Brit-Am Research Sources (8 February 2017, 12 Shevet, 5777)
Contents:
1. Phoenician Place-Names in Britain
Thanet, Tanit and the Phoenicians: Place-Names, Archaeology and Pre-Roman Trading Settlements in Eastern Kent?
by Dr. Caitlin L. Green
2. Ancient Monuments in Southern Britain Ascribed to "Jews"!
The Jews of South-West England, Thesis by Rabbi Bernard Susser
3. Ancient "Mountain of the Jews" in Pembroke, Wales
Facts that Prove the Connection between the Phoenicians and the Irish-Celtic
4. What marked the end of the British Empire? Why?
Lin Xieyi, A Pleb On Her Majesty's Service
5. Great Britain used to be the only superpower. Why USA? What happened?
by Pip Willis
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1. Phoenician Place-Names in Britain
Thanet, Tanit and the Phoenicians: Place-Names, Archaeology and Pre-Roman Trading Settlements in Eastern Kent?
by Dr. Caitlin L. Green
http://www.caitlingreen.org/2015/04/thanet-tanit-and-the-phoenicians.html
Extracts:
Such a positive reaction to the linguistic case on offer from a leading English place-name specialist is, of course, interesting. Moreover, recent work on British place-names suggests that Thanet may not, in fact, stand alone, and is instead one of a small number of obscure and difficult names from Britain that could potentially have Proto-Semitic/Punic roots. So, for example, Rame Head in Cornwall is an Iron Age promontory fort that guards the entrance to the large, natural deep water harbour of Plymouth Sound and the associated 'Tamar Estuary Iron Age coastal node'. This name 'Rame' in 1086 and thereafter is, according to Oliver Padel, 'completely obscure' and 'unexplained', with no convincing explanation possible in either Cornish or English; however, it has been pointed out that there may well be such a potential and appropriate explanation available in Proto-Semitic, via the Semitic height-word *r m, as found in the modern place-names Ramat Gan, Israel, and Ramallah, Palestine (Proto-Semitic root *rwm), which would fit this imposing, conical headland well.(7)
.... Other instances of British islands bearing names that could likewise derive from Proto-Semitic include the difficult Welsh island-name Echri in the Severn Estuary (English Flat Holm, the last inhabitable island met as one journeys up the Severn, which has a potential Proto-Semitic origin in a name meaning the rearmost island), the unexplained name of the Isles of Scilly (which could reflect Proto-Semitic *s-l-, cf. Hebrew sela, 'rock', and thus be a name meaning 'The Rocks'; note, the -c- in the modern name is a post-medieval innovation) ...
There is, for example, a clear concentration of Carthaginian coinage along the south coast of England, and especially around the major Iron Age port of Poole Harbour, the site of the only excavated Iron Age harbour piers or moles in Britain. These two apparently monumental structures date from the third century BC and were clearly well-built and substantial: up to 160 metres long, 8 metres wide, and with paved stone surfaces of creamy-white Purbeck marble, the piers together extended out into the deep-water channel, narrowing its entrance and thus enabling the control of access to the harbour within.(13) Similarly, other significant concentrations of Carthaginian coins are easily discernible in and around the Severn Estuary; in the north-west, at the important pre-Roman trading site of Meols on the Wirral (Cheshire); and in the Thames Valley, all plausible sites for early maritime traders to have visited. However, the most impressive concentration of Carthaginian coins in Britain is undoubtedly that found in east Kent, including the Isle of Thanet, where far more of these Mediterranean coins have been found (on multiple sites) than is the case anywhere else in Britain.(14)
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2. Ancient Monuments in Southern Britain Ascribed to "Jews"!
