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The Yangoru people of East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea claim to be from a lost tribe of Israel.They claim to be of such origin because of their customs and traditions are very similar to those of the Jews and there was also a claim of an Olive Tree being found in the high mountains of this district.
Apisai is a native Fijian name with uncertain origins. How about if it comes from the similar sounding Hebrew name Abishai? B & P are related sounds as are S & Sh after all.
Apisai is a native Fijian name with uncertain origins. How about if it comes from the similar sounding Hebrew name Abishai? B & P are related sounds as are S & Sh after all.
Canada's Zionists are teaching Canada's Natives that truism tho the Jews are indigenous to Palestine. The story the Cree are told on their Youth Leadership Development Missions is that Israelis, like the Natives, are merely trying to reassert their legitimate indigenous rights to their land. The screaming headlines about the Canadian government "genocide" against the Natives a century ago are accompanied by lectures about the Nazi Holocaust, the 'Final Solution', and even allusions to the infamous Dr Mengele experimenting on Jewish victims. The Haida Indians of British Columbia, Canada, inherit the belonging to their clan through their moms. Is this related to the maternal inheritance of the Jews? Haida happens to be a popular Hassidic Jewish son, with no translation however, like the word "la la la" in English has no translation.
The name "Nephi" could be a short form of the Aramaic "Naphil" meaning giant. The "e" & "a" are often swappable in Hebrew as in "Naphtali" & "Nephtali" or in "Menashe" & "Manasah". Vowels don't really count in Semitic languages anyway, so the same word can be written with different vowels & still mean the same.
There are many similarities between the Jewish life cycle rituals & holidays with the corresponding Taiwanese rituals & holidays.
The book "The Quest for the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel: To the Ends of the Earth" deals with the search for the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel by Jews and by Christians. Rivka Gonen discusses the various motivations for the search and the methods used by the searchers, from similarity of language, physical appearance, customs and mythology, to a re-interpretation of biblical excerpts to suit specific situations encountered by the searchers. The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel have a place among the great mythologies of the world, and have been a subject of much speculation, hope, and manipulation. throughout the ages. This book explores the early whereabouts of the tribes until they disappeared from historical records, and from there carries the story of the search and the various avenues it took. For the Jews, who for most of the period since the defeat and dispersal of the Ten Tribes lived themselves in exile, the notion that the Ten Tribes were not really lost became an important source of hope and expectation. Christian search was motivated by other factors altogether. For them, the Ten Lost Tribes were identified with Jews who did not participate in the ultimate Jewish sin_the crucifixion of Jesus.
Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan & Romanian are languages coming from Latin. Four in Latin is Quattuor. This word quattuor rendered in the said languages respectively: cuatro, quatre, quattro, quatro, quatre & patru. As seen before, usually the k sounds stays k. The g sound is related to the k sound, so often one is an evolved sound of the other. Nevertheless the k sound in Latin rendered the p sound in Romanian. That means sometimes a completely different sound, out of the rules, appears. It's believed that the Hebrew Cohen or Kahan rendered the Hawaiian Kahuna. Maybe, as the Latin q sound rendered the Romanian p, out of thin air, in the same way the Hawaiian Kahuna rendered the Maori Tohunga. Hebrew names like Yoel, Yair, Yonatan...have the preffixes Yo & Ya meaning Yah, or in other words Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament. Interestingly the most important & mighty Maori God was named Io, a name very close to Yo & clearly just a different spelling the same name. Before 1865 the average Maori mowt likely wouldn't have made any connection between the Maori God Io and the Hebrew God Jehovah. Before 1865 Io was a secret god only known by a few high-ranking priests. Io was the one god, creator, omniscient, almighty, and non created. Non-Mormon scholars have doubted that the idea of a supreme god in Polynesia antedated Christianity, but LDS missionaries and members have always believed the Polynesians would have parts of the truth as they knew it. Io reigned supreme over many other gods who performed several functions in heaven and on earth. The lower gods were generally identified with elements of nature, but there was a latent belief in an anthropomorphic god in the Maori religion. While the different Christian sects tried to get rid of those belief's remnants, Mormons condoned & strongly affirmed that God the Father and Jesus Christ were immortal & anthropomorphic beings, despite they were gods. All this made more sense to many Maoris than mainline Christianity's tenets.
Abraham, father of the faithful, was from Ur, modern Iraq. Tiki, the white god of the ancient white New Zealanders, had twin sons with names sounding (& regarded as derived from) like Ur: Uru & Uru-te-ngangana. The Polynesians used to claim to be their offspring. Likewise Uru was how the Ma, oris called their ancient homeland. And Uru-nui was the Hawaiians'. Red haired islanders called themselves Urukehu. In Peru too, there was a people called Uru.
Sau, (often translated as "King"), refers to the role of spiritual leader in pre-Christian Rotuman society. Rotuma is a Fijian dependency. Perhaps the meaning of king of the word Sau is a deformed concept of their Israelite ancestors that had their first king called. The position of sau was primarily tied into Rotuma's pre-Christian fertility cult and the worship of the supreme deity Tagroa Siria. As this people, the ancient Israelites were fertility cult idolater practicioners. Nevertheless the Rotumans had a Supreme god, perhaps reminding them of their only god (Elohim) of a more righteous past. Interestingly Siria was their supreme god's name. Since Syria is a land round about Israel, was Siria another vague memory of their almost forgotten past?
The word for shaman in Polynesian was kahuna & quahuna in Berber, while a female shaman, kahuna wahini, corresponded to the African's quahuna quahini. Both come from the Hebrew cohen.
Elder Gordon B. Hinckley commented upon Europeans being assembled with the Maoris of the Pacific at the dedication of the New Zealand Temple: "Here were two great strains of the house of Israel the children of Ephraim from the isles of Britain, and the children of Lehi from the isles of the Pacific".
The name Cherokee could come from Hebrew kerubh (plural kerubhim) "winged angel," perhaps related to Akkadian karubu "to bless", plus ki. The Hebrew word >KI< has 7 meanings which are subsequently shown in capitals. BECAUSE Gn18-15a Sarah denied laughing BECAUSE she was afraid IF Ex34-09a God walk with us;IF we sin you can forgive WHEN Dt32-03a WHEN I call the name of God, give Praise RATHER Dt15-08b Dont be miserly; RATHER be charitable QUESTION Dt29-15a Is being a relative,reason for not being payed? THAT Nu20-29c The congregation saw THAT Aaron died PERHAPS Ex23-05a PERHAPS youll see a donkey & desert it? No!
It is Mormon doctrine that Native American peoples are the lost tribes of Israel. In Lost Tribes and Promised Lands the troubled encounters between Jews and gentiles in Spain provide the foundation for the notion of tainted blood, a concept unique to Western racism. This densely textured book skillfully weaves together themes from literary and historical sources to explain racist attitudes in the early history of the New World. It is essentially a pre-history, based on the thesis that racism against blacks and Indians is prefigured in the ambiguous image of Jews in Hispanic culture. The saga begins in 1381 on the island of Majorca where Abraham Cresques, a Jew, produced the Catalan Atlas presented by Juan of Aragon to Charles VI of France. This world map symbolized the Jewish role in Spanish national culture as well as its developing push towards colonialism. Shortly thereafter Jews were excluded from Spain under the Inquisition that produced the intellectual, moral, and emotional justification for racism. However, converted Jews metamorphosed into ""new Christians"" continued to play a role in the definition of alien peoples. Their own ambiguous place in Spanish culture, particularly in the New-World context, produced a short-lived tolerance that was finally crushed by the twin urgencies of conversion and exploitation. During the same period, blacks were identified in European myth with the powerful black Christian king, Prester John, who represented resistance to conversion at the furthest reach of known geography. Contact with Africa and the burgeoning slave trade were rapidly to destroy this particular incarnation of the noble savage. In the case of both Hispanic and Anglo-Saxon colonization, a model of hatred based on the image of the stranger as a creature reviled and feared was available to be exploited. The early British resistance to racism towards blacks and Indians gave way rapidly to the expediency of colonial economics. And, Sanders contends, the legacy of notions about blood continues to be felt among the remnants of Native American society and among blacks. Meanwhile the Jew--as both dominator and victim--stands for, and bears witness to, the rise of racism and its historic application. Sanders' book, sure to draw attention, presents an original and intriguingly developed view of an old historical problem.
The Comanche were a branch of the Shoshoni. They left the Rocky Mountains early in the 18th century, migrating to the Plains to become the most famous of the Texas Plains tribes. They made life extremely hazardous for the caravans attempting to cross the Santa Fe Trail. Their warlike culture was feared throughout the Southwest.
The o is a typical Spanish suffix. Perhaps the Spaniards added an o to the word Tain, turning it into Taino. If that was the case, Tain is a Hebrew word meaning (n.) thin tin plate; also, tin foil for mirrors.
Hawaii חוה Chava/ Hava / Hawa (ancient pronunciation) Chavah embodies both the essence of life itself and the creative ability to grant that life to others. From the Hebrew name (Chawwah), which was derived from the Hebrew word חוה (chawah) "to breathe" or the related word חיה (chayah) "to live". According to the Old Testament Book of Genesis, Eve and Adam were the first humans. She gave the forbidden fruit to Adam, causing their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. If the word Hawaii comes from the Hebrew Hawa, meaning Eve, or to live & the Hebrew suffix i, meaning from, of... then Hawaii would mean from the living, from Eve...
A Sioux clan was named Teton. Any relation with the Teutons?
The name "Shoshone" comes from Sosoni, a Shoshone word for high-growing grasses. Some neighboring tribes call the Shoshone "Grass House People," based on their traditional homes made from soshoni'. Shoshones called themselves Newe, meaning "People." Meriwether Lewis recorded the tribe as the "Sosonees or snake Indians" in 1805. Shoshana is a Hebrew word, meaning "rose." In Song of Songs (2:2) G d refers to the Jewish nation as a Shoshana: "As a rose among the thorns, so is My beloved among the daughters." It's noteworthy that Shoshone & Shoshanna are very similar words & identical, since in the Hebrew there's only century consonants. Moreover, both are names of plants. The Shoshones obvoiusly received their name from their grassy areas they lived.
Jews in the Greater Antilles & the Guayanas
The Guayanas
Suriname 130 Jews
French Guiana
Today, 80 Jews live in French Guiana, predominately in Cayenne.
Guyana 40
The Greater Antilles
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico has the largest and richest Jewish community in the Caribbean, with 3,000 Jewish inhabitants. It is also the only Caribbean island in which all three major Jewish denominations — Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform — are represented. Sha'are Zedeck, established in 1953, represents Conservative Judaism; Beth Shalom, established in 1967, represents Reform Judaism; and Chabad, established in 1997, represents Orthodox Judaism.
There is additionally a Satmar Community in the western part of the Island in Mayaguez known as Toiras Jesed. Kosher food is available for order through Chabad and Hebrew school classes are held at the Jewish Community Center.
Today, in the western and less populated portion of the island (Puerto Rico is 110 miles long by 65 miles wide), there are groups of families who still retain a Jewish consciousness.
Over the last thirty years, major efforts on behalf of evangelizing Protestants and messianic Jews have eroded what was for over four centuries an exclusively native Catholic population.
Dominican Republic
The current population of known Jews in the Dominican Republic is close to 2,850, with the majority living in the capital, Santo Domingo, and others residing in Sosúa. Since Jews mixed with those already living in the Dominican Republic, the exact number of Dominicans with Jewish ancestry isn't known. In spite of the Jews intermarriage with the Dominican people already living there, some spouses have formalized their Judaism through conversions and participate in Jewish communal life while other Sephardic Jews converted to Catholicism, still maintaining their Sephardic culture. Some Dominican Jews have also made aliyah to Israel.
Haiti 25
Cuba: Not counting Anusim about 2000 Jews, of which 1500 in Havana.
Jamaica 250 (2005)
Aztecs & Mayans Are Descendants of the Olmecs Who Are Israelites!
Sequenza was a Jesuit Priest that found historical proof that the Aztecs were descended from the people in the Bible, the Israelites. For that he was expelled as a Jesuit Priest. No one took him seriously, you can even find an history on his work.
Mayans, Olmecs, Mochica, Inca were not native ,but "Israelites".
Mesoamerica consisted of Shemitic looking people with Israelite,Mesapotamian, Eygptian like customs, clothing and religious practices.
The Bible says in Psalms 85:11 Truth shall spring from the earth" (archeology!) Artifacts don't lie even if they've been repainted differently, or their noses and lips have been hacked off. Remember all nations conspired against us, to wipe our history from common memory and history Psalm 83:11.
Synagogues in the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon mentions synagogues in twenty-five passages. An important resource that may help us understand what the Book of Mormon means by the word synagogue is the body of research on biblical synagogues. This is especially true of research related to the years prior to the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, which began in 586 BC, since this is the time period when Lehi left Jerusalem; we would expect, therefore, that the nature of biblical synagogues before the captivity would have greatly influenced the concept of the synagogue that Lehi and his family took with them to the New World.
Over the past two decades archaeologists have unearthed a number of synagogues. These discoveries have led Eric M. Meyers to write, "One might characterize the state of synagogue studies as being in flux. New material has created a healthy climate of reconsideration and reevaluation."
What we know about the history of biblical synagogues divides into the following time periods:
Reconstruction of Lachish Gate corresponding to Lehi's day.
Reconstruction of Lachish Gate corresponding to Lehi's day.
1. the centuries just before Lehi and the Babylonian captivity of the Jews from Jerusalem at about 586 BC,
2. the time of the return of the Jews from captivity to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple under Ezra and Nehemiah some 70 years later,
3. the third and second centuries BC, and 4. the first century BC and the first century AD
Before Lehi and the Babylonian Captivity
One aspect of our understanding of biblical synagogues that has been reevaluated in the light of new research is the view that synagogues did not exist until after the Babylonian captivity. Lee I. Levine, a leading scholar on the history of the synagogue, has suggested that synagogues did exist before the Babylonian captivity in the form of chambers in the city gates. Such gates have been excavated by archaeologists at such important Old Testament sites as Beersheba, Gezer [A photograph shows the plan of the Solomonic gate, wherein each of the six gate chambers have benches.], Lachish [A figure shows a gate chamber with two tiers of benches and a niche in the wall.], and Megiddo [A figure shows a gate chamber with benches]. Each of these has at least one chamber (which is nearly square) lined with stone benches around the interior walls (the benched chamber at Lachish has two tiers of benches), a single doorway, and where there is enough of the original wall left to determine it, a niche. I suggest that these niches were used for storing special ritual items, perhaps even sacred scrolls. Levin conceived that since later synagogues close mirror the architecture of the gate chambers these chambers may well have been the original synagogues.
This conception is supported by a number of biblical passages that indicate that the city gate and its vicinity were the hub of a community life. The gate area serve as the market place (see 2 Kings 7:1), the general court (see Genesis 23:10, 18; Deuteronomy 17:5, 21:19 and 22:24; Ruth 4:1–12; Jeremiah 38:7; Daniel 2:48–49; and Esther 5:9, 13; 6:10), the royal court (see 2 Samuel 18:4 and 19:8; and 1 Kings 22:10, which equals 2 Chronicles 18:9), and a place of worship (see 2 Kings 23:8 and Nehemiah 8:1). [In contrast to such centers for local activity, of course, the temple was where priests and Levites performed sacrifices. On special occasions, such as the birth of a child or holy day, worshipers would leave their local town or city and travel to the temple to make their offerings.]
This conception is supported by a number of biblical passages that indicate that the city gate and its vicinity were the hub of a community life. The gate area serve as the market place (see 2 Kings 7:1), the general court (see Genesis 23:10, 18; Deuteronomy 17:5, 21:19 and 22:24; Ruth 4:1–12; Jeremiah 38:7; Daniel 2:48–49; and Esther 5:9, 13; 6:10), the royal court (see 2 Samuel 18:4 and 19:8; and 1 Kings 22:10, which equals 2 Chronicles 18:9), and a place of worship (see 2 Kings 23:8 and Nehemiah 8:1). [In contrast to such centers for local activity, of course, the temple was where priests and Levites performed sacrifices. On special occasions, such as the birth of a child or holy day, worshipers would leave their local town or city and travel to the temple to make their offerings.]
Support for Levine's conclusion is also found in the Old Testament terminology for worship service. Several Old Testament writers (see Hosea 2:11; Jeremiah in Lamentations 2:6; Ezekiel 44:24) link Sabbath worship with the Hebrew word mo'ed which means "assembly, meeting."
Floor plan of the Meroth synagogue (late fourth or early fifth century AD). Courtesy Biblical Archaeology Society.
If Levine is correct, then, before the captivity, a town's or city's social activities centered around the city gate, and it seems reasonable that these social activities included Sabbath worship in a chamber of the gate that resembled later synagogues and functioned similarly.
The Return under Ezra and Nehemiah
The Babylonian captivity was a time of crisis for the Jewish people, chiefly because the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. But the captives knew the prophecies of Jeremiah wherein they were promised that they would return to Jerusalem in seventy years (see Jeremiah 29:10). At the end of that period, Jews did return under Ezra and Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.
Concerning this time, we find two pieces of information that may help us to understand the nature and function of synagogues. The first is a note written in Hebrew in the sixth century BC on a broken piece of pottery (an ostracon). On one side is a list of four names and on the other are the words "house of assembly at Jerusalem." House of assembly is a Hebrew term for synagogue. The second is a reference in Nehemiah 8:1–12 to people assembling at a city gate.
The walls of Jerusalem in this time were thin and the gates were simply openings in the wall, without chambers. As a result the assembly "gathered . . . into the street that was before the water gate." To this assembly, Ezra read the Law of Moses from the top of a wooden platform, and the Levites helped the people understand what was read. Next, Ezra blessed the Lord in prayer and the people raised their hands saying, "Amen, Amen." The reference does not specify that this was a Sabbath service, but what occurs in this passage is close to what went on later in Sabbath synagogue worship.
The Third and Second Centuries BC
The apocryphal record 1 Maccabees tells us that synagogues were used at this time for public reading from the Law of Moses (see 1 Maccabees 3:48). Ben Sira says: "Draw near to me, you who need instruction, and lodge in my house of learning" (Ben Sira 51:23). If "house of learning" refers to a synagogue, and it appears to, then "lodge" indicates that the synagogue functioned as a hostel as well as a place for study.
In Egypt, Jewish centers were referred to not only as synagogues but also as "places of prayer." Thus prayer was an additional function of these locations. From descriptions in texts from Egypt, we learn further that people donated doors, pillars, and special seats (thought to represent the Seat of Moses) to structures at these locations that had long-standing leaders and consumed large volumes of water.
Water was likely provided for the comfort of visitors in hostels and for ritual washings, which in later Judaism preferred a constant flow of fresh water.
The First Century BC and the First Century AD
The next era brings us to the time just before and during the New Testament. Synagogues from this period have been excavated on Delos (a Greek island), and at Gamla, Capernaum, Herodium, and Masada. These discoveries lead us to conclude that synagogues of this period tended to be nearly square, be a part of the city wall, feature one or more tiers of stone benches around the interior, include a niche in the wall for storing sacred scrolls, feature a platform (or podium) raised about a foot high in the center of the room, possess one doorway, and include pillars to support the roof.
As noted above, because of the similarities between these structures and the form of the precaptivity city-gate chambers, Levine argues that the design of the chambers is mirrored in these later synagogues. Unfortunately, this is a leap of five centuries in time. To accept his proposal fully, it would now be desirable to discover synagogue structures scattered through those centuries to confirm a continuous tradition.
There are at least two that appear to do so. The key will be to identify synagogues earlier than the one at Gamla, which lies east of the Sea of Galilee and was built about 65 BC.
Gamla Public Building or Synagogue from about 65 B.C.
Gamla Public Building or Synagogue from about 65 B.C.
A recent discovery has revealed a synagogue in the Hasmonean winter palace near Jericho. The date of its construction was around 70 BC. There is also a second discovery. Roland de Vaux, who excavated Qumran near the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, suggested that two of the rooms at Qumran (built around 140 BC) were for assemblies. 17 One room (location 4) is nearly square, includes stone benches around the interior, and features two "recessed cupboards" or niches in one wall.
With these discoveries, the gap between city-gate chambers and later synagogues is narrowed to about four centuries. But it remains large. For the latest time frame (first centuries BC and AD) two sources help us understand what occurs at a synagogue: the New Testament, and a stone inscribed in Greek that was found at Jerusalem. These sources tell us that synagogues of this time were used for Sabbath worship, which included "reading the law and the prophets" followed by a discussion of the reading (see Luke 4:14–21; Acts 13:14–16), a school for study, hostels for "itinerants" including water for their comfort, judicial actions (see Matthew 10:17; Luke 12:11; 21:12), and leaders of long standing.
In AD 70 Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. After this destruction, the synagogue became the primary religious and social institution in Judaism and took on new functions. The sacrifices previously performed at the temple were replaced by prayers in each local synagogue.
Unfortunately, some Bible scholars have tended to mix evidence and speculation and have failed to keep up-to-date with new research.
Capernaum Synagogue (fourth century A.B.)
Capernaum Synagogue (fourth century A.B.)
For the sake of clarity, any speculation on my part is followed by a question mark in the table. To conclude this section on biblical synagogues, the local center of Jewish life before the Babylonian captivity was the area of the city gate. It has been plausibly argued that community assembly for worship also occurred at the city gate, and after the Babylonian captivity this concept of a local center continued on in the form of synagogues. However, some of the functions carried out earlier at the gate area, such as royal courts and markets, were now moved elsewhere. Later worship centers took on new functions, such as that of a hostel. It appears that when Lehi and Nephi left Jerusalem shortly after 600 BC they would have taken with them the older, preexilic concept of a synagogue according to which it served as a social center for each community where certain religious activities were also carried out.
What Is the Nature and History of Synagogues in the New World?
We turn now to a consideration of the term synagogue and related terms found in the Book of Mormon. Like the Bible, the Book of Mormon mentions synagogues only in passing, since the purpose of each record is not to give cultural details but to encourage righteous living.
The Meaning of Synagogues Among Lehi's Descendants
As mentioned earlier, the term synagogue (including the plural) occurs twenty-five times in the Book of Mormon. The first is found in a sermon by Nephi: "Behold, hath he commanded any that they should depart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto you, Nay" (2 Nephi 26:26). This verse appears in Nephi's long sermon (see 2 Nephi 25–32), which was prompted by reading Isaiah 2–14 as found in 2 Nephi 12–24. In this section, Nephi prophesies about the future as far as the last days. In verse 23 he shifts the time frame from the future to the present and assures readers about what Christ does in any age (see 2 Nephi 26:23). One thing the Lord does not do, Nephi says, is order people out of synagogues. The additional words "or out of the houses of worship" are revealing. They appear to be an appositive, which helps to define the term synagogues and reemphasizes what the Lord does not do. The expression also suggests that synagogues are structures (houses) and that one function of a synagogue is worship.
Furthermore, closely connected to the concept that synagogues may have been buildings are prepositional phrases such as out of and into with reference to synagogues. A structural feature of the apostate Zoramites' synagogue was the Rameumptom, a raised platform with room for only one person at a time to stand and recite a fixed prayer (see Alma 31:12–14 and 21). As noted above, the first century BC and AD Jewish synagogues had a slightly elevated podium in the center. However, the earlier gate-chambers with benches did not have raised platforms. Furthermore, Alma and his companions were surprised by the Zoramite arrangement. This suggests that the Rameumptom was a Zoramite innovation differing from the normal Nephite pattern.
Most Bible scholars have supposed that synagogues did not come into existence until the Babylonian captivity, after Lehi had left Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed. [Since this theory sees no synagogues until after the time Lehi left Jerusalem, a number of Book of Mormon critics have cited that view in order to denounce the Book of Mormon. But if one takes into account Levine's argument that before the Babylonian captivity of 586 BC (1) city-gate chambers served as synagogues and also were the prototype for first-century BC synagogues, (2) city gates were the social center of a town or city, and (3) Sabbath services at that time were called a moed, the theory expressed by Meyers and Sandmel is far from demonstrating that synagogues did not come into existence until after Lehi's day. As things stand now, Book of Mormon critics lack a factual basis for attacking the mention of synagogues in the Book of Mormon.]
We might then wonder whether synagogues could have arisen separately as a parallel development in the New World. But the passage at 2 Nephi 26:26 is only a few decades from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem. Hence it appears that he and his family brought the already existing concept with them to America. That would have been the case, of course, if Levine's theory of the gate-chamber origin of the synagogue is correct. Second Nephi 26:26 suggests that synagogues were used for worship in Nephi's day. This raises the question: How did Nephites worship? A number of later passages describe visitors preaching and teaching in synagogues (see Alma 16:13; 21:4, 5, 16; 26:29; 32:1; Moroni 7:1). Public discussions of scripture topics in the synagogues were evidently a part of that teaching and preaching (see Alma 21:5, 11). Prayer apparently is also a part of the worship, for in Alma 31:12–14 Alma's astonished reaction was to the form of the Zoramite prayers, not to the fact that they offered prayers in their synagogues.
This passage also suggests that synagogue worship was held on only one day of the week and that people had the misconception that God could be worshiped only on that day and only in a synagogue (see Alma 32:2, 5, 9, 10, 12; 33:2). Other aberrant synagogue worship practices are mentioned in a sermon given by Jesus in 3 Nephi wherein he denounced public almsgiving and loud praying both in synagogues and in the streets (see 3 Nephi 13:2, 5). The Book of Mormon identifies several groups who built synagogues. First of all, there were the true followers of the Law of Moses (see 2 Nephi 26:26; Alma 16:13) including Nephite Christians (see Moroni 7:1). Also, at the request of King Lamoni, Lamanites built synagogues (see Alma 21:20; 23:2). Moreover, we find that apostate groups such as the Amalekites, Amulonites, and Zoramites built synagogues (see Alma 21:4, 5; 31:12). In several passages, synagogues appear in a list of locations where missionaries met with and preached to people.
I believe that these lists help to put synagogues and their worship into perspective: "And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them" (Alma 26:29). "And it came to pass that they did go forth, and began to preach the word of God unto the people, entering into their synagogues, and into their houses; yea, and even they did preach the word in their streets" (Alma 32:1). In these two passages the word houses suggests that missionaries taught people in their private residences. On the other hand, streets and hills suggest that they met people in public places.
Little is known about the Mesoamerican meetings or assemblies anciently. They could have been convened in buildings such as this nonresidential as Chiapa de Corzo (from the time of Christ).
Next, places of worship, temples and synagogues, are juxtaposed with each other. According to the Law of Moses a person went to a temple to offer sacrifices for special occasions such as the birth of a child or a holy day. In contrast, a person went to a synagogue for instruction and prayer on a weekly basis. A related term in the Book of Mormon is church. When we use this term in modern English, we may be referring to a building ("the church down the street") or to an organization ("The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"). The two hundred plus occurrences of church/churches in the Book of Mormon seem to point to a movement or organization rather than a building. The single exception is 4 Nephi 1:41, wherein the word churches seems to refer to structures that people could adorn. Thus, in the Book of Mormon, it appears that churches in the sense of organized congregations could have met in buildings or locations called synagogues.
The History of Synagogues in the American Promised Land
It is helpful to look at synagogues in the Book of Mormon from the perspective of their historical development. Nephi's straightforward use of the term synagogues (see 2 Nephi 26:26) around 550 BC implies that he was personally familiar with some form of a place of worship in his original homeland. He and his father brought religious practices from Jerusalem to the New World (see 2 Nephi 5:16; 2 Nephi 25:5–6); presumably, the concept of synagogue as well as associated practices had the same source. On the other hand, there is no mention that the Nephites who lived around the city of Nephi at the time of Jacob built synagogues, though they did build a temple (see Jacob 1:17). Neither do we read about synagogues when the Nephites moved to the land of Zarahemla under Mosiah and joined with the people of Zarahemla. Nor is anything said about such structures during the reigns of King Benjamin and King Mosiah. In the first century BC (some four centuries after Nephi's mention of synagogues), under the jurisdiction of the judges, the Nephites were building synagogues "after the manner of the Jews" (Alma 16:13).
It is from this era that we learn the most about the form and function of synagogues among the Book of Mormon groups. Other Book of Mormon peoples also built and met in synagogues. Lamanites in the land of Ishmael who were converted by the preaching of Ammon began to build and use synagogues under the leadership of King Lamoni (see Alma 21:20). Prior to this time, Lamanites met in mere "assemblies" (Alma 21:16). Among Nephite dissenters who built synagogues in this era were the Zoramites whose synagogues included the Rameumptom. Other groups include the Amalekites and Amulonites whose doctrines and practices "after the order of the Nehors" (Alma 21:4) spread among Nephites in the land of Zarahemla as well as among Nephite dissidents in Lamanite territory. It appears that these dissenters took the basic concept of a synagogue in both form and function from Nephite worship and modified it to meet their own special demands.
Temple of Quetzalcoatl. In Mesoamerica religious gatherings were typically in the open as depicted.
Temple of Quetzalcoatl. In Mesoamerica religious gatherings were typically in the open as depicted.
On the Nephite side, as the population expanded into the land northward settlers built synagogues (see Helaman 3:9, 14). The next reference to synagogues appears in the words of Christ as he visited the New World after his resurrection. He admonished the Nephites and Lamanites not to pray loudly nor to make a public display of giving alms for the poor in their synagogues (see 3 Nephi 13:2, 5). Nor were they to cast people out of their "synagogues, or . . . places of worship" (3 Nephi 18:32). The text of the Book of Mormon then remains silent on the subject until sometime during the fourth century AD when we learn that Mormon, a Christian, gave a sermon to his fellow believers in "the synagogue which they had built for the place of worship" (Moroni 7:1).
Apparently, the term synagogue was broad enough in meaning at that time to include places where Christians were accustomed to worship. Table 2 displays as much as we can learn about the form, function, and history of synagogues in the Book of Mormon. Ultimately, the Book of Mormon gives us only a glimpse into the form and function of synagogues. In form, they were structures of unspecified size and shape.
Functionally, they were used for worship—including prayer and religious instruction—by people from different religious backgrounds. In short, the term synagogue in the Book of Mormon simply means "a place where local congregations meet for worship." The other, more cultural functions (which were a part of the city gate and later synagogues in Bible lands) do not appear in the Book of Mormon. It seems that this silence is a result of the purpose of the Book of Mormon, which is to encourage righteous living. As a result of this orientation, the worship aspect of synagogues is mentioned only incidentally, and these incidental references are mostly in a context of sermonizing and missionary work. These other functions were simply not considered germane to the overall objective of Mormon's record.
The journey of Lehi's tiny band to the promised land in the ship which they had built under divine direction is covered only very briefly in the sacred record: they set forth upon the sea at 1 Nephi 18:8 and arrive 15 short verses later at 18:23. The only detailed information about the voyage is the struggle for authority between Nephi and his two older brothers, and the problems with the Liahona (the divine compass) caused by their rebelliousness. One would like to know what path these divinely-led pilgrims followed, but the sacred record is silent. We can only assume that their route was eastward from Arabia to the western shore of the Americas.
The journey of Lehi's tiny band to the promised land in the ship which they had built under divine direction is covered only very briefly in the sacred record: they set forth upon the sea at 1 Nephi 18:8 and arrive 15 short verses later at 18:23. The only detailed information about the voyage is the struggle for authority between Nephi and his two older brothers, and the problems with the Liahona (the divine compass) caused by their rebelliousness. One would like to know what path these divinely-led pilgrims followed, but the sacred record is silent. We can only assume that their route was eastward from Arabia to the western shore of the Americas.
Now, however, as a result of linguistic, sociological and archaeological research, we are able to offer preliminary indications to answer that question, a ground-breaking work to follow upon the classic study Lehi In The Desert by Dr. Hugh Nibley. We now believe that we can follow Lehi's exact route across the Pacific, using similar techniques which have turned up those places in Arabia which bear unmistakable traces of Lehi's journey on the land leg of his long trek to America.
Even though the text of the Book of Mormon does not mention land encounters with Arabian inhabitants, scholars at BYU and FARMS have found evidence confirming Lehi's presence there, in the burial place "NHM" (mentioned in the Book of Mormon at 1 Nephi 16:34), and in the people who adopted the name "Lihy-ites", obviously converted to Judaism by the Prophet Lehi as he traveled among them.
So, too, similar traces of Lehi's journeyings can be found all across the Pacific, allowing us to plot his journey with great precision.
It will be helpful in following this discussion if the reader would have at hand a detailed map of southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
Lehi's Route Across the Pacific
The Lehi party undoubtedly had sufficient supplies on board, including drinking water, to avoid the necessity of a landfall in India. But after crossing the Bay of Bengal they did come ashore on an island in the group which still bears the name they must have given it, the Andaman Islands, practically identical with the name given to Father Adam's home, Adam Ondi-Ahman. (See D&C 78:15, 107:53-57, 116:1) No non-Mormon scholar has been able to explain how that ancient American name came to be the name of islands in the Bay of Bengal. Lehi obviously knew the name, and bestowed it on these islands in gratitude for God's leading them there for provisions. It must truly have seemed to them like the Garden of Eden where Father Adam dwelt!
We can follow Lehi's party as they sail somewhat south, passing the opening to the Strait of Malacca (more about that later!) to follow the southern coast of Sumatra. The name of this large island was probably chosen to reflect the loyalty of Sam to his brother Nephi and Sam's defense of Nephi against the rebellious Laman and Lemuel, since the name appears to be compounded from the name "Sam" and the Hebrew word 'athar' meaning "to entreat, urge". It is probable that somewhere on or near this island Sam entreated the older brothers to obey Nephi. Thus the name means "Sam entreated [here]".
The next island they would have encountered, just east from Sumatra, is Java, obviously named by the Lehite party after their God Jehovah. It is likely that Lehi worshiped here, and legends on this island speak of ancient visitors who built altars and worshiped different gods, and then left. The name of the largest city on the island, Jakarta or Djakarta, still reflects this, being made up of 'Jehu' ("Jehovah") and the Hebrew word 'karath' meaning "to covenant." It is likely, then, that this city is built at the spot where Lehi and his party renewed their covenants with Jehovah.
Following the coast eastward to the next island, we again find Lehi's steps, since the name of the island is Timor, which is obviously the Hebrew word 'timmorah', meaning "palm tree," for the numerous palm trees Lehi found there.
From Timor the party followed the southern coast of Papua (New Guinea), the name of which is probably from the Hebrew words 'po' meaning "there, on the other side" and 'puach' meaning to "blow, bring into a snare." It is likely that crossing the Arafura Sea they had trouble with stormy winds and may have been stranded "there". At the eastern tip of Papua is a place called "Samarai," again probably indicating the exact spot where the Lehites made landfall, the name being a combination of Sam (Lehi's son) and Hebrew 'ar' ("city").
We next find traces of the Lehites in the Solomon Islands. Historians have traditionally assumed that the name was given by a Spanish explorer who later discovered the islands. But it is just as likely that the Spaniard learned the name from the natives, who remembered it from Lehi's visit, when he named the islands after the great king of Israel.
The next stop for the Lehites was clearly Fiji. They were probably forced to land there because of storms at sea, since the name of Fiji's largest city and present capital is "Suva" which is clearly the Hebrew word 'suphah' meaning "storm, whirlwind."
The tiny island of Niuafo'ou, between Fiji and Samoa, was probably named after Nephi. The similarity is obvious.
Moving eastward to Samoa, the Lehi group left a lasting influence here. First, in the name of the island group - again honoring Lehi's son Sam - with the rest of the name probably from Hebrew 'ohel' meaning "tent, tabernacle." Thus it is likely that here was a temporary resting place called "Sam's tents." More significant is the strong favorable reception which the Gospel has received here, ever since LDS missionaries first visited the islands, obviously because of the Samoans' dim recollections of the teachings of the great prophet from Jerusalem while among their ancestors. The name of the Samoan town of Apia is probably from Hebrew 'aph' ("also") and 'jehu' ("Jehovah"), thus having the meaning "also [here] is Jehovah!".
Leaving Samoa the Lehites stopped at Bora Bora in the Society Islands, the first large island of the group (the largest is Tahiti). This was obviously a stop primarily for replenishing their supply of drinking water (we can surmise that God had revealed to them the vast distance of ocean remaining in which no islands would be easily found), since the name consists of two Hebrew words which sound almost identical in Hebrew, 'bor' (beth, resh) meaning "clean, pure" and 'bor' (beth, vav, resh) meaning "well, cistern". Thus this island, too, has a Hebrew name, meaning "pure well [of water]"!
From Tahiti to America is largely empty ocean, and Lehi's group obviously could not leave such obvious traces there as in the more western islands. It would be mere speculation to assume that the island Morane several hundred miles SSE of Tahiti was a stopping place, the name being adopted by the Lehites, to appear at the end of their history as "Moroni." One could also speculate that Peru's name is from the root of the Hebrew word 'perudoth' ("seeds") and reflects the joy of the group when landing there to find abundant usable plants. The name of Lima may be an echo of the name of Lemuel, a Hebrew name meaning "belonging to God."
The Route of the Mulekites
We now turn our attention to another group of Jewish refugees who also made their way to America at about the same time as Lehi, the Mulekites. They were discovered by Mosiah (Omni 1:14) several centuries after their arrival. Even less is known about their history or their journey to America. But now, using the same methodology that showed us Lehi's path across the Pacific, we can also trace Mulek's route!
From Arabia the Mulekites probably followed approximately the same route as Lehi, to the western point of Sumatra. At that point the Mulekites obviously took the more northerly route along the northern coast, since that passage is known as the Strait of Malacca, with the town of Malacca on its northern shore (probably a landing place of the Mulekites).
We can also assume that the Mulekites made a landing on Celebes Island, since its name is the Hebrew word 'keleb' meaning "dog" - perhaps because of the dogs found there. Or could it be that the Mulekites named the island after the star Kolob, near where God lives?
We can assume that the Mulekites turned north from Celebes into the Molucca Sea - the name similarities are astonishing! - and headed across the ocean, probably landing on the island of Mokil and naming it (later corrupted from the original "Mulek" by a very common and well-known phonetic transformation process). It is possible that they made a landing on Tarawa, since that is the Hebrew word 'teruah' meaning "joyful noise" or "trumpet sound." They then continued on to present-day Hawaii, where they again left their mark in place names. "Hawaii" is clearly a shortening of "Je-howah". "Oahu" is another version of the same name of God. And -the crowning piece of evidence: the island Molokai is obviously named after Zedekiah's son Mulek!
The two highest mountains in the Hawaiian Islands are Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, believed by the natives to be the dwelling place of the gods. Clearly, the names are from Hebrew 'maon' meaning "dwelling place, habitation." "Loa" is obviously a corruption and shortening of the Hebrew word for "god, gods", 'eloi, elohim' so that Mauna Loa literally means in Hebrew "dwelling place of the gods"! Since Mauna Kea is an active volcano, its name is from the Hebrew word 'kehah' meaning "darkness, smoking." Mauna Kea thus is Hebrew for "smoking dwelling place [of the gods]"!
The Hebrew origin of so many names in southeast Asia and across the Pacific can have only one explanation: that Hebrew-speaking peoples were at one time there and gave names to the places they visited. History knows no such visits except the peoples described in the Book of Mormon!
Especially striking, in comparing these two routes, is how clear each one is, in its own way. No "Lehi" names are found on Mulek's route, and no "Mulek" names are found on Lehi's route. Thus, each one confirms the other. And each route places its travelers precisely where the record says they landed: Lehi in the "land southward" and Mulek in the "land northward" (Helaman 6:10).
No skeptic, of course, will be convinced. The real power of the Book of Mormon to convince is through the spirit, not through maps and placenames. (See Moroni 10:4)
The Jewish Revival of Papua New Guinea
The real and tangible occurrence of the Jewish Revival in Papua New Guinea represents a unique opportunity for both the Jewish people and the State of Israel to both clarify and explore its own roots, priorities, history and religious direction. For on this small island just a few miles above northern Australia there are the rumblings of both a Jewish renaissance and a Zionist mission; there are Jews that had lost their Judaism and now desire to return to their Mosaic roots and tribal peoples that claim their Judaism to stem from the Ten Lost Tribes. There are ancient peoples that anxiously await their return to the Land of Israel and modern Rabbis that have taken upon themselves the task of teaching these tribes modern Judaism in its chiefly Ashkenazi and Sephardic forms. The Israeli government has established relations with the government of Papua New Guinea and Israeli high tech companies have aided the indigenous peoples of this still largely untouched and virgin land.
The story of "Jewish" Papua New Guinea, and how we as Jews and Israelis relate to it, will affect the ancient Jews of Africa and of India, of South America and of the Native Americans in the United States that also claim Jewish ancestry. For this is a story of lost lands and lost peoples, of both ancient and modern Jewish history, of conquests and intermarriage, of polytheism (re)turned to monotheism, of cannibalism turned to humane practices under the influences of modern religion. It is a story of hope and dialogue and fundamentalist Christianity and ancient Judaism, a story of prayer for a better future and a future based on the teachings of the past.
This saga in many ways reflects the struggles of the tribes of Africa that claim ancient Jewish roots or at the very least desire to become one with the Jewish people through identification with the bible and its people. It mirrors the aspirations of groups of peoples from Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas that, while not always yearning to come home to Israel, most definitely identify with the Jewish people and want to unite with its renewed spirit. For me, as a Jew, it represents fundamental questions of identity, of an entire history unknown to the average Jew, of a need for renewed definitions of who we are as a people, of empathy for an entire globe of nations that have found empathy towards us with barely a mutual nod back in their direction. It is a type of tshuva –repentance – for ignorance and perhaps even prejudice and it is an opportunity that must not be missed and that has only become possible with the creation of the modern State of Israel.
The Jewish journey back to Papua New Guinea begins only tens of thousands of years after the original establishment of humans on the island, when the first Europeans landed in 1526. Ironically, it was the Portuguese explorer, Jorge de Menezes, himself a Jew forced into secrecy after the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, who discovered the islands and began its exploration. Other Jews forced from Spain and Portugal during the late 1400s and the 1500s would soon arrive at the island, Jews that had been followed by the Inquisitors from Europe to Peru and on to Japan. From Japan, some made their way to Papua New Guinea. The Jewish Diaspora includes cousins of distant geography but of shared historical experience. It is entirely possible that some of the Jews of Peru share common Jewish heritage with the modern Jews of New Guinea. There may be ancient Jews in New Guinea as well, but this will be discussed in Part Two.
A member of the Gogodala tribe of Papua New Guinea. The tribe claims to be of Jewish origin. Credit: Tim Long, Florida International University.
These Jews of Papua New Guinea eventually intermarried and found their way to missionary Christianity, with its messianic Message. It is, perhaps, this message that burned within them to find salvation' albeit not Christian salvation, through a return to their Jewish roots hundreds of years later. But not all became outwardly Christian –some intermarried with native tribes and indeed carried the harsh lessons learned from the Inquisition. To this day, many feel that it is forbidden to enter a church for "it is an evil place". Some even give their children the name of Sukkot, Torah and Menorah, as recalled in a fascinating article by Rabbi Yossi Serebryanski.
In 2007, then Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, stated that his people would always worship the God of Israel and the entire country is full of Israeli flags during the Israel Day of Independence. This is indeed and incredible phenomenon that requires far more study.
The story of the Jewish Return in Papua New Guinea, however, is far more complicated and far more subtle. In Part Two we shall take up the exploits of Professor Tudor Parfiit, known as the "British Indiana Jones". Professor Parfitt has been exploring ancient Jewish tribal communities for many years and indeed was one of the first to show a Jewish historical link to the Lemba tribe in Africa.
The Jewish Diaspora has left bits and pieces to be slowly and carefully fit together, with waves of Jewish immigration from the times of King Solomon's trading ships and the later forced migration from Israel of the Ten Lost Tribes, through the Inquisitions, the Dutch East India Trading Companies, the Jewish immigration to America and the modern return to Israel. The Papua New Guineans, both ancient and new, represent a small but significant piece of this puzzle and the modern Jewish confrontation with those that are truly descended from Israel and those that clearly want to become associated. This is a story of ancient and modern, and thus a fitting narrative for the new Jewish Return.
Polynesian Missions in Melanesia: From Samoa, Cook Islands and Tonga, to Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia
European missions to the Pacific Islands are well recorded. But most missionaries in the islands are, and almost always were Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians.
This fascinating book contains the stories of Polynesian missionaries to Melanesia, written by Polynesian missionaries themselves or by descendants of missionaries. This book contains chapters on some of the first and most famous Polynesian missionaries in Melanesia, as well as on later missions to the present time.
Did the Aztecs and Mayans Speak Hebrew?
It is very impressive a lot of ancient Toltec, Aztec and Mayan words correlate to Hebrew phrases and make sense in Hebrew - Amazing.
There is the story about Nayans ? travelling north, about 1100AD or so, having carried a kind of ark with them in a kind of setting like some exodus mimick.
Some scholars say it appears to have fragments of the Old Testament.
Perhaps this is like the Yoruba blacks in Africa, who also have a Hebrewlike religion, but picked up during their stay in Egypt, and they took it with them when wandering to Nigeria.
After the 1720 exodus, an Englishman named Adair was to write about studying the Cherokee for over 30 years; he witnessed, as he lived among the Cherokee, these religious practices and he wrote hundreds of pages listing the Hebrew words and their usage in worship and in the Cherokee culture. After decades of observation, he published his work. Even though thousands of principal people who practiced this ancient religion had already left for their homeland before Adair, he witnessed hundreds and hundreds of Cherokee men and women worshiping with the guidance of a priest in the Hebrew language which called the God of Creation "Yo hee wah". This word is the original word of the Hebrew God of Creation; the modern word used within the Jewish faith is Yo he vah, but in the ancient Hebrew of 600 BC, it was the same for the ancient Jewish religion as that which Cherokees used in the 1600s through 1825. That same word for God was Yo hee wah, the original and oldest name for the God of Creation.
Some are part of the Ancient Cherokee Church of the Johewaah.
The principal people, became to outsiders, as Cha Ra Gee, meaning the people who are Shepherd, by God. The "Ra" was documented in the early colonial days, who ruled this mountain valley, which was an Alpine rain forest. It was the Cha la'n gee who called themselves the principal people, which also means the chosen people, and who had brought the word of God to all of the Native Americans from across the big water, from the land where Yo hee wah the One God first spoke to people.
The Maya Were Israelites
Anybody see the movie 2012? Catastrophic extravaganza? Most people will cite the Mayan calendar to back up the idea that the world is going to end in Dec of 2012. Not so. The Maya possessed factual information about a certain time period on the earth and what would happen to humanity during that cycle. I believe that it was their connection to God that made that possible.
The Mayan Factor: We are passing through a 5200 year cycle of synchronization that ends in 2012. The Maya don't predict the end of the world by catastrophe, like the recent movie. This will be a spiritual transformation. Yes, there will be conflict as the present paradigm of materialism and human control passes away. But even the book of Revelation doesn't predict the end of the world, even though it does talk about some heavy earth changes. The book is called the Mayan Factor, by Jose' Arguelles.
