Ten Lost Tribes

According to historian Zvi Ben-Dor Benite:

Centuries after their disappearance, the ten lost tribes sent an indirect but vital sign ... In 2 Esdras, we read about the ten tribes and "their long journey through that region, which is called Arzareth" ... The book of the "Vision of Ezra", or Esdras, was written in Hebrew or Aramaic by a Jew in Israel sometime before the end of the first century CE, shortly after the destruction of the temple by the Romans [in 70 CE]. It is one of a group of texts later designated as the so-called Apocrypha—pseudoepigraphal books – attached to but not included in the Hebrew biblical canon.^[4]:57

In Second [also called Fourth] Esdras, 13:39–47:^[12]

³⁹And as for your seeing him [a man seen in a vision] gather to himself another multitude that was peaceable, ⁴⁰these are the ten tribes which were led away from their own land into captivity in the days of King Hoshea, whom Shalmaneser, the king of the Assyrians, led captive; he took them across the river, and they were taken to another land. ⁴¹But they formed this plan for themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the nations and go to a more distant region, where mankind had never lived, ⁴²that there at least they might keep their statutes which they had not kept in their own land. ⁴³And they went in by the narrow passages of the Euphrates river. ⁴⁴For at that time the Most High performed signs for them, and stopped the channels of the river until they had passed over. ⁴⁵Through that region there was a long way to go, a journey of a year and a half; and that country is called Arzareth.^[13]46Then they dwelt there until the last times; and now, when they are about to come again, ⁴⁷the Most High will stop the channels of the river again, so that they may be able to pass over.

In Second Baruch, also called the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, 77:17–78:4:^[14]

^77:17But, as you asked me, I will write a letter to your brothers in Babylon, and I will send it by the hands of men; and I will write also a similar letter to the nine and a half tribes, and send it by means of a bird. ¹⁸And on the twenty-first day of the eighth month, I, Baruch, came and sat down under the oak in the shade of its branches, and no one was with me – I was alone. ¹⁹And I wrote two letters: one I sent by eagle to the nine and a half tribes; and the other I sent to those that were in Babylon by the hands of three men. ²⁰And I called the eagle and said to it, ²¹"The Most High created you to be the king of all the birds. ²²Go now: stop nowhere on your journey: neither look for any roosting place, not settle on any tree, till you have crossed the broad waters of the river Euphrates, ands come to the people who dwell there, and laid this letter at their feet." [....] ^78:1This is the letter that Baruch, the son of Neriah, sent to the nine and a half tribes, which were across the river Euphrates, in which these things were written. ²"Baruch, the son of Neriah, to his brothers in captivity, Mercy and peace to you. ³I can never forget, my brothers, the love of him who created us, who loved us from the beginning and never hated us, but rather subjected us to discipline. ⁴Nor can I forget that all we of the twelve tribes are united by a common bond, inasmuch as we are descended from a single father. [....]"

The story of Anna on the occasion of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple in the New Testament names her as being of the (lost) tribe of Asher (Luke 2:36).

The Talmud debates whether or not the ten lost tribes will eventually be reunited with the Tribe of Judah; that is, with the Jewish people:^[15]

The ten tribes will not eventually return, as is said: "He sent them to another land as it is this day" (Deuteronomy 29:27), just as the day departs and does not return, similarly they depart and do not return – according to Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Eliezer says: "as it is this day" – just as this day grows dark and then bright again, so too the ten tribes who have been darkened will eventually be brightened [i.e. they will return]. ... Rabbi Shimon ben Yehuda of the village of Akko says in the name of Rabbi Shimon: If their deeds remain "as this day" [i.e. they continue to sin], they will not return; otherwise they shall return. ^[16]

An AshkenaziJewish legend speaks of these tribes as Die Roite Yiddelech, "the red Jews", who were cut off from the rest of Jewry by the legendary river Sambation, "whose foaming waters raise high up into the sky a wall of fire and smoke that is impossible to pass through."^[17]

To varying degrees, Apocryphal accounts concerning the Lost Tribes, based on biblical accounts, have been produced by Jews and Christians since at least the 17th century.^[4]:59 An increased currency of tales relating to lost tribes that occurred in the 17th century was due to the confluence of several factors. According to Tudor Parfitt:

As Michael Pollack shows, Menasseh's argument was based on "three separate and seemingly unrelated sources: a verse from the book of Isaiah, Matteo Ricci's discovery of an old Jewish community in the heart of China and Antonio Montezinos' reported encounter with members of the Lost Tribes in the wilds of South America".^[18]:69

In 1649, Menasseh ben Israel published his book, The Hope of Israel, in Spanish and Latin in Amsterdam; it included Antonio de Montezinos' account of the Lost Tribes in the New World.^[19][20] An English translation was published in London in 1650. In it, Menasseh argued that the native inhabitants of America which were encountered at the time of the European discovery were actually the descendants of the [lost] Ten Tribes of Israel and for the first time, he tried to gain support for the theory from European thinkers and publishers.^[19] Menasseh noted how important Montezinos' account was,

for the Scriptures do not tell what people first inhabited those Countries; neither was there mention of them by any, til Christop. Columbus, Americus, Vespacius [sic], Ferdinandus, Cortez [sic], the Marquesse Del Valle [sic], and Franciscus Pizarrus [sic] went thither ...^[21]

