The Dolmen Path (16 September, 2014, 21 Elul, 5774)
The Dolmens are monuments that delineate trails of migration from the Middle East to the West. In effect the dolmens were erected by the Ten Tribes who went into Exile and went from Israel to western Europe. Jeremiah 31:21 had predicted this and told the Israelites of Ephraim to lay down such a trail to enable them to identify themselves in the End Times and return.
Duration: 28.36 minutes. To Read Article Please Scroll Down.
Adapted from "Ephraim. The Gentile Children of Israel" by Yair Davidiy
Contents:
1. DOLMENS in BIBLICAL TIMES
2. Jeremiah Tells Israel to Establish a Migratory Trail of Dolmens to Enable the Future Return.
3. THE PATHS OF ISRAELITE MIGRATION WESTWARD AS DEMONSTRATED BY MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS
4. Dolmens that may be associated with non-Israelite Peoples
5. Dolmens in the West
6. The Same Customs Connected to Dolmens in Western Europe and the Middle East
7. MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS IN SCANDINAVIA
8. Dating the Megaliths.
9. THE DOLMENS AND PROPHECY
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1. DOLMENS in BIBLICAL TIMES
The ancient Hebrews are recorded setting up stones as monuments. Jacob set up a pillar and anointed it. He later set up a pillar and a heap of stones together (cf. Genesis 35;14). Joshua set up 12 stones in Gilgal (Joshua 4:3). The name "Gilgal" connotes both circle and heap (National Messenger no.76e).
Single pillars (menhirs) or Heaps of stones (cairns) or one stone upon another (dolmens) and stone circles are types of monuments known from both Israel and Western Europe. The setting up of pillars and stone heaps and monuments is mentioned in several other Biblical passages (e.g. Joshua 7:25-26, Joshua 8:29ff., Joshua 14:26, 1-Samuel 7:2, 2-Samuel 18:17). The intention of these monuments was the establishment of a concrete sign commemorating some event whose memory was worthy of perpetuation. The monument had to be obviously man-made, apparent, and blatant to all and not much more than that. On occasion it is mentioned (Genesis 35:7-14, Joshua 24:26, Judges 6:11,21) that these stone monuments were in the proximity of an oak tree. Later oak trees were to be important in Celtic Druidical worship. Megalithic monuments and dolmens were once found throughout the Land of Israel though many have been destroyed. Most remaining megalithic monuments from the Israelite area are in the Golan and east of the Jordan where they are known to the Arabs as "Kubur Beni Israil", i.e. "Graves of the Children of Israel" (BEN-ZVI, I. "The Exiled and the Redeemed", 1958, London, p.175).
Certain features of these monuments, named "Graves of the Children of Israel", such as the existence of cupholes, etc., are also found on similar structures in Britain and the west.
"The remains [in Israel and Jordan] thus described are nearly identical in character with those which in England and Scotland are commonly called Druidical circles"
H.S.Palmer, "Ancient History From The Monuments: Sinai", 1878, pp.102-103, NMS 60c.
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2. Jeremiah Tells Israel to Establish a Migratory Trail of Dolmens to Enable the Future Return.
Jeremiah 31:21: "SET YOURSELF UP WAYMARKS, MAKE HIGH HEAPS: SET YOUR HEART TOWARDS THE HIGHWAYS; THE WAY YOU WENT IN: TURN AGAIN, O VIRGIN OF ISRAEL, TURN AGAIN TO THESE, YOUR CITIES.
The word translated above as "WAYMARKS" in the original Hebrew is "Tzionim" which strictly speaking means "signs" but in spoken Hebrew is usually used to denote a stone erection marking a grave or event*e.