Here are some Mayan terms that you'll hear. Hunab Ku=The Galactic Core Baktun= multi-dimensional harmonic term describing a bit less than 400 years Kuxan Suum="galactic umbilical cord" that emerges from the solar plexus: Carlos Castañeda. Kin=Sun=one day P56-57
I think at this point that there is an important distinction to be considered. Unlike Western science, which base_ itself on an investigation of matter-hence scientific materialism-Mayan science bases itself on mind as the foundation of the universe. Universe is mind, and the different qualities of mind can be described by simple, whole-number relations. For Mayan science, what we call matter represents different tones holding together as a harmonic frequency-spectrum perceptible to the sense of touch. Like all other resonant experiences, matter can be represented by whole-number relations.
A further corollary of the Mayan perspective is the universality of consciousness. Since the universe is mental rather than material in nature, or rather, since the notion of the material is derived from the mental, in actuality there is only consciousness-intelligent energy-be it a piece of quartz, an ant, a human, or something beyond. Everything is alive. There is nothing without feeling. The field of reality is saturated with purpose.
In this view, the form of things is the shape of consciousness at a particular resonant frequency juncture. A resonant frequency juncture can be defined as the synchronization of two or more tonal spectrums which join momentary need with universal purpose. The environment may need "ant" to perform a task, to aerate the Earth; ant then is the tonal spectrum joining momentary need with the universal purpose of aerating the Earth. In a similar way, at one point in its evolution, the Earth may need synchronized intelligence to place it in more conscious relation to the Sun and to the galaxy as a whole. Or rather, at the same time, the Sun may need a planetary body to consciously ground galactic information it is receiving from the galactic core and/or from more evolved star systems. It is to precisely this situation that the Mayan Factor be the synchronizers of momentary need-represented by planetary or solar intelligence-with universal purpose, full conscious entry into the galactic community.
P67 What scholars have taken to be the Mayan obsession with time is not that at all. Rather, the number sequences that so intricately adorn the Classic Maya monuments are primarily intended to describe calibrations of a galactic harmonic as it corresponds to solar and earthly cycles of time.
p58 As anyone knows, there is no intelligence in coercion or forcing another into action or realization. And if the name of the galactic game is superior intelligent harmonization, it must be played so that the local intelligence is taught or shown how it works in such manner that it comes to its own conclusions. In other words, the galactic code of honor is to manifest and demonstrate harmony by whatever means possible. Always playing by the rules of harmony, but at the same time respecting the local intelligence, the code's chief command would be to do nothing to further any notion of duality or separateness (which is the Illuminati M.O.) A key Mayan phrase in this regard is: "In lake'ch:" I am another yourself. We are information. The universe is information. Information, like number, is ultimately a resonant property of mind.
Let us, for a moment, consider a scenario. Let us assume the galaxy to be an immense organism possessing order and consciousness of a magnitude transcending the threshold of the human imagination. Like a giant body, it consists of a complex of member star systems each coordinated by the galactic core, Hunab Ku. [Your body does exactly this in maintaining your health. An energy signal goes out to make some white cells and to send them to get the bugs that set off the warning energy signals to the brain. The brain is constantly working to keep your body in proper, healthy alignment.] Cycling energy/information in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions simultaneously, the dense pulsing galactic heart emits a continuous series of signals, called by ourselves radio emissions. In actuality these radio emissions correspond to a matrix of resonance-a vast galactic field of intelligent energy whose primary on-off pulsation provides the basis for four universal wave functions: a transmitting or informational function; a radiative, or electromagnetic function; an attractive or gravitational function; and a receptive or psychoactive function.
P132 When we look at the source of the Armageddon script, the Book of Revelations, we find that it is both unrelentingly righteous, making black-and-white distinctions between the saved and the damned, and at the same time, as visionary a text as can be conceived. Most curiously, however, the number symbolism of the Book of Revelations possesses a profoundly Mayan overtone. The fact that Christ is the thirteenth in a group numbering twelve disciples is paramount. Then there is the incessant emphasis on the number seven repeated in any number of ways as the mystical underpinning of the entire revelation. And finally, there are the 144,000 elect, the same number as there are days or kin in a baktun. Remembering that the baktun is a multi-dimensional harmonic term and that we are currently in the thirteenth cycle, Baktun 12, we may begin to wonder if there is not some deep bond between the Christian Revelation and the Mayan Factor that has been ignored or avoided in the orthodox ruling circles of the neo-Christian West. Could the New Jerusalem, New Heaven, and New Earth, be the same as the entry into the unimaginable realm of the new cycle, the post-galactic synchronization following A.D. 2012? [As we'll shortly see, this bond is a blood bond with the people of God in the Bible. The evidence shows that the Maya were Israelites! Stay tuned.]
P179-80 According to the Mayan Factor, we live at the bottom of an electromagnetic ocean. What we call the physical plane Earth is itself th. e ocean floor, while we, like squids or semi-blinded denizens, swarm about our little ways; only dimly aware that we swim and move across the bottom of a vast, multi-dimensional electromagnetic ocean. But to live, to survive in the dense, yet fragile bottom of the electromagnetic sea, we ourselves must be possessed of bio-electromagnetic circuitry. (David Icke calls the human body an electro-chemical organism.) In truth, through our exquisitely woven sensory radar, we are capable of far more nourishment and direction from the electromagnetic field than we now allow ourselves. Indeed, at present we have capitulated all of our electromagnetic powers to privately owned or badly managed state utility companies to whom we must pay for what is naturally ours. (If the energy can go in one direction, it can go in the other. So, taking in energy can vitalize us. Perhaps we, like angels, would have the ability to eat, but not the need. I believe that Adam didn't have to eat to live. This principle also would apply to the carnivores of today. Before the Fall, they didn't kill each other for food. It wasn't necessary.) Yet, as Nicholas Tesla proved in his laboratory in Colorado Springs, a single human being can co-generate an electromagnetic field of incredible intensity, while remaining calm and in resonance.
The elements of the circuitry connecting the third-dimensional physical garment to, and inclusive of, the fourth-dimensional light body are well known. First, there is the sensory radar-the five sense organs and "mind;" then, there are the neural canals which carry electrical impulses from sense organ to central computer, the brain, for processing; finally, there are the psychophysical centers associated with the glandular system called the chakras and their network of subtle energy flows. The circuit is completed by the subtle currents that flow as resonant transmission from the chakra system directly through the Kuxan Suum, the galactic fibers, to the main currents of the electromagnetic ocean.
The information-bearing currents of the higher-the fifth, sixth and seventh-dimensions of the electromagnetic ocean, flowing to and from the solar plexus, also have entry points at the crown of the head, the throat, the heart, the sexual organs, and the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Thus, we see that the third-dimensional garment of the physical body, like any decent space suit, has its connecting points that provide the fourth-dimensional light body, coexisting with the physical body, its electromagnetic respiratory nodes.
The AH KINES, "Servant-Warriors of the Sun:' are those humans who fully realize the dream light body within the physical body and-understanding the circuitry of the human organism-use the light body to navigate the electromagnetic waters which we call the universe, through attunement of their sensory radar and skilled use of the Kuxan Suum, the "galactic umbilical cord" that emerges from the solar plexus, (again, the Castañeda books) the AH KINES, the realized one-s of the past and present, are able to become star-mediums, channeling galactic information directly into the terrestrial ocean floor of the great electromagnetic sea. Possessing the same circuitry, we may do the same as the fabled AH KINES. Each one of us, returned to post-historic simplicity, may directly channel the alternating currents of the galaxy to suit our situation.
For this to occur, all we need to do is reverse our view. It is not the physical body that is primary, but the light body. The auto-kinetic physical body, like leaves to a tree, is the projection of our inner attainment. The light body, with its sensory radar, neural canals, central computer, chakra and subtle nervous system, and ultraradiant fibers, is the true skeleton of the physical body. Operating on the same 260-unit pulsation template as the Sun the Mayan Harmonic Module-the functioning of our light body is amazingly simple. Yet disregard for it is what consigns us to what we call the realm of the beasts.
The author takes the Maya information and leads us to the Galactic Core instead of God. This is diabolical. BUT.... I have to remind you that many will put this info into the box marked The Devil. The thrust of this author is toward the New Age teaching. But we must remember how the devil works. He comes as an angel of light. That means that some 95% of what he says is Truth. It's just that remaining 5% that takes us off to the side just enough so that we run into the wall instead of passing through the door. All this to say that most of this Maya information is true. What we can't check with the Bible can be discarded, while we learn about the nature of reality and our role in it.
This 5200 year cycle and it's elements parallel what the Bible says about the 7000 year history of man and the earth. And after the 6000 years, we transit into the golden age of the Millennium, which certainly must be seen as a spiritual transformation. Now to the Maya Israelites.
The Mayan Moses and the Red Sea Crossing
Has the reader ever wondered why, or how, the remote and famous Meso-American tribe that reached a high pinnacle of cultural success in the ancient-American "New World," the Maya, held within their own, tribal historical records such as the "Popol Vuh, "The Annals of the Cakchiquels," and the "Título de los Señores de Totanicapán" a clear and concise record of the biblical Red Sea Crossing, an historic, and very miraculous, earth-changing event of deep antiquity that occurred on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean where their ancient homeland had been? "These were the the three nations of the Quichés , and they came from where the sun rises..." - Título de los Señores de Totanicapán, p.170. The sun rises over the Atlantic from the east to the west as viewed from Guatemala. The Maya also claim to have once come to "Tulán" the fabled land, from the other side of a sea "...from the west:" and after their arrival to have been dwellers in that wonderous land called "Chiwim Tulán."
The land of Tulán is held to be a mystical land of the gods and one is also located "in heaven, as well as in the east." In fact there are "four Tuláns" in the Mayan history /mythology. The sea of the fabled history is not the Atlantic. They walked across this sea and as we shall see: "...They plunged forward then and passed over the sand; those who came at the rear entered the sea as we emerged from the waters on the other bank. " - The Annals of the Cakchiquels pp. 54-55. We're getting a little ahead of the story. But this statement gives an idea of the narrow width of the sea. "From four places the people came to Tulán. In the east is one Tulán; another in Xibalbay, and another where god is. Therefore, there were four Tuláns, Oh, our sons." So they said, "From the west we came to Tulán, from across the sea...so they told us." - Annals of the Cakchiquels p.45 In their account above, they omit the Tulán in Meso-America where they were at the time. It was naturally assumed and understood to be the fourth Tulán. What is of particular interest next, is that when they came to the sea in question, their leader, "Balam Quitzé" also known as "Kukulcán," enacted what can only be called a supernatural event. "When they arrived at the edge of the sea, Balam-Quitzé touched it with his staff and immediately a path opened" - Annals of the Cakchiquels p. 55, footnote 51 This Balam Quitzé is recognized among Maya Scholars to be the same as "Kukulcán' their leader at the time, Balam-Quitzé being a title given to several historic figures such as Joseph, with his coat of many colors: Pisom ca'ak'al who is also called "Balam- Quitzé" ( literally means "frontier lord" in Shemitic languages such as Hebrew and Phoenician ) And: "Then we arrived at the shore of the sea. There all the tribes and warriors were reunited at the shore of the sea. And when they looked upon it their hearts were heavy...There was no way to cross it...And we spoke to them in this manner. Go, you, go first, carefully!...How can we cross, in truth, we who are here? Thus we all said. Thus they said, 'Have pity on us, Oh, brother! who have come to gather here on the shore of the sea, unable to see our mountains and our valleys. If we remain here to sleep we shall be conquered...' And our grandfathers...said, We say to you: Let us go to work, our brothers! We have not come to stay here huddled at the shore of the sea...Let us plunge [into the sea] immediately! Thus they said, and at once all of them were filled with joy. When we arrived at the gates of Tulán, we received a red stick, which was our staff, and because of that we were given the name Cakchiquel [s], oh, our sons! said Gagavits and Zactecauh (zac camp).
'Let us thrust the points of our staffs into the sand under the sea and we shall soon cross the sea on the sand, using the red sticks which we went to receive at the gates of Tulán.' Thus we passed, over the rows of sand, when it widened below the sea and on the surface of the sea [floor] ...They plunged forward then and passed over the sand; those who came at the rear entered the sea as we emerged from the waters on the other bank. -The Annals of the Cakchiquels pp. 54-55.
Then we have this amazing statement: "These then were the three nations of the Quichés, and they came from where the sun rises, descendants of Israel, of the same language and the same customs...When they arrived at the edge of the sea, Balam Quitzé touched it with his staff and at once a path opened, which then closed up again, for thus the great god wished it to be done, because they were the sons of Abraham and Jacob."- Título de los Señores de Totanicapán p. 170. Next we begin to demonstrate the undeniable Hebrew-Phonecian connection with the Mayan language.
CHICHEN ITZ´A - Mayan capital city
Mayan Account:Chichén Itzá." "After -forty years of wandering - they finally reached Chichén Itzá" - Popol Vuh, p. 67.
HEBREW MEANING JAMES STRONG'S HEBREW LEXICON nwçç (sheshen) joy (8342-48) axy (ytza) brought forth (3318) Comparison / Transliteration: Mayan: CHICHEN ITZ´A Hebrew: axy nwçç Phonetic: Sheshen-Ytza Meaning: JOYOUSLY BROUGHT FORTH
Israelite Account: The Biblical usage of this expression in the exact context of leaving Egypt ( that is after 40 years of wandering , as used by the Popol Vuh, see: Psalm 105:43. This similarity of words and ideas in parallel between two diverse cultures such as the Maya and Israelite, is no mere coincidence. The accepted academic theory that Catholic-Jesuit priests during the conquest era, embroidered the minds of the Maya neophytes with biblical stories, will not work in these instances where it is abundantly clear that the very Mayan language ( specific words ) are the same as Hebrew. This, the Spanish Jesuits could never have accomplished, had they desired. One must ask the question, "Why would the Spaniards have desired such a thing in the first place?" What advantage would result from teaching the Mayan people a new language? In this instance it was only one educated Mayan noble who transcribed and transliterated the Popol Vuh into Spanish-Roman characters.
How could the Jesuits have caused the entire Mayan nation to change languages? It is totally absurd, to conceive such an idea. Therefore: it is abundantly clear and simple; the Maya spoke an ancient middle eastern language. Their very words testify to this fact, speaking of the same events.
Mayan: ITZ´A - CHICHEN Hebrew: axy nwçç nwççb wm[ axyw ( Psalm 105:43) Meaning: "AND HE BROUGHT FORTH HIS PEOPLE WITH JOY." The nwçç "SheShen" (Joy) is from relief, both, from slavery and forty years of wandering in the desert as a punishment for sins and actions against Yahweh commited.
The late Dr. Cyrus Gordon, Brandeis and Harvard professor emeritus, has pointed out in his book, Before Columbus (Chapter X pp. 154 ff), that there are numerous elements in the Popol Vuh which could not have been transmitted to the Maya by Catholic missionaries of the conquest era. These minute elements are simply not related in the Bible (and we might add, several points are totally absent from church doctrine, although well attested to in the biblical text). The evidence, as Dr. Gordon saw it, demonstrated an ancient connection, or intercourse, between the old and new worlds very clearly, that is, to one who could recognize those nuances. The historic relation of the ancient Quiché Maya demanded an explanation which would incorporate, within it, an early, pre-columbian connection with the near east.
The anthropological establishment did not readily or genreally accept his analysis, even if it came from an expert linguist and Semeticist, and therefore, and typically, because of ignorance, bias and professional jealousy, panned his work which forcefully made that point of an early cultural connection between the old and new world. Dr. Gordon was expressing his knowledge, knowledge that they lacked.
Dr. Gordon made other important conclusions regarding early Phoenician travels to "Hy Barzal" the island of iron ( continent of South America ), based on minute examination of the stylistic forms and linguistic details of the Phoenican language which were incorporated into the Paraiba Inscription from Brazil (barzal means "iron" in Hebrew & Punic ). These were unknown at the time of the inscription's discovery in the nineteenth century. Fully one-third of all of the earth's surface iron ore is in Brazil. Dr. Gordon has made those correct cultural conclusions, even in absence of the linguistic parallels that have been uncovered in the NEXUS. ( The NEXUS, D. Deal 1993, ISAC Press Columbus, GA )
For the past several centuries the American academics have erroneously endorsed the idea that the Spanish priests of the conquest period had inculcated these Bible stories, such as the Red Sea crossing, into the minds of the Maya neophites, and therefore the Mayans were merely parroting these stories.
Until recently that is. My book, The Nexus, proves that the basic language of the Maya, particularly the principal, priestly and kingly language Quiché, ( still spoken in the Mayan city of Chichicastanengo, Guatemala ), is based in Shemitic roots. Meaning, it is a language from across the Atlantic, and Mediterranean pointing directly to Palestine-Israel, to a time of the Exodus and Judges of Israel at a minimum. I converse in a very rudimentary way with my wife's housekeeper in Quiché language to this day.
As the pieces fall together from the various Mayan documents...we read directly from the Mayan Popol Vuh: the story gets even more interesting with the actual dry-shod sea crossing: "(6) ...cholochic abah, boco tahinac zanaieb..." ... Mayan translated to English: "They crossed the sea...as if there were no sea, they crossed on stones placed in a row over the sand. For this reason they were called, Stones in a Row, Sand Under the Sea, names given to them when they [the tribes] crossed the sea, the waters having parted when they crossed" -Popol Vuh ( Adrian Recinos 1983, p. 183 & footnote. 6 )
Strange sounding Mayan words? Let's see what the meaning is, via the not-so-strange Hebrew: Transliterated into English by comparison: cholochic abah, boco tahinac zanaieb ( Mayan words from the Popol Vuh ) HEBREW MEANING JAMES STRONG'S HEBREW LEXICON jlq (ka-lak') divide, Smooth as stones (2520,2505-13) (also) (7971,7994) °a (ak) surely (389) hba (aw-ba) willingly (became) (14) ][qb (bo-ko') opened (1234) µht (teh-home) sea (8415) °a (ak) surely (389) nwx (tzeh-on) migrated (6629) ba (ab) father (2) 3 Comparison / Transliteration: Mayan: CHOLOCHIC ABAH BOCO TAHINAC ZANAIEB Hebrew: ba ˆw[x °a µht [qb hba °a qlj Phonetic: kalak- ak aw- bah bo-ko' teh-hom'-ak tzeh-on- ab Hebrew to English: SURELY (the) SEA DIVIDED [ becoming smooth as stones to walk upon ], IT WILLINGLY OPENED, TRULY (the) FATHER (s) MIGRATED (crossed).
At first blush, it seems to be the identical story doesn't it? That's only because it IS the same story. More importantly it is the SAME LANGUAGE!
After crossing the sea, on foot, other Mayan accounts claim that they arrived in the fabled land of "Tulán" -Popol Vuh p. 63 and Annals of the Cakchiquels, p 45 , also called Hacavitz and "Jo Balam K'ana." -Quechean Civilization p. 289. It is this very name "K'ana" that is of interest here. K'ana is the correct, Hebrew name for Palestine, otherwise known as the "Land of Kanaan." Kana is the prime root. Balam = Baalym, Hebrew for "lords." " Jo" = Yah ( YHWH ) "Yahweh." The plot thickens.
Just who was this Mayan hero that did the same things that Moses did? It was, indeed, Moses! Kukulcán was Moses? As we shall see in the following evidence, this is exactly the case. Mayan Account: Leader's name, "Kukulcán," place names: "Chakanputún," "Bolonpel Uitz," & "Chichén Itzá." "In this same region, at a place called Chakanputún there lived for a space of 250 years a tribe called the Itzá*...This tribe came from the land of Bolonpel Uitz...In a Katun 8 of the Maya short count [any twenty year period]...a group of Maya-speaking people began moving slowly northeastward across the peninsula. Part of these at least were the Itzá...under a leader named Kukulcán... having been living in 'what is now southwestern Campeche' [sic] for some two to two and one half centuries. After forty years of wandering, they finally reached Chichén Itzá where they established their capital..."- Popol Vuh. p.67.*
Genesis 21:12 states that Abraham's descendents shall be called by the name of "Itzakh-aq," ( Isaack ). Amos uses three names for one group. Verse nine uses Isaac, Israel and Jerusalem. Verse sixteen has Israel and the House of Isaac.
KUKULC´AN,a Mayan "GOD" of legend and myth. ( aka, Quetzal-coatl ) "Kukulcán: parted the sea and then led the people forty years in the wilderness." HEBREW MEANING JAMES STRONG'S HEBREW LEXICON qqj (khuquq) lawgiver (2706-10) la (el) highest (5927) nhk (khan) priest (3547) Comparison / Transliteration: Mayan: KUKULC´AN Hebrew: nhk la qqj Phonetic: Khuquq -el -Khan Meaning: LAWGIVING HIGH PRIEST The biblical equivalent of "Kukulcán" clearly is Moses. There can be no other conclusion. Was Moses a high priest? Yes, he spoke face to face with Yahweh. Aaron, Moses' brother was high priest subordinate to Moses. Under Yahweh's direction and help, Moses brought forth the Israelites out of Egypt after 400 years of slavery; first, northeastward across the Suph Sea on foot, into the Sinai peninsula, then, generally eastward into the wilderness Paran and Midian, for thirty nine years of "wandering." In the fortieth year, Israel crossed the Jordan river, westward into their portion of the promised land of Kanaan.
As soon as the Israelites crossed the Suph Sea, they were actually within the borders of the Greater Promised Land, as defined in Genesis.
Of course, many serious questions arise. First and foremost among them is, Why haven't the smart academics been able to come up with this obvious connection? Please don't say, "Well, you have only presented a few examples, how can you be so sure?" If you take the time to read "The Nexus," which can now, after its first print run from ISAC Press, be downloaded at no cost, from my web site , ( under "NEW" research ) you will see hundreds of examples and you will read Dr. Cyrus Gordons approving introduction to my work. So the question stands. Why haven't the academic Mayan linguists found this connection, or NEXUS? Probably because they have not been trained in Shemitic languages, after all, American academics, never expected to find such evidence in the "New World," did they? Moreover, they don't want to find such evidence.
Their peculiar bias, demands that this scenario is quite impossible. Mayan languages exist in a tight little vacuum in the region, having no outside influence or origins. We, modern students of the ancient Maya, must not fall into obedient or slavish belief in the professional's false, prejudicial argument, typified by a letter written to me by Dennis Tedlock, James H. McNutty professor at University at Buffalo SUNY:
Teadlock writes: "...I can tell you...Historical Linguists begin by acquiring a knowledge of several neighboring languages and then work their way carefully farther afield, showing respect for the a utonomy of a given language and the authentic history of its speakers; to suddenly jump far away would be to say, 'your local history and traditions don't matter; what matters is the world across the Atlantic, where my people came from...'"
There are several fallacies in this thinking. First, the term "authentic history" begs the question of the authenticity. Who determines the authenticty of a certain history or myth? Is it the anthropological establishment? Do facts not supercede authoritative pontifications? The interpretation of even one's own history can become somewhat mythologized with time. The myth of young George Washington and the cherry tree is an example. Modern historians do not believe that this famous event really occurred. Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, John Henry and "La Llorona del Río" are several other famous American myths. Some of these stories may have had a germ of truth in them, but by now, have been overcome by mythology.
The possibility that these New World languages at question were derived from earlier Old World tongues is flatly ignored, without being given even the slightest consideration by the so-called "experts." This is an illogical, and extremely prejudiced view. Secondly, since we know that our world civilization actually generated in the Old World, and that far too many cultural similarities exist between these divergent (western vs. eastern hemisphere) branches of the human family for to believe that the new world indigenes reinvented them all. That's a "McNutty" idea if I ever heard one. One must ask a question of the anthropologists. Why do you, as a group, fight so hard against any valid discovery or evidence of Old/New World connections, whether by amateur or professional? Why indeed. The answer is; evolutionary bias created by an academic paradigm devised in the 19th-century by Major Powell of the Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnology, and propagated down through the years by schoolbound academic professors. Perhaps they will die in their ignorance and never realize the importance of the great events recalled in this genuine historic account.
The Great Parting of the Sea As An Historical Event
Here in the Mayan histories we have an entirely outside and legitimate account of the miraculous and otherwise "biblical" event of Yahweh's great power and majesty. This is not a case of Catholic priestly embroidering of Mayan neophites into the "authorized" catholic version of biblical knowledge. Not at all. The Mayan record is written in the ancient Old World language of the Maya, unbeknownst to the Catholic religion spreaders. In fact, many old world "Hebrew" documents were destroyed by these conquering zealots such as the book-burning Bartholomé de Las Casas of the "Casa Santa" (Roman Catholic inquisition). These books even included "Hebrew looking" writing according to some priests of the conquest era, and it is sure that Catholic priests were schooled in Hebrew.
Who Were The Maya?
The Maya claim to have come from across the Atlantic Ocean "from the east" from the fabled land of CHIWIM Tulán. The operative word here is "Chiwim." It is the Hebrew (Shemitic ) name of the biblical tribe of Kanaanites called the "Hivites." These were Shemitic speaking kHametic people, unrelated to the Israelites except by speech. This is the first, Old World tribe that has been identified here in the Americas, and identified by history, but mostly by language. Incidentially proving the American academics totally and irrevocably wrong. By this I mean the anthropologists, archaeologists and historical linguists.
It is necessary to look at the Hebrew original text to make these assertions understandable by people who do not know Hebrew, and also, to people who have been trained in "modern" spoken Hebrew, which is quite far afield from biblical Hebrew. If the solutions are difficult at all, particularly to Hebrew scholars, ( Dr. Gordon had some difficulty ) attribute that to a lack of knowledge or an improper Hebrew training. If this historical realization rings any bells, they should cry out to look for more old world connections among Amerindians. The Hopi, for example, have strong linguistic similarities to Shemetic, as do the Cherokee including the usage of the sacred name YHWH. The Mandans are supposed to have strong Welch connections, The Din" - Na Din" tribes have strong historic and linguistic connections to China, the Tarim Basin and Turkey, having left the Tarim Basin in 1233 AD ( Ethel Stewart, The Din"-Na Din" Indian Migrations of 1233 AD,. ISAC Press, Colunbus, GA 1993 ). According to Two-Housers the Tarim Basin (in western China) was once an Israelite peopled territory after all. The Israelite crossing of the Red Sea ( Suph Sea ) was an awesome event, and now we know that others recorded it in their tribal histories, in this case the Hivites ( Khiwym- Maya ). The event itself was a marker event, and event that disturbed the old world, Egyptians in particular, who also recorded it on a stelae dedicated to Pharoah Tau-Thom found at Wadi El Arish in the Sinai peninsula along the Mediterranean shore. The Pharoah of that stelae ( and of the Exodus ) was killed at a great whirlpool at "Pikiroiti" (the same placename as the biblical crossing "Pi Ha Kirioth"). He and his army died while"...chasing slaves fleeing Egypt." So, if one is honest to his own person, he will realize that there is more to the Red Sea crossing than has been reported to the world by the academic press. It is not a mere "biblical myth" as unbelievers and atheists are prone to claim: unbelievers who are too far from the event to understand it or even try. There is much in the way of evidence aside from the Bible version to conclude that if one never looked at the Bible, he would find it.
It was not at "The Sea of Reeds" as many now surmise. It was a passage through the northern end of the Suph Sea now called the Gulf of Suez. The crossing place, "Ba-al Zephon" was adorned with a great eagle, with its wings spread in a protective stance between the pyramid of Ba-al Zephon ( also called migdol ). Is there another reason for this wonderful "natural" design? - Exodus 19:3
This is the actual crossing place of Israel and the place of the great eagle mentioned in Exodus 19:3. Before crossing Israel was at "Etham." Three days after crossing, Israel was at "Mara" ( Bitter Lakes ) in the wilderness of "Etham." The only place in the world that this could have happened is here at Suez. DAVID ALLEN DEAL " 2007
The Los Lunas Decalogue (Ten Commandments) at a ceremonial site in New Mexico has been dated at 1000 BC. Seeing that the tribe of Dan with their cousins, the Phoenicians, sailed to the British Isles while the Israelites were still in Egypt; and that 400 years later their descendents, under Solomon, sailed over the whole world, couldn't a group of Israelites migrate to Central America 500 years after that? How is it that history parallels the Bible? You know. Becuase God is behind it. He's real. And what He says, happens.
Inca Jews: Trujillo, Cajamarca & Lima, Perú
Ever since the "Inca Jews" embraced Judaism, Peru has not felt like home to them. "Because there is no religious freedom here," explained Luis Aguilar from his home in Trujillo, a coastal city in northern Peru, "I cannot practice my profession." Aguilar is a certified engineer with five years of university training, but until recently worked as a part-time teacher, making $80 a month to support his family.
"I had the opportunity to accept two or three positions where the salaries would have allowed me economic tranquility, but I would have been forced to work on Shabbat, which I will not do," he lamented.
Aguilar and his family are typical of the Inca Jews. They began studying and practicing Judaism more than 10 years ago in a cramped room of their home, where most of the family also slept. The poorly-lit, windowless room was unprotected from the elements, with only a flimsy corrugated tin roof.
"I believe it evinces the depth of our great love for the Jewish religion, having endured 10 years like this," Aguilar said with conviction but without bitterness.
Aguilar and his family first learned about Judaism from a fellow Trujillo resident, Segundo Villanueva, who originally studied the Old Testament as a Christian and decided that Jewish customs were more in line with God's commandments.
Villanueva gained many followers of his Jewish teachings in Trujillo, the Andean town of Cajamarca, and Lima, Peru's capital. Eventually, the followers renounced Christianity altogether and began practicing Orthodox Judaism to the best of their abilities. However, without established contacts in the Jewish world, the new Jewish adherents had to improvise. Many made shofarot and tallisim by hand. One of Villanuevas' followers photocopied every page of the Chumash (five books of the Torah plus haftarah) onto parchment and stitched the pages together to make Torah scrolls.
When Villanueva and some of his early congregation formally converted and emigrated to Israel in 1990, they took the improvised Torah with them. It now rests in an Israeli museum.
Nearly 300 Inca Jews reached Israel in 1990 and 1991. Those remaining in Peru expected that a third opportunity would soon arise. However, it took over a decade of steady lobbying for the Chief Rabbi to allow another conversion opportunity.
Finally, in late 2001, an Israeli Beit Din (panel of rabbinical judges), working with Scattered Among the Nations' leaders, traveled to Peru and formally converted 84 of the Inca Jews, including Luis Aguilar and his family. Meanwhile, as many as 180 Inca Jews continued practicing Judaism with great personal hardship and without formal recognition.
Emissaries of Israel's Chief Rabbi announced that they would travel to Peru to convert another group in early 2005. Working with a group in Israel called Shavei Israel, Scattered Among the Nations helped ensure that the Peruvians received proper Jewish training to allow them to succeed in their goal of conversion. Then, Scattered Among the Nations financed again the costs of the conversion process. The vast majority of the remaining Inca Jews in Peru were converted in early 2005, and ready to emigrate to Israel in summer 2005. Without Scattered Among the Nations' support, this success would not have been possible. With the generous support of Scattered Among the Nations and its members, approximately 250 Inca Jews will be living soon Israel, a fully-integrated part of the world Jewish community.
Bryan Schwartz visited the Inca Jews in 2001 and will tell their story with vivid accounts and photographs in his upcoming book with Jay Sand and Sandy Carter, Scattered Among the Nations.
Find out how you can join the Scattered Among the Nations campaign to help the remaining Inca Jews.
Luis Aguilar and his family first studied Jewish texts in this cramped room of their Trujillo home.
Luis, an engineer, became interested in Judaism after the Six Day War in 1967, when he read Theodore Herzl's The Jewish State. "We had never met a rabbi or a Jew," Luis recalled, "but we became very emotional reading this book." Once the Aguilars were exposed to Jewish practice, they waited for a decade to convert so, in Luis' words, they "could go to Israel and live as Jews." During their decade in limbo, Luis' family suffered severe economic hardship because of the family's steadfast Jewish observance. As he explained, "Aside from the fact that there is little work in Peru, when an employee puts conditions on the employer, he is thrown to the street." In Luis' case, his "conditions" were that refused to work on Shabbat or major Jewish holidays. Finally, in November 2001, Luis Aguilar and his family were formally converted to Judaism. They fulfilled their dream of making Aliyah in May 2002. Today, Luis and his family do not have to choose between religious observance and gainful employment.
Luis, an engineer, became interested in Judaism after the Six Day War in 1967, when he read Theodore Herzl's The Jewish State. "We had never met a rabbi or a Jew," Luis recalled, "but we became very emotional reading this book." Once the Aguilars were exposed to Jewish practice, they waited for a decade to convert so, in Luis' words, they "could go to Israel and live as Jews." During their decade in limbo, Luis' family suffered severe economic hardship because of the family's steadfast Jewish observance. As he explained, "Aside from the fact that there is little work in Peru, when an employee puts conditions on the employer, he is thrown to the street." In Luis' case, his "conditions" were that refused to work on Shabbat or major Jewish holidays. Finally, in November 2001, Luis Aguilar and his family were formally converted to Judaism. They fulfilled their dream of making Aliyah in May 2002. Today, Luis and his family do not have to choose between religious observance and gainful employment.
Julio Raza, who goes by his adopted Hebrew name, Yishai, allocated a small cement courtyard in the center of his home to the Inca Jews for use as a synagogue. Yishai's home was located in a neighborhood of Trujillo, Peru called Jerusalén (the Spanish spelling of Jerusalem), in a section of town called La Esperanza ("The Hope"). Thus, the makeshift synagogue is in "Jerusalem of the hope" or better stated, Yishai said, "a hope of Jerusalem." "In the more than 36 years since I first became interested in Judaism, I never lost the hope, or as we say in Hebrew, 'Ha'Tikvah,' that someday I might reach Israel." He continued, "Israel is G-d's beloved child. G-d only wants Israel to make teshuva, returning to the mitzvoth (commandments). G-d is always awaiting this moment." A great moment arrived for Yishai Raza and his family in November 2001, when they were formally converted to Judaism. They made Aliyah in May 2002.
Nine year-old Meir Perez, wearing tsitsit, bicycles down the alley behind his home in Trujillo, Peru. Meir's parents, community president Nilo Perez entrerrianos territorio and Yona Perez, have practiced Judaism since before Meir's birth. Judaism is the only religion young Meir has ever known.
In the fall of 2001, with the help of Scattered Among the Nations leaders, a panel of visiting Orthodox rabbis formally converted the Perez family to Judaism. In 2002, the family immigrated to Israel in a group of 84 Inca Jews. Approximately 180 Inca Jews remain in Peru, awaiting the same opportunity.
Agustin Araujo is President of the community of Inca Jews in Cajamarca, nearly 200 miles and 8,000 feet of elevation into the Andes from Peru's northern coast. Because the isolated Cajamarca community had difficulty accessing any established Jewish entity, its members were forced to improvise. Every year during the High Holidays, Agustin blows the shofar he made by hand. Though one restaurant-owning family in the community donated funds to build a synagogue, the Inca Jews still must use a miniature Torah sent by relatives who emigrated to Israel over a decade ago.
Jose Urquiza prays in Hebrew at home in Milagros, a particularly impoverished section of Trujillo, Peru, while his family watches. The Urquizas are among the last remaining practitioners of Judaism in Milagros, the former neighborhood of Segundo Villanueva, whose charismatic leadership began the Peruvians' movement toward Judaism. Jose Urquiza, who taught himself to read Hebrew using an Aleph-Bet chart, has practiced Judaism for more than ten years with his family. Yet, they were passed over for conversion by the Beit Din which visited Trujillo in November 2001. Regarding the Urquizas present difficulties, Jose says, "We try to study the Torah and the Shulkhan Arukh (code of daily Jewish observance) day and night," referring to his careworn, photocopied versions of the texts. "The problem is, we need someone to teach us, because we cannot understand our responsibilities very well on our own."
Anomalous Native American DNA: New Tests Show Middle East Origins?
Geneticist Dr. Donald Yates has been studying Cherokee DNA, particularly genetic markers passed on only from a mother to her children, not passed on along paternal lines. Anomalies in Native American DNA are often dismissed as signs of racial admixture after colonization, the anomalies are not attributed to the origins of Native peoples.
Yates chose to focus on the maternal line to make it easier to filter out any colonial-era admixture. It was far more common for male colonists to mate with Native American women than it was for female colonists to mate with Native American men when the Old World first met the New.
Participants in Dr. Donald Yates's Cherokee Native American DNA testing. Top Left: Karen Worstell's grandmother Odessa Shields Cox is shown with her husband William M. Cox and Worstell's mother, Ethel, as a baby, ca. 1922. Bottom Left: Karen Worstell. Right: Jan Franz. (Courtesy of Dr. Donald Yates)
To further rule out admixture in his test results, Yates combined genetic testing with genealogical records where possible.
He found what he sees as strong evidence that Cherokee Native Americans have Middle Eastern ancestry—ancestry that cannot be accounted for by modern admixture, but which is rooted in the ancient origins of the people.
Native Americans are conventionally held to fit into a handful of haplogroups. The term haplogroup refers to a genetic population group stemming from a common ancestor. Haplogroup T is not among the haplogroups most geneticists recognize as Native American. Yates, however, said that it is prevalent among the Cherokee and has been for a very long time.
He wrote in his report, released earlier this month: "T is the leading haplogroup (23.1 percent), with a frequency on a par with modern-day Egyptians (23.4 percent) and Arabs (24.4 percent). T is thus a defining mark of Cherokee ancestry. … We can safely rule out recent European admixture. As we have discussed again and again, there was no available source for a huge, sudden influx of female-mediated Middle Eastern DNA on the American frontier. Even Sephardic Jews (11 to 14 percent), many of whom were also Indian traders, could hardly have accounted for such admixture.
"Moreover, had it occurred in the colonial period or more recently, the diversity, age, and unique characteristics of the T haplotypes would not have yielded the patterns noticed in this paper. Most T's would have matched people in the Old World and we would simply be looking at an effect of migration. Instead, we have a North American branch of T with peculiar SNPs [Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, a DNA sequence variation] which is evidently a cross-section of a very old population originating in the Old World."
In a different part of the report, he explained one way to tell if the genetic characteristics are ancient in origin, or if they could be attributed to recent admixture: "Generally, the more mutations, the more ancient the type."
While the level of the T-haplotype found across Yates's 67 Cherokee test subjects is comparable to those found in Iraqi and Iranian Jews (about 24 percent), it is far higher than that found in nearby regions where one would expect admixture. In neighboring countries in the Middle East, as well as among Jews from other regions, the frequency of T is only 4–14 percent.
An example of how Dr. Yates combined genetic testing with genealogical research is the case of Kathleen Rogalla.
Mother of Kathleen Rogalla, Ethel Estell Caywood Christian, ca. 1930. (Courtesy of Dr. Donald Yates)
Kathleen Rogalla of Panama City, Fla. is descended from Deborah Cook(e), wife of William Chisholm (born 1720 in Amelia County, Va.). Cook is her ancestor in an unbroken female line. A woman named Amy or Annie (no last name) was Cook's mother. Yates wrote, "It is unlikely Amy or Annie was the daughter of an Englishwoman … around the time of first intermarriages."
Rogalla underwent genetic testing from another company, which she had sought out after taking an interest in her Native ancestry. This company told her she was of 100 percent European ancestry with no chance of being Native American. When Yates tested Rogalla, he found haplotype T in her results.
He wrote: "These historical accounts are given here in detail to document the early Cherokee affiliation of the line. More could be added. Suffice it to say that the Chisholms and all their marriage partners were well known to Cherokee leaders from the 1760s on … All the names are well documented in Cherokee and Melungeon genealogies, as well as U.S. Indian treaties, chiefs-lists and agency records. … There is every reason on genealogical grounds to regard her T* haplotype as Cherokee, not Eurasian."
Yates is of Cherokee descent, he has a Ph.D. in classical studies, and he founded the genetics research institution DNA Consultants. These three credentials have given him a unique perspective on Native American history as it relates to these ancient cultures, and how DNA testing can support the theoretical link. He hypothesizes that an expedition of Ptolemaic Egyptians and others in the 3rd century B.C. sailed to North America and were the settlers from whom descended today's Cherokee Native Americans.
The White God in Polynesia & the Americas
Quetzalcoatl is no other but the very Jesus Christ that showed up to the ancient Mexicans. He came from the East, the Holy Land. He was white & bearded. His teachings were different from the cruel Aztec religion...
The Mayas knew him as Kukulkan & the Incas as Viracocha. The tradition of a white god is spread all over the Americas under different names. Even in Polynesia they have that tradition.
The White God
In Perú Pizarro was confused with him. In México Cortés was. In Hawaii Cook was identified with him. These are not coinciences.
Many ancient explorers from Spain & other nations found lots of Hebrew traditions among these peoples.
The story of this white god & these peoples is recorded in holy scripture, The Book of Mormon. Nowadays the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints holds it as holy writ together with the Bible.
New Zealand First People
By whom was New Zealand first peopled? Was the island unpeopled from the Creation until the Maories came there, or was there an earlier race that has become extinct?
Professor Penne father interestingly stated several theories that have been put forward in answer. The view most commonly held is that the Maories are the original inhabitants; and then the question arises-To what family of mankind do they belong?
They are part of the brown Polynesian race, that have peopled all the islands from Tahiti to Madagascar, and from the Sandwich islands in the north to New Zealand in the south. The inhabitants in many of these islands can converse together, and the name they give themselves is the same -Maories, that is " natives." But where did they come from? Their traditions, a lecturer said, are clear enough that they came to New Zealand in a time of great civil war in their original home, but the name they give that home, "Kawaiki," affords no clue to its identification.
Some people say they are the lost Ten Tribes. Dr. Fenton contends, from their customs, that they must have come from Western Asia, somewhere near Palestine. Others say they came from the Malays. Mr. Tregyear, an eminent ethnologist, argues, from their language and legends, that they are an Aryan race, and come from Southern India. Where doctors differ he would offer no opinion, but Mr. Tregyear's theory has been taken up by no less a man than Professor Max Milller.
The legendary genealogies of the people indicate that 16 generations have passed since the immigration took place, but they may be untrustworthy or incomplete. Various writers fix the time from 200C years B.C. to about the year 1,500 of our era. They lecturer proceeded to describe the social condition and customs of the Maories before the white settlement, and said they must have been very like that of Ireland before the English invasion or of Germany in the pre-historic times.
Each tribe was independent, and nearly always at war with its neighbours. Metals were unknown and their weapons were made of wood and stone.
Their arts and social condition were briefly scanned, and a few minutes devoted to their religion. The Maori language is very simple, and the large number of vowels used make it sound curiously like Spanish. Their land tenure before the English settlement was extremely elaborate. Of course, all lands were held by the tribe: it was primal tenure. There was no idea of individual ownership of land. The marks were mountains, rivers, and piles of stones. The title to hold was sometimes occupation, sometimes marriage, sometimes gift, sometimes conquest; and from this complexity often arose questions which caused tribal wars and now were the subjects of weary disputes in the law courts.
The arrival of the English led to two great changes. The worst was the introduction of fire-arms; the other was the introduction of Christianity. Many hard things have been said against the early missionaries-that they robbed the natives of their land-but the lecturer said he had gone into the question pretty carefully and had come to the conclusion that the missionaries were human beings, and, therefore, not perfect, but at the same time he could hardly find a case in which a missionary took any Maori land at all.
When offered land, as they were often, their answer always was-"We have come to save your souls and not to take your land." As the country as at first colonized was without any settled system of government, and threatened to become a refuge for the off-scourings of all nations, the Maori chiefs were assembled on November 5, 1840, and then a solemn treaty was drawn up between the chiefs and the Queen, by which the islands were ceded to Great Britain, but the chiefs were confirmed in the possession of their lands, fisheries, hunting grounds, etc.
The treaty was regarded by the Maories as the charter of their liberties. The lecturer was frequently applauded for his telling instances of the bravery of the Maories in war, and also their magnanimity, as shown in their war with the English. Speaking of the present condition of the Maories, he said the most of them are Christians and perfectly civilized. They have their schools, colleges, and churches, and are represented in the Senate by men of their own race. But their decrease in numbers is a matter of serious concern to themselves and their friends.
The chief cause of the decrease is drink, and the next is wearing European clothing of a kind which does not keep out the wet, and gives rise to lung disease. And they do not now choose so healthy spots for dwelling as they did formerly. The impetuosity of the Maori character often leads to lamentable results. It makes them the dupes of every charlatan who chooses to hold himself up as a prophet, and induces them frequently to sell their land for a trifle to pay for a feast or festivity of some sort. But there are now prospects that the decrease of the race has come to an end, and that they will improve generally in education, in the industrial arts, and in steadiness of character. He said lie trusted that the Maories, instead of wasting away before the Anglo-Saxon, may profit and form an integral part of the prosperous, wealthy, and happy community of New Zealand.
Unveiling the Treasure of the Lost Temple
Siegel was the main moderator of a 10-day economic development conference held in early November in Auki, the capital of Malaita, the largest province in the tiny Pacific nation of Solomon Islands. The purpose of the event was to discuss and turn into concrete policies Malaitan ideas regarding economic development, in the form of a Malaita Economic Stimulus Package document.
Flag of Israel at the rooftop of a small trade store.
More than 50 people attended the conference, among them members of the provincial government's cabinet, local chieftains and government figures, including members of the opposition, who arrived from Solomon Islands' capital of Honiara.
Support for Israel runs deep in the predominantly Christian Malaita. Many islanders believe that "those who bless Israel are themselves blessed," in keeping with the Hebrew Bible. Some even believe that Israelites originally settled in the islands, thousands of years ago. People wear Star of David necklaces on the streets of Auki, and local residents assert that they "believe in Israel." Israeli videos were screened over and over during the conference. When Siegel and Brokovich were taken on an outing, they traveled through jungles and saw villages decked out in blue and white with Israeli flags flying. In the welcoming ceremonies, children sang in Hebrew.
More than 50 people attended the conference, among them members of the provincial government's cabinet, local chieftains and government figures, including members of the opposition, who arrived from Solomon Islands' capital of Honiara.
Support for Israel runs deep in the predominantly Christian Malaita. Many islanders believe that "those who bless Israel are themselves blessed," in keeping with the Hebrew Bible. Some even believe that Israelites originally settled in the islands, thousands of years ago. People wear Star of David necklaces on the streets of Auki, and local residents assert that they "believe in Israel." Israeli videos were screened over and over during the conference. When Siegel and Brokovich were taken on an outing, they traveled through jungles and saw villages decked out in blue and white with Israeli flags flying. In the welcoming ceremonies, children sang in Hebrew.
Signboard of a private vocational school in Bita'ama, North Malaita.
What is happening here? While the delegation from Israel came to Malaita to talk about development, many in the region were more engaged in expressing their belief in Israel. Normally development efforts, apart from being rare, are usually not greeted with much enthusiasm in this part of the Pacific because people know that at the end of the day nothing much will change because most of the funds end up in the pockets of administrators, leaders, and consultants. Apart from the question why Israel is interested working on development of Malaita, it is interesting to figure out what is happening in the local worlds since Israel is making inroads in their region. It is not unusual for Christians in the Pacific to attach great value to Israel as the (holy) land where Jesus was born and lived and which is the site of much of the events in the Old Testament. Yet to sing in Hebrew, to wave flags of Israel and to suggest, as I discuss below, that Malaitans are a Lost Tribe of Israel is less usual. And from an applied anthropology perspective, will, if Malaitan expectations about Israel are so deeply rooted in religious beliefs, a development effort by Israel proof to be more successful than, let's say, by the World Bank?
