Dana in Ireland and the North (21 August, 2014, 25 Av, 5774)
The Tribe of Dana were an offshoot of the Tribe of Dan. They came to Ireland after sojourning in Scandinavia and Greece. They are spoken of in Irish Legend. They may have included a separate element from Judah amongst them.
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One of the groups who invaded Ireland according to Irish legend was known as the Tuatha de Danaan
The Name Tuatha de Danaan is explained as People of the Goddess Dana.
Earlier they were known as Tuath De ("Tribe of the God").
However, Irish monks also began using the term Tuath De to refer to the Israelites, with the meaning "People of God".
So the term Tuath De Danann became the preferred one.
See:
Tuatha De Danann
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuatha_D%c3%a9_Danann
Recently it has been suggested that the Dana comprised two groups, one from Judah [People of God] and the other from Dan [People of Dana].
There was also a goddess named Anu or Ana, mainly in Muster, in the south of Ireland.
Some modern academics have tried to conflate "Ana" with "Dana" but this has not been accepted and is far-fetched.
There is no connection between Ana and Dana apart from them both being women.
There is a brace of hills in Killarny southwest Ireland known as the Tits [Breasts] of Ana.
The Irish name is usually rendered in English as Paps of Anu.
Paps means tits but if you are not a doctor or nurse it probably took you about 30 seconds to make the association.
Evidently it is considered more genteel to say pap instead of tit or breast
Anyway there is no known connection between Dana and Ana apart from them both being femine and their names rhyming with each other.
The Tuatha de Danaan were associated with Clouds and darkness.
In Rabbinical Lore one (out of three) section of the Ten Tribes was linked with clouds and darkness.
Dan especially was associated with the north "whence", according the Midrash, "Darkness comes".
Led by their king, Nuada, the Dana fought the First Battle of Magh Tuireadh on the west coast, in which they defeated and displaced the native Fir Bolg, who then inhabited Ireland. They gave Connaught to the Fir Bolg though later we find the Bolg in other parts of Ireland.
The Tuatha De Danann then fought the Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh against the Fomorians.
The Fomorians are believed to have come from Scandinaiva where the Dan themselves had probably previously sojourned. [Others link the Fomorians to descendants of Ham and as coming from North Africa].
They subdued the Fomorians and intermixed with them.
A third battle was fought against a subsequent wave of invaders, the Milesians, from the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula (present day Galicia and Northern Portugal), descendants of Mil Espaine, who are thought to represent the Goidelic Celts. The Milesians encountered three goddesses of the Tuatha De Danann, Eriu, Banba and Fodla, who asked that the island be named after them; Eriu is the origin of the modern name Eire, and Banba and Fodla are still sometimes used as poetic names for Ireland.
See:
The Names of Ireland and the Ten Tribes.
http://www.britam.org/NamesErin.html
Remnants of the Dana may have been found in west Connaught in Mayo (Erris) and in Leinster in the east by Dublin where they became known as the Domnu. The Domnu were to be found in the region of Dublin as well as in southwest Britain and in Scotland. They too are associated with Dan. The region of the Domnu in southwest Britain was also known as Dannonia. The region of Dublin and parts of Leinster was later occupied by Vikings from Denmark. these too were from Dan.
In Irish accounts the Tribe of Dana had come from Greece and arrived via islands in the north which assumedly meant Scandinavia. One of the islands on which they sojourned was named ASSAL. This is also the appellation of a Middle Eastern principality in the region of Gozan on the Khabur River whereto part of the Northern Israelites had been exiled.
An alternative (or supplementary) Irish version says that the Dana came from the city of Dan at the foot of mount Libanus (Lebanon) in what was once the area of northern Israel. Even the account which says that the Dana came from or via Greece says that they had fought repeatedly (in Greece) against the Philistines. The Philistines had adjoined the territory of Dan in southeast Israel.
The Philistines had also participated in the exile of Israelites.
Amos ch1 condemns the Philistines (Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, remnant of the Philistines) and Phoenicians (Tyre) for transporting Israelite Captives to colonies over the sea. The Philistines and Phoenicians were acting on behalf of the Assyrians. The Philistines are often identifiable as bearers of Minoan (Cretan) and Mycenean (Bronze Age Greek) civilization.
Amos 1:
6 Thus says the LORD:
For three transgressions of Gaza,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;*
because they carried into exile entire communities,
to hand them over to Edom.
7 So I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza,
fire that shall devour its strongholds.
8 I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod,
and the one who holds the sceptre from Ashkelon;
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,
says the LORD God.
9 Thus says the LORD:
For three transgressions of Tyre,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;*
because they delivered entire communities over to Edom,
and did not remember the covenant of kinship.
10 So I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre,
fire that shall devour its strongholds.
Geoffrey Keating (ca.1570 1646) understood from traditional Irish sources that,
# the Danaans were a people of great learning and wealth; they left Greece after a battle with the Assyrians, and went to Ireland; and also to Danmark, and called it "DAN-mares", "Dan's country". #.
An Irish Historian, Thomas Moore, stated that the Tuatha de Danaan (i.e. Tribe of Dana), "after sojourning for some time in Greece... proceeded from thence to Denmark and Norway".
In Irish tradition THE TRIBE OF DANA were described as fair in complexion, wise, culturally advanced, and scientifically proficient. This description and the activities ascribed to the Dana fits the Civilization of Scandinavia during the so-called "Bronze Age". This civilization was advanced and had contacts with Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, and the Middle East in general.
See:
THE TRIBE OF DANA [