Blog #18
Joins
Having completed blog # 17 “ Postscript, Meaningful Coincidence” regarding the “Partner Restaurant” and “ Augury”. I’ve decided to share my serendipitous link with Dr.Karen Joins and the coincidence of his name as it relates to zygoma.
Dr. Joins and I first met in 1972, as I was beginning my Otolaryngology residency at the University of Alabama. I had just spent two years in the army as a general surgeon , including a year in Viet Nam and my family and I had moved to Monte de Oro, a beautiful contemporary subdivision, south of Birmingham, in Jefferson County, a neighborhood of young families with lots of kids. I had little time to get to know the neighbors however our children made quick friends and before we knew it we were invited to their homes on week-ends.
Karen and Ann Joins lived close by with two kids ; Deborah and Scott. Scott, their youngest , became instant pals with my son Bob. Karen was a member of the Samford University Religion Department, but I had little awareness of his professional responsibilities as he mine, even though our families became quite close during the four years as neighbors.I had no idea how important he would become in my search for the origin of language , writing and the alphabet. In fact, this would not become clear until four years later after we moved away, and was only revealed while on a brief visit back to Birmingham. Quite by accident , we stumbled on the topic of language while having dinner one night when I then learned Dr. Joins taught ancient Greek and Hebrew, and he learned of my interest in the origin of written language, especially Hebrew, Hieroglyphics and the Rosetta Stone!
As a result of that night’s visit I found myself on the way to London,England for two weeks intense study at the famed British Museum of History.
Without my knowledge, my wife and office manager, Diane, and Mrs. Joins arranged the trip and for me to stay at Samford College”s summer campus, where Dr Joins supervised a select group of Samford students providing daily study tours and lectures with renown experts on the museum’s fabulous collections of the history of mankind. I was free to join them or to explore on my own their hieroglyphic artifacts, the largest outside of Egypt (100,000 pieces ), as well as an endless collection of ancient civilizations and their language and of course the incomparable Rosetta Stone.
After a full day at the museum each day ,after dinner, Dr. Joins presented a two hour “ cram course” on the essentials of ancient Hebrew. My meager knowledge limited my questions, however his answers of the student’s great questions helped my understanding considerably.
Hebrew was the original language of the old Testament of the Bible and the best and most reliable source of ancient language with English translations.
I came hoping to confirm how the word zygoma and yoke began and to find a hieroglyphic symbol representing a yoke, as the ” yoke concept” apparently is older than either the Greek or Hebrew language.
Although I found neither,
The experience initiated my deep study into the development of written language, the origin of the alphabet, the domestication of animals and the beginning of civilization.
I returned home with a mind full of questions ,luggage full of books on language development and a rudimentary grasp of Hebrew.
A few particularly valuable, then and even now, are the collection of paperbacks by The University of California Press / British Museum :
Egyptian Hieroglyphics, W.V. Davis ,
The Early Alphabet , John F. Healy,
Greek Inscriptions, B.E.Cook ,
Etruscan , Larissa Bonfante,
Cuneiform, C.B.F. Walker,
Maya Glyphs, S.D. Houston.
More detailed but also excellent resources are :
Hieroglyphics, The writings of Ancient Egypt , Maria Carmela Bettro,
The Rosetta Stone , E.A. Wallis Budge,
A Study of Writing , I.J Geld,
Writing, The Story of Alphabets and Scripts, Georges Jean
Another one beyond my capability at that time, but has come to be a foundational text for me is :
Egyptian Grammar, Sir Alan Gardiner
Last and still beyond my mastery
Dr. Joins requirement :
Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Brown, Driver and Briggs
I would never be where I am today without that fortuitous trip, yet perhaps even more fortuitous , had I known of Dr. Joins knowledge of classical languages those years we were neighbors , it’s quite possible he could have eliminated the confusion and ambiguity I encountered regarding zygoma’s use as an anatomical term, thereby removing any further need for continued search!
Fortuitously, that didn’t happen!, and here we are.
What fascinates me still :
Even to this day, Dr. Joins has never mentioned his name as related to my zygoma-yoke search but for me some thirty years later, I can’t dismiss it as anything less than “a meaningful coincidence” ! DR. JOINS I
With a name like JOINS ; and Yoke meaning To Join , and Zygoma meaning Yoke, all three , Joins, Yoke and Zygoma ,cognates, having the same root and source! He never acknowledged this incredible coincidence. But our paths crossed, and Zygoma , Joined, me to him, forever yoked.
Before ending , I have to say what I treasure most is his reply , when I asked him years ago to tell me about God. His reply , “God IS!”
Karen, should you happen to come across this, I want you to know that, at long last, I understand . You might not agree , but, for me, you were as close as anyone could be to I AM. ( Yahwey).
God bless you,
walter
Perhaps providence would better describe our meaningful coincidence.
END Blog #18