Unearthing the primordial roots of m�en

In all my unearthing of the ancient roots of “men”, of peoples, even of Setswana, I have not encountered a more misunderstood and misapplied word. Today, we clarify this key word which reverberates in both secular and biblical history; a word that, once again, cannot be fully unpacked without Setswana.

The perfect start-off point is the Pre-Flood Sumerian Kings List. Sumer – now mostly Iraq – was the site of the oldest known civilisation with arguably the oldest known writing: cuneiform. Cuneiform was etched onto soft clay tablets that were then baked for preservation. Some of them were written six thousand years ago and more – long before Genesis was put together. They recount events right at the dawn of civilisation: a time, they allege, when flesh-and-blood gods ruled our planet.