November 1994                                         ISSN 1322-6428                                          Volume I, Number 1

Here it is! The first small beginnings of the newsletter forum. It is for people who really believe in the literal meaning of the scriptures as related to us in the book of Genesis and in particular, chapters 10 and 49.

This is, of course, a very humble beginning, but I aim to improve the layout and presentation as my computer skills improve and as the funds become available. But I think you will agree that it is the information which is so important, not the lack of graphics or professional layout.

I know that we all have a burning desire to learn about the Biblical origins of the tribes, nations and races of the world. Also, some of us may wish to express ourselves and to relay this valuable information to others. Of course, we will not always agree with one another on the identities of these tribes and peoples. But I hope that this forum will at least be some attempt to settle matters or to agree to disagree. It is basic to Christians to be humble and to take God at His word. It is also fundamental to Christians to seek out the truth with all of our heart and all of our might (see Prov 2: 1-6). Further, we need to be as polite and gentlemanly as possible.

I encourage everyone to enter the debate with an open mind, mature attitude and without strict dogma. For there is much for each of us to learn from and to contribute to history, archaeology, ethnology, anthropology, linguistics and other sciences.

This edition contains articles by Richard Luke, a renowned journalist in Sydney. Mr Luke brings us insights into the modern identity of the land of Sinim referred to in the book of Isaiah and its relationship to Australia. Dr John Pilkey, Associate Professor of English at LA Baptist College, has kindly given me permission to reprint the text of a speech he gave recently. He is also well known for his work Origins of Nations. And last, but by no means least, is a fascinating "Did the Israelites really ‘fear the sea’?" by Steven Collins. This article was originally published in Mounds Newsletter, April 1994. The editor has kindly granted permission to reprint it.

Also, I am hoping to co-opt several other distinguished researchers to contribute to this periodical. I do hope that you find this newsletter profitable and should you have any ideas for improvement, layout or articles, please let me know. This is only a beginning, so do write to me and give me feedback. Any articles for consideration are most welcome. If at all possible, send the article on 3.5" disk. This will save an enormous amount of time in re-typing. But that is not essential. Happy reading!

You won’t find details about the two most significant points about Australia’s biblical origins and ultimate destiny in your local library.

For starters, you won’t ascertain that when Australia was formally founded in 1788 this was part of God’s plan to establish a key player in the prophesied British Empire - founded by descendants of the tribe of Ephraim. And you will most certainly not learn that Australia is identified as ‘Sinim’ - or ‘Land of the South’ in Hebrew - a country that will go into captivity at the hands of the Gentiles.

You won’t learn any of this critically important information on our heritage and destiny because the country’s spiritual and political leaders are blinded to these great truths. Compounding the problem is the mounting campaign to make Australia a republic. The establishment of a republic in Australia will sever more than 200 years of constitutional and monarchical ties to Great Britain - "Mother Ephraim", from whom we derive our native genius and special place in God’s master plan for the races of mankind. Like ancient Israel, Australia is destined to lose its identity and ethos, because of God-rejecting attitudes.

Overwhelming ignorance of God and his stunning, all-encompassing redemption plan for all the nations is at the heart of the problem. If Mr and Mrs average Aussie knew the purpose behind this plan - and their unique role in world affairs as Ephraimite offspring - a revolution inking would be underway. For example, the wisdom of Australia promoting one of the most entrenched diverse societies in the world would be subject to a major revision. Reason: God never intended Australians to lose their identity - nor does He want any other people to be likewise destroyed.

Mor than 2,700 years ago the prophet Hosea summed up the situation and fired a dire warning which is still relevant to our peoples today (see Hosea 7:8-9). These scriptures shed some light on why Australia will be plunged into national captivity.

In Isaiah 49:12, however, Australia is rescued by Christ from captivity at his return, along with many other descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes: "Behold, these shall come from afar: and lo, these from the west, and these from the Land of Sinim". The fact that "the Land of Sinim" is clearly referring to Australia as a beloved child in the family of Ephraimite nations, who will be rescued from sin and deception, is wonderful news. Indeed it is a crucial part of the biblical message for this nation, providing direction, hope and awareness of our marvellous national heritage.

And it puts in proper perspective those two giant issues of our day: republicanism and loss of identity. Put another way: when we ignore our God-given heritage and origins, as outlined in the Bible, we lose sight of our true national purpose and destiny.

