The Myth of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel
Ancient Times
After the death of King Solomon (d.928 BCE), his realm was
divided into the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judea. The territory of
the Kingdom of Israel covered most of the central and northern Land of Israel
and was inhabited by descendants of ten of the original twelve tribes that
conquered the land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua:
Asher, Dan, Ephraim, Gad, Issachar, Manasseh, Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon, and Zebulon. The
Kingdom of Judea centred on Jerusalem and the Judean highlands and comprised the
remaining two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The Kingdom of Israel was conquered
by the Assyrians in 721 BCE, and in line with the general policy of the
Assyrians, its inhabitants were deported to other regions of their empire. The
Ten Tribes either assimilated into other peoples and tribes inside the Assyrian
empire or were incorporated into the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, when they too
were deported to Babylonia, following the capture of Jerusalem by the
Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE (Ezekiel: 37:21-23).
An imaginary depiction of Nathan of Gaza leading the Tribes of Israel from Exile
to the Land of Israel.
From a broadsheet, Germany, 1666
Beth Hatefutsoth – Visual Documentation Center
 |
|
The mysterious disappearance of the Ten Tribes of Israel
nurtured the belief according to which their location will eventually be
discovered and they will return to the Land of Israel, as the ancestors of the
modern Jews, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin did when the Babylonian empire was
destroyed by the Persians. This belief had its roots in the interpretations of
several biblical texts, especially I Chronicles (5:26) and various prophecies
(Isaiah 11:11-12, among others) as well some references found in the Apocrypha
(II Esdras 13:39-50).
The fate of the Ten Tribes was discussed by the sages of the
Mishnah and the Talmud. Their opinions diverged between that expressed by Rabbi
Akiba, who believed that the Ten Tribes would not return, and that of Rabbi
Eliezer, who argued that the Ten Tribes would eventually return (Mishnah,
Sanhedrin 10:3; for additional references see Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 147b,
and Numbers Rabba 9:7). The supposed location of the Ten Lost Tribes became a
subject of much speculation in itself. Gradually a legend was formed that
claimed that the Ten Lost Tribes live in a region situated beyond the miraculous
and impassable river of Sambatyon who flows for the six days of the week and
stops on Shabbat, when the Ten Tribes are forbidden to travel. References to
this theme may be found in Jewish classical texts (Genesis Rabba 73:6; Sanhedrin
10:6/29b). The legend is also mentioned by Josephus Flavius (Wars: 7:96-97) and
the Greek author Pliny the Elder (Historia Naturalis 31:24).
 |
Ornaments on the entrance to Bialystoker Center Old Age Home in New York
New York, 1963
Photo: Steve Getzoff, Israel
Beth Hatefutsoth – Visual Documentation Center
Courtesy of Steve Getzoff, Israel
|
 |
Stained glass window in Swansea Synagogue depicting the Twelve Tribes of Israel
Swansea, UK
Photo: Tony Barnard, UK
Beth Hatefutsoth – Visual Documentation Center
Courtesy of Tony Barnard, UK
|
Middle Ages
The myth of the Ten Lost Tribes prompted many Jews and
non-Jews to actively search for the location of the Ten Tribes as their return
to the Land of Israel was recognized as one of the missions that would be
accomplished in the Messianic days and a sign of the general redemption and
salvation. During the Middle Ages the best known examples of statements about
the location of the Ten Lost Tribes belong to Eldad ha-Dani, a 9th century
Jewish traveler who asserted to be himself a descendant of the Tribe of Dani.
According to Eldad ha-Dani, the Ten Lost Tribes are located "beyond the rivers
of Abyssinia" on the bank of the Sambatyon river. Benjamin of Tudela, a 12th
century Jewish traveler from Spain, relates that the Jews of Persia believe that
four tribes of Israel – Asher, Dan, Naphtali, and Zebulon, live beyond the river
Gozan in the towns of Nissabur, a mountainous country situated at twenty day's
journey. The medieval speculations about the fate of the lost tribes were
enhanced by the Christian traditions about Prester John, a powerful ruler of
vast regions believed to be located in either the Far East or in Africa. Most
medieval Christian commentaries about Prester John contain references to the Ten
Lost Tribes, many of them quite similar to the descriptions of Eldad ha-Dani. R.
Obadiah ben Abraham of Bertinoro in northern Italy, a pilgrim to Jerusalem at
the end of the 15th century, noted the information he gathered about the Ten
Lost Tribes, especially about descendants of the Tribe of Dan who are at
constant warfare with Prester John. Obadiah of Bertinoro also claimed that
according to the information he received from the Jews of Aden, in Yemen, as
well as from Muslim traders, the lost tribes live beyond the Sambatyon River
which can be reached after a fifty day's journey into the desert from Aden.
Modern Era
The interest in the fate of the Ten
Lost Tribes received a new impetus from a number of developments, among them the
growth of the Kabbalah and of the Jewish mysticism after the 16th
century, including various messianic movements, of them that of Shabbetai Zvi
(1626-1676) having the strongest impact. The great geographical discoveries and
the European contact with previously unknown regions and populations also
contributed to an increased interest in the quest for the Ten Lost Tribes of
Israel. The Jerusalem kabbalist R. Abraham ben Eliezer ha-Levi in a letter from
1528 describes the Jews of Ethiopia as descendants from the tribes of Dan and
Gad while in a letter to R. Israel Ashkenazi of Jerusalem there is mention of a
man claiming to belong to the Ten Lost Tribes and who testified that the Ten
Lost Tribes do not have any knowledge of the Oral Law. David Reubeni, a 16th
century Jewish adventurer, managed to be received by Emperor Charles V in
Regensburg along with the false messiah Solomon Molcho (1500-1532), and claimed
to represent a relative of King Joseph who ruled over the tribes of Reuben, Gad
and half Manasseh. David Reubeni eventually died in a Spanish prison in 1538,
but his extraordinary story prompted Abraham ben Mordechai Farissol (c.1451-c.1525), the first Jewish author to mention
the newly discovered American continent, to dedicate an entire chapter of his
tractate to the subject of the Ten Lost Tribes – (Igeret Orhot Olam,
Venice, 1586). In the 17th century, the myth of the Ten Lost Tribes
became a central theme of Sabbatean propaganda – Shabbetai Zvi; the false
messiah is depicted as commander of the Ten Tribes. At the same period, R.
Manasseh ben Israel of Amsterdam (1604-1657) in his book Mikve Israel (Hope
of Israel, London, 1652) brings the testimony of the Portuguese crypto-Jew,
Aaron Levi (known as Antonio de Montezinos), who claimed to have encountered during
