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“While it was regarded as merely a myth for many years − appearing in several written and oral versions − something striking occurred in the year 880 C.E. that left an imprint on Jewish consciousness for centuries to come. One day, a small, very dark-skinned Jew named Eldad showed up in the Jewish community of Kairouan, in modern-day Tunisia, claiming to be descended from the Tribe of Dan.
He related fascinating accounts of the life and customs of this majority of the Jewish people that had disappeared. Of particular interest was the knowledge he claimed to have of early religious law and the archaic Hebrew that he spoke.
From this point onward, the existence of the 10 Lost Tribes was regarded as a fact, as something whose validity could be tested in reality. Where do the lost tribes reside? Perhaps in Central Asia or equatorial Africa?” – Haaretz, September 4, 2013
The following map shows the location of Tunisia, Africa.
The Locations of The 10 Lost Tribes According To Eldad
The following information was obtained from the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia’s entry titled ‘ELDAD BEN MAHLI HA-DANI‘.
- Asher – Havilah (Cush)
- Dan – Havilah (Cush)
- Ephraim – Southern mountains of Arabia
- Gad – Havilah (Cush)
- Issachar – Media and Persia
- Manasseh (50%) – Southern mountains of Arabia
- Manasseh (50%) – The land of the Chazars (Khazars)
- Naphtali – Havilah (Cush)
- Reuben – Mountains of Paran
- Simeon – The land of the Chazars (Khazars)
- Zebulon – Armenia
The Locations of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi
Eldad mentions the separation of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, but he does not mention the locations of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. According to Higgins1, the tribe of Judah migrated into Central, West, and South Africa (read more). According to Hannah Adams2 and Charles Forster3, the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi were deported to Spain by Nebuchadnezzar during the Babylonian Captivity (587 BC – 538 BC).
Sources
- Higgins, Godfrey. 1836. Anacalypsis, an attempt to draw aside the veil of the Saitic Isis; or, An inquiry into the origin of languages, nations, and religions. p 603 – 604. https://archive.org/details/anacalypsisattem01higg/page/602/mode/2up ↩︎
- Adams, Hannah. 1818. The History of the Jews: From the Destruction of Jerusalem to the Present Time, p 367-368, https://books.google.com/books?id=_fQUPXmBJw8C ↩︎
- Forster, Charles. 1854. The One Primeval Language Traced Experimentally Through Ancient Inscriptions, p 330 – 331. https://archive.org/details/oneprimevallang00forsgoog/page/n358/mode/2up?ref=ol ↩︎