Raqqa: From Genesis Chapter One to Today's Headline News

After reporting on the status of the ISIS refugees in America, Bob Enyart discusses the meaning of the name of Raqqa, the Syrian city and terrorist headquarters. From Genesis 1, Psalm 36, Isaiah 42 and 44, and elsewhere, we learn that God raqa the Earth by creating the raqia, that is, the solid rock crust of the Earth. Therefore, the etymology of the English word "rock" can now be traced back much further than the medieval Latin rocca. Not surprisingly then, studying geography we find that root word in the names of various ancient places in the region. We can now trace the etymology of our English word rock to that very Epic of Gilgamesh flood account, with Gilgamesh being the king of Uruk, which was located in the south of the modern nation with a name that means "deeply rooted, well-watered", for God placed the water deep under the raqia which explains the name of the ancient place, Iraq.