The most literal explanation of this verse amongst the Classical Authoritative Rabbinical Commentators is that given by the "Radak" (Rabbi David Kimchi, 1157-1236) of Narbonne, France. The Radak says:
"SET YOURSELF UP WAYMARKS" (Jeremiah 31): This was directed to the Community of Israel, that in the generation when they would be exiled they should set up waymarks [i.e. "tsionim"] such as PILED-UP STONES OR STONE MONUMENTS. The purpose of these monuments was to mark the paths [of migration for the sake of future recognition]. The meaning was to say that even though you will be exiled, hope is not lost and you are still destined to return to these your cities. "MAKE YOURSELF HIGH HEAPS" [Hebrew: "tamrurim"]. The same message is repeated though the wording is changed since both "tamrurim" [i.e. "high heaps"] and "tsionim" (i.e. "waymarks") connote elevated-height [from the root "tamar"]...
Bearing in mind that according to the previous verse (31:20) Jeremiah is addressing himself to Ephraim, the verse in Jeremiah 31:21 may therefore be understood to say:
"Set yourself up stone monuments [menhirs, dolmens] and high heaps of stones [cairns] [i.e. "Megalithic" monuments!]. Set your heart towards the prepared way: The way in which you went. Turn back o virgin of Israel, return unto these cities of yours.
The mode of expression employed by the Prophet should be understood differently from that used by Moses. When Moses gave a commandment it had to be obeyed. When the Prophets issue an order concerning future action it means they are often merely predicting what will happen. They are telling us what must be learned from this action. Jeremiah is saying that (for whatever reason) the exiled Israelites will have stone monuments set up. Through these monuments Jeremiah predicts that it will be possible in the future to learn of the Israelite paths of migration away from the Land of Israel. Once this is learned it will serve as a means by which they may be persuaded to return. The inferred commandment to the exiles to erect "Tsionim" is therefore applicable to the dolmens and other so called "Stone Age" ("Megalithic") monuments. Many of these monuments date from the Bronze and Iron Age periods. They are mentioned in the Bible as being set up by the Hebrew Patriarchs and Judges as well as by others.
The Ancient Israelites were always familiar with bronze and iron utensils but it should be noted that in some cases the use of stone only was enforced. An altar had to be erected of whole unhewn stones (Exodus 20:22); "An altar of whole stones over which no man hath lift up any iron" (Joshua 8:31). Joshua was commanded to circumcise Israelites born in the wilderness with "knives of flint" (Joshua 5:2-3).
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3. THE PATHS OF ISRAELITE MIGRATION WESTWARD AS DEMONSTRATED BY MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS
A group of related Stone Monuments such as "Megalithic" dolmens, cromlechs, etc. are found in Western Europe, along the Mediterranean coast and in the lands of Greater Israel where the oldest specimens are believed to occur.
In the west, Dolmens are associated with Druids. The Druids were priests of the Celtic religion. This religion was a mixture of Old Hebrew tradition, Canaanite paganism, and European elements. Druids were present only in places, which had BOTH dolmens and Celts, i.e. Dolmens without Celts or Celts without dolmens meant no Druids! This means the Celtic areas of Spain, France, Holland, and Britain. Due to Roman persecutions in Britain colonies of Druids fled to Scandinavia which though not Celtic at that time did have numerous dolmens. These factors indicate that Druids, Dolmens, and the Western Celts should all be linked and dated together. The dolmens need to be ascribed a much later dating than that conventionally given them!
The distribution of megalithic monuments should be considered in light of migratory-paths of the Lost Israelite Tribes to the west.
"The distribution of these [megalithic] monuments is not inconsistent with a migration theory. Those of western Europe all lie along a possible sea route, occurring as they do in Malta, Lampesuda [Sicily] (those of south-eastern Italy must be an offshoot), Sardinia, Corsica, the Balearic Islands, Spain, Portugal, France, the British Isles, Belgium, Denmark, south-west Sweden, and the German shores of the Baltic; whereas the center of Europe is almost entirely free from them (a solitary example has been recorded in Savoy). An eastern group is found in Bulgaria, the Crimea, the Caucasus, Syria, Palestine, Persia, India, and Japan; " CAH, 1931, vol.ii, p.599: Prof. T.E. Feet, & Dr. Thomas Ashby.
