Brit-Am Research Sources (12 November, 2013, Kislev 9, 5774)
Contents:
1. The Non-Israelite Descendants of Gomer son of Japhet.
(a) Gomerite Nations
(b) THE GENEALOGIES OF GOMER AND HIS SONS by Yair Davidiy
(c) Aryeh Kaplan, The Living Torah: Is Britain Togarmah? Babaria?
2. The Phoenicians in Spain. Assyrian Involvement
3. Was the Gilgal "an area shaped like a footprint"?
In the footsteps of ancient Israelite kings by Dror Eydar
4. The discoveries of Columbus and Biblcal Passages
Was Columbus Jewish? by Chuck Missler
5. Is England Agliah? Does this mean Israel?
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1. The Non-Israeltie Descendants of Gomer son of Japhet.
Category:Seventy nations
http://www.wikinoah.org/index.php?title=Category:70_Nations
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(a) Gomerite Nations. Siberians
http://www.wikinoah.org/index.php?title=Gomerite_Nation
Extracts:
The Cimerians were seen as originally having been a Northern people (Odyssey 11:12-19). Other ancient sources write that Gomer lived to the east of the Tina (Halys, cf. Herodotus 1:6) River (Sefer HaYov'loth 9:8). In ancient Assyrian, the Cimerians were indeed known as the Gimerrai, cognate to Gomer. In other places, however this is the translation of Togarma, (see Targum on Ezekiel 27:14, 38:6) with whom they are frequently confused.
The Togarmaite Gimerrai once dominated the Celts (cf. Herodotus 2:33), the Franks, or the Gauls, all of whom were closely related (so that even today the Welsh language calls Wales and its people Cymru pronounced Gumri) and with the Cimbri of Jutland (around Denmark), a nation of Teutonized Celts. Josephus writes that Gomer was the founder of the nation known as the Galatians (Antiquities 16:1; cf. Abarbanel). Galatia was in the same area as Phrygia and Cimeria, but it was renamed Galatia (from Gaul) when it was conquered by the Celts of Gaul. Early sources translate this as Afrikey (Targum Yonathan. Cf. Targum on 1 Kings 20:22, 22:49, where this is the translation of Tarshish; see Genesis 10:4). This Afrikey, however, is not Africa, but Frikia or Phrygia (Arukh HaShalem; Buber on Pesikta Zutratha 26a. See note on Genesis 10:3, 'Togarma'). The Phrygians were an ancient nation who lived to the south of the Black Sea (cf. Iliad 2:862; Herodotus 7:30,31). The Phrygians were pushed out of their general land in the 8th century b.c.e. by the Cimerians, a people who originally lived in southern Russia (Crimea), to the north of the Black Sea (cf. Herodotus 4:11, 1:16, 1:103). The Phrygians were originally known as Brigians (Herodotus 7:73). Linguistically, the Phrygians were related to the Armenians, but they may have also been related to the Franks, since there is a resemblance between the two names. Indeed, there are some ancient sources that identify Gomer with the Franks (Sefer HaYashar, p.26; Tol'doth Yitzchak).
It is also significant that the Talmud identifies Gomer with Germamia (Yoma 10a; Yerushalmi, Megillah 1:9) or Germania because of Gomer's association with the Magogite Nation in the armies of Gog. Others have suggested that Germamia denotes Cimeria rather than Germany (cf. Arukh HaShalem).
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(b) THE GENEALOGIES OF GOMER AND HIS SONS by Yair Davidiy
http://britam.org/Proof/Attributes/roleGomer.html
Extracts:
"And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphah, and Togarmah" (Genesis 10;3). Gomer was identified with Afrikey and with Germamia or Germaniah (Genesis Rabah 37). Afrikey appears to have been an area in Elam near Susiana where (according to de Gobineau) the name Afrikey was given to a sacred region of the Medes.... Wherever "AFRIKEY" actually was, the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel were also reported to have been there!
... A connection with the European country of Germany should also be considered.