In particular among the people of North Malaita, a widespread evangelical kind of ethno-theology alludes to the widespread idea that Malaitans are descendants of biblical kings, brought on the Ark to the Pacific, and continued to practise pure worship of God. Many also believe that the Lost Temple of Israel lies hidden at a shrine in the mountainous interior of their island where people used to worship ancestors. Moreover people suggest that the Bible imbues people with important roles in relation to "the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). As Acts 1:8 includes Solomon Islanders in the Scripture and its sequence of events, this evokes a sense of urgency: Now that the word of God has reached the ends of the earth, things have to turn full circle.
Many can narrate how their ancestors travelled in canoes to the Pacific. People claim to have found Hebrew inscriptions on stones in the mountains, are sure that the Ark of the Covenant and the Lost Temple of Jerusalem are buried at certain locations in the mountains of Malaita and suggest to be able to provide letters from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem affirming recognition as Jews by Israel. They feel that they are currently living among Pharaohs, and recount stories of Israeli soldiers hiding in the mountains readying people for a liberation struggle. People also use the flag of Israel which they hang in churches, fly on roof-tops, and unfold during politically significant gatherings, such as during the peace ceremony in the provincial capital in Auki, in August 2003, which ritually concluded a regional conflict that began in 1998. During the ceremony Malaitan Eagle Force (MEF) commander Jimmy "Rasta" Lusibaea was the first to surrender his machine gun and a battle jacket that he wore whilst fighting rival militias from the island of Guadalcanal. Following Rasta, heavily-armed militants turned out in camouflage face paint, soldiers' helmets and red bandanas to hand over an impressive haul of military firepower for destruction by soldiers of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). Some refused to surrender to foreign forces and marched to the ceremony under the flag of Israel.
Besides its quite prominent materiality in the form of extensively using the flag of Israel people have produced a documentary film in 2004. The film asserts a verosimilitude between an ancestral shrine and the Temple in the Old Testament and speaks to an international audience while engaging in local disputes.
Critical elements of the new ethno-theology in North Malaita revolve around descendants of biblical kings who allegedly discovered Malaita, brought along the Ark, and continued to practise pure worship of God in this part of the Pacific. One of the shrines where pure worship of God allegedly took place is claimed by some to be the Lost Temple.
Mimicking Old Testament meanings of the Ark for the Israelites wandering in the desert and the importance of the Temple as Israel's first assertion of national identity, many in the movement consider the shrines on their land to be of utmost importance. Pushing the link between Malaita and Israel even further, a rabbi, a prophet and a filmmaker, produced a documentary film.
Cover of the documentary entitled the Discovery of the Lost Temple as sold at a shop below Auki Motel, Auki, Malaita in 2005 and 2006. According to the producer there will be no Part Two.
The film asserts that the verisimilitude between the shrine and the Lost Temple points to the claim that the treasures of the Temple are not in Israel but on Malaita. This claim is locally controversial for two reasons. First, it frustrates those who adhere to mainstream Churches because the temple story is often put forward to elevate local traditions and undermine missionary Christianity (and the related Roman Catholic and Anglican churches). Missionary Christianity is often associated with the British colonial government, European superiority, and Western normative systems that are believed to have disrupted social life and corrupted governance in Solomon Islands.
The film suggests that Malaitans are a people chosen by God to fulfil prophecies such as Isaiah's; that sons from afar will gather in Jerusalem at the end of time to share in the wealth, prosperity and justice of the Kingdom of God. As such, Solomon Islanders do no longer depend on white man's Christian terms to get to Jerusalem. They could shortcut, as it were, the road to Jerusalem by taking out this critical center of Christian faith from missionary Christian doctrine and positioning it in their own kastom ('custom').
Second, the claim to have found a temple of such significance on one's land evokes disputes about territory. On Malaita, there is an intrusive tension between local landowners and the government and commercial agencies who wish to access land for development and infrastructure. This leads to a variety of disputes among landowners. Moreover, the claim hardly passes unnoticed due to the related attempts of the discoverers to establish themselves as charismatic leaders.
The location of the Temple and its meaning was revealed first to Frank Daifa (of A'ama and Fo'ondo, and 'discovery mission leader'), who thereupon began to excavate the shrine at a mountain behind his village of Fo'ondo. A few years later he met Anisi Maeta'a (of Central Kwara'ae and 'discovery mission assistant') in Auki, who told him that a number of revelations had assured him that he was a rabbi.
He was now seeking a way to shape this new identity. They also try to attract tour operators, tourists, official visitors from Israel, and the occasional anthropologist, which may lead to jealousy. Others would suggest that if it is true that they found the temple, the powerful Ark of the Covenant might fall in their hands. This fear should be situated in a context in which many believe that in pre-Christian times people piously believed in God, prayed to God and that God dwelled among the people. That those bygone times are detailed in the Old Testament is an observation held by many.
The film features short introductions by the two discoverers; Daifa and Anisi Maeta'a. They both list the names of their Israelite ancestors and descendants who came to Malaita. This is followed by a suspenseful narration of their discovery and it shows the excavated temple. Daifa leads the viewer through the site and explains the usages of the different parts of the temple.
At this stage a graphical figure of the layout of the temple is shown. It is obviously based on the reading of 1 Kings 6:15 et seq.. The tabernacle consists of three parts of which the shrine and the Holy of Holies are the most important.
Next Daifa explains while standing beside the so-called Stone Chart: "The cuts in the stone mark the location of treasures. The landscape of the whole island is engraved in the stone."
Next, he takes the viewers to the Women's Seat or Women's Court and shows the remains of the First Altar in the Inner Court, the entrance of the Holy of Holies, the Altar of incense in the Holy of Holies, the entrance of the Inner Court and finally the Quarry.
Then the film shows a prayer gathering at the site. Some twenty people are present, many of them wearing white robes.
An ukulele player accompanies the singing of hymns. Daifa leads the service and in his sermon he urges the twelve language groups (after the 12 tribes of Israel?) of Malaita to pray for their God-given role in the restoration of Israel to where the people of Malaita will go to see where they came from.
This sermon tells that the unearthed Temple should provide the basis for a restoration of the world in terms of God dwelling among the people again.
Daifa, wearing a white robe, explains that: The 14 day of October [2000] is a day to remember. People from Kwaio, Fataleka, Kwara'ae (part of the Ethiopian Jews lived in a place called Qwara) and To'abaita have come together to make this day happening. We are hopeful that one day everybody [all twelve tribes of Malaita] will recognise that this is the place of worship of our ancestors who devoted their prayers to God. Why here?
Isaiah 60: 8-9 says, "Who are these who fly like a cloud. And like the doves to their lattice. Surely, the Coastland will wait Me. And the ships of Tarshish will come first. To bring your sons from afar, their silver and gold with them. For the name of the Lord your God. And for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you".
In Isaiah's vision, he saw something coming from the sky, coming back. He also saw a plane. This vision is about something he has been praying for a long a time. His vision is that all the people of Israel will go back to their homeland. This is happening. One man from England, Ballford, made a declaration. This declaration makes Israel into a nation again and all its people will return. But the problem is that until today they are in a war.
Then, abruptly, radically different footage is inserted and brings to the viewer fragments of a Christian World News item on the situation in Jerusalem following the fall of Israel's government in September 2000. It discusses the ongoing talks about free access for all faiths to the Temple Mount and features an interview with the then Mayor of Jerusalem Ehud Olmert. Olmert says that he is trying to open up the Temple Mount so that people from all faiths can visit it. Next the film goes back to the prayer session at the temple site and Daifa continues:
They are all there. And I think they will in live peace. We carry a responsibility. This is told in Isaiah 60:9. All the ships and planes will bring us back. We must wait for God. Why? Because [of the] power and glory which our ancestor brought to this place. We must try to elevate this before we can return it to where our ancestors came from.
Then back to Ehud Olmert: We are praying every day that God will soon come again to rebuild the Temple Mount and rebuild the temple that is the site of all the dreams and all the prayers of Jewish history for thousands of years.
And, finally, Daifa: If we look at this Temple here we see nothing else than stones. But the power and glory is in your hearts and you must take time for God. For the formula for power and glory is here, that is why the Temple is here.
I am telling you that this formula, the only one, is the order of worship as explained in the Old Testament. These are the Ten Commandments. The first one is about love and unity.
It is clear that the documentary is an attempt by Daifa and Matea'a to reassert a widely accepted reality with a thrilling story of discovery and pieces from Christian World News. The documentary is the first in its genre as there is no Solomon Islands documentary-making tradition or popular cinema yet.
Eddi B. Bibimauri who lives in Auki, Malaita, produced the Lost Temple documentary. Bibimauri is an early associate of Michael Maeliau, the leader of the so-called Deep Sea Canoe Movement that has been active in the region since the early 1990s. At the time he produced the film he was no longer a follower of the movement but sympathised with Daifa's quest to find the Lost Temple.
Daifa was also a follower of the Deep Sea Canoe but his motivation for making the film is to compete with Maeliau by claiming more authority as discoverer of the Lost Temple. Maeliau had, according to Daifa, been speculating about the possibility of the Lost Temple being buried in the mountains of Malaita, but had never ventured into this powerful domain.
When I questioned him about this he replied, "He was too busy with his own status, money and travelling abroad that he forgot about the tribal history of Malaita." "Is that all?," I asked. "No," Daifa replied,
Michael also can't claim any land rights here, so he has no basis for claiming the pieces of land that may possibly hold the Lost Temple, so he did not dare to dwell on this any further. But I did and I found it, I did, but not many believe me (Interview with Frank Daifa, Fo'ondo Village, 5 February 2006).
During interviews with me, Daifa regularly insisted that Maeliau, by virtue of his descent, has no grounds to claim narrative or genealogical precedence over tracts of land where the Lost Temple and other important sacred shrines are located. Daifa's attempt to site the Ark of the Covenant in his tribal land (which is ironically also under dispute) was inspired by the idea that it would make him a respected and famed person and that riches would flow towards him.
In contrast to Daifa's and Maeta'a's beliefs, Bibimauri told me that the meaning of the Lost Temple film is not so much about a claim that the First Temple of Israel is on Malaita, rather than in the Holy Land. Instead, it is about Malaita's lost relationship with God and with the nation of Israel.
Bibimauri believes that the end of time is about to happen and that therefore the time is right to take seriously such signs as the discovery of the Lost Temple. We may wonder what this bodes for the way in which people are going to participate in development efforts stimulated by the Israelis.
What is happening here? While the delegation from Israel came to Malaita to talk about development, many in the region were more engaged in expressing their belief in Israel. Normally development efforts, apart from being rare, are usually not greeted with much enthusiasm in this part of the Pacific because people know that at the end of the day nothing much will change because most of the funds end up in the pockets of administrators, leaders, and consultants. Apart from the question why Israel is interested working on development of Malaita, it is interesting to figure out what is happening in the local worlds since Israel is making inroads in their region. It is not unusual for Christians in the Pacific to attach great value to Israel as the (holy) land where Jesus was born and lived and which is the site of much of the events in the Old Testament. Yet to sing in Hebrew, to wave flags of Israel and to suggest, as I discuss below, that Malaitans are a Lost Tribe of Israel is less usual. And from an applied anthropology perspective, will, if Malaitan expectations about Israel are so deeply rooted in religious beliefs, a development effort by Israel proof to be more successful than, let's say, by the World Bank?
In particular among the people of North Malaita, a widespread evangelical kind of ethno-theology alludes to the widespread idea that Malaitans are descendants of biblical kings, brought on the Ark to the Pacific, and continued to practise pure worship of God. Many also believe that the Lost Temple of Israel lies hidden at a shrine in the mountainous interior of their island where people used to worship ancestors. Moreover people suggest that the Bible imbues people with important roles in relation to "the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). As Acts 1:8 includes Solomon Islanders in the Scripture and its sequence of events, this evokes a sense of urgency: Now that the word of God has reached the ends of the earth, things have to turn full circle.
Many can narrate how their ancestors travelled in canoes to the Pacific. People claim to have found Hebrew inscriptions on stones in the mountains, are sure that the Ark of the Covenant and the Lost Temple of Jerusalem are buried at certain locations in the mountains of Malaita and suggest to be able to provide letters from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem affirming recognition as Jews by Israel. They feel that they are currently living among Pharaohs, and recount stories of Israeli soldiers hiding in the mountains readying people for a liberation struggle. People also use the flag of Israel which they hang in churches, fly on roof-tops, and unfold during politically significant gatherings, such as during the peace ceremony in the provincial capital in Auki, in August 2003, which ritually concluded a regional conflict that began in 1998. During the ceremony Malaitan Eagle Force (MEF) commander Jimmy "Rasta" Lusibaea was the first to surrender his machine gun and a battle jacket that he wore whilst fighting rival militias from the island of Guadalcanal. Following Rasta, heavily-armed militants turned out in camouflage face paint, soldiers' helmets and red bandanas to hand over an impressive haul of military firepower for destruction by soldiers of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). Some refused to surrender to foreign forces and marched to the ceremony under the flag of Israel.
Besides its quite prominent materiality in the form of extensively using the flag of Israel people have produced a documentary film in 2004. The film asserts a verosimilitude between an ancestral shrine and the Temple in the Old Testament and speaks to an international audience while engaging in local disputes.
Critical elements of the new ethno-theology in North Malaita revolve around descendants of biblical kings who allegedly discovered Malaita, brought along the Ark, and continued to practise pure worship of God in this part of the Pacific. One of the shrines where pure worship of God allegedly took place is claimed by some to be the Lost Temple.
Mimicking Old Testament meanings of the Ark for the Israelites wandering in the desert and the importance of the Temple as Israel's first assertion of national identity, many in the movement consider the shrines on their land to be of utmost importance. Pushing the link between Malaita and Israel even further, a rabbi, a prophet and a filmmaker, produced a documentary film.
Cover of the documentary entitled the Discovery of the Lost Temple as sold at a shop below Auki Motel, Auki, Malaita in 2005 and 2006. According to the producer there will be no Part Two.
The film asserts that the verisimilitude between the shrine and the Lost Temple points to the claim that the treasures of the Temple are not in Israel but on Malaita. This claim is locally controversial for two reasons. First, it frustrates those who adhere to mainstream Churches because the temple story is often put forward to elevate local traditions and undermine missionary Christianity (and the related Roman Catholic and Anglican churches). Missionary Christianity is often associated with the British colonial government, European superiority, and Western normative systems that are believed to have disrupted social life and corrupted governance in Solomon Islands.
The film suggests that Malaitans are a people chosen by God to fulfil prophecies such as Isaiah's; that sons from afar will gather in Jerusalem at the end of time to share in the wealth, prosperity and justice of the Kingdom of God. As such, Solomon Islanders do no longer depend on white man's Christian terms to get to Jerusalem. They could shortcut, as it were, the road to Jerusalem by taking out this critical center of Christian faith from missionary Christian doctrine and positioning it in their own kastom ('custom').
Second, the claim to have found a temple of such significance on one's land evokes disputes about territory. On Malaita, there is an intrusive tension between local landowners and the government and commercial agencies who wish to access land for development and infrastructure. This leads to a variety of disputes among landowners. Moreover, the claim hardly passes unnoticed due to the related attempts of the discoverers to establish themselves as charismatic leaders.
The location of the Temple and its meaning was revealed first to Frank Daifa (of A'ama and Fo'ondo, and 'discovery mission leader'), who thereupon began to excavate the shrine at a mountain behind his village of Fo'ondo. A few years later he met Anisi Maeta'a (of Central Kwara'ae and 'discovery mission assistant') in Auki, who told him that a number of revelations had assured him that he was a rabbi.
He was now seeking a way to shape this new identity. They also try to attract tour operators, tourists, official visitors from Israel, and the occasional anthropologist, which may lead to jealousy. Others would suggest that if it is true that they found the temple, the powerful Ark of the Covenant might fall in their hands. This fear should be situated in a context in which many believe that in pre-Christian times people piously believed in God, prayed to God and that God dwelled among the people. That those bygone times are detailed in the Old Testament is an observation held by many.
The film features short introductions by the two discoverers; Daifa and Anisi Maeta'a. They both list the names of their Israelite ancestors and descendants who came to Malaita. This is followed by a suspenseful narration of their discovery and it shows the excavated temple. Daifa leads the viewer through the site and explains the usages of the different parts of the temple.
At this stage a graphical figure of the layout of the temple is shown. It is obviously based on the reading of 1 Kings 6:15 et seq.. The tabernacle consists of three parts of which the shrine and the Holy of Holies are the most important.
Next Daifa explains while standing beside the so-called Stone Chart: "The cuts in the stone mark the location of treasures. The landscape of the whole island is engraved in the stone."
Next, he takes the viewers to the Women's Seat or Women's Court and shows the remains of the First Altar in the Inner Court, the entrance of the Holy of Holies, the Altar of incense in the Holy of Holies, the entrance of the Inner Court and finally the Quarry.
Then the film shows a prayer gathering at the site. Some twenty people are present, many of them wearing white robes.
An ukulele player accompanies the singing of hymns. Daifa leads the service and in his sermon he urges the twelve language groups (after the 12 tribes of Israel?) of Malaita to pray for their God-given role in the restoration of Israel to where the people of Malaita will go to see where they came from.
This sermon tells that the unearthed Temple should provide the basis for a restoration of the world in terms of God dwelling among the people again.
Daifa, wearing a white robe, explains that: The 14 day of October [2000] is a day to remember. People from Kwaio, Fataleka, Kwara'ae (part of the Ethiopian Jews lived in a place called Qwara) and To'abaita have come together to make this day happening. We are hopeful that one day everybody [all twelve tribes of Malaita] will recognise that this is the place of worship of our ancestors who devoted their prayers to God. Why here?
Isaiah 60: 8-9 says, "Who are these who fly like a cloud. And like the doves to their lattice. Surely, the Coastland will wait Me. And the ships of Tarshish will come first. To bring your sons from afar, their silver and gold with them. For the name of the Lord your God. And for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you".
In Isaiah's vision, he saw something coming from the sky, coming back. He also saw a plane. This vision is about something he has been praying for a long a time. His vision is that all the people of Israel will go back to their homeland. This is happening. One man from England, Ballford, made a declaration. This declaration makes Israel into a nation again and all its people will return. But the problem is that until today they are in a war.
Then, abruptly, radically different footage is inserted and brings to the viewer fragments of a Christian World News item on the situation in Jerusalem following the fall of Israel's government in September 2000. It discusses the ongoing talks about free access for all faiths to the Temple Mount and features an interview with the then Mayor of Jerusalem Ehud Olmert. Olmert says that he is trying to open up the Temple Mount so that people from all faiths can visit it. Next the film goes back to the prayer session at the temple site and Daifa continues:
They are all there. And I think they will in live peace. We carry a responsibility. This is told in Isaiah 60:9. All the ships and planes will bring us back. We must wait for God. Why? Because [of the] power and glory which our ancestor brought to this place. We must try to elevate this before we can return it to where our ancestors came from.
Then back to Ehud Olmert: We are praying every day that God will soon come again to rebuild the Temple Mount and rebuild the temple that is the site of all the dreams and all the prayers of Jewish history for thousands of years.
And, finally, Daifa: If we look at this Temple here we see nothing else than stones. But the power and glory is in your hearts and you must take time for God. For the formula for power and glory is here, that is why the Temple is here.
I am telling you that this formula, the only one, is the order of worship as explained in the Old Testament. These are the Ten Commandments. The first one is about love and unity.
It is clear that the documentary is an attempt by Daifa and Matea'a to reassert a widely accepted reality with a thrilling story of discovery and pieces from Christian World News. The documentary is the first in its genre as there is no Solomon Islands documentary-making tradition or popular cinema yet.
Eddi B. Bibimauri who lives in Auki, Malaita, produced the Lost Temple documentary. Bibimauri is an early associate of Michael Maeliau, the leader of the so-called Deep Sea Canoe Movement that has been active in the region since the early 1990s. At the time he produced the film he was no longer a follower of the movement but sympathised with Daifa's quest to find the Lost Temple.
Laver required to be used before entering God's Temple
Daifa was also a follower of the Deep Sea Canoe but his motivation for making the film is to compete with Maeliau by claiming more authority as discoverer of the Lost Temple. Maeliau had, according to Daifa, been speculating about the possibility of the Lost Temple being buried in the mountains of Malaita, but had never ventured into this powerful domain.
When I questioned him about this he replied, "He was too busy with his own status, money and travelling abroad that he forgot about the tribal history of Malaita." "Is that all?," I asked. "No," Daifa replied,
Michael also can't claim any land rights here, so he has no basis for claiming the pieces of land that may possibly hold the Lost Temple, so he did not dare to dwell on this any further. But I did and I found it, I did, but not many believe me (Interview with Frank Daifa, Fo'ondo Village, 5 February 2006).
During interviews with me, Daifa regularly insisted that Maeliau, by virtue of his descent, has no grounds to claim narrative or genealogical precedence over tracts of land where the Lost Temple and other important sacred shrines are located. Daifa's attempt to site the Ark of the Covenant in his tribal land (which is ironically also under dispute) was inspired by the idea that it would make him a respected and famed person and that riches would flow towards him.
In contrast to Daifa's and Maeta'a's beliefs, Bibimauri told me that the meaning of the Lost Temple film is not so much about a claim that the First Temple of Israel is on Malaita, rather than in the Holy Land. Instead, it is about Malaita's lost relationship with God and with the nation of Israel.
Bibimauri believes that the end of time is about to happen and that therefore the time is right to take seriously such signs as the discovery of the Lost Temple. We may wonder what this bodes for the way in which people are going to participate in development efforts stimulated by the Israelis.
Lost Ten Tribes in Oceania?
Connections with Israel, usually through identification with "Benjamin's tribe", the Lost Tribe of Israel, is common to many places in Melanesia; see Dundon, Alison(2011) 'DNA, Israel and the Ancestors—Substantiating Connections through Christianity in Papua New Guinea', The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 12: 1, 29 — 43 for an analysis of the same thing in Western Province of PNG.
This link is tragically important as with our people of interior Kwara'ae of Malaita Province in particular the Manadari & Ulakwai tribes I think the story is also quite clear, holds it clear as well of what Murphy is pointing out.
Find out should you interest to do so, folks are there to help you out on this particular subject up the mountains.
This is an interesting documemtary from an anthropological viewpoint and may illustrate certain world views and their proponents. It certainly holds beliefs that may not necessarily be of those mentioned as in the case of Rev. Michael Maeli'au. The Rev. Michael Maelia'u is the son of evangelical Christians with a Bachelor of Arts degree in New Testament Studies and certificates and diplomas in evangelical theology. His message is one of the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Between 1984 and 1986 the Lord showed him visions of a world united and changed through dedicated and committed prayer that involves Worship (the Tabernacle of David), Leadership (the Throne of David) and Stewardship (the Treasury of David). For over 28 years much of the vision was fulfilled through prayer assemblies throughout the Pacific Region which is now contributing to the international prayer movement like the IPC and GDOP and other prayer movements around the world. Taken out of context as in this article some of what Rev. Michael Maeli'au has said may run contrary to other people's theological interpretation, but the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is the major theme in this Prayer Movement (APPA) and has nothing to do with shrines and altars in the interior of Malaita (even if they exist) or any connection with the Jews (and no one has disproved this), except that Jesus was a Jew whom through the gospel of the Kingdom, Gentiles can now participate.
If it can be proven that Malaitans are Jews, it does not take away the fact that they still need to be saved through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. The two must not be confused under any circumstances. Since the World Prayer Assembly in Jarkata, the Prayer Movements in the World including the All Peoples Prayer Assembly (APPA) are gearing up for the New Wave of the Glory of the Lord. See the IPC website for details. Any stories or fabrications of the move of God through the Rev. Michael Maeli'au to discredit this man of God and the ministry entrusted to him is uncalled for and unnecessary.
Fiji which is known as "Nacuvacuva vei Jiova". Fijians too claimed that their ancestors also worshiped Jehovah in this place. The name of the place translates as "to bow down to Jehovah" It is in the interior of Viti Levu boarder between Lutu and Nasautoka.
Many myths have developed as to the whereabouts of the ten tribes. But the reality is that the were not heard from because they had migrated primarily to the Western Hemisphere and settled in North, South, and Central America. This fact is documented in the Apocrypha << Second Esdras 13:39-49 >>, in the Book of Mormon, and also in James Adair's History of the American Indians, and several other sources!
In the Bible Apocrypha, it is documented specifically how ten of the twelve tribes of Israel (the indigenous American-Indians) got from the Middle East to the Americas.
Apocrypha, Second Esdras 13 verse 39-48: "And whereas thou sawest that he gathered another peaceable multitude unto him; Those are the ten tribes, which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanasar the king of Assyria led away captive, and carried them over the waters, and so came they to another land."
"But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt (North, South, and Central America), that they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land."
"And they entered into Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river. For the Most High then showed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over. For through that country there was a great way to go (across the ocean), namely, of a year and a half: and the same region is called Arsareth. Then dwelt they there (The Americas) until the latter time (Our time today); and now when they shall begin to come (after the Coming of the Messiah!) …But those that be left behind of thy people (the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi) are they that are found within my borders."
The blessings of the tribe of Gad indicate North America and Canada as places where a major group of Israelites will be found!
Genesis 49 verse 19: "Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last."
The troop referred to is the U.S. Cavalry. The U.S. Calvary was used to commit slaughter against the indigenous North American-Indians!
Deuteronomy 33 verse 20: "And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and he teareth the arm with the crown of the head."
The American Indians lived close to the earth as hunters and warriors, as a lion. This action of tearing the arm refers to the Blood Brother ritual of the indigenous American-Indians, where the two people make a small cut in their arms and then bring the two cuts together to become blood brothers. The crown of the head refers to the bonnet with feathers, often worn by the indigenous American-Indians!
The Seminole American-Indians maintain Biblical custom by wearing turbans, and fringes:
Deuteronomy 22 verse 12: "Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself."
The wearing of fringes has always been an important Israelite custom. In addition, the Seminole American-Indians, the Navaho, and other American-Indians have a lot of Hebrew words in their languages. In fact, when the Europeans came to America, they found the Indian languages to be dialects of the Hebrew language!
The American-Indian prophets wrote the Book of Mormon, about their Israelite history and migration. This book, written on gold plates, was found in a cave in North America. It was later adopted by the Mormon religion.
In 70 A.D. the Roman Emperor Titus overthrew the original Jews of Palestine. Some of the Black Jews were taken as captives to the colonies of the Roman Empire, and the rest were expelled and fled into Africa, where they established colonies. It was at that time when the Africans (Hamites) and Arabs (Ishmaelites) took many of the original Black Jews as slaves. This is how the Israelites got to Africa, and this is why they are falsely called African Americans.
Later on in the 1600s, the remaining Black Hebrew Israelites that were living in Spain, Portugal, and other parts of the Roman Empire were forced to flee for their lives due to the persecutions and murder resulting from the barbaric inquisitions of the Roman Catholic Church! The original Black Jews fled into Africa and Asia to established colonies there. Many of those Black Jews were captured by the Arabs and the Africans, and later sold to the Americas as slaves!
In the historical book "From Babylon to Timbuktu" by Rudolph R. Windsor, he notes that:
FIJI Islands, SOLOMON ISLANDS, Vanuatu & PNG
TRUE ISRAELITES ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE WERE BLACK PEOPLE Exodus 2 verse 19: "And they said, An Egyptian (Moses) delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock."
Directly and indirectly, the following verses reveal the visual appearance of the Biblical Israelites:
Lamentations 4 verse 8: "Their visage is blacker than a coal." Lamentations 5 verse 10: "our skin was black like an oven." Job 30 verse 30: "My skin is black upon me." Jeremiah 14 verse 2: "Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, they are black unto the ground." Song of Solomon 1 verse 5, 6: "I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me because I am black." Psalms 83 verse 4-12: "They have said, come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee… Who said, Let us take the house of the Lord in possession."
The Israelite nation consisted of twelve tribes . In 975 BC, shortly after the death of King Solomon, the kingdom was split into two parts. The one part was called Judah (Judea), and it consisted primarily of three tribes: Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. The other division was called Israel, the bulk of which consisted of the remaining tribes: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Napthali, Manasseh, Simeon, Issachar, Dan, Zebulon and Ephraim. In BC 721 the king of Assyria carried Israel away into captivity, and it seemed to have been lost from history ever since.
I am a Ni-Vans i stand puzzled with the lost tribe of Benjamin, but it was widely known among my fellow Melanesian brothers from PNG, Fiji, and Solomon Islands that we have a link with the tribes of Benjamin. I guess someone might be interested to check our DNA but at the moment there is no substantiate proof that we belong to the lost tribe of Benjamin, as evidence is limited only at the languages and archeologichal discoveries, but most of Vanuatu mysteries are yet to be discovered.
I am a Solomon Islander. A friend of mine (he is from Malaita) told me that in the bush in their home there was a stone written in Jewish/Hebrew language. So try check it out.
In some ways I turn to believe this article that PNG, Solomon, Fiji could be originated from Israel. Why I said this is because in my first year at Pacific Adventist University at PNG, I studied Greek language as required by the course I am taking, it was challenging, headache to me and foremost difficult to understand, although I only learned few things. But in my second year I studied Hebrew language part 1 and let me tell you it was sweet. I love Hebrew and Im planning to further study on it. Could it be possible that the two languages which I studied can set direction or hints of where I come from?
I said this because Greek language is challenging because it does not associate well with me. Unlike Hebrew that it was sweet maybe because there is connection.
Did Maya People Have Israelite Ancestors?
The name Maya could derive from the Aramaic Maya or Mayan. Maya means "water" in Aramaic (Talmud - Brachot 25b). Mayan means "spring, oasis." In fact water was viewed as sacred for the Mayans.
In Judaism, ritual washing, or ablution, takes two main forms. A tevilah is a full body immersion in a mikveh, and a netilat yadayim which is the washing of the hands with a cup.
Above ancient & modern Mayan with Jewish nose & cartoon portraying the typical Jew with similar nose. Some of the Mayans & other peoples with Amerindian background have very bowlike noses, just as some Jews do. That's the typical so called Jewish nose. It's not exclusive of Jews, but it's often portrayed as Jewish.
Several biblical regulations specify that full immersion in water is required to regain ritual purity after ritually impure incidents have occurred. A person was required to be ritually pure in order to enter the Temple. being "impure" is indicative of being in a state in which certain things are prohibited until one has become "pure" again by immersion in a mikveh.
After the destruction of the Temple, the mikveh's main uses remained as follows:
by Jewish women to achieve ritual purity after menstruation or childbirth before she and her husband may resume marital relations;
by Jewish men to achieve ritual purity;
as part of the traditional procedure for conversion to Judaism;
to immerse newly acquired utensils used in serving and eating food.
Most forms of impurity can be nullified through immersion in any natural collection of water.
In Judaism, ritual washing, or ablution, takes two main forms. A tevilah is a full body immersion in a mikveh, and a netilat yadayim which is the washing of the hands with a cup.
Above ancient & modern Mayan with Jewish nose & cartoon portraying the typical Jew with similar nose. Some of the Mayans & other peoples with Amerindian background have very bowlike noses, just as some Jews do. That's the typical so called Jewish nose. It's not exclusive of Jews, but it's often portrayed as Jewish.
Several biblical regulations specify that full immersion in water is required to regain ritual purity after ritually impure incidents have occurred. A person was required to be ritually pure in order to enter the Temple. being "impure" is indicative of being in a state in which certain things are prohibited until one has become "pure" again by immersion in a mikveh.
A kiyor was used before entering the Temple
After the destruction of the Temple, the mikveh's main uses remained as follows:
by Jewish women to achieve ritual purity after menstruation or childbirth before she and her husband may resume marital relations;
by Jewish men to achieve ritual purity;
as part of the traditional procedure for conversion to Judaism;
to immerse newly acquired utensils used in serving and eating food.
Most forms of impurity can be nullified through immersion in any natural collection of water.
The Mayan Rain God is characterized by a long nose. Long noses are definitively a Semitic feature.
The variety of water symbolism and gods associated with cenotes (natural local cave sinkholes) shows us that the ancient Maya viewed water ritual as central to their belief system. Therefore these cenotes were sacred to the Mayas.
A signal for clean water was very important in the Maya area, because even though the Maya lived in an area called the rainforest, there are several months out of the year (in the spring), where it almost never rains. Clean water would have been a very important commodity during the dry season.
The variety of water symbolism and gods associated with cenotes (natural local cave sinkholes) shows us that the ancient Maya viewed water ritual as central to their belief system. Therefore these cenotes were sacred to the Mayas.
A signal for clean water was very important in the Maya area, because even though the Maya lived in an area called the rainforest, there are several months out of the year (in the spring), where it almost never rains. Clean water would have been a very important commodity during the dry season.
Were the Amerindian Names Utah & Idaho Originally Derived from Judah?
Iutae was in Bactria. The Jutes were in North Europe and Britain. Their name in Latin was Iutae. The Juthingi are found in Switzerland and Alsace. Judea, o Iudæa is the name of the Land of Judah.
Utah originates from an Apache Indian word (yuttahih), which means people of the mountains. The territory became known as the land of the Utes, and eventually Utah.
All these names, except Ute & Utah, are similar & considered to derive from Judah. Ute & Utah might also derive from Judah.
Some also consider the Ghanian city of Idah to derive from Judah. In fact Idah was called anciently Juda. Then how about if Idaho (being so alike Idah) is another form of Judah? Idaho is right next to Utah.
Why did the LDS Church appeal to the Maoris?
On the surface the Maoris seem very little different from their Polynesian brothers and sisters elsewhere in the Pacific. But even though Polynesians of all island groups have taken well to the restored gospel, the Maoris appear to have been prepared in special ways for the coming of the Mormon missionaries.
In pre-Christian times the Maoris had a well-developed form of religion. Tohungas, or priests, supervised worship and all else that was involved in this primitive religious system. Sometimes these men took roles similar to the shamans of northeast Asia. They became mediums for the atua, gods, whom they served. In these roles, according to Eric Schwimmer, the tohungas would give oracles, cure diseases, and admonish their people. After the establishment of Christianity, however, some old tohungas continued to carry on their former practices but now claimed to receive their revelations from a different source. In other instances family patriarchs, village elders, and chiefs acted as prophets and were "regarded with feelings of reverence and were credited with possessing supernatural powers." No fewer than five such men made prophecies concerning the coming to New Zealand of the true church. As a result of such prophetic utterances, a number of Maoris ultimately joined the Church.
Each instance of prophecy is of great interest to Latter-day Saints. Two of these can serve as examples. In 1830, the year the Church was organized, an aged patriarch named Arama Toiroa, who lived in the area of Mahia, gathered his children, grandchildren, and relatives together and gave them some advice. (At that time most of his descendants had joined the Church of England.) His people, who considered him a seer, listened carefully to what he said:
"'My dear friends, you must leave that church, for it is not the true church of the God of heaven. The church you have joined is from the earth and not from heaven.'
"Upon hearing this his people asked, 'Where then can we find a church where we can worship the true God?'
"Arama Toiroa answered, 'There will come to you a true form of worship; it will be brought from the east, even from beyond the heavens. It will be brought across the great ocean and you will hear of it coming to Poneke (Wellington) and afterwards its representatives will come to Te Mahia."
"'They will then go northward to Waiapu but will return to Te Mahia.'"
"'When this "Karakia," form of worship, is introduced amongst you, you will know it, for one shall stand and raise both hands to heaven.'"
"'When you see this sign enter into that church, many of you will join the church and afterwards one will go from amongst you the same way that the ministers came even unto the land from afar off.'"
Fifty-four years passed before Arama's words were fulfilled. In 1884 Elders Alma Greenwood and Ira Hinckley brought the gospel to the Wellington area and then made their way to Hawkes Bay.
There they were joined by President William E. Stewart, and together they traversed the path Arama had predicted. It was at Korongata, however, and not at Mahia, that Arama's descendants first accepted the gospel. Brother Whaanga described the day when the gospel was first preached to Arama's people: "In journeying northward they reached … Korongata, where many of us were assembled on the Sabbath day."
There they were joined by President William E. Stewart, and together they traversed the path Arama had predicted. It was at Korongata, however, and not at Mahia, that Arama's descendants first accepted the gospel. Brother Whaanga described the day when the gospel was first preached to Arama's people: "In journeying northward they reached … Korongata, where many of us were assembled on the Sabbath day."
"Amongst the people who were there was a grandson of Arama Toiroa whose name was Te Teira Marutu."
"The meeting was conducted by Elder Stewart and his friends. The services were opened with singing and prayer, and a Gospel address was delivered, after which they sang again, and Brother Stewart arose to dismiss with prayer. In doing so he raised both hands and invoked God's blessing upon the people."
"As soon as the grandson of Arama Toiroa saw this he arose and declared that this was the church of which his forefather prophesied which would surely be firmly established amongst the Maori people."
"He and his wife applied for baptism, and they and their children were thus initiated into the Church by Elder Stewart."
Subsequently the missionaries returned to Mahia and held meetings with other descendants of Arama Toiroa. After seeing the sign, these people said, "This is indeed the church for us, for did not our revered forefather, Arama Toiroa, prophesy about it?"
Largely as a result of this prophecy, every person in Korongata joined the Church, and a large number of Maoris in Mahia entered the waters of baptism.
In 1845 a second prophet, Toaroa Pakahia, spoke words similar to those of Arama. And again in 1877. Apiata Kuikainga, an ancestor of Stuart Meha who was a faithful leader of the Church in New Zealand for many years, predicted that when the true church came, its ministers would teach salvation for the dead. In 1885, when this doctrine was preached to the Meha family by Elders George S. Taylor and Edward Newby, they all desired baptism. In 1881 Elder John Ferris wrote that Maoris had told him that "more than a year ago the king [Tawhiao] said a white man would come across the sea and preach to them the true gospel, and they affirm that they believe he [Ferris] is the man." Elder Ferris wrote to the Deseret News in Salt Lake City that three Maori chiefs considered him to be the man spoken of by the king two years before. He had come from "a far country and would give them the good church." The complete text of King Tawhiao's prophecy was later quoted in the Improvement Era in 1932:
"Our church is coming from the east—not a church paid with money. Its ministers go two by two; when they pray they raise their hands. They will not come to go among the Pakeha (Europeans) but will dine, live, talk, and sleep with you. The sign will be the writing of the names of males, females and children. … Those churches that have already come are nothing, but when these come that I speak about, do not disturb them—that will be your church!"
The Latter-day Saints interpreted the "sign of writing names" to be a reference to genealogical work and work for the dead. During 1885–86, 7 branches, having 537 souls, were raised up in the Waikato.
The best known and most important prophecy, as far as most New Zealand members of the Church are concerned, is that from Paora Potangaroa. In March 1881, Elder Matthew Cowley reported, a large convention was held among the Ngatikahungunu tribe.
Many Maori chiefs assembled at Te Ore Ore, near Masterton, to discuss political, social, and religious problems. The established churches were well represented, but the chiefs shared a feeling of discontent about the lack of unity among them. Why, the natives asked, were there so many different churches within the bounds of Christianity? Which one should the Maoris join so that unity could again be restored among them?
After considerable debate and discussion, the chiefs decided to place the questions—specifically "Which of the churches is the church for the Maori race? Which of them should we join?"—before the most respected and wisest chief among them. This was Potangaroa, who, when asked the questions, answered with one word, "Taihoa," which means "wait." He retired to his own home and meditated, fasted, and prayed about the problem for three days. When he returned to the convention, he addressed his people, saying:
"My friends, the church for the Maori people has not yet come among us. You will recognize it when it comes. Its missionaries will travel in pairs. They will come from the rising sun. They will visit with us in our homes. They will learn our language and teach us the gospel in our own tongue. When they pray they will raise their right hands."
Potangaroa then asked Ranginui Kingi to write his words as he continued to answer the questions which had been put to him.
He called the transcription of his words "A covenant for remembering the hidden words which were revealed by the Spirit of Jehovah to Paora Potangaroa." We again quote from Elder Cowley, who translated the document: "First, this is the day of the fulness (1881)." Brother Cowley points out that later that year the fulness of the gospel was taken to the Maoris. Actually, President Bromley and his colleagues first visited a Maori village, Orakei, on March 6, 1881, ten days before the "covenant" was given to the Maoris at Te Ore Ore.
"Second, the year 1882 would be the year of the 'sealing' (or the year they would learn the sealing ordinances). Third, the year 1883 will be the year of 'the honoring'—of 'great faith'—as it is written: 'render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.' (Rom. 13:7)" In that year the Maoris began to honor the true God by rendering their dues to him and entering The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members of the Ngatikahungunu tribe, especially, began to enter the Church in large numbers. The Te Ore Ore Branch was organized on December 16, 1883.
The document concludes in these words: "This covenant is to be remembered by the generations which follow after us. And the fruits of that which is set forth above [in the covenants] are—we are the lost sheep of the House of Israel. [We will learn of] the scepter of Judah; of Shilo; of the king of peace; of the day of judgment; of the kingdom of heaven; of the sacred church with a large wall surrounding; of the increase of the race; of faith, love, peace, patience, judgment, unity. All this plan will be fulfilled by the people of Ngatikahungunu Tribe during the next forty years.
"March 16, 1881 Ranginui Kingi"
Elder Cowley identified the "sacred church with a large wall surrounding" with the Salt Lake Temple. He also pointed out that the only Maoris to participate in all the ordinances of the gospel during the next 40 years (until 1921), including the temple rites, were members of the Ngatikahungunu tribe. Later many members of other tribes participated in all blessings of the gospel.
There is no question as to the authenticity of the prophecies of Potangaroa or of the document that Elder Cowley used. Potangaroa was well known in his time. In fact the Anglican hierarchy in New Zealand was aware of his activities as we have described them above, but concluded that he had not accomplished his ends.
Shortly after leaving New Zealand in 1884, Elder Alma Greenwood wrote about Potangaroa's influence. "Many of the natives were led to investigate the new and somewhat strange religion, which had come in their midst. This, too, was in accordance with some predictions previously made by a Maori prophet: that in 1883, a new religion would come [at this time the restored gospel was unknown among the Maoris of the Wairarapa], and all other religions would be inferior to the new one. The prophecy and its literal fulfillment gave the gospel prestige and influence among that people."
There were a number of other reasons for the Mormon-Maori connection. The Maori prophets identified some of the characteristics of the Mormon missionaries: In addition to traveling in pairs, eating, sleeping, and visiting with the Maoris in their homes, the elders also learned the Maori language so that they could understand the Maoris and their thinking. The elders willingly endured various privations and discomforts in order to remain among the Maori people. All this touched the Maoris with the sincerity of the new gospel messengers. Some elders sweated beside Maoris building chapels, schools, and halls, and almost all elders traveled through storms from time to time to reach isolated destinations. As Barker states it, "The habitual enthusiasm, friendliness, devotion and sincerity of most of the elders impressed the Maoris. Both Mormons and Maoris placed high premiums on hospitality and friendliness."
But the foregoing were but surface reasons for the Mormon impact on the Maoris. Ian Barker captures the essence of the Mormon-Maori connection in these words:
"Important features of Mormonism appeared to have deep roots in Maori tradition. Conversion to Mormonism did not involve a sharp break with the past that conversion to Christianity had. To the Maori, the adoption of Mormonism implied a restoration of traditional sacramentals in a modified form. Historical, social, mythological and religious similarities enabled the elders and the Maoris to establish bonds of sympathy and understanding, which in no small part contributed to Mormon successes."
Mormonism had a familiar ring to the Maoris. It must be remembered that by the time LDS doctrine was introduced to the Maoris, they were but one or two generations removed from their pre-Christian religion. Although most Maoris had given up the past, they still remembered many of their old traditions and practices. Even before Mormonism, the Maoris had turned to millennial faiths and various adjustment cults in an effort, generally a conscious one, to bridge the gap from the past to the present. Mormonism, too, emphasized the coming time of peace which would be ushered in by the Savior. Of great importance to the Maoris, as they discovered Mormonism and used it to make the adjustment to the pakeha world, was that the elders did not reject Maoritanga, Maori cultural traditions, in their entirety. The missionaries, too, believed that the Maoris were being brought again into a fold from which they had strayed, but from which they had not wandered too far.
Before 1865 the typical Maori probably would not have made any connection between the Maori God Io and the Mormon God Jehovah. Before that date Io was a secret deity who was known only to a few high-ranking tohungas. Io was the one god, the creator, omniscient, omnipotent, and uncreated. Although non-Mormon scholars have doubted that the idea of a supreme god in Polynesia antedated Christianity, LDS missionaries and members have always believed and even expected that the Polynesians would have a remnant of the truth as they knew it. It did not surprise the LDS to hear that Io reigned supreme over many other gods who carried out various functions in heaven and on earth. Nor did the concept of the hereafter, wherein the dead were ushered through one of four doors, rather than through the Pearly Gates or into hell, surprise the Mormons. They had always believed that men would be sent to many mansions, some to glory but most to one or another degree of happiness in accordance with their works and disposition. The atua or lower gods were generally identified with elements of nature, but there was a latent belief in anthropomorphism within the Maori religion.
While sectarians struggled to remove all vestiges of such belief, the Latter-day Saints not only condoned but strongly affirmed that God the Father and Jesus Christ were immortal men, who looked like men, even though they were gods. All this seemed to make more sense to many Maoris than did the doctrines of mainline Christianity.
While sectarians struggled to remove all vestiges of such belief, the Latter-day Saints not only condoned but strongly affirmed that God the Father and Jesus Christ were immortal men, who looked like men, even though they were gods. All this seemed to make more sense to many Maoris than did the doctrines of mainline Christianity.
The Maoris had intense interest in and love for their families. The Mormon concept of eternal families immediately appealed to many Maoris. They had long revered their dead, and when Christianity was brought to them, the Maoris feared for the pagan spirits of their ancestors. But unlike the orthodox missionaries, who could suggest no alternative to eternal burnings, the elders taught a message of hope and salvation.
Not only did the Mormon missionaries teach about salvation for the dead, but they also taught the Maoris the doctrine of eternal increase. The resurrection was to be a literal physical rebirth. Men would be men and women would be women; and husbands and wives, if they had been faithful in living the gospel and keeping the commandments, were promised the blessing of eternally producing offspring similar to whom the eternal parents had created.
The Maori tohungas had sought and received revelations from God. They considered it their responsibility to be seers and lived so that they could carry out this function. The tohungas also performed healings and exorcised evil spirits. These functions were also performed by village elders and patriarchs after the introduction of Christianity. Continuous revelation, healing, and exorcism were generally discounted by the Protestant and Catholic missionaries as being superstitions from a bygone era, or as parts of the gospel that were no longer in vogue. The Mormon elders, however, taught the necessity of contemporary revelation as well as of all other gifts of the Spirit as taught in the New Testament. A main tenet of the restored gospel was that the priesthood had been given again to man. Maoris accepted this idea, and as has been illustrated several times before (and could be shown by numerous examples even by 1887), many miracles—mostly healings—were performed by the elders.
