The Black Jews Of Africa Pt. 2
Jews Of Nigeria, Senegal and Congo
Moreover,with Israel coming under Greek, Persian and later Roman rule and dependency, renewed waves of Jewish refugees including traders and artisans began to set up more communities in Egypt, Cyrenaica, Nubia and the Punic Empire, notably in Carthage. From Carthage they began to scatter into various historically established, as well as newly emerging Jewish communities south of the Atlas mountains nearer to the modern day Mauritania, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon and Congo. Several Jewish nomadic groups also moved across the Sahara from Nubia and the ancient kingdom of Kush towards west Africa.
Various East and West African ethnic nations lay verifiable claim to their Jewish ancestral heritage. The Falashas, the most famous of those Black Jews have been validated. Close to three hundred thousand of those black Falasha Jews live in the modern State of Isreal as practising Jews.
The Lembas of South Africa, another so-called Bantu tribe have a cogent and valid claim to Jewish ancestory and heritage backed by solid genetic evidence i.e. the prevalence of the so-called Cohen modal J haplogroup. The Lembas as a group are indistinguishable from their Bantu neighbours suggesting that most Bantus groups possess this archetypal Jewish genetic haplogroup. It implies that there are potentially more bloodline Jews on the continent of Africa than anywhere else including modern Europe and Israel.
The names of old Jewish communities south of the Atlas mountains (around the regions of modern Niger, Nigeria), many of which existed well into Renaissance times, can be found in documents in synagogue archives in Cairo. See “George E. Lichtblau”
Jewish and Islamic chronicles cite the existence of Jewish rulers of certain Jewish tribal groups and clans (self identifying as Jewish) scattered throughout Mauritania, Senegal, the Western Sudan, Nigeria, and Ghana. See Ismael Diadie Haidara, “Les Juifs a` Timbouctou”, Recueil de sources relatives au commerce juif a Timbouctou au XIXe siecle, Editions Donniya, Bamako, 1999.
According to the Tarikh es Soudan recorded by Abderrahman ben Abdallah es-Sadi (translated by O.Houdas) a Jewish community was formed by a group of Egyptian Jews, who had travelled to the West Africa through Chad. See also: al-Kati M., “Tarikh al-Fattash, 1600”.
Another such community was located near the Niger River by the name of Koukiya led by a ruler known as Dia or Dji, a shortened form of “Dia min al Yaman” or Diallaiman (meaning he who comes from Yemen). According to local traditions, Diallaiman was a member of one of the Ethiopian-Jewish colonies transplanted from Yemen to Ethiopian-Abbysinia in the 6th century C.E. Dialliaman is said to have moved to West Africa along with his brother. They set up the Jewish community in Northern Nigeria which later merged with the famous 7 Hausa States. See Meek C.K., “Northern Nigeria Tribes” Volume 1, Oxford, p.66.
A 9th century Jewish traveller Eldad ben-Mahli (also known as Eldad the Danite) related accounts about the location of some of the lost tribes of the House of Israel. According to this account, the tribe of Dan had migrated from Palestine so as not to take part in the internecine civil wars at the time of Yeroboam’s succession. It was reported that this section was residing in the land of Havila beyond the waters of Ethiopia where there was much gold i.e. West Africa.
It was further reported that three other tribes had joined the tribe of Dan namely Naphtali, Gad, Asher. Those joined up with Dan in the land of Havila in the times of Sennacherib. They had an entire body of scriptures barring Esther and Lamentations. They neither used the Talmud nor the Mishna, but they had a Talmud of their own in which all the laws were cited in the name of Joshua the son of Nun. See Nahum Slouschz, “Travels in North Africa” Philadelphia 1927, p.227.
Ibn Khaldun, who lived in the 13th century, a respected authority on Berber history testified about the Black Jews of Western Sudan with whom he personally interacted. The famous muslim geographer al-Idrisi, born in Ceuta, Spain in the 12th century, wrote extensively about Jewish Negroes in the Western Sudan.