One ancient source (Targum Jerushalemi on Genesis 10) lists Afrikey, Germania, Madai, Macedonia, Bythinia, Thrace, as belonging to Gomer. The Cimmerians at a later stage did invade these regions whence they moved further westward. ... The Targum Jerushalemi identifies Ashkenaz with the BARBARI which is an ethnic connotation for the so called "Germanic" peoples who attacked and invaded the Roman Empire ca.200-500 c.e. Elsewhere both the Barbari and the Germans are identified with Edom. In ancient times the term BARBAR was used synonymously with the term for Hebrew. ... Later Rabbinical traditions were to link both Gomer proper and Ashkenaz with the Germans. Riphah was associated with peoples in France. Togarmah with the Turks. The Anglo-Saxons also emerged from Turkish areas in Central Asia and are associated with the Turks in Medieval Mythology. ...
THE OVERALL GIST of the sources IS TO IDENTIFY GOMER AND SONS WITH PEOPLES WHO EVENTUALLY SETTLED IN CENTRAL AND WESTERN EUROPE! Since the exiled Israelites are identified with entities who in their places of exile were to combine (temporarily?) with Gomer so too must these same Israelites be sought after in those same regions towards which "Gomer" gravitated!
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(c) Aryeh Kaplan, The Living Torah: Is Britain Togarmah? Babaria?
http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=1&CHAPTER=10
Togarmah
A northern people; See Ezekiel 27:14, 38:6. Josephus identifies these people with the Phrygians (see Gomer). Other sources have Barberia (Targum Yonathan; Targum on Chronicles 1:6), which some identify as Germania, Barbara, or Britannia. Indeed there are sources that render Togarmah as Germaniki or Germania (Yerushalmi, Megilla 1:9; Bereshith Rabbah 37; Targum on Ezekiel 38:6). There are other sources that identify Togarmah with the Armenians (Keseth HaSofer) or Turks (Abarbanel). Indeed, in a modern sense, Togarmah is used for Turkey. The name Togarmah corresponds to Tegarma, found in cuneiform inscriptions, referring to an area near Carchemish in Armenia.
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2. The Phoenicians in Spain. Assyrian Involvement
http://www.spainthenandnow.com/spanish-history/the-phoenicians-in-spain/default_38.aspx
The Phoenicians (from Tyre, in southern Lebanon) were amongst the greatest Mediterranean traders from approximately 1,500 to 600 BC. Tradition has it that they founded the city of Gadir/ Cadiz in south west Spain in 1100 to exploit the natural resources in the area. There is, however, no hard evidence to substantiate such an early date. Based on archaeological remains, the consensus now is that colonisation began around 800, when settlements were founded along the south coast of the peninsula. The most important besides Gadir, were Malacca (Malaga), Sexi (Almunecar) and Toscanos (Velez Melaga, in the province of Melaga).
Under the protection of their powerful, military neighbours, the Assyrians, the Phoenicians expanded throughout the Mediterranean and beyond in search of raw materials and metals for the Middle East market. Although their voyages took them as far as Cornwall (southern England) in pursuit of tin, they found an ample supply of gold, silver, copper and iron in southern Spain. Silver was particularly important to the Assyrians since their currency was largely based on it, and the Phoenicians were expected to provide it. This is why the Rio Tinto mines north of Huelva were so important to the Phoenicians; the area contained large deposits of silver. While excavations show that mining in this area goes back to the early Bronze Age, the Phoenicians exploited the deposits of silver more efficiently than ever before.
Excavations of Phoenician settlements show a general lack of weapons, which suggests peaceful coexistence between the Phoenicians and the indigenous tribes. In fact, amongst the outstanding features of these Phoenician coastal towns, e.g Toscanos, are the remains of factories or foundries to create manufactured goods which were then traded with the local inhabitants. It is likely, too, that the Phoenicians introduced the manufacture of iron, a particularly valuable commodity, for making not only swords etc, but also agricultural tools. The art of ceramics was revolutionised by the Phoenicians with the introduction of the potter's wheel around 700 BC, followed almost immediately by painted decoration on pottery products.
Judging from animal bones that have been excavated, beef husbandry appears to have been especially encouraged. Fish caught off the coast --especially tuna, mackerel and sturgeon-- were eagerly sought after in the markets of the eastern Mediterranean. The discovery of a high number of Phoenician amphorae also suggests the cultivation of olive oil and wine as barter goods.