Click here to view the article

An article in the 1991 edition of the Epigraphic Society Occasional Publications (ESOP) entitled "The Davenport and Newark Inscriptions," by Charles Moyer asserted that certain ancient North American artifacts and inscriptions could not be Hebrew because "the ancient Hebrews feared and hated the sea and have never shown any evidence of being a sea-faring people..." I do not believe that assertion can be substantiated, and the word "never" particularly misstates the historical reality of the ancient Hebrews. This article will document that the ancient Hebrews (i.e. "Israelites") had well-developed sea-faring skills.  It will also show why historians have failed to recognize this fact. 

Concerning ancient Israel's pre-monarchial period, it is stated in Judges 5:17; "Why did Dan remain in ships?" This comment is made in what is called "Deborah's song," and is a commentary describing what various tribes of Israel did (or did not do) in a victorious military battle. This biblical comment indicates that the tribe of Dan was, at that time, closely identified with a maritime way of life. Some Bibles offer a date of 1200 B.C. as a guide for dating that battle. 

Interestingly, Egyptian and Greek sources record that one of the tribes of the Sea Peoples, a sea-raiding people in the eastern Mediterranean at that time, were called the "Danauna" or the "Danaans." The Encyclopedia Britannica (1943 Ed., see Heading "Troy") cites the Egyptian and Greek accounts of these sea raiders and dates them to being present in the Levant "between 1230 and 1190 B.C." [Other sources render the spelling of these people as Danaouna or Danaoi, but all spellings cited include the easily recognizable root word "Dan”]. It is noteworthy that the secular historical dates coincide with the biblical dates for the tribe of Dan being a maritime tribe. Since one of the traits of the tribe of Dan was naming things after its tribal name (Joshua 19:47), it is not surprising that this maritime tribe would have its name recognizable in Egyptian and Greek accounts about them.

Also, the Hebrew tribes of Israel developed very strong maritime skills during the reign of King Solomon via their close alliance with the Phoenicians. Indeed, this alliance was so close that Solomon's alliance with King Hiram of the Phoenician city-states (which began under King David) led to many thousands of Israelites working in Phoenicia and vice-versa as the Hebrews and Phoenicians jointly implemented Solomon's prodigious building projects (I Kings 5). King Hiram shared the special maritime skills of the Phoenicians with the Israelite Hebrews (II Chronicles 8:18 records that Israelite mariners were taught by Phoenicians "who had knowledge of the sea.") II Chronicles 9:21 notes that the Israelites and Phoenicians jointly crewed a common navy. II Chronicles 9:10 and 21 mention Ophir and Tarshish as ports of call for their joint fleet, and the cargo manifest of "ivory, apes and peacocks" indicates their trading fleet had (at a minimum) African and Asian ports-of-call.  Contained in my pending four-book set on Israelite history will be information documenting the specific technologies used by the Israelite/Phoenician mariners to navigate the world’s oceans.  As readers will see when these book are realeased, the Phoenicians had invented ingenious devices to enable them to navigate planned courses and headings on the open oceans, even in unfavorable weather!  These ingenious devices were shared with the Israelites as part of the “knowledge of the sea.”  After receiving these technologies, the oceans began navigable highways for the Israelite mariners. 

I Kings 9:26-27 records that King Solomon built a fleet which was home-ported in Ezion-geber on the Red Sea, in which Phoenicians also served to teach the Israelites the “knowledge of the sea.”  This indicates that King Solomon's Israelite navy became a “two-ocean fleet” as his Mediterranean fleet could sail to Atlantic destinations, and his Red Sea fleet could sail to African, Asian and Pacific ports. I Kings 10:22 adds that the Israelites had at sea a “navy of Tharshish.” Does this refer to a trading fleet that sailed to “Tarshish,” or is there distinct and separate meaning in the word “Tharshish?” Since “Tharshish” was the proper name of one of the patriarchs of the tribe of Benjamin (I Chronicles 7:10), it is possible the writer of  I Kings used an Israelite clan name to designate a particular group of Israelites who were assigned to naval service.  If so, they would have been readily known to the writer’s contemporaries , but not to readers in the 20th century. 

At any rate, Israelite mariners learned their “knowledge of the sea” from what are widely-acknowledged to be the very best maritime teachers available in the ancient world! There is no indication that the Hebrews "feared and hated the sea.” Indeed, it appears King Solomon and the tribes of Israel under his rule were eager to learn the secret maritime skills of the Phoenicians and build their own naval fleets.  Why wouldn’t they be eager to learn such knowledge?  There would have been a tremendous commercial, economic advantage to joining the Phoenicians’ monopoly of the ancient world’s sea routes. 

