The Search for the Ten Lost Tribes

Biblical archaeology has come a long way over the past century and a half. Discoveries in modern times have unearthed ancient cities, houses, temples, stone tablets, burial caves, coins, jewelry, clothing, weapons, and more, all testifying to what life really was like during the Biblical period.

There are some explorers who are searching for the ten lost tribes of Israel, the majority of the Jewish Nation who were conquered, forcibly displaced, presumably assimilated into other nations and lost contact with the rest of world Jewry over the centuries. In recent years, there has been a renewed enthusiasm in this search among certain native peoples of Asia, Africa, and beyond who retain traditions, customs, and historical memories connected to the Jewish People. But first, some historical context.

The 12 Tribes

The founding father of the Jewish nation was Abraham. The family legacy of monotheism (later to be known as Judaism) was passed on to his son Isaac who passed it on to his son Jacob who was given an alternative name, Israel. Israel had 12 sons; Reuben, Simon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. During a global famine, the family migrated to Egypt where they significantly multiplied. The 12 sons of Israel developed into the 12 tribes of Israel, otherwise known as the Children of Israel, which is how the Bible most often refers to the Jewish People. (The tribe of Joseph actually became two tribes, descendants of his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.)

The 12 tribes eventually inherited 12 portions of territory within the Land of Israel and this remained so for centuries. About 3000 years ago, the 12 tribes were united into a unified political entity led by King David and was inherited by his son King Solomon. This unified Jewish monarchy lasted about 73 years and was called the Kingdom of Israel.

With the succession of Solomon’s son Rehoboam, only two of the tribes, Judah and Benjamin, located in the south of the country, remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty while the other 10 tribes came under the leadership of a tax collector from the tribe of Ephraim known as Jeroboam. The realm of Jeroboam retained the namesake, the Kingdom of Israel since it included most of the Israelite tribes, and the realm of Rehoboam was known as the Kingdom of Judah, since the tribe of Judah was much larger than Benjamin.

The Chagall Windows depicting Jacob’s 12 sons

The two Jewish kingdoms, Judah and Israel, sometimes went to war with each other and other times cooperated with one another both for trade purposes and to combat mutual external threats. In the year 722 BCE, the Assyrian Empire defeated the Kingdom of Israel and forcibly deported most of its population. The question that has piqued the interest of scholars for generations is: What happened to the ten tribes? Where did they end up and who are they today?

Where Did They End Up?

The Bible does give some clues as to destination points of their deportations from ancient Israel: “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and exiled the Israelites to Assyria, and he repatriated them in Halah, and in Habor, the Gozan River, and the cities of Media” (Kings II 17:6).

Clearly, the general area we’re talking about here refers to the Assyrian homeland in what is today northern Syria, northern Iraq and northwestern Iran, in other words modern day Kurdistan. Although the Biblical place names are contested, the reference to “the cities of Media” are commonly understood to be in the region of Hamadan, Iran. Although there are no traces of the lost tribes in that area, it could have been a starting point for a migration further to the east.

Afghanistan and Pakistan

The Pashtun tribes of Afghanistan and Pakistan who migrated to the area in ancient times from northwestern Iran, have long intrigued seekers of the ten lost tribes. On the surface, this is a group of 25 million people practicing a stringent form of Sunni Islam. Many members of the Pashtun are actually associated with the Taliban so it’s not exactly the first place you would expect to find lost Jewish tribes, but there’s more to it.

The Pashtun do have historical memories of their ancestors originating in ancient Israel. Their tribal names very much resemble Israelite tribal names; Rubeni, Gadi, Ashuri, Efridi, Shinwari, Lewani, and Yousefzai. Many Pashtun people have a distinct Semitic appearance in contrast to other tribes of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They circumcise male babies on the eighth day, women light candles on Friday night, they practice levirate marriage, and even have cities of refuge as mandated by Biblical law. Unlike typical Muslim custom, the Pashtun move back and forth when they read the Koran in a similar manner to Jews who engage in prayer and Torah study. Many of the Pashtun also have sidelocks similar to Orthodox Jews. Interesting connections!

India

Within India, there are several groups who claim descent from the ten tribes including the Bene Israel, the Bene Ephraim, and Bene Menashe. The Book of Esther seems to indicate that there were Jewish populations in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus: “It was written according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors, and the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia” (Esther 8:9).

Jews of Cochin, A Malabar Jewish family (1900)

All these groups practiced the most basic levels of Judaism, circumcision and Shabbat, without retaining much more knowledge of their Jewish roots. Between the 18^th and 20^th centuries, these groups became increasingly in contact with world Jewry and started practicing Judaism to a greater extent. In the aftermath of Israeli independence, large chunks of these populations have immigrated to Israel, but many remain behind.

Ethiopia

The Beta Israel tribes of Ethiopia have long been theorized to be members of the ten lost tribes. According to one local tradition, they are descendants of the tribe of Dan who left ancient Israel prior to the exile. Another tradition places their origins in the union between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba whose visit to Jerusalem was recorded in the Book of Kings.

Interestingly enough, the Judaism practiced by Ethiopian Jews distorted certain Jewish customs like family purity.  Ethiopian Jews also were not familiar with the common Jewish custom of tefillin (phylacteries), which is practiced by men. This points to a Judaism that could have been taught by a Jewish woman following her conversion, someone like the Queen of Sheba. Reference to Jewish communities in northeast Africa is even recorded by the Prophet Isaiah: “And it shall come to pass that on that day, the Lord shall continue to apply His hand a second time to acquire the rest of His people, that will remain from Assyria and from Egypt and from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam and from Sumeria and from Hamath and from the islands of the sea” (Isaiah 11:11).

Pathros is understood to be southern Egypt and Cush is interpreted either as Sudan or Ethiopia.

Conclusion

There are in fact dozens of ethnic groups around the world who claim Israelite origins, some with stronger cases and others with less evidence. Highlighted above are just the most common cases. It’s interesting to note that today’s Jewish population of some 15 million is not much more than it was 3000 years ago. As we uncover more and more ethnic groups with ties to ancient Israel, we are perhaps seeing a Jewish family reunion on a massive scale the likes of which were spoken by the prophets:

“So says the Lord God: Behold I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel his companions, and I will place them with him with the stick of Judah, and I will make them into one stick, and they shall become one in My hand” (Ezekiel 37:19).