his travels to South America (Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela) Indian tribes
practicing some Jewish rituals and who allegedly were descendants of the tribes
of Reuben and Levi. Manasseh ben Israel used the legend of the lost tribes in
pleading successfully for the admission of Jews into England during Oliver
Cromwell's regime.
The 19th century saw a
renewed interest into the fate of the Ten Lost Tribes by Jews. Some Jewish
communities sent emissaries to search for the Ten Lost Tribes; other seekers
were private individuals who undertook to disclose the place of the Ten Lost
Tribes. Of them a special mention should be made of Joseph Israel (1818-1864), a
Romanian-born Jewish adventurer and great admirer of Benjamin of Tudela to the
extent that he changed his name to Benjamin the Second. Joseph Israel traveled
between 1845 to 1859, from Istanbul, Turkey, to Egypt, Syria, Land of Israel,
Kurdistan, Mesopotamia, Persia, Afghanistan, India, and after 1859 to North
America, searching and inquiring everywhere for the Ten Lost Tribes. Joseph
Israel met various Jewish communities and collected valuable information about
their way of life and traditions. Among the Jewish communities of Asia, he met
of the
Bene Israel in India who in Israel's opinion were
descendants of of the Ten Tribes.
Jewish travelers from the Land of
Israel that set out in search of the Ten Lost Tribes in the 19th
century include Rabbi Baruch of Pinsk, who was murdered in Yemen having left
Safed in 1830; Isaac son of Chaim Baruch Halevi (d. 1886) who traveled from
Tiberias to India hoping to find the Sambatyon river; Ezekiel Asche, a
German-born physician who left Jerusalem in 1848 and disappeared in Ethiopia,
having traveled through Egypt and Yemen; and Rabbi Moshe Yaffe of Hebron who
disappeared during his second visit to India in 1848.
Moses ben Isaac Edrehi
(1774-c.1842), a Moroccan-born rabbi and kabbalist who lived for many years in
Amsterdam and London and eventually immigrated to the Land of Israel is the
author of two works dealing with the quest for the Ten Lost Tribes. Ma'aseh
Nissim (originally published in Hebrew and German in Amsterdam in 1809), is
a mythical description of the Sambatyon river who was later published in London
in 1834, along with An historical account of the ten tribes, settled beyond
the river Sambatyon in teh Eastl with many other curious matters relating to the
state of the Israelites in various parts of the world, published in London
in 1836.
The quest for the Ten Lost Tribes
of Israel has been conducted by Jews, Christians and Muslims, in practically
every corner of the earth. As a matter of fact during the last centuries this
search turned into a theme that has reoccurred occasionally with many Christian
travelers, missionaries, authors, and explorers belonging to the Roman Catholic
Church as well as to various Protestant denominations. Jewish motifs and beliefs
were adopted by non-Jews while Jews accepted some concepts and ideas developed
by non-Jewish seekers of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
At various periods, indigenous
tribes and peoples over all continents were identified as possible descendants
of the Ten Lost Tribes. The supposed offspring of the Ten Lost Tribes have included
different ethnic groups living in Asia - Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Burma
(Myanmar), Kurdistan, Kashmir, China, Japan; in various countries and regions of
West Africa – Mali, Ghana, Nigeria; in Southern Africa – Zimbabwe, Lesotho,
South Africa, Mozambique, in East Africa - Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea; in Europe
- the Celts of the British Isles; in Oceania - the native people of New Zealand;
in South America - Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela; and in North America, where
various native American nations as well as the Mormons were linked to the Ten
Lost Tribes. Occasionally, beliefs disseminated by European travellers, Jews and
Christians alike, were eventually adopted by some of the indigenous ethnic
groups and sometimes, after being further elaborated by them, evolved into an
integral part of their ethos and identity.
 |
Bene Israel family in Bombay
Bombay, India, c.1890
Photo: Carmel Berkson, India
Beth Hatefutsoth – Visual Documentation Center
Carmel Berkson Collection, India
|
 |
Prayer at the Zion Shalom Synagogue in Aizawl
Mizoram, India, 1989
Photo: Samuel Joram
Beth Hatefutsoth – Visual Documentation Center
Courtesy of Myer Samra, Australia
|
The Quest for the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel
The New World
The discovery of the American
continent with its various populations generated among the Jews and the
Christians alike a number of speculations about the supposed Israelite origin of
the American Indians. The Spanish bishop Bartolomeo de Las Casas
(1484-1566), a fervent defender of the rights of
the native nations of the Americas, forwarded a theory according to which the
American Indians were descendants from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The same
idea was advanced by some English missionaries. Thomas Thorowgood is his book
Jewes in America, or Probabilities that the Americans are of the Race
(London, 1650) strongly supported the idea of relating the American Indians to
the ancient Israelites. Although Thorowgood's theory was disputed soon after its
publication, among others by members of the clergy, it nevertheless did not loss
its attractiveness for other seekers of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel who
continued to raise new ideas and speculations in support of the Israelite origin
of all or part of Native American nations in both the Northern and Southern
American continents.
In South America the hypothesis
connecting the American Indians to the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel was advanced
mainly by Spanish missionaries and travellers while coming across impressive
archaeological remains of the pre-Columbian civilizations or investigating the
way of life of local tribes believed to recognize various costumes and beliefs
that they related to the Bible and Judaism. Most reports referred to native
tribes living in regions that today are part of Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and
Peru, but also in the countries of Central America, especially Mexico. Among the
prominent expositors of those theories a mention should be made of Father Diego
Duran (d.c.1588), author of The Aztecs: the History of the Indies of New
Spain, Father Gregorio Garcia and his Origen de Los Indios de la Nuevo Mundo
(Madrid, 1729).
The supposed connection between the
Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and the Native American nations of North America
gained support during the 18th century with the increase of European
exploration of the continent. James Adair (1709-1783), a trader with the Indians
who lived amongst them for forty years was one of the earliest to believe in a
connection between the Ten Lost Tribes and the various Indian tribes of North
America, a theory that he formulated in his History of the American Indians
(London, 1775). At the same period, this theory also received the support by