The Jews of South-West England
Thesis by Rabbi Bernard Susser
Chapter One
The early settlement of Jews in Devon and Cornwall
Part 1
http://www.jewishgen.org/SIGs/JCRuk/susser/thesis/thesischapterone.htm
Extracts:
That there may have been some connection between the inhabitants of Devon and Cornwall and the dwellers on the Palestinian coast line is shown by food habits which they still hold in common. Both areas use saffron in cooking, particularly in the baking of cakes. [J. Bannister, 'Jews in Cornwall', Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, II (1867), 324 (afterwards quoted as Bannister, 'Jews in Cornwall'), usefully summarizes all the arguments.] In these two regions as well as in Brittany, which was also under Celtic influence, clotted cream is manufactured. [S. Applebaum, 'Were there Jews in Roman Britain?' Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England (afterwards quoted as TJHSE), XVII (1950), (afterwards quoted as Applebaum, Roman Britain), p. 189.] A further indication of some degree of intercourse between the ancient Israelites and Celts is the similarity in sound and meaning of words and phrases in the Hebrew and Celtic languages. [Margoliouth, Jews in Britain, I,23. For 300 Ancient British expressions which are also Hebrew homonyms and synonyms, see H. Rowlands, Mona Antiqua Restaurata quoted in T. S. Duncombe, The Jews of England (1866), p. 25, where he mentions some 30 examples, and M. Margoliouth, Vestiges of the Historic Anglo-Hebrews in East Anglia (1870), p. 14, and p. 65 where he quotes eight phrases.] So much so, that in 1827 the British and Foreign Bible Society distributed Hebrew Bibles among the Cornish as being nearest the vernacular. [E. N. Adler, History of the Jews of London (Philadelphia, 1930), p. 1.]
Jews may have had at least one well established trading centre in Cornwall in the pre-Roman period, as the town Marazion [This name is itself suggestive of Hebraic origin, meaning either "sight of Zion" or "bitterness of Zion".] was anciently known as Market-Jew, and the main street of Penzance which leads to it is even today called Market-Jew Street. Nor is this the only town in Cornwall whose name is said to be Hebraic in its origin. There is also the village of Menheniot, which name, a correspondent to the Jewish Chronicle suggested, is derived from the two Hebrew words, min oniyot, which mean "from ships". [JC, 1 June 1860.] The current pronunciation of the name of the Cornish town of Mousehole as "Muzzle" might also be influenced by Hebrew, as "Muzzle" is the homonym of the Hebrew word meaning "luck". It might be objected that the apparent Hebrew origins of the names of these towns is due to mere coincidence. It is known, however, that in the nineteenth century the cryptic Hebrew expression Makom Lamed (= 'L(ondon) place') coined by local Jews when referring to London, passed into general Cornish usage. [Roth, Provincial Jewry, p. 91, but cf. C. Roth, 'Jews' houses', Antiquity, XXV (1951), 98, 66-68 where he discusses place names associated with "Jew", such as Jews' Tower at Winchester, Jews' Mount at Oxford, Villejuif near Paris or Judenberg in Germany. He points out that often there is no proven Jewish community at that place. He suggests that when the origin of a large structure was unknown, it would be ascribed to the Jews, 'loosely corresponding to the term 'Cyclopaean' in vogue today - or yesterday - to describe massive structures of great or even mysterious antiquity.' But a Jew's House is only 3 feet high and could hardly be called even a large, let alone gigantic, structure.]
It is worth noting that much of the evidence which points to Jewish settlement or influence in Britain during the pre-Roman period, relates in the main to Devon and Cornwall.
It has also been suggested that the prevalence of Biblical names in Cornwall such as Benjamin, David, Isaac, Joseph, Samuel, and Solomon, during the Saxon period indicates some intercourse between Jews and Cornwall, [M. Margoliouth, Vestiges of the Historic Anglo-Hebrews in East Anglia (1870), p. 14.] the more so as these names were not used in other parts of the country, not even at Exeter, which is barely 40 miles from the Cornish border. [Bannister, 'Jews in Cornwall', p. 335.]
