Who Were the Mysterious "Habiru" and Why Did They Need Onions?
Exploring the enigmatic "Habiru": their needs, their roles, and their ties to Ramesses' Temple.
The ancient Egyptians were a well-organized people. They enjoyed documenting their daily administrative activities, bureaucracy at its finest.
One Egyptian papyrus mentions the duty of an Egyptian official: "Distribute onions to the Habiru building Ramesses' Temple."
Who were the "Habiru"? Why did they need onions? And what was their role in Ramesses' Temple?
Well, the Habiru (alternatively pronounced "Apiru") are frequently referenced in Egyptian writings. It turns out that many would come to Egypt during times of famine to purchase grain. They were wanderers, and sometimes even rebels and robbers. They roamed the area, with other documents noting their control over the major cities of Canaan (the Amarna Letters).
Could the Habiru be the Hebrews?
Some scholars think so, often supported by the "Apiru" pronunciation.
The Hebrews were the people to whom the Israelites belonged, but included all descendants of Eber, or those from beyond the river. Many were indeed nomadic, and sadly, some might have resorted to theft.
This context helps explain the Egyptian saying "for the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews", the cultural clash with Hebrew traditions may have led them to enslave the Israelites.
What's clear is that the Habiru mentioned here were slaves and helped construct the Temple of Ramesses.
It's hard to ignore the similarity to the enslavement of the Israelites who built "Pithom and Ramesses".
Ramesses means "son of the sun" in Egyptian, a name shared by several known kings, and also a city called Ramesses. The city fell into decline in the 12th century BCE and was no longer inhabited, which corroborates the ancient biblical account of constructing Ramesses (and matches the rabbinic teachings suggesting that the Israelites built structures sunk into the sand).
The Brooklyn Papyrus includes a list of slaves in an Egyptian household. Among the names: Menachem, Issachar, Shifra, Asher, Esau, Jacob, Hebrew. Sadly familiar, names of Hebrews.
And another detail hard to overlook: the Israelites in the desert complain, "We remember the fish, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we ate in Egypt free of charge," and through this ancient document, we too are reminded along with them, that the Egyptian overseers distributed onions "freely" in exchange for perpetual servitude... No thanks, we would rather forgo Ramesses, the pyramids, the sand, the garlic, and the onions. Blessed be Hashem who freed us from Egypt.
