Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Jews and One of the Lost Ten Tribes, The Lemba of Africa

 Nademe Goldfoot                                  

          Samaria today was northern Israel.   Samaria was the name of their capital  after the Civil War when Solomon died and then the whole area came to be called Samaria. Their last king was Hoshea (730-721 BCE) when the Assyrians had attacked. He finally rebelled against the Assyrians and was put in prison by Shalmaneser who then captured Samaria.    

Now called the West Bank by some, Judea and Samaria were separated from the tribe of Judah, parts of Benjamin and parts of Simeon when King Solomon died in 920 BCE and the northern 10 Tribes parted ways from the southern end of these three of which Judah was the largest.  They even fought a Civil War.  

Then Assyria ( name means land bathed in blood)  attacked in 721 BCE.  Assyria turns out to be today's Iraq and Syria. They were a most aggressive kingdom in the 20th century BCE and expanded rapidly from the 13th to 19th centuries.  The kings of Israel thought they were friends and had worked together, until Assyria attacked them and carried away the best of the population for their own designs. 

This caused what was later called the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.   It was when Shalmaneser III attacked Ben-Hadad II of Damascus in 853 BCE that King Ahab of Israel (876-853 BCE)  had supported them in the battle of Karkar.   Following that, King Hosea of Israel (730 to721 BCE), Israel's last king, in 726 BCE tried to throw off the yoke which led to Shalmaneser V's siege of Samaria and its capture in 721 by his successor, Sargon.  Sargon annexed the country and deported 27,290 Israelites to Assyria and Media and replaced them with Syrian and Babylonian prisoners.  This was followed up with the revolt of Ashdod that was supported by King Hezekiah of Judah (720 to 692 BCE)  that was suppressed in 715 BCE. 

We have discovered the Lemba tribe of Africa.  They have been practicing Judaism.  How can this be that a black tribe is Jewish?  They took the proper DNA test and their Y haplogroup (male line) shows that not only are they sharing Jewish genes, but those of the Cohens, the priests, J1 haplogroup.  Evidently Jewish traders went into Africa and took native wives, and now there are    Lemba tribesmen who are Jewish.  "Many of the Lemba, who number more than 50,000 people, are Christians, but they see no contradiction in professing Judaism, too. "

Dr. Parfitt visited their homes, which are in northern South Africa and Zimbabwe.  Author of "The Lost Ark Of The Covenant," Of their tradition, they reported, "''We came from the north, from a place called Senna. We left Senna, we crossed Pusela, we came to Africa and there we rebuilt Senna.'' Parfitt was in Yemen and told a Jewish leader their story.  "mentioned the Lemba tradition of Senna to the religious leader of the holy city of Tarim. The leader was surprised to hear it because, he told Dr. Parfitt, there was a nearby village called Senna." So their original people could have come from Jewish Yemen Cohenim who were traders in Africa.  

The Queen of Sheba had left her home in Ethiopia and traveled to meet King Solomon,  With her she brought frankincense, myrrh, gold and precious jewels. King Solomon had heard of Sheba and her great kingdom.     

Josh Bernstein,  of the TV program, Digging For The Truth on History.com, is an Israeli-born anthropologist with Israeli parents,  explorer, author, executive producer, survival expert and TV host whose program I watched on Youtube which was on The Quest for King Solomon's gold and frankincense.  

This documentary series travels the globe to explore and delve deeper into ancient mysteries such as the Lost Ark of the Covenant, the building of the pyramids of Egypt and the long quest for the Holy Grail. The host, Josh Bernstein, is the main explorer for the first three seasons before being replaced by Hunter Ellis.    He later appeared for one season as the host of the Discovery Channel's Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein. He's great; evidently American raised.  

     Zimbabwe used to be southern Rhodesia.  Up north see Suez Canal, and the land along the Mediterranean Sea is unmarked but is Israel.  That's where the Lemba have been living.  

He followed the trail to see frankincense being separated from dirt, being finished off as it would have been done 3,000 years ago.  What impressed me was that anytime Josh saw people working on his subject, he would offer to do some of the work, too.  That was quite an experience, and the native people enjoyed and admired him for doing just this.  Then he tracked down where Solomon's mines were, only to find the the mine in Israel produced copper but not gold.  Maybe that's why Sheba's gift of so much gold was so appreciated.  The gold of Sheba was traced to Ophir in the Bible which turns out to be today's Axum. Axum or Aksum (pronounced: /ˈæksuːm/) is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015). It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire, a naval and trading power that ruled the whole region from about 400 BCE into the 10th century. Solomon (961-920 BCE) was king, and alluring to Sheba, so it was ruled by Sheba during this time also, way before 400 BCE if we are to believe where her gold came from.  

In the Bible, sailors for Sheba would be gone for 3 years and return with ivory and apes along with gold, true traders.  

He had to track down where Sheba had really come from; whether it was Ethiopia or Zimbabwe (southern Rhodesia) , and it was Ethiopia.                                    

A leader of the Lemba people, wearing a prayer shawl, gathers with his fellow Jews. DNA tests have confirmed the Semitic heritage of these sub-Saharan Africans.

Jekesai Njikizana /AFP/Getty Images

The Lemba tribe has the Cohen DNA, but the Ethiopians do not yet show they have the connecting DNA to the Jewish people.   Tudor Parfitt spoke of the Lemba in his book about the Ark.  Though the Lemba may be descended from Jewish ancestors, they have not practiced Judaism for many centuries. Lately, some have wanted to shift towards mainstream Judaism. Today, many Lemba are Christians or Muslims.  Ethiopians have returned to Israel through several air lifts and many past years. They have kept up Jewish cultural practices better than most American Jews besides their personal history of genealogical connection to the Queen of Sheba. A study of Lucotte and Smets has shown, however, that the genetic father of Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) was close to the Ethiopian non-Jewish populations. This is consistent with the theory that Beta Israel are descendants of ancient inhabitants of Ethiopia, not the Middle East. 

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia-Queen of Sheba

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/09/us/dna-backs-a-tribe-s-tradition-of-early-descent-from-the-jews.html#:~:text=Many%20of%20the%20Lemba%2C%20who,contradiction%20in%20professing%20Judaism%2C%20too.

youtube Digging for the Truth with Josh Bernstein

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axum#:~:text=Axum%20or%20Aksum%20(pronounced%3A%20%2F,residents%20(as%20of%202015).&text=It%20is%20the%20site%20of,BCE%20into%20the%2010th%20century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Bernstein

https://www.pbs.org/mythsandheroes/myths_four_sheba.html#:~:text=With%20her%20she%20brings%20frankincense,Sheba%20and%20her%20great%20kingdom.

https://www.anumuseum.org.il/the-myth-of-the-ten-lost-tribes-article/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=jew%20tribes&utm_campaign=g&device=c&gclid=Cj0KCQjwyt-ZBhCNARIsAKH1175OBwAWXB0Xs1wAPb3esVcTchEeueVFvY1SJ7d2-K9K

Dr. Shalva Weil, conference in Jerusalem on Lost 10 Tribes, and Pashtuns.  Senior Researcher at The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_studies_on_Jews#:~:text=in%20one%20sample.-,Y%2DDNA%20of%20Ethiopian%20Jews,Ethiopia%2C%20not%20the%20Middle%20East.---Ethiopian Jews