Charles Beaty, a missionary to the territories west of the Allegheny Mountains,
who detailed it in his Journal of a Two Months Tour with a View of Promoting
Religion among the Frontier Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, and of Introducing
Christianity among the Indians to the Westward of the Allegheny Mountains,
(London, 1768).
In the 19th century a
connection with the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel was made again by the believers of
the Jesus Christ Church of the Latter-Day Saints. Believing to be descendants of
Israel, the Mormons identify themselves with all tribes of Israel and while most
are regarded as sons of Joseph through his son Ephraim, some see themselves as
belonging to other tribes of Israel.
Other 19th century
supporters of the link between the Ten Lost Tribes and Native Americans include
E. Boudinot (1740-1821), author of A Star in the West, or A humble
attempt to discover the long lost ten tribes of Israel, preparatory to their
return to their beloved city, Jerusalem. (Trenton, NJ, 1816), Ethan Smith
(1762-1849), author of View of the Hebrews (Poultney, VT, 1825), Israel
Worsley (1768-1836) whose View of the American Indians, Their General
Character, Customs, Language, Public Festivals, Religious Rites, and Traditions
Showing Them to Be Descendants of the
Lost Tribes of Israel was published in London in 1828.
Mordecai Manuel Noah (1785-1851), a Jewish American journalist, best remembered
today for his plan to establish Ararat, a Jewish state in North America, was
another follower of the theory linking the Ten Lost Tribes to the native nations
of America. Noah published his ideas in Discourse on The Evidences of the
American Indians being Descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel delivered
before the Mercantile Library Association, Clinton Hall (New York, 1837).
Central Asia
The traditional quest for the Ten
Lost Tribes centered for many hundreds of years in the regions of Central Asia,
close to the borders of the Assyrian Empire of the Antiquity. As a result many
ethnic groups living in the region of the Caucasus, Central Asia, and
Afghanistan, have long been described as descendants from the Ten Lost Tribes.
Giles Fletcher (1548-1611), an English poet and
envoy at the Russian court of Moscow in the second half of the 16th
century, disseminated a theory according to which the Tatars of Central Asia are
descendants from the Ten Lost Tribes. Fletcher's theory continued medieval
beliefs about the origin of the Tatars, first mentioned in the chronicle of the
13th century English monk, Matthew of Paris (d.1259), and again in a
work by Thomas Bradwardin (1290-1349). The supposed connection between the Ten
Lost Tribes and the Tatars continued to be entertained in the 18th
century by Aaron Hill, another Englishman.
Southern Russia and the areas
around the Caspian Sea were at the center of the Khazar Empire of the early
Middle Ages. The conversion to Judaism of some Khazar rulers served as basis for
many speculations about a possible connection between this people of
Turkish-Mongol origin and the Ten Lost Tribes. Moreover, Jewish communities in
the Caucasus like the Jews of Georgia or the Jews of Dagestan, also known as the
Mountain Jews, were connected to the Ten Lost Tribes. These theories were
advanced in the 19th century by Reverend Jacob Samuel, a Jew
converted to Christianity who became a missionary to the Jews of India, Persia,
and Arabia. Following his contacts with the Jews of Dagestan, Jacob Samuel
claimed that they are descendants from the Ten Lost Tribes, although the Jews of
Dagestan themselves did not have such a belief, as stated by Jacob Samuel
himself. His theories were published in An appeal on behalf of the Jews
scattered in India, Persia, and Arabia (London, 1840) However, the Jews of
Dagestan began to adopt this theory towards the end of the 19th
century, when again they were regarded as descendants from the Ten Lost Tribes,
this time by Russian Jews who started traveling and settling in the Caucasus.
Afghanistan
Various tribes of Afghanistan, especially the Pathans, have
received perhaps the largest amount of attention from the seekers of Ten Lost
Tribes. The theory was originally advanced by European travelers to the region,
but it was later adopted by some Jews. They believe that Afghanistan is probably
the most suitable place for a search for the Ten Lost Tribes, and even by some
local Muslim inhabitants of Afghanistan. The earliest theory about the Ten Lost
Tribes origin of Afghan tribes was lanced already towards the end of the 18th
century by Sir William Jones (1746-1794), an early researcher of Indian studies,
in an introduction that he wrote to the English translation of the "Secrets of
the Afghans" by Henry Vasittart (1732-1770), the British governor of Bengal and
one of the first Europeans with an interest in Afghan history and traditions.
This theory found a strong supporter in Henry Walter Bellew (1834-1892), an
Indian born English surgeon with a distinguished career in the British
administration of India. Bellew elaborated extensively about the possible
connection between various ethnic groups of Afghanistan and the Ten Lost Tribes
and tried to prove his assumptions by suggesting a likeness between biblical and
historic place names, Hebrew words and given names and local place names in
Afghanistan and some words from the languages and dialects spoken in that
country. He also advanced a supposed similarity of customs and habits between
the two peoples and, typically for a 19th century researcher, even endeavored
to establish a resemblance between the physiognomy of Afghan tribes and that of
the "Jewish type". Bellew was succeeded by many travelers and explorers to
Afghanistan and the neighboring areas who occasionally suggested new elements
that could enhance the belief in a link between the tribes of Afghanistan and
the Ten Lost Tribes.
 |
An American military rabbi lecturing about Judaism and the Ten Lost Tribes in to
members of the Group Holiness of the Saikun sect.
Tokyo, Japan, c. 1950
Beth Hatefutsoth – Visual Documentation Center
Courtesy of Sado Ohara
|
 |
The Onyeulo family of the Ibo Tribe. Some members of the tribe attribute their
origins to the ancient Israelites.
Biafra, Nigeria, 1978
Beth Hatefutsoth – Visual Documentation Center
Courtesy of Chima Davjudah Onyeulo, Israel
|
Japan
The Japanese have been considered
by some early travelers and explorers to be descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes.
This theory was formulated by N. McLeod, a Scottish missionary who arrived in
Japan in 1867. McLeod detailed his observations, interpretations and
speculations in Epitome of the Ancient History of Japan, a book published
in Nagasaki in 1875. He described what he thought to be proofs of the origin of
the Japanese people from the Ten Lost Tribes. He endeavored in an elaborate way
to reconstruct and explain the ancient Japanese history according to his
interpretation of the Bible and its sacred history. McLeod's ideas were adopted
by a number of European Christian missionaries, but they also became popular
with some Japanese, especially among those who converted to Christianity. Bishop
