View source for ANGOLA

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''[[:Category:Lehite GN|Lehite GN]]'''
|1.
|[[NEPHITE(S)|N<small>EPHITE</small>]] city ([http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/morm/2.4?lang=eng#3 Mormon 2:4])
|}		

'''Etymology'''

'''A<small>NGOLA</small>''' is the name of a [[NEPHITE(S)|N<small>EPHITE</small>]] city. If the name is from a [[HEBREW|H<small>EBREW</small>]] root, it may be a combination of words, since the [[HEBREW|H<small>EBREW</small>]] letter ''nun'' in contact with any other consonant within a word would make it subject to "progressive assimilation" or "regressive assimilation" (i.e., "''ng''" or "''gn''" becomes "''gg''"). Thus, the name may derive from the [[HEBREW|H<small>EBREW</small>]] word ''ʿayn'', "spring, well" (for ''ʿayn'' as a geographic name see Numbers 34:11), and a word from the root GLH, "to uncover, reveal" or GLL, with the basic meaning of "to roll, roll away (a rock or stone)." A combination of ''ʿayn'' plus a form of either of the roots may generate the names "Revealed Spring" or "Rock Spring."

It also seems unlikely that the transliteration practices used by the prophet Joseph Smith for representing the ''ʿayin'' with ''gn'' or ''ng'' were used in representing the ''ng'' of '''A<small>NGOLA</small>'''. Joseph adopted the practice as a result of his study of [[HEBREW|H<small>EBREW</small>]] with his Sephardic Jewish teacher, Joshua Seixas, after his arrival in Kirtland, Ohio, in the early 1830s, after the publication of the Book of Mormon.

Alternatively, '''A<small>NGOLA</small>''' may derive from the ancient Greek ''angelos'', ''angela'', "messenger angel." THe occurrence of names of Greek origin suggests the possibility of Greek contacts with the eastern Mediterranean in antiquity. Since the late second milennium B.C. Syrians and Phoenicians had trading contacts with the Aegean kingdoms, and in the first millennium B.C. Greek mercenaries and merchants maintained a significant and ongoing presence in Syro-Palestinian territories.<ref>Stephen D. Ricks, "I Have a Question: The name of one of the Lord's disciples listed in 3 Nephi 19:"4-Timothy-seems to be Greek in origin. Is there an Explanation for the Appearance of a Greek Name in the Book of Mormon?" ''Ensign'' 22/10 (October 1992): 53-54.</ref> It is also possible that Greek speakers may have arrived in the New World in the period after the Nephites arrived there.

Distance and chronology make it unlikely that the Book of Mormon city name is related to the ancient (and modern) Anatolian city name, Angora (Ankara, Greek ''ʼAnkyra''). However, during the 7<sup>th</sup> century B.C., it was the principle city of Phrygia, after the destruction of nearby Gordion by the Cimmerians ca. 700 B.C.<ref>G.K. Sams, "King Midas: From Myth to Reality," ''Archaeology Odyssey'', 4/6 (Nov-Dec 2001): 14-26.</ref> The City was famous for "Phrygian" wool (and woolen embroidery). It was of such fine quality that the word "Phrygian" came to refer to this wool even as far away as Coptic Egypt.<ref>J. Černý, ''Coptic Etymological Dictionary'', 33.</ref> Thus it is possible that the name of the capital city was also well known.<ref>B. Burke, ''From Minos to Midas: Ancient Cloth Production in the Aegean and Anatolia''.</ref> (Note that the name elements ''cumen/kumen''-name found elsewhere in the Book of Mormon could also be Anatolian ([[Robert F. Smith|RFS]]).) However, [[John A. Tvedtnes|JAT]] doubts that Angora was well-known in the Iron Age, unless through Hittite or Luwian sources.

It seems unlikely that the [[Geographical Name|GN]] '''A<small>NGOLA</small>''' is connected with the name of the African state of Angola (a former Portuguese colony), whose name derives from the title ngola held by the kings of Ndongo. It is quite likely that Joseph Smith had never heard of the name Angola before translating the Book of Mormon. Neither can the Book of Mormon GN be derived from the three cities in the United States bearing that name because Angola in New York (1854-5), Indiana (1838), and Louisiana (1830s?) were all founded after the printing of the Book of Mormon in 1830. 

See also [[Angola / Angolah Variant]]

'''Variants'''

[[Angola / Angolah Variant|Angolah]], [[Angola / Angolah Variant|Angelah]]

'''[[Deseret Alphabet]]:''' 𐐈𐐤𐐘𐐄𐐢𐐂 (ænɡoʊlɑː)

'''Notes'''
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<references/>

[[Category:Names]][[Category:Nephite GN]]

<div style="text-align: center;"> [[ANATHOTH|<<]] Angola [[ANI-ANTI|>>]] </div>

==[[Name Index]]==
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