He wrote on 23 December 1649: "I think that the Ten Tribes live not only there ... but also in other lands scattered everywhere; these never did come back to the Second Temple and they keep till this day still the Jewish Religion ..."^[22]:118

Some scholars suggest that while deportations took place both before and after the destruction of Israel (722–720 BCE), they were less significant than a cursory reading of the Bible's account of them indicates. During the earlier Assyrian invasions, the Transjordan and the Galilee did witness large-scale deportations, and entire tribes were lost; the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Dan, and Naphtali are never mentioned again. The region of Samaria, on the other hand, was larger and more populous. Two of the region's largest cities, Samaria and Megiddo, were mostly left intact, and the rural communities were generally left alone. Additionally, according to the Book of Chronicles, King Hezekiah of Judah invited the survivors of Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Issachar and Manasseh to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Therefore, it is assumed that the majority of people who survived the Assyrian invasions remained in the area.^[6] According to researchers, the Samaritan community of today, which claims to be descended from Ephraim, Manasseh, Levi, and, up until 1968, also Benjamin, does in fact predominantly derive from the tribes that continued to live in the region.^[6] It has been proposed that some Israelites joined the southern tribes in the Kingdom of Judah;^[28] however, this theory is debated.^[29] The Israelites who were deported are thought to have assimilated with the local populace.^[30]

For instance, the New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia states: "In historic fact, some members of the Ten Tribes remained in the land of Israel, where apart from the Samaritans some of their descendants long preserved their identity among the Jewish population, others were assimilated, while others were presumably absorbed by the last Judean exiles who in 597–586 BCE were deported to Assyria ... Unlike the Judeans of the southern Kingdom, who survived a similar fate 135 years later, they soon assimilated".^[30]

Samaritans consider themselves to be descended from tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh who stayed in their land and kept their religion. The Jewish belief is that Samaritans are descended from foreigners who replaced the exiled northern tribes and took on the customs of natives.^[40]

Many travelers and researchers have reported that the traditional folklore of Kurdish Jews claims they are descended from the Ten Lost Tribes.^[41][42] According to the memoirs of Benjamin of Tudela and Pethahiah of Regensburg, there were about 100 Jewish settlements and substantial Jewish population in Kurdistan in the 12th century. Benjamin of Tudela also gives the account of David Alroi, the messianic leader from central Kurdistan, who rebelled against the SeljukSultanMuktafi and had plans to lead the Jews back to Jerusalem.^[43]

Among the Pashtuns, there is a tradition of being descended from the exiled lost tribes of Israel.^[44] This tradition was referenced in 19th century western scholarship and it was also incorporated in the "Lost Tribes" literature which was popular at that time (notably George Moore's The Lost Tribes of 1861). Recently (2000s), interest in the topic has been revived by the Jerusalem-based anthropologist Shalva Weil, who was quoted in the popular press as stating that the "Taliban may be descended from Jews".^[45]

The traditions surrounding the Pashtuns being the remote descendants of the "Lost Tribes of Israel" are to be distinguished from the historical existence of the Jewish community in eastern Afghanistan or northwest Pakistan which flourished from about the 7th century to the early 20th century, but has essentially disappeared from the region due to emigration to Israel since the 1950s.

Some traditions of the Assyrian Jews^{[52][53][54][55]} claim that Israelites of the tribe of Benjamin first arrived in the area of modern Kurdistan after the Neo-Assyrian Empire's conquest of the Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century BCE; they were subsequently relocated to the Assyrian capital.^[56] During the first century BCE, the Assyrian royal house of Adiabene—which, according to the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, was ethnically Assyrian and whose capital was Erbil (Aramaic: Arbala; Kurdish: Hewlêr)—was converted to Judaism.^[57][58] King Monobazes, his queen Helena, and his son and successor Izates are recorded as the first proselytes.^[59]

The Beta Israel ("House of Israel") are Ethiopian Jews, who were also called "Falashas" in the past.^[73] Some members of the Beta Israel, as well as several Jewish scholars, believe that they are descended from the lost Tribe of Dan, as opposed to the traditional account of their origins which claims that they are descended from the Queen of Sheba and the Israelite kingSolomon.^{[74][75][76][48]} They have a tradition of being connected to Jerusalem.^[77] Early DNA studies showed that they were descended from Ethiopians, but in the 21st century, new studies have shown their possible descent from a few Jews who lived in either the 4th or 5th century CE, possibly in Sudan.^[50][78] The Beta Israel made contact with other Jewish communities in the later 20th century. In 1973 Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, then the Chief Sephardic Rabbi, based on the Radbaz and other accounts, ruled that the Beta Israel were Jews and should be brought to Israel; two years later that opinion was confirmed by a number of other authorities who made similar rulings, including the Chief AshkenaziRabbiShlomo Goren.^[79]

