Ten Lost Tribes of Israel
The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel refer to the ten of the twelve Hebrew tribes that were exiled and subsequently disappeared from historical records around 722 BCE following the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. These tribes were originally descended from the twelve sons of Jacob, with the divisions of the tribes occurring after the reign of King Solomon. When King Rehoboam ascended the throne, ten tribes rejected his authority, forming the Northern Kingdom, while the tribes of Joseph and Benjamin constituted the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
The Assyrian policy of dispersing conquered peoples led to the significant fragmentation of these ten tribes, making it difficult to trace their descendants. Over the centuries, various theories have emerged regarding their fate, with some suggesting connections to groups in regions such as Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Explorers and scholars have sought to identify potential descendants, often drawing on cultural and religious similarities. However, despite numerous claims and ongoing genetic studies, definitive proof of the Lost Tribes’ descendants remains elusive. The topic continues to intrigue historians, religious scholars, and communities around the world, highlighting a rich tapestry of cultural heritage and identity.
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Ten Lost Tribes of Israel
The ten lost tribes are ten of the twelve Hebrew tribes that disappeared from historical records around 722 BCE. While the people did not necessarily cease to be, no documentation exists indicating where they went after they were exiled by the Assyrians. In the centuries since, many people from around the world have claimed to have discovered descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel. However, is has been difficult to prove that any of these people are actual relatives.
Background
The Jewish people recognize Abraham as the father of their people and religion. Among Abraham's immediate descendants was a grandson, Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons: Reuben (Reuven in Hebrew), Simeon (or Shimon), Levi, Judah (Yehuda), Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun (Zevulun), Joseph, and Benjamin. These twelve sons became the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel, and each son's descendants made up one of the tribes.
Up until the end of the reign of King Solomon between 926 and 922 BCE, the twelve tribes functioned together as the Hebrew people. However, when Solomon's son, Rehoboam, became king after his father's death, ten of the tribes refused to acknowledge his authority. Only the tribes of Joseph and Benjamin submitted. They became known as the Southern Kingdom, or the tribes of Judah. The other ten became known as the Northern Kingdom, or the tribes of Israel. The northern tribes established a capital and temple in Samaria while the southern tribes chose Jerusalem as their home. For two hundred years, they existed as separate entities, with each losing power and territory to larger neighbors until each was only a small kingdom.
In 722 BCE, the Assyrians attacked and defeated the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom. The Assyrians were experienced warriors who frequently dealt with conquered nations. To prevent future uprisings, the Assyrians dispersed most of the people they defeated to other Assyrian territories, limiting the likelihood that the conquered nation could organize an uprising. Then they resettled the conquered territory with their own people. When the Assyrians dispersed the defeated Israelites, they sent them to many different areas.
The tribes of the Southern Kingdom of Judah were later attacked by the Babylonians in 597 BCE, but the people were all resettled together. This made it easier for them to maintain their Hebrew faith and identity. The tribes of Joseph and Benjamin became the ancestors of Judaism as it is known in the twenty-first century. The other ten tribes, however, became lost to history.
Theories on the Ten Tribes
In the centuries since the ten tribes were lost, many theories have been put forth as to their ultimate fate. One of the earliest recorded efforts to find their descendants was made by a Spanish man named Benjamin of Tudela (?). In 1165 CE, Benjamin traveled around the world in search of people who might be part of the lost tribes. He was convinced that the Jewish people in Persia and Arabia whom he discovered were descendants of several tribes. He recorded his findings and his trip in his diary, which became known as The Book of Travels. Benjamin of Tudela's search inspired others to begin looking for the ten lost tribes.
When explorers reached the New World in the 1400s, they noticed resemblances between the Jewish people they knew in Europe and the Middle East and the native North and Central American people they encountered. For example, a seventeenth-century Portuguese traveler named Antonio Montezinos (?) claimed to have encountered a group of natives in the Andes Mountains who were reciting the Jewish expression of faith known as the She'ma. In 1655, Menasseh ben Israel, a Dutch Jewish scholar, began a campaign to reunite the suspected lost tribes from America in Europe with the descendants of Judah. By doing so, he hoped to usher in the Messianic Age foretold in Scripture, a time of universal peace that some believe will occur in the future.
Ben Israel's beliefs were shared by others for hundreds of years. In 1775, Indian trader James Adair (c.1709 – 1783) wrote The History of the Indians, which laid out twenty-three connections that Adair saw between the Native Americans and the Jewish people. These included the belief in one god, customs related to tribal organization and religious orders of priests and prophets, the similarity of many beliefs and practices related to religions and festivals, common forms in their languages and the way names are used, and their shared custom of a brother taking the wife of a deceased brother to provide heirs. Some people continue to hold the belief that the Native Americans are descendants of one or more of the lost tribes of Israel.
This is not the only theory about the ultimate fate of the ten tribes, however. Some believe that some or all of the tribes ended up in Africa. This theory began with the discovery of a large number of Ethiopian Jews who were adhering to some very ancient Hebrew practices. Other Jewish groups in India have oral stories passed down from generations telling of how they were exiled by the Assyrians. It has been pointed out that evidence of the ten tribes can be found in nearly every part of the world and given the number of people initially dispersed—more than 27,000—and the number of centuries that have passed, any or all of these theories could ultimately be correct. In some cases, genetic studies are being conducted to attempt to provide definitive proof of the identity of the descendants of the lost tribes.
Bibliography
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