The Semitic word ADaM conveys several ideas. In the form _Adamah_ or _Adami_ it has reference to the _earth_ or _soil_, but its primary sense was either “red” or “man.” Probably a double meaning was conveyed in the name of the Egyptian god Atum, whose representation was that of a red man. It must be noted, however, that the traditional ancestor is usually styled, not _Adam_ but simply _Ad_; and this primitive root may have had some other signification, analogous perhaps to that of _Eve_ (_Hhavváh_), “the mother of all living.” This word, which denotes “life,” is from _hhayáh_, to live, to give life—the allied word in Arabic being _haywān_, and the Arabic name for Eve becoming _hawwa_. Now, in the Celtic dialects _ad_ forms the root of words denoting vegetable vitality. In Welsh, moreover, _tad_ is a father; the base, _ta_, denoting, among allied senses, “a supreme one,” reminding us of the Chinese _ta_, great; and connected with it being _tras_, kindred, affinity. Turning, however, to Eastern languages, we find that the old Egyptian had a word _ti_, with a sense analogous to that of the Welsh _ta_, and also a verb _ta_, to give, which is found in Hebrew, as _’athah_, to come, and in Arabic as _ata_, to give, or to bring forth. It is evident that the primitive root, consisting of the dental _t_ or _d_, preceded or followed by a vowel sound, had associated with it the idea of activity, and probably of paternity. In the old Akkad speech, indeed, _ad_ itself signifies a “father,” and we are justified, therefore, in supposing that when this word was used as the name of the mythical common ancestor, it had a sense analogous to that which “Eve” expressed, _i.e._, “the _father_ of life, or of all living.” In Adam and Eve, therefore, we may have a reference to the male and female principles which, in the philosophy of the ancients, as in that of the Chinese and some other Eastern peoples, pervade all nature, and originate all things, applied particularly, however, to the human race. But Adam was not the name given at first to this mystical father of the race. The Egyptian _Atum_ was originally a cosmogonic deity. Bunsen states that the name of this god may be resolved into _At-Mu_, meaning “Creator of the mother or night.” The sense of this, however, is not very apparent, and it may be suggested that the term _Adam_ (in Egyptian _Atum_) was formed by the combination of the primitive _akkad_ words _Ad_, father, and _Dam_, mother. It would thus originally express a dual idea, agreeably to the statement in Gen. v. 2, that male and female were called “Adam.” This agrees perfectly with the Persian tradition which made the first human being androgynous. When the dual idea expressed in the name was forgotten, Adam became the Great Father, the Great Mother receiving the name of Eve (Hhavváh), _i.e._, living or life, although _Adam_ in the generic sense of “Mankind,” denoted both male and female. * * * * *