Apostle Letters, Early Reference, Indian Tradition, Thomas the Apostle

Response to views of respected participants …

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Comment posted on Letters of St. Thomas the Apostle to Edessa from India by Student of history

Response to views of respected participants regarding – gene testing( J, K etc ) , idea that Syria and
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Persia did not have Jews , knowledge about Jewish Diaspora etc.
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Studies ( both social sciences and natural sciences ) have shown that since time immemorial people have migrated and inter-married. So how can there be single pure race ? But certain groups of people may exibit prominent features of a certain type of people. All men are equal in the eyes of – God ( as per Bible ) and Man ( Human Rights Charter ). So there is no need of a feeling of superiority or inferiority – especially in this era of knowledge which has a far greater degree of migration and inter marriage.
So the service of this website must be seen as a healthy exercise to preserve and transmit our knowledge and memories of the past while ensuring that we respect each others traditions and view points.
The history of Jewish diaspora which starts with sons of Noah – Ham , Shem and Yapheth . Though there are many studies on the Jewish diaspora there are still many areas which still remain hidden.
The historical expose of “west asianmigrantsthulasserymanapurathu.org” – and comments of Mr Mathews Pathisseril are academically worth .While mentioning the migration of a family of West Asians to Kollam in the 9th century A.D. led by the family elder Mar Sabore they have been bold not to claim racial superiority or racial purity – as they acknowledge their intermarriage with Kerala Syrian Christians and integrating with the new community and its customs . The good times and bad times during which they endured defeats and subsequent migration are lucidly expressed.
Studies show that in the first few centuries of the Christian era in West Asia /Mediterranean region , as Christians were small in number Persians , Jews , Greeks ,Romans and Armenians who were the first to adopt Christianity intermarried each other . This view is supported by John C England in his book ‘Hidden history of Christianity in Asia’ .

“The foundation of Eastern Churches ,beginning in the last decades of first century was formed amongst Aramaic and Syriac speaking communities of Syria and Mesopotamia…Christian communities were already well established by 4th and 5th centuries in Armenia( first proclaimed Christian state) ,Arabia and Khurasan (Northeast Persia)….Chritianity thus became a significant minority within pesian empire ,comprising largely of West Syrians, Sogdians(Turks) and Greeks .deported from Roman provinces…”8

We have another instance of intermarriage in the ancient West Asian Christians in the case of Timothy whose father was a Greek Christian and mother a Jewish Christian. 9

The changing power equations between the Romans and the Persians who were alternately dominant during the period in west Asia / Mediterranean must have hastened the migratory tendency of the people .

As its engraved on the Persian cross set up by Mar Sapor in Kadammatom Church that the place from which he migrated was Ninevah we can have a glance at the origin of Christianity in Ninevah. Ninevah has been part of Greater Syria, Persia, ybylonia the Greeks and the Romans in different periods of history .hence the people of this region wre a mixture of people from Syria, Persia, Babylonia ,Greece and Rome. In Ezra Chapters 9 and 10-15 .We find that during the time of exodus as some Jewish men from Juda and Benjamin tribes had children and wifes from non Jewish especially Assyrian tribes while they were in Ninevah( modern Mosul in Iraq) they did not return to Jerusalem eeven while given the freedom by emperor Cyrus 10 .The Assyarian Christians evolved from them.They used Aramia language. The Apostles Thomas, Bartholomew , and Thaddeus in 33 A.D established the Assyairan Church of the East in Eddessa. For the next 600 years the Assyrian Church was in a state of dormancy .But from the seventh century the Assyrian Church became active and by the end of the 12th century the Assyrian Church had spread from Syria to Mongolia, India, China , Japan , and Korea .It can be concluded from books and materials on the lost tribes of Israel that the Jews have their descendents in all continents from Europe( Ashkanizim), Asia and North African nations and they live either knowingly or ignorant of their Jewish connection. Thus the Jewish culture is a cosmopolitan culture which accepts people of all races to intermarry and thus accepted diversity .

Why and how Jewish roots have been lost?

The ten of the original twelve Hebrew tribes, which, under the leadership of Joshua, took possession of Canaan, the Promised Land, after the death of Moses were Asher, Dan, Ephraim, Gad, Issachar, Manasseh, Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon, and Zebulun. In 930 BC while the 10 tribes formed the independent Kingdom of Israel in the north , the two other tribes, Judah and Benjamin,set up the Kingdom of Judah in the south.

Following the conquest of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians in 721 BC, the 10 tribes were gradually assimilated by other peoples and thus disappeared from history. Peoples who at various times were said to be descendants of the lost tribes include the Nestorians, the Mormons, the Afghans, the Falashas of Ethiopia, some tribes of the American Indians and some groups of people in Japanese etc. . The ancestry of King Arthur of England is traced to Joseph of Aramethea . While some aristocratic and ruling families in trace their Jewish ancestry , the Celts of Scotland also are considered to be part of the lost Jewish tribe.

But the tribes of Judah and Benjamin survived as Jews because they were allowed to return to their homeland after the Babylonian Exile of 586 BC. 11

All these shows that since early history the Jews or Semitic people were one of the earliest races to marry with other races of the world. No wonder the large number of Jewish diaspora around the world . But it remains a sad fact that many tribes of the Jews have been lost either due to lack of transmission and preservation of knowledge, or due to lack of proper communication and lack of proper documentation .It can also be inferred that due to the cultural reasons and adverse political and social conditions the Jews had to face they either ignored or did not reveal their Jewish roots. So they might have claimed to be part of something else or just said they were ignorant of their ancestry. As the bulk of people with Jewish ancestry who kept silent about it were traders in order to identify with the rest of the top notch in the society they claimed ignorance of their ancestry.

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References

8. England,C.John.The Hidden History of Christianity ,P.15

9. Holy Bible,Acts of Apostles 16:1

10. Hoy Bible,Ezra Chapters 9 and 10-15

11. Encyclopaedia Britannica 2003 deluxe edition CD ROM

Cross Reference

Lexicon Results for Cham (Strong’s 02526)
Lexicon Results for Shem (Strong’s 08035)
Lexicon Results for Yepheth (Strong’s 03315)
After the Flood Bill Cooper, 1995.
Jews in Central Africa Irwin M. Berg, 2003.
Havila and the Tutsi Hebrews
Hebraic Traditions of the Batutsi
Antiquities of the Jews – Book I
Die Chronik des Hippolytus
Etymologies of Isidore, English translation
Seth in Jewish, Christian, and Gnostic Literature p. 54
S.P. Brock notes that the earliest Greek texts of Pseudo-Methodius read Moneton, while the Syriac versions have Ionţon (Armenian Apocrypha, p. 117)
Looking for Jonitus by C.J. Verduin
Travels of Noah into Europe