The Phoenicians also discovered in the waters off the coast the murex mollusc, the source of the famed purple dye of Tyre. The value of this discovery was incalculable given that some 12.000 molluscs are required to produce only about 1.5 grams of dye.
The pre-eminence of the Phoenicians as a Mediterranean trading power collapsed after the conquest of Tyre by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar in 573 BC (the Babylonians had overthrown the Assyrians in 612 BC Collins 9). However, their influence did not disappear entirely, because they were succeeded by the Carthaginians whose capital city, Carthage, had been founded as a Phoenician trading post about 800 BC. After the fall of Phoenicia, Carthage soon developed a considerable trading presence of its own in the Mediterranean.
Sources
Anderson, James Spain: 1001 Sights Calgary 1991
Blazquez, Jose Maria and Castillo, Arcadio del Prehistoria y edad antigua Madrid 1988
Collins, Roger Spain: An Oxford Archaeological Guide Oxford 1998
Curchin, Leonard Roman Spain: Conquest and Assimilation London 1991
Dominguez Ortiz, Antonio ed., Historia de Espana: Desde la prehistoria hasta la conquista romana Madrid 1990
Harrison, Richard Spain at the Dawn of History, London 1988
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3. Was the Gilgal "an area shaped like a footprint"?
In the footsteps of ancient Israelite kings by Dror Eydar
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=12089
Do the stories of the Bible have an actual historical basis or are they myths? The controversy over the birth of the Israelite nation stems partially from sparse archaeological artifacts, but archaeologist Adam Zertal's discoveries are changing that.
Dror Eydar
Extract:
In 2009, Zertal presented his theory to the scientific world that the ancient Gilgal that appears dozens of times in the Bible is actually an area shaped like a footprint. In the early 1990s, Zertal found the first footprint, 190 meters long and 80 meters wide, behind Moshav Argaman in the Jordan Valley. ... Since then, large footprint-shaped areas have been found on Moshav Masua and Moshav Yafit, also in the Jordan Valley, and one to the west, in the country's interior, in Nahal Tirza (Wadi al-Far'a). The fifth is the altar complex on Mount Ebal, which is also shaped like a footprint.
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4. The discoveries of Columbus and Biblical Passages
Was Columbus Jewish? by Chuck Missler http://www.khouse.org/articles/1996/109/
Contrary to popular belief, most of the educated of 15th century Europe held to the concept of a spherical earth.
Hebrew astronomers, like Abraham Zacuto, who the explorer Vasco Da Gama had consulted seeking a sea route to India around Africa, furnished the celestial time tables.
Rabbi Levi ben Gershon, whose mathematical system became the basis for modern trigonometry, had invented a quadrant known as Jacob's Staff. This angle- measuring de-vice was used by Columbus, Da Gama, and Ferdinand Ma-gellan, the first to circumnavigate the earth.
Abraham Ibn Esra, Jacob ben Machir, and Jacob Carsoni developed technical apparatus like the Astrolabe, used to determine the latitude and longitude of a position.
Cartography, the art and science of making maps and charts, was also an area of Jewish expertise in Europe. One such specialist was Abraham Cresques, known as "The Master of Maps and Compasses." Another was his son, Jehudah ben Cresques, who administered several schools of cartography, thus preparing for the "age of discovery" on their horizon.
Columbus was more driven by prophecy than astronomy. He compiled a collection of Biblical passages in his Libro de las Profecias, Book of Prophecies: Proverbs 8:27, which speaks of the earth's surface as being curved; Isaiah 40:22, the spherical earth; and the ocean currents in Isaiah 43:16.5
He would later describe his discovery of the New World as "the fulfillment of what Isaiah prophesied," from Isaiah 24:15, "Isles beyond the sea," and Isaiah 60:9.6
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5. Is England Agliah? Does this mean Israel?
Rabbi Mosheh David Walli (RAMADO) (1697-1777) opines (Genesis 49:12) that the future Messiah will establish his rule through something named Agliah.
This name looks like ancient names for the Angles who gave their name to England.
We identify the Angles with Ephraim.