There is no evidence that oral history can transmit over 40,000 years from the time of the last Neanderthals. 10,000 years, yes, but not 40,000.
Moreover, hominid fossils are rare and were not encountered till the modern age. So it is not likely that multiple cultures had knowledge by way of remains. In contrast Dino fossils are more common, and likely contributed to dragon mythology around the world.
So why would there be myths like the Jinn across the world?
There are also many myths of humanoid animals and creatures that abduct women. In Africa, I read, that there is folklore about chimpanzees doing this. There is also an idea of gods and spiritual beings entering the world through human beast unions.
It is more likely that there are some common fascinations or anxieties to which these stories are speaking. I’m far less convinced this has to do with archaic humans.
I could easily see legends of them fulfilling a cultural need. The ‘Other’ – dangerous and yet attractive, not necessarily evil, but by no means safe. It would appear to be a synthesis of both human xenophobia and attraction for the ‘exotic’.
I’d suspect that a comprehensive survey of such legends would find common themes in these races dangerous and exotic elements rather than in any specific physical features.
Archaic human does not necessarily mean Neanderthal. There were several specimens of archaic human that have since been labeled “Homo sapiens” that fall within the 10,000 year limit you have given for oral tradition, like the red deer cave people and cro-magnon man (or early European modern humans as they are currently termed). Additionally, I don’t think the 10,000 year limit is necessarily true. Natives of the island of Flores in Indonesia knew of a diminutive humanoid by the name of Ebu Gogo for hundreds of years before the fossilized remains of Homo floresiensis were discovered and dated to 40,000 years ago.
If you mean peoples that do not descend from Adam and Eve, or from whoever was the progenitor couple of their myths, I agree with you.
The issue is that the term “archaic human” means something different than this to most scientists. What we meant by it, usually, is other species of Homo, so not Sapiens.
Maybe but that’s all we have good evidence for. The example you give could have been pure luck, an example of a broken clock telling the right time 2 times a day.
In aboriginal folklore, the correspondence with submerged geography has been far more particular, not just on one claim but several.
Fair point! I’ll be more mindful of that in the future. I mainly mean pre-Neolithic revolution humans, or Paleolithic hunter-gatherer stragglers that stuck to the old ways rather than adopting the agricultural civilization that spread after 10,000 yrs BP. To the agrarian, supposedly civilized people of the time the Bible took place, such “primitive” people must have seemed bizarre and possibly even of a supernatural nature due to their ability to thrive in the wilderness without the amenities a sedentary society could offer.
Eventually, such stragglers either died off or became assimilated with Neolithic social groups and then faded into myth as the “wild man” motif of cultures worldwide (ie, satyrs, jinn, ancestor spirits, wilderness demons, etc)
Interesting article, did not see a whole lot of discussion on tension between the two groups though. Mainly, the article was about slow diffusion of neolithic practices that hunter-gatherers selectively adopted.
Our English word “genie” is actually the French word used for “jinn” in the original translation of 1001 Arabian Nights from Arabic to French. “Genie” in actuality is the French word for the Roman concept of a “genius.” While it is the term we derive our English word for a highly intelligent person, the Romans and other Latin-based language speakers did not have the same concept in mind. A “genius,” or plural “genii,” was a guardian spirit that watched over a person throughout their lifespan. They were ancestor spirits that presided over a family unit. In fact, genius is derived from the Latin word for the family unit, “gens.”
While this would only circumstantially associate the two terms jinn and genius, there is a deeper etymological connection between them. Pre-Islamic Arabians worshipped the jinn as their tutelary spirits. In the town of Palmyra in Northern Arabia, they were worshipped as the “ginnaye, the good and rewarding gods.” Ginnaye is an Aramaic word that is etymologically linked with the Latin genius. Coupled with the fact that ancestors were worshipped by nomadic Arabian tribes as tutelary deities, it would not be too much of a stretch to postulate that the jinn were originally seen as the spirits of the pre-Islamic Arabian ancestors who were then downgraded to fallen spirit beings after the spread of Islam.
One other connection between the jinn and ancestor spirits is that one class of the jinn called the ifrit are actually described as the spirits of the dead.
Are you sure? How is it linked? Any linkage between Indo-European and Afro-Asiatic would require either loans or very good evidence of ancient connection, much better than a single rough correspondence of sound and meaning.
Perhaps I should not have said etymological, but conceptually absolutely. Pages 24 and 25 of the paper in the link outline the conceptual connection in detail. To summarize, both genii and ginnaye were tutelary spirits presiding over family groups acting as guardian protectors. However, due to the conceptual connection, etymological connection cannot be ruled out.
Sure, what is the question about them?
It is established in Islam that Jinn preceded humans, and that Satan (Iblis) was one of them. They have long ages, but they are not made of dense material. They are made of fire flames (which we can see as a mixture of energy and a little material). They hence have properties of both worlds (energy and matter). They can condense into material forms and return to their original form. They have awareness, consciousness, free-will, accountability, and religion. Since Adam, human prophets serve as prophets to the Jinn too. It is recorded in the Quran that they were aware of Moses Torah, cooperated with humans under Solomon’s state, and met with Prophet Mohammed to listen to the Quran. It is also recorded that those who heard it from him accepted Islam and went on to their people to evangalise. Though many Jinns remain infidels under the leadership of Satan as their king. An attempt (or maybe more) to murder the prophet by Jinn is recorded in Sirah (story of the prophet).
Infidel Jinn in Islam is quite similar to evil spirits in Christianity.
There is more details.
I can have a zoom with you if you are looking for more technicality.
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