Juji Nakada (1869-1939), of the Holiness Church
Movement, Dr. Zen'ichiro Oyabe, and Dr. Chikao Fujisawa, a lecturer at Nihon
University, were among the most outspoken supporters of the theory linking the
origin of the Japanese people to the Ten Lost Tribes. They described their
findings and beliefs in books published in Japan during the first half of the
20tyh century.
British Isles
The supposed connection between the
people of the British Isles and the Ten Lost Tribes started with the ideas of
Richard Brothers (1757-1824). This Canadian-born, self-proclaimed prophet, who
spent his later years of life incarcerated in a lunatic asylum,
founded a millenarian movement that towards the end of the 18th
century attracted many adherents in England. According to Brothers, salvation would include the Jews' return to the Land of Israel, including that
of the Ten Lost Tribes. In his opinion descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes can be
found among the inhabitants of the British Isles. This idea was later on
developed by John Finleyson, a Scottish lawyer, in a book he published in 1849,
by Ralph Wedgwood, in a separate book published in 1814, and William Henry Poole
(b. 1820) in Anglo-Israel; The Saxon race proved to be the lost tribes of
Israel (Toronto, 1889). However, it was John Wilson (d.1871), an Irishman,
who turned these ideas into the movement of British Israelism. He and his
followers strove to discover and describe the historic connection between the
Ten Lost Tribes and the British people, via various waves of migrations and
immigrations from Central Asia to the north shores of the Black Sea and
ultimately to Britain. The movement consequently gained many adherents in
Britain and from there it spread to other English speaking countries, especially
to the US. British Israelism continued to flourish in the first half of the 20th
century and still has followers in many countries.
Jewish
Communities and the Ten Lost Tribes
Traditions and legends speaking
about a supposed origin from the Ten Lost Tribes can be found among various
Jewish communities in the Diaspora and immigrants to Israel. The contacts that
could be established between European Jewish communities and non-European Jewish
communities in Asia and Africa in the modern ages, led to an increased curiosity
into the origin and traditions of some Jewish communities living at the
outskirts of the traditional area of settlement of the Jewish communities during
the Middle Ages and early modern times. For instance, the Jews of Bukhara, in
Central Asia, a region that at the beginning of the 19th century came
under Russian domination, received in 1802 a letter from the Jews of Shklov, in
Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, asking them whether they were
descendants from the Ten Lost Tribes.
One of the traditions of the
Bene Israel
community of India asserts that this community descends from the tribe of Judah,
while according to a concurrent tradition the
Bene Israel
are descendants from the tribe of Zebulon. The Jews of Cochin, India, although
themselves do not uphold a belief in an Israelite origin, were occasionally
described as descendants from the Ten Lost Tribes by early travelers, Jews and
non-Jews alike, who visited them in the early 19th century.
In the Caucasus traditions and
beliefs concerning possible origin from the Ten Lost Tribes have been documented
among the
Jews of Georgia,
one of the oldest Jewish communities in the Diaspora.
In the late 18th century
some members of the Karaite community of Crimea tried to prove that they are
descendants from the Ten Lost Tribes and that they settled in that country
already in the 7th century BCE. Their aim was to obtain tax and
military exemptions from the Czarist authorities by arguing that unlike Rabbanic Jews, they were not guilty of the death of Jesus. The most prominent
exponent of this theory was Abraham ben Samuel Firkovich (1786-1874), a Karaite
scholar who, in his endeavors to prove the antiquity of the Crimean Karaite
community, forged documents and archeological findings.
Perhaps the best example of
traditions upholding beliefs of an origin from the Ten Lost Tribes can be found
among the Jews of Ethiopia. The Beta Israel community of Ethiopia regarded
themselves as descendants from the tribe of Dan. It should be pointed out
that when Rabbi Ovadiah Yossef, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, recognized
the Jewishness of the Jews of Ethiopia in 1973, he too emphasised that they were
descendants of the lost tribe of Dan.
The myth of the Ten Lost Tribes of
Israel is also a recurrent theme of the folklore of numerous Jewish communities
in the Diaspora. Legends describing the fate of the Ten Lost Tribes, people who
either belong to them or met them, the location and the features of the
Sambatyon river as well as a belief in their eventual return to the Land of
Israel are found among the traditions of the Jews of Morocco, Yemen, and Eastern
Europe, among others.
 |
Women of the Lemba tribe during the Moon Festival
Zimbabwe, 1980's
Photo: Tudor Parfitt, UK
Beth Hatefutsoth – Visual Documentation Center
Courtesy of Tudor Parfitt, UK
|
 |
Moses ben Isaac Edrehi (1774-c.1842), a
Moroccan-born rabbi and author of a book about the Ten Lost Tribes
Beth Hatefutsoth – Visual Documentation Center
|
Extending the Quest
The major events in the story of the
Jewish people in the 20th century added a new impetus to the quest
for the Ten Lost Tribes. The increased emigration and dispersion of Jews among
practically all corners of the earth, the Holocaust, and the Establishment of
the State of Israel and its subsequent absorption of Jewish mass immigration
from all countries were all seen by many, Jews and non-Jews alike, as episodes
of the Divine plan for the final redemption and salvation. According to their
view there will never be a true salvation without the return of the Ten Lost
Tribes to the Land of Israel. Therefore the search for the Ten Lost Tribes is
continuing those very days with new places and ethnic groups coming under the
scrutiny of contemporary explorers and emissaries. Of them, Amishav ("My people
returns", in Hebrew), a Jerusalem based organization under the leadership of
Rabbi Eliyahu Avihail has been particularly active in sending emissaries and
researchers to the most remote regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America in the
search for the descendants of Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
|
The Exhibition Beyond the
Sambatyon: The Myth of the Ten Lost Tribes was shown at Beth Hatefutsoth
from August to November 1991. Guest Curator: Dr. Shalva Weil;
Curator-in-Charge: Sarah Harel Hoshen
Exhibition Catalogue: Beyond
the Sambatyon: The Myth of the Ten Lost Tribes. Feature essay: Dr. Shalva
Weil. Editors: Sarah Harel-Hoshen,
Yossi Avner. English translations: Chaya Galay, Simcha Shtull-Trauring.
Exhibition catalogue in English [of the exhibition held at Beth Hatefutsoth, Tel
Aviv August 1991]. 1 v., 104 p., illus. (some col), 27 cm. Tel Aviv: Beth Hatefutsoth,
Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, 1991
|
HFG
The Ten Lost Tribes
Internet Resources