The Israelites moved westward via two main pathways:
1. Through the Mediterranean Sea and the straits of Gibraltar they reached the coasts of France, Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, and Scandinavia.
2. Moving overland from Assyria into the Caucasus, southern Russia and then westward.
We do not hold that megalithic monuments are always attributable to Israelites BUT rather Israelites were indeed often associated with them.
"It is recognized that the well-marked distribution of these monuments, mostly coastwise, together with the occurrence of details, such as cup-marked capstones and holed slabs in identical forms from Pembrokeshire, Carnarvonshire, and Anglesey to Scandinavia, the Caucasus and India, indicates that the complex known as the 'megalithic culture', widely distributed though it be both in time and place, sprang ultimately from a single seed"
R.E.M. WHEELER, "Prehistoric and Roman Wales", Oxford, 1925, p.92.
"The megalithic dolmens found in the Golan and Galilee are tablelike structures composed of two vertical basalt blocks roofed by large rock slabs. A heap of stones usually covered the dolmens, creating a tumulus. Such structures are known in Transjordan from the Chalcolithic period, but in the Golan and Galilee they definitely date to EB [i.e. Early Bronze] IV /MB [Middle Bronze] I...These dolmens recall similar megalithic burial structures known throughout Europe in the Bronze Age, but the significance of this resemblance is unclear". A. MAZAR, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, U.S.A. , 1990, p.160.
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4. Dolmens that may be associated with non-Israelite Peoples
Dolmens are also found in North Africa, Ethiopia, India, Korea, and Japan. Those in India and North Africa are of a later date. In India they are still being set up today. Those in Korea and Japan are of a different type from those in the west. Dolmens in Israel and Europe, for instance, often have a 23 degree inclination for the roofing stone.
In Africa the "dolmens are often found to contain objects peculiar to the Iron Age and it is said that in some parts of India the people are still in the habit of erecting menhirs, cromlechs, dolmens, and other megalithic monuments."
Encyclopedia Brittanica (1911) "Stone Monuments", p.966.
The oldest dolmens in India date back to ca. 300-200 BCE and are associated with iron implements.
Fernand NIEL, "La Civilisation des Megaliths", France, 1970, p.80
So too, in North Africa the dolmens date from ca. 200 BCE to Christian times.
Dolmen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolmen
# In northern Tunisia, Dougga is an important ancient site, which contains a necropolis with dolmens. The settlement also features a sanctuary dedicated to Ba'al Hammon, neo-Punic stelae, the mausoleum, architectural fragments, and a temple dedicated to Masinissa [ca. 240-148 BCE], the remains of which were found during archaeological excavations. #
Borlase (p.718) says concerning North Africa:
It appears to me that, putting the whole of the evidence together, and remembering especially the vast number of dolmens which occur in the several groups, it is most probable that the practice of dolmen-building continued uninterruptedly from the latter portion of the Neolithic Age down to the early centuries of the Christian
era .... - WILLIAM C. BORLASE, "The Dolmens of Ireland", 1897.
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5. Dolmens in the West
In Europe the oldest layers of the megalithic monuments excavated produced mainly stone or ceramic utensils with some clothing adornments of copper and bronze. NIEL (ibid) France, 1970. p.77
Our impression is that the dolmens belong to the European Bronze Age and that the this age began not long before ca. 600 BCE.
In Scandinavia a sophisticated, well-developed, technically-proficient stone-using culture of high standard existed alongside that of a Bronze-using one up to about 500 BCE! STARCKE, Victor. "Denmark in World History", trans. Starcke & Nixon, Denmark 1946, U.S.A. 1962.
Constructions similar to dolmens were raised in Italy in the 300s BCE and 200s BCE.
Cromlechs (i.e. circles of upright stone associated with dolmens) were still being erected in Sweden in the Middle Ages.
BIANCOFIORE, Franco. Notes on the 'Megaliths' of South-East Italy as Related to the Eurasian 'Megaliths', in "East and West" vol.12, no.4, Dec.1961, p.257.
