Tacitus, Ethiopians and Black St. Paul
Roman historian Tacitus wrote that many of his time believed that the Jews “were a race of Ethiopian origin.”
The Bible classifies the Ethiopians & Jews together, “Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord.” (Amos 9:7)
Black Paul is mistaken for an “Egyptian” and declares himself to be a “Jew.” (Acts 21:37-39, 22: 2,3)
Persia and Ashanti
It has also been speculated that the Jewish presence and influence was greatly helped by the ancient gold trade between Persia and Africa.
Jews were the main intermediaries of this trade in the medieval ages since most Muslims (due to Islamic laws prohibition on usury) were wary of its usurious dimensions.
These Jewish itinerant traders came to rely on contacts with the various Jewish communities of West African who proved no mean help in sourcing the scarce commodity. Thus, for instance, the silk of the Royal Kente cloths of the Ashanti reputedly came from China.
Various historical accounts claim that Jewish travelers from Persia had organized exchanges of Chinese silk for gold in the Kingdom of Ghana; the Ashanti needed the silk for weaving Kente cloth and the Jews need gold for their intrinsic and fiscal value. It is said that the Ashanti words for numbers relate to those in Parsi, the language of Persia. See Lichtblau.
Genetics
Haplogroup E3B
The E3b haplogroup has been observed in all Jewish groups world wide. It is considered to be the 2nd most prevelent haplogroup amoung the Jewish population.
All the major studies agree that E-M35 is the second highest in prevalence next to J, for “Founding Jewish Lineages.” http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/Behar_contrasting.pdf.
It is found in moderate amounts in all Jewish populations, from Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Kurdish, Yemen, Samaritan and even among Djerba Jewish groups.
The scientific consensus is that Haplogroup E3b (M35) appears to have originated in East Africa, but has been carried from there to the Near East and then on to North Africa and Europe. Today it is most common in East Africa, North Africa, the Near East and around the Mediterranean.
Haplogroup J
Haplogroup J (previously known as HG9 or Eu9/Eu10) is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. T is subdivided into two subclades: haplogroup J2, defined by the M172 marker, and haplogroup J1, defined by the M267 marker.
Of special interest are maps that show the geographical spread of the J haplogroup. J1 and J2 are both common in southern Europe, central Europe, the Mediterranean region, and Africa. The J haplogroup is considered to be a signature gene of Jewish ancestry and the cohen modal gene happens to be a subgroup of J.
In fact, the highest frequencies of J1 (M267) are seen in the Middle East, north Africa, and Ethiopia. See (Thomas et al. 1999). J2 (M172) also exists in significant proportions across Africa especially among the semitic speaking peoples of Tigriniya, Amhara, and Oromiya.
The J1’s from the Middle East and North Africa seem to be distinguishable from the rest of J’s by having YCAII=22,22. Behar et al found that a significant proportion of the Jewish population of Europe (more than 20%) carry the J1 haplogroup. The other 20% carry the J2 haplogroup. See Behar et al Hum Genet (2004) 114: 354-365
Cohen Modal Haplotype
The presence among the Lemba of a disproportionate number of men carrying a particular polymorphism on the Y chromosome known as the Cohen modal haplotype suggests an ancestral link to the Jewish population. One sub-clan within the Lemba, the Buba clan, is considered by the Lemba to be their priestly clan. Among a small sample of the Buba, fifty-two percent of males were found to carry the Cohen modal haplotype CMH, which is generally suggestive of Y-DNA haplogroup J, but notably prevalent among Jewish Kohanim, or priests.
Decline of the Black Jews of Africa
Many reasons have been sought for the decline and virtual disappearance of Africa’s once thriviing Jewish communities of black Jews. Many see the beginning of this decline as contemporaneous with the advent of the Islamic religion in Africa.
Some historical accounts highlight the fact that black Jews were die-hard nationalistic traditionalists and had led the black African resistance against the influx of the black muslim jihadists and their new interpretation of morality. The most notableof these black Jewish nationalists was Queen Kahina Dahiya Bint Thabitah ibn Tifan otherwise known as El-Kahina. A descendant of one of the priestly Black Jewish families of North Africa, Kahina led the nationalist resistance against the muslim invasion until her defeat at the hands of Hassan Ibn Numan. See Margolis, “History of Jewish people”, 1927 pages 278-279. See also Remy Ilona, “The Igbos: Jews in Africa?” volume 1, Research Findings Historical Links, Commentaries, Narratives,” 2004, Mega Press Limited, Abuja, Nigeria.
Amidst this tumult, the Jews of Northern and West Africa were given a choice of conversion or emigration. Many left for the deeper forest recesses of West Africa seeking the peace and tranquility that appeared to elude them in each generation. The late incursions by the colonialist christian elements of Europe did not make matters any better. There seems to have been a direct link between the incursion of relatively modern religions in Africa and the decline of the ancient practise of the Hebrews which had a pride of place in Africa, its mother land.
For instance the Jewish enclaves of Qamnurya or Naghira in the area of modern Senegal was destroyed completely in the wake of sectarian unrest. Similarly, Al-Maghili a prominent black Muslim noble not only destroyed the Jewish enclaves of Tuat in the old Mali empire, he convinced other potentates throughout the Western Sudan to banish Jews from the empire’s cities. See Remy Ilona, supra.