Black Jews were fully integrated and achieved pre-eminence in many West African kingdoms. For instance Jews were believed to have settled in great West African empires such as Songhai, Mali, Ghana and Kanem-Bornu empires. According to numerous accounts of contemporary visitors to the region several rulers, and administrators of the Songhai empire were of Jewish origins until Askia Muhammad came to power in 1492 and decreed that all Jews either convert to Islam or leave the region. See Ismael Diadie Haidara, “Les Juifs a` Timbouctou”, Recueil de sources relatives au commerce juif a Timbouctou au XIXe siecle, Editions Donniya, Bamako, 1999.
The 16th century historian and traveler Leon Africanus, was a Hebrew-speaking Jewish convert to Islam, raised in a Jewish household by Jewish parents of Moroccan descent. Leon Africanus travelled extensively in Africa south of the Sahara where he encountered innumerable Black African Jewish communities. Leon later converted to Catholicism but remained interested in Jewish communities he encountered throughout his travels in West Africa. See Leo Africanus (al-Hassan b. al -Wazzan al-Zayyati), Della discrittione dell’Africa per Giovanni Leoni Africano, Settima Parte, in G.B. Ramusio, Delle navigationi e viaggi. Venice 1550, I, ff.78-81r.
Additional evidence is provided by surviving oral traditions of numerous African ethnic groups, including links to biblical ancestors, names of localities, and ceremonies with affinities to Jewish ritual practices. Moreover, the writings of several modern West African historians indicate that the memories of Jewish roots historical in West Africa continue to survive.
For instance, there are a number of historical records of small Jewish kingdoms and tribal groups known as Beni Israel that were part of the Wolof and Mandinge communities. These existed in Senegal from the early Middle Ages up to the 18th century, when they were forced to convert to Islam. Some of these claimed to be descendants of the tribe of Dan, the traditional tribe of Jewish gold and metal artisans, who are also said to have built the “Golden Calf”.
Black Jews are said to have formed the roots of a powerful craft tradition among the still-renowned Senegalese goldsmiths, jewelers and other metal artisans. The name of an old Senegalese province called “Juddala” is said to attest to the notable impact Jews made in this part of the world. In addition to the Jewish tribal groups in Senegal who claim to be descendants of the tribe of Dan, the Ethiopian Jews also trace their ancestry to the tribe of Dan.
Additionally, Mr. Bubu Hama, a former president of the National Assembly in Niger and a prolific writer on African history has argued in many treatise as well as lecture tours that the Tuaregs had a Jewish queen in early medieval times, and that some Jewish Tuareg clans had preserved their adherence to that faith, in defiance of both Islamic and Christian missionary pressure, until the 18th century. In several of his books Hama cites the genealogies of Jewish rulers of the Tuareg and Hausa kingdoms. See “Lichtblau”.
Some accounts place some West African Jewish community in the Ondo forest of Nigeria, south of Timbouctou. This community maintained a Torah Scroll as late as 1930s, written in Aramaic that had been burnt into parchment with a hot iron instead of ink so it could not be changed. See Gonen Rivaka, “The Quest for the Ten Lost tribes of israel: To the Ends of the Earth”, Jason Aronson Inc., Northville, NJ., 2002 at pages 180-181.
The Igbos of Nigeria, one of the bigger nations that comprise Nigeria lay a strong claim to Jewish ancestry as borne out by their mores, laws, rituals and idioms which have a heavily accented old testament Hebrew flavour.See Ilona R, “The Ibos: Jews of Nigeria,” volume 1, Research Findings Historical Links, Commentaries, Narratives,” 2004, Mega Press Limited, Abuja, Nigeria
Some of the established Jewish communities existed in such still renowned places as Gao, Timbuktu Bamako, Agadez, and Kano. In Timbucktu, the UNESCO still maintains notable archives containing records of the old Jewish community of Mali and the Hausa states of Nigeria.
Jide Uwechia
Aug 15, 2007
Thanks for EVEN more evidence….of Judaism…being black and african….any refutation of the legitamacy of black Jews is illogical
It is very simple Africans once inhabited Israel that was then part of Egypt. WHen the Arabs / muslim Persians, Greeks, Romans conquered North Africa africans scattered all over the world mainly migrating cenral and south of africa where they could survive in the midst of their own people. It is true than in many respects those that stole african lands also stole the names in order hide the historical ownership of african heritages. For example Sudan means ‘of blacks’ but blacks were pushed down south beyond Darfu, Egypt is means african yet its inhabitants including Jews were scattered south, jews in israel today are not the original ones, they stole african identity to confuse and claim historical ownership of that land bordering Egypt. In the past there was no man-made fence between Egypt and Israel, it was one country of black african origin like south sudan to south africa today. So original black jews are africans not imposters of today, Israel is a historical african land and we are proud of that fact. My plea is that historical records must be studied not with 2000 years of christianity but 6000 years before Christ was born, there you find true africa in its classical perspective, the world superpower before any one could dream of being such. THe African dehumanisation was cost by this collosal land and cultural disposition, a malady were are reversing in ernest from south to north.Africa’s return to her former glory and the whole world will benefit emesenly and wars will be habits of the past. Peace and true Botho / Ubuntu will be the order of the new dispesantion and our spirits will rejoice as deprivation will a past sin.
Jide my book is The Igbos: Jews In Africa Vol 1.
To be more explicit, not all Black Africans are Hebrews. Hebrews are people of different skin tones & pigmentation. There are white Hebrews. So as I said (above) that caucasian Jews are imposters I didn’t mean white Yehudim. Yedudim is original Hebrew. The very people that changed the name “Yehudim” to “Jew” & equally don’t like to accommodate other Hebrews because of their skin colour are the ONES I call imposters.
The name Jew does NOT necessarily refer
to Judah. Jew also referred to the Wisemen
or the Rabbis. In this regard the name Jew
is rooted in the word Yudea meaning to KNOW .
The Yudea(Knowlegable Ones)were originally
known in Babylon as those who mastered the
knowledge of the Anakim,being the giants who
” Fell ” from the Planet Nibiru( IBIRU=HEBREW).
As the followers of the Anak they were called
Enkidu(ENK-IDU). Enki was known as the
“Hairy-Hunter” . The worshippers of Enki
customarily placed goat skins on their hands
and brought goat dish offerings. In the Bible
Enki is transformed into the mythological
twin of Jacob named ” Esau ” who is the
” Hairy Hunter “. Enki was also known as
the ” Trickster “. When Jacob placed the goat
skins on his hands and brought his father
the goat dish offering he was really worshipping
Enki. Being disguised as Esau(Enki), Jacob
becomes one with the “Trickster” Enki. Later
Jacob bows down to Enki(Esau) 7 times and
states: “To see your face is to see the face of God”
The planet Nibiru was known as the RED PLANET
and is believed by many to have been Mars. The
followers of the Anakim were also known as the
RED ones referring to the knowledge of Nibiru.
This is the real reason why Esau is called the
RED one. Esau is really Enki and the followers
of Enki are known as the Enki-Idu or the Idumeans.
The Idumeans are the JEWS. The So-Called Torah
of today was written by the ENKI-IDU being the
Idumeans or Edomites. The modern day Jews do
NOT take their name from Judah but from the word
Yudea(IDU) meaning to know. The real name Judah means
to Praise. The real Judahites were singers who praised
the Lord. The Book of Samuel states that King David taught
the Judahites the Song of the Bow as is written in the Book of
Yashar(Songs). The Judahites served amongst the Levites
by Praising the Lord through Songs. The real Judahites came
under the banner of the Levites which was the LION. In Hebrew
Lawi(Levi) is another way of saying LION. The personal symbol
of Judah was not the Lion but the Elephant. The Elephant represented
the Praiser or trumpet blaster. The Lemba tribe maintains the
” Elephant of Judah “. Interestingly it was the Buba priest clan of the
Lemba that tested positive for the Kohen DNA. According to the
Lemba the name Buba means Judah.
No one tells it like the “ANAJAH Everybody’s Roots” Learn the ” Literal ” meaning of “Words” Check it out ……U may learn something. Here In the “ANAJAH” you have the Igbo word PLUS the English pronunciations AND the “literal meaning” of every word hi-lighted in the passage. I say that “ANAJAH Everybody’s Roots” was written for the scholars. Blessed.
It’s anayah actually
I what i understood that who want to become Jew is simple to change his religion.Is good for me to be staying in Islam.