BIBLICA 101.3 (2020) 444-452 doi 10.2143/BIB.101.3.3288731 THE LEVITES, *RA-WO, ΛΑΌΣ / ΛΑΌΊ — A NEW PROPOSAL FOR LEXICAL AND HISTORICAL RELATIONSHIP 1 Different proposals for possible relationships between Mycenaean Greek and the languages of the Eastern Mediterranean have been advanced in the scholarly literature in recent years. For natural reasons, most atten- tion has been given to the possible relations between Greek and Anatolian languages 2 . With these considerations in mind, the present essay aims to highlight the possible relations of Mycenaean Greek and Hebrew, as well as to propose a hypothesis that may provide an explanation for the ques- tion of modes of cultural transmission. The questions of multilateral linguistic and cultural relationships in the Eastern Mediterranean during the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age have been addressed in depth by scholars. In some cases, the Oriental origins of words and institutions are advocated 3 , while in others the Aegean origins are proposed 4 . There are cases where establishing the direction of cul- tural transmission, if there was any, may not be possible 5 . There are cases, however, where the origin of the word/institution may be determined with a high degree of probability. What follows focuses only on possible bor- rowings from Mycenaean Greek into Hebrew. 1 I would like to thank Barry Keane for improving the English of this article. 2 See Z. SIMON, “Anatolian Influences on Greek”, Change, Continuity, and Connec- tivity. North-Eastern Mediterranean at the Turn of the Bronze Age and in the Early Iron Age (eds. Ł. NIESIOłOWSKI-SPANò – M. WęCOWSKI) (Philippika 118; Wiesbaden 2018) 376- 418. 3 M.C. ASTOUR, “Greek Names in the Semitic World and Semitic Names in the Greek World”, JNES 23 (1964) 193-201; Hellenosemitica. An Ethnic and Cultural Study in West Semitic Impact on Mycenaean Greece (Leiden 1965); M. WEST, The East Face of Helicon. West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth (Oxford 1999); R. ROSół, Frühesemi- tische Lenhnwörten im Griechischen (Frankfurt am Main 2013); “Early Semitic Loanwords in Greek”, Change, Continuity, and Connectivity. North-Eastern Mediterranean at the Turn of the Bronze Age and in the Early Iron Age (eds. Ł. NIESIOłOWSKI-SPANò – M. WęCOWSKI) (Philippika 118; Wiesbaden 2018) 334-344. 4 C.H. GORDON, “Homer and the Bible. The Origin and Character of East Mediterranean Literature”, HUCA 26 (1955) 43-108; W. BURKERT, “Lescha-Liškah. Sakrale Gastlich- keitzwischen Palästina und Griechenland”, Religionsgeschichtliche Beziehungen zwi- schen Kleinasien, Nordsyrien und dem Alten Testament (eds. B. JANOWSKI – K. KOCH – G. WILHELM) (OBO 129; Freiburg – Göttingen 1993) 19-38. 5 See J.P. BROWN, Israel and Hellas (BZAW 231, 276, 299; Leiden 1995-2001); M. FINKELBERG, Greeks and Pre-Greeks. Aegean Prehistory and Greek Heroic Tradition (Cambridge 2006).