Sambation

Talmudic Sages tell us where the Ten Tribes went to!
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Clouds of Darkness

Duration 21 minutes

The Sambation was one of the areas the Talmudic Sages said the Ten Tribes went to. The identification of this area helps confirm evidence indicating a confederation of the Ten Tribes with the Cimmerians and Scythians and their movement to the west.

Isaiah chapter 49 contains important messages concerning the Lost Ten Tribes and Judah. This chapter also contains points of identification.

Isaiah Chapter 49:
http://www.britam.org/isaiah/Isaiah46to50.html#49
The Isles are called upon to listen to God (49:1). Israel is the servant of God (49:3). Israel will raise up the Tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved of Israel, to be an enlightening influence on the Gentiles unto the geographical extremities of the earth (49:6). God calls to the Jews who were despised ands says HE will save them (49:7). The Ten Tribes will be made into a Brit-Am or covenant of peoples. They will settle and civilize wasted heritages (49:8) and free the prisoners while converging together along their paths of migration (49:9). Judah will be consoled (49:13-16). Much of the troubles of Judah were caused by her own wayward sons (49:17). Judah will be compensated greatly (49:18-20). When the Lost Ten Tribes return Judah will be reticent about receiving them. The Jews will ask where were all those now identified as Israel when the Jews needed help and were alone? According to the Midrash (Pesikta Rabati 32;10) this reaction of the Jews will indeed take place WHEN THEY SEE THE THREE EXILES OF THE LOST TEN TRIBES RETURNING! (49:21). Judah will be elevated and her former oppressors will come bowing down to her (49:22-26).

Two Verses of importance include:
Isaiah 49:
8 Thus says the Lord:
In an acceptable time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will preserve You and give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;
9 That You may say to the prisoners, Go forth,
To those who are in darkness, Show yourselves.
They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.

Midrash concerning the whereabouts of the Ten Tribes is based on Isaiah 49:9.

The Midrash (Numbers Rabah 1;6, Eichah Rabah 2;9, Jerusalemi Sanhedrin ch.17, L.6,29) on this verse, comments:

~Rabbi Berachiah and Rabbi Chelbo in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: To three places was Israel exiled, one to beyond the Sambation River, one to Daphneh of Antiochia, and one to where the Clouds came down and covered them; in the same way that they [i.e. the northern Israelites west of the Jordan River] were exiled to three places, so too were the Tribes [east of the Jordan River] of Reuben, Gad, and half Menasseh, exiled to three places. When they [i.e. the seven Tribes who were east of the Jordan] shall return so too will Reuben, Gad, and half Menasseh return with them. How do we know all this?
~` From the verse, "That You may say to the prisoners, Go forth," (Isaiah 49:9):
These are those exiled beyond the Sambation River.

" To those who are in darkness, Show yourselves. " (Isaiah 49:9):
These are those whom the cloud descended upon and covered.

"They shall feed along the roads, And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights" (Isaiah49;9):
These are those who were exiled to Daphne of Antiochea.~'

An Historical Geographical explanation showing the present day pertinence of this Midrash follows:

THE MIDRASH EXPLAINED:
We thus have, according to the Midrash, three locations to which the Ten Tribes were taken:
The Sambation.
The Place of Clouds
Daphne of Antiochea.

Let us consider the place known as

SAMBATION.

The Midrash on Isaiah 49:9 described above said that the Ten Tribes were exiled to three places: Beyond the Sambation River; To within the Clouds of Darkness; and to Daphne of Antiochea.
Other related sources also trace the Ten Tribes to the Sambation River or to the Sambation and beyond the Sambation, or simply beyond the Sambation
"The Tribes of Judah and Benjamin were not exiled to the same place as the ten tribes; for the latter were transported beyond the River Sambation," etc. (Midrash Gen. R. 73, Num. R. 26. and Yalkut Gen. 984, Midrash Zuta, Song of Songs 1).
The Sambation River has a name meaning in Judeo-Greek, Ethiopic, and other dialects, "THE RIVER OF SABBATH"¹. Its original application was probably to the Lower Zab River which is an eastern tributary of the Tigris River. The name Zab is probably derived from a Hebrew-Semitic root that gives us Ze'ev in Hebrew and means "wolf". In Latin the Zab River is called the Lyrcus i.e. the wolf River. Xenophon (ca. 430 -354 BCE) refers to the Zab River as the SABATUS. In local dialects the River "Zab" was rendered as Zabitha². These pronunciations may have been confused with the Hebrew "Sabat" i.e. the Sabbath or the Sambation. It may be that some of the Ten Tribes still kept the Sabbath and settled alongside the Zab (also known as the Sabatus) River and so the existing name received a new interpretation. Henceforth it was known as the Sabbath River or Sambation³.
In this region Ptolemy recorded the SAMBATAE people whose name is reminiscent of Sambation. Both Sabatus and Sambat could be attributed the same meaning as Sabbath. Here (according to the Map of Ptolemy) was the settlement of "Gomara" associated with the Gimri or Cimmerians. Gomara is located on the site of Sakkiz the Scythian capital. The Scythians emerged from the Cimmerians and were more often referred to as Cimmerians than as Scythians. This was the region of Mannae where it was prophesied (Amos 4:3: Targum Yehonathan) that part of the exiled Israelites would be taken to. From this first area of SAMBATION the Israelite Scythians were to be forced northwards onto the South Russian Steppe lands. The land of southern Russia into which the Scythians moved became known as Scythia. The Scythian region of southern Russia included the Don and Danaster Rivers and the region of Kiev on the Danaper River. [Note the association of Dan in these names.]
There are indications that Israelites who were part of the Scythian forces brought the appellation Sambation with them. The name moved with the people.
In Scythian times in early Greek settlements at the estuary of the Don River in Scythia the personal name "Sambation" has been recorded⁴. From Scythia the Scythians moved westwards into Europe and the British Isles. A remnant of the Scythians were the Khazars. The city of Kiev was founded and dominated by the Khazars though later other people moved in. During the time of Khazar domination, the Byzantine Emperor, Constantinus Porphyrogenitus (905-959), referred to Kiev as Sambatus. This in some opinions was the original Asgard where a portion of Scythian-Israelites settled before continuing northward to Scandinavia. The Don and Dneiper Rivers were both at some time or other nicknamed the "River of Sabbath"⁵. Abraham Polak in his important study of the Khazars says that early post exilic Jewish Writings referred to the Don River as the Sambation⁶. The name Sambation was understood to be another form of the term Sabbath. This enables us to equate the Don River with the Sambation. From the Don River and the region north of it the Scyths had migrated north and westward partly reaching Scandinavia, which was originally, named Scathanavia⁷ in their honor. Britain too in at least one Roman source was later considered a colony of Scythia. Irish Legends traced their ancestry to Scythia.
See Also:
The Israelite and Scythian Origins of the Scots in Early British Tradition
According to the Midrash the River Sambation bordered the area where the Lost Ten Tribes were to be found in.
We suspect that continued exploration of this theme will show a connection between the Sambation River, the British Isles, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
The Sambation was one of three places mentioned by the Midrash.
An examination of the remaining two locations gives as further association with the same groups of peoples all of whom eventually settled in the West.
-as we shall see.

Talmudic Sages tell us where the Ten Tribes went to! To subscribe to our mailing list: Send an E-Mail with the word "SUBSCRIBE"

Talmudic Sages tell us where the Ten Tribes went to!
To subscribe to our mailing list: Send an E-Mail with the word "SUBSCRIBE"