Afghanistan
See also: Kashmir
The
Missing Tribes of Israel – The Occident and American Jewish Advocate on The
Descent of The Afghans From The Jews
Mystery of the
Ten Lost Tribes: Afghanistan by Rabbi Marvin Tokayer - Moshiach Online
"…Not only the Pathans, but also
the Afghan Royal Family has a very well known tradition placing its origin in
ancient Israel, they came from the Tribe of Benjamin…"
The
"lost tribes of Israel" are the Muslims of Afghanistan and Kashmir - Proved from
the Bible and History - Afghan and Kashmiri cities mentioned and documented –
Answering-Christianity.com (Muslim)
The purpose of this essay is to
show how some of the prophecies with regards to the ‘Lost Tribes of Israel’ from
the Old Testament as well as the New Testament were fulfilled through the
Prophet Muhammad.
Mystery of the Ten
Lost Tribes Afghanistan/Pakistan - The Pathans
by Rabbi Marvin Tokayer - Moshiach Online
The Pathans are about 15 million
people living mainly in Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as in Persia and India.
They have a tradition of being of the Lost Tribes and have Israeli customs.
Afghanistan: Home to Lost
Tribes of Israel? – Ohr Somayach
Qui sont les "pathans"? – Albert
Soued
Les "pathans"
sont des clans montagnards formant une tribu afghane à cheval sur trois pays,
l'Afghanistan du Sud et de l'Est, le Pakistan du nord et le Kashmir occidental
indien
The Israeli Source of the Pathan
Tribes – by Issachar Katzir - The Scribe (Autumn 2001)
From the book Lost Tribes
from Assyria by A Avihail and A Brin, 1978, (in Hebrew)