The Egyptians were also very skilled mariners at that time, and Solomon's first father-in-law was the Pharaoh of Egypt (I Kings 9:9-16). This marriage between the royal houses of Israel and Egypt resulted in a tripartite Phoenician-Israelite-Egyptian alliance in Solomon's time. 

After the Hebrew tribes divided into a northern kingdom (Israel) and a southern kingdom (Judah), the Bible records that they became perennial enemies, fighting many wars against each other (albeit with a few interludes of peaceful relations). Biblical accounts show that while the northern kingdom, Israel (which was more populous as it contained ten Israelite tribes and Judah retained only two tribes), remained in alliance with Egypt and Phoenicia, Judah was afterward excluded from the Phoenician alliance. Indeed, the first ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel after the Israelite schism was Jeroboam, a prominent Israelite noble who had previously been a courtier of Egypt's Pharaoh Shishak (I Kings 12:40). This would have resulted in very favorable relations between Egypt and the ten-tribed kingdom of Israel. Evidence that Jeroboam retained a very strong affinity to Egypt is clear in his instituting Egyptian religion (calf-worship) in the northern kingdom of Israel (I Kings 12:25-30). It is evident that Israel’s alliance with the Phoenicians was long-lasting as, almost a century later, we find the royal houses of Israel and the Phoenician city of Sidon intermarried during the reign of King Ahab of Israel (I Kings 16:31). Likewise, Israel's long-standing attachment to the fertility practices of the Phoenicians also argues that the Israelite-Phoenician alliance was quite durable. 

The alliances of Israel, the northern Hebrew Kingdom, with Phoenicia and Egypt, and their longstanding fealty to Egyptian and Phoenician religions, would have caused the northern kingdom of Israel to become culturally more like their allies, and progressively less like the Jews, their fellow Israelites from whom they were estranged. The Bible records that the Kingdom of Israel never seriously returned to the worship of the Bible's God, but remained steadfastly in the cultural and religious camp of the Egyptians and (especially) the Phoenicians. This would have resulted, as decades and centuries passed, in the "Hebrew" language of the kingdom of Israel becoming more like the already similar Semitic tongue of their close allies (the Phoenicians) and less like the "Hebrew" language of Judah (the Jewish Hebrew nation).  I Kings 12:25-33 records that severing his people’s religious and cultural ties to Judah was a deliberate, state policy of King Jeroboam of Israel! Given this fact, the northern kingdom of Israel would have progressively merged with the culture of their close allies in Tyre and Sidon. Modern archaeologists, who do not realize this fact, routinely label as “Phoenician” the artifacts and inscriptions made by Israelites of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The people of Judah, who retained a more distinctly “Hebrew” culture and language were much less numerous and were excluded from the Phoenician alliance, giving the mistaken impression that ancient “Hebrews” were an insignificant and land-bound people. 

Given the historic alliance and affinity between the Phoenicians, Egyptians and Israelite Hebrews (all of whom were maritime powers during their mutual alliance in Solomon's reign), it would not be surprising to see them cooperating in maritime ventures long after Solomon's death. The "Davenport inscriptions" are evidence of such cooperation, as it has Egyptian as well as Phoenician-Hebrew characters. In America B.C., Dr. Barry Fell observed on page 263 the presence [on the Davenport stele] of "some signs resembling Hebrew and others resembling Phoenician." This is what one would expect to find if Israelite Hebrews were a part of this ancient exploration fleet which reached central North America (the modern state of Iowa). The Israelites, having become closely linked to the Phoenicians (politically, economically, culturally, and religiously), would also have become linguistically like the Phoenicians as well!  

One would expect the written language of the northern kingdom of Israel to reflect a Phoenician/Hebrew amalgam. Because of the longstanding hostility and mistrust between Israel and Judah, the language and writing of Israel would inevitably have become more "Phoenician" in nature and less like the "Hebrew" of the Kingdom of Judah. For this reason, epigraphic remnants of the Israelites of the ten-tribed, northern kingdom of Israel will be found in Phoenician (i.e. Punic) contexts, not in those of the Hebrew language of the kingdom of Judah. When inscriptions are found that seem to blur the distinction between Hebrew and Phoenician, it is very possible (indeed, likely) that those inscriptions are a product of Israelites from the northern Hebrew kingdom of Israel who had blended their cultural identity with the Phoenicians.  

There is an event in King Ahab's reign that also argues for a diffusionist perspective in biblical historical accounts. In I Kings 17 and 18, it is recorded that the prophet Elijah was hiding from Israel's King Ahab, and that Ahab searched in every nation for him. I Kings 18:10 cites the following incredulous response of one of Ahab's officials when he finally found Elijah "in his own backyard" in the nation of Israel: 

"As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom whither my lord [King Ahab] has not sent to seek you; and when they would say, 'he is not here, ' he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you."