Carvings in Scandinavia attributed to the Stone Age (which was contemporary with the Bronze one!) have characteristics also present in the stone-using cultures of the Canary Islands, the Iberian Peninsula (i.e. Spain and Portugal), Brittany (France), Ireland, Wales, England, and Scotland.
FELT, EVA- NISSEN & PER. "Relations: West Norway - Western Europe on Petroglyphs", Norwegian Archaeology Review, vol.12, no.2, 1979, p.1.
It has been clamed that dolmens in the west are connected with the localities of metals and/or pearls and mark trading paths.
WORREL, W.H. "A Study Of Races In The Ancient Near East", Cambridge, 1927, p.4ff quotes Peake. R.E.M. Wheeler (ibid) presents the same view (p.97) and quotes W. Perry (1915) as his authority.
The "megalithic" long-barrows of Oxfordshire lie near an area of ancient iron-working.
Wheeler p.97 quotes from W. Perry (1915).
Even if dolmens do date back to some distant "Megalithic period" it is admitted that they were still being erected in the Iron Age (i.e. after ca. 600 BCE) in Celtic areas in the west of Europe
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6. The Same Customs Connected to Dolmens in Western Europe and the Middle East
Until recently cairns (stone heaps usually surrounding dolmens or stone pillars) were still being set up in Ireland. Superstitious customs linked with these stone monuments in Britain and Ireland were similar to those known from the Middle East.
P.A.O. Neymo, "Similitudes; or, The Israelites, The Scotch And The Irish", (1850?), Galway; NMS 111b.
The stone monuments of Britain could be anointed with milk, blood, or oil. Jacob anointed the stone of Bethel with oil. The Arabs of the east occasionally smeared the stones with blood. Holes were sometimes artificially put in the side of the stones as if to insert something there. This has been observed in Scotland and east of the Jordan and in Cyprus. Cyprus was once an Israelite Island. Cyprus is referred to by the Assyrians as "Yadnana" meaning "The Isle of Danuna," i.e. "The Island of Danites." East of the Jordan miniature pillars or dolmens were sometimes set up before the larger ones and sacrifices to the dead offered on them. The same practice was recorded from Sweden. Dolmens were crawled through in ritual ceremonies in India and in the British Isles. Dolmens both east of the Jordan and in Britain usually occur near a spring or stream . In Ireland several centuries ago the County of Down and the County of Loth settled a dispute between themselves and erected a mound of stones or "cairn". One side had coveted the flocks and herds and possessions of the other. After making peace they erected a "cairn of immense size" to commemorate the covenant of faithfulness they had formed between each other. This is similar to the stone pillar and pile of stones that Jacob and Laban set up as a witness between themselves in Gilead in the Land of Israel (Genesis 31; 45-46) .
Incidentally the same authority, P.A.O. Neymo, reports that at a wedding in Scotland, "The father gave to his new son one of his daughter's shoes, in token of the transfer of authority he effected".
The Book of Ruth reports,
"Now in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor: and this was a testimony in Israel" (Ruth 4:7).
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7. MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS IN SCANDINAVIA
Dolmens and stone monuments are also numerous in Scandinavia where the so-called Megalithic and Bronze Age cultures intertwined with each other. Depictions on rocks in Scandinavia of ships and warriors and cultic symbols as well as the types of sword, shield, and ornament found all connect Bronze Age Scandinavia to the Middle East. The ancient dwellers of Scandinavians in the Bronze Age according to archaeological evidence must have come from areas in which Israelites dominated. Contrary to what is usually claimed the findings in Scandinavia indicating Israelite origins all date to a period AFTER the Northern Israelites were exiled. The Israelites in Scandinavia and its neighborhood must therefore have belonged to the Lost Ten Tribes. A Bronze Age Israelite Civilization existed in Scandinavia and North Germany. It met with disaster and climate change in the period 500 to 400 BCE. Most of the people who belonged to this culture moved elsewhere. Many went to Ireland and Britain. Irish tradition tells of the Tribe of Dana (Dan) who came from Israel and Lebanon via Greece and Scandinavia. The People of Dana (Tuatha de Danaan) had belonged to the Bronze Age culture of the North. Later other peoples from Scythia moved into Scandinavia and these too were of Israelite origin.