The Igbo Jews of Nigeria variously claim descent from the tribes of Ephraim, Naphtali, Menasseh, Levi, Zebulun and Gad. The theory, however, does not hold up to historical scrutiny. Historians have examined the historical literature on West Africa from the colonial era and they have elucidated that such theories served diverse functions for the writers who proposed them.^[80][81]

The Black Hebrew Israelites are an African Americannew religious movement which claims that African Americans are the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes. The group believe that, following their displacement, the Ten Lost Tribes migrated to and settled in West Africa and they were subsequently enslaved and transported to America in the Transatlantic slave trade; where their white slave masters forced them to abandon their Jewish culture and adopt Christianity. The Black Hebrew Israelites also believe that European Jews are not descended from the original Israelites, instead, Black Hebrew Israelites believe that European Jews are "impostors". For this reason, the group is frequently considered antisemitic. They are not recognized as Jews by any major Jewish organization and they are also not recognized by the modern State of Israel.

Some Gogodala people of Papua New Guinea claim to be one of the lost tribes, adopting some Jewish customs to reflect this.^[82]

Some writers have speculated that the Japanese people may be the direct descendants of some of the Ten Lost Tribes. Parfitt writes that "the spread of the fantasy of Israelite origin ... forms a consistent feature of the Western colonial enterprise. ... It is in fact in Japan that we can trace the most remarkable evolution in the Pacific of an imagined Judaic past. As elsewhere in the world, the theory that aspects of the country were to be explained via an Israelite model was introduced by Western agents."^[18]:158

In 1878, Scottish immigrant to Japan Nicholas McLeod self-published Epitome of the Ancient History of Japan.^[83] McLeod drew correlations between his observations of Japan and the fulfillment of biblical prophecy: The civilized race of the Ainus,^{[sic: read Ainus]} the Tokugawa and the Machi No Hito of the large towns, by dwelling in the tent or tabernacle shaped houses first erected by Jin Mu Tenno, have fulfilled Noah's prophecy regarding Japheth, "He shall dwell in the tents of Shem."^[83]:7

Jon Entine emphasizes the fact that DNA evidence shows that there are no genetic links between Japanese and Israelite people.^[50]:117

The Lemba people (Vhalemba) of Southern Africa claim to be the descendants of several Jewish men who traveled from what is now Yemen to Africa in search of gold, where they took wives and established new communities.^[84][85] They specifically adhere to religious practices which are similar to those which exist in Judaism and they also have a tradition of being a migrant people, with clues which point to their origin in either West Asia or North Africa. According to the oral history of the Lemba, their ancestors were Jews who came from a place called Sena several hundred years ago and settled in East Africa. Sena is an abandoned ancient town in Yemen, located in the eastern Hadramaut valley, which history indicates was inhabited by Jews in past centuries. Some research suggests that "Sena" may refer to Wadi Masilah (near Sayhut) in Yemen, often called Sena, or alternatively to the city of Sana'a, which is also located in Yemen.^[86][18]:61

DNA tests have not supported their claims of a Jewish heritage.^[87]

Some early Christian missionaries to New Zealand speculated that the native Māori were descendants of the Lost Tribes. Some Māori later embraced this belief.^[88]

In 1650, an English minister named Thomas Thorowgood, who was a preacher in Norfolk, published a book entitled Jewes in America or Probabilities that the Americans are of that Race,^[89] which he had prepared for the New England missionary society. Parfitt writes of this work: "The society was active in trying to convert the Indians but suspected that they might be Jews and realized that it had better be prepared for an arduous task. Thorowgood's tract argued that the native populations of North America were descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes."^[18]:66

In 1652 Hamon L'Estrange, an English author who wrote literary works about topics such as history and theology published an exegetical tract called Americans no Jews, or improbabilities that the Americans are of that Race in response to the tract by Thorowgood. In response to L'Estrange, in 1660, Thorowgood published a second edition of his book with a revised title and a foreword which was written by John Eliot, a Puritan missionary to the Indians who had translated the Bible into an Indian language.^[18]:66,76

The American diplomat and journalist Mordecai Manuel Noah also proposed the idea that the indigenous peoples of the Americas are descended from the Israelites in his publication The American Indians Being the Descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel (1837).^[90]

That some or all American Indians are part of the lost tribes is suggested by the Book of Mormon (1830) and it is also a popular belief among Latter-day Saints.^[91]

The Swedish historian of the 18th century Olof von Dalin suggested that the Scythian tribe Neuri mentioned by Greek authors were descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel; at the same time, he considered the Neuri to be the ancestors of the Finns, the Sami, and the Estonians.^[92]

Adherents of British Israelism and Christian Identity both believe that the lost tribes migrated northward, over the Caucasus, and became the Scythians, Cimmerians and Goths, as well as the progenitors of the later Germanic invaders of Britain.^{[93][94]:26–27}

The theory first arose in England and then it spread to the United States.^[18]:52–65 During the 20th century, British Israelism was promoted by Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God.^[18]:57

Tudor Parfitt, author of The Lost Tribes: The History of a Myth, states that the proof which is cited by adherents of British Israelism is "of a feeble composition even by the low standards of the genre",^[18]:61 and these notions are widely rejected by historians.^[95]