Burma (Myanmar)
Bnei Menashe
In North East India, in the land
mass that lies between Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Bangladesh, there lives a
small group of people who have been practicing Judaism for more than 25 years.
They call themselves Bnei Menashe, descendants of the Tribe of Menashe, one of
the ten lost tribes. Also known as the Shinlung, the Bnei Menashe relate their
history of exile from the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 721 B.C. across the silk
route finally ending up in India and Myanmar
Mystery of the Ten Lost
Tribes Burma - Bnei Menashe by Rabbi Marvin Tokayer - Moshiach Online
In the mountainous region which
lies on both sides of the border between India and Myanmar (former Burma), lives
the Menashe (Shinlung) tribe which numbers between 1-2 million people. They
have intermarried with the Chinese and look Chinese-Burmese, but the entire tribe is
aware of their Israelite ancestry
Kuki, Chin, Mizo-Hmar's Israelite Origin; Myth or Reality? - By Lal Dena,
ManipurOnline
Some of the Hmar’s oral sources
appear to indicate their Jewish origin and on the basis of these sources, some
writers even go to the extent of saying that Hmars and their brethrens, Kukis
and Mizos could perhaps be one of the ten lost tribes of ancient Israel
Qui sont les Mizos et les
Shinlongs ? – Albert Soued
Dans la montagne
de Shin entre l'Inde et la Birmanie, dans les États du Mizoram et de Manipur, il
existe des tribus appelées "shinlong" qui disent descendre des dix tribus
perdues d'Israël, plus précisément de la tribu de Ménashé, fils de Joseph,
appelé localement "manmasi" et dont le nom est invoqué à chaque réunion du
groupe