Ethnic and Cultural Links between Ancient Scandinavia and nations in the Middle East are accepted academically within Scandinavia but are less well-known outside of it.
The dolmens and other related stone monuments form a connecting link between Israel, Britain, West France, and Scandinavia. More dolmens (over 5000!) have been found in Denmark than in any other country. LAURING, Palle. "Land of the Tollund Man", N.Y. 1958, p.51.
On the other hand the oldest dolmens are believed to be those of Israel. STEKELIS, M. "Les Monuments Megalithiques de Palestine", Paris 1935.
More than 20,000 megalithic monuments of all types (including dolmens) have been found in the Land of Israel especially on the eastern "Jordanian" side since for various reasons those on the west were destroyed by local inhabitants. Encyclopedia Biblica, "Megaliths".
See:
Brit-Am Now no. 1579
#Illustrations (from Kristiansen) of Ancient cultural (and ethnic) contacts between Northern Europe and the Middle East.
http://britam.org/now2/1579Now.html#Illustrations
more plentiful illustrations in
"The Rise of Bronze Age Society. Travels, Transmissions and Transformation" by Kristian Kristiansen and Thomas B. Larsson, Cambridge, 2005.
See Also:
H.R. Ellis DAVIDSON, "Gods and Myths of Northern Europe", U.K. 1964.
See Also:
Israel-Syria-Ireland in Megalithic Parallelism
http://www.britam.org/SyriaEire.html
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8. Dating the Megaliths.
The Ten Tribes were exiled according to the conventional dates in the period ca. 730-720 BCE.
We understand that the dolmens delineate trails of migration from the Middle East to the West.
Dolmens in Israel and the area of Syria may be dated to before the time of Exile i.e. before ca. 700 BCE.
Elsewhere they would have to be given a later date if we were to attribute them to the Exile Israelites.
Regarding megalithic monuments in Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Malta, Gozo, Spain, etc, we are told that:
# Prehistorians, archaeologists, as well as historians presently hold that these monuments and artifacts attributed to them were created/raised during the Late Neolithic and down to the Middle Bronze Age ca. 4000-1500 B.C. # Ginenthal-iv p.1
We disagree with this. So do others. Most megalithic monuments may be dated to ca. from ca. 600 BCE to ca. 700 CE i.e. a 1300 year period. This is a long time and many changes could have taken place. None the less it is consistent with these monuments serving as proof of a migratory path.
Numerous finds confirm that megalithic monuments in general belong to a later period than that which is usually given them.
A megalith is a large stone which has been used to "construct a structure or monument either alone or with other stones."
Megalith means "made of stone" without cement from the Greek "mega" great, and "lithos" stone. Megalithic monuments are stone monuments often associated with the "Neolithic" or "Mesolithic" Stone Ages. This is mistaken. Many megaliths were thought to have a purpose in determining important astronomical events such as the solstice and equinox dates. The most well known type of Megalithic monuments are dolmens. Dolmens are large stones set table fashion over others and often covered by large piles of rocks and stone. "Dolmen" is a word of Celtic origin meaning "table" due to the resemblance of table legs and a table top of the dolmen formation. Dolmens are also known as cromlechs, antas, Huenengrueber, Hunebedden, quoits, and portal dolmens.