... a mid-fourth century Duke of Cornwall who became a Christian when already an adult, and yet was called Solomon even before his baptism. [M. Margoliouth, loc. cit. V. Newall, 'The Jews of Cornwall in Local Tradition', MJHSE, XI (1979), pp. 119-121, collects most of the evidence relating to Jews in ancient Cornwall. ]
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3. Ancient "Mountain of the Jews" in Pembroke, Wales
Facts that Prove the Connection between the Phoenicians and the Irish-Celtic
http://phoenicia.org/Phoenician_Celtic_connections.html#ixzz4Y4dQk1Bb
Extracts:
... Leading 18th and 19th century scholars, such as Gen. Charles Vallancey, Lord Rosse, and Sir William Betham, also wrote on this subject. Vallancey, for instance, speaks of, "The great affinity found in many words, nay whole lines and sentences of this speech, between the Punic [Phoenician] and the Irish." George Rawlinson, Phoenicia, p. 327
Note: Ancient Hebrew and Canaanite Phoenician and Punic are the same people. Please see: Matt Giwer, 2007 [Oct 28]
Since it is true that Canaanite Phoenicians migrated to Europe in large numbers in ancient times, there must be religious and cultural ties, and in fact, such connections abound. Dr. Thomas Moore's, History of Ireland(p. 40), relates:
"That most common of all Celtic monuments, the Cromlech... is to be found not only in most parts of Europe, but also in Asia," including eastern Mediterranean. Not less ancient and general, among the Celtic nations, was the circle of upright stones, with either an altar or tall pillar in the centre, and, like its prototype at the temple of Byblos, Phoenicia, Gilgal [ancient Israel], serving sometimes as a temple of worship, sometimes as a place of national council or inauguration... The rough, unhewn stone...used in their circular temples by the Druids. Dr. Beauford, in Druidism Revived, says, "It is remarkable that all the ancient altars found in Ireland, and now distinguished by the name of Cromlechs or sloping stones, were originally called Bothal, or the House of God, and they seem to be of the same species as those mentioned in the Book of Genesis, called by the Canaanites, Bethel, or discovered in Byblos, Phoenicia, which has the same signification as the Irish Bothal."
The Bible (Judges 9:6; 2Ki. 11:14; 2 Chon. 23:13) indicates that Phoenician kings were crowned either standing upon or next to a pillar of stone. "The practice of seating the new king upon a stone, at his initiation, was the practice in many of the countries of Europe.... The monarchs of Sweden sat upon a stone placed in the centre of twelve lesser ones, and in a similar kind of circle the Kings of Denmark were crowned." (Moore, ibid., p. 42) Note also the significant Bible number, 'twelve', which was common to both European Celts and the Phoenicians.
The book, Identity of the Religions Druidical and Phoenician, adds, "Circular temples...abound in England and other parts of Europe. The most ancient account of them is to be found in the book of Exodus (24:4), "And Moses... builde an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes.." (p.15) In Europe, Stonehenge, Avebury, and many other early Celtic sites were designed in a circular pattern. There is no record that preserves the order in which the pillars or stelae of the temple of Byblos were organized.
Groves were also features of both Phoenician and Celtic worship. Significant importance was paid by the Celts to the mistletoe and Phoenician Libanesis was/is abundunt in it like no other place in the Near East.
The division of time into a seven-day week was practiced by the Irish Celts, identical to the Phoenicians from whom the Israelites learned the practice and used it after coming to Canaan. In Egypt, the week was made up of ten days and the Israelites had to follow the ten day week following their Egyptian masters. It was referred to as the market days. The Romans had an eight day week.
Since early times, the Israelites sinned against God by adopting many of the pagan practices of their neighbors, and so we find evidence of both Canaanite Phoenician and Canaanite culture among their descendants in Europe. The ancient Baal pillar is one of many such religious monuments which have been found from the Middle East to Ireland.
There are many other examples, however, of customs linking the Celtic Druids specifically with Phoenicia. English historian, William Borlase, in his "Antiquities Of Cornwall," (1754) presented many pages of such evidence: Druids worshipped but one God and allowed no graven images, identical to the Phoenicians, and in contradistinction with almost all other ancient religions. Consecration was by sprinkling with blood, as in Canaanite worship. Druid priests were clothed in white, similar to the Canaanite priest's white ephod sacrificial victims were bled to death, and the blood was collected in basins which served to sprinkle the altars; bulls were sacrificed, and the image of a bull (the heraldic sign of one Canaanite tribe) was carried into war.... They prayed with uplifted hands, examined entrails for necromancy, and held the oak in veneration. Further, the standoff between Elijah and the Priests of Baal is another example of the similarity between the Celts and Phoenician priests of Baal. The Druids used the magic wand in imitation of Moses' rod, poured libations, sacrificed upon the tops of rocks, investigated truth by lots, anointed rock pillars with oil, and marked out boundaries with stones. (pp. 104-132, 161) In these and so many other distinctive ways, the religious customs of the Celts and Canaanite Phoenicians bear an unmistakable resemblance!