British Isles / Britain
Hebrew Celtic Namesakes -
by Yair Davidiy
Scotland & The Lost Tribes of Israel – The Capital Scot
How Anglo-Israelism
Entered the Churches of God. A history of the doctrine from the 1800s to 1995.
Part 1: From John Wilson to J.H. Allen

China
Mystery of the Ten Lost
Tribes China by Rabbi Marvin Tokayer Moshiach Online
In the mountainous area of
northwest China, west of the Min River, near the border of Tibet, in Szechuan
lives an ancient people called by the Chinese, Chiang or Chiang-Min, who numbers
about 250 thousand people.
La tribu Chiang Min – Albert
Soued
Au Nord-Ouest de
la Chine dans une région montagneuse, à l'Ouest de fleuve Min, à la frontière du
Tibet, dans la province du Széchouan vit un peuple à part appelé par les Chinois
Chiang Min, évalué à 250 0000 personnes

Ecuador
Mystery of the Ten
Lost Tribes – Ecuador - by Rabbi Marvin Tokayer Moshiach Online
"…Rabbi Manase Ben Israel was convinced
that the American Indians were from several tribes of the Lost Tribes of Israel…"

Ghana
The African Jewish community in
Sefwi Wiawso, Ghana
The House of Israel
Community, Ghana - The Jews of Africa
The House of Israel community of
Sefwi Wiawso and Sefwi Sui in Western Ghana is either a relatively new one, or
an ancient one, depending on one’s particular evaluation of the community’s
history. Members of the community believe that their ancestors, the Sefwi
people, are descendants of Jews who migrated south through the Ivory Coast
(perhaps originally from Timbuktu), bringing with them ancient Jewish
observances. The current community was born in recent years after a local
spiritual leader had a "vision" that convinced him that his Sefwi ancestors were
actually Jews.

Israel
See: United States

Japan
Israelites came to Ancient
Japan
Many of the traditional ceremonies
in Japan appear to indicate that the Lost Tribes of Israel came to ancient Japan - Arimasa Kubo (Christian Japanese)
Mystery of the Ten Lost
Tribes Japan - by Arimasa Kubo Moshiach Online
Many of the traditional ceremonies
in Japan seem to indicate that the Lost Tribes of Israel came to ancient Japan
Are Japanese
relating with Jews?

Kashmir
See also: Afghanistan
Mystery of the Ten
Lost Tribes Kashmir by Rabbi Marvin Tokayer - Moshiach Online
To the east of those parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan
inhabited by the Pathans, when one goes east, is the Indian State of Kashmir.
The Lost Tribes (Israelite Origin of the Kashmiri People) – The Tomb of Jesus
Christ (Christian)
It seems hardly coincidental that
such a large number of tribes, castes, cities, etc. would have names equivalent
to Biblical ones unless there were some kind of connection between the people of
Afghanistan and Kashmir and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
The Lost Tribes of
Israel by M. M. Ahmad – Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (Muslim)
Claims that the people of
Kashmir, Afghanistan, parts of India surrounding areas are descended from the
lost tribes of Israel.

Mali
The Jews of Timbuktu
Timbuktu, Mali – The
Jews of Africa

Americas
Summary of beliefs –
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Members of the Church of Jesus
Christ of the Latter-day saints (Mormons) believe that the Native Americans are
a lost tribe of Israel whose ancestors were Hebrews and sailed to the Americas
before the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.
Incas
and the Jews - Hagshama Department of the World Zionist Organization

Pakistan
See: Afghanistan, Kashmir

South Africa
The Lemba
Located in South Africa,
particularly in the region known as the Venda, live a group of black
Africans who claim descent from the ancient Hebrews. These are the Lemba.
Though converted to Christianity
The Lemba of Southern
Africa – The Jews of Africa
The Lemba – The
Black Jews of South Africa
The Lemba: this Bantu-speaking
group claimed Jewish ancestry and observed many Semitic traditions such as
kosher-like dietary restrictions and slaughter practices, male circumcision
rites, strict rules against intermarriage, and Semitic-sounding clan names.
The Lemba at Haruth.com
Qui sont les Lembas? – Albert
Soued
Les Lembas qui se réclament Juifs appartiennent à l'ethnie
Bantou et habitent un territoire au Nord du Transvaal, appelé Venda, à la
frontière du Zimbabwe (Rhodésie). Les Lembas sont disséminés aussi au sud du
Zimbabwe, au Malawi (Mozambique), au Soweto et dans la capitale Pretoria

Uganda
Abayudaya Jews of Uganda
The
Abayudaya Jews of Uganda – Jewish Virtual Library
A
History of the Abuyudaya Jews of Uganda By Arye Oded (Israeli Ambassador to
Kenya – Jewish Virtual Library
Abayudaya - Mbale’s
Jews - By Henry Lubega
The Abayudaya of
Uganda – The Jews of Africa
Abayudaya – Wikipedia – The
Free Encyclopedia
The Jews of Uganda –
Jewish Post
The Jews of Uganda – Richard Sobol
Photographer

United States
See also: Americas
Some 2,000 African-Americans, originally from Detroit and Chicago, who now live in Dimona, Arad, and Mitzpe
Ramon in the south of Israel, call themselves "Black Hebrews" in the belief that they are descendants of the biblical Tribe
of Judah.
The Black Hebrews – Jewish Virtual Library
The African Hebrew Israelites
of Jerusalem
In 1966, our spiritual leader, Ben
Ammi, had a vision that it was time for the Children of Israel who remained in
America (the land of their captivity) to return to the Holy Land (the land of
their origin
The "lost tribe" from Chicago? – by Rick Ross
A religious group called the "Black
Hebrews" emigrated from the United States to Israel in 1969. Its members claim
they are descendents of the exiled tribe of Judah, driven out of Jerusalem
during the First Century.
Whatever happened to the lost tribes of Israel? – by Megan Goldin
The Black Hebrews say they are the
descendants of an ancient Jewish tribe forced into exile in West Africa and
taken to the Americas as slaves centuries ago.
Black Hebrews - The
Rick A. Ross Institute
Contains information The Rick A.
Ross Institute has gathered about the Black Hebrews