It is claimed that in the British Isles most date 4000 BCE to 3000 BCE which is considered the early Neolithic period. Dolmens were sometimes covered with earth or smaller stones to form a barrow. Dolmens are often described as tombs. People were often buried in dolmens but this was not necessarily their original purpose. Archaeologists classify finds as belonging to the Stone Ages, Early or Late Bronze Ages, and Iron Age according to the type and presumed degree of sophistication of artifacts found nearby. In Britain and elsewhere many Megalithic monuments are associated with the Beaker Folk who are often dated to Later Stone Age -Early Bronze Age period. This is misleading. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. Bronze is more sophisticated than mere copper and so the Copper Age is presumed to precede the Bronze Age. In Sumer (Southern Mesopotamia) however a Bronze Age preceded the Copper one presumably because a ready supply of tin was no longer available. In Europe it may be that the widespread use of iron came late, after 700 BCE, i.e. after the Exile of the Ten Tribes, and we can perhaps to some degree speak of an Iron Age. On the other hand the Late Bronze Age, the Early Bronze Age, the New Stone Age (Neolithic), and Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic) often overlap and do not necessary denote chronological development.
Also worth noting are menhirs or single stone monuments.
Stone rings in North Germany once ascribed to the Megalithic Period (i.e. Late Stone Age) are now proven (by pottery fragments underneath them) beyond all doubt to belong to the Iron Age.
Similarly stone circles in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden must now be ascribed to ca. 400-550 CE.
Emmett Sweeney ("ARTHUR AND STONEHENGE: BRITAIN'S LOST HISTORY", Chapter 1: A LAND OF LEGEND):
# The menhirs [standing stones] of Scandinavia are decorated with runic inscriptions (- usually bearing the names of those responsible for raising the menhir-stone -) and Viking Age artistic motifs.#
# Again, the menhir stones of southern France, which are dated to the third millennium BC. have their counterparts in Corsica (where they are dated to the 1st millennium BC.), and in the stelae of Luni, which on account of their inscriptions are unanimously dated to early Etruscan times, i.e. after ca. 700 BCE. #
A Stone Circle in Boitin Steintanz , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, northeast Germany, was formerly attributed to the Stone Age. New finds at the site led to reducing its dating to the Early iron Age about 1000 years later. Things like this happen all the time. Often instead of reducing the time ascribed to the finds convoluted explanations are given. If an expensive, authoritative, and complicated Carbon Dating has already been given then it is difficult to obtain a reversal.
# In case of the four stone rings at Boitin, scholars for a long time believed them to belong to the megalithic period (i.e. Late Stone Age,
Early Bronze Age). However, the discovery of Early Iron Age urns inside the rings prompted excavations under some of the stones, which showed that these stones were sitting on Early Iron Age pottery fragments.These fragments fell into the earth before the stones were set,
probably even during contruction. Hence, the dating to the early Iron Age and Pre-Roman Iron Age is fairly secure for the Boitin monument. #
Standing Stones are known as Dommaringar.
Sahlstrom made a thorough investigation on these in Vestergotland southwest Swedish
He came to the conclusion:
# All of the "Domarringar can be dated to "Volkerwanderung age", in Sweden 400-550 CE.
Add to the standing stone-circles starting in Norway and going straight over Sweden and the
Baltic to the mouth of Vistula and stopping there.
The same in Denmark from Bornholm to the area between Oder and Elbe and stopping.
Those constructions in Scandinavia are dated from around 400 BC and to the Migration Period. On the continent they are Migration period. #
So too, numerous finds show most of the dolmens to belong to a relatively late era.
See:
Megalithic Time no.1. The Correct Chronology of Dolmens and the Like
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/megaliths/megtime1.html
The conventional dating applied in Europe to dolmens and the like is too early. Most Megaltihic monuments in Western Europe were erected in the Late Bronze or Early Iron Age after the Israelites had been exiled. People of Israelite origin erected them! In archaeological and historical studies of Western Europe dolmens are associated with the Celtic Druids. Wherever Celts and Druids were found together, so too, were there dolmens.
JONES, A.H. 'Bronze Age Civilization. The Phillistines and the Danites', 1975, U.S.A., p.20,ROLLESTON, T.W. "Myths And Legends Of The Celtic Race", 1911, London, p.80.
Iron Age artifacts are frequently found together with or in the vicinity of dolmens. Iron was largely introduced to Western Europe after ca. 700 BCE.