Lichtblau speculates that: although “…Jewish presence is also confirmed by numerous surviving accounts of Portuguese and other European visitors in the 14th and 15th centuries, as well as North African and Arab historical records… gradually most of these communities disappeared. Since they existed largely in isolation, there was a good deal of intermarriage which for a while reinforced their influence and expansion. As a result they were increasingly viewed as a threat by Muslim rulers, and most of the Jewish communities and nomad groups south of the Atlas mountains were either forced to convert to Islam or massacred; the remainder fled to North Africa, Egypt or the Sudan, and a few also to Cameroon and Southern Africa.”
Jide Uwechia
August 19, 2007
this rasta livewire its very interesting, need to learn more, thank the I,S
Reading some of the comments by some readers is very interesting. yet it must be said that the light skin population of north and northeast Africa which includes Egypt started way back in the time of the greeks and romans, it was also reinforced later after the time of the prophet mohomet when light skin arabic speakers began settling in area. In the 19th and 20th century there have been a systematic psychological removal of blacks from the world news in relation to their (blacks) development of north to east cultures, the world now calls Egypt and surrounding nations ” the middle east” especially after the suez canal was created to help the ” mind set” and mindlessness.
ok this is ill researched!
http://www.khazaria.com/genetics/abstracts-jews.html
http://jewsandjoes.com/genetics-and-israel.html
where are the historical facts that blacks are israelites in africa and america. I am doing research and want to prove this to the world. are there any african websites ect?
Ken Israel,
There are millions of people
around the world from every race,nation
and ethnicity claiming Israelite ancestry.
Most of these claims can be divided into
one of the following four categories.
1. historical claims
2. cultural claims
3. spiritual claims
4. genetic claims
The historical claims are usually based
on documentation of early Israelite migrations.
In regards to Africa this usually begins with
historical records of Israelites in Nubia(Asawan).
From this point many theories are developed
to support Israelite claims for numerous tribes
spreading out across the African continent.
These theories are very controversial and find
supporters and opponents from within the tribes
themselves. If you want to prove this to the world
as you stated you will have to first convince the
people themselves. For example there are some
members of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria who claim
to be descendants of the ancient Israelites.
However there are many others who firmly believe
that they are indigenous to West Africa and refute
the Israelite claims as an undermining of their
African origins and heritage. There are also African-
Americans who claim to be of Israelite descent
and yet there are many others who claim to be
Egyptian,Moorish,Ishmaelite amongst many other
claims.
The cultural claims are based on the observances
of tribal practices and rituals that seem to parallel
with that which has been believed to have been
practiced by the ancient Israelites. An example being
circumcision. However these traditions are not necessarily
proof of Israelite descent as tribal rituals have been adopted
and exchanged for thousands of years and are not necessarily
unique to any specific tribe. Circumcision is believed to
have originated with the Egyptians.
Spiritual claims are mostly based on the Bible and
are grossly subject to interpretation. These claims no
matter how accurately applied have to be considered
religious in nature for without the Bible and or a belief
in prophecy they are non-existent. Religious beliefs are
never accepted as factual.
Genetic claims are supported through DNA evidence.
The only proven Israelite DNA confirmed as authentic is
that of the Kohen model (Descendants of Aaron / Moses).
In Africa it is found amongst the Buba,a priestly clan of
the Lemba tribe of South Africa. It has also been found in
Yemen as well. The Kohen markers are found within the
general Semitic Haplogroup of J1. J1 has been confirmed
amongst the Solomonic Amhara of Ethiopia,the descendants
of Muhammad through Ali and appears in high percentages
amongst the Negev Bedouin and Palestinian populations.
As a nation the ancient Israelites no longer exist and
therefore most claims are subject to error or at least debate.
(Amir) Ishaq D. Al-Sulaimani
HaKhan Ibn Musa;SNP(M267),J1,CMH
How can genetic claim be authetic if there are Abraham or Isaac to compare with the genes of those who claim to be the only modern Jew? According the jews and there sympathizers, no one else can be a jew if they lack the jews that shows their years of inbreeding with other white so called jews. So since jews invented this fake genetic test for their benefit we are to believe it like the good little sheeps we ate.
OMG, it is tough typing on a tablet sometimes. In any event, my point was, if Jews invented this genetic test and the samples that were used to test the validity of this test are Jews, how will anyone else measure up? If the majority of modern day Jews are of the Ashkenazi strain, any non Jew from Poland, Germany, or Russian will test positive for the this Jewish marker. I personally believe these people are making up this stuff as they go along. There are no Isaac, Jacob, Abraham or any of those other boys from the bible to prove there Jewish ancestry so who did they use as the original sample?
The E3b haplogroup has been observed in all Jewish groups world wide
Is incorrect, It is not e3b but E3b1 (m78).
The e3b1 Y chromsome found in Jews is Egyptian in origin, not East African and about 20k old, with many clades specific to Europe and the near East. It is not a proof of the African origin of the Jews.
Haplogroup J in Africa is of Arab origin, and is used to calculate the amount of Arab ancestry in Ethiopians.
Sasha,
E3b(1) etc is proof of African origin.
Egyptian is East African(Northeast). The fact
that specific variants can be found in a variety
of locations doesn’t make them any less African
in origin. Haplogroup J1 is not defined as Arab
but rather Semitic. The fact that Arabs and the
Arabic language are more commonly understood
as being Semitic as opposed to the Amhara and
the Amharic language doesn’t justify identifying J1
amongst the Amhara as Arabic. The Israelite and
Sabean(Sheba) Semitic origins of the Amhara is
undeniable and accounts for the vast majority of
J1 found within the true Solomonic Ethiopians
(Amhara).
(Amir) Ishaq D. Al-Sulaimani
HaKhan Ibn Musa,SNP(M267),J1,CMH