This information was taken from historical books, documents, newspaper articles, Wikipedia and of course the most notable of all sources, the Bible. The blog you are about to read has been researched, organized, and laid out using information that may be offensive to some readers. These analysis were not put together in judgment, malice or grievance toward any group or individual. This information is intended to assist the followers of “the way,” in discovering new information.
The Question was never, Who Are The Jews? The Question is, Who Were They?
In 6CE, after the Romans removed the misruling Jewish leader, Herod Archelaus, they took direct administrative control, officially organizing the territory into the Roman province of Iudaea in Latin. (Early in his reign, Archelaus ordered a brutal crackdown during a Passover protest, resulting in the deaths of roughly 3,000 people in the Temple courts of Jerusalem. He also violated Mosaic law by divorcing his wife to marry Glaphyra, the widow of his deceased half-brother Alexander, while she had children from her previous marriage. His harsh, tyrannical governance caused a rare union of both Jewish and Samaritan leaders to formally appeal to Emperor Augustus to depose him,)
How Did Yehuda Become Jew?
The Romans called the people living in the province of Iudaea, iūdaeus (referring to members of the Yehudim and Lewi tribes). Over the centuries following the fall of the Roman Empire, the Latin iūdaeus was gradually shortened in medieval European languages. Through Old French variants used after the Norman Conquest, the word was eventually trimmed further into the modern English word “Jew.”
Although mainstream Western history focuses almost completely on Jews who migrated from Rome, moving further into Europe (becoming the Sephardic and Ashkenazi lineages); African oral histories and other ancient hidden texts track a migration of many Yehudim southward into the Sahel. The Sahel is a vast, semi-arid transition zone in Africa that stretches across the continent between north Africa to the Sahara and into the more tropical savannas.
The word “Sahel” comes from an Arabic term meaning “coast” or “shore”, acting metaphorically as a shoreline of the great desert.
When Roman, Greek, and early Christian writers documented these locations, they described the Yehudim populations, their devout practices, legal status, and their conflicts with the state.
In Egypt (Alexandria and the Nile)
Many writers documented how Egypt once held the largest population of Jews (Yehudim) in the ancient world.
- The Greek geographer Strabo (wrote in the early 1st century) that Jews (the Yehudim) occupied a massive portion of the city of Alexandria. He wrote that “a large part of the city is allocated to this nation” and noted they had their own autonomous governor (ethnarch) who regulated their laws.
- The Greek-Egyptian philosopher and writer Philo (though Jewish himself, noted that over one million Jews lived throughout Egypt, stretching from the Mediterranean coast down into Upper Egypt along the Nile.
- The Byzantine church historian Socrates Scholasticus documented in the year 415 CE, writing explicitly about the Christian governor expelling the entire Jewish population from Alexandria following very intense urban rioting.
In 415 CE…
The death of Gamliel VI marked the end of the hereditary patriarchal dynasty in the Land of Israel. The Roman Emperor Theodosius II refuse to allow a successor, effectively ending the highest traditional court and central leadership body of the Jews (Yehudim), the Sanhedrin. The Roman government then took control of the special taxes previously used to fund central Jewish community activities.
Did you know: The Horn of Africa (Ethiopia) was one of the most prominent migrations in East Africa. The Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) have a rich, verified historical and textual heritage tracking their lineage back to ancient Israel. They established an independent kingdom in the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia that lasted for centuries. They faced centuries of pressure, wars, and attempts by neighboring rulers to force them to convert to Christianity. Historically, laws stopped them from owning land, so they worked as farmers, weavers, and metal smiths.
In Cyrenaica (Modern Libya)
During Greek, Persian, and Roman rule, Jewish communities expanded across North Africa and the Mediterranean, including Egypt, Cyrenaica, and Punic territories. Opinions are mixed on the exact timeline of early settlements in Carthage, with archaeological records pointing primarily to the Roman period rather than early Punic times.
The region of Cyrenaica (eastern Libya) was heavily recorded by Roman historians due to massive geopolitical revolts.
Did you know: Yeshua’s disciple, John Mark who wrote the Book of “Mark” and his mother, Mary, originated from Cyrenaica (specifically Cyrene) in North Africa before moving to Yerushalayim?
Did you also know: a Hebraic presents developed throughout the trans- Saharan trade routes. Historical records confirm this, as Sub Saharan (modern-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt in North Africa, connecting to Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Ghana, and Sudan in West and Sub-Saharan Africa) was an established path.
A Result Of The Slave Trades…
It was recorded that the trans-Saharan slave trade, which began in ancient times, with early roots during the Roman Empire around the 1st century CE expanded significantly after the Arab conquest of North Africa in the 7th and 8th centuries CE. Most people taken in the trans-Saharan slave trade originated from the savannahs, forests, and interior regions of West and Central Africa, particularly the densely populated Central Sudan (extending from the Niger Bend to the region around Lake Chad.
Historically, the West African Jewish populations connected to these trade migrations were known broadly in Judeo-Arabic as the Jews of the Bilad al-Sudan (Land of the Blacks). Documents from medieval travelers and Arab historians note that some merchant families migrated past the desert fringe into the Sahelian trading empires, though most eventually converted, or fled during periods of religious persecution.
It was also recorded that millions of people from the Congo region and the Kingdom of Kongo were forcibly taken during the transatlantic slave trade. West-Central Africa—which includes the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, and Gabon, supplied more enslaved people than any other region.
Hebraic populations in regions like the Congo and southern Africa largely reflected later trade expansions. Colonial-era arrivals, or distinct indigenous group traditions (such as the Lemba in southern Africa) begin to scatter.
The Lemba people are a Bantu-speaking community in southern Africa with oral and genetic traditions tracing back to Semitic and Jewish roots. They resided primarily in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Mozambique.
Did you know: DNA studies show that a notable portion of Lemba male lineages carry Semitic Y-chromosome markers, including the Cohen modal haplotype linked to Jewish priestly families.
Some genetic studies suggest ancient gene flow connecting some modern Jewish populations with sub-Saharan African lineages dating back roughly 2,000 years.
Several Hebraic nomadic groups moved across the Sahara from Nubia and the ancient kingdom of Kush towards West Africa.
Trade and Travel
Hebrew traders moved south across the Sahara from Morocco, Tunisia (Carthage region), and Egypt alongside Berber and Arab groups.
Historical records even noted Hebraic presence in the ancient kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai between the 8th and 16th centuries.
The Trans-Saharan slave trade, established between the 7th and 8th centuries; continued throughout the Middle Ages? Arabs, Berbers, and other ethnic groups of the Middle East ventured into Sub Saharan Africa starting along the Nile Valley towards Nubia, and across the Sahara towards West Africa Stealing assorted resources along with many of it’s people, the West African Yehudim.
Not Only Were Yehudim Forced To Become Christian, They Were Also Forced To Convert To Islam
Historians like Leo Africanus (writing in 1526) documented vibrant, prosperous Jewish trading communities living in the Sahel, particularly around the Oasis of Timbuktu and the Mali/Songhai Empires. Textual accounts note that in 1492, a local ruler named Askia Muhammad forced these Jews to convert to Islam or face exile, leading many to assimilate directly into West African ethnic groups like the Fulani, Wolof, and Soninke
Religious groups, such as the Muslims and later the Christians sought to obtain many Africans and Yehudim for their Slave Trades. During this time, there was a constant demand for melanated captives in the eastern Arab nations and Constantinople (previously known as the Byzantine Empire; or Eastern Rome).
Joel 3:2 I will gather together all the (Heathen) nations (that were hostile to My people) and bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat (meaning the LORD has judged). And there I will deal with them and enter into judgment with them there for their treatment of My people, My inheritance, Ya’akov whom they have scattered among the nations, and because they have encroached on My land and divided it up.
The Valley of Jehoshaphat is physically located in Yerushalayim, sitting directly between the eastern wall of the Old City (including the Temple Mount) and the Mount of Olives. Today, this geographic depression is universally identified and known as the Kidron Valley.
Kidron (Qidrōn) actually means “the dark one” in Hebrew.
The Kitos (Quietus) Wars
Did you know: Kitos is short for Lusius Quietusa, a very cruel and brutal general?
- Tacitus and the Greek historian Appian wrote about the “Kitos War” (115–117 CE). They documented that a massive population of Jews (Yehudim) were living in Cyrene (Libya). Appian described how the local Jewish population rose up against the Greco-Roman citizens, destroying pagan temples, and fighting a devastating guerilla war across the Libyan countryside before Roman legions crushed them.
The Kitos War: Was sparked by a combination of religious taxation, underlying ethnic tensions with Hellenistic Greeks, and the depletion of Roman troops in the eastern Mediterranean while Emperor Trajan was away fighting the Parthian War. With Roman garrisons thinly stretched, Jewish communities in North Africa, Cyprus, and Egypt revolted.
Emperor Trajan sent two generals, Marcius Turbo and Lusius Quietus, to crush the revolts. The Roman suppression was incredibly brutal, resulting in massive casualties and the near-total devastation of Jewish communities in those regions.
In Numidia and Carthage (Modern Algeria and Tunisia)
As Christianity grew in the 4th and 5th centuries, non-Jewish and early Latin Church writers frequently wrote about Jews living directly in their neighborhoods.
- Augustine of Hippo, a famous theologian and bishop living in Hippo Regius (modern Annaba, Algeria), wrote extensively about Jews living in his region. In his letters and books like The City of God, Augustine described the physical presence of Jews practicing their Sabbath and customs right alongside Christians in North African cities.
- He noted their dispersion to “nearly all lands” and famously argued that Roman authorities should allow them to survive in their locations as physical witnesses to ancient biblical history.
- In regard to the first Roman/Jewish (Yehudim) war, fought between 66-73 CE, Flavius Josephus stated, “General Vespasian and his son Caesar Titus fought against the Jews (Yehudah). Millions of Jews fled into Africa, among other places, fleeing from Roman persecution and starvation during the siege.”
They were a real and powerful historical kingdom on the Atlantic coast of West Africa, located in what is now the Republic of Benin (centered around the city now spelled Ouidah).
It was a major trading hub and a tragic epicenter of the transatlantic slave trade before it was conquered and annexed by the neighboring Kingdom of Dahomey in 1727.
The phonetic similarity between the African local pronunciation (Whidah/Yehudah) and the biblical name (Judah) led European mapmakers to spell it as Juda or Whidah.
The Kingdom Of Juda, (Yehudah)
What Went Wrong?
Isaiah 58:13-14 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,14 then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
This leads us to a very important question?
If the Bible tells us to follow the commandments and to keep the Sabbath day? Who or what is the entity enforcing Sunday keeping around the world? The Bible speaks of a “mark.” This mark of the beast means to practice the opposite of GOD’s command? Is it not obvious that ignoring the Sabbath and keeping Sunday instead becomes Satan’s mark of disgrace?
Who Is Responsible For This Great Diversion?
The Catholic Record of London, London Ontario, on Sept 1st 1923 tells us,
“Sunday is our mark of authority, the church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact.”
History agrees that it was Constantine the Great and the Catholic Church, who replaced GOD’s Shabbat, the seventh day with the first day, Sunday. This is what Catholic authorities have repeatedly described as their “mark!” A pagan day that boldly goes where no one should ever follow. This statement acknowledges how the office of pope, is clearly the “Little Horn;” of Revelation converting the righteous worship of GOD into the worship of pagans.
News Flash: Muslims also do not practice Shabbat.
Yehudim In Mauretania
Jews lived in the region of Mauritania as early as 70 BCE after the destruction of the Second Temple.
Even at the furthest western edge of the Roman Empire, non-Jewish records have placed Yehudim on a very visible map.
- Roman municipal and tax records tracked the city of Volubilis (in modern Morocco). While classical texts are brief, Roman archaeological data from the 3rd century CE provides the absolute proof.
- Archaeologists found Roman-era gravestones in Volubilis written in Greek and Latin tracking Jewish citizens. One specific inscription names a man, Kaikilianos, explicitly calling him the “head of the Jewish synagogue” in that Moroccan city. They also dug up clay and bronze oil lamps decorated with Jewish Menorahs in the ruins.
Black Israelites
Did you know: The Hebrew word (Ashur) “Ashchuwr” meant Black Israelite in Strong’s Lexicon #806! There the word (Ash-khoor) is defined as a, “black” Israelite.
806a (Ashcur) “black,” an Israelite (Ashcur) an Israelite probably from Shachar; black; an Israelite,
Jeremiah 17:3; MY mountain in the land and your wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder, together with your high places, because of sin throughout your country. 4) Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you.
Carthage and North Africa:
Many local traditionalists and historians suggest early contact, and clear evidence of an established Hebraic presence in Carthage emerging by the second and third centuries CE under Roman rule.
So, What Happened?
I mean, What Really Happened?
When ancient writers mentioned the Jews and their location in North Africa, they described them as:
- Distinct and Unassimilated: Living in specific quarters of cities (like Alexandria) with their own courts.
- Highly Mobile: Moving along established Mediterranean maritime trade routes.
- A Significant Tax Base: Tracked by Roman tax collectors via the Fiscus Judaicus across Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia.
Exact Texts From Ancient Writers
- Texts were obtained from Strabo describing how widespread Jews were in the Mediterranean.
- Writings of Augustine detailed his daily interactions with the Jewish community of Algeria.
Why Do They Silence The Voices And Hide The Books?
Augustine of Hippo, a North African of Berber descent and supporter of slavery, served as bishop of Hippo Regius (modern-day Annaba, Algeria) from 395 to 430 CE. He left a large record of letters, sermons, and theological treatises that documented a vibrant, integrated Jewish population living right alongside his North African Christian flock. But, most don’t know about them.
Augustine’s letters to his contemporary, Jerome, revealed that he regularly interacted with local Jewish linguists in North Africa to help clarify the Bible.
Augustine even notes that the bishop, Jerome, formally brought in local Jewish scholars to examine the Hebrew texts. The Jewish experts sided with the old translation, which Augustine used to validate his congregation’s stance. Augustine openly admitted that he regularly sought the linguistic and traditional expertise of African Jews to decipher obscure Old Testament passages.
The Trans Atlantic Slave Trade
Around 1444, Spain and Portugal, began to kidnap and illegally transport hundreds of thousands of Yehudim and West African residents, taking them to Europe, the Americas and multiple islands scattered around the Atlantic. Around 1482 the Portuguese established the Elmina Castle trading post on what they labeled, “the Slave Coast,” which is present-day Ghana. This event marked the beginning of a long period of European colonization and trade in West Africa, which greatly effected the Jews (Yehudim). Later around 1526, these captives were shipped as far south as Brazil, and Cuba.
Biblically, This was the penalty, placed upon the descendants of the 12 tribes, particularly the Yehuda, Lewi and what was left of the Benyamin!
Isaiah 28:16 “Therefore this says the LORD GOD: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. (Yehoshua)
Zion (Hebrew) a mountain in Yerushalayim, representing what will become the Mountain of GOD.
Jeremiah 30:17 For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the LORD, because they have called you an outcast: ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’
The origin word, for Zion, is tsiyyah, it means dryness and drought, a dry place, or parched land, barren, wilderness. This tells us, that neither the people of Zion, nor the land are who, or what, the world perceives them to be, from a space which appears dry, withered and barren, GOD’s foundation was firmly set.