The Celts arrived between 600 to ca. 350 BCE depending on which definition of Celtic Civilization is applied.
Dolmens and related monuments are found in the Land of Israel, in Jordan, in the Caucasus, in Spain, Brittany (France), Britain, and Scandinavia.
Jeremiah (31:21) refers to dolmens which are large stones set table fashion over others and often covered by large piles of rocks and stone.
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9. THE DOLMENS AND PROPHECY
Most of the prophets spoke of the Lost Ten Tribes in their state of exile and predicted their future reconciliation. Jeremiah (31:21) linked these matters with "high heaps" and "waymarks" which in Hebrew connect linguistically with stone monuments such as dolmens.
To properly appreciate the point made in its right context the whole of Jeremiah chapter 31 should be considered: Jeremiah (Chapter 31) speaks mainly concerning Ephraim and the rest of the Lost Ten Tribes. This chapter contains a series of messages highly pertinent to our subject.
"AT THAT TIME WILL I BE THE GOD OF ALL THE FAMILIES OF ISRAEL, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE" (Jeremiah ch.30:5 or Ch.31:1):
Jeremiah emphasizes that Israel was always beloved by The LORD. The mountains of Samaria will be replanted with vineyards. "Watchmen" (In Hebrew: "Notsrim") from the Mount of Ephraim will call for a return to Zion and to The LORD God. The word for "Watchmen"in Hebrew is "Notsrim" which could imply Christians as we have explained. The Ten tribes will be classifiable as Notsrim or Christians before they return. This does not mean Christainity is correct but rather it will have served as a tool used by Divine Providence to prepare the Ten tribes for the End Times.
(Jeremiah 31:8) "BEHOLD, I WILL BRING THEM FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY, AND GATHER THEM FROM THE COASTS OF THE EARTH.... A GREAT COMPANY SHALL RETURN THITHER.
"North Country" and "Coasts of the Earth" regarding the Latter Day Era of our own time refers to North America, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and like places. Even in the time of Jeremiah these expressions could refer to areas in Northern Europe. A related expression connected with the Lost Ten Tribes is "ends of the earth" (Genesis 33:13, Isaiah 41:8,9,13). This expression too in ancient times could relate to northern regions:
# In innumerable places Egyptian, Hebrew, Babylonian, Greek, and Latin writings refer to the most northerly lands as 'the ends of the earth'#
(Jurgen p. 28).
"The Egyptians saw the world as divided into nine bows which correspond roughly to the modern concept of meridians of latitude�. Pliny the Elder said that the ninth division of the world goes 'across the Hyperboreans' (i.e. the Cimbrian peninsula present-day Jutland [in Denmark]).. 'with a seventeen hour day' (at its longest). F.A. Ukert pointed out long ago that this method of dividing the world was taken from the Egyptians and that the 'ninth bow' corresponds to the area between latitudes 52 and 57) Between these latitudes lie north Germany, Denmark, and southern Scandinavia" (JURGEN, Spanuth, "Atlantis of the North", UK, 1979, p.29).
Jeremiah goes on:
31:9) ".... FOR I AM A FATHER TO ISRAEL, AND EPHRAIM IS MY FIRSTBORN.
(31:10) "HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD O NATIONS AND DECLARE IT IN THE ISLES AFAR OFF, AND SAY, HE THAT SCATTERED ISRAEL WILL GATHER HIM, AS A SHEPHERD DOES HIS FLOCK.
(31:11) "FOR THE LORD HAS REDEEMED JACOB, AND RANSOMED HIM FROM THE HAND OF HE THAT WAS STRONGER THAN HIM (Jeremiah 31:8-11).
Notice above the linkage of North Country, coasts of the earth (31:8), Israel, Ephraim, and "Isles afar off".
Jeremiah (31:15-17) speaks of Rachel, the mother of the Tribes of Joseph and Benjamin who is pictured as having wept when her descendants were taken into exile from Rama in the territory of Ephraim. She is told to be comforted for the work has been done. The historical task of the Lost Ten Tribes in exile will have been fulfilled. The children will be coming home to their own territory from the land of the enemy.
