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I confess to a personal interest in the subject of this book. As my roots are impeccably Welsh, I proudly claim a Hebrew heritage, a connection that is well attested in the Bible. According to Genesis, Noah's son Japheth was the father of Gomer, who in turn begat Ashkenaz. As generations of Welsh and Breton scholars have shown over the past four centuries, these patriarchs were the ancestors of the Celtic and Germanic peoples. Gomer's name is commemorated in the name of the Welsh people, Cymry, of the land itself, Cymru. The Welsh language, Cymraeg, is intimately related to Hebrew, and may represent a primal or archetypal form of the biblical tongue: QED.
Lest the reader be alarmed, I say immediately that I do not accept a word of these claims. Yet I know enough Welsh history to recognize that such a pseudo-history must be treated as far more than loopy rogue antiquarianism, and a similar respect attaches to the many other peoples around the world who, through the centuries, have likewise tried to write themselves into the biblical story. Such assertions particularly characterize small or marginal nations anxious to secure themselves on the global stage. Taken seriously, the claims provide a basis for pride in nation and culture, and often justify writing in a language that might otherwise be regarded as a poor relation of Latin or Greek.
Imaginative pseudo-Hebraism might actually be an essential stage in the construction of national identity and patriotism, and that applies to large nations like the English as well as their smaller neighbors. After the Reformation, as more Christians read the Bible in their own tongues, they sought to graft their own local experience and geography onto the master narrative of the Old Testament, which constituted the gold standard of historical authenticity. As William Blake proclaimed, "Adam was a Druid, and Noah; also Abraham was called to succeed the Druidical age … . All these things are written in Eden." In the 19th century, British theorists sought their roots in the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and proudly traced the name of their nation to the Hebrew word brit (covenant) and ish (man). And once you believe that your nation is chosen and covenanted, once you accept that the threats and promises of the Old Testament are directed toward you personally, that creed profoundly shapes your social and political vision, for good and ill. Mythologies have consequences.
As Zvi Ben-Dor Benite shows, the Lost Tribes constitute a mythology that is both potent and enduring. The basic biblical story is familiar enough. Jacob's twelve sons spawned the twelve tribes whose history is that of ancient Israel. Between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, Assyrian and Babylonian kings conquered both the northern and southern kingdoms, massacring and deporting many Israelites. By the time of the Babylonian return from exile, ten of the tribes had effectively vanished from history. Some presumably integrated into nations or kingdoms far removed from Palestine, while others merged with the more famous tribes. Such mergers and acquisitions were a common place feature of ancient warfare and empire-building.
But the missing tribes—Manasseh, Zebulun, Gad, and the rest—were not destined to fade away among history's many other lost peoples. As descendants of the Patriarchs, they also were heirs to all God's promises, while the number twelve continued to symbolize the fullness of the Israelite people. At the end of days, God would gather them in and restore them to the land, and such a restoration would be an indispensable prelude to the End of Time. Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah all promised an ingathering of all the children of Israel. Centuries afterward, Jesus chose twelve apostles. According to the gospel source Q, he promised them that, when he came into his glory, they would sit on twelve thrones, judging the full and proper complement of twelve tribes of Israel—not just two or three. Revelation likewise depicts the servants of God who are to be sealed before the final planetary catastrophe as being drawn equally from each of the twelve tribes, which presumably would need to be restored as a prerequisite of that event. And even if the Judgment was not actually at hand, it would be wonderful to track down such lost peoples who might be invaluable allies to God's peoples in time of crisis. Jews indulged in fantasies of contacting the tribes to seek help against persecutors; Christians hoped for allies against Muslims.
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