ABSTRACT

The Book of Mormon name Aha is not found in the Bible but is an authentic ancient Near Eastern name, found in both Egyptian and Hebrew. As a Hebrew name, it is abundantly found in inscriptions from the land of Israel before the time of Lehi.

EVIDENCE SUMMARY

Aha was a military leader during the Nephite wars with the Lamanites in the reign of the Judges. Together, with his father Zoram and his brother Lehi, he led an army that successfully rescued captives from a raid on the lands of Ammonhiah and Noah (see Alma 16:5).

In a pioneering study in 1952, Hugh Nibley showed that certain Book of Mormon names are attested in Egyptian. He observed that Aha was the name of the first Egyptian Pharaoh of the First Dynasty, and in Egyptian means “warrior.” More recently, the name has been shown to be an authentic and attested Hebrew name. Aha in Hebrew means “brother” and is a hypocoristic (shortened) form of the name Ahijah (“Yahweh is my brother,” 1 Kings 14:2).

Eilat Mazar and Reut Livyatan Ben-Arie state, “The name Aha does not appear in the Bible, but is commonly found in epigraphic finds.” Examples of the name have been discovered primarily in the land of Israel. They have been found on ostraca, seal impressions on jars, seals, bullae, and arrowheads which predate the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC.

Three examples were discovered on bullae from excavations at Jerusalem, including two that read “Hananyahu son of Aha” and “Azaryahu son of Aha.” The name was found on ostraca at Tel Masos in the Negeb, Khirbet el Meshash, and at Samaria, the former capital of the northern kingdom, which reads, “Aha the Judean.” And three examples were inscribed on ostraca 49, 67, and 74 at Arad, including one that reads, “Shu’al (and) Pedayahu sons of Aha.”

The name appears on seal impressions on jar handles, including, one from Tel Judeida, two from Khirbet Rabud, six identical ones from Lachish which read, “Shalum (son of) Aha,” and another that reads, “Aha (son of) Tanhum.” Additional examples come from a Moabite seal, and two bronze Phoenician arrowheads with the name Aha written in Canaanite letters, engraved with a steel tool. One dating to the eleventh century BC reads, “Aha, son of Any.” The other, dating to the ninth century, reads, “Arrow of Aha, son of Astart.”

Conclusion

The name Aha is not found in the Bible, and yet is clearly well-attested in ancient Near Eastern inscriptions that predate Lehi’s departure from Jerusalem. The appearance of this name in the Nephite text suggests that it was likely familiar to the people of Lehi or Mulek, or perhaps that it was found on the plates of brass which contained important genealogies and a record of the Jews (1 Nephi 5:10–16). The discovery of abundant examples of this name in the archaeological record—in the right place, at the right time, and long after the publication of the Book of Mormon—helps reinforce the Book of Mormon’s credibility as an ancient document.