Ephraim likens himself to an untrained young bull (bullock):
"I HAVE SURELY HEARD EPHRAIM BEMOANING HIMSELF THUS; THOU HAST CHASTISED ME, AND I WAS CHASTISED AS A BULLOCK UNACCUSTOMED TO THE YOKE: TURN THOU TO ME, AND I SHALL BE TURNED; FOR THOU ART THE LORD MY GOD" (Jeremiah 31:18).
The word used for "young bull" (i.e. "bullock") in Hebrew is "AEGEL". Historically this very name "Aegel" was a diminutive (favorite nickname) for the ethnic term "Angle". The Angles gave England (i.e. "Angle-land") its name. Together with the Saxons, Jutes, Vandals, and others the Angles conquered from the Celts the land that was later named England. The Angles were also called "Aegels". The appellations "Angle" and "Aegel" were employed interchangeably. The Hebrew word for young bull is "Aegel". Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yistchaki 1040-1105 CE) was the foremost Medieval Jewish Commentator. In commentating on this verse (Jeremiah 31;18) Rashi states that the Hebrew word "Aegel" (Young Bull) was a name applied to Ephraim. This was also another name applied to the English. The English now nickname themselves "John Bull".
Ephraim shall return. The process of return, it is inferred, will begin when a feeling of the need for repentance will just begin to be aroused. This feeling will make itself felt in great intensity after the return is under way. Ephraim reproaches himself for the sins of his youth.
Jeremiah 31:20 "IS NOT EPHRAIM MY DEAR SON? IS HE NOT A PLEASANT CHILD? FOR SINCE I SPAKE AGAINST HIM, I DO EARNESTLY REMEMBER HIM STILL: THEREFORE MY BOWELS ARE TROUBLED FOR HIM; I WILL SURELY HAVE MERCY UPON HIM, SAYS THE LORD.
Jeremiah 31:21: "SET YOURSELF UP WAYMARKS, MAKE HIGH HEAPS: SET YOUR HEART TOWARDS THE HIGHWAYS; THE WAY YOU WENT IN: TURN AGAIN, O VIRGIN OF ISRAEL, TURN AGAIN TO THESE, YOUR CITIES.
We have shown above that the Hebrew terms translated as WAYMARKS and HIGH HEAPS indicated megalithic monuments.
Through Dolmens a good case may be made for tracing the migrations of the Lost Ten Tribes to Western Europe. The quoted verse of Jeremiah may well be understood in this sense.
The word "Tamrurim" used by Jeremiah (translated here as "high heaps") in Modern Hebrew is the word used for "Traffic Sign" or "wayfare indicator". WAYMARKS, as noted, equal dolmens. The verse (Jeremiah 31;12) may therefore in the Hebrew be understood further as saying:
"Establish waymarks [i.e. "Tsionim" =dolmens] for yourself, set up for yourself high-heaps [i.e. cairns, "Tamrurim" = wayfare markers]: put your heart [i.e. pay attention] to the pathways you went by and return, O virgin of Israel, come back to these cities of yours.
Some understand the above verse in a partly figurative sense but taken literally according to the Radak (Kimchi) it means that a trail of megalithic monuments should be traceable along the paths of migration as indeed it is. Megalithic Monuments begin in the land of Israel on both sides of the Jordan. They have offshoots of uncertain nature into Asia but exact reproductions are fund in the Caucasus, in Bulgaria, in Spain, West France, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Britain, and Ireland. They describe two main migratory paths from Israel to Western Europe. These paths show us how the Lost Ten Tribes left their land and where they went to. Jeremiah the Prophet transmits the command of God telling us to take heed of the paths we went in, the monuments we set up, and the way leading back to the cities of our forefathers in the Land of Israel.
We understand this to indicate that a study of history, archaeology, and related studies in general along with a renewed emphasis on the megalithic monuments may help convince descendants of Israel, who have lost awareness of their ancestry, where they came from.