This is one of those biblical passages that biblical critics huff and puff about, regarding it as an example of hyperbole or outright fabrication, believing that there was no way that King Ahab of Israel could command enough respect among the nations to "take oaths" of them or demand that they conduct national searches for a missing prophet. They also scoff at the idea that Ahab cou1d have had access to "all nations and kingdoms" on the earth at that time. However, now that the discoveries and efforts of The Epigraphic Society have demonstrated the diffusionist nature of the ancient world, a context for a literal understanding of this episode readily presents itself. King Ahab and Israel were still closely allied to the Phoenicians, the dominant maritime power of that time. Indeed, King Ahab was married to a Phoenician princess, Jezebel, daughter of the king of Sidon. His continuing close alliance with the Phoenicians meant that Ahab had the ability via the Phoenician (and his own) fleets to send searchers wherever these fleets sailed and traded in either the Old or New Worlds. The Davenport stele, with its record of "mixed Hebrew and Phoenician signs," and the other Phoenician inscriptions found in the New World argue that the sailors of the allied Phoenicians and Israelites (of the northern kingdom) were present in the New World as well. Therefore, there was a means, readily available to King Ahab, to send ships to nations all over the world in search of Elijah. His ability to demand a national search for Elijah, and exact oaths from the leaders of those nations indicates considerable influence on the part of King Ahab of Israel. What was the nature of that power? 

The answer is obvious. The long-standing Phoenician/Israelite alliance on the sea controlled access to the ancient world’s maritime commercial routes. Any nation that did not cooperate with Ahab's request could have had their goods and ships forcibly embargoed from the sea routes by the Phoenician/Israelite navies. If the Egyptians were then still cooperating with the Phoenicians and Israelites (the Davenport stele argues that periods of such cooperation between their language groupings still did exist), Ahab's threat would have been backed by not two, but three powerful navies! Ahab was not an insignificant king on the land either. An alliance of nations (including King Ahab's Israel) fought the Assyrian Empire under Shalmaneser III to a stalemate in the battle of Karkar (or "Qarqar") in 854 B.C.  Ahab's search occurred during what the Bible records as a three and one-half year drought caused by God at the instigation of Elijah. Ahab's period of searching would have occurred during that drought. There was time enough for Ahab to send messenger ships to all known nations, have those nations  search for Elijah (basically checking to see if anyone answering to Elijah's description had arrived on any vessel from Israel's region of the world), and send word back to Ahab via the same messenger ships.  

Regarding Judah, one biblical account shows that the Jews (the Hebrews of Judah) were also unafraid of sea travel. I Kings 22:44-49 and II Chronicles 20:36-37 record that during one of the rare reapproachments between the estranged Hebrew kingdoms of

Israel and Judah, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah attempted to build a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, the home-port of one of  Solomon's previous international fleets. This is hardly the action of a people who "feared and hated the sea." The project was wrecked by an "act of God," but it is interesting to note that Israel's king (Ahab's son) offered to let his sailors assist the crews of the new ships that Judah was building. Since Judah was trying to reestablish itself as a maritime force, this offer only makes sense in the same vein in which King Hiram's offer was made to Solomon when Solomon was building his fleets--that Israel's king was offering to share "the knowledge of the sea" with Judah's novice sailors. This offer provides biblical confirmation that the Israelites of the northern kingdom possessed the sophisticated maritime skills of the Phoenicians during the time of King Ahab and Israel’s subsequent kings. It also indicates that Judah's intent in building these ships was to create a fleet capable of long, "open-water" voyages, not mere coastal-hopping trips down the Red Sea. For such a fleet, Judah would have needed skilled mariners to teach them such arts as celestial navigation, sailing to take advantage of trade winds, recognizing predictable oceanic currents, etc. The king of Israel knew Judah would need such help, and his offer was likely an effort to ingratiate himself to the Jewish king, Jehoshaphat (who was wealthy and powerful). Such skills would have been completely unnecessary in small coastal vessels that were intended for short, land-hugging voyages. Jehoshaphat was clearly attempting to restore some of Solomon's glory by replicating Solomon's construction of a major fleet at Ezion-geber, but the effort was abortive. 

