I was reading Steve Berry's "The Alexandria Link" where the idea from this book was used in Steve Berry's book. This book was released in 1985 and Mr. Salibi's theory is that the Old testament Bible originated in Western Arabia in the Asir valley. The bulk of this book looks at word etymology of the Old Testament going from Arabic to Hebrew. Mr. Salibi identifies numerous Biblical place names when translated in Arabic and theorizes that the Jewish homeland originated in Western Arabia and then when the inhabitants were exiled some of the survivors moved north to current Israel/Palastine carrying place names with them. Considering the fact that Mecca sits in the Asir area, one can see the controversy in this theory.
According to Steve Berry, Salibi expounded his ideas in three other works: "Who was Jesus?" 1988, "Secrets of the Bible People" 1988, and "The Historicity of Biblical Israel" 1998. The Saudi government did in fact bulldoze entire villages after the publication of Salibi's first book; to this day the Saudi's refuse to allow any scientific digging in Asir.
Even for a theory, it's quite an eye opener to see how well Old Testament Biblical names line up in the Asir Valley and when you translate Hebrew into Arabic, Salibi gives a few examples of how the Old Testament Bible could take on a completely different meaning.
According to Steve Berry, Salibi expounded his ideas in three other works: "Who was Jesus?" 1988, "Secrets of the Bible People" 1988, and "The Historicity of Biblical Israel" 1998. The Saudi government did in fact bulldoze entire villages after the publication of Salibi's first book; to this day the Saudi's refuse to allow any scientific digging in Asir.
Even for a theory, it's quite an eye opener to see how well Old Testament Biblical names line up in the Asir Valley and when you translate Hebrew into Arabic, Salibi gives a few examples of how the Old Testament Bible could take on a completely different meaning.