Yemen
Les juifs de H'imyar
- Albert Soued

Zimbabwe
Rusape, Zimbabwe
The community of self-proclaimed
Jews centered in Rusape, about two hours from Harare, Zimbabwe, appreciates its
unusual history. On one hand they claim to be spiritually, if not genetically,
descended from a "Lost Tribe" of Jews who migrated from the North. On the other,
they can trace their recent incarnation back to a 1903 meeting between a former
American slave named William Saunders Crowdy who was also a former Baptist
deacon, and a spiritually hungry man named Albert Christian who eventually
brought Crowdy’s teachings to Southern Africa.

General
Lost Tribes of
Israel - Nova
The Ten Lost Tribes
of Israel: Looking for the Remnants – Hagshama Department of the World Zionist
Organization
Original Spanish version:
Las tribus
perdidas de Israel: busquedas y encuentros - Hagshama Department of the World
Zionist Organization
Lost Ten
Tribes – JewishEncyclopedia.com
Ten Lost Tribes of
Israel – Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
Mystery of the Ten
Lost Tribes – Moshiach Online
Kulanu
Kulanu is involved with several
“developing” Jewish communities around the globe that are not yet recognized by
all of world Jewry. Some of these groups are returning to long-forgotten Jewish
roots. Others have embraced Judaism on their own, often in complete isolation
The Exiled and the Redeemed By Victor Sharpe – Israel Hasbara Committee
Les Dix Tribus
Perdues – harissa.com
Tribus perdues et
retrouvées - Albert Soued – Le coin de Janine at Sefarad.org
Les
Juifs Noirs - L'Amitié Judéo-Noire
Traces
juives en Afrique - L'Amitié Judéo-Noire
Les tribus perdues à travers
le monde - Reportage de Josy Eisenberg "source de vie"
Sambatyon – Albert Soued
Les tribus du royaume d’Israël ont été exilées en –722 par
Nabukhanetsar et ont disparu, vers l’Est, au delà d’une rivière mystérieuse
appelée Sambatyon, selon la légende
Estudio sobre las tribus perdidas de Israel - M.I. Brito Steling
– Kalathos, Revista cultural, Venezuela
Tribes of
Israel Lost & Found / Ancient & Modern - By Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman
L'exil d'Israël vers
l'Afrique - l’exil des dix tribus d’Israël vers l'Afrique, dont la tribu de Dan
Lost Tribes Info –
About possible Jewish origins of Native Americans in Latin America Countries
Lost Ten
Tribes, also referenced as the Ten Lost Tribes or the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel
BRIT-AM
BRIT-AM GENEALOGY for the
LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL
ASK – Associates for Scriptural
Knowledge / Portland, OR
Who Are the Northern Ten Tribes of Israel Today? - Ernest L. Martin
Mystery of the Myth: The Ten
Lost Tribes by Chuck Missler at Koinonia House Online
Saga of The Lost
Tribes Of Israel - Shri Adi Shakti: The Kingdom Of God
United Israel World Union
United Israel World Union was
formed in 1944 by the late founder, David Horowitz. It's sole purpose is to
publish historical and biblical research on the Lost Tribes of Israel and to
promote their "return" to both the Hebrew Faith and their identification with
the Jewish People
Lost Ten Tribes – Answers.com
The Ten Tribes - by Jeffrey J.
Harrison – To the Ends of the Earth (Christian)
áò÷áåú òùøú äùáèéí
ã"ø éå"è ìåéðñ÷é – ãòú – îøëæ ìéîåãé éäãåú åøåç
The Ten
Lost Tribes of Israel by Tony Warren – The Mountain Retreat Center for Biblical
Theology and Eschatology (Christian)
Who are the Lost
Tribes? – Studies in the Word of God (Church of God - Christian)
Lost
tribes of Israel – TheFreeDictionary.Com by Farlex
A combined chart of The
Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and the House of Judah - Cryloud
The Lost
Tribes of Israel – Catholic Answers
Deals mainly with
the "British
Israelism" movement
The Twelve Tribes of Israel By H. Meij – (Masonic)
Finding the Lost Tribes - Traces of the Tribes are popping up all over – David
Margolis Journalism
Lost Tribes of Israel –
World Alpha Omega (Christian)
Beyond Arsareth: The Twelve Tribes of
Israel Today By David Stewart - The Cumorah Project International Resources for
LDS Missionary Work (Mormon)
This article
presents a compilation of data, traditions, and history on the twelve tribes
of Israel from many sources, as well as original data on lineage declared
through LDS patriarchal blessings
Introduction to Finding the Lost
Tribes of Israel – BibleTime.com (Christian)
The Secret of
Israel's 12 Tribes – Occult-Advances.com (Mystical)
Migrations of the Lost Tribes of Israel - by F.M. Nithsdale - Orange Street
Congregational Church (Christian, British Israelite Cult)

|