The effort of the Jews during Jehoshaphat's reign should not be construed to mean that they finally worked up the courage to venture forth on the "fearful sea." Rather, it is a reflection of the role national economic strength played in determining maritime power in the ancient world. It took a great deal of money to build a fleet, train sailors, finance its operation over time, etc. As is clear from the Bible's accounts, the reign of King Jehoshaphat was a time of restored economic power and national wealth for the kingdom of Judah. Therefore, Jehoshaphat's effort to build a great fleet was simply a predictable function of his nation's restored ability to fund and support a large trading fleet. 

The above observations refute any contention that the Hebrews were either afraid of the sea or insignificant maritime powers. Indeed, during the time that all the tribes of Israel were united under King Solomon, the Hebrews built large fleets and became privy to the Phoenicians' “knowledge of the sea." After the Israelite tribes divided into two nations, the northern kingdom of Israel remained closely linked to the Phoenicians, sharing the strong maritime tradition of their allies. Even the smaller Jewish kingdom of Judah, excluded from a Mediterranean maritime presence by the more powerful Phoenician/Israelite alliance, displayed an eagerness to build a large fleet of ships on the Red Sea as soon as economic and political circumstances allowed such a project to be implemented.  

Charles Moyer's article, in commenting on the biblical commandment against graven images, states: "history has shown us that the Jewish people have quite thoroughly followed this commandment." His line of reasoning was that the Newark stones [artifacts inscribed in ancient Hebrew which were found in the Mound-Builder sites in ancient America’s Ohio River Valley] were not likely to be ancient Hebrew artifacts because of an assumed depiction of a deity. Such an assertion indicates a lack of awareness that there were two very different Hebrew nations in the ancient world. It is a common historical misconception that the terms "Jew" and "Hebrew" were synonymous in the ancient world. That was not the case. As we have seen, the larger, non-Jewish Hebrew kingdom of Israel was usually an enemy of the Jewish kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom of Israel regularly disregarded the biblical laws of God, including the injunction against making or depicting a graven image. Therefore, Hebrews from the kingdom of Israel would rarely have had any qualms about making or depicting a figure of a deity.  

However, Jews from the southern kingdom of Judah also sometimes made or depicted graven images. There were several periods in Judah's history where fealty to the laws of God was forgotten (and even scorned) for extended periods of time. Consider the following examples. King Manasseh of Judah instituted infant sacrifice, compelled the Jews to worship foreign gods, and was openly-contemptuous of God and his laws.Judah was also once ruled by Queen Athaliah, a devotee of Baal and foreign gods. She also caused the Jewish nation to openly disobey biblical laws (including the one against graven images). Indeed, by the time Josiah became king of Judah, the Jews had become so lax about the laws of God that no one even knew what the laws of God were any more! In Josiah's eighteen year as king (circa 621 BC), the Jews found a forgotten scroll of the law and had to relearn the laws of god "from scratch." [The above examples are

described in II Kings 11 and II Chronicles 33.] Therefore, one has to be cautious about asserting that Jews would never make graven images because there are periods of Jewish history when their making graven images would have been common! Coupled with the fact that their fellow Israeltie tribes in the northern kingdom of Israel regularly made and served graven images associated with the gods of Phoenicia (or other lands), there is no basis to reject an inscription as being Hebrew simply because it depicts a graven image.

While the supposed "graven image" on the Newark stones is actually a representation of Moses (not a deity), as noted in Bill Rudersdorf's article "Lost Horizons," ESOP, 1991, it is worth noting the inaccuracy of asserting that a particular inscription could not be Hebrew merely because it contained a depiction of a deity. Additionally, the discussion of the Hebrews' maritime alliance with the Phoenicians and the Phoenicians' willingness to share "the knowledge of the sea" with the Israelites meant that the ancient kingdom of Israel would have been a maritime power for much (if not all) of its existence. On the other hand, the Jews (the kingdom of Judah) were apparently not a significant maritime power after the division of the Israelites into two kingdoms. However, they were eager enough to build a large fleet of ships when their national strength and finances permitted them to do so. Given the above, I see no evidence that the Hebrews ever "feared the sea." Indeed, the Bible's historical accounts describe events which make literal sense when considered in light of the political alliances of that time and a diffusionist view of ancient mankind's actual abilities and far-flung contacts. 

[this is an updated version of an article which originally appeared in the April, 1994 issue of the epigraphic journal, Louisiana Mounds.]

BOOK REVIEW

TITLE:    THE "LOST" TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL...FOUND! 

AUTHOR:   Steven M. Collins  

LENGTH:   APPROXIMATELY 440 PAGES 

ORDER DETAILS: History Research Projects, GPO Box 864, Sydney, NSW 2001. 

INTRODUCTION:

The ancient Israelites were composed of twelve tribes, which eventually split into two kingdoms.  The largest kingdom, Israel, was composed of ten tribes.  The smaller kingdom, Judah, was composed of two tribes.  Judah was "Jewish," Israel was not. 

Many assume that the history of the ten tribes of Israel ended when Samaria, Israel's capital, fell to the Assyrians in 721 B.C.  Both the Bible and secular history assert otherwise.  Approximately 100 years after Samaria's fall, God told the prophet Jeremiah to proclaim a message to the ten tribes of Israel (Jeremiah 3:11-12). Interestingly, God told Jeremiah the Israelites lived not to the east (where the Assyrians carried the captives of Samaria) but "to the north" of Jerusalem and Palestine.  After the time of Christ, the Jewish historian, Josephus, wrote that the ten tribes of Israel had become extremely numerous and he even revealed one of their national borders.  Neither the Bible nor Josephus regarded the Israelites as ever being "lost." 

Many Christians believe we are living in "the latter days," a prophetic time preceding the return of Jesus Christ (a view shared by the author).  The Bible has many prophecies about the role of the ten tribes of Israel in the latter days, calling them "Israel" or "the house of Israel" while the Jews are called "Judah" or "the house of Judah."  The Bible contains many clues about the national traits of each tribe in the latter days.  Because the Bible states the ten tribes of Israel will be prominent and identifiable in the latter days, those Christians who say the ten tribes of Israel disappeared or "died out" are unwittingly at odds with the Bible. This book examines the victories, defeats, empires and migrations of the ten tribes of Israel throughout history and offers identifications for each tribe in the modern world.  This book has been professionally edited and reviewed for accuracy of Hebrew and Greek translations.  It presents strong evidence that the Bible's historical accounts and prophecies about the ten tribes of Israel are completely accurate.  A brief discussion of each chapter's content is listed below. 

CHAPTER 1:   "KING DAVID AND ISRAEL'S RISE TO GREATNESS"

King David's rule and influence was much wider than commonly assumed.  The Bible records that a major war occurred between David's Israelites and an Assyrian-led coalition from Mesopotamia. The Bible asserts David won that war, and secular history confirms that the Assyrians and Mesopotamians were conquered by Semites from the west during that time.  David became the greatest earthly king of his time.  The Bible also records David accumulated copper items "beyond calculation" for the Temple of God.  Where did this weight of copper come from?  Interestingly, ancient copper mines in the North American Great Lakes region were worked to exhaustion during David's time, but the copper was not used in the New World. 

CHAPTER 2:  "KING SOLOMON AND THE "GOLDEN AGE" OF ISRAEL"

Kings David and Solomon were allied to the Phoenicians who had massive fleets which sailed the globe.  From Phoenician artifacts found in North America, it is now known that their ports-of-call included ancient America.  The Bible asserts that Solomon had a global impact, and that ancient kings travelled to Israel to witness Solomon's wealth and wisdom.  The Bible records Solomon was the wisest man on earth, and secular history records that many inventions (including the forerunner of many modern alphabets) date to the Phoenician world in the time of Solomon.  This book describes the global "golden age" under King Solomon. 

CHAPTER 3:  "ISRAEL--THE FORGOTTEN WORLD EMPIRE"

Via the widespread sailing routes of the Phoenicians, the Israelites established a large network of colonies.  The Israelites were the "covenant" people, and they attached the Hebrew word for "covenant" (B-R-T) to some of their colonies (i.e. Briton). 

As evidence of their global impact, the 10 Commandments (in ancient Hebrew) have been found written on rocks in New Mexico and on an unearthed tablet in Ohio.  Also, the "Phoenicians" never called themselves by that name (it was a Greek term and the Greeks included Israel in their definition of "Phoenicia.").  The city‑states of Sidon and Tyre were rather small but are credited with building a great empire from 1000-700 B.C.  However, it was actually the much larger nation of Israel which was responsible for the "Phoenician" Empire.  The Israelites, Tyrians and Sidonians were a related people who spoke dialects of the same language. After the division of the Hebrew tribes, it was virtually impossible to distinguish between the ten tribes and the "Phoenician" city-states as the ten tribes drifted away from Judah and became closely integrated with Tyre and Sidon. 

CHAPTER 4:  "ISRAELITE AND JEWISH MIGRATIONS FROM PALESTINE

The ten tribes migrated out of Palestine in several waves, some were voluntary and others involuntary.  When Samaria fell, the Bible and Assyrian records agree that very few people were taken into captivity.  Many Israelites escaped Assyria by relocating to one of Israel's many colonies via the large Phoenician/Israelite navy.  Secular history also records the main body of Israelites fled voluntarily to a new location, supplanting an old kingdom with a new Israelite one.  The Bible implicitly confirms the above by declaring the Assyrians found the land and cities of Israel abandoned at the time of their final invasion.  This chapter reveals where the Israelites migrated and when they did so.

CHAPTER 5:  "CARTHAGE--THE COLONY THAT BECAME AN EMPIRE"

It has long been known that Carthage was founded by the "Phoenicians."  We know it as Carthage because of the Greco-Roman term for it.  Its original name was Hebrew.  Many historians have commented on the Hebrew nature of Carthage's "Punic" language and customs.  Carthage began as an Israelite colony, and received numerous Israelite refugees when Israel fell.  The Greeks wrote that Carthage had a secret colony west of the Atlantic to which they sent large expeditions of colonists, and many Carthaginian inscriptions and artifacts have been found in North America.  This chapter examines connections between the Carthaginians and the civilizations of ancient America (including the pyramids and human sacrifices of the Mayans).  Carthage was very rich and almost destroyed Rome under Hannibal, but moral degeneracy led to its collapse. 

CHAPTER 6:  "THE SCYTHIAN 'SACAE,'--THE ASIAN SONS OF ISAAC"

"Scythian" was a term describing many people who lived in ancient Asia near the Black and Caspian Seas.  Many Scythian tribes, the "Sacae," were named after the biblical patriarch, Isaac.  The Sacae appear in this region soon after the fall of the kingdom of Israel. The Greeks record the Black Sea Scythians were very civilized people who eschewed foreign religions and had such Hebrew customs as banning the consumption of pork.  The Scythians renamed all the major rivers flowing into the Black Sea, giving them their modern names (Danube, Don, etc.) which preserve the name of the Israelite tribe of Dan.  The Sacae lived directly north of Palestine (by the Black Sea) when the prophet Jeremiah was told to send a message to the ten tribes of Israel living "north" of Palestine.  Few realize that Scythian tribes twice defeated large invasions by the Persian Empire and that they briefly conquered the entire Middle East from Egypt to Mesopotamia.  The Greeks recorded much about the Scythians and regarded them as a major power in the ancient world, but modern history almost totally ignores them. Why? 

CHAPTER 7:  "AN ISRAELITE EMPIRE RISES IN ASIA"

In the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C., the Parthians defeated the Seleucid Greek Empire founded by Alexander the Great, and established their own empire from the Euphrates River to the western borders of India.  They were fellow tribesman of the Scythian Sacae, and several Parthian cities had Hebrew names.  One Parthian city, Asaak, was named after Isaac.  The name "Parthia" comes from Greek historians, who gave the name "Pretanic" to the Brittanic Isles.  When Parthia's "P" is also changed to a "B," Parthia's consonants become "B-R-TH," the Hebrew word for "covenant."  This chapter lists much evidence that the Parthians were Asian descendants of the ten tribes of Israel. 

CHAPTER 8:  "PARTHIA--THE FORGOTTEN ANCIENT SUPERPOWER"

Greek and Roman historians regarded Parthia as an equal rival to the Roman Empire, an opinion shared by the famous British historian George Rawlinson.  Parthia regularly defeated the Roman Empire in many wars.  Many kings of the Sacae Scythians and Parthians bore the name of the royal bloodline of King David, fulfilling God's promise in Jeremiah 33:17.  Even as the Israelites had a hereditary priesthood (the Levites), so did the Parthians (the Magi).  The Parthian empire had mounted "knights," a feudal government system, and a bicameral "parliament" which elected their kings.  In the apostolic period, many Parthians became Christians.  In the 3rd century A.D. the Parthians were overthrown by the Persians and fled to the Caucasus Mountains and Black Sea region.  Classical Greek and Roman writers preserved much information about the Parthians, but modern history texts almost completely ignore them.  Why? 

CHAPTER 9:  "JESUS CHRIST--THE UNTOLD STORY"

Jesus Christ was born during a period of "detente" between Rome and Parthia in which travel and trade flourished.  The "Magi" or "Wise Men" who visited Jesus were representatives of the Parthian ruling class who came offering gifts to Jesus, who was "born a king."  Why were Parthians interested in Jesus' royal bloodline?  What was the "star" which led the Magi to Jesus?  How large was the delegation of Parthian royalty that visited Jesus Christ?  Why did Rome permit Jesus Christ unlimited freedom of travel and speech during a time of often harsh repression of other Jews?  Where did Jesus go during the "missing 18 years" of his life from age 12 to age 30?  This chapter provides compelling (and surprising) answers for all the above questions, and offers new perspectives on Jesus' life in light of the geopolitical context of Roman-Parthian relations. 

CHAPTER 10:  "ISRAELITE MIGRATIONS FROM ASIA AFTER PARTHIA'S FALL"

Vast numbers of Parthians fled to the Caucasus Mountains and Black Sea region after Parthia fell, joining their Scythian cousins who were called "Goths" by the Romans.  These armies of refugees needed new homelands, and they sought them by invading the European and Balkan provinces of their historic enemy, the Roman Empire.  While some tribes were pagan, others (under Alaric and Theodoric) were more civilized and Christianized than the Romans.  As large numbers of refugees poured out of Asia into Europe in search of new homelands, they fought both the Romans and each other.  These tribes of Goths, Anglo-Saxons, Germans, etc. overwhelmed Rome and provided the population bases for the modern nations of Europe. These new arrivals brought many aspects of Scythian/Parthian culture with them, including Parthia's feudal system of government. This chapter examines the role of the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel in these massive migrations. 

CHAPTER 11:  "THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL IN THE MODERN WORLD"

After tracing the Israelites' migrations throughout their history, the final chapter seeks to identify each of the tribes of Israel in the modern world.  Because God promises that each tribe will be present in the latter days, they must be located among the nations of the modern world if the Bible is truly the infallible Word of God.  Using many clues from biblical and secular history as well as a specific prophecy in Genesis 49 about the Israelite tribes in the latter days, specific identifications are offered for all the tribes of Israel in our contemporary world.

ADVERTISEMENTS

With this incredible book, Yair Davidy is set to become one of the foremost experts on the so-called ‘lost’ 12 tribes of Israel. Never has there been any book ever published with such detail and with such a sense of confidence and expertise. It is simply awesome in its breadth of scholarship and fine detail.

I would pay $100.00 given its amazing content.

This is a 500 page manuscript on the tribes of Israel. Filled with new information and thoroughly readable for the layman. It explains clearly where the tribes of Israel are located and how Israelitish sailors set foot in the New World long before Christ.

This book is simply amazing and a must for anyone wishing to prove the subject or has been challenged on it. Outside of Australia/New Zealand/Asia contact Mr Collins at: 3901 Crescent Drive, Sioux Falls, SD 57106, USA.

Plans are being made to distribute the book via History Research Projects for Australia/ New Zealand/Asia. Persons in those areas should contact History Research Projects in the first instance.

· Who Are the Germans? Their ancient roots and future might.

· True Origins of the Peoples of Eastern Europe

· The Identity of the Central French, Northen Italians and Japanese

· The Peoples of Central Asia and the Middle East

History Research Projects plans to make available photocopies of several old books and papers some of which were written over 100 years ago!

This material will enthral you and send you racing back to the inspired book of Genesis to re-read its amazing contents, in the full assurance that it is indeed the inspired word of God Almighty.

"I was most interested to learn of your forth-coming publication ... Congratulations on your newsletter; it is very profesionally done."

RW

Tasmania, Australia

"Thank you for your letter ... I do not support the notion that the peoples of North Western Europe have any connection with the peoples of the Old Testament. Nevertheless, I always do whatever I can to help, even if I disagree..."

AJ

Melbourne, Australia

"I was elated to receive from you recently news announcing the Origins of Nations and the Origins of the Races and Peoples projects ... I hope for and predict success for these ventures you have undertaken. You are fulfilling a very real need among revisionist and reconstructionist historians, and I wish you all the best."

JW

Manitoba, Canada

"Several months ago I purchased your ... booklet, "The Modern Descendants of Dodanim and Tarshish" ... I was, and am, very impressed with the amount of historical information you were able to collect and interpret".

NJ

WA, USA

"I recently purchased two of your booklets ... here in the United States. I was quite amazed by the depth of your research. Please forward to me your current book list".

DEM

CA, USA

"Enclosed find a copy of my latest Genesis 10 lecture to be delivered tomorrow at the Ventura County Creation Research Association. This lecture has more the character of a sermon than a research paper ... feel free to use it however you wish"

John Pilkey

CA, USA

• analysis of names of Genesis 10 & 49

• linguistics

• anthropology

• traditions and mythology

• strange parallels between modern and ancient nations

• · Who are the Frisians?

• · New Books by Yair Davidy!

• · Origins of the Irish: Phoenicians, Danites and Judahites

• · News of the Nations

• · The strange relationship of the no. 666 to Assur!

• · The British Royal House

• · Book Review: "Peoples of the Old Testament World" (1994)