The early name of southwestern England was "Dumnoni," or "Danmoni," as shown by a portion of a map in Celtic scholar, John Rhys' book, "Early Celtic Britain." This comprises today the British counties of Cornwall and Devon. Highly respected historian William Camden remarked concerning Cornwall: "That region, which according to the geographers, is the first of all Britain, and... was in ancient times inhabited by those Britons, whom Solinas called, Dunmonii, Ptolomy (called) Damnonii, or (as we find in some other copies), more truly Danmonii derived from the tin mines of the area. ....
Celtic scholar, John Rhys, gives strong evidences of Canaanite Phoenician colonization of the British isles in ancient times. "Ireland was known as IBERION,"he says. (p. 201) The most probable cause for this nomenclature is the fact that the Phoenician Punic who lived in Iberia/Spain were the first to colonize that part of the British Isles.
Dr. Rhys discusses a region "just in the vicinity of St. David's or Mnyw, called in the Welsh Chronicle MONI IUDEORUM, which contains an allusion probably to the same people." (ibid., p. 226) Rhys says that some scholars suggest this word, Iudeorum or Judeorum, may relate to the "Jutes," a Germanic tribe in Northern Europe, but that he believes such a view incorrect. Instead, Rhys indicates that it identifies Canaanites Phoenicians,"...lastly we seem to have a trace of the same form in the Welsh Chronicle, sometimes called Annales Cambriae, when it calls Menevia or St. David's MoniIudeorum.
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4. What marked the end of the British Empire? Why?
Lin Xieyi, A Pleb On Her Majesty's Service
https://www.quora.com/What-marked-the-end-of-the-British-Empire-Why
Extracts:
The signing of the Anglo-American Loan agreement [1] between Great Britain and the United States on 15 July 1946 marks the unofficial end to the British Empire.
The loan amount was for about US $5 billion to be used in Britain and her domain Canada, to pay for post-WWII expenses in the aftermath of the sudden cessation of the Lend-Lease Act on 2nd September 1945 (in conjunction with the surrender of Japan) which Britain had been tapping on to sustain her war efforts and rebuilding.
There was a clause in the Anglo-American loan agreement which makes it mandatory for the British Empire to abolish exchanges controls within a year among her dominions and territories. The British Empire's exchange controls served to bind one quarters of humanity ( about 700 million people) into a commonwealth of pound sterling International monetary system, propping up the Pound sterling as the official reserve Currency (besides gold) of the dominions in an exclusive but closed market of low custom duties and tariffs for internal trade within the realms of the Commonwealth. In short, Everyone under the sphere of Commonwealth realms are to use the pound sterling for commercial/trade settlement and it is the only official reserve allowed. This internal monetary system secures London as the global financial center for most part of the early 20th century when the pound sterling was made the world's first official foreign Currency reserve after the Genoa conference in 1922. [2]
As Great Britain post-WWII external debt was six times her total gold and foreign exchange reserves, there was a mad rush by the British empire's individual dominions and territories (in addition to countries outside the British Empire) to sell off the pound sterling (in anticipation of rapid pound sterling depreciation) and buy the US dollar after 15 July 1947, when the abolishment of exchange controls kicks in. This underpins US dollar strength which enable America to fully implement the Brettons Wood monetary system [3] to her advantage by making gold (the US holds 3/4 of global gold holdings) and the US dollar to be the only reserves currency for clearing settlement of international trade.
The British Empire gradually disintegrate following the surrender of global financial hegemony to the United States. The rest, they say, is history.
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5. Great Britain used to be the only superpower. Why USA? What happened?
https://www.quora.com/Great-Britain-used-to-be-the-only-superpower-Why-USA-What-happened/answer/Pip-Willis
Pip Willis
World War Two is what happened.
Super concisely, World War Two was a Pyrrhic victory for the UK. Which left just the two others of 'The Big Three' (who defeated the AXIS powers in WWII) to duke it out on the world stage: USA and USSR. The USSR broke up in 1991 (losing a spending race) leaving the USA the last man standing and still today the world's only 'Superpower'.
Why the USA, perhaps because they were the last of the Big Three to enter the war?
Why did the UK declare war on NAZI Germany (and so knacker itself) and fight alone for nearly three years? Because Hitler was a vicious psychopathic nutter who needed to be stopped. Its a rare old thing, but it was the right thing to do.