Some Latter-day Saints suggested even before LDS missionary work was started among them that the Maoris were of the house of Israel. This may be explained by the fact that following the introduction of Christianity, the Maoris soon identified themselves with Judah. Then, as the competition for land became more intense between them and the pakehas, and particularly as the Maoris began to realize that they were coming out on the short end in most transactions, the persecutions of Judah became all the more real to them. When the Mormon elders began teaching about the history of the Church, it became evident that the Mormons, too, were a persecuted people. This helped to establish a bond between Mormons and Maoris—they understood each other.
But there was much more to the idea that the Maoris were of Israel than merely shared persecutions. Far more important was the Mormon belief that the Maoris, like their Polynesian brothers and sisters elsewhere, were literally of Abraham through his posterity who immigrated to the American continent, as is told in the Book of Mormon. Since the days of George Q. Cannon in Hawaii (1851–54), the Church leaders had more and more frequently alluded to the idea that the Polynesians were descendants of Lehi, the early Book Of Mormon prophet. Although the relationship between the Polynesian peoples and the adventurer Hagoth (see Alma 63:5–8) is not clear—he being a Nephite and the Polynesians appearing to be Lamanites—Church leaders have time and time again referred to the Polynesians as children of Lehi. In the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 4, father Lehi blessed the offspring of his evil sons Laman and Lemuel and promised them that their posterity would one day have all the blessings promised to Abraham. The Latter-day Saints believe this refers specifically to the blessing of membership in the Lord's church and of holding the priesthood. Latter-day Saint missionaries believed and taught that the Maoris were chosen sons and daughters of Abraham. The elders expected the Maoris to accept easily the restored gospel and to assume their rightful place as leaders in the Church. There was almost no racial prejudice on the part of the Mormons toward the Maoris.
Although the first Maoris who were offered the priesthood were hesitant to accept it, it was not long before they assumed nearly all of the positions of leadership in the branches. Many Maoris were ordained to positions in the priesthood. In this way, the Mormon church became their own church. They led it, taught the members, blessed their own sick, and guided their own families through personal revelation.
When LDS missionaries arrived, European settlers were already influencing Maori dress and life-style.
After reading the foregoing, one might ask why the Lord would go to so much trouble for the Maoris. Why were they warned of the coming of the restored Church? Why did they find it so easy to accept the Church when it came? These are not easy questions to answer, and this writer does not wish to speculate. The only explanation I have found that answers these questions with authority is in a letter from the First Presidency, (Joseph F. Smith, Anthon H. Lund, and John Henry Smith), written to the Maori Saints on the occasion of their annual Hui Tau (conference) in 1911.
In answer to the specific question as to why the Polynesians seemed to be more blessed and favored of the Lord than the Lamanites on the American continent, they answered:
"The Lord … directed their course away from this continent [America] to their [the Polynesian ancestors'] island homes, that they might not be left to be preyed upon and destroyed by the more wicked part of the House of Israel whose descendants still roam upon this continent in a fallen and degraded state. … This is the secret of the overruling hand of providence which has been over you all from that time until you received the gospel through the preaching of the elders, and until the present time...
"And we repeat, the reason that few of the islands of the sea have been more highly favored and blessed in the Lord than those of your brethren of this continent is because of the worthiness of your forefathers who were led away and separated from their brethren of this continent, and because of the blessing of the Lord which has attended you, their children, from that time to the present."
The Yuma Native American Indians
They consisted of various tribes: the Quechan (similar to Quechua) , Cocopah, Hualapai, Mohave, and some Maricopas. The Yuma tribe were expert fishers who used utilized nets and baskets to catch fish. They traveled along the Colorado river on rafts and poles to different fishing locations. The Colorado River used to overflow seasonally, depositing rich soil that the Yuma used for agriculture.
In the Yuma culture the women were subservient to men, however it was the woman who chose who she would marry. Either the husband or the wife might declare divorce and the wife claimed any matrimonial possessions. Each Yuma village had an elected chief who was responsible for the overall government of the people. Examples of sophisticated assemblies can also be found amongst the ancient Israelites. The principal chief shared responsibilities for the tribe with the war chiefs, shamans and other religious leaders.
In the Yuma culture the women were subservient to men, however it was the woman who chose who she would marry. Either the husband or the wife might declare divorce and the wife claimed any matrimonial possessions. Each Yuma village had an elected chief who was responsible for the overall government of the people. Examples of sophisticated assemblies can also be found amongst the ancient Israelites. The principal chief shared responsibilities for the tribe with the war chiefs, shamans and other religious leaders.
Where did the Yuma tribe live? The Yuma are people of the Californian /Southwest Native American cultural group. The location of their tribal homelands are shown on the map. The geography of the region in which they lived dictated the lifestyle and culture of the Yuma tribe.
They mainly lived in the American states of California and Arizona along the Colorado River
Land: Arid, but with rivers.
Climate: Mild temperate climate. Land Animals: Rabbits, squirrels, quail and chipmunks. Natural Resources: Mushrooms, roots, acorns, nuts and grasses, seaweed
What was the religion and beliefs of the Yuma tribe? The religion and beliefs of the Yuma tribe was based on Animism that encompassed the spiritual or religious idea that the universe and all natural objects animals, plants, trees, rivers, mountains rocks etc have souls or spirits. The Yuma were a deeply religious people. Their supreme deity was Kukumat, who created the earth. His son, Kumastamxo took the people to the sacred mountain (this sounds as an altered form of the Hebrew high regard of mountain like Temple mount, Sinai...) Avikwame and taught the people how to live, how to plant and and taught them how to cure illness. "Dreaming" was the source of religious power and the Yuma tribe underwent a form of a Vision Quest or Spiritual Journey which was sometimes accompanied by the inducement of a Trance State for the purpose of attaining guidance or knowledge from supernatural forces or spirits. The Yuma tribe also had a highly elaborate mourning ceremony. In order for the spirit of the deceased to enter the world of the Great Spirit, he had to be cremated.
The life of the deceased person was honored during the cremation. All the possessions of the deceased were also burnt so that they might accompany the deceased into the land of the Great Spirit. The mourning ritual lasted for many hours, and when it was over, the deceased person was never spoken of again.
The life of the deceased person was honored during the cremation. All the possessions of the deceased were also burnt so that they might accompany the deceased into the land of the Great Spirit. The mourning ritual lasted for many hours, and when it was over, the deceased person was never spoken of again.
Who were the most famous leaders and chiefs of the Yuma tribe? The most famous leaders and chiefs of the Yuma tribe included Chief Pasqual.
Yuma History: What happened to the Yuma tribe? The Yuma tribe made first contact with the whites in 1540 when they were met by the Hernando de Alarcón expedition who was exploring the Baja California peninsula. The next recorded contact was in 1774 with the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza. At first the relationship between the Yuma tribe and the Spanish was cordial but in 1775 the tribe rebelled but were forced to submit to the rule of the Spanish. The United States acquired Yuma territory in 1853 with the Gadsden Purchase, which saw an influx of white settlers and farmers encroaching their lands and the Yuma War (1850�1853) erupted. The Yuma tribe then came into conflict with the Maricopas, and in 1857 the last major battle involving the Yuma was fought. Most of the defeated Yuma tribe were first forced to move to the Colorado River reservation that was established in 1865. In 1884, the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation was established, consisting of 45,000 acres in southeastern Imperial County, California and western Yuma County, Arizona.
According to Proffesor Albert T. Clay, of Yake University, some Semites used M & others W to represent the same sound. So if Yame is an Ashanti form of the Hebrew Yawheh & Ywa is a Karen form of the same word, then Yuma could be another form. Since the Yumas were so deeply religious, they might have been called Yuma after their former god, before they fell in paganism. Their traditions, even the religious ones, have Israelite remnants.
By Pierre Agrignier.
A preliminary report by Mr. Agrignier on the progress of beginning research by him into the question of the possible presence of Semitic or other Near Eastern influences in the languages of Middle America. This linguistic research was done under the direction of the late Dr. Morris Swadesh, who until his death taught at the National University of Mexico. In order to clarify the discussion of Linguistic and Paleographic Studies appearing on page 9 of Newsletter 111, January 13, 1969, Article 111 .01 (The Phoenician Theory of New World Origins in 1968, by Ross T. Christensen) and with the permission of Thomas Stuart Ferguson, the following is presented.
The data presented here are the result of five months' research, in the field and the library. To have obtained in this short time some definite although very preliminary results, would have been impossible without the orientation of Thomas S. Ferguson's hypothesis [i.e., that an examination of the early Middle American languages would disclose a direct historical relationship between the Near East and the New World] and the direct guidance of Professor Morris Swadesh, a man with an extensive knowledge of the Mexican languages to be examined. A large part of what follows are notes from several conferences I had with Professor Swadesh. For the Hebrew, I had the help of Mrs. Eva Uxmany Perez. Other data come from my field notes in Mexico or from reference books.
This memorandum is not ready for publication, both because the problem is very complicated and because the brief time available was not sufficient for double-checking all the details of dialectal occurrence of exact phonetics and the degrees of probability of some of the linguistic reconstructions. However, we have exercised reasonable precaution in order to give as much solidity as is possible in such a preliminary memorandum. It is proper to mention that I am not a specialized linguist, but an anthropologist, concerned with the question of ancient American-Asian contacts. In trying to obtain linguistic light on this question, I have attempted to acquire some of the skills and knowledge necessary for the task, but have been able to do what I have only with the help of others.
The kinship of the Oaxacan languages to Hebrew was suspected by Pimentel in the last century, probably because of common features of structure, unlike most languages of America, and because the Oaxacan is strangely similar to Semitic. Some have doubted the kinship because of the difficulty, without possession of the requisite phonological and structural keys, of recognizing any large number of common elements. This problem has largely been solved in the last several years (see articles published by Dr. Swadesh).
Swadesh considers that the proper name of this linguistic stock should be Sawi-Zaa, based on the traditional names of the natives themselves for the two largest divisions: the people generally known as Mixteca or Cloud-People', and those known as Zapo-teca or Zapotacea-People'. However, these names are Aztec. The former evidently translates in approximate fashion to the native term Nya-Sawi or 'People of Sawi', understood as meaning people of the rain god, but possibly different in its ultimate etymology (see notes farther on). As for Zapoteca, it may well be a misinterpretation by the Aztecs of the real name. That is, instead of Zaa-teca, or 'People of Zaa' (see farther on), they made it into Zapoteca from the root of zapotacea, a certain tropical fruit. The name of this fruit, it would seem, is in turn based on the name of the people, being an old compound Zaa-Po '-tli, perhaps originally 'Zaa-fruit', the 'fruit of the Zaas.
Returning to Sawi, the Mixtecas understand him to be the god of the rain, whose voice is thunder and whose sword is the lightning. His home is the heavens, A-n-dwi, etymologically A-n-sewi, perhaps (with a change in the vowel) simply the place of Sawi.
As for the Zapotecs, they have no interpretation for their own name. They are the Benne-Zaa, 'men of Zaa'. Zaais 'cloud' or 'grease', apparently two words, originally distinct, but which have come to coincide in their phonetic form. They reason that they are neither fat nor made of clouds, therefore zaa must be an altogether different word, the proper name of their people. Linguists have tried to find the origin by taking into account the sound laws of the Zaa language. For 'grease' they reconstruct an older form 'sa'ha, cognate with sa'a' grease' in the common period of the Mixtec dialects; but zaa'cloud' may be from 'sawa, with loss of the medial consonant, and 'sawi, the self-same Sawi of the Mixtecs. The change of vowel may represent the active idea, the movement of Sawi, and for that reason may have acquired the secondary meaning of 'cloud'.
Now why should the Sawi-Zaas have called themselves the 'People of Rain'? This is untypical of the New World. (There is only the parallel of the Mixe—in Aztec Mixe~ means possession of clouds—neighbors of the Mixtecs who may well have copied from them.) If we think of Mr. Ferguson's hypothesis, we must look into the Semitic languages for an explanation. There are indeed very interesting possibilities. First of all, we should take into account that in most divisions of Sawi-Zaa all labial consonants found between vowels have changed to "W". Therefore, Sawi/Sewi may come from 'Sami/Semi. In that case, the old name was simply the 'Sem-ites'. (AS IN THE CASE OF THE LAPON OR SAMI PEOPLE. THIS CHANGE OF labial consonants found between vowels THAT changed to "W" HAPPENED IN AFRICA FROM SEMITIC TO ASHANTEE BUT BACKWARDS: FROM YAHWEH TO NYAME, PLUS AN N ADDED AS PREFIX)
The association with the rain god may be accidental, due to the fact that 'Sewi, derived from 'Semi, had practically coincided with Sawi, from 'Sawu related to Assyrian sa'u 'tempest', 'God of the Tempest'. The Semites in America may well have brought with them some pagan Assyrian myths, perhaps of Sumerian origin.
The association with the rain god may be accidental, due to the fact that 'Sewi, derived from 'Semi, had practically coincided with Sawi, from 'Sawu related to Assyrian sa'u 'tempest', 'God of the Tempest'. The Semites in America may well have brought with them some pagan Assyrian myths, perhaps of Sumerian origin.
Thus far, we have spoken only of the Mixtecs and Zapotecs. The third group in importance among the Sawi-Zaa languages is called, in Aztec, Mazateca or 'Deer-People'. We do not know their traditional name, but, on the parallel of the other two cases, we may suppose it to be a translation of the native name or some confusion of terms. It is interesting to note then, that the Hebrew word for deer is tsevi, which in the phonology of the Sawi-Zaa languages would have developed to 'tsewi, and finally 'sewi, thereby coinciding with sewi from Sem.
Well, then, if the Sawi-Zaa languages are related to Semitic, one would expect to find a somewhat similar grammatical structure and fair number of similar words throughout the vocabulary. The search we have made so far is no more than a scratching of the surface. Indeed, if we had not had the guidance of Dr. Swadesh, the results would have been very meager.
On the score of structure, it has already been noted that Sawi-Zaa languages are remarkably similar to Semitic. The prevailing root form is bi-consonantic, but there are etymological evidences of the loss of following consonants; up to now it has been thought that the lost elements were old suffixes, but it is not impossible that they may have been part of the root. In Mixtec, the past is formed with a change of root vowels, and in all the languages there are fossilized but very numerous evidences of old vowel changes. As seen in some of the examples already cited, the order of compounding is with determinant second, that is, People-Sawi for the 'Men of Sawi'. As another example, the Zapotec Benne-Zaa or 'Men of Zaa' is remarkably parallel to Hebrew Benay-Ziyon, 'Sons of Zion'. Only slightly evident in Zapotec by neutralization of tone, but very evident in Mixtec, is the reduction of the first root known in Semitic as the construct state. The fully reduced forms are today used only in a limited number of words, about thirty in all, including person, man, woman, land, instrument, substance, affair, tree, animal, and some others; but it is evident that this must have been a fully general rule in the past.
In the verb, as in Semitic, the causative, the tenses, and the participles are formed by means of prefixes, and the persons are expressed by suffixes. Moreover there are traces of infixes, the doubling of consonants, and, as already mentioned, variations of the root vowels.
In addition to noting the foregoing agreements in the general form of the languages, one finds a certain number of specific affixes which correspond phonetically and have the same or similar functions. In assessing these comparisons it should be borne in mind that the total number of formative affixes in Semitic is quite limited, amounting to about 15 in all.
A number of agreements in vocabulary have been noted. In the diagnostic word list, the agreements run about 18% (still subject to restudy). This figure is far above the index of chance, which is considered to be about 5% at most. But, if it is accepted as indicating a connection, this figure also represents a distinct fading of original identity. In this case, we suppose it to be due to corruption of the language under the influence of the neighboring tongues.
Hebrews in Ancient America (Not a Book of Mormon thing) by James Trimm Aug 30, 2010
Hebrews in Ancient America By James Trimm (This is NOT a Book of Mormon Thing*) (Excerpts from my Book of the same name)
Contrary to popular opinion, ancient Jewish sailors circled the globe long before the landmark voyages of Columbus and Magellan.
Many civilizations had weird myths about the nature of the earth. Some thought it was carried on the back of an animal such as an elephant or turtle, and most thought the earth to be flat. Yet the ancient Hebrews knew better. Our prophet Isaiah wrote: "It is He that sits above the circle of the earth..." (Is. 40:22a).
The Hebrew word for "circle" here is KHUG (Strong's 2329) which refers to a "circle or sphere" and is also used to describe the arched domelike shape of the sky (Prov. 8:27; Job. 22:14).
The ancient Hebrews were well aware of this spherical shape of the earth. Additionally the book of Job told them that the earth is not sitting on the back of some animal, but is suspended in the void of space by nothing:
"He stretches out the north over the empty space, and hangs the earth over nothing." (Job 26:7)
When we compare Luke (17:34-36) with Matthew (24:40-41) we see that at the instant of the return of Messiah two will be lying in one bed (Luke 17:34-36) while two will be at work in one field and two will be grinding in the mill (Luke 17:34-36 and Matt. 24:40-41). In other words the ancient Hebrews were well aware that is night and day on different sides of the planet at the same instant!
The ancient Hebrews were sea faring peoples from very early times. For example when Ya'akov blessed Zebulon he said:
"Z'vulun shall dwell in the shore of the sea, and he shall be a shore for ships, and his flank shall be kept by Tzidon" (Gen. 49:13)
And when the Hebrews celebrated their victory over the Cananites with a song, they sang of the victories of the Danite navy:
"Gil'ad abode beyond the Yarden; and Dan, why does he sojourn by the ships? Asher dwelt at the shore of the sea, and abides by its bays." (Judges 5:17)
There is evidence that the tribe of Dan, as one of the Ten Lost Tribes, migrated to Europe and became the Danes. Is it a coincidence that the Danes are known as the world's top seafarers?
Not only were the ancient Hebrews sailing the Mediterranean Sea, but it may also be demonstrated that King Solomon's ships sailed the Atlantic and Indian Oceans as well. King Solomon had a navy of ships capable of making the voyage to Tarshish:
For the king had at sea, a navy of Tarshish, with the navy of Hiram; once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. (1 Kings 10:22)
Tarshish was a land rich in silver, iron, tin and lead:
Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches: with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for your wares. (Ezek. 27:12).
Where was Tarshish? The Scripture tells us that Yahushafat king of Y'hudah and Achazyah king of Yisra'el worked together to build a fleet of ships also capable of sailing to Tarshish. They built these ships at the Red Sea port of Ezion-Geber:
35 And after this, did Yahushafat king of Y'hudah, join himself with Achazyah king of Yisra'el; the same did very wickedly, 36 And he joined him with himself to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. (2Chron. 20:35-36).
Tarshish could also be reached from the Mediterranian port of Jaffa:
But Yonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of YHWH, and he went down to Yafo, and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of YHWH. (Jonah 1:3)
This would place Tarshish somewhere in the Atlantic or Indian Oceans.
Years earlier Solomon's navy was sailing to Tarshish as well. Solomon's navy went on regular voyages that had them away for three years:
For the king had at sea, a navy of Tarshish, with the navy of Hiram; once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. (1Kn. 10:22).
Magellan's voyage around the world (1519-1522) lasted almost three years. Thus Solomon's navy were gone long enough to circle the globe.
Yeshua made the statement that certain Pharisees would "compass the sea and land in order to make one proselyte" (Mt. 23:15). The Hebrew word for "compass" in the Hebrew here is SABIBOT (Strong's 5437) meaning to circle completely around. It is the same word used in the Hebrew of Joshua (Josh. 6:3, 13, 14) to describe the children of Israel circling Jericho seven times before the walls fell. The Aramaic of Matthew has K'RAK which has the same meaning and which is the same Aramaic word the Aramaic Peshitta text of Joshua uses in these verses. Yeshua was saying that Pharisaic "missionaries" were circling the globe seeking converts all over the world.
Further evidence may be found in the apocryphal book of 2nd Esdras. Columbus quoted this book to Queen Isabella of Spain in order to obtain financial support for his voyage. The passage in question reads:
Upon the third day you did command that the waters should be gathered to one of the seven parts of the earth: six parts have you dried up, and kept them, to the intent that of these some being planted of Eloah and tilled might serve you. (2nd Esdras 6:42)
The first believers in Yeshua were a Jewish sect known as "Nazarenes" or in Hebrew "Netzarim" (Acts 24:5). The "church father" Jerome (4th Cent.) described these Nazarenes as those "...who accept Messiah in such a way that they do not cease to observe the old Law." (Jerome; On. Is. 8:14).
Elsewhere he writes:
Today there still exists among the Jews in all the synagogues of the East a heresy which is called that of the Minæans , and which is still condemned by the Pharisees; [its followers] are ordinarily called 'Nazarenes'; they believe that Messiah, the son of God, was born of the Virgin Miriam, and they hold him to be the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate and ascended to heaven, and in whom we also believe." (Jerome; Letter 75 Jerome to Augustine)
The fourth century "church father" Epiphanius gives a more detailed description:
But these sectarians... did not call themselves Christians--but "Nazarenes," ... However they are simply complete Jews. They use not only the New Testament but the Old Testament as well, as the Jews do... They have no different ideas, but confess everything exactly as the Law proclaims it and in the Jewish fashion--except for their belief in Messiah, if you please! For they acknowledge both the resurrection of the dead and the divine creation of all things, and declare that G-d is one, and that his son is Yeshua the Messiah. They are trained to a nicety in Hebrew. For among them the entire Law, the Prophets, and the... Writings... are read in Hebrew, as they surely are by the Jews. They are different from the Jews, and different from Christians, only in the following. They disagree with Jews because they have come to faith in Messiah; but since they are still fettered by the Law--circumcision, the Sabbath, and the rest-- they are not in accord with Christians.... they are nothing but Jews.... They have the Goodnews according to Matthew in its entirety in Hebrew. For it is clear that they still preserve this, in the Hebrew alphabet, as it was originally written. (Epiphanius; Panarion 29)
Yeshua had said certain Pharisees would "compass the sea and land in order to make one proselyte" (Mt. 23:15). But Yeshua complained that these Pharisaic missionaries fell short, saying "when he is made, you make him twice more the son of hell than you are" (Matt. 23:15). Certainly when Yeshua sent his own followers out saying:
19 Go you therefore, and teach all the Goyim, And immerse them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, And the Ruach HaKodesh: 20 And teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. And here am I with you, all the days, to the end of the world. (Matt. 28:20-19 HRV)
15 And He said to them: Go into the entire world, and proclaim My Good News in all of creation. 16 Whoever believes and is immersed, will live: and whoever does not believe, is condemned. (Mark 16:15-16 HRV)
They took the phrases "all the Goyim " and "the entire world" and "all of creation" to mean that they should "compass the sea and land" just as the Pharisees had in seeking their converts.
...Could Nazarene missionaries have brought their message of Torah and Messiah to the New World? ... it seems certain that Hebrews did reach Ancient America and teach them many customs, perhaps even making many converts to Judaism from among them.
Ancient Hebrew merchants, explorers and missionaries (Pharisee and Nazarene) left several artifacts behind which have been found and which testify to the fact that ancient Hebrews came to America long before Columbus.
The Pitsfield Phylatery
In 1815 buried in a field which had once been a Mohican settlement the Pitsfield Phylactery was discovered in Pitsfield Massachusetts. The discovery was made by Joseph Merrick, Esq. who was described by the local minister as "a highly respectable character." The strap contained parchments with Hebrew writing on it. It was taken to Professor Abiel Holmes, a scholar at Cambridge University, authenticated the scrolls as Hebrew.
The Keystone
in June of 1860 an armature archaeologist by the name of David Wyrick found a wedge shaped stone buried in twelve to fourteen inches of dirt in a pit adjacent to some Hopewell earthworks in what is now known as Newark Ohio. The most fascinating thing about this stone wedge is the fact that it had Hebrew inscriptions on each of its four sides.
The Ohio Decalogue
Several months later that same year Wyrick found another stone. This stone was found some ten miles south, underneath a Hopewell structure called "The Great Stone Stack". This structure of stone had a base of 500 square feet and a height of 55 feet. Early settlers drew pictures of it and wrote detailed accounts of it. The stones were removed in 1831 or 1832 and used to reinforce a dam. A number of small mounds and been buried beneath the Great Stone Stack. Wyrick and five of his associates excavated one of the mounds. They found what they called a "coffin" buried in the mound, it was more like a funeral pier. They dug beneath this and found several artifacts, two of which have survived. The first of these was a stone box which contained the Decalogue Stone". They also found a stone bowl and "two beautiful plumb bobs, but instead of being round (or oval) they are eight square".
The Los Lunas Decalogue
In the rugged terrain of the Southwest United States, near New Mexico's Rio Puerco River, New Los Lunas, there is a mountain known commonly as "Hidden Mountain". Perched atop this mountain are the ruins of an ancient Anasazi city. The Anasazi were a cultural group in ancient America centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States, comprising southern Utah, northern Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and a lesser section of Colorado. They flourished for over 2,000 year between 1,200 BCE and to have eventually left their cliff top cities abandoned around 1,300 CE.
However this Anasazi settlement has one major difference from all other Anasazi settlements. This Anasazi settlement has a large bolder with the Ten Commandments inscribed on it in a form of the ancient Paleo-Hebrew script at the base of the mountain.
The Bat Creek Stone
Flowing through the Tennessee valley Bat Creek flows into the Little Tennessee River which flows down from the Appalachian mountains. In the 1880's a Smithsonian Institution burial mound survey team led by John W. Emmert and overseen by Cyrus Thomas, conducted several excavations in the valley. These were actually bonafide excavations by any meaningful definition of the term, with the full credibility of the Smithsonian Institute.
When Emmert excavated one of the mounds he found nine skeletons. Immediately under the head of one skeleton were found a number of artifacts: an inscribed tablet (the Bat Creek Stone), two "copper" bracelets (which have since been determined to be brass), a small drilled fossil, a copper bead, a bone tool and two pieces of polished wood (ear spools?).
John Emmert and Cyrus Thomas both represented the stone upside down and later determined that the characters were a Cherokee inscription. It was not until that 1971 Dr. Gordon having turned the photograph of the artifact right side up, verified that the characters were indeed Paleo-Hebrew and not Cherokee. At this point the Bat Creek Stone gained worldwide attention.
In recent years the stone itself and the other artifacts that were found with it have been tested. These tests have verified the validity of the stone itself and dated the artifacts to as old as the first century.
I have just finished a new book on these very interesting ancient artifacts (which I have been researching since 1993) which will be published very soon. I will let you all know when the book is out.
* I stated at the top, this is not a Book of Mormon thing. By this I mean that the scripts used on all but one of these artifacts is written in a Script that dates to post-exile times. The alleged account of the Book of Mormon is supposed to involve Hebrews that supposedly came to the New World at the beginning of the Babylonian Captivity. Therefore these inscriptions could not relate to the claims of the Book of Mormon.
I often ask the question, is this work worthy of your support? Ask yourself, have you learned anything from this ministry? If so then chip in and do your part to help spread this truth.
There were 12 Tribes of the children of Israel. Moses was to lead all the Tribes out of the bondage of Pharaoh's Egypt through the wildreness and to THEIR Promised land. One of these Tribes wandered off and became lost. THEY ARE THE MAORI PEOPLE. But it would be Joshua who would lead them to their PROMISED land and to possess that land. Though they had been said to have come from Hawaiiki, their final destination and settling home, their "Promised land"...would be Aotearoa - Land of the Long White Cloud and New Zealand. The plan was of a Divine nature that they wander off, arrive at their Promised land, become oppressed again under a White English Colonising Race for a time, only to come to this day and age we are living in where there would be a "Calling to Account" the work of Pakeha with Maori and a Divine Judgement as prophesied by our Ancestors. Someone would come with the Mantle of Joshua to pick up the unfinished work, seeing to it the "Unification of Maoridom and the Ordination of our Race would be fulfilled, to come through out on top of our Oppressors. This is how THEY WOULD COME TO WORK FOR US.
By making a Treaty with the Maori people the Queen of England and her race of people would enter themselves into a Divine agreement WITHOUT THEM KNOWING. Only to come to the TIMES WE ARE LIVING. To be called to account for their fruitless works here, revealing the true motives for creating THEIR Treaty - a disguised land grabbing takeover plan. But who would have ever thought there would be a Divine Judgement - a far higher Force would come to rescue and deliver our Race of People. THE PROPHESIES OF THE MAORI WILL BE FULFILLED. Now today, thousands upon thousands of our people have committed suicide under their leadership.
I would like to seek the guidance of our people regarding the calling upon my life. I have the Mantle of Joshua upon me to bring a Divine Judgement by a Divine order. CALLING TO ACCOUNT the work of Pakeha with the Maori people who are the lost tribe of the Children of Israel.
Evidence of Phoenician voyages into the South Pacific
Mount Moehau, on New Zealand's Coromandel Peninsula, plunges steeply into the sea. Draped in subtropical rain forest, downcut by waterfalls and precipitous gorges, the region oozes mystery and enchantment.
Here, says Maori legend, the Turehu people, light-skinned, with reddish hair, made their last stand. The Maoris say they found them in parts of New Zealand. As the Maori encroached, the Turehu retreated further into the hills, particularly of the Coromandel Peninsula. Here the mountains of Moehau, steep and remote, became their final refuge. Since they sought concealment near the misty summit of Moehau, the Turehu were sometimes spoken of as the "Mist People". Their voices and the ghostly piping of their flutes could often be heard in the dense forest. Huge gourds they grew. They built forts from interlaced supplejack, a long thick woody vine that trailed across the tall forest trees.
According to other Pacific islanders, people answering the same physical description had come from the east — from the direction of South America — long, long ago. Hagothites?
In South America I ran into similar traditions of a light-skinned, red-haired, blue-eyed race.
According to legends, these people had settled and built cyclopean stone cities (whose ruins survive), but following a war had fled westward across the Pacific.
Was there some link here? Could they have been the same people?
And pushing the question a little further, could these people of have been the descendants of some ancient traders?
Around the fifteenth century BC, two powers were taking possession of the land on the eastern Mediterranean coast. About the same time as the Hebrew (Israelite) nation was coming into Palestine, another power was being established on the sea coast adjacent to the north.
It was the destiny of Phoenicia that she should become to the ancient world in material things, what the Hebrew had become in spiritual things. Both of them combined formed the Israelites & the kingdom of Solomon.
Phoenicia was the great manufacturing nation of the ancient world. Her dyed textiles, glass technology, superb stonework, ceramics and gem engraving were unsurpassed.
Indeed, L.A. Waddell asserts that the Phoenicians "had a civilization equal or superior to that of Egypt, in taste and skill.., luxury far beyond that of the Egyptians, and technical work which could teach them rather than be taught."
The city of Tyre was the London of antiquity, the center of a vast global trading network.
Mistress of the seas Phoenicia, sent ships to all ports and traversed all oceans. From the thirteenth century BC she was the dominant naval and commercial power. Her mercantile operations were enormous. This great naval power had the trade of the planet in her hands. She was a great distributing nation; her people were the carriers of the world.
The famous Indian epic, the Mahabharata, states that: The able Panch (Phoenicians) setting out to invade the Earth, brought the whole world under their sway.
They were termed "leaders of the Earth". And Phoenicia was, in the tenth to eleventh centuries BC, as great as Babylon or Egypt. The coasts and islands of the Mediterranean were rapidly covered with colonies. Today's "Venice" preserves the ethnic title of "Phoenicia".
The Straits of Gibraltar were passed and cities built on the shores of the Atlantic. They founded Gades (Cádiz) on Spain's south west coast, 2,500 miles from Tyre, as the starting point for the Atlantic trade.
In the expanding range of their voyages, Phoenician ships out of Spain were battling the wild Atlantic en route to the tin of Cornwall and even to Norway (2,000 miles beyond Gades).
Eastward, there is evidence that Phoenicia built factories on the Persian Gulf and traded as far as Ceylon.
London founded
An interesting sideline concerns the founding of London. It has been adduced from substantial evidence that some 89 years after the fall of Troy (a Phoenician colony), Brutus, a descendant of the Trojan royalty, sailed up the River Thames in Britain and founded Tri-Novantum ("New Troy"). This ultimately became London.
Thus, contrary to popular misconception, there existed a highly civilized dynasty, which survived in Britain even until the Roman invasion. It left behind gold coins, at least one surviving stone inscription and a detailed chronology. Indeed, Julius Caesar and other contemporaries testified to its cultured, well-dressed city-dwelling subjects, though untamed tribes did flank the western and northern borders.
Researcher L.A. Waddell gives an authenticated unbroken chronology of highly civilized independent British kings reigning in London from Brutus (c. 1103 BC) to the Roman conquerors. There is evidence that a large proportion of the people of Britain are descendants of the sea-going Phoenicians.
Sophisticated Instruments
Phoenician ships probed ever further. Navigation across open ocean was no problem to these explorers. Due to the insufficient attention paid to this aspect of the subject, we have tended to belittle the size and sophistication of Phoenician shipping.
If we conceive of it as represented by types of marine craft as outlined on Phoenician coins and tombs, we shall not be able to suppose that the nation was ever employed on such voyages as those that shall shortly engage our attention.
There is evidence that they had the benefit of sophisticated instruments and large, fast, modern vessels carrying over 500 people. This will be a surprise to many readers.
"Ships of Tarshish"
The type of vessel built especially for ocean travel was designated "ship of Tarshish" to distinguish it from the smaller craft which merely plied the eastern Mediterranean.
The name of the original Tarshish (in Spain) became displaced as the horizon of the Phoenician navigators moved westward.
Herodotus records a Phoenician clockwise circumnavigation of Africa about 600 BC, on behalf of Pharaoh Necho — a distance of 13,000 miles. Herodotus sniffed at their report that the sun was on their right, that is, to their north.
This establishes the fact that Phoenician nautical prowess and daring was at a level not to be seen in modern times until the century of Columbus.
It is only due to the proud announcement of the Pharaoh who sponsored the trip that we know of this voyage. The Phoenicians were not publicists.
So what other trips were being made —from perhaps as early as 1200 BC? At La Venta, Mexico, was found a sculpture with distinctly Phoenician characteristics: bearded faces, upturned shoes, twisted rope borders and other details. It has been dated to around 850 BC. From Nicaragua to Mexico, on jade figurines, the backs of slate mirrors, funeral urns and other objects, appear bearded men who bear little resemblance to American Indians.
A well-known colony of Phoenicia was Carthage. An ancient historical work records the voyage of a convoy of as many as 60 ships, each carrying 550 people. This was around 500 BC.
Strabo writes that Phoenician colonies (300 colonies, he estimates) were planted prolifically well down the Atlantic coast of Africa.
From West Africa, it would be a simple matter to follow the trade winds to South America.
To some, the idea that ancient mariners would have known the Americas may appear too ridiculous to consider, and it will be cast aside. But before such actions are taken, surely the evidence for this position should be carefully considered.
As Michael G. Bradley aptly put it, "The truth is just now being glimpsed by a handful of specialists - it is still almost completely unsuspected by the average civilized citizen."
Voyages to the New World at around the time of King Solomon of Israel now seem more likely than not. Some twelve years' research for the book Dead Men's Secrets finally convinced me that these colonists of a forgotten age were indeed part of a great network of ancient civilizations that once maintained a flourishing trade between Europe, Asia, and the Americas, some 3,000 years ago.
I should not have been surprised to discover that Harvard professor Dr. Barry Fell, from his own research, had reached the same conclusion. He considered the ancient visitors to North America were probably not explorers, but rather merchants, trading with well-established fur trappers and very likely also mining precious metals on those sites where ancient workings have been discovered.
Fell states: Because of the depth of ignorance into which Europe fell during the Dark Ages, at times we are apt to forget how advanced were the ideas of the ancients, and how much they knew about the earth and about astronomy and navigation.
Fell is also convinced that "America shares a history with the Old World, and ancient Americans must have been well acquainted with much of that history as it took place."
Dr. Fell is now recognized as one of the world's foremost epigraphers.
Phoenicians in America?
In 1780, on a rock on the shores of Mount Hope Bay in Bristol, Rhode Island, there was discovered an inscription, which Fell deciphered in 1975 to read:
This suggests strongly that here on the eastern seaboard of North America there was once a port for "ships of Tarshish".
On the island of Hispaniola, Columbus discovered immense ancient mines. In Haiti, he thought he could trace furnaces in which gold had been refined.
Between 1850 and 1910, travelers in the Amazon region and other parts of Brazil were reporting the finding of old inscriptions on rock faces.
Former rubber tapper Bernardo da Silva Ramos, in a now rare book in Portuguese, has published 1,500 reproductions from such rock carvings. They are all covered over with the letters of the Phoenician alphabet.
Investigator Pierre Honore discussing the finds of other Brazilian travelers and explorers of last century, states: Today there is a whole library full of their reports; and they too were firmly convinced that the inscriptions were Phoenician texts. They were sure that King Solomon (975-935 BC) had once come to the Amazon with his ships; that the gold countries of Ophir, Tarshish and Parvaim were not to be looked for in the Old World at all, but here in the Amazon region on the Rio Solimoes, Solomon's River. It is reported that in Havea, near Rio de Janeiro are letters several feet high inscribed upon a sheer cliff face in cuneiform. The inscription reads:
(Jethbaal ruled Tyre from 887 to 856 BC.) In 1872, on the coast of Brazil near Paraiba, Joaquim Alves da Costa found on his property a stone that bore numerous characters which no one understood. He copied them and sent them to the President of the Instituto Historico. A translation is as follows:
We are Sidonian Canaanites from the city of the Merchant King. We were cast up on this distant island, a land of mountains. We sacrificed a youth to the celestial gods and goddesses in the nineteenth year of our mighty King Hiram and embarked from Ezion-geber into the Red Sea. We voyaged with ten ships and were at sea together for two years around Africa. Then we were separated by the hand of Baal and were no longer with our companions. So we have come here, twelve men and three women, into "Island of Iron". Am I, the Admiral, a man who would flee? Nay! May the celestial gods and goddesses favor us well.
This eight-line inscription proved to be in Phoenician characters. There are reasons to believe that the king referred to was Hiram III (553-533 BC). Brazil was known, anciently, as Hy Brasil. The incorporation of 'I' or 'Hy' is typically Phoenician.
According to Cyrus Gordon, Head of the Department of Mediterranean studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts, the Phoenicians certainly knew Brazil, which they called "Island of Iron". Hy Brasil means "Island of Iron". Iron is still the country's main resource.
When I first learned of this inscription, I was skeptical. Mention of it was omitted from my book Dead Men's Secrets, since I preferred to publish only discoveries which could be confirmed beyond doubt as genuine. Others also considered it to be a fraud.
As we noted, at the time the alleged inscription was found, the script was not known. No other than the original translator could read it. That has now changed.
Significantly, it contains Phoenician idiosyncrasies that were unknown in 1872 but which are now authenticated by other inscriptions found since.
Concerning many such initially rejected finds, Barry Fell says:
One by one competent scholars who hold responsible positions in universities and museums are now coming forward with confirmations of the decipherments.
Shipping routes westward at first
The trend of Phoenician colonial development prior to 1000 BC was mainly in a westerly direction.
However, it is quite certain that they did not long rest satisfied with that. With their overland routes to the east at risk from unrest in Babylonia, the Phoenicians gave careful attention to an alternative eastern route.
We know that Hiram I, king of Tyre, shared a friendship with Israel's King David, and with his son Solomon. There was also a religious sympathy. These early Phoenicians — contrary to the now current notions of popular writers —were monotheists.
As a result of a commercial treaty, Hiram assisted in the erection of Solomon's Temple and Israel granted Phoenicia the two ports of Eilat and Ezion-geber on the Gulf of Aqaba.
Like Gades in the west, the Persian Gulf colonies must now be viewed not as an end of Phoenician navigation in the east, but as the starting point for more distant navigation.
Fortunately, a mass of undigested historic data leaves no doubt concerning this fact.
King Solomon's silver
We find that the ships employed in the prosecution of the silver trade in both easterly and westerly directions were now "ships of Tarshish".
Suddenly we find gold and silver in such abundance in Jerusalem that Solomon made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones… for abundance"
And why? "... for the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks."
There can be no question that the peacocks came from South-East Asia. But whence the abundance of silver?
Says Heeren: Silver is also found in Siberia and in China or South Asia, but the large annual importation of the metal from Europe in consequence of the high price it bore in the East sufficiently prove that it was found there in small quantities. We may therefore conclude with certainty that the greater portion of the silver possessed of old by the Asiatic nations was imported, and there can be no question that the Phoenicians were the channel of importation.
Ultimate destination: Ophir The ultimate destination of the ships of Hiram and Solomon was a place or region called Ophir.
"And they came to Ophir," says the Scripture, "and fetched from thence gold." "And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones."
From the books of Genesis 23 and Josephus, it can be found that Ophir was the general name for the rich southern countries lying on the African, Arabian and Indian coasts.
But when we ask, where was that Ophir which could be reached from Ezion-geber that provided silver in such abundance, we are faced with a problem.
It can be shown that the source was not Asia, the greater portion of whose silver was imported.
Silver was so scarce in Arabia, that it was assessed at ten times the value of gold.
Yet in Solomon's Jerusalem it became as common as stones. I am aware of the nineteenth century explorers' accounts that supposedly identified the mines of Ophir with central Africa. There are people who refuse to accept that the massive stone fortress known as the ruins of Zimbabwe (and situated in that country) could have been built by native Africans.
Such identification with King Solomon seems to be true. Zimbabwe is almost certainly it is the work of a powerful indigenous African empire.
"Three year" voyages
That the expeditions pushed into regions much more distant than the Indian Ocean is apparent from the "three years" required for the double voyage, only nine months being required for a return journey to the extremities of Arabia.
Thomas Johnston suggests that Ophir "must be looked for in the farther East, and in a territory that was not only capable of supplying silver in practically unlimited quantities, but of affording conclusive evidence of occupancy by the Israelites and Phoenicians."
Johnston argues persuasively that the route of the expeditions can be traced beyond the peacock lands, through Indonesia, the Torres Strait (at the north of Australia), and via Samoa and Tahiti to Mexico and Peru. It appears that they founded colonies along the route.
An American destination accords well with the fact that the world's largest silver deposits are in the Americas — in the United States, Mexico, Canada and Peru.
Reached from two directions
The Bible says that the distant land of Tarshish was rich in silver, iron, tin and lead. It could be reached from the Mediterranean port of Joppa (Jaffa), or the Red Sea port of Ezion-geber.
A glance at the map tells us that the only part of the world that one would reach by ship from either the Mediterranean or Red Sea ports is the Atlantic seaboard.
Cyrus Gordon of Brandeis University, Massachusetts, says that a text mentioning "gold of Ophir" found at Tell Qasile on the Mediterranean coast of Israel, suggests that Ophir could be reached via Gibraltar. I am aware that many places have been suggested as the location of Solomon's fabled mines. New respect for the seagoing capabilities of early navigators makes the Americas a strong possibility.
The Ugha Mongulala tribe of north-west Brazil preserve written records of an ancient city called Ofir (Ophir) which once stood at the mouth of the Amazon River.
This is the ONLY independent mention of a specific locality called Ophir, outside of the Bible. Could this be significant?
Their tradition states that: Lhasa, the prince of Akakor, commanded the construction of Ofir, a powerful harbor city at the mouth of the Great River [the Amazon]. Ships from Samon's [Solomon's?] empire docked there with their valuable cargoes. In exchange for gold and silver...
Perhaps, like that of Tarshish, the name Ophir became displaced, and as the trade of the Phoenicians moved further eastward and westward, it moved with the trade, until in course of time it came to be applied to a more distant region controlled by the Phoenicians.
Corroborating this, the Phoenician Ophir or Ofor means, in their ancient language, the Western Country.
And what land lay to the west? The Americas, no less.
Mixed crews
While the expeditions were under Israelite and Phoenician direction, they undoubtedly carried crews and marine force of composite nationality. In the next chapter we shall touch on evidence suggesting that considerable numbers of Scythians and Thracians were employed on the Phoenician fleets. At this time in history Hebrew, Phoenician, Scythian and Thracian were the dominant factors in the national life of the eastern Mediterranean. All of them were fellow Israelites after all. The Thracians and Scythians were then the two great nations of south-eastern Europe.
There must have been, from Ezion-geber, a general push of the giant "ships of Tarshish" toward the east. To control the South Arabian markets could not have been the sole purpose of Solomon building his great ships. If these ships had been merely constructed to trade with Yemen, and back, and if, as the Scripture says, the journey had taken three years, then Solomon and Hiram were inept investors. The cost of the ships, the expense of working them, the interest on capital for such a long interval, as well as the deterioration of cargo in such a climate, would have outweighed any advantage of using sea transport, as against an overland route.
Furthermore, it seems most unlikely that expeditions to a place as close as Yemen could have wakened such enthusiasm, as to have brought Solomon and his court from their safe capital into the heart of a discontented country to witness the departure of the ships and their crews, as 2 Chronicles 8:17 records.
If we continue the line to Java and Sumatra, we will have reached the native home of the peacock, which was collected on the return journey of Solomon's and Hiram's expeditions.
Penetrating beyond Indonesia, we shall discover some facts of a rather startling nature.
The "ships of Tarshish" encountered unknown perils as they ventured into new regions. One particularly dangerous passage was along the north-western coast of Australia.
Any mariner approaching the north-west coast of Australia could find the West Kimberley area near Derby one of the most dangerous on the coast. A violent rip runs up to ten knots and creates whirlpools. To come in at the entrance to King Sound, ships must run through this riptide. There are many reefs and shoals. Navigation is hazardous.
Around the entrance to King Sound lie the islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago. King Sound itself is about 90 miles long and at its widest about 35 miles across.
A feature of this area is the extreme rise and fall of tides: up to 35 feet, which leaves ships high and dry.
Here salvage diver Allan Robinson found what he believed to be the wreck of an ancient Phoenician ship. He noticed that in the mud of the swamp off the mainland, there was a strange shape. Small pips of mud seemed to project above the surroundings to form a shape more like a banana than a ship.
The contor was quite plain. A bronze plate was retrieved and declared by a university official to be of Phoenician origin.
The Phoenician wreck was near an overgrown mine of galena. And galena is an ore of silver, lead and zinc. It is not surprising that, if the ships of Solomon and Hiram came as far as Java and Sumatra (which, as we said, was the native home of the peacock — one item of Solomon's cargo), that they would have found the nearby coast of Australia.
Their route would have taken them through Torres Strait. And, conceivably, they could have sailed down the eastern coast of Australia.
Should it surprise us, then, that Phoenician-style engravings have been found on a marble slab in North Queensland? Or that further south along the coast, in New South Wales, many strange symbols, ships, and figures of Egyptian, Phoenician and Syrian style have been discovered carved on rocks along the Hawkesbury River?
Ancient Aboriginal legends tell how people in large ships like birds (the bird-headed prows of the old Phoenician triremes?) sailed into Gympie (now 34 miles inland), dug holes in the hills, erected the "sacred mountain" found nearby and interbred with local inhabitants. Interestingly, evidence of ancient mining and smelting was recently found here, as well as traces of a causeway or stone quay.
Near Toowoomba in Queensland, recently, a group of seventeen granite stones was discovered, bearing ancient inscriptions. These were identified as Phoenician. One of them has been translated to read "guard the shrine of Yahweh's message". Another says, "God of gods".
Some years ago, a farmer in the Rockhampton area plowed up a large ironstone slab. Today the slab sits in the museum of Rex Gilroy near Tamworth, New South Wales. It bears another Phoenician inscription that reads, "Ships sail from this land under the protection of Yahweh to Dan."
Dan was an ancient trade center in north-west Israel just south of Tyre, a Phoenician port. These discoveries were reported in an issue of the Ravenshoe Northern Star dated July-August-September, 1996.
As I commented in the book, Dead Men's Secrets, fiction couldn't challenge your imagination more. And yet here it all is, fact after fact, story after story, about the lives and discoveries of a people thousands of years ago.
Now naturally these exhibits will not be popular with some people. The majority of the scientific community has greeted them with deathly silence because of early indoctrination in the theory of evolution. It tries to ignore them for the sole reason that it cannot explain them.
Was it simply to control the nearby Arabian trade that Solomon and Hiram created the costly fleet of large armed ships of Tarshish?
Or were these large, sophisticated vessels fitted out to travel the earth's surface?
The biblical account suggests the latter. And the implications are dynamite.
Into the Pacific
As an eastern port on the Red Sea became a reality, the Phoenicians, with Solomon of Israel, now pursued with eagerness a further expansion eastward, to parallel that in the west.
And beyond Australia, they left a trail right across the Pacific. Samoa rises up dramatically from the sea. But its native population has traditionally not pronounced it as Samoa, but as Samo. And this was also the name of a Phoenician colony (pronounced the same way) on the coasts of Asia Minor — Samos. (Let's not forget that the Phoenicians were intermingled with the Israelites & that the so called Phoenician colonies were mostly peopled by Israelites because in the partnership of the two powers the Israelites were far more numerous than the Phoenicians).
The name Samo means, according to Pliny, "a mountain height by the sea". Both locations have a similar appearance, rising up from the sea. In fact, modern navigators term the Pacific Samoa "high islands", in contrast to the low coral atolls that surround it for hundreds of miles in all directions.
The principal island of Samoa is named Upola —the equivalent of the Scythian deity Apollo. And the main town of Western Samoa is Apia —which is the name of the Scythian deity, the Earth, as well as the name of the Peloponnesus — a Phoenician locality. (The Scythians were Israelites that adopted pagan Gods & received a new name).
Next, traveling east, the ships of Solomon and Hiram would have reached the Society Islands. Here is Tahiti, with a silent "h". This is identical to Tabiti (probably also with a silent "b"). Tabiti was the Scythian Vista. Both names would be pronounced Ta-iti.
The name of Tahiti's chief settlement, Papeete, is only a slightly modified form of the name of the Scythian Jupiter, or father, Papeus.
Morea, the name of an island separated from Papeete by a narrow strait, is the same as Morea, a principal district of the Hellenic Peninsula in the Mediterranean, colonized by the Scythians shortly before the period of Solomon's expeditions. Morea was given that name because the contor of the shoreline resembled a mulberry leaf (All these place names, including Moorea, an island of the French Polynesia, could have been founded by Israelites as reminder of the first great sacrifice made by their ancestor Abraham). This explanation is also applicable to Morea of the Pacific.
It would seem that in the Pacific the Phoenicians followed the same policy as in the Mediterranean. They established stations for the ships to call at on these long voyages. It appears that these colonies were placed under the care of responsible governors, drawn from the Scythians of the marine corps, since most of the names we have referred to were clearly drawn from this source.
There is no other explanation for the presence of Scythians in the heart of the Pacific.
Enormous stone remains in many of the Pacific Islands can be linked with local traditions. Strong's Island is one example. An ancient tradition says that "an ancient city once stood round this harbor which was occupied by a powerful people called Anut, who had large vessels in which they made long voyages, many moons being required in their prosecution.
Early European missionaries to the Pacific found in these islands evidence of numeric skill, cosmogony, astronomical knowledge and religious system which was plainly Phoenician.
For example, the Phoenician skill in the use of numbers and astronomy is reflected in the same extraordinary skill of the Society Islanders. And their names of stars and constellations and the use to which they applied their knowledge of the heavenly bodies was the same as that of the Phoenicians.
Their sacred groves, open-air temples or marais, their human sacrifices, and their methods of initiation and practice, were identical to those of the priests of Astarte on the eastern Mediterranean.
It should be noted that, throughout the period of the Solomon-Hiram voyages, both Israel and Phoenicia were monotheistic, worshipping the one true Creator. But later, both nations descended into the worship of Baal the sun-god and Astarte (Ashteroth) the "queen of heaven". The expeditions were, however, continuing during this period. Thus, although monotheism had been planted first throughout the world wherever the expeditions went, this was eventually corrupted as new generations of sailors brought their practices with them.
The Phoenician alphabet of 16 letters was the same as the Samoan. The natives of Samos (Samo) in the Mediterranean were famous as seamen; likewise the Pacific Samoans were famed for their nautical skill.
The gymnastic systems used in the Mediterranean, as a means of training for war, as well as the implements used (including spear, javelin, bow and arrow, dart, sword, falchion, and sling and boomerang) are found over the entire route of the ships across the Pacific to the Americas.
The historical traditions, practices, circumcision and some other customs such as test of virginity were clearly Jewish. Further customs (tattooing, spear and javelin throwing) were clearly Thracian. (Josephus had many readers in the Roman Empire. Rome had much to do with Parthia and little or nothing to do with "Scythians." Josephus may simply have had his contemporary audience in mind when he wrote about the Parthians but not the Scythians. Rome did have wars against Scythian people living in the Balkan region, but it called them "Dacians" or "Thracians." The Thracian Scythians or just Scythians, were typical freedom loving Israelites. Spartacus, the leader of the famous slave-revolt against Rome, was a Thracian. So the Thracians were Israelites too, but with another name.)
Their worship of the skulls of ancestors, cannibalism, and use of bow and arrow as a test of strength were peculiarly Scythian.
Research has established that the implements of war and the festivals and games among these Polynesians were the same as those found in the ancient Mediterranean. And the foregoing is just a small sampling of the many parallels.
Here are startling facts, pointing to the presence together of four races — Hebrew, Phoenician, Scythian and Thracian — in the mid-Pacific in the remote past. (They were really one & the same)
How can this be explained, if not through the instrumentality of the historic expeditions of Hiram and Solomon? The Encyclopaedia Brittanica notes concerning the Polynesians that, while their facial features sometimes suggest Mongoloid affinities, their light skin, wavy hair and full beards, as well as their blood types, suggest European ties.
This is certainly consistent with the planting of outposts in the Pacific by European members of Solomon's and Hiram's crews, such as Scythians and Thracians.
And on to the Americas
The Maya population already inhabited central portions of the American continent. Votan, the first historian of the Maya (c.1000 BC), actually reported the arrival around that time, on the Pacific coasts of Central America, of seven large ships.
In his book on the origin of the race, Votan declares himself a descendant of Imos, of the land of Chan, of the race of Chivim.
Research shows that present-day Tripoli in Syria was, in the time of Solomon, a town in the kingdom of Tyre, and was anciently known as Chivim.
Votan is said to have led some of his people to Yucatan in Central America, where he found inhabitants already there. Here he established the kingdom of Xibalba and built the city of Nachan (probably Palenque).
A copy of Votan's book, written in the Quiche language, existed until 1691, when it was very likely burned, along with other native relics, by the Spaniards at Huehuetan, but not before extracts had been copied from it.
Fray Lizana set down in his Historia de Yucatan the tradition that from the west (that is, from the direction of the Pacific) "many" people had come.
Indeed, there is abundant physical evidence in Central America which appears to indicate Phoenician and Hebrew penetration of these remote regions. Evidence of occupancy, linguistic features, physical characteristics, intricacies of customs, as well as traditions and place names.
Some resemblances
It will be of interest to note a few similarities to be found between the indigenous peoples of America and the Hebrews. The religion of the Mexicans strongly resembled that of the Hebrews in numerous minor details. De Bourbourg noted the perfectly Jewish dress of the women at Palin and on the shores of Lake Amatitlan. Like the Hebrews, the Mexicans tore their clothing on receipt of bad news.
Another similarity was giving a kiss on the cheek as a token of peace.
The Hebrew nation were ordered to worship Yahweh the true and living God. James Adair, a trader with the "wild" Indians of the south-east of North America, discovered that the North American Indians styled the living God as Yahewah.
Like the Hebrews, the North American Indians offer their first fruits, they keep their new moons, as well as the feast of Atonement at the same time as the Jews. The brother of a deceased husband marries his widow. In some places, circumcision is practised. There is much analogy in rites and customs, such as the ceremonies of purification and the manner of prayer.
It was reported last century that the Indians likewise were abstaining from the blood of animals, as also from fish without scales. They had various "clean" and "unclean" animals.
A replica "Ark of the Covenant"?
Researchers Rivero and Tschudi indicated that they: have a species of ark, seemingly like that of the Old Testament; this the Indians take with them to war; it is never permitted to touch the ground, but rests upon stones or pieces of wood, it being deemed sacreligious and unlawful to open it or look into it. [they] celebrate the first fruits with religious dances, singing in chorus these mystic words: — YO MESCHICA, HE MESCHICA, VA MESCHICA, forming thus, with the first three syllables, the name of Je-ho-vah, and the name of Messiah thrice and pronounced, following each initial. The use of Hebrew words was not uncommon in the religious performances of the North American Indians, and Adair assures us that they called an accused or guilty person haksit canaha, "a sinner of Canaan"; and to him who was inattentive to religious worship, they said, Tschi haksit canaha, "you resemble a sinner of Canaan". Les Carbot also tells us that he had heard the Indians of South America say "Alleluia".
Adair, who wrote these facts in his History of the American Nations (pp.15-212), lived 40 years among the Indians. The evidence suggests that a significant portion of the early American civilization came from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. Its intermediaries were Phoenicians and Hebrews, who were accompanied by Thracians and Scythians, who were accustomed to hire themselves out as mercenaries.
They sailed from Ezion-geber on the Red Sea to a destination called Ophir, whose actual location has been traditionally difficult to determine.
This should occasion no surprise, since the Phoenicians adopted a policy of secrecy as to their routes and destinations after the Greeks displaced them on the eastern Mediterranean some 150 years before the expeditions that sailed from Ezion-geber.
Their route may be tracked across the Pacific by observing such traces, as still exist, of the presence of nations which formed the personnel of these expeditions. This is possible because the Phoenicians, on their longer routes, were accustomed to establishing stations for repairing and revictualling their ships and ports of call.
For how long?
How long did these voyages continue? We have no means of determining accurately. However, it is likely that they continued for some 300 years, until the Assyrians and Babylonians occupied strategic land and closed areas of Middle East territory that were crucial to the continuance of the voyages.
Lighter skinned peoples
At the time of the conquest of Peru, the Spaniards noticed that many of the Inca ruling caste were paler of skin and had reddish tints in their hair, as distinct from the native mountain peasants of the Andes, who were generally of distinctly Mongoloid ancestry.
Inca legends spoke of certain white and bearded men who advanced from the shores of Lake Titicaca, established an ascendancy over the natives, and brought civilization.
Ancient representations in stone, as well as portrait jars from the ruins of the city of Chan, in coastal Peru, show white, bearded men. And mummified corpses of chiefs from the oldest layers of graves in this region bear hair that is auburn or blond, wavy and fine.
Reports frequently surface concerning ancient "white" tribes still surviving in isolated pockets of the Americas. South American legend records that some of the bearded white men who built the enormous stone cities found in ruins there eventually left to sail westward... into the Pacific Ocean.
Polynesian legends still current are living proof that the bearded white men arrived safely in Polynesia.
But there is evidence more substantial than legend on some of these islands: pyramids, helmets and panpipes. As well as proof that irrigation , trepanning and head-deformation were practised. These same Pacific Islanders knew that the earth was round — and they had a vast astronomical knowledge, as well as a calendar curiously similar to that in the Americas.
On some of the islands, early missionaries found people of a lighter skin, who sported reddish hair and blue eyes. Which made me prick up my ears when I learned of a discovery on the other side of the world.
Some sarcophagi had been found at the old Phoenician city of Sidon. On these were some lavishly colored representations which suggest that some of the deceased were blue-eyed and had dark red hair.
In the introduction to this article I was musing on a New Zealand Maori tradition of light-skinned people with red hair and blue eyes, having long ago been driven by the Maori people into a last refuge on the Coromandel Peninsula. In distributing their products to the ends of the earth, the Phoenicians brought within the range of their influence practically every center of population, civilized and uncivilized, known to the ancient world.
Could some descendants of the crews of the Hiram-Solomon maritime expeditions have reached even the remote land of New Zealand?
The Incredible Origins of the Maya Indians!
Modern scholars admit they have no satisfactory explanation for the origin of the Maya civilization. Faced with a complex socio-economic system that suddenly bloomed fully formed and fully functional, the experts begrudgingly say it is "one of the most baffling archaeological mysteries ever uncovered" and "is still deeply shrouded in conjecture." Why should this be so? Why are modern ethnologists and archaeologists so confused? Because, in their hell-bent pursuit of the theory of evolution, they have discarded the wisdom of a people. They have discarded the traditions and legends that have been handed down over the centuries -- and thus loose the tools that would enable them to unravel the mystery of the Maya.
Seen from the air, the tropical rain-forest of the Yucatan peninsula is like a brilliant green blanket stretching to the far horizon. The lush, ever-encroaching forest hides all traces of ancient Maya life -- except for an occasional artificial mountain or an abandoned pyramid that pokes through the tree tops.
When early archaeologists slashed their way through the dense foliage to reach these almost forgotten reminders of a past civilization, they were met by silent figures that stared out from the walls of ancient cities. The languorous, humid air, the constant rainfall, the clinging vegetation and the exotic faces peering out at the explorers had a powerful -- almost hypnotic -- effect on even the most experienced archaeologist. John Lloyd Stephens, who had journeyed up the Nile, ventured to the rock-cut city of Petra and explored the Holy Land had never seen anything like this. Calling the silent figures in one city "grim and mysterious," he fell under the spell of what he found and, as a result of the work he subsequently undertook, Stephens became known as the father of Maya studies. "In the romance of the world's history nothing ever impressed me so forcibly," he later wrote, "than the spectacle of this once great and lovely city, overturned, desolate, and lost...it did not even have a name to distinguish it..."
The Classic Maya
According to the archaeologists, the Classic Maya civilization flourished between 200 B.C. and A.D. 900 -- incorporating more than 100,000 square miles of the Yucatan lowlands. It was a civilization of great lords, a small elite who ruled over as many as fifty independent states and tens of thousands of village farmers. The influence of the Maya extended far from their tropical homeland. They were great TRADERS, maintaining links with states in the Valley of Oaxaca in the highlands and diplomatic relations with the vast city of Teotihuacan in the Basin of Mexico. They perpetuated religious beliefs that took hold over an enormous area of ancient Mesoamerica. Maya leaders were divine kings -- quarrelsome rulers obsessed with power and prestige. They were expert diplomats who were masters of political intrigue. "They built great cities and trading centers around palaces, plazas, and pyramids. Grandiose public buildings were adorned with stone and stucco sculptures of deities and mythical creatures, of lords conducting important ceremonies" (Kingdoms of Gold, Kingdoms of Jade, p. 112).
Maya kings were evidently fanatical about their position in the scheme of things. They erected intricately carved stelae to commemorate their accessions and ancestors.
Everything, however commonplace, unfolded within a wider historic context and against the background of a rich fountain of epic and legend. Today, archaeologists and historians marvel at this complex world. Maya civilization was truly one of the most sophisticated, exotic and volatile cultures of ancient Mesoamerica.
Archaeologists have divided the Maya experience into four basic periods: The Preclassic (also called Formative), the Classic, the Terminal Classic and the Postclassic. The Preclassic period is further divided into Early Preclassic, Middle Preclassic and Late Preclassic with dates of 2000-1000 B.C., 1000-300 B.C., and 300 B.C.-250 A.D. Since these dates are based on radiocarbon dating, we should not take them as being cast in concrete. The radiocarbon dating process contains many errors and/or assumptions that can affect the outcome.
Author Charles Gallenkamp, in his book Maya: The Riddle and Rediscovery of a Lost Civilization, writes --
Regardless of everthing scientists have learned about the Maya so far, we constantly encounter unanswered questions. NO ONE HAS SATISFACTORILY EXPLAINED WHERE OR WHEN MAYA CIVILIZATION ORIGINATED, or how it evolved in an environment so hostile to human habitation. We have almost no reliable information on the origin of their calendar, hieroglyphic writing, and mathematical system; nor do we understand countless details pertaining to sociopolitical organization, religion, economic structure, and everyday life. Even the shattering catastrophe leading to the sudden aboundonment of their greatest cities during the ninth century A.D. -- one of the most baffling archaeological mysteries ever uncovered -- is still deeply shrouded in conjecture. -- Viking Penguin Inc., p. 57.
It seems that the scholarly world is in the dark when it comes to tracing the origins of the Maya and their leaders. Why is this so? Because they are so enamored with the theory of evolution and have a great distain for the traditions and legends of a people. Those, however, with an open mind, can determine the true origins of the Maya Indians of the New World.
They Came from the Land of Caves
In The Annals of the Cakchiquels -- Lords of Totonicapan we find a direct reference to the RACIAL ORIGINS of the kings and nobles who led and governed the Maya in the New World.
Notice -- These, then, were the THREE NATIONS OF THE QUICHES [MAYANS -- the Cauecs, the Greathouses and the Lord Quiches], and they came from where the sun rises, DESCENDANTS OF ISRAEL, of the same language and the same customs....When they arrived at the edge of the [Red] sea, BALAM-QITZE [a native title for one in a religious office] touched it with his staff and at once A PATH OPENED, which then closed up again, for thus the great God wished it to be done,
BECAUSE THEY WERE SONS OF ABRAHAM AND JACOB. So it was that those THREE NATIONS passed through, and with them THIRTEEN OTHERS CALLED VULKAMAG....We have written that which by tradition our ancestors told us, who came from the other part of the sea, WHO CAME FROM CIVAN-TULAN, BORDERING BABYLONIA. -- Translated by Delia Goetz. University of Oklahoma Press, 1953, p. 170.
On page 169 of the same translation we read: "...came from the other part of the ocean, FROM WHERE THE SUN RISES."
In the Mesoamerican dialects the mysterious CIVAN-TULAN in the above passage means "A PLACE OF CAVES OR RAVINES." Could this be the region of PETRA where Moses led the Israelites? Petra is famous for its caves, and deep ravines. Herman Hoeh notes that "CANAANITE HIVITES, mixed with Egyptian stock, dwelt at Petra, or Mt. Seir, at the time of the Exodus (Genesis 36:2, 20, 24). They lived at peace with the Hebrews." (Compendium of World History. Ambassador College, 1963. Vol. II, p. 88).
Under the control of the Canaanite Hittites was a land called KHURRI. Notes the Encyclopedia Britannica, "besides the Hittite, Khattish and Luish, still another language [of the Hittites] has been revealed by the inscriptions at Boghazkeui -- Khurrish (Hittite khurlili), which is thus named after a people, empire and, apparently, also a city Khurri. The country Khurri (WHICH MEANS PROPERLY "HOLLOWS, CAVERNS"), must be looked for in North Mesopotamia and the bordering Armenian mountains" (1943 edition. Vol. 11, p. 603).
The Britannica goes on to say: "Hrozny regards the North Mesopotamian town Urfa, Gr. Orrhoe, Edessa, as the centre of the empire of Khurri....In Assyria Urfa seems to be called Khurra. As the name prabably means "CAVERN[S]," it is possible to suppose that Khurra-Urfa received this name on account of the NUMEROUS CAVERNS in the Nimrud Dagh of the surrounding country" (ibid., p. 604).
Not only that, but the encyclopedia goes on to reveal that --Occasionally Khurri is synonymous with SYRIA generally. The country Kharu, more exactly Khor of the Egyptian inscriptions, as also the Old Testament people, the Khorites (until now usually considered to be "DWELLERS IN THE CAVERNS") who, according to Gen. xiv. 6, Deut. ii. 12 and 22, inhabited the LAND OF EDOM before the Edomites, is identical with this Khurri. -- Ibid., p. 604.
Interestingly, the Khurri-Khorites also belong, like the Khatti, to the large-nosed, sloping forehead and high cheek-boned race which was neither Semite nor Indo-European -- but bears the features of many of the American Indian tribes in the New World!
Some of the people who later sailed across the Atlantic to Mesoamerica were called CHIVIM, reports Ordonez the early Spanish writer. It is the very Hebrew spelling used for the English word HIVITES, some of whom once LIVED IN MT. SEIR -- the LAND OF CAVES NEAR BABYLONIA!
The area of Petra was, at that time, DOMINATED BY MIDIAN. A high priest who visited the land of Midian and MOAB in Moses' day was called BALAAM -- almost the EXACT-SAME SPELLING as the title BALAM used by the priests of the QUICHE-MAYA in Mesoamerica!
Balaam was a wicked Israelite whose donkey talked to him for dissoneying the Lord. Does the Semitic name Balaam have any relation with the Maya title BALAM?
The Kharu of Egypt
The Kharu of the Egyptian inscriptions are clearly Canaanite in origin. History reveals that the Canaanites formed a fixed, settled population in the eastern marshes of Lower Egypt at a very early time. To this very day descendants of these Canaanites live in the very same region where their forefathers settled thousands of years ago -- on the shores of Lake Menzaleh. "Near the old towns and districts of Ramses...a DISTINCTLY PECULIAR RACE OF FISHERMEN AND SAILORS, whose manners and customs, whose historical traditions, faint though they be, and whose ideas on religious matters, characterize them as foreigners in contrast with the Egyptians proper....The[se] same inhabitants of the eastern provinces [of Egypt], who at the present day navigate in their barks the shallow waters of Lake Menzaleh, and carry on the fishing as their chief business, are, as has been said, the descendants of the Phoenician [Canaanite] inhabitants of the Tanitic and Sethroitic nomes....What, however, forms the most characteristic MARK of their ancient and now forgotten origin, is their NON-EGYPTIAN COUNTENANCE...WITH THE BROAD CHEEKBONES AND DEFIANTLY POUTING LIPS, which more than anything else give to the boatmen of Lake Menzaleh the stamp of the foreigner" (A History of Egypt Under the Pharaohs, by Henry Brugsch-Bey. Second edition, Vol. I. John Murray, London 1881, pp. 258-260).
The presence of KHAR-CANAANITES IN EGYPT is made known to us by the inscriptions. Their importance in the affairs of Egypt culminates in the fact, revealed by the monuments, that a Khar or Canaanite, towards the end of the Nineteenth Dynasty, was able to make himself master of the throne and sovereign over all Egypt. The name Khar denoted not only a people, but also the country they inhabited -- namely parts of western Asia, the Syrian coast, and, above all others, the LAND OF CANAAN. "The abodes of the people of the Khar, or the Phoenicians [Canaanites], were described as 'beginning with the Fortress of Zar (Tanis-Ramses), and extending to Aupa or Aup.' The last-mentioned name denotes a place in the north of Palestine..." (ibid., p. 256).
Not only did the Kharu (Khars) settle the eastern part of the Egyptian delta, but they also spread to oases in the Libyan desert west of the delta. One such oasis is that of KHAR-GA. Lying 435 miles south-west of Cairo, this oasis is presently inhabited by people of BERBER STOCK --descendants of the original Khars.
Another such oasis is that of SIWA, located some 350 miles W.S.W. of Cairo. Once again, this area is inhabited by people of Berber or Canaanite stock, and have a language all of their own.
During the time the Khars/Canaanites (also known as Berbers) dominated Egypt, expeditions were dispatched to other lands. At the end of their dominance in Egypt they, themselves, undertook a MIGRATION to the distant islands of the Pacific!
Notice what John Mitchell and Christine Rhone say in their book Twelve-Tribe Nation
According to Max Freedom Long, the early expert on Polynesian magic and shamanism, there are in fact only eleven Polynesian tribes. In his book of 1948, The Secret Science behind Miracles, he tells of the legend of the twelfth tribe, and how it became separated from the others.
Long's informant was a retired journalist, William Reginald Stewart, who had spent some time in NORTH AFRICA being instructed by a native wise woman in the magical traditions of a certain BERBER TRIBE. This tribe, he was told, was once one of twelve whose homeland was the Sahara, at a time when it was watered and fertile. With the onset of drought, the twelve tribes MOVED TO THE NILE VALLEY and became MASTERS OF EGYPT....There came a time when their prophets foresaw an age of darkness, when their ancient traditions would be threatened. To preserve their knowledge, they decided to disperse and to find refuge in the loneliest parts of the earth. Eleven of the tribes moved eastward, passing through the Red Sea and along the coasts of India...towards the various groups of Polynesian islands. The twelfth tribe went in the other direction, to the Atlas mountains.
The authors of Twelve-Tribe Nations continue --On reading Long's first book on the magic of the Polynesian kahunas, the native shamans, he [Stewart] was struck by the SIMILARITY between their religious terms and those of his BERBERS. The word for shaman, kahuna, was COMMON to them both (though spelt quahuna by the Berbers); a female shaman, kahuna wahini, corresponded to the African's quahuna quahini; and akua, a god in Polynesian, was rendered atua. These and other parallels obviously indicated a SINGLE ORIGIN.
Long found this information to be compatible with the migration legends of the Hawaiians, and was thus inclined to accept the testimony of Mr. Stewart. The secret magical lore of the Polynesians, as well as of the Berbers, came from Egypt when they were the masters of the land.
They Came From the East...
In Stephen's Incidents of Travel in Central America, the author quotes what Fuentes (chronicler of the ancient kingdom of Guatemala and of the Toltecan Indians) said of the origin of the leaders of the Quiche Maya. Fuentes said that, according to the grandson of the last king of the Quiches, the TOLTECS WERE ISRAELITES, released by Moses from the tyranny of Pharaoh. After crossing the Red Sea they became idolators.
Aaron & Moses
To escape the reproofs of Moses, they strayed away and, under the leadership of a man named Tanub, drifted from continent to continent until they came to a place they called the SEVEN CAVERNS -- a part of the kingdom of Mexico. Here they founded the city of TULA. The story recounts that from Tanub, their leader, sprang the ruling families of the Toltec and the Quiche Maya.
Of these Toltecs, who were in 1519 only a distant memory, Don Fernando writes...And the Tultecs...came to these parts, having first passed over great lands and seas, LIVING IN CAVES and passing through great hardships, until getting to this land. -- Primera Relacion.
The record of this voyage is found in The Popul Vuh -- the Quiche Mayan book of creation. Originally written in MAYAN hieroglyphs, it was transcribed in the Spanish alphabet in the sixteenth century. This book is considered the most important text in the native languages of the Americas, and begins with the deeds of MAYAN gods in the darkness of a primeval sea and ends with the radiant splendor of the MAYAN LORDS who founded the QUICHE KINGDOM in the GUATEMALAN HIGHLANDS.
Who were these MAYAN LORDS who founded the Quiche kingdom? Where did they come from?
In The Popul Vuh are recorded the migrations and wanderings of their ancestors. Notes Herman L. Hoeh: "It traces their origin EASTWARD ACROSS THE ATLANTIC OCEAN to the OLD WORLD. Other Indians had similar origins of having to cross A GREAT BODY OF WATER FROM THE NORTHEAST to reach their present land" (Compendium of World History, Vol. II, p. 88).
The author of The Popul Vuh records it this way: "They also multiplied there IN THE EAST....All lived together, they existed in GREAT NUMBERS and walked there in the EAST....There they were then, in great numbers, the black man and the white man, many of many classes, men of many tongues....The speech of all was the same. They did not invoke wood nor stone, and they REMEMBERED THE WORD OF THE CREATOR AND THE MAKER..." (English version by Goetz and Morley, pp. 171-172).
The MAYA record continues: "...THEY CAME FROM THE EAST...they left there, from that great distance....THEY CROSSED THE SEA" (pp. 181, 183).
Briefly summarized, the Popul Vuh and other Mesoamerican traditions relate that humans were created in the EAST and lived there in darkness. The ancestors of the Maya left the East "crossing the SEA in A FLEET OF SEVEN VESSELS carrying 'many companies,' and SAILED ALONG THE GULF OF MEXICO COAST to its farthest westward point, at PANUCO, where the people debarked" (Pre-Columbian Transoceanic Contacts, by Stephen C. Jett). They were evidently led to TULA by priests -- "bookmen" who carried their symbols of rank and their gods with them.
In 1615, Juan de Torquemada, who was fluent in the Nahuatl language, published in his Los veinte i un libros rituales i monarguia indiana:
...certain NATIONS OF PEOPLE, who arrived by way of Panuco, came from the north...[after skirting the Gulf of Mexico]
These people moved onward from Panuco with good diligence without either a warlike encounter or a battle...by chance coming as far as Tulla (where they arrived and were received and given lodging by the natives of that province)...when these people arrived in Tullan [Tula], they brought with them a very important person as chief, who governed them, and whom they called Quetzalcohuatl (whom afterwards the Cholultecas worshipped as a god). -- Editorial Porrua, Mexico (1969), vol. I, pp. 254-255.
There were FOUR Quetzalcoatls in the Mesoamerican traditions; and the exploits and persona of each of them have become blurred and jumbled over the ages. The Quetzalcoatl that de Torquemada mentions here is the second one -- Tanub, the Israelite leader of the Toltecs that passed through the Red Sea.
Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, in his Historia Guarania, Asuncion de Paraguay (1944), vol. IV, pp. 108-109, relates the same story --
After the foundation of Mexico, and all the land, NEW PEOPLES came, from toward the north, they landed at Panuco, they wore long clothes, open in front, without cowls, (with) low-cut collars, short sleeves, and wide, which until this time the natives used in their dances, imitating that NATION, which without opposition passed as far as Tulo, where they were well received, for it was a people of much industry in whatever art, and in cultivating the land, and thus they were loved by all; and not being able to sustain themselves in Tulo, for being very populated, they passed to Cholulan, where they established themselves, and from there they settled in Guaxaca (Oaxaca), and in Mixteca Baxa, and (Mixteca) Alta, and Capotecas: they taught good administration (mucha policia) in all the land: and for this (reason), in being some men of prudence, and industry, they called them TOLOTECAS, for in Tulo they commenced to teach; and it is thus, that the Tolotecas are charitable...
In most versions, these culture-bearer ancestors came to TULA. The Aztec and the Maya both seem to have inherited the legend from the TOLTECS; and one version places the arrival of these ancestors during the OLMEC
Remains of Tula
Shortly after the group arrived in the valley of Mexico the leaders, according to the traditions, either left for home or to continue on their quest. Those voyagers who remained in the region settled near the highest mountains they could find and commenced building the city of Tula in an easily defensible location. Eventually they married into the local population -- to whom they taught the arts of civilization. "When their leaders returned, the settlers would not accompany them homeward" (The Popul Vuh). Generations later, the sons of these priest-kings returned to the east on a mission that we will discuss later in this article.
Montezuma, the Aztec leader when the Spaniard Cortez invaded Mexico, reminded his ministers and high dignitaries:
You know, as I do, that our ancestors did not hail from this country we live in, but came here from a far distant land, led by a GREAT PRINCE. This prince then left the country again with only a few of his followers, but returned a long time afterwards. He saw that our ancestors, his subjects, had built towns, had chosen wives from the daughters of the country, and had had children by them; that they had settled in their new land and would not go back with him, their prince. Since they no longer wanted him as their ruler, he went away alone, announcing that he would one day in the remote future either return himself with an immense army or send someone in his name to take back what was his due. -- A speech given by Montezuma soon after the arrival of the Spaniards. Recorded in "In Search of the Roots of Ancient American Civilization," New Dawn, April/May 1994. Number 24.
Upon meeting Cortez face-to-face, Montezuma told the interloper: "For a long time and by means of our writings, we have possessed a knowledge, transmitted from our ancestors, that neither I nor any of us who inhabit this land are of native origin. We are FOREIGNERS and came here from very remote parts. We possess information that our lineage was led to this land by a PRINCE to whom we all owed allegiance (vasalage). (Ibid.)
The Talented Toltecs
It has only been in the last forty years or so that the Toltecs themselves have finally emerged from obscurity -- and their great capital, the legendary Tollan (Tula), was brought to light.
Writes Charles Gallenkamp --Myths concerning Tollan were common in Mexican folklore. Among the first European chronicles to mention this site was a Franciscan friar, Bernadino de Sahagun, who referred to it in his monumental work entitled A General History of the Things of New Spain, also known as the Florentine Codex...almost everything they [the Aztecs] accomplished -- had been strongly influenced by peoples who inhabited central Mexico LONG BEFORE the Aztecs rose to power in the fourteenth century. Unfailingly, these precursors were identified as the TOLTECS, whose capital, TOLLAN, was reportedly one of the most magnificent cities in Mexico. So highly skilled were the Toltecs, wrote Sahagun, that "nothing they did was difficult for them....They cut green stone [jade], and they cast gold, and made other works of the craftsman and the feather-worker....And these Toltecs enjoyed great wealth; they were rich; never were they poor. Nothing did they lack in their homes...." (Maya: The Riddle and Rediscovery of a Lost Civilization. Viking, 1985, pp. 162-163.)
A sixteenth-century Aztec noble, Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, who was an interpreter for the Spanish viceroy in Mexico City, complied a lengthy version of his people's history which also declared that the stimulus underlying the rise and greatness of Aztec culture was largely derived from the Toltecs.
"Ixtlilxochitl portrayed them as masters of art, architecture, calendrics, medicine, and engineering, with a fierce dedication to religion and a love of rich pagentry. Toltec laws were said to have been strict but justly enforced, and their most important priest-king was the famous Quetzalcoatl, the 'living divinity' who dwelled among the builders of Tollan." (Ibid., p. 163.)
Diego Duran declares that "...the disciples whom the Papa [Quetzalcoatl] brought, whom they called Toltecas and sons of the sun...had their principal seat [of government] in Cholula although they roamed all the land..."
Ixtlilxochitl, though not mentioning Quetzalcoatl in the context, described the apparel worn by the Toltecas --
The Tulteca men, particularly in time of warmth, dressed in their cloaks and trunks of cotton; and in times of coldness they donned some long jackets without sleeves, which reached to their knees, with their cloaks and trunks; they wore shoes in their style, cotaras or catles [cactli] of henequen -- the women their huipiles and petticoats and likewise their cotaras of their own; and when they went outside they donned some white cloaks embroided with many colors, sharp-pointed at the shoulders, as in the manner of a hood of a friar although they reached to the knee pits; they called this cloak toxquemitl.
The priests wore some [white] tunics and others black ones that reached to the ground, with their hoods with which they covered the[ir] head[s], their hair long, plaited, which reached to the shoulders, their eyes always lowered and humble, their feet bare at the time of their fasts; and when they were in the temple they seldom wore shoes unless they went outside on a long journey...
When the Tultecas fought, they donned some [clothes] in the manner of long TUNICS OF A THOUSAND COLORS to their heels, embroided and very thick and heavy...[and some had] long lances and others [spear] throwers and clubs studded with iron [iron swords?]. They wore helmets [morriones y celadas] of copper and gold, and some used bucklers, principally those who carried clubs. Likewise the Tultecas wore the rest of the clothes that I have mentioned above, tunics like those of the priests, white although different, neither more nor less than the tunics that our religious priests wear underneath; for besides being like these, they have [had] sleeves like those of the oidores and certain hoods, as I have already declared above...
Their clothing was some long tunics in the manner of the long robes which the Japanese use and as footwear they wore sandals and used some[thing] in the manner of hats made of straw or palm. -- Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, Obras Historicas, Editora Nacional, Mexico (1965), vol. I, pp. 40-41, 56, 71, vol. II, p. 33.
The "tunics of a thousand colors" is one of the identifying signs of the Israelite tribes descended from Joseph -- and is the origin of the tartans worn by the clans of Scotland.
The Man called Odin
During the 2nd millennium B.C. the region of Scandinavia (and particularly the peninsula of Denmark) became a chief area of trade and commerce. It was strategically located to dominate both the North and Baltic sea trade. So, together with the original German tribes of the CYMRY and DAUCIONES were migrants from Britain -- the HEBREW CYMRY transplanted by Hu the Mighty or Joshua of Jericho fame. "In 1040 [B.C.]" relates Herman L. Hoeh, "the HEBREW CYMRY called for a DESCENDANT OF JUDAH, A ROYAL SCION OF THE HOUSE OF TROY, to rule over them." "ODIN," continues Hoeh, "answered the call and led a migration OUT OF THRACE into DENMARK and neighboring regions" (Compendium of World History. Vol. II. Ambassador College, 1963, p. 50).
Also known as WODEN, WOTAN and DAN, Odin is the foremost hero of Norse mythology and, as such, was worshipped by the pagan forebears of the Anglo-Saxons, the Scandinavians, the Germans and THE CANAANITES in their midst! As the chief god of the northern pantheon, he is said to have been the father of several legendary kings. "His exploits and adventures," notes the Encyclopedia Britannica, "are a common theme in the poetic and prose Eddas. Here his character is distinguished rather by wisdom than martial prowess, and reference is frequently made to his skill in poetry and magic" (Vol. 16, 1943 edition, p. 704).
Human sacrifices were frequently offered to ODIN, especially prisoners taken in battle; and the worship of ODIN seems to have prevailed chiefly, if not solely, in military circles. He was known to the Anglo-Saxons as WODEN, and to the Germans as WODAN (WUOTAN).
Writes Herman L. Hoeh: "In Danish history he is also called DAN I. He was the FIRST ODIN or VOTAN -- from the Hebrew ADONAI meaning 'lord.' Denmark originally received its name from the TRIBE OF DANAAN. It passed to the king who took the name of the subjects whom he ruled" (Compendium of World History, Vol. II, p. 43).
The magazine Wake Up!, in its August 1980 issue, explains that "whilst such deification of ancestors can only be deplored, there is firm reason to assert that ODIN WAS A MIGHTY LEADER OF THE ISRAEL PEOPLE during their westward trek from ancient Scythia [which included Thrace] -- the region to the north of the BLACK AND CASPIAN SEAS -- towards the fringe countries of the North Sea" (Covenant Publishing Co., Ltd. London, p. 18).
King DAN I, or ODIN, commenced his reign in Scandinavia in the year 1040 B.C. and his line, the sagas reveal, stretched all the way back to TROY! "The repeated assertions and implications," notes The Link magazine, "that the families descended from ODIN (or WODEN) derive from the ANCIENT TROJAN KINGS (often thought to belong to the fanciful category) may indeed prove to have FIRM FOUNDATION IN TRUTH."
"Several factors," continues this publication, "provide evidence which is harmonious with such a claim. Ancient classical and extra-Biblical sources indicate that the TROJAN KINGS were of the ROYAL LINE OF JUDAH and that they were closely related to other ROYAL FAMILIES IN IONA, GREECE AND CRETE. The early British king-line is traditionally DESCENDED THROUGH THE TROJAN KINGS, and the kings of Ireland are stated to have sprung from the MILESIAN ROYAL FAMILY in IONA into which 'Pharaoh's daughter' married."
"Accepting these sources," notes the magazine, "the royal families of the NORTHERN NATIONS OF EUROPE -- Irish-Scottish, Early British, Frankish, Norwegian -- are all of the SCEPTRE TRIBE OF JUDAH and the many intermarriages of these royal lines would thus all be within the one great royal family of which so much is prophesied in Scripture. Queen Elizabeth II has stated that she is WODEN-BORN" (Dec. 1981. Christian Israel Foundation, Walsall, England, p. 117).
The genealogy of Odin is traced by Gladys Taylor when she states that "the royal families of England [and] Wales...sprang from BRUTUS THE TROJAN, while those of the SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES came from ODIN, whose genealogy," she confirms, "as given in the Prologue to the Prose Edda, is traced TO PRIAM KING OF TROY..." (The Magnet of the Isles. The Covenant Book Co., Ltd. London, 1971, p. 37).
From Priam Herman L. Hoeh traces Odin's lineage all the way back to Jacob! (See Compendium of World History, Vol. II, p. 48).
The Land of Thrace
At this juncture we should digress a little and locate the area known as "THRACE." This will help us to understand the migrations of the Canaanites who fled from Joshua and the Israelites and, at a later time, were led from Thrace to Scandinavia under the leadership of Dan I of the House of Judah.
"Thrace," notes the Encyclopedia Britannica, "[is] a name applied at various periods to areas of different extent....The boundaries of the ROMAN PROVINCE OF THRACE were -- north, the Haemus; east, THE EUXINE SEA [BLACK SEA]; south, the Propontis, the HELLESPONT and the AEGEAN; and west, the Nestus. The distinguishing features of the country were the mountain chain of Rhodope (Despotodagh) and THE RIVER HEBRUS (Maritza)." "The HEBRUS," continues the Britannica, "with its tributaries, drains almost the whole of THRACE" (1943 edition. Vol. 22, p. 159).
The 1946 edition of the Britannica describes the people who anciently inhabited this region. In the article on Thrace, we read --
The name Thrace, because it has been used as a geographical term as well as an ethnic description, has added to the confusion. Thrace was inhabited by indigenous tribes, as well as by Celtic [Israelite] Tribes such as the Getas. The aboriginal inhabitants were the RED-SKINNED THRACIANS mentioned by the Greek writers and they differed from the Celtic tribes not only in complexion but also in customs and religion. (Herodotos, V. 14.)
The native Thracians were called RED-SKINS by the Greeks; and the word "Phoenician" means reddish dye in the Greek language.
The Britannica continues --The most outstanding archaeological monuments of this prehistoric period are the MOUND-LIKE TOMBS, that were generally located in the outskirts of the ancient cities....There is no well-defined difference between the aboriginal Thracians and the native Illyrians. All of the Thracian tribes and the Illyrian tribes practiced TATTOOING, which distinguished them from the Celtic tribes that had from time to time dominated them.
Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia defines the boundaries of Thrace in much the same manner, adding that "the THRACIANS were a barbaric, warlike people who established their own kingdom in the 5th century B.C." (Vol. 23, p. 140). Also, the Thracian tribes tattooed themselves, thus being distinguished from the Celtic tribes.
Dr. Jackson, Professor of Celtic Languages at the University of Edinburgh, states in The Problem of the Picts that the Picts arrived in Scotland and England from Trace and Illyria. The Thracians and Illyrians observed and practiced the very same customs that were observed by the Picts of the British Isles (Wainwright, op. cit., p. 132).
In the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica we find the following --Herodotus and other Greek historians portrayed the Illyrians as a semi-savage people; they viewed them as the most savage tribes of Thrace. Both peoples they described as practitioners of the art of tattooing. They painted their bodies and sacrificed human victims to their gods. The women of Illyria occupied as exalted position in tribal society and even exercised political authority. The queens are referred to as despots or royal personages. -- Vol. XIV, p. 326. Article "Illyria."
These are very important points to remember. The people of Illyria practiced the very same customs we find among the Picts and the Indian tribes of America! These peoples were completely different from those of other European peoples including the Celts.
If we go to the Encyclopedia Britannica again, we find revealed that the inhabitants of Thrace were men of RED SKIN! Herodotus adds that the Thracians resembled the people of Illyria ("Thracia," ibid., Vol. XXVI, p. 886).
Going now to The Universal Encyclopedia Illustrated ("Thracia," La Encyclopedia Universal Illustrada, Europeo-Americana, Vol. LXIII, p. 329), we read:
A custom unique to the Thracians was tattooing. The nobles painted the hair of their head blue.
The weight of all the evidence we have just uncovered plainly indicates that the Picts, on beginning their march to the British Isles, departed from the region that included the ancient territories of Thrace and Illyria. "From this area came the American Indians who the Europeans found inhabiting this continent when they arrived!" (The Roots of the American Indian, p. 49).
Elucidates Herman L. Hoeh: It was FROM THRACE that ODIN led THE AGATHYRSI and OTHER TRIBES to northwestern Europe when he founded the Danish kingdom.
Many of the warriors employed by the early princes of western Europe were FIERCE, OF SWARTHY SKIN, NAKED AND OFTEN TATTOOED AND PAINTED. Strabo, the Roman geographer, wrote that AREAS OF IRELAND AND BRITAIN were inhabited "by MEN ENTIRELY WILD." Jerome, writing in one of his letters in the fifth century, characterizes some of them as CANNIBALS. -- Compendium of World History, Vol. II, p. 86.
With ODIN when he migrated from Thrace to the area of Scandinavia was a MIXED THRONG of people -- including the Pactyae or Picts who were descendants of the CANAANITES Joshua drove out of the Promised Land. Julius Firmicus, an early writer, recorded that "in Ethiopia all are born black; in Germany, white; and IN THRACE, RED." At the time of Odin's great migration Thrace was populated by various of the Canaanite tribes who had fled from Canaan as the Children of Israel invaded the land, as well as the children of Tiras, son of Japheth.
The Feathered Headdresses
While in Asia Minor some of the Canaanite tribes became known as the LYKIANS and the Solymoi. Herodotus (I. 173) states that the Lykians were called SOLYMOI and that they lived as transhumant shepherds. Herodotus also records that an earlier name for Lykia (where the Lykians lived) was Milyas (very similar to the name Mayas), and that the Lykians were called the Milyai. He said that the Milyai of his day were descendants of the Solymoi. The Lykians, he says, were uniquely MATRILINEAL -- a custom that was to identify these Canaanites wherever they migrated to.
In the Iliad the Lykians are pictured as being BOWMEN, and historian Cyclone Covey shows that the "Luqqa [Lykians] had existed as a hardy, rebellious people on the frontier of the Hittite Empire and sometimes within it, by that name, much earlier than Greek memory of Lykians as transmitted by Homer, Herodotos, or Kephalion" (Homeric Troy and the Sea Peoples. Copple House Books, Inc. Lakemont, GA. 1987, p. 115).
Notes Covey --LYKIA, IONIA and KARIA are places where we can locate a custom of FULL-CIRCLE FEATHERED HEADDRESSES for warriors...they are found depicted on Cyprus, in Syria-Palestine, in Egypt, and at Tiryns....A relief of Sennacherib's at Nineveh c. 700 B.C. so depicts the headgear of processing Ionians and Karians. Herodotos notes (VII. 92) that Lykian sailors in Xerxe's expedition against Greece (still) wore "a hat ENCIRCLED WITH PLUMES" (ibid., p. 142).
Covey goes on to say "the probability persists that the mountaineers of Lykia clung to the FEATHERD WAR-BONNET for five centuries after it had gone out of style elsewhere in western Asia Minor. [Maybe the other wearers moved out of the area?] If not a more general practice, it might have been a local one peculiar to the TROAD, introduced into Lykia..." (ibid., p. 143).
Eventually these tribes migrated to the Aegean and left their marks on the various islands of the area. T. R. Bryce in The Lukka Problem -- and a Possible Solution (JNES XXXIII/4, October 1974, p. 404) says "there must have been two main groups of Luqqa people, one in the vicinity of Lykaonia, the other in KARIA...[hypothesizing] an original Luqqa homeland in the former and a MIGRATION of a large part of the SEMI-NOMADIC TRIBESMEN via the MAIander Valley to the Aegean." Covey adds that "such a migration would have occurred by the time of Tudkhaliyash II [a Hittite king] when, as the Madduwattash indictment attests, ten towns associatable with Luqqa were already in place." These towns, which recur in later Hittite documents from the time of Khattushilish III through Tudkhaliyash IV, include Attarimma, Iyalanda, DALAWA, and WALLARIMMA. Interestingly, we find two North American Indian tribes with the names of DELAWARE and WALLA WALLA -- in all likelihood derived from these towns of the Lykians. F.J Tritsch stresses that "the unsettled mobility of Luqqa tribes meant that they, like Illyrians or Epirots, might turn up in locales great distances apart" (Der Alte OrientXVIII, pps. 494-502).
Traditions of folk-movements were preserved not only by the Greek-speaking peoples but also by the survivors of other races -- races which had been in contact with the Aegean area in the Bronze Age. "Thus," writes N. G. L. Hammond, "Thucydides could state with confidence that...in the time of 'Minos' CARIANS AND PHOENICIANS occupied most of the Aegean islands....These traditions are certainly compatible with the broad deductions based on the archaeological evidence" (A History of Greece to 322 B.C. Second Edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1967, p. 58).
"The Carians," continues Hammond, "claimed they were native to south-west Asia Minor and and expanded thence into the islands....The Phoenicians claimed to have migrated from the Erythraean Sea (that is, southern Arabia) to the Syrian coast, where they expanded into the Aegean islands; their occupation of Thera is stated to have extended over eight generations, of which five were anterior to the Trojan War" (ibid., p. 58). The arrival of Phoenicians at Thera and Cadmus at Thebes c. 1350 B.C. is supported by the cylinder-seals of King Burraburrias II (1367-1346) -- found in the palace at Thebes.ç
Apparently, the Karians (Carians) and their kin the Phoenicians, arrived in the islands of the Aegean at about the same time -- one group by land, the other by sea. Notes J.B. Bury: "For several centuries after the Trojan War the trade of the Aegean with the east was partly carried on by strangers. The men who took advantage of this opening were the traders of the city-states of SIDON and TYRE on the Syrian coast....The Greeks knew these bronzed...traders by the same name, Phoenikes or "RED MEN," which they had before applied to the Cretans. This led to some confusion in their traditions" (A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great. Random House, N.Y. 1913, p. 69).
This author goes on to show --The evidence of the Homeric poems shows clearly that between the commercial enterprise of the heroic age and the commercial enterprise of the later Greeks there was an interval of perhaps two hundred years or thereabouts, during which no Greek state possessed a sea-power strong enough to exclude foreign merchants from Greek seas, and trade was consequently shared by Greek and Tyrian merchants...and the CARIANS developed a considerable sea-power. -- Ibid., pp. 69-70.
These "strangers" planted permanent settlements at Camirus in Rhodes and on the island of Cythera. They had stations at the purple fisheries of Cos and and Nisyros and Erythrae and elsewhere, and were the first to tap the goldmines of Siphnos and Thasos and even the silver-mines of Attica. The Karians and/or Lykians left their mark on the Aegean islands of Ios, Tenos, Andros, Patmos, Leros, Piraeus, Naxos, Aguis, Sikinos, Anafe and Karpathos before moving on to the area that later became known as Thrace.
We can easily see that the inhabitants of the Aegean islands and the surrounding areas were the descendants of Canaan; and we can easily see from their characteristics that they were the ancestors of the American Indians! The Universal Encyclopedia Illustrated, Europe-America ("ilirio," 1925, Vol. XXVIII, p. 998) tells us that "Herodotus described them as savages, tattooing their skin and offering human sacrifices; their women enjoyed a very HIGH SOCIAL POSITION which even included the exercise of political power; and we have a great number of names of their rulers."
In the plains of the TROAD on the other side of the Aegean Sea can be seen a great number of mounds that date to the time of the first inhabitants of that region, the Lykians. The Universal Encyclopedia Illustrated, in an article entitled "Troy" (Vol. LXIII, p. 329), says --Near the city exists several tombs discovered by Schlieman who supposed that they were the tombs of the heroes of the Trojan War, and whose contents did not raise any speculation on his part since it seemed obvious what their contents were; this was especially true concerning the date of their construction.
Explaining these similarities Dr. Benjamin M. Rea, in his thesis The Roots of the American Indian, points out that "these facts, without doubt, identify the first inhabitants of the American continent as men with RED SKIN. In addition, they practiced the art of TATTOOING and CONSTRUCTED MOUNDS similar to those we find in the Mississippi Valley and Mexico" (Ehud International Language Foundation, Walnut Creek, CA, p. 36).
Rea goes on to make some striking discoveries --Another proof that provides us with additional evidence that cannot be discarded is the similarity of the names of the indigenous tribes that inhabited the borders of the Aegean Sea with names of the islands that are located in the Aegean Sea. Many of these islands still carry the names of the Indian tribes....These names reveal something truly amazing when we consider them in the light of our search. It is well known that when the Europeans arrived at the Americas, the Indians did not know how to write according to the phonetic system of the Europeans; and, naturally, the Europeans pronounced the Indian names according to their own sound system and consequently wrote them in compliance with their own phonetic code. For example, the French, on hearing the sound SIOUX, wrote it according to the French sound system; and the Spanish, upon hearing the SAME SOUND in Central America, called one of the tribes of the Mayas XIUS. This word has almost the same sound in the two languages, but the written representation appears different at first glance.
Continues Rea --Now let us look for names in the area of the Aegean Sea that are SIMILAR to names of the American Indians of pre-Columbiam times.
We find islands bearing the following names: Ios, Tenos Andros, Naxos, Aquis, Sikinos, Patmos, Leros, Piraeus, Anafe, and Karpathos.
Based on the similarity of names...the name Sioux and Xius...derived from the Island of Xios (Ios). The Aztecs that finally settled in Mexico began their long migration from the Island of Tenos and called their island city in the lake of Texcoco, Tenochtitlan. (The name Tenochtitlan means the island in the water).
The tribe named Androa started its march toward the west from Andros and still bears the name in the State of Oregon, U.S.A., where they lived among the trees. (The word Androa or Andros means the people that lived in the forest.)
The Patoes (Columbia, S.A.) originally came from the Island of Patmos; the Lecos (Brazil, S.A.) from Leros; the Piros or Peiraieis (Chihuahua) from Piraeus; the Nahoas from Naxos; the Haquios (Guatemala, S.A.) from Aquis; the Siquias (Honduras, S.A.) from Sikinos; the Anafes (Brazil, S.A.) from Anafe; and the Arapahoes or Karpazos (Colorado, U.S.A.) from the Island of Karpathos.
Only in the Aegaen Sea and in America do we find such a striking similarity of names. -- Ibid., pp. 37-38.
In addition to the names just mentioned by Rea, we find the Penutian language tribe of COOS (COS) in Oregon -- obviously derived from the Aegean island of Cos. Also, in the same area of the U.S. we find the Tenino tribe, plainly derived from the Karian island of Tenedos, off the coast of the Troad. Amongst the Algonquin-speaking people of North America is the tribe of Delua or Delaas -- the name deriving from the Aegean island of Delos. The family of Canaan subdivided into various other tribes -- among which are the Mayas, Amazons, Caribes and the Tine or Thyni, according to the Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Classics. The Tinne Indians, called by the Greeks Thyni, live to this very day in Canada. The Amazon Indians of South America gave their mane to the Amazon River. "The MAYAS live in Mexico and Guatemala and took their name from the Greek goddess MAIA, daughter of Atlas and one of the seven Pleiades" (ibid., pp. 38-39). In the Caribbean live the Caribes, the same tribe that once lived on the shores of the Aegean Sea.
Eventually these tribes in the area of the Aegean Sea were incorporated into what later became known as the land of Thrace.
Journey to the New World
Shortly after arriving in Scandinavia from Thrace, ODIN embarked on a venture that was to take him, along with his followers, thousands of miles across the ocean to a mystical land shrouded in legend. This was a result of the descendants of the original migrants seeking to establish their kingdom and authority over the people: "And then they remembered what had been said about THE EAST. This is when they remembered the instructions of their fathers. The ancient things received from their fathers were not lost. The tribes gave them their wives, becoming their fathers-in-law as they took wives. And there were THREE OF THEM who said, as they were about to go away: 'We are GOING TO THE EAST, WHERE OUR FATHERS CAME FROM,' they said, then they followed their road...There were only THREE [who went across the sea], but they had skill and knowledge....They advised all their brothers, elder and younger, who were left behind. They were glad to go: 'We're not dying. We're coming back,' they said when they went, yet it was these same three who WENT CLEAR ACROSS THE SEA. And then they ARRIVED IN THE EAST; THEY WENT THERE TO RECEIVE LORDSHIP" (Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life, translated by Dennis Tedlock. A Touchstone Book, published by Simon & Schuster. N.Y. 1986, p. 203).
SONS [descendants] OF THE PRIEST-KINGS RETURNED TO THE EAST, where they received from the KING OF THE EAST the insignia and symbols of ROYALTY, including the canopy and throne. They then RETURNED TO RULE THE TRIBES (ibid.,).
Where did these Quiche Maya journey to? From what line of great kings in the EAST did they receive their royal authority? From a descendant of the GREAT TOLTEC RULER who conducted their ancestors to TULA IN MEXICO shortly after the Exodus! And WHO was this descendant of the "great ruler"?
In The Two Babylons, compiled by Alexander Hislop, the author tells us that "from the researches of Humboldt we find that THE MEXICANS CELEBRATED WODAN AS THE FOUNDER OF THEIR RACE, just as our own ancestors did. The WODAN or ODIN OF SCANDINAVIA can be proved to be the [same as]...the WODAN OF MEXICO..." Continues Hislop: "...the fact that that name had been borne by some illustrious hero among the supposed ANCESTORS OF THE MEXICAN RACE, is put BEYOND ALL DOUBT by the singular circumstance that THE MEXICANS HAD ONE OF THEIR DAYS CALLED WODANSDAY, exactly as we ourselves have" (Loizeaux Brothers, N.J. 1959, pp. 133-134).
Is it mere coincidence that the MAYAS claim that their kingdom was founded by a great EASTERN RULER NAMED ODEN OR VOTAN OR DAN by some of their tribes? According to legend he was a WHITE MAN who CAME BY SEA FROM THE EAST, bringing an infusion of new people to their land. When did this occur? TEN CENTURIES BEFORE THE TIME OF THE MESSIAH, notes the historian Ordonez!
Comments Herman L. Hoeh --This VOTAN -- who was also worshipped as a god -- was famous for having himself journeyed to a land where a great TEMPLE was being built.
In the Native Races of the Pacific States, by Hubert H. Bancroft, we find that ODIN gave his name to the "FOREST OF DAN" in the land of the QUICHE INDIANS -- just as KING ODIN or DANUS gave his name to DENMARK (DANMARK) (pp. 163 & 549 -- Vol. V). Also, "DAN...founded a monarchy on the GUATEMALAN PLATEAU" (Vol. I, p. 789). Odin's capital in Mesoamerica -- built for the Canaanites he brought from the east -- was called AMAG-DAN.
The book Fingerprints of the Gods mentions that "there were other gods, among the Maya..., whose identities seemed to merge closely with those of Quetzalcoatl. One was VOTAN, a great civilizer, who was described as pale-skinned, bearded and wearing a long robe. Scholars could offer no translation for his name but his principal symbol, like that of Quetzalcoatl, was a serpent." (By Graham Hancock. Crown Trade Paperbacks, N.Y. 1995, p. 103.)
This Votan was also known as Itzamana; and the Mayan religious texts known as the Books of Chilam Balaam, reported that "the first inhabitants of Yucatan were the 'People of the Serpent.' They came from the EAST in boats across the water with their leader Itzamana, 'Serpent of the East,' a healer who could cure by laying on hands, and who revived the dead."
It is more than interesting to note that the foremost symbol of the Israelite tribe of DAN was the SERPENT; and McClintock and Strong, in their encyclopedia of religious knowledge, tell us that the standard of three Israelite tribes -- DAN, NAPHTALI and ASHER -- was a serpent or basilisk, with the motto: "Return, O Jehovah, unto the many thousands of Israel." Yair Davidy, in his work The Tribes, states that "the Tribe of Dan was represented by a SNAKE...[and] the symbol of a snake was once worshipped in Ireland" (p. 211).
In the late 16th century, several Spaniards noted the Yucatec Maya legend of Quetzalcoatl --also named Kukulcan. On May 29, 1577, the King of Spain dispatched a questionnaire (called the real cedula) to the Spanish officials of the area, commanding them to fill it out. The Spanish officials in Yucatan complied. These reports, originally filed in the Archivo General de Indias in Sevelle, are collectively known as the Relaciones de Yucatan and are in Volumes 11 and 13 of the Coleccion de documentos ineditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organizacion de las antiguas posesiones espanolas de ultramar, second series, published in 1898 and 1900 by the Real Academia de la Historia in Madrid. Most of these relaciones bear dates in the early months of 1581.
Two of the report writers were Francisco de Bracamonte and Martin de Palomar. Bracamonte was encomendero [a person who had the right to collect tributes from the Indians within a designated territory, with the concomitant duty to propagate the Catholic faith] and Palomar was rigidor [minor official] of the settlements of Motul and Tecax that were within Bracamonte's encomienda. Palomar wrote the relacion on behalf of Bracamonte, and his Yucatec Maya informants were Juan Peche, governor of Motul, Juan Qui, Domingo Xul, and Francisco Evan [Euan], principals [chiefs] of Motul, and Juan Cumci de Landa, citizen of Motul, who might have been a protege of Diego de Landa (A Search for Quetzalcoatl, by John Spencer Carroll. Stonehenge Viewpoint, Santa Barbara, CA. 1994, p. 20).
Referring to the people of Motul, Palomar wrote --...they had knowledge of only one God who created heaven and earth and everything, and [they knew] that his seat [of government] was in heaven. They were [at] one time with knowledge of this only God, to whom they had erected [a] TEMPLE with priests, to which [priests] they brought presents and alms so that they had this manner of worship until A GREAT LORD, called Rurulcan [Kukulcan], came from OUTSIDE THIS LAND with people, for he and his people worshipped idols; and from here those of the land commenced to worship idols...
Pedro de Sautillana, encomendero of Moxopipe, filled out his relacion with the help of Gaspar Antomio Xiu (also known as Gaspar Antonio Chi de Herrera). A member of the Xiu family, Gaspar Antonio Xiu (1531-1610) was an interpreter for the Spanish government of Yucatan. In the Relacion de Quinacama o Moxpipe, Sautillana and Xiu narrated:
The ancient ones of this province say that anciently...they did not worship idols in this land. After the Mexicans entered it and possessed it, a captain who was called Quetzalquat [Quetzalcoatl] in the Mexican language (that is to say in our [language], plumage of a snake, and among themselves they give this name to the serpent because they say that it has plumage) INTRODUCED IDOLATRY and the use of idols as gods in this land, which [idols] he made them make from wood, clay, and stone. He made [them] worship them, and they offered them many things of the hunt and merchandise and above all BLOOD from their noses and ears and THE HEARTS OF SOME WHOM THEY SACRIFICED in their service. They perfumed them with smokes of copal, which is the incense of this land; and this custom remained until the conquistadores conquered them.
Four other encomenderos reported almost the same scenario.
Mayan and Aztec texts state that this man, claiming descent from the sun, arrived from the Gulf of Mexico with a complement of astronomers, architects and priests. The Aztecs called the man/god Quetzalcoatl, and the Mayans called him Kukulcan. These men wore sandals and robes and taught the natives to write, build, weave and worship the sun. The texts also reveal that they built schools primarily for teaching history.
This "Kukulcan" or "Quetzalcoatl" was, of course, Odin or Votan of Scandinavia who introduced idolatry and human sacrifice into Mesoamerica. He was the third Quetzalcoatl.
So here we have the records of a DANISH KING sailing across the ocean to Mesoamerica and planting COLONIES OF RED MEN FROM EUROPE and Thrace in the YUCATAN and GUATEMALAN HIGHLANDS -- as early as 1000 years before Christ! After vesting the visiting descendants of the priest-kings who founded Tula with the symbols of royalty and rulership, Odin traveled back to Mesoamerica with them, planting new colonies of Canaanites in the Yucatan and Guatemalan highlands. The newly vested priest-kings were placed in rulership over them. It is a FACT that Mesoamerican traditions universally assign WHITE LEADERS to every major recorded historic migration of the AMERICAN INDIAN from northwestern Europe.
A Latter Migration!
With the fall of the Persian Empire in 331 B.C., the last remaining CANAANITES in Asia Minor disappeared from the area. Many other nations who had been held in virtual slavery gained their freedom at this time -- including the House of Israel. In the year 331-330 the Israelites, along with the remnant of Canaanites and some other races, journeyed out of this area to the northwest, eventually arriving in Scotland.
Archaeological proof of the Canaanites' later movements can be found in the skeletons unearthed in Asia minor:
Measuring techniques have become so ACCURATE that RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS are now distinguishable with a FAIR DEGREE OF CERTAINTY. The HITTITES, too, can be studied from this aspect. In 1958 the Deutche Orientgesellschaft devoted its 71st scientific publication to some HITTITE GRAVES discovered six years earlier in the immediate vicinity of the capital, HATTUSA, below a spur of rock named Osmankayasi after the owner of the neighbouring field. Excavation of this burial-ground yielded 50 cremation burials and 22 skeletons.
Continues the author --
Taken in conjunction with other finds made in ANATOLIA, these human remains enabled experts to distinguish THE HITTITES FROM OTHER RACES. To quote the publication mentioned above: 'If we temporarily disregard the human types portrayed in Hittite art and focus our attention on SHAPE OF SKULL ALONE, THE HITTITES can be typologically classified....During Anatolia's PRE-HITTITE PERIOD [prior to approximately 1447 B.C.], or in the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages, NARROW-SKULLED TYPES are found. In the MIDDLE BRONZE AGE [after about 1447 B.C.]... BRACHYCEPHALIC TYPES occur in the CENTRAL ANATOLIAN REGION. After...the COLLAPSE OF THE CENTRAL HITTITE EMPIRE [331 B.C.]these gave way to DOLICHOCEPHALICS who were later (in Greek and, more particularly, Roman times) succeeded by the BRACHYCEPHALICS who still predominate in our own day. The likely inference is that HITTITE SETTLERS [from Canaan] INTRODUCED THESE BRACHYCEPHALIC SKULLS INTO CENTRAL ANATOLIA [in the Middle Bronze Age].' --The Hittites: People of a Thousand Gods, pp. 83-84.
Wherever the Canaanites went as they traveled across Europe, they left BRACHYCEPHALIC skulls of their dead as markers of the route they took.
"The native monuments, together with the Egyptian reliefs representing Hittites, showed the physical characteristics of the Hittite race; in particular, the GREAT CURVED NOSE and BACKWARD SLOPING FOREHEAD, which proved beyond any dispute that the Hittites were not Semites or Indo-Europeans. The hieroglyphic writing of the Hittites has nothing to do with the Egyptian hieroglyphic script. It is a PICTOGRAPHIC SCRIPT; but the original meaning of many of the signs is still obscure" (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1943 edition. Vol. 11, p. 599).
The Britannica goes on to say: "Not only the mixed character of the Hittite language, but also the physical characters of the "Hittite" race, its HYPERBRACHYCEPHALOUS SKULL, the LARGE HOOKED NOSE and SLOPING FOREHEAD, suggested the hypothesis that here an Indo-European nation is mingled with a NON-Indo-European race" (ibid., p. 602). If you study pictures of the ancient Maya you will see these SAME physical features present -- indicating, with other similarities, a COMMON ancestry.
These later movements of the Canaanites were recorded by the Roman historian Tacitus (55? -after 117 A.D.) in his book Germania. He mentions that "some tribes... appeared BETWEEN THE RHINE AND WESER during the centuries IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING OUR ERA. Called the CHATTI [a variation of HATTI, or HITTITE], they were a TOUGH AND WARLIKE PEOPLE who excelled their neighbours in the martial arts (Germania, XXIX et seq.)" (Ibid., p. 80).
Their movements in Europe are also recorded under the name or title of PICT. Joseph Ritson says "that a people of AQUITAIN GAUL, upon the seacoast (now POITOU), is called by Caesar, Strabo, Pliny, and others, PICTONES. PICTAVI (now POITIERS) was their city; whence they are afterward, in the Notitia Gallica, by Gregory of Tours and others, called also PICTAVI or PICTAVIENSES..." (Annals of the Caledonians, Picts, and Scots. P. 84).
Ritson goes on to mention:
The PICTONES were a considerable nation of the Celtae [actually, they were NOT Celts at all but fellow-travelers] (to whom Caesar allots A THIRD PART OF GAUL [FRANCE]), and inhabited A LARGE DISTRICT TO THE SOUTH OF THE LIGER OR LOIRE, bordering upon the northern ocean, now THE BAY OF BISCAY. Between this people and the PICTS, if not absolutely the same, there is at least this resemblance, that BOTH appear, as is already said, to have been called PICTONES. Flaccus Alcovinus, who flourished in 780, and wrote a Latin poem, "De pontificibus et santis ecclesiae Eboracensis," (apud Historiae Britannicae scriptores, xx. a Gale, I. 705,) and makes frequent mention of the PICTS, has in one instance this line (v. 68):
"Donec PICTO FEROX timido simul agmine fugit." (Till the FIERCE PICT fled, with a fearful herd.)
This, therefore, is an ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE, that PICTO, a PICT, PICTONES, the PICTS, was a common name as well of the GALLIC, as of the CALEDONIAN [SCOTLAND] PICTS. -- Ibid., pp. 85-86.
From the Continent the Canaanites or PICTS set sail for Britain. Their route is uncovered by Ritson:
The PICTS, before their arrival and settlement in the NORTH OF BRITAIN [SCOTLAND], seem to have established themselves in the ORCADES, or ORKNEY ISLANDS. We have this FACT on the authority of Nennius. "After an interval," he says, "of many years, (from the time, that is, of HELI THE HIGH PRIEST, when BRITO [BRUTUS] reigned in Britain, and Posthumus, his brother, over the Latins,) not less than 900 [aprox. 249 B.C.], the PICTS came and OCCUPIED THE ISLANDS WHICH ARE CALLED ORCADES; and afterwards, from the neighbouring isles, wasted many and not small regions, and OCCUPIED them in the left (i.e. north) part of BRITAIN, and remain to this day. THERE THE THIRD PART OF BRITAIN THEY HELD, and hold till now." An additional proof of their being settled IN THESE ISLANDS, is afforded by an epistle, or certificate, in legal form, of Thomas de Tulloch, bishop of Orkney and Zetland, to Eric, king of Denmark and Norway, in 1403; wherein he informs him, that in the time of Harold Harfager, first king of Norway, An. 900, the land or country of the ISLANDS OF ORKNEY was inhabited and cultivated by two nations; that is to say, the PETS and the PAPES (PETI et PAPAE); which two nations had been radically and entirely destroyed by the Norwegians of the race or tribe of the most strenuous prince Ronald, as well as by the name of "PICTS, or PIGHTS HOUSES," which appears to be still given to certain ancient buildings in those parts. -- Annals of the Caledonians, Picts, and Scots. Pp. 99-100.
From the Orkneys the Picts moved on into Scotland. The 19th-century author Pinkerton "maintains the ancient Caledonians to be PICTS, or PIKS...but...at the same time, that SCOTLAND was held by the Cumri, or Cimbri, or Cimmerii, two different people; and that the CIMBRI, 'who held all Germany,' were CELTS (I. 13, 15), and 'HELD SCOTLAND TILL THE PIKS CAME AND EXPELLED THEM' (I. 16, 39); asserting, moreover, that 'THE PIKS CAME FROM NORWAY TO SCOTLAND [by way of the Orkneys]' (I. 15)."
Pinkerton goes on to say "the PIKS were really the VIK VERIAR OF NORWAY...and were...settled in that part of BRITAIN which lies NORTH OF THE CLYDE AND FORTH, LONG BEFORE THE TIME OF JULIUS [CAESAR]" (Annals of the Caledonians, Picts, and Scots, pp. 74-75).
Further, he notes, "the CIMBRI held Scotland TILL THE PIKS ["FROM NORWAY"] CAME AND EXPELLED THEM; an event which happened about 200 YEARS BEFORE CHRIST. These Cimbri were driven by the PIKS down below Loch Fyn, and the Tay, and, after, beyond the firths of Forth and Clyde...."
These same PIKS (or PICTS) who took control of Scotland from the Cimri were, according to Pinkerton, "the PEUKINI...the PIKI OF ANCIENT COLCHIS [country on the east shore of the Black Sea], who inhabited the ISLE OF PEUKE, AT THE MOUTH OF THE DANUBE." Thus the Picts of Scotland are connected with Asia Minor and the Canaanites who dwelt there under the Hittite Empire.
Traits of the British Picts
When the Roman legions of Julius Caesar arrived in the land, they found the British Isles already inhabited by a race of savages that painted their bodies. For this reason, they gave them the name PICTS. When the Romans returned sometime later, the Picts had disappeared to the north and their place had been taken by the British.
As the Romans pushed northwards in Britain, they inevitably came to what is very roughly speaking the present national boundary from the Tweed to Solway, along the southern face of the Cheviots. Here they came across "ANOTHER RACE, EXTREMELY WARLIKE AND FIERCE." Notes Charles MacKinnon: "They were formidable enough to halt the Roman advance for a time, and the Romans called them CALEDONIANS, but from the start they seem to have been nicknamed PICTS" (Scottish Highlanders. Barnes & Noble Books, N.Y. 1984, p. 24). This was the same race Julius Caesar encountered when he invaded Britain in 55 B.C.
Explains Dr. Benjamin Rea: Pictland was, and continues to this day to be, a geographical region. The name of this area was given by the Romans. It was done with the primary purpose of referring to a particular people. But this region was also inhabited by a people who were not the descendants of the Picts, who we are interested in. This name, as we have mentioned, is of Roman origin and means painted people. There is no doubt that when the Romans came for the first time and saw men who wore pictures on their skin -- a practice that, to the eyes of the Latins was as strange as other European customs -- they named the entire area inhabited by these people PICTLANDIA, which means the area of the painted men. -- The Roots of the American Indian, p. 41.
According to Thomas Rice Edward Holmes, this race of men, with figures painted on their skin, preferred to eat the meat of dogs and practiced totemism and exogamy amongst other customs (Early Man in Great Britain, p. 88). They were definitely not Celts -- and had no affinity with this race. Their customs were completely different from the Celts, the Anglo-Saxons and other so-called Indo-Europeans.
One custom that is completely foreign to all European nations -- and existed without a doubt among the Picts -- was the custom of MATRIARCHY: The mother, not the father, was the head of the clan or tribe. She was the one who governed or ruled, in general. This fact is of vital importance and proves that the Picts were quite different from all Indo-Europeans. This fact also links them to the Lykians and Karians of Asia Minor and the Aegean Sea, and links them to various peoples in the New World! In The Problem of the Picts, by Frederick L. Wainwright, we read:
The most outstanding point for us to see, if the system of succession (through the female) can be defined as a characteristic of non-European and non-Celtic cultures. Zimmer was convinced that the succession by the mother was not practiced by the Indo-European races. Frazier thought that the succession was not by the mother and that it was no different among the Hiberian and the Celtic races, but his arguments were not convincing on this point. Other investigators have accepted the Picts as being a matriarchal society, but they would not admit that this system of succession was foreign to the Celtic tribes. If the practice is definitely not found among the Celts and the Indo-Europeans, then it would be most difficult to prove that the Picts are of the same racial family. -- Pp. 27-28.
In his book, Ancient Britain and the Invasions of Julius Caesar, there is another quotation from Zimmer (Holmes, p. 415):
Zimmer, referring to the work by Schrader entitled Prehistoric Antiquities of the Aryans, made these observations, "Among all the people who speak the Aryan language and among the ancestors of this race, the custom of succession has always been from father to son. This practice was the basis of this society and culture."
These excerps clearly show that the custom of matriarchy was foreign to all European races and, therefore, is a key that shows who the Picts were and where they originated from before arriving in the British Isles. "The practice of matriarchy is so different from the usual western practice that it stands out and serves as a KEY to open the door and reveal the mystery that has obscured the identity of those who practiced it. Among the Picts it was a religious custom!" (The Roots of the American Indian, p. 42).
V. Gordon Childe, in his authoritative book Scotland Before the Scots, provides us with some amazing information on the enigmatic Picts --
The succession to the throne or to the royal power was evidently not transmitted from king to the son; rather, the queen usually selected her mate from a different community, tribe, or clan. This system of transmission of power through the woman is known by ethnographers as matriarchy, and at times it is combined with exogamy, marriage outside the community, and totemism, a custom of a society which supports a belief that in some mysterious manner they are descended from a plant or animal and they therefore take their tribal name from this plant or animal. These three practices -- matriarchy, totemism, and exogamy -- are not practices of Indo-European societies. -- Pp. 260-61.
Tattooing was a common practice among the Picts, and they practiced it as part of their religion. This custom did not exist among the Celts and other Indo-European races.
The use of the TOTEM POLE was exercised only among the Picts of Scotland. No other ancient European tribe used it. However, the totem pole is used among the Indians of North America and among the Mayas of Mesoamerica. This alone supports the belief in a common relationship between the Picts and the American Indians.
Although most of the Picts disappeared from Scotland at a later date, a small number of them survived down to the eighteenth century. The characteristics of this remnant are recorded by Herman L. Hoeh in his Compendium of World History --
In the eighteenth century, Martin, in his volume Western Islands of Scotland, remarked that the COMPLEXION of the natives of the isle of Skye was "for the most part BLACK;" and the nations of Jura were "generally BLACK OF COMPLEXION," and of Arran, "generally BROWN, and some of a BLACK COMPLEXION." The inhabitants of the Isle Gigay were "fair or BROWN in complexion." The AMERICAN INDIAN --commonly called the RED MAN -- varies from COPPER-BROWN to almost BLACK, and, of course, almost white in some tribes.
And the famous literary companions Johnson and Boswell several times took notice of the SWARTHY COLOR of some of the natives in THE NORTH AND WEST OF SCOTLAND (Croker's Boswell, 1848, pp. 309-310, 316, 352). "There was great diversity in the faces of the circle around us," wrote Boswell; "some were AS BLACK AND WILD in their appearance AS ANY AMERICAN SAVAGES whatever." "Our boatmen were rude singers, and seemed SO LIKE INDIANS, THAT A VERY LITTLE IMAGINATION WAS NECESSARY TO GIVE ONE AN IMPRESSION OF BEING UPON AN AMERICAN RIVER."
A writer at the beginning of the nineteenth century characterized the people of Harris: "In general the natives are of SMALL STATUE....THE CHEEK BONES ARE RATHER PROMINENT. THE COMPLEXION IS OF ALL TINTS. Many individuals are as DARK as mulattoes, while others are as nearly as fair as Danes" (Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, No. VII, pp. 142, 143).
In Pennant's Second Tour, 1772, is a line drawing of the WIGWAMS of the half-breed natives of the SCOTTISH ISLAND OF JURA. Here are natives, LIKE AMERICAN INDIANS, living in THE REMOTE ISLANDS OF EUROPE [as well as LAPLAND and SIBERIA], whose last remnants [in Scotland] died out as late as the beginning of the nineteenth century. -- Vol. II, pp. 86-88.
S. Gusten Olson also admits that "in Britain, the PICTS were a STRIKING PARALLEL TO AMERICAN INDIANS" (The Incredible Nordic Origins, p. 13).
The Vanishing Picts!
"The first race to DISAPPEAR [from Scotland] were," writes Charles MacKinnon, "the PICTS, and 'DISAPPEAR' THEY DID." He goes on to say that "according to the latest information today [as of 1984], however, nobody yet knows...what happened to them. Nor do we know what language they spoke, except that it was NOT the Gaelic of the Scoto-Irish invaders from Antrim who brought Irish civilization to Scotland...."
"The mystery lies in the fact that thereafter [the time of Kenneth McAlpin -- circa 843 A.D.] THE PICTS DISAPPEARED ENTIRELY. There are theories about great battles and about treachery during which Kenneth killed all the Pictish royal family and their nobles, BUT NOBODY KNOWS EXACTLY WHY THE LANGUAGE, ORAL TRADITIONS ABOUT THEIR ORIGIN, THEIR CUSTOMS AND EVEN THEIR REAL NAME (for PICTS was a Latin nickname) VANISHED. They DID VANISH, however, and the smaller kingdom of DALRIADA gave Scotland its name, its language (Gaelic), its customs and its rulers" (Scottish Highlanders, pp. 24, 26-27).
What happened to the wild Picts? Where did they go -- or were they indeed exterminated by the invading Scots? Herman L. Hoeh poses the same question -- but also gives us a clue! "The WILD, UNSETTLED PICTS later DISAPPEARED from Scotland. Where? Historians do not know. But SCOTTISH HISTORY tells!"
The KEY to the history of Mesoamerica has been lost; and not a single historian or archaeologist seems to know the TRUE ORIGIN of American Indian civilization. Why? Because they have THROWN OUT the KEYS to that history. One of the keys, as we have seen, was found in Danish history in the person of ODIN who took the first great migration of Canaanites to Mesoamerica. The second KEY -- and probably the most important -- is to be found in the tumultuous history of rugged SCOTLAND.
The nation of the Scots was completely DRIVEN OUT OF SCOTLAND by the ROMANS in the year 376 A.D. The PICTS, and other groups, who remained in the land as allies of Rome were soon turned upon and miserably oppressed. Rebellion broke out and the Roman Legions dealt severely with the fleeing rebels. In desperation the PICTS sought, and obtained, Scottish help to drive out the Roman forces and their British allies.
Herman Hoeh tells the story --
The Romans soon turned on the Cruithne -- who were still dwelling in Pictland along with the WILD PICTS. The Cruithne were miserably oppressed. After three decades they came to an agreement with the SCOTS and promised to restore the Scots to the throne if they would deliver them from [Roman] oppression. The son of Erc or Erp returned in 408 at the head of a Scottish army, delivered the Cruithne and restored the throne...(Compendium of World History. Vol. II, p. 80).
Hoeh then asks the question: "But what befell those WILD, TRIBAL PICTS who gave their name to the Cruithne -- and who PAINTED THEMSELVES? Remnants of them continued to be referred to AS LATE AS THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. Most of the population, however, DISAPPEARED IN 503 upon the coming of the Milesian Scots out of Ireland under the leadership of Fearghus mac Erc" (Ibid., p. 83).
What indeed befell the WILD PICTS -- the people who left the many strange and fascinating monuments and artifacts in the NORTHERN ISLES OF BRITAIN?
Not only was there a MAJOR MIGRATION in 503 A.D., but there was an EARLIER one in 376 A.D. Notice --
No continuous history of the QUICHE-MAYA civilization is extant. We have to turn to the VALLEY OF MEXICO for a DIRECT and surprising CONNECTION with the movement of events IN SCOTLAND where dwelt the PICTS and the MAIATAI (Greek for MAIA fold [this is where the word "MAYA" comes from]).
From SCOTTISH HISTORY...it [is] established that MAJOR MIGRATIONS OCCURRED IN THE YEARS 376 -- when the Scots and allies were driven out and the PICTS miserably oppressed -- and IN 503 -- when the Scots from Ireland drove out most of the remaining WILD PICTS or PAINTED MEN. Where did these folk flee to? Can we establish a direct connection between these events in PICTLAND with the history of MIGRATION TO THE VALLEY OF MEXICO OF THE TOLTECS and others in the New World? Indeed we can. -- Compendium of World History, Vol. II, pp. 94-97.
Herman Hoeh continues --Now compare this with the MIGRATION OF THE TOLTECS and their WHITE chieftains to Mexico. The historian of the TOLTECS was Ixtlilxochitl. He reports several MIGRATIONS over the centuries. But the one he takes special note of -- for its chronological import -- COMMENCED IN 387 (See Bancroft's Native Races of the Pacific States, Vol. 5, pp. 209, 214.) The events were these -- a REBELLION broke out that led to a protracted struggle for eight years. The rebels were finally forced to FLEE IN 384 for protection. After remaining 3 years (to 387) they continued their LENGTHY MIGRATION. It was now 11 years after the initial rebellion. Eleven years before 387 is 376 -- THE VERY YEAR THE ROMANS DROVE OUT THE SCOTS AND SUPPRESSED THE PAINTED RED MEN OF PICTLAND! Is this mere coincidence? THEIR MIGRATION TOOK THEM OVER WATER AND LAND TILL THEY REACHED JALISCO IN MEXICO. To do so they must have landed in the traditional area of the USUMACINTA RIVER, crossed the isthmus, and coasted to JALISCO on the southern extremity of the Gulf of California. After wandering many years they settled in TULANCINGO. "The third year of their stay in Tulancingo completed...one hundred and four years since the departure from the country," records Bancroft from Ixtlilxochitl (vol. V, p. 213). (The 104 years compose two Indian calendar cycles of 52 years each). It was now 488.
At TULANCINGO they remained another 15 years -- to 503. In 503 THEY MIGRATED TO THE VALLEY OF MEXICO TO THE REGION OF LAKE TEXCOCO. What caused them to migrate in 503? Is this a significant date in SCOTTISH HISTORY? Indeed. THAT WAS THE YEAR THE SCOTS FROM IRELAND FINALLY SETTLED IN SCOTLAND AND DROVE THE WILD PICTISH TRIBES OUT OF THE COUNTRY.
Strengthened by a NEW INFLUX of migrants, the TOLTECS journeyed (IN 503) to the already settled shores of the lake on which MEXICO CITY now stands. There, at TULLAN, for six years the Toltecs lived under a theocratic republic, each chief directing the movement of his band in war and directing their needs in times of peace....(Ibid.).
From Mesoamerica the Canaanites spread throughout the New World. Where the Canaanite HITTITES migrated to from Central America should surprise no one. Reports Herman L. Hoeh: "The ONLY people of this description -- BEARING THE NAME CHATTI, that is, HITTITES -- warlike and rude, were found scattered throughout much of NEW ENGLAND AND THE PLAINS OF NORTH AMERICA after the voyage of Columbus to the New World....The name CHATTI was the COMMON intertribal name of the great CIVILIZED INDIAN NATIONS of New England and the great plains of North America" (Compendium of World History, Vol I, p. 360).
In the great westward European expansion of the 19th century these tribes were uprooted and, in a lot of cases, exterminated.
Maya Characteristics
The various tribes that formed the Maya race (the most prominient being the Mayaquiches, the Lacandones, and the Xius, or Tutul-xius) had developed a magnificent culture by the time the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the 16th century. In a letter written to Phillip the Second of Spain we find a vivid description of this amazing civilization --
About the place previously mentioned, on the way to the city of Pedro, at the first stop in the province of Honduras, called Copan, are some ruins and remains of a great city and its magnificent buildings. It does not seem reasonable to expect that such artistic and sumptuous structures could have been erected by people of such a barbaric nature, such as that possessed by the current inhabitant...(Written by Diego Garcia de Palacio, dated the 8th of March, 1576).
Continues this eye witness of the Maya civilization: As we arrived at the ruins, we observed another stone figure in the shape of a GIANT...Entering inside we found a cross of stone some two feet in height...
Further on...is a HUGE STATUE of more than eleven feet tall, wrought in the form of a bishop dressed in his priestly robes, with his miter clearly in evidence and even rings on his fingers. Next to the statue was a square very well preserved, with an adjoining stairway, like those of the Roman Coliseum, and in another location there were eighty tiled steps worked in place with pieces of very fine stone of great beauty...And in the middle of the plaza there was another large basin and two other figures giving the appearance of women, elegantly dressed in long robes in the Roman manner. Another was of a bishop who appeared to have in his hands an object that looked like a small chest. (Ibid.)
The mention of statues depicting giants is very significant -- in our article Unraveling the Origins of the Mysterious Olmec we show that the Anakim giants of Cannan found their way to Mesoamerica in very early times. Also, de Palacio's mention of a statue that reminded him of a Roman Catholic bishop has considerable import. This we will cover later.
Tattooing was one of the unusual customs of the Maya Indians. "It was so extensively practiced that if the Romans had arrived here instead of the Spanish, they would have named them 'the Picts'" (The Roots of the American Indian, p. 83).
In the New Encyclopedia we find that --Both men and women were tattooed with many bizarre designs, giving most of them a very unusual appearance. Women were tattooed as the men, except that they employed it from the waist up, excluding the breasts ("Maya," p. 1145).
Alfonso Toro tells us in his work that --Frequently the men and the women would dye their bodies red, then decorate them with designs and other colors and tattoos; they anointed themselves with fragrant resins; they were also very fond of perfumes.
The Universal Encyclopedia Illustrated, confirming the other authors about the practice of tattooing, adds the following,
They anoint their bodies with balsam, "iztahte," and they then proceed to tattoo the upper part of their bodies.
This practice among the Maya parallels that of the Iroquois Indians in the United States and Canada -- who also had the habit of tattooing themselves. The Iroquois can easily be traced back to the Picts of the British Isles and had the added Pictish customs of totemism and the matriarchal system. Did the Maya have similar customs?
In the already mentioned work of Alfonso Toro we read: Since the Mayas observed certain TOTEMIC beliefs, they were in the habit of putting their clans or families under the protection of some particular animal, one they considered sacred, and so some they called Balam, or jaguar; and others Pech, or dog; others Baz, or monkeys; others Chan, or serpents; etc.
The Universal Encyclopedia Ilustrada ("Maya," Vol. XXXIII, p. 1282) corroborates Toro by saying --
The Lacandones (one of the most important Mayan tribes) are divided into clans, or totems, each one of which worships an animal or object.
While they did not practice matriarchy in the same manner as the Iroquois or the Picts, the Mayan woman occupied a position of honor in the society of the Mayas which was the most exalted among the ancient Mesoamericans The Mayan woman inherited property and participated in the religious and political affairs of the Maya nation and, records Dr. Benjamin Rea, "the explorers removed from the land a stela, or monolith, with the following inscription: 'The Maya Queen' from Quiraqua, Nicaragua. This stela belonged to the ancient empire. This monolith tells us that the woman did not lack power in Maya society. On the contrary, it might very well indicate that at one time a Queen ruled over them." (The Roots of the American Indian, p. 85).
This fact could also demonstrate something else -- a point of paramount importance! We have shown that the American Indians once lived on the islands of the Aegean Sea and surrounding areas. Is it, therefore, not reasonable to assume that they worshipped the Greek goddess MAYA (MAIA)? It cannot be a mere coincidence since she was one of the seven Pleiades whose name, according to Ovid, gave origin to the month of May. Since the Mayas were so dedicated to the art of astrology, it seems logical that they would have selected this name.
Strange Coincidences?
The later history of the Maya was connected with a very unusual man -- the fourth Quetzalcoatl! When the Spaniards arrived in Mexico and Central America, they were astonished to find the Maya Indians practising what appeared to be tenets of the Roman Catholic Church! The Catholic priests accompanying the conquistadors discovered that the Maya religion had many affinities with the stories and customs of the Bible.
They described a "baptism" in one of the temples of the Maya and Diego de Landa, in 1566, recorded it as follows --Baptism is not found in any part of the Indias except in Yucatan, and (it exists) even with a word which means "to be born anew or again," which is the same as the Latin "to be reborn"; for in the language of Yucatan zihil means "to be born anew or again," and it is not used except in compound words, and thus caputzihil means "to be born again."
We have not been able to know its origin, except that it is a thing which they have always used and toward which they had so much devotion that nobody failed to receive it and (so much) reverence that those who had sins, if they are known to have been committed, had to reveal them to the priests; and such faith (they had) in it that they never repeated the sin in any manner...(Relacion de las cosas de Yucatan. Editorial Porrua, Mexico (1966), p. 44).
In the time of the first Spaniards a form of "confession" was still going on in the Indian temples. States de Landa --
The Yucatanenses naturally knew what evil they did; and because they believed that through evil and sin came death, illnesses, and torments to them, they had confession as a custom...when through illness or otherwise they were in danger of death...to the priest if he was there, and if not, to their fathers and mothers, wives to husbands, and husbands to wives...
The sins of which they commonly accused themselves were theft, homicide, of the flesh, and false witness and with this they believed themselves saved; and many times, if they escaped [death], there were quarrels between the husband and the wife...(Ibid.)
Landa also declared that the Maya did penances.
When the Spaniards eventually settled the land -- as priests, "civil servants," or judges -- they became more familiar with Mayan customs, and made some new and startling discoveries:
The Maya were still celebrating their age-old festivals in the same way they had done for centuries; these were strangely like the festivals of the Catholic world, and even fell on almost the same days. The 16th of May, for instance, was for the Maya the day when the waters were blessed; in Europe it was the day of St. John Nepomucen (patron saint of Bohemia), saint of the water. The 8th of September for the Maya was the birthday of the White God's mother -- in Catholic countries it is the day of the Blessed Virgin's birth; and the White God's birthday was celebrated on the 25th of December. On the 2nd of November, when Catholics even today visit the cemeteries to put flowers on the graves of their dear ones, the Maya used to go to the graves of their dead and decorate them with flowers. -- New Dawn, April/May 1994. Number 24, p. 35.
Diego Duran, though he himself sometimes suspected a PRE-SPANISH CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE in Mexico, often became angry when the Maya mentioned religious coincidences to him, and he put the blame on the devil --
...I heard an old Indian woman, whom they brought to me for her wisdom in the law, who might have been a priestess, say that also they had Easter and Christmas, like us and at the same time as we, and Corpus Christi, and she pointed out other important (Nahua) feasts which we (also) celebrate.
I responded to her: "Evil woman, (it is) the devil who so well knew how to plot and sow his weeds and mix them with the wheat so that you could not completely know the truth!" -- Historia de las Indias de Nueva Espana e islas de la tierra firme, Editorial Porrua, Mexico (1967), vol. I, pp. 244-245.
So convinced were some that the devil, not Christian evangelism, was responsible for planting the Catholic faith in the New World, they penned entire books on the subject. One such commentator was the Jesuit Josef de Acosta. In the fifth book of his Historia natural y moral de las Indias (1589) he wrote that the "arrogance of the devil is so great and so obstinate that always he craves and endeavors to be regarded and honored as God; and in all he can steal and appropriate to himself that which belongs alone to the highest God, he never ceases to do it in the blind nations of the world where the light and splendor of the holy evangelist has not shone." As an example of the devil's machinations in Catholic guise, Acosta cited the following facts:
1/. "It was the office of the priests and religious ones in Mexico...to inter the dead and to do their funerals..."
2/. "In Mexico there was this strange curiosity; and the demon imitating the usage of the Church of God, he placed his orders of minor, major, and supreme priests and some like acolytes and others like levites...it appears that the devil wanted to usurp the cult of Christ for himself, for the Mexicanos in the ancient language called the supreme priests...papas."
3/. "In Mexico the demon had also his...nuns and monks...and monasteries..."
4/. "...the priests and religious ones of Mexico arose at midnight; and the priests having fumigated the idol, they themselves as dignitaries of the temple went to a place of a wide room, where there were many seats, and there they sat, and each one taking a point of maguey, which is like an awl or a sharp punch, or with another type of lancet or knife, punctured the calves of their legs together with the shinbone (s), drawing from themselves much blood with which they smeared the temple (of their heads), bathing the points or lancets with the rest of the blood and afterwards they put them between the battlements of the courtyard so that all would see them and understand the penance that they did for the people."
5/. "...they had great fasts, these priests and religious ones..."
6/. "They kept their continence...strickly..."
7/. "...the demon endeavored in Mexico to imitate the feast of Corpus Christi and communion which the Holy Church uses...In the month of May, the Mexicans have their principal feast of their god Vitzilipaztli (Huitchilopochtli)..."
8/. "The Mexicans have also their baptisms..."
9/. "The Mexicans marry themselves by the hand of their priests..."
Acosta, placing the blame at the feet of the devil, argued that these were devilish coincidences and not the fruit of Christian evangelism. Was he right? Where did these "coincidences," which Duran suspected were a result of pre-Spanish influence in Mexico, come from? The answer to these questions will highlight one of the most astonishing episodes in the history of Mesoamerica!
The Fourth Quetzalcoatl
The story of the fourth Quetzalcoatl began in Nonohualco -- the region of Tabasco and Yucatan, particularly Tabasco. This area was inhabited by Nahuas speaking the Nahuat dialect of Nahuatl, by Chontals speaking a Maya tongue called Putun, and by Zoques speaking their own Maya language. Part of Nonohualco, probably from the Laguna de Terminos to Champoton, was the riverine Acallan -- the "place of boats." These Nahuats and Chontals were bilingual; and the Mayas of Yucatan called them Ah Itzaob ("lord Itzas"). Later, as we shall see, they became the Cocoms, Canuls, and other groups of the Yucatan.
Itza armies attacked the Mayas of Yucatan twice, once in the Small Descent, from the east, and again in the Great Descent from the west, both times transported by the boats of the Chontals, the Nahuats being the soliery. The Great Descent occurred in a katun 4-Ahau, and the Itza combatants seized Chichen Itza on the Maya date 2-Akbal 1-Yaxkin in a katun 4-Ahau, April 26, 970 A.D. The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel and the Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimin record the Small Descent and the Great Descent. "Comes the ancestor, comes the successor." Other allusions to these two invasions are throughout the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel. Yet a a third descent happened: "For the third time was established the day of the god of our enemies." "Thrice shall the justice of our lord descend to the world." "Three times it was, they say, that the foreigners arrived." The third descent was the coming of Kukulcan in a katun 4-Ahau, in 986 or 987 A.D., 16 or 17 years after the Great Descent. -- A search for Quetzalcoatl. Stonehenge Viewpoint, Santa Barbara, CA 1994, p. 88.
The Itza soldiers battled the forces of Coba and powerful Puuc Maya cities in the west part of the Yucatan. When they finally prevailed, Chichen Itza became the center of a great and cosmopolitan state that was renown throughout the Mesoamerican world.
He arrived by ship in yucatan in 986 or 987 A.D. -- so say two Maya sources, dating this event in a katun 4-Ahau in the Maya calendar. "Twenty men disembarked at Champoton on the western coast of Yucatan. Their vessel was a sailing ship...The leader of this group was a man called Kukulcan. These men had a strange appearance; they 'wore long clothes' and 'sandals as footwear,' had 'large beards,' and had 'no hats on their heads.'" (Ibid., p. 15.)
Notes Benjamin Rea:
All of the traditions of the Aztecs and the Mayas describe him as a white man, with a beard, who wore clothing adorned with black and white crosses. And almost all the legends state that this particular person came from across the Atlantic, in a boat with white sails...(The Roots of the American Indian, p. 74).
Kukulcan, identified in a number of traditions as a "Mexican captain," had only 19 other men in his party. These 20 men evidently blended into the personified and deified 20 days of the Maya calendar.
From Yucatan these strangers traveled to Tula in the valley of Mexico where they gained the confidence of the ruling Toltecs. Eventually, according to the Indian traditions, Quetzalcoatl and the Toltecs were driven from Tula by forces allied to the war god Tezcatli-poca. "This exodus presumably took place in the year 987, and according to various sources Quetzalcoatl and his subjects made their way back to Yucatan and established themselves at Chichen Itza" (Maya: The Riddle and Rediscovery of a Lost Civilization, by Charles Gallenkamp).
Writing of Quetzalcoatl's arrival back in Yucatan with his band of 19 men and the loyal Toltecs, Landa reported
It is belived among the Indians that with the Itzas who occupied Chichen Itza there reigned a great lord named Kukulcan, and that the principal building, which is called Kukulcan, shows this to be true [a reference to the Temple of Kukulcan or El Castillo]. They say that he arrived from the west....They say that he was favorably disposed, and had no wife or children, and that...he was regarded in Mexico as one of their gods and called Quetzalcoatl: and they also considered him a god in Yucatan on account of his being a just statesman; and this seen in the order which he imposed on Yucatan after the death of the lords [the overthrow of Maya rulers by the Itzas], in order to calm the dissensions which their deaths had caused in the country. -- Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan.
Stelae found at Chichen Itza depict the battles waged between the invading Itzas and the Maya residents, with the sacrifice of Maya captives at the hands of the victors.
Chichen Itza
Notes Joh Spencer Carroll: "The Itzas had caused many of the lords of the land to be killed, and Kukulcan calmed the dissension which their deaths had caused. He ordered confessions and fasting, and he himself was celibate." (A Search for Quetzalcoatl, p. 15.)
Continues carroll --
He abandoned Chichen Itza and founded a new capital named Mayapan. Chichen Itza means "well of the Itza" in the Yucatec Maya language, but Mayapan signifies "banner of the Maya," being derived from the Maya word Maya and the Nahuatl word pantli. The new settlement and its name symbolized a shift in Kukulcan's policy. Before the foundation of Mayapan, Kukulcan ruled only the Nahuatl-speaking Itza [and Toltec] intruders, but at Mayapan he became king of all the factions in Yucatan. By choosing the name Mayapan, he conciliated both the indigenous Mayas and the foreign Itzas. By negotiations he induced the surviving lords of the land to settle at Mayapan, and he divided the land among them, appotioning settlements "to each one according to the antiquity of his lineage and the worth of this person. He awarded 22 settlements to the Cocom family. So that he could keep the lords subjected to his surveillance, he built a wall around the center of Mayapan, leaving only two narrow gates, and required the lords to live within the wall. -- Ibid., pp. 15-16.
Kukulcan, or the fourth Quetzalcoatl, lived with the lords of the land at Mayapan for some years "in much peace and friendship." In 1002 A.D. he left Mayapan and returned to Champoton where he stayed briefly before returning to the valley of Mexico. The Cocoms then established themselves as the rulers of Mayapan and the outlying areas. "The League of Mayapan, created by Kukulcan and perpetuated by the Cocom family, endured almost five centuries and disintegrated finally in 1441 A.D. or 1446 A.D." (A Search for Quetzalcoatl. p. 16).
Who was this tall, white, bearded stranger who had such an impact on the people of Yucatan -- particularly the Maya? Where did he come from?
The only Europeans known to be crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 986 were Icelanders. One such Icelander who sailed westerly and southwesterly from Iceland in 986 was Bjorn Asbrandsson -- known as Bjorn the Breidavik champion. No one in Iceland heard about him again until 1031 when a lost Icelandic merchant-sailor came across him in a large land across the ocean.
Bjorn Asbrandsson, whose father maintained a farm at Kambr in Iceland, became involved in a love triangle with a woman named Thuridr -- who was the half-sister of Snorri Thorsgrimsson, a leading man and champion in Iceland. Although Thuridr was married, Bjorn continued the affair, eventually having a son by her -- named Kjartan. Confronting Bjorn, Snorri told him that he had better leave the area to prevent trouble with the woman's husband and with himself. The Icelandic Eyrbyggja Saga tells the story:
Snorri replied..."I want to ask of you, that you refrain henceforth from beguiling my sister Thuridr. For you and I can never be on peaceful terms if you go on doing what you have done in the past."
Bjorn answered, "I will promise only what I can keep, but I do not know how I can do that if Thuridr and I live in the same district."
Snorri replied, "There is really nothing to prevent you from moving away from this district."
Bjorn said, "What you say is true, and it shall be thus since you yourself have come to see me. The way our meeting has turned out, I will promise you that you and Thoroddr [the woman's husband] will not be provoked during the next years by me visiting Thuridr."
"That would be doing the right thing," said Snorri.
After that they parted. Snorri godi rode to the ship and then home to Helgafell. On the following day Bjorn rode south to the Hraunhofn and right away took passage on the ship there. They were late in getting started, and then they got a northeast wind which persisted for a long time during the summer. Nothing was heard of this ship for a long time afterward.
Thus Bjorn fled from the power of Snorri -- sailing southwest before a northeast wind.
The Eyrbyggja Saga mentions no date for Bjorn's flight, but some clues help establish the year. The ship that carried Bjorn departed with a wind blowing from the northeast and propelling the vessel southwest. According to John Spencer Carroll, "No ships in the 980s other than Eirikr Rauda's fleet of 982 and his fleet of 986 sailed westerly from Iceland until Eirikr had settled in Greenland in 986. Bjarni, who sighted the North American coast, sailed late in 986 after the departure of Eirikr. Since the captain of the ship that carried Bjorn voluntarily started a westerly voyage, he was sailing toward Greenland, and he would not have been sailing toward Greenland before 986. Probably this ship was not among Eirikr's 25 or 35 knorrir in 986, for [the] Eyrbyggja Saga narrates Eirikr's 982 and 986 voyages without linking Bjorn to them. Bjorn fled from Snorri in Iceland, therefore, in late 986 or afterwards." (A Search for Quetzalcoatl, pp. 95-96).
Amazing Similarities
The similarities between Bjorn Asbrandsson and the fourth Quetzalcoatl are indeed remarkable:
1/. Bjorn was white-skinned; Quetzalcoatl was white-skinned.
2/. Bjorn was tall; Quetzalcoatl was tall.
3/. Bjorn was a walker; Quetzalcoatl was a walker -- called by Hernando Alvarado Tezozomoc "the god of 1-Reed Walker."
4/. Bjorn was a ball player: "It was the custom of the people of Breidavik [Iceland] to hold ball games during the first days of winter"; "At another place he (Quetzalcoatl) built a ball court..."
5/. Bjorn was unmarried; Quetzalcoatl was unmarried.
6/. Bjorn was exceptionally strong..."the two brothers, Arnbjorn and Bjorn, because of their great strength, were not considered suited to take part in the games unless, indeed, they were matched against each other"; Quetzalcoatl was exceptionally strong. "...he set in place a large rock...(he) moved it with his little finger...when many pushed it, in no way could it move..."
7/. Bjorn lived for a time in Denmark, where Norsemen had ship cremations; Quetzalcoatl was cremated in a burning ship.
8/. Denmark had become Christian between 953 and 965. Iceland was evangelized from 981 or 982 to 986; Quetzalcoatl acted like a Christian missionary.
Further proof that Bjorn Asbrandsson found his way to Mesoamerica and became the fouth Quetzalcoatl is found in Chapter 64 of the Eyrbyggja Saga --
There was a man named Gudleifr, who was the son of Gunnlaug the Wealthy of Staumfirth....Gudleifr was a great merchant. He owned a large knorr vessel....In the latter days of King Olaf the Saint (who died in 1030 A.D.), Gudleifr made a merchant voyage westward to Dublin [Ireland]. And when he left there, he intended to return to Iceland.
Sailing west of Ireland, he got counterwinds from the east and northeast and was driven far west and southwest out of his course so that they did not know where they were.
By then the summer drew to a close, and they made many vows that they might reach land; and at last they caught sight of land. IT WAS A LARGE LAND, but no one knew which country it was. Gudleifr and his men decided to approach it because they thought it unwise to stay longer on the high seas. They found a good harbor there, but they had made land only a short while when some men came up to them....
Soon such a large crowd gathered that there must have been many hundreds. They attacked Gudleifr's men, made them all captive...and then they DROVE THEM INLAND. They were taken to some meeting where sentence was to to passed on them....
While this was being debated, they saw a band of men UNDER A BANNER approaching...and they supposed that there must be some chieftain among them. And when this band drew nearer, they saw A TALL MAN OF MARTIAL BEARING riding under the banner. He was quite advanced in years and HIS HAIR WAS WHITE. All those who were there bowed before him and greeted him as their lord. They soon discovered that all measures and decisions were referred to him.
Then this man had Gudleifr and his men brought up to him; and...he spoke to them in Norse and asked what country they were from. They told him that most of them were Icelanders....Thereupon Gudleifr steeped up and greeted him, and he returned the greeting and asked what part of Iceland they were from. Gudleifr said they were from the Borgarfirth district. Then he asked what part of Borgarfirth they were from, and Gudleifr told him. Thereupon he asked very carefully about every single one of the more important personages in the Borgarfirth and Breidafirth districts. In course of their conversation he asked about Snorri godi and his sister Thuridr of Froda; and he asked particularly about all matters at Froda and most of all about the youth Kjartan, who by then was the farmer at Froda.
The countrymen called out again, demanding that some decision be made about the ship's crew. Then this TALL MAN stepped aside and told off TWELVE OF HIS MEN to advise him, and they sat deliberating for a long time. Thereupon they returned to the place where the crowd was gathered.
The tall man addressed Gudleifr and his men as follows: "We people of this country have discussed your case, and the others have agreed to place your fate in my hands. I will grant you permission to sail wherever you want to. Even though you may think it is rather late in the summer for that, I advise you to leave this place because these people are not to be trusted and are hard to deal with. They consider that their laws have been broken."
Gudleifr asked, "Who shall we say procured us our freedom if fate grants us a return to our native country?" He replied, "That I shall not tell you, for I do not wish my KINSMEN and FOSTER BROTHERS the sort of reception here which you would have had if it had not been for me. But now I have grown so old that it is not unlikely that death may carry me off any moment. And even though I live for a little while longer, there are many men in this country more powerful than I am who will make short shrift of foreigners even though they may not come so close to us as you have."
Then this man had their ship made ready for them, and he remained there with them until a favorable wind came and they could put out from shore. But before he and Gudleifr parted, he took a GOLD RING from his arm and placed it and also a good SWORD in Gudleifr's hands.
He said to Gudleifr, "If fate permits you to reach the land of your birth, take this sword to Kjartan, the farmer at Froda, and this ring to Thuridr, his mother."
Gudleifr asked, "Who shall I say sent these precious things?"
He replied, "Say that he sent them who was a better friend to the mistress of the house at Froda than to her brother, the godi at Helgafell (Snorri godi). But if anyone thinks he knows from this who was the owner of these things, then tell them this: that I forbid any and every man to try to find me because that is an extremely hazardous undertaking unless they have the same good luck in landing as you did. For this is a LARGE COUNTRY, with FEW HARBORS, and people everywhere are hostile to foreigners unless they are as fortunate as you."
With that they parted.
Gudleifr and his companions put out to sea and landed in Ireland late in the fall. They spent the winter in Dublin. In the summer following they sailed to Iceland, and Gudleifr delivered the gifts.
And all were certain that this man was Bjorn the Breidavik Champion; but there is no other information available concerning that man what has been told here.
This moving and conclusive narrative brings out other similarities and fully proves that Bjorn was the fourth Quetzalcoatl:
1/. Bjorn was encountered in a "large land"; Quetzalcoatl was in Yucatan and Mexico.
2/. Bjorn had 12 advisors; Mayapan was founded by Kukulcan (Quetzalcoatl) and 12 advisors.
3/. Bjorn wore a hood and cassock; Quetzalcoatl wore a hood and cassock.
4/. Bjorn wore a gold armband; Nahua wore gold armbands in the early 16th century.
5/. Bjorn was in the "large land" c. 1030 A.D.; Quetzalcoatl was in Mexico from 1002 to 1053 A.D.
6/. "All those who were there bowed before him [Bjorn] and treated him as their lord...all measures and decisions were referred to him"; Quetzalcoatl became tlatoani of Tula in 1029 A.D.
7/. Bjorn "...was quite advanced in years and his hair was white"; Quetzalcoatl was aged in Mexico.
8/. Bjorn arrived in the "large land" by ship; Quetzalcoatl arrived at Champoton by ship.
9/. Bjorn rode in a litter carried by two (or four) men; Quetzalcoatl was called Nacxit meaning "four-footed."
10/. Bjorn had a banner in the "large land"; the Nahuas had banners at the time of the Spanish conquest. "Mayapan," Kukulcan's capital in Yucatan, means "banner of the Maya."
11/. "...these people in the large land are not to be trusted and are hard to deal with...there are men in this country more powerful than I [Bjorn] am...hostile to foreigners..."; Quetzalcoatl was defeated by his enemies in Mexico.
12/. Bjorn had a gold armband; Quetzalcoatl taught smelting of gold and silver.
13/. Gtudleifr's men were taken inland; Tula and Cholula are inland.
Bjorn Asbrandsson, the Breidavik Champion of Iceland -- teacher, evangilizer and man of peace -- left an indelible memory amongst the Maya of the Yucatan and their Canaanite cousins in Mexico. As time went by his memory, confused with those of previous Quetzalcoatls, merged into the body of legend that greeted Cortez and his conquistadors when they landed in Mesoamerica.
Traders and Seamen
The histories of the fourth Quetzalcoatl and the Maya reveal another group of people that have all the characteristics of the ancient Canaanites -- specifically the PHOENICIANS. Known as the PUTUN (this name has the consonants of the word PUNT or PONT, whence came PUNIC and PHOENICIAN), this group has also been identified with the ITZA -- as revealed by Charles Gallenkamp: "J. Eric Thompson, who studied this problem [who the ITZA really were] in depth identified the ITZA as a GROUP CALLED THE PUTUN or Chontal, a Maya-speaking people who INHABITED THE COAST OF TABASCO AND CAMPECHE. Famed as LONG-DISTANCE TRADERS AND SEAMEN, the PUTUN...expanded into Yucatan and settled at CHICHEN-ITZA around A.D.981, bringing with them many earmarks of Mexican culture. When Quetzalcoatl and his TOLTEC FOLLOWERS arrived at Chichen-Itza from TULA in 987, they were cordially received by the PUTUN-ITZA, whose own Mexican [?] AFFINITIES encouraged them to enter into an ALLIANCE with the Toltecs" (Maya: The Riddle and Rediscovery of a Lost Civilization. Viking Penguin, Inc. N.Y. 1985, pp. 167-168).
Investigations have confirmed that PUTUN-ITZA influence was very extensive and that they maintained close COMMERCIAL TIES with the peoples of Central Mexico -- including the Toltecs. Reports Charles Gallenkamp --
As warriors and MERCHANTS they were EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE, and throughout the Postclassic Period they CONTROLLED TRADE ROUTES that extended from the Gulf Coast of Mexico around the Yucatan Peninsula to Honduras. It is also probable that the TOLTEC influences so firmly imprinted on the ruins of Chichen-Itza may be attributable to the PUTUN. Quite possibly they either fostered incursions into Yucatan by the Toltecs (with whom the Putun regularly TRADED) or they were allied with Toltec warriors brought in by the Putun-Itza TO PROTECT THEIR FAR-FLUNG TRADING NETWORKS. -- Ibid., p. 168.
The Yucatan was not the only scene of PUTUN incursions into the territory of the Maya. "By the middle of the NINTH CENTURY [A.D.]," writes Gallenkamp, "the PUTUN had penetrated the southern lowlands, pushing their way up to the USUMACINTA RIVER and along the Rio Pasion to Seibal and Altar de Sacrificios."
With the Putun came new, sophisticated types of ceramics known as FINE ORANGE and FINE GRAY which were widely traded in many areas. They incised strange Mexicanized portraits of their elite on stone monuments at Seibal which almost certainly (according to the experts) represent PUTUN LORDS who seized control of the city. These date from 850-900 A.D.
"Among the invading armies," notes Gallenkamp, "were WELL-ORGANIZED MILITARY ORDERS using the EAGLE and JAGUAR as their symbols. Newly introduced weapons included cotton armor, atlatls, SLINGS, and obsidian-edged swords, and there was an INCREASED EMPHASIS ON MILITARISM in ALL phases of political and religious life. HUMAN SACRIFICE began to be practiced on a SCALE NEVER BEFORE APPROACHED in the Classic period, with the ruthless TOLTEC-ITZA soldiers assuming a vital ritualistic function as providers of CAPTIVES FOR SACRIFICIAL PURPOSES" (Ibid., pp. 169-170).
The PUTUN had all the earmarks of their ancestors the Canaanites!
Sufficient Proof
In this article we have presented more than sufficient proof and data to make it possible to reject the various commonly accepted theories concerning the origin and migrations of the Maya Indians of Mesoamerica. We have discovered and presented irrefutable evidence that proves conclusively that the primogenitors of the Maya were not indigenous to the land but came from far across the Atlantic Ocean. In this article we have shown that in their wanderings the Maya left indelible footprints that serve to clearly identify them with the people that today are found in the nations of Mexico and Guatemala. We have offered irrefutable evidence that proves that the ancestors of the Maya Indians came, with their symbols, their gods and their social customs originally from the distant lands of the eastern Mediterranean -- from the lands of Canaan, Phoenicia (Tyre and Sidon), Thrace and the islands of the Aegean Sea. They made America their final resting place.
We have shown that the commonly accepted belief about the origin of the Maya is, like almost all ideas that are generally accepted without proof, false.
This article has offered proof about the true origin of the Maya Indians and shows clearly that the information contained in the Bible is true -- that it was in the land of Shinar that the Creator confounded "the language of all the earth, and did from there scatter them over the face of the entire earth" (Genesis 11:9). After all, the story of the human race is the story of migration -- every group on the face of the earth migrated to their present location at one time or another. The Maya were no exception.
Hagoth and the Polynesians
Robert E. Parsons
Robert E. Parsons was a professor emeritus of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University when this was published.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has shown deep interest in the Polynesian people almost from the time the Church was organized in 1830. Just thirteen years later, in 1843, the Prophet Joseph Smith sent the first missionaries to the islands of the Pacific. The interest in the people of the Pacific comes from a brief account in the Book of Mormon of one Hagoth, a Nephite shipbuilder who left the Americas and sailed away and was "never heard of more" (Alma 63:8). This paper will review the traditional beliefs of the Church regarding the Polynesian people, and will thus explain the Prophet Joseph's early interest in these people of the Pacific Islands. It will not thoroughly examine the current or past theories of the origin of the Polynesians, but concentrate on the Book of Mormon account and supplementary interpretations that have led to the traditional beliefs.
The story of Hagoth is recorded in just six verses (4–9) of Alma 63. Great wars between the Nephites and Lamanites had just concluded and there seemed to be a restlessness among the survivors. At that time thousands (even tens of thousands) migrated to the land northward (Alma 63:4). In 55 BC, Hagoth built an "exceedingly large ship" and launched it into the West Sea by the narrow neck of land and went north with many men, women, children, and provisions (Alma 63:5–6). This ship returned in 54 BC, was provisioned and sailed north again never to be heard from thereafter. An additional ship was launched that year, and it also was never heard from again (Alma 63:7–8).
Interest in this one-half page abridgment of two years of Nephite history has led to the interpretations that will follow.
Interest in this one-half page abridgment of two years of Nephite history has led to the interpretations that will follow.
What happened to these lost ships? Only speculation and theories can be advanced, but the most common is that the ships were lost at sea. This is what the Nephites thought happened to them (Alma 63:8).
A second theory is that they went to Japan. The basis of this theory is the prayer Elder Heber J. Grant offered when he dedicated Japan in 1901 to receive the restored gospel.
According to Alma Taylor's reminiscences of the event, Elder Grant "spoke of those who, because of iniquity, had been cut off from among the Nephites... and said we felt that through the lineage of those rebellious Nephites who joined with the Lamanites, that the blood of Lehi and Nephi [and of all Israel] had been transmitted unto the people of this land, many of whom have the features and manners of the American Indians, [and he] asked the Lord that if this were true that He would not forget the integrity of His servants Lehi and Nephi and would verify the promises made unto them concerning their descendants in the last days upon this [the Japanese] people for we felt that they were a worthy nation" (Palmer 91).
A third theory is that they went to Hawaii. In speaking to the Hawaiians at Laie, Elder Matthew Cowley said to them: "Brothers and sisters, you are God's children—you are Israel. You have in your veins the blood of Nephi" (Cole 384). Expounding this theory, some believe that they went not only to Hawaii, but also to other Polynesian Islands as well; this theory is the emphasis of this paper.
Does the Church have an official position on any connection between Hagoth and the Polynesians? In a letter to the mission president of the Samoan Mission dated September 6, 1972, and signed by N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney, under the letterhead of the First Presidency, they wrote:
In your letter of September 6, 1972, you ask if the Polynesian people are Lamanites or Nephites. There has been much speculation about the origin of these people. We have, however, no scriptural evidence or revelation from the Lord that would tell us exactly where these people came from or their background.
Teachings of General Authorities
Notwithstanding this 1972 letter from the First Presidency, we have many definite statements from members of the Twelve, and from Presidents of the Church reiterating their firm belief that the Polynesians originated from Lehi's American colony. Elder Mark E. Petersen, in his conference message of 1962, says:
The Polynesian Saints are characterized by a tremendous faith. Why do they have this great faith? It is because these people are of the blood of Israel. They are heirs to the promises of the Book of Mormon. God is now awakening them to their great destiny. As Latter-day Saints we have always believed that the Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians, despite the contrary theories of other men (Petersen 457).
The building of temples among the Polynesian people has been the source of many statements connecting these people with the Book of Mormon. When the cornerstone was laid at the New Zealand Temple, Elder Hugh B. Brown stated in the closing prayer:
We thank Thee, O God, for revealing to us the Book of Mormon, the story of the ancient inhabitants of America. We thank Thee that from among those inhabitants, the ancestors of these whose heads are bowed before Thee here, came from the western shores of America into the South Seas pursuant to Thy plan and now their descendants humbly raise their voices in grateful acknowledgement of Thy kindness, Thy mercy, and Thy love for them and those who went before them. We humbly thank Thee that this building is erected in this land, so that those faithful Maoris who came here in early days, descendants of Father Lehi, may be remembered by their descendants and saved through the ordinances that will, in this House, be performed in their behalf (Cummings 63; quoted in Cheesman 14).
In the opening sentences of his dedicatory prayer at the New Zealand Temple, April 20, 1958, President David O. McKay stated:
We express gratitude that to these fertile islands thou didst guide descendants of Father Lehi and hast enabled them to prosper (McKay 2).
Later, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley commented upon Europeans being assembled with the Maoris of the Pacific at the dedication of the New Zealand Temple: "Again, there was something prophetic about it. Here were two great strains of the house of Israel the children of Ephraim from the isles of Britain, and the children of Lehi from the isles of the Pacific" (509).
Nearly twenty years later, in a talk to the Samoans in 1976, President Spencer W. Kimball said:
I thought to read to you a sacred scripture which pertains especially to you the islanders of the Pacific. It is in the sixty-third chapter of Alma [He then read the account of Hagoth.] And so it seems to me rather clear that your ancestors moved northward and crossed a part of the South Pacific. You did not bring your records with you, but you brought much food and provisions. And so we have a great congregation of people in the South seas who came from the Nephites, and who came from the land southward and went to the land northward, which could have been Hawaii. And then the further settlement could have been a move southward again to all of these islands and even to New Zealand. The Lord knows what he is doing when he sends his people from one place to another. That was the scattering of Israel. Some of them remained in America and went from Alaska to the southern point. And others of you came this direction.
President Spencer W. Kimball continued by quoting former President Joseph F. Smith as saying:
"I would like to say to you brethren and sisters from New Zealand, you are some of Hagoth's people, and there is No Perhaps about it!" He didn't want any arguments about it. That was definite. So you are of Israel. You have been scattered. Now you are being gathered.
It might be of interest to you to know that when Elder Spencer W. Kimball set me apart for my mission to New Zealand in 1946, he said: "We bless you with power and the 'gift of tongues' to learn the language of the Maoris. . . . We set you apart among the Children of Lehi to do good."
Besides these many statements from the Prophets, we have added insights from patriarchal blessings. Paul Cheesman notes in Early America and the Polynesians that Bruce G. Pitt, a graduate student, "viewed a portion of microfilm #34 in the BYU library" which contained the patriarchal blessings given to these people in regard to the lineage declared in the blessings. The following information was found: "Of 321 total Polynesian lineages viewed, 155 were declared to be of Manasseh, 2 of Manasseh and Ephraim, 68 of Joseph, 62 of Israel, 4 of Jacob, 28 of Ephraim, 1 of Lehi and 1 of Japeth. . . . Another [graduate] researcher, Max Hirschi, recorded that out of 35 patriarchal blessings given to Polynesians, thirteen were from the tribe of Ephraim, fourteen were told they were from Manasseh, and the other eight were of the tribe of Joseph".
During Dr. Paul Cheesman's visits to the islands, he questioned patriarchs in the various places and found "that nearly three-fourths [of the declared lineages] were from Manasseh and one-fourth were from Ephraim, with some being designated as descendants of the tribe of Joseph". Since Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh (Alma 10:3) and Ishmael was a descendant of Ephraim (Journal of Discourses 23:184), the common lineage of these two descendants of Joseph who was sold into Egypt and the Polynesian Saints gives support to the theory that the Polynesians came from the American Nephites.
Another evidence of a connection between the Nephites and the Isles of the Pacific is the oral traditions among the Latter-day Saint Polynesian people. I asked Elder John Groberg, who has spent years among the Tongans, if they had any traditions concerning their coming to the islands. He said they had nothing as detailed as the Maori, but that Church members among both Tongans and Samoans were adamant in their tradition that they came from the east, not the west as some modern scholars affirm. Elder Groberg is well-qualified to speak concerning these people. He served as a missionary to Tonga, then as mission president, regional representative, and when he was ordained a member of the First Quorum of Seventy, he served as an area supervisor of the Polynesian people.
Returning to the Maoris, my favorite oral tradition, one I learned among the Maoris, is as follows: I haere mai o tatou tipuna, i tawhiti nui, i tawhiti roa, i tawhiti pamamao i te hono i wai rua. English: Our Fathers came from a great distance, an extended distance, an extremely great distance the joining of two waters. It is this last phrase, "the joining of two waters," that is so interesting to us Latter-day Saints.
Elder Matthew Cowley gave an interesting explanation of this tradition as he introduced one of his Maori friends who was visiting the United States.
Now we have with us here my good Israelite friend (Wi Pere Amaru). I am glad he has come to speak to us Gentiles, to bring to us a message right from the heart and blood of Israel. You know, in the 63rd chapter of Alma, there is a little story which tells of Hagoth who was such an exceedingly curious man that he built a boat, and he went out on the seas, and he came back. He built other boats, and then finally the boats went forth and never returned. We are told in The Book of Mormon the place where those ships were built was near a narrow neck of land.
When I was on my first mission as a young boy, I used to ask the oldtimers out there, "Where did you come from?" They would say in Maori, "We came from the place where the sweet potato grows wild, where it is not planted, does not have to be cultivated."
There is only one place in all the world where the sweet potato grows wild, and that is within the environs of that narrow neck of land where Hagoth built his ships. They will tell you that they came from several degrees of distance. One degree of distance, a greater degree of distance, and then a far greater degree of distance.
The Maori scholars tell you that "i te hono i te wai rua" means the place where the spirits are joined. But I have a little different interpretation of that. Wairua in the Maori language means "spirit." It also means "two waters," wai meaning water, rua meaning two.
In the Hawaiian language Wailua means "two waters": in the Samoan language VaiJua means "two waters." The word for spirit in those other languages isn't Wairua, the same as in the Maori language.
The Maori scholars say that they came from a far distant place, where the spirits are joined, or where the body returns to the spirit. But I say, knowing the story of Hagoth as I do, that they came from the joining of two waters, a narrow neck of land between two bodies of water which joins those two great continents (114–16).
High Priest in Golden Bells
Stuart Meha, a great Maori High Priest, agreed with Matthew Cowley's interpretation of "wairua" and added the following:
My name is Brother Stuart Meha. While in Salt Lake City in 1957, President David O. McKay asked me to write him an article on the origin of the Maori. This is my humble effort. It is particularly interesting to note that all the students of Maori history and lore have come to the one and same conclusion: namely, that the Maori, in the long dim past have come from India. With due respect to the academic qualifications of these men, we beg to differ and positively aver and maintain, not so with the fleet. We say clearly and unmistakably that the fleet of seven canoes came together from Hawaiki, which name is Hawaii to the Hawaiians, and the striking similarity of these names in the two languages should be good enough proof for the most critical. However, we do say that some other canoes could have come from India. We do not deny the scholars that, but positively not the fleet.
I will now give the tradition just as it was couched in words by our forefathers, also its translation into English. The tradition must be literal in order to retain as near as possible the real meaning which our antecedents wished to pass down to posterity. Here is the tradition: "I haere mai taua i Hawaiki, tawhiti nui, tawhiti roa, tawhiti pamamao i te hono i wai rua." No more, no less.
Translation: "I haere mai taua i Hawaiki." English: You and I have come from Hawaiiki. "tawhiti nui, tawhiti roa, tawhiti pamamao." English: A great distance away, an extended distance away, an extremely remote distance away, "i te hono i wai rua." English: even from the joining at the two waters. Putting all the English into compact form we have: "You and I have come from Hawaiiki a great distance away, an extended distance away, an extremely remote distance away, even from the joining at the two waters." The last part, "i te hono i wai rua" is where the students of Maori history fall into error. The last two words, 'wai rua' were taken as one word, "wairua," and regarded in that manner it means "spirit." Thus, their translation read, "from the joining of the spirit," presumably with a body. We hold that the view they took is erroneous, and that the old Maori migrant meant just what he had said orally—that he had come from the joining of two great lands at the two waters I will now give the best proof of all because it came from the lips of a prophet of God. In 1913, with five others, I went to the U.S.A.—our objective being to go through the House of the Lord at Salt Lake City. On arrival outside of Vancouver, our boat, the R.M.S. Niagara, stood outside the bay awaiting medical clearance. With the doctor came a letter for me, a letter of welcome from Elder Benjamin Goddard, at that time President of the New Zealand Missionary Association of Zion. We landed and were met by two missionaries who were laboring in Vancouver and who had been requested to meet us and make arrangements for our stay in this British metropolis. They took us to the finest hotel here and made us to feel welcome. They then took me to the telegraph office, and I sent a message to Brother Goddard, thanking the Association for its welcome to our party and for all the arrangements for our stay here.
In the wire, I also said, "Who knows but that some of Hagoth's people had arrived, pea?" I added the little word "pea" not because of any element of doubt on my part, but I wanted to raise comment, which I succeeded as will be seen later.
At a reception tended [tendered] our party at Wandamere Park, Salt Lake City, President Joseph F. Smith and his counsellors and several of the Twelve and others of the General Authorities of the Church, Governor Spry of Utah and many of the leading citizens of the city were present. President Smith in his welcome said:
"I would like to say to you brethren and sisters from New Zealand, you are some of Hagoth's people, and there is no perhaps about it!"
This is the word of a prophet of God, and we need go no further to look for proof of the origin of the Maori. (Meha tape, Waipawa, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, July 1962).
Ever since President Smith told that to the Maori visitors, the members of the Church in New Zealand have had no questions in their minds as far as their connection with Hagoth and their origin to that land. Since the Brethren have spoken so plainly about that in the quotations above, and since the Maori's themselves have that tradition, we might ask ourselves, how did this teaching that the Polynesians came from the Book of Mormon people first begin? When did we first start talking about all of this in the Church?
Back in the 1830s and 40s, during Joseph Smith's time, there was nothing that was ever said that we are aware of that would tie the Polynesians with the Book of Mormon people. Elder George Q. Cannon is credited with first connecting the Hawaiian people and other Polynesians to the house of Israel.
The doctrine that the Hawaiian people and all other Polynesians are heirs to the blessings promised to the posterity of Abraham had its origin through George Q. Cannon. While he was at Lahaina, he received a knowledge directly from the Lord that the Hawaiians were of the house of Israel. From this time on Elder Cannon and his associates began to teach that the Hawaiian people were an offshoot branch of Israel through the posterity of Lehi, the Book of Mormon prophet (Britsch 97–98).
At a recent Mormon History Association meeting held in Hawaii, the linking together of these people with the people of Hagoth was treated.
The Israelite descent of the Polynesians is more difficult to trace in Mormon doctrine. Indeed, there is no evidence that Joseph Smith or the first Mormon missionaries sent to Polynesia in the 1840s ever made the connection. As far as is known, the doctrine was first preached publicly by Tahitian LDS missionary Louisa Pratt who identified the Nephites as "the ancient fathers of the Tahitians" at a meeting in 1851. The Israelite ancestry of the Hawaiians was also preached by the Mormon missionaries in Hawaii from the following year at least. By the late 1850s, Mormon leader Brigham Young was referring to this doctrine, and an article in a Mormon periodical in 1868 claimed with respect to the "Sandwich Islanders" that "it is well understood by us that these peoples are of the same stock as the Lamanites." This article also claimed that native New Zealanders "have the same origin."
A connection between the Maori and the history of the Nephites and Lamanites was firmly established at this time. On April 7, 1888, Ezra F. Richards gave the Maori conference attenders "a short account of their forefathers leaving the land of Jerusalem and going to America, and touched briefly upon some of their great battles, some building boats and leaving America." On the 8 April, Sondra Sanders, Jr., gave the Saints "an account of some of the wars and contentions that arose between the Nephites and Lamanites, also the reason that they became a dark skinned people and the promises that had been made concerning their becoming 'a white and delightsome people.'" And on 9 April, after discussing the scattering of Israel, M. S. Marriot suggested that the time had come for "the gathering of the Maori people." Thereafter, the Book's teachings on Israelites became a focus for proselyting work among the Maori. As Francis Kirkham, an LDS missionary to the Maori in the 1890s remembered, "we would go to them, hold up a copy of the Book of Mormon and tell them that we had a book that told the history of their ancestors" (Barber 12–15).
The Coming of the Church to New Zealand
Elder Matthew Cowley tells of a great convention held in 1881 that represented all of the native tribes of New Zealand. They were gathered at a native village near Mastertown, near Wellington. Many who attended that conference were old enough to have seen the first Christian missionaries arrive in New Zealand, and all who attended belonged to a Christian church. They were Catholics, Methodists, or Presbyterians. One of the dominant topics considered was why the Maoris were no longer religiously unified as they had been before Christianity came to them. If Christianity was the higher light—the true religion—why were they divided into many churches? So they began asking themselves which of these Christian churches was the right one for the Maori race and which one they should all belong to so that there would be only one church among them. Not knowing the answer and not being able to decide in their debate, they turned to their wisest sage, Paora Potangaroa, and asked him which church they should all join. He said he would have to think on it and then went to his own residence which was nearby. After three days of fasting and prayer, asking Jehovah which was the right church for the Maori people, he returned to his people and said: "My friends, the church for the Maori people has not yet come among us. You will recognize it when it comes. Its missionaries will travel in pairs. They will come from the rising sun. They will visit with us in our homes. They will learn our language and teach us the gospel in our own tongue. When they pray they will raise their right hands" (Cowley 200–01).
Paora Potangaroa then asked Ranginui Kingi to write down what he was going to say and his words were proclaimed to his people at the "eight-years house" on the 16th day of March 1881. Several things were said of interest to us: First, the year 1881 is the "day of fulness"; that is the year that the missionaries first taught the fulness of the gospel to the Maori people. It is also the year W. M. Bromley arrived to preside over the mission. He was told before leaving Utah "that the time had come to take the gospel to the Maori people." Potangaroa said the next year, 1882, would be the year of the "sealing." It was in 1882 when they were first taught about the sealing ordinances performed in the temple. He said the third year, 1883, would be the year of "the honoring," when they would pay "tribute to whom tribute was due, custom to whom custom . . . honor to whom honor" (See Romans 13:7). Elder Cowley interpreted that as the year when Maoris joined the Church in great numbers and gave "tribute to whom tribute was due [and] custom to whom custom" was due as they began worshiping the Lord (203–04).
The prophecy went on to say that they were the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They would learn of the scepter of Judah, and of "Shiloh, the king of peace." They would also learn of "the sacred church with a large wall surrounding it." There would be an "increase of the[ir] race" and of their faith, love, and peace (203). That was at a time when the Maoris were beginning to be exterminated, much as the American Indian was in the United States. There was a great deal of apprehension among them, a fear they would disappear as a people.
This covenant was written down on a piece of paper, and at the top of the piece of paper they drew an "all-seeing eye." This prophecy was then placed in a cement monument in the eight-years house where the convention was held. It remained there from 1881 until 1929, when a Maori sect known as the Ratana Church, in groping for substantiation that they were the true church of the Maoris as foretold by Potangaroa, broke open the cement monument to get at his prophecy, hoping to find something in it that would establish their claim to be the right church for the Maori (203–04).
Unfortunately, the storage chamber which contained the prophecy had not been hermetically sealed and the paper had been so damaged by moisture that nothing was legible on it.
That was 1929. In 1944, Matthew Cowley was the New Zealand mission president. He was there during the war years, and the only American missionaries he had were himself, his wife, and their daughter. They held a convention for the Maoris in the same area where Paora Potangaroa gave his prophecy in 1881. Present at the 1944 convention was Eriata Nopera, another great Maori chief. When he rose to speak, he told his people that he had been a little boy there when Paora Potangaroa gave his prophecy and repeated what he remembered of the prophecy. At the end of that day's convention, one of the women attending the convention had her husband go fetch parcel wrapped in brown paper from a trunk in their house. When he brought her the parcel, she called President Cowley and Eriata Nopera into an adjoining room and gave it to them. They opened the parcel and found a photograph of Potangaroa's written prophecy wrapped up in it (205).
What had happened was that in 1881, when the prophecy was written down by Ranginui, a photographer in Wellington had heard that a Maori had made a prophecy. He traveled out to that village and asked for permission to photograph it. This was granted and he photographed the prophecy before it was sealed in the cement monument. This woman's family got a copy of that photograph and had kept it since. She then gave it to Brother Nopera, who in turn gave it to President Matthew Cowley (205). That is the way we know what was in Paora Potangaroa's prophecy.
In conclusion it seems fair to state that although the Church has no official, published declaration on the origin of the Polynesians, there have been enough semi-official statements by prophets of the Lord to leave little doubt that the Church believes that the Polynesians are direct blood relatives of Lehi's colony and that Hagoth's lost ships provide at least one connection between the Americas and Polynesia. This is further supported by patriarchal blessings given to the members of the Church among these people and by oral traditions. The brief account of Hagoth recorded in the book of Alma is important to an understanding of the blessings given to the descendants of Joseph, as the inhabitants of the isles of the sea.
Maori Tribes to Reinforce Jewish People?
Dozens of indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand discover Judaism, study Kabbalah; one even converts to Judaism.
Is Israel about to welcome new immigrants belonging to New Zealand's indigenous Polynesian people? Israel's Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand Yuval Rotem paid an unusual visit this week to the Maori community, which has recently drawn closer to Judaism and Kabbalah.
The ambassador and the embassy workers were welcomed by the community members in a Maori ceremony, which included dances, greetings in the local language, songs and the traditional "hongi" (greeting guests by pressing noses with them).
The meeting was initiated by the deputy president of Auckland's reform synagogue, a Maori man who converted to Judaism several years ago. His English name is Steve and his Hebrew name is Shimshon.
"I always felt close to Judaism. I believe our forefathers were originally Jewish," Shimshon said.
After the ceremony, the ambassador toured the Maori community institutions, which include a spiritual center, a school, houses and a library. Rotem was surprised to discover that the Maori community is drawing close to Judaism.
The community has a group of some 90 people studying Kabbalah, and every Sunday morning they meet in one of the rooms for a videoconference with the Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles, and study the Bible portion of the week together with the American students.
'We admire Israel and the Jews' The community leader told the ambassador about the difficulties faced by the Maori tribes in New Zealand, although the community recently gained political power through significant representation in the parliament, and has started fighting for its rights.
Today, one of every seven New Zealanders belongs to the Maori community.
"We believe there is a connection between the Maoris and the Jews. We admire Israel and the Jews," explained the president of the Maori community in Auckland, adding that many of the Maoris have taken an interest in Judaism and Kabbalah and want to get closer to Israel.
The Maoris said they wish to launch a communication channel for cooperation between the Maori community and the Israeli Embassy in Australia. Ambassador Rotem said he was very moved by the meeting and was particularly impressed by the Maoris' attitude towards Israel and Judaism.
The Maoris are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. They came to New Zealand from eastern Polynesia thousands of years ago. The Maori language is a Polynesian language related to the one spoken in Tahiti, Hawaii and other islands east of Samoa in the southern Pacific Ocean. The word "maori" means "normal" in the Maori language.
At the beginning of the 19th century, at the conclusion of their war against the European settlers, there were some 100,000 Maoris. At the end of the 19th century, their number dropped to 40,000. Today the Maori tribes consist of 600,000 people.
Algonquin Israelites
These are the Amerindians called the Algonquin or Micmac tribes. They share a unique mitochondrial DNA marker with only two other groups in the world. These are found in Europe and the Middle East only.
Kind of ties that one group of Amerindians to ancient Israel, don't you think?
And consider this: Large migrations of Israelites moved into Europe, leaving their DNA markers. Not only is Cohen (Cone, Cohan, etc.) Hebrew for "priest," the name is found in the Nordic tribes as Conan. (Yes, the barbarian!) Moreover, the Gaelic "Erin" is a virtual cognate for the Hebrew "Aaron."
The term Celt (Kelt) comes from the Roman and Greek names for these peoples: Galatae and Keltoi, respectively. These are all derivitives of the name applied to anyone from Northern Israel in ancient times: Galilee. Moreover, the ancient name for the Hebrews (Israelites) was Habiru. (See the El Amarna letters.) These Hebrews (Habiru) not only bore their homeland name as Galileans into Europe to become the Gaels and eventually the Celts (Kelts), they left their traditional name (Hebrew, Habiru) everywhere they went as well. Thus we have the "Iberian" Peninsula in Southwestern Europe, "Siberia" in Northern Europe and "Hibernia" as the ancient name for Ireland. In fact, a reading of the name "British" is "Covenant Man" ("Brit Isha" in Hebrew with a Germanic syntax).
So according to the Haplo X group results, the Israelites migrated from the Middle East to two locations: Europe and American. Significantly, that's where the etymology takes them as well.
the Habiru (Hebrews) migrated into and left their name upon the area we know as Siberia. Did you know that the ruling class in Samara, Russia, spoke only Hebrew and claimed that to be their heritage?
I do have a question about how granular DNA fingerprinting (for lack of a better word) can be. I don't claim to be a DNA expert, but from my understanding, is it possible to be able to distinguish between different tribes of the 12 tribes of Israel?
I know that the Lemba tribe in Africa may relate to Cohen DNA, which seems to point to the tribe of Levi. In the documentary I mentioned above Quest for the Lost Tribes, Simcha Jacobovici (a jew) makes a claim that the Tribe of Manasseh is located in Malaysia.
First, could such DNA fingerprinting be able to distinguish between the Cohen gene and the Manasseh gene? As I understand it, Jacob (Israel) lived approx 2000 BC. Since Manasseh and Levi were brothers, there would be some obvious similarities in the DNA, and I just wonder how granular the DNA could be.
Secondly, if Jacobovici is correct, this could lend credence to the Malay Theory.
Western Explorers & How Hebraic They Saw Amerindian Peoples
According to the so called Apostle to the Indians, friar Bartolomé de las Casas, the name "Cuba" would derive from the Hebrew word "kova" meaning "helmet", because of the helmeted chiefs.
According to bishop Diego de Landa some of the old people in Yucatán said that they heard from their ancestors that this land was occupied by a race of people who came from the East & who God had delivered by opening twelve paths through the sea. He concluded that if that was true, as a consequence all the inhabitants of the Indies would descend from Israelites.
For the Spanish priest José Gumilla established in Venezuela, the Orinoco river (and its streams) Indians observed many Hebrew traditions, nevertheless they were not aware of their origin although it was passed down from father to son.
Charles Beatty affirmed to have found Lost Israelites among the Delawares.
Amerindian Israel
In 1650 the Puritan minister Thomas Thorowgood, a foremost representative of the Jewish Amerindian theory published "Jews in America, or, Probabilities that the Americans Are of that Race". Ten years later he published "Jews in America, or Probabilities that Those Indians are Judaical, Made More Probable by Some Additions on the Former Conjectures" to give further support.
John Eliot (c. 1604 – May 21, 1690) was a Puritan missionary to the American Indians whom some called "the apostle to the Indians." He proposed a new model of civil government based on the system Eliot instituted among the converted Indians, which was based in turn on the government Moses instituted among the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 18). Eliot asserted that "Christ is the only right Heir of the Crown of England," and called for an elected theocracy in England and throughout the world.
Go Ye and Teach: Christ in America
- The Book of Mormon tells of the visit of Jesus Christ to the Americas
- The Book of Mormon bears witness of Christ's universal plan of salvation
- The purpose of the Book of Mormon is convince all people that Jesus is the Christ.
- The Book of Mormon is a second witness of Jesus Christ
- The Book of Mormon bears testimony of the truthfulness of the New Testament
- The Book of Mormon is evidence of the fact that God has set His hand again the second time to gather His people.
- Jesus Christ
- The Church
- Complete
- Instrument for God to build up His kingdom
- Broken Down
- Evidences of falling away from original teachings
- Separates the church and people from the source of their strength
- Gospel lost in darkness
- Man's departure from the truth
- Angel Flying Through Heaven
- Hope is found in the angel message
- God's way of restoring the church
Second Vision
- He said there was a book deposited written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fullness of the everlasting gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants.
Church History, Volume 1, page 13.
Lord Kingsborough
- … they in ancient times had been in possession of a book which was handed down successively from father to son, in the person of the eldest, who was dedicated to the safe custody of it and to instruct others in its doctrines.
Antiquities of Mexico, Volume 6, Page 409
Bancroft Quoted
- At this assembly there were brought forward all the Toltec records reaching back to the earliest period of their existence, and from these documents, after a long conference and most careful study, the Teoamoxtli, or "book of God" was prepared. In its pages were inscribed the Nahua annals from the time of the deluge, or even from … (Continued)
Bancroft Quoted
… the creation; together with all their religious rites, governmental system, laws and social customs, their knowledge respecting agriculture and all the arts and sciences.
To the divine book was added a chapter of prophecies respecting future events and the signs by which it should be known when the time of their fulfillment was drawing near.
Native Races, Volume 5, Page 251
To the divine book was added a chapter of prophecies respecting future events and the signs by which it should be known when the time of their fulfillment was drawing near.
Native Races, Volume 5, Page 251
- Jesus Christ
- Evidences of Book of Mormon
- Divinely revealed to man
- A true record of some of the ancient civilizations of America
- More than history
- A second witness of Christ
- A record of Christ's visit to America
John 10:16 / Matthew 15:24
- "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."
- "But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
The Lost Sheep
- Did Jesus say anything about coming to the continents of America?
- Other sheep
- Another fold
- Place other than the known world at that day
- Is there evidence that the people knew Christ prior to Columbus?
Lord Kingsborough
- "It is so singular a fact that the Indians of Mexico and Peru should have believed with Christians in many doctrines which are held to be peculiarly and exclusively Christian and to constitute a line of demarcation between Christianity and all other religions, that it appears a convincing proof that Christianity must, in early ages, have been established in America."
Antiquities of Mexico, volume 6, page 409
Encyclopedia Britannica
- "With the Toltecs is associated the mysterious tradition of Quetzalcoatl, a name which presents itself in Mexican religion as that of a great deity god of the air, and in legend as that of a saintly ruler and civilizer. His brown and beardless worshipers describe him as of another race; a white man with noble features, long black hair and full beard, dressed in flowing robes." Volume 16, page 2085
Lewis Spence
- "Quetzalcoatl's birth was accompanied by the appearance of a new star and mysterious omens and wonders in the heavens."
The Gods of Mexico, page 128
Quetzalcoatl Legendary Facts
- The Creator God
- The God of Peace
- Born of a Virgin
- Crucified on a Cross
- Descended in a Cloud
- Promised to Return
Names of Bearded White God
- Aztecs
- Quetzalcoatl
- Mayas
- Kulkulcan
- Incas
- Wiracocha
Bancroft Quote
- "Although bearing various names and appearing in different countries, the American culture-heroes all present the same general characteristics. They are all described as white, bearded men, generally clad in long robes; appearing suddenly and mysteriously upon the scene of their labors, they at once set about improving the people.
Bancroft Quote continued
- "By instructing them in useful and ornamental arts, giving them laws, exhorting them to practice brotherly love and other Christian virtues and introducing a milder and better form of religion; having accomplished their mission, they disappear as mysteriously and as unexpectedly as they come."
Native Races, volume 5, page 23
- Window in Palace of Cortés
- Cuernavaca, Mexico
- Legend of Quetzalcoatl is still vivid and real
- Window made in modern times
- Commemorates bearded white leader of pre-Cortesian civilizations
- 'Grancenio' means
- genius
- protection
- power of men, places, and things
- Landing of Cortés in Mexico
- Aztecs thought Cortés was Quetzalcoatl returning
- Quetzalcoatl had promised to return
- Mural on the Wall of the National Palace in Mexico City
- Another indication of the importance accorded Quetzalcoatl
- Temple of the Bearded White God
- Located at one end of the ball coart at Chichen Itza, Yucatan
- Called
- Temple of the Bearded White God
- Engraving on the back wall
- Many temples erected to worship Quetzalcoatl or Kukulcan
- Sculptured profile of Bearded White God
- Features
- Face
- Nose
- Beard
- Distinctly different from those of the American Indian
Baldwin Quote
- "The cross is one of the most common emblem present in all the ruins. This led the Catholic missionaries to assume that knowledge of Christianity had been brought to that part of America long before their arrival; …"
Ancient America, page 109
- Cruciform Tomb at Monte Alban
- In southern Mexico
- Temple of Quetzalcoatl in Yaxchilan
- Deep in jungle of Yaxchilan, State of Chiapas, Mexico
- Ancient temple
- Engraving above the lintel of the doorway
- Priests Bearing Crosses
- To each cross is attached a quetzal bird
- He was a diety, a beautiful god in the air
- Cross associated with Quetzalcoatl
- Temple of the Cross
- Located at Palenque in Central America
- Thought by some:
- This is the place where the Bearded White God departed
- Outline Sketch of the Cross
- Temple of the Cross
- Back Wall
- Plainly associated with Quetzalcoatl
- Cross
- common emblem in the ruins
Book of Mormon and Christ
- Jesus had "other sheep"
- Ancient people in America knew of Christ
- Jaredites
- Nephites
- Birth
- Death
- Resurrection
Christ's Visit to America
- Descended from a cloud
- Lived with the people for a period of time
- Organized His church
- Taught people
- same principles as Palestine
- Book of Mormon
- Second witness of Jesus Christ
- The Good Shepherd
- His sheep hear His voice
- Calls to all people
- Inviting them to salvation
- Offering a way to salvation
- Steps to Salvation
- Only one entrance
- The gate
Have the Amerindian Brazilians Origins in the Ancient Israelites?
The Ugha Mongulala tribe of north-west Brazil preserve written records of an ancient city called Ofir (Ophir) which once stood at the mouth of the Amazon River.
This is the ONLY independent mention of a specific locality called Ophir, outside of the Bible. Could this be significant?
Their tradition states that: Lhasa, the prince of Akakor, commanded the construction of Ofir, a powerful harbor city at the mouth of the Great River [the Amazon]. Ships from Samon's [Solomon's?] empire docked there with their valuable cargoes. In exchange for gold and silver...
It's remarkable that Lhasa, their local prince, has the name of an ancient Israelite city mentioned in the Bible. The city of Lasha was more popularly known as Laish.
The Brazilian city of Manaus, found in the Amazon area, was named after the local Indians.
According to Mormons the Amerindians come mainly from the Israelite tribe of Manassah. The name Manaus is quite similar to Manassah. It has the same consonants, being the consonants what really count in paleo Hebrew. Fact or coincidence?
It is an exquisite account of myths and legends and history of the Quiche Mayan Indians of Guatemala.
It tells of a creation story similar to that of Genesis where the land and everything on it was created first before man was created.
It also tells of the Mayan ancestors travelling to a place called Tulan from a place called Seven Caves, Seven Canyons to receive their patron gods.
They then travelled across a body of water towards the west and they finally settled in the highlands of Guatemala.
A few generations later their high priests travelled east again to pay homage to the Feathered Serpent god king.
"AND THIS IS OUR ROOT, WE WHO ARE THE QUICHE PEOPLE. And there came to be a crowd of penitents and sacrificers.*(351) It wasn't only four who came into being then, but there were four mothers for us, the Quiche people. There were different names for each of the peoples when they multiplied, there in the east. Their names became numerous: Sovereign Oloman, Cohah, Quenech Ahau, as the names of the people who were there in the east are spoken. They multiplied, and it is known that the Tams and Ilocs began then. They came from the same place, there in the east."
We will start with the story of Noah and his three sons and their families after the great flood mentioned in the Book of Genesis.
Even areas like India and ancient Persia have catastrophic flood stories with remarkable similarities to that of Biblical Noah's Flood.
There are countless scientific proofs that verify these Bible claims like layers of fossilised organisms all over the world that are covered over by aqueous materials so we will move on.
Noah and his three sons and their families were the only survivors of the Biblical flood in Genesis, so they were the progenitor of all human civilisations. These are the names of Noah's three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth. Sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan. Sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. Sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
Shem, Ham & Japheth map
Many countries especially around the Mediterranean and Asia Minor and Africa have one of Noah's sons or grandsons as their patriarch in their oral history, eg, Cush, the son of Ham, is the Hebrew word for Ethiopia and in New Testament times the people of Ethiopia were called Cushites from the word Cush.
Tira the son of Japheth is said to be the progenitor of the Thracians which lived on the Balkan Peninsula in ancient times.
However God has a way of mixing up gene pools for a healthy population so even though Tiras was credited with the establishment Thracia and Thracians, some historical authors suggested that Thracians from the Balkan Peninsula is a mix of Japheth descendants and Elam descendants migrating tribes form India and Iran (son of Shem the son of Noah).
The Illyrians, who were the Thracians' neighbours, have a very interesting history.
Very little is known about the beginning of the Illyrians however a Greek myths tells of a person name Illyrium as the founder of Illyria, the son of a famous Greek hero name Cadmus who founded the city of Thebes in Egypt.
Isn't an amazing claim that Greek hero was from Egypt unless though the Greeks or part of migrating people who later called themselves Greeks were living in Egypt and later migrated to Greek areas and surrounding areas?
Diodorus Siculus, quoting Hecataeus of Abdera, a 4th BC Creek historian:" At once, therefore, the aliens were driven from the country, and the most outstanding and active among them banded together and, as some say, were cast ashore to Greece and certain other regions; their leaders were notable men, chief among them being Danaus and Cadmus. But the greater number were driven into what is now called Judaea, which is not far distant from Egypt and was at that time utterly uninhabited. The colony was headed by a man called Moses."
We pretty much know Moses from the Bible but who were these notable men and chiefs called Danaus and Cadmus?
If we consider the era this Hecataeus of Abdera was referring to then there is only one event in the Bible that springs to mind that is quite similar to the event described by Hecataeus and that is the exodus from Egypt of the Israelites led by Moses.
From the Bible also we noticed that Jacob had 12 sons from two wives and two female servants and 10 of them plus two of Joseph's sons became the patriarchs of Israelite tribes plus the priestly tribe of Levi.
Two of Jacob's sons were named Dan and Gad who were leaders of their respective tribes. Could they be the Danaus and Cadmus mentioned by the historians Diodorus Siculus and Hecataeus of Abdera?
First of all some smart people think that Danaus and Cadmus are Hebrew names and so if Hecataeus wrote about them to be leaders of 'aliens', then there is no doubt that he was referring to the Israelites who were living in harsh conditions in ancient Egypt, but were starting to be troublesome to the Egyptians (ten plagues).
So the question then is when exactly did the tribe of Dan and tribe of Gad migrated to these foreign lands and beyond mentioned by Hecataeus?
Definitely the tribes of Dan and Gad were present during their marching formations while criss crossing the wilderness and had their own camping areas arranged around the tabernacle so therefore I can only assume that the tribes of Gad and tribe of Dan migrated to foreign lands mentioned by Hecataeus and Diadorus some time before the Babylonian conquest and were no part of those taken into slavery...
There were other migrations of people which were related to Jacob (Israel) into foreign lands and are actually mentioned in other countries' histories. It is quite fascinating to know the Israelites and Jewish history and their influences in ancient civilisations.
A possible connection or connections between the ancient Israelites and ancient Polynesians' ancestry is not straight forward but we are very blessed with a treasure trove of information.
There were several migrations of people which were related to Jacob (Israel) into foreign lands and are actually mentioned in other countries' histories and we may look at some of them later because it is quite fascinating to now the Israelites and Jewish history and their influences in ancient civilisations.
Another migration of people out of Egypt, just before the exodus was said to be that of the Zarahites.
The Zarahites were the descendants of Zarah or Zerah the son (twin) of Judah. The twins Zarah and Perez were the children of Judah son of Jacob by his daughter in law, Tamar who was Judah's daughter in law outwitted her father in law (Judah son of Jacob) when he seemed unwilling to provide his third son (two died while married to Tamar) as stipulated by their ancient customs of the land so she could have a baby who would inherit her dead husband's share of the tribal wealth (Genesis 38).
Perez had two sons they were Hezron and Hamul. King David and his dynasty descended through the line of Perez.
Zerah had five sons they were Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol and Dara.
Our story starts here with Zerah's sons Calcol and Dara who were said to have led another group of Israelites out of Egypt (maybe) before the Exodus of the main group of Israelites out of Egypt led by Moses.
The Greeks referred to the name Calcol as Cecrops from Egypt who founded the city of Athens in Attica.
Herman L. Hoeh, author of the Compendium of World History, states that "ATHENIAN history commences with the founding of the city by Cecrops in 1556 [B.C.]". He was said to have divided the inhabitants into 12 communities, to have instituted the laws of marriage and property and a new form of worship. The introduction of bloodless sacrifice, the burial of the dead and the invention of writing were also attributed to him".
Colchis, a colony on the Black sea coast was said to have settled by ancient Israelites as they perform the act of circumcision of their young boys.
According to the Greeks even though (Calcol) died in Greece in the year 1506 B.C, he directed his son GATHELUS to plant the royal line of Judah (through Zarah) in distant lands to the west.
This Gathelus was like a superstar of the ancient world because he is also mentioned in the history of Scotland.
The Chronicles of Scotland by Hector Boece tell how Gathelus left Greece and went to Egypt to enter the service of the pharaoh.
As the old chronicles reveal, there was a Greek, called GATHELUS, SON OF CECROPS [CALCOL] OF ATHENS, otherwise of Argus, King of the Argives, who left his native country of Greece and CAME TO EGYPT with a strong company of goodly young men....At this time there reigned in Egypt Pharaoh, THE SCOURGE OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL: whose SON, following in his father's iniquities, was DROWNED IN THE RED SEA, with all his army.
The King Pharaoh received Gathelus openly because he [Gathelus] appeared to support the Pharaoh against the Ethiopians and the people of Midian.
The Pharaoh, with the support of Gathelus, won a fierce battle against the Ethiopians, and brought them so close to defeat that Gathelus took their principal city called MEROE. Gathelus, after this great victory returned to Egypt; and was made general lieutenant over all of the Pharaoh's army.
Because he was of the ROYAL BLOOD LINE OF GREECE King Pharaoh gave him his daughter, called Scota in marriage.
Gathelus fled the land at the outset of the plagues and traveled westward to a land known today as Spain, where he settled for a number of years.
Dara or Dardanus (by Josephus) was credited with establishing a kingdom in Asia Minor which was later called Troy on the southern shore of that narrow body of water which bears his name to this day - Dardanelles and began the line of the Trojan kings.
Almost all royal bloodlines of European monarchs can be traced back to the kingdom of Troy.
Hundreds of years later this Kingdom was destroyed in a war with the Greeks.
Some of the survivors fled northward into Europe others fled westward across the Mediterranean to Spain and on to the British Isles where, with some members of other Israelite tribes, they were the first settlers in much of what is now called Scotland.
A large group led by Prince Brutus (a direct descendant of Dardanus and Zara) lived in Italy for a while where they founded a royal line before moving on to Britain by way of Spain.
They arrived in Britain around the year 1100 B.C (there were already people living in the isles at the time of his arrival).
We know from the Bible that the ancient languages (Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin etc) always refer to the Israelites as the House of Israel and the House of Judah, referring to the two kingdoms (northern and southern tribes) after the death of King Solomon.
Before they were sent into exile by the Assyrians the Israelites (northern tribe) called themselves the House of Isaac (Amos 7:16).
However something interesting happened when the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom and carted away its inhabitants to the land of the Assyrians (Halah, Habor, the river Gozan) and the cities of the Medes (2-Kings 17).
The Assyrians in their own language called the Israelites, not as Israelites or Hebrews, but they called them Israelites or the tribes of the House of Israel as the House of Omri.
This is quite significant to know because most believe that the Israelites (Northern Tribes) simply vanished from history when they were scattered by the Assyrians, but written historical accounts by other civilisations like the Babylonians, the Persians the Medes along with the Assyrians (to name a few) show that the people whom we know from the Bible as Israelites were simply given a different identity and were basically renamed as they moved further away from the land of Israel.
In fact Palestine was called Bit Humri (Assyrian language) or 'land of the House of Omri,' from the time of Shalmaneser (860) to that of Sargon (722-705).
One of the earliest Assyrian references to Israel is found on a monolith of Shalmaneser found in archaeological sites in south western Turkey in 1861.
This records his victory in 853 BC over a coalition of 12 kings, including Ahab the Israelite.
We must ask the question who exactly is this 'Omri' guy that the Assyrians and other nations held in high esteem.
Omri was a captain of the army of the Northern Kingdom (ten tribes) which the people appointed their king (1 Kings 16:16) after their anointed king was assassinated.
He was mighty warrior of the northern tribe and his military prowess and valor is recognised recognised ed here by the Assyrians, so instead of calling the Israelites as from the House of Israel the Assyrians called the Israelites (Bit Kumri) or simply the people from the House of Omri.
When Jehu succeeded Ahab and began to rebel against the Assyrians Shalmaneser mentioned these events on his favourite clay tablets with Jehu being referred to as the Son of Omri'.
After the reign of Sargon (king of Assyria) the name Hummri or Kumri or Humri was not mentioned by the Assyrians again.
This is when Gimira or Gamera were recorded by the Assyrians as living amongst the Mannai a few miles from the Medes.
After the assassination of the Assyrian king Sennacherib in 681 BC he was succeeded by his son Esarhaddon (680-669 BC) Esarhaddon records on clay tablets that the Gimira had risen in rebellion and the Assyrian army pursued and defeated them in the upper Euphrates district.
But a large number of Gimira escaped to the shores of the Black sea.
Another group of people that Esarhaddon mentioned in writing on his famous clay tablets found in archaeological sites in modern day Iraq were called the Iskuza.
These people were said to be Israelites that have migrated to the land of the Assyrians and were calling themselves the House of Isaac and thus they were to be known as Iskuza (Assyrian for Isaac???).
There are many conflicting views concerning the identity of Gimeras and Iskuza with some people saying that the two names are just different interpretations of the same group of people but personally I prefer the idea of two distinctive groups with the Gamiras as the group of Israelites been resettled by the Assyrians in Assyrian lands and Izkusa were the ones that migrated on their own accord and settled in the lands of the Medes.
The Babylonians, when they mentioned the Gamiras, would refer to them as Khumri or Gimiri.
In the space of about a few years the people of the House of Israel or House of Isaac became the Kumris and then Gamiras and Iskuza.
The great carving on the Behistun Rock, made about 516 B.C., carried inscriptions showing the many different nations who were tributary to King Darius I of Persia. These inscriptions were written in old Persian, Median and Assyrian. They showed that among these were a nation, called in Assyrian and Babylonian Gimiri. The Behistun inscriptions also stated that these people were called Sakka in Persian and Median.
Not only that the Israelites went through some radical name change, they also lost the ability to live urbanised and build cities and fortified dwellings so they became nomads and feared hoarders interested only for a while in pillaging and looting cities of the Assyrians the Medes and Persians etc.
The notoriety and unpredictable nature of the Iskusa/Gamira were well documented by all civilized nations of the then known world.
In the Persian language the Iskusa were known as Sakka or Sacae.
When the Gimira began settling on the shore of the Black Sea the Greeks called them the Kimmerioi.
At this point the Gameras were called the Cimmerians. Later on the Greeks came into contact with barbarian invaders they called Skytai or Skythe which were later became known as Scythians.
When the Scythians moved north and south their expansion led to the Cimmerians moving much further into Europe.
Herodotus wrote that the Cimmerians lived on the Crimean peninsula to the north of the Black Sea when their land was attacked by Scythians.
Herodotus account of events is now under scrutiny by modern archaeology because of the lack of evidences.
The book The Stone of Israel and the Two Witnesses: Destiny's Epilogue says that "the Gamera migrated and settled in the area west of the Black Sea before the arrival of the Scythians. These Cimmerians diverged into two branches. The first branch of the Cimmerians, which constituted the greater majority of these people migrated into France as well as travelling further into the British Isles of Ireland, Wales and up into Scotland. Another branch of the Cimmerians went northwest into Holland Belgium and into Jutland which is in the vicinity of Denmark"..."both branches of the Cimmerians that split into two different groups became known as Cimry, Gaul and Celts."..."about 100 BC the Scythians became known by other names such as Sarmatae and Germani. From these people came the Anglo-Saxon and the subsequent Anglo-Saxon invasion of Europe."
The Scythians were said to be in China, Afghanistan and India.
The House of Omri or House of Isaac that came out of the Promised Land, did in fact colonize the whole world and fulfilling the promise that God gave to Abraham in Genesis 26:4.
We have barely scratched the surface, and we fully have to rely on the research and work done by professionals in many fields of study and our trusty Bible to help us connect the dots.
Even though the Bible does not mention people by color we know very well that the Israelites were in Egypt, which is in Africa, and there are many mentions of Ethiopia as well.
Some of the big players in the Bible loved women from these countries eg, Haggar, the Egyptian mixed with Abraham, Asenath, mother of Ephraim and Manasseh, Queen of Sheba and so forth, so there was always the mixing of genes in ancient times.
There was also the creation of the Solomonic Dynasty in Ethiopia and involved the son of Solomon and thousands of Israelites that accompanied him back to Ethiopia.
In the Kiribatis traditional myths and legends, their story of creation is quite similar to that of the Samoans where both believe in an Almighty power that created the world and human and the universe.
The Samoan's creation myths tell of Tagaloalagi being the creator of the Samoa Islands, and in the Kiribati creation myth, their creator God Nareau created the Samoa islands first before creating the islands of the Kiribatis.
The people of Kiribati are ethnically and linguistically Melanesian, however nearly everyone has some Polynesian ancestry and the Polynesians also strongly influenced their culture.
Archaeological evidence found in the Kiribatis' chain of islands suggest that the fable Lapita people once lived on the islands of Kiribati.
There are many competing theories floating about out there trying to explain the origins of these Lapita people and their possible connections to the Polynesians, including one that suggests that the earliest evidence of Lapita civilisation was found on the Bismarck islands off the coast of New Guinea.
How the Lapita people got there without leaving a trail is still been debated.
No one knows for sure where these Lapita people came from but what is so fascinating is the fact that many Polynesian legends mentioned cannibals and people that do human sacrifices and red people that once existed in Polynesia, including Samoa.
From the legends of Kiribati again, the Polynesians were said to be peaceful people and they were slaughtered in numbers by these cannibals, until a Polynesian chief by the name of Savea (sounds very familiar) led a revolt that basically wiped out these savages from Polynesia.
A world reknowned explorer and archaeologist by the name of Thor Heyerdahl proposed a theory that was published in (International Science, New York, 1941) that Polynesia had been reached by two successive waves of immigrants.
His theory suggested that the first wave had reached Polynesia via Peru and Easter Island on balsa rafts.
Centuries later, a second ethnic group reached Hawaii in large double-canoes from British Columbia.
The results of Heyerdahl's research were later published in his 800-page volume, American Indians in the Pacific.
In 1947 Thor left Peru on his famous Con Tiki voyage that crossed 8000 km (4300 miles) in 101 days to reach Polynesia (Raroia atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago) but his findings were scoffed at by scholars because they prefer the ape man theory to explain the origins of human and preferred the west to east migrations of human ancestors to explain the origins of the Pacific people and Polynesia.
Thor Heyerdahl also suggested that descendants of Viracocha in Peru arrived in the Marquesas and Easter Island around 300AD, with the Charapa people arrived in Easter Island a few hundred years later bringing the birdman religion and the Rongo Rongo script.
At a similar time, another group arrived in Samoa from Central America, bringing with them their barbaric customs of human sacrifice and the pyramid building culture.
Interestingly enough Viracocha was the supreme god of the Incas. He is also known as Huiracocha, Wiraqoca and Wiro Qocha.
Considered the creator god, he was the father of all other Inca gods and it was he who formed the earth, heavens, sun, moon and all living beings.
When he finished his work he was believed to have travelled far and wide teaching humanity and bringing the civilised arts before he headed west across the Pacific, never to be seen again but promising one day to return.
During the Spanish Inquisition in 1500 a Spaniard by the name Pedro Pizarro wrote that while the masses of Andes Indians were small and dark, the members of the ruling Inca family were tall and had whiter skins than the Spaniards themselves.
Pizarro was told by the Inca Indians that they were the last descendants of the Viracochas.
The Viracochas, they said, were a divine race of white men with beards.
They were so like the Spanish that the Europeans were called Viracochas the moment they came to the Inca Empire.
The Incas thought they were the Viracochas who had come sailing back across the Pacific.
Some smart and very intelligent people are still finding remnants of Jewish culture and anthropological evidence present in some modern society that suggests that the Israelites in the Old Testament of the Bible may have had some kind of connection with some later civilisations way back in the day or........ is it just a coincidence?
There are strong evidences presented by researchers in the links above that to me are quite conclusive about the Jewish diaspora in the early part of the Old Testament of the Bible and the origin of Polynesians.
What I mean by conclusive is the sense that if there are evidences of civilisation that happened to flourish or existed around Polynesia and the Pacific region then it is most likely that our Polynesian ancestors are related somehow to these globe trotting people from the middle east as they moved around through thousands of years in search of utopia, perhaps.
Polynesia is in the middle of a vast span and there were Jewish civilisations if we consider the evidences thus far in both, land in the west (Asia) and land on the east (America), so at this point I think it's just a matter of asking the question....which side did they come from?
In samoan folklore, Tagaloalagi is the Creator of land and human beings and he resides in Lagi Sefulu which is basically the Heavens. This is quite similar to the story of creation in the Book of Genesis in the Bible.
Among cultures in the Pacific and what they believe, Samoa is quite unique in the sense that our culture and oral traditions have a similar starting point or beginning to that of the Israelites.
The Maori in their oral traditions tell of how their ancestors arrived in Aotearoa in a couple of wakas from Hawaiki, but Samoa's oral traditions have no mention of any such events in our oral history and it is the reason why Samoa is called the Cradle of Polynesia.
Around the world there are physical evidence that exist of ancient civilisations that once flourished and roamed the earth.
Biblical Israelites reaching Samoa makes sense if we take into account the time frame (probably 1000 years) that took them to reach the North and South Americas.
And then they made the fateful decision to cross the Pacific ocean and landed on the shores of Samoa, but because Samoa is so isolated, unlike any land locked places they'd been before where they frequently come into contact with other hostile civilisations.
They finally found themselves feeling abundant and they were forced once again to improvise.
In the Bible the Israelites frequently resort to idol worshipping, so if the Israelites did come to Samoa from South America, could that be the reason why we have the legend of Tagaloalagi?
Circumcision in ancient Egypt predated Jewish and Muslim circumcision by thousands of years. It was also practiced by the Australian aborigines, the Aztecs, and the Mayans for thousands of years before Christ.
In samoan folklore, Tagaloalagi is the Creator of land and human beings and he resides in Lagi Sefulu which is basically the Heavens.
This is quite similar to the story of creation in the Book of Genesis in the Bible.
If we cannot find proof that human civilisations began in Samoa, then how come Samoans have a similar set of beliefs about creation of the world to that of the Israelites as told by the Bible?
The story of Tagaloalagi with the mention of Heaven, the creation of the world and the creation of man is indeed the story of creation in the Bible.
Maori in NZ has a similar story about Tangaroa and Tagaloa in Samoa...
In Maori mythology, Tangaroa (also Takaroa) is one of the great gods, the god of the sea. He is a son of Ranginui and Papatuanuku, Sky and Earth.
All of Savaii and some parts of Upolu (Tuamasaga) are descendants of the Maori Ngai Tuhoe tribe of New Zealand.. .except for all of the Atua region and some parts of Aana region, they are descendants of Lu Fasiaiku and they come from the Americas... where they get their good looks from and very strong people, they beat up Tagaloalagi or Tangaroa and took his moa birds and women..
Tangaroa, of the Tuhoe tribe, brought over the moa birds with them to Samoa the reason why the islands was called sa-moa. Sam & Sa are other forms for Shem, ancestor of the Israelites, Arabs, Arameans, part of the Ethiopians... So Samoa could be a synthesis of Shem plus moa. In this way they would remember their forfather & their mascot-symbol.
From the Americas seems to be very logical, the kon tiki voyage by Thor Heyerdahl which may not be satisfactory to prove a point, but it demonstrated the capability of ancient technology in travelling long distances in the open sea.
It is very interesting knowing also that there were Maoris in Samoa, or can we call them Samoans at this point?
If the Maori folklore tells of Maori ancestors to have come from Hawaiki could Hawaiki be Savai'i or Samoa and while on the journey they somehow came up with an adaptation also of the Tagaloalagi as Tagaroa?
There's also a story about the Tongan being the first foreigners to come to Samoa and when they went ashore they were surprised to see beautiful people already living on the island, so it sounds like the Tongans are living proof of hominids from the west and Samoans were descendants of ancient Israelites from the Americas.
The Phoenicians (Canaanites) were said to have occupied the coast of ancient Syria which covers most of the coast of modern Israel, Lebanon and modern Syria when the Israelites conquered and lay claims to most of Canaan.
The Canaanites practiced the religion of Baal so in the Bible God instructed Joshua to annihilate everything in Canaan and claim the land for the Israelites and even though Joshua conquered most cities in Canaan, but he did not remove or kill all of its inhabitants.
This became a problem later on with the religion of the Israelites when the original inhabitants of Canaan were allowed to live side by side with the Israelites and Baal worshipping, with human sacrifice and temple prostitution began to infiltrate the religious conscience of the Israelites.
The Phoenicians were said to be expert mariners and merchants and the Israelites saw their expertise as an advantage and they became allied.
These alliances between the Israelites and the Phoenicians brought wealth and prosperity for both Phoenician cities, mostly Sidon and Tyre, and the Monarch established under the rule of Saul before proceeded by King David (1 Samuel 16) and then his son Solomon (1 King 1:38-39).
After King Solomon's reign the rebellious began and Israel became two nations. Baal worshipping and intermarriages between Israelites and idol worshippers became prevalent and these became the downfall of the Israelite nation at this point.
So what is the connection between the Israelites and Polynesians? The Phoenicians. These experts of the high seas may have had some influences in the dispersal of the Biblical Israelites around the world.
Before the diaspora the Israelites and the Phoenicians were good allies and trading partners and even their monarchs strengthen their ties when Ahab the seventh King of Israel married Jezebel the princess of the Sidonians.
When the persecution of the Israelites began and there was nowhere to run was it possible that Israelites, with the help of the Phoenicians as an act of desperation, reached the far ends of the Mediterranean and then crossed the Atlantic to reach the Americas?
"Like the Samoans and Tahitians, the Aztec's idea of a supreme being was that he was independent, absolute and invisible; so much so, that none of these peoples ever attempted to represent him by image. Not only did the Aztec, like the Samoan and Maori, believe in the existence of the soul as distinct from the body, and regard it as immortal, but they located the entrance to the other world at a determined point westward, a circumstance that speaks volumes for their origin, and which finds an interesting correspondence, not only in the Samoan Falealupo, but among the Marquesans. These, from time immemorial, but certainly reaching to a date within historic record, fitted out expeditious, and ventured on long voyages in search of the Elysium, which the tradition of their ancestors reported lay in a land toward the setting sun."
Here is another possibility about the origin of Polynesians, a thesis written by Obed Unasa a former church minister in Auckland and now a researcher that wrote that Samoan ancestors were Minoan people that use to live on the island of Crete.
The Minoans were said to be expert seamen and traders just like the Phoenicians living along the coast of Lebanon or the ancient land of the Canaanites.
But the Minoans were also highly skilled artisans, expert boat builders and civic engineers.
The Minoans were said to be peace loving people (new studies seemed to contradict that view) and archaeological evidence suggests that they lived on Crete Island from 2000BC to about 1500 - 1450 BC.
Possible scenario suggested as reason why the Minoan civilization came to an abrupt end were a devastating earthquake and volcano eruption destroyed most of the land before conquerors from mainland Crete lay waste to the land not long after the earthquake and volcano eruption.
In another account the Minoans in fleeing their pursuing invaders escaped west and repopulated the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon at about 1450 BC.
Moses was probably a teenager at this point in time and the Israelites were slaves in Egypt.
But this is one version which can be packed up by physical evidence. There are many other theories about the fate of the Minoans after the period 1450 BC when they simply vanished from the island of Crete.
Mr Obed Unasa in his thesis suggested another possibility about the controversies surrounding the Minoan civilization of ancient island of Crete.
"I believe that a migration narrative can be established for the Samoan people as the first and true descendants of Polynesia. The first Polynesians were made up of the ancient people of Crete, known to the modern world as the Minoans, and the people from the Aegean Sea, notably the people from the island of Samos."
The art of tattooing is a proud aspect of Samoan tradition.
In Samoan oral traditions Taema ma Tilafaiga brought the art of tattooing to Samoa from Fiji possibly in the early AD.
In modern science and anthropology the earliest known evidence of body tattooing was found on a mummified body in 1891.
If Samoan oral traditions state that tattoo art was basically copied from the Fijians, then it begs the question how did the Fijians get the art of tattooing in the first place?
Back to science archaeologists discovered the mummified remains of Amunet, a priestess of the goddess Hathor, at Thebes in Egypt who lived sometime between 2160 BC and 1994 BC.
This female mummy displayed several lines and dots tattooed about her body - grouping dots and/or dashes were aligned into abstract geometric patterns.
This art form was restricted to women only, and usually these women were associated with ritualistic practice.
Another discovery of a mummified and tattooed body (Iceman) in Austria in the early 90s was carbon dated and was (assumed???) to have lived more than 5200 years ago (around 3200 -3100 BC). That's about 2000 years before the era of Hathor priestess.
Caucasian mummies were found in China and was dated to about 1800 BC.
Another discovery of an ancient mummy with neat tattoos was called Ukok Princess which was discovered in Siberia and was thought to have lived 2500 years ago (about 500 BC).
Apart from the strange and over exaggerated timeframe assigned to the Iceman mummy, all other discovery of tattooed mummies seemed to have come from civilisations that existed after the Egyptians so I would say that the Egyptians invented and were the first people to practice body art or tattooing in the ancient world.
And if we take into account the spread of pagan religions, human migration like nomadic nature of some ancient tribes (eg Semite tribes of Mesopotamia and Canaan moving in and out of Egypt), displacement of people through conquest and war (Babylonians and Assyrians conquest of ancient Israel), trade and commerce (Silk Road, Frankincense Trail, trading on the Mediterranean coast, trading on the Red Sea and along the coast of Africa and Asia, and maybe branding in the slave trade then personally I think it's safe to say that these were the most likely ways for Egyptian tattoo art to infiltrate and established itself as integral part of some cultures around the world today.
So what about the Samoan tattoo?
Is there another possible scenario which can meaningfully explain the origin of Samoan tattoo apart from what we know already from our oral traditions?
If we revisit our starting point about the journey of the ancient Israelites we might just be able to find a meaningful pattern of events that may just give us a hint of a possibility about the ancient Israelites and possible connections to Polynesian ancestors.
What we know so far from the Bible is that the Israelites spent around 430 years in Egypt before the exodus (Exodus 12:41).
Even though the Israelites believed in one God (monotheistic)
there history in the Bible is filled with disobedient and rebellious nature against the Lord by willingly embracing pagan religions. (Exodus 32) In Exodus 20 God gave the Israelites the 10 Commandments as moral and spiritual guide and in Leviticus God specifically warned the Israelites about the danger of associating themselves with pagan practices of other cultures and pagan religions.
Leviticus 19:28 "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you". (*God's instructions to the Israelites not Christians) I believe that the only reason why God gave specific instructions to the Israelites is because the majority of them may had already immersed themselves in pagan worshipping prompting God to give them warnings.
Under King Solomon's rule Egypt became an ally and trading partner of Israel along with the Phoenicians and it was peaceful and tranquil until Israel's civil war and the eventual split of the Kingdom in two.
The southern Kingdom went feral under Jeroboam and he reinstituted the Apis bull of Egyptian religion to stop people from worshipping the Lord (I Kings 12:28-30) and he was also paranoid about losing the support of the people but before Jeroboam his father King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines from many idol worshipping nations with deities like Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Molek the god of the Ammonite and Chemosh the god of Moab (1 Kings 11).
Solomon was also the son in law of the Egyptian Pharaoh. Many years after Jeroboam King Ahab's wife Jezebel set up temple for Baal worshipping in Samaria.
So many years still (shows that God had patience with the Israelites) after the stiffnecked Israelites turned away from the Lord and followed pagan religions the two kingdoms were conquered and were mercilessly punished and the people were dispersed (diaspora) all over the world by conquering nations the Babylonians and the Assyrians.
Again there's no evidence anywhere to suggest that the Israelites adopted the art of tattooing from the Egyptians however since tattooing was originally associated with pagan rituals which the Israelites often embraced and honoured from their neighbours then the likelihood of the majority of pagan-worshiping-Israelites getting embroiled in all facets of pagan religions including tattooing is very likely.
In some publications the Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon handled most of sea trade in the Mediterranean because of their expertise as seafarers.
They were employed by both the Egyptians and the Israelites to manage their sea going vessels.
The Phoenicians established many trading posts along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and they also established the city of Carthage in about 814 BC which is located in modern day Tunisia and Cádiz in Spain 1100 BC (before being allies with Israel).
From the pages of the Bible again we noticed (already covered) that the Israelites and the Phoenicians were intermingled peacefully starting with the reign of King David over the Kingdom of Israel.
There was freedom to intermarry between the Phoenicians and Israelites. There was freedom to practice religion and peacetime trade and commerce flourished in the area.
When history credited the Phoenicians with establishing Carthage, the Israelites were there as well.
I've mentioned Carthage to illustrate the likelihood of the existence of Israelites in the trading routes of the Phoenicians as trading partners or travellers.
If we can manage to chronicle the adventures of the Phoenicians, we just might be able to find evidence of Israelites and Egyptians in faraway land as well, as they tack along in trade missions, and for some Israelites from Israel during the conquests (already covered), were probably looking for new settlements.
There is a written account by the historian Herodotus writing about the Phoenicians being able to circumnavigate Africa in 600BC, but of course Herodotus was writing about an event that happened some two hundred years earlier.
There was also the tin metal trade which utilizes the port of Cádiz with the British Isles and these have easily proven the sea worthiness of Phoenician ships and their abilities to sail in open seas.
The port of Cádiz was also the staging point for the expeditions to the new world by Christopher Columbus (hundreds of years later).
Way back in the day people were using alia and canoes to travel between islands like Fiji Tonga and Samoa and Hawai'i etc.
Are the Gogodalas Jewish Converts or they Are Israelites? & the Rest of the Papuas?
The Gogodala are a tribe of approximately 25,000, located in 33 villages in Papua New Guinea.
A professor studies Jewish movement in Papua New Guinea.
In a remote corner of Papua New Guinea, the scholar known internationally as the "British Indiana Jones" is tracking a global phenomenon of tribal people identifying themselves as a Lost Tribe of Israel. He led a team of students on an expedition to Papua New Guinea, to track a potential lost Tribe of Israel.
Florida International University religious studies professor Tudor Parfitt recently conducted a research expedition to Papua New Guinea, where he studies the Gogodala, a tribe of former cannibals who believe they are one the Lost Tribes. The Gogodala are hunter-gatherers in area of western Papua New Guinea with very little connection to the outside world. But from the very first encounters with western explorers in the 17th century, the idea took root that ancient Israelite communities were to be found in the islands of the Pacific. Later, Australian missionaries further propagated the idea.
At the request of tribe leaders, a decade ago, Parfitt conducted DNA testing on the Gogodala to see if he could establish any link to the Middle East. The tests were inconclusive. Nonetheless, the Gogodala have continued to embrace Judaism. During this visit, he was surprised to see the extent to which Jewish practice has developed in the tribe.
"The bedrock of the religious identity of the Gogodala remains in some respects, their traditional belief system, upon which has been grafted Christianity, which was introduced to the tribe in the 1950s by missionaries," Parfitt said. "On top of that has been grafted a kind of Judaism. More and more of the Gogodala wear yarmulkes and prayer shawls. They've started celebrating Jewish holidays and they are using more Hebrew."
The idea that the population can trace its roots back to ancient Israel is shared by other tribes. Indeed there are those who believe that the whole Papuan population has its roots in the Holy Land.
A Lost Tribe in Papua New Guinea
Professor Tudor Parfitt was working in Australia 10 years ago when a leader of the Gogodala tribe of Papua New Guinea approached him with a theory—that his tribe was linked to the Lemba tribe of southern Africa.
Professor Parfitt had already proven the Lemba to be an ancient Jewish tribe, and the Lemba man wanted the professor to do the same for his people.
Since that time, Parfitt has worked to gather research necessary to substantiate the theory. And this spring, the professor took the mission a step farther, accompanying five students employment—on an expedition to Papua New Guinea to further the research themselves.
"The trip was a tremendous success in every way," Parfitt told the school's paper, FIU News. "We were shown the greatest possible hospitality and warmth by the Gogodala people."
Many members of the Gogodala believe themselves to be Jewish already and practice religious rituals to that end. Some are even seeking to make aliyah.
Several of the students on the mission video recorded their experiences, planning to put together a documentary.
"Our students learned a lot about their culture and the trials and tribulations of fieldwork and I was able to push forward my own research into the tribe's Judaising movement," Parfitt said. "And we'll have a remarkable documentary to boot."
Parfitt has worked previously as professor of Jewish Studies at London's School of Oriental and African Studies.
A Lost Tribe in Papua New Guinea
Professor Tudor Parfitt was working in Australia 10 years ago when a leader of the Gogodala tribe of Papua New Guinea approached him with a theory—that his tribe was linked to the Lemba tribe of southern Africa.
Professor Parfitt had already proven the Lemba to be an ancient Jewish tribe, and the Lemba man wanted the professor to do the same for his people.
Since that time, Parfitt has worked to gather research necessary to substantiate the theory. And this spring, the professor took the mission a step farther, accompanying five students employment—on an expedition to Papua New Guinea to further the research themselves.
"The trip was a tremendous success in every way," Parfitt told the school's paper, FIU News. "We were shown the greatest possible hospitality and warmth by the Gogodala people."
Many members of the Gogodala believe themselves to be Jewish already and practice religious rituals to that end. Some are even seeking to make aliyah.
Several of the students on the mission video recorded their experiences, planning to put together a documentary.
"Our students learned a lot about their culture and the trials and tribulations of fieldwork and I was able to push forward my own research into the tribe's Judaising movement," Parfitt said. "And we'll have a remarkable documentary to boot."
Parfitt has worked previously as professor of Jewish Studies at London's School of Oriental and African Studies.
LAWRENCEBURG, TN. – Genetic research directed by the Equahiyi-Wasi (Abraham-Moses Project) of the Central Band of Cherokee has discovered links with peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean including Northern Israel and the coastal region.
"The Cherokee comprise one or more of the Northern Tribes of Israel, collectively called, 'the House of Israel' before their exile more than 2,730 years ago," said Principal Chief Joe "Sitting Owl" White of the Central Band of Cherokee, who have a museum and Council House in the Town Square.
Seafaring tribes who occupied the coastal region of ancient Israel included Dan, Asher and Zebulun as well as the ancient Phoenicians and P'lishtim, the name by which Yasser Arafat called the Palestinian people. Most of northern Israel was occupied in biblical times by the two families comprising the House of Joseph: Ephraim and M'nashe with part of Benjamin. Other archaeological finds and spiritual practices of the Cherokee and DNA lines point to Cherokee influence and assimilation from a priestly sect of Hebrews known as Cohein among the tribe of Levi.
The Equahiyi-Wasi, is a society of 13 Cherokee, mixed blood, and Jewish professionals, who are researching archaeological, cultural, historical, linguistic, spiritual and DNA links of the Cherokee and other Native tribes. This includes the landmark findings by Dr. Donald "Panther" Yates, principal investigator at DNA Consultants, a genetic testing company in Phoenix, and one of the 13. Other articles published in the current edition of Ancient American magazine update the research of the Scotsman James Adair who noted 23 similarities among the Cherokee spiritual beliefs and practices and Hebrew priests in his 1775, London, "History of the American Indians."
Israelite priests playing the shofar
The Cherokee observance of the New Moon, gleaned from the unpublished but copyrighted manuscripts of John Howard Payne describes a ceremony parallel to the Hebrew observance. Payne, who befriended the principal chief of the Cherokee before the Removal, also describes the layout and order of the Cherokee Council House in terms of Hebrew kabbala.
"We are investigating whether the Cherokee People may also have been a refuge for some Knights Templar families who fled from France to other parts of Europe and eventually the Americas. This could explain some of these esoteric influences," the chief said.
Yates' research debunks long-held "sacred cows" of the archaeological community and raises questions about traditional theories that Native populations arrived across Siberian and Bering Strait land passages. "The DNA shows we came here by boats," the chief explained. "Most Cherokee clans crossed the Atlantic but other tribes apparently Island-hopped the Pacific or migrated from the south country. DNA is serving as markers along a highway so we can eventually identify our origins and stops along the way."