name indicate the Eberites (proto-Hebrews) were centered in a northern trans-Euphrates region like Khabur, but also suggests nomadism and migration. Comming from the same area, both Eberites and Hurrians may have shared a common ancestral language. It is clear that Hurrian-related languages show some affinity with Caucasian languages like that of the Avars. Many Eberites were dispersed among northwestern Afro-Asiatic peoples such as the Canaanites and Arabs. Records of the Hurrian Language remain to this day, though the Eberite language is lost, remaining only as the dialectical differences Hebrew has from other Canaanite dialects.
The legend that Avars might have originally been descendants of Eber in the Caucasus with Abraham's third wife Keturah in their ancestry does not jarr aganst biblical traditions.
In the Quran, Heber is known as Hud and thus Hebrews are referred to as Eldhyn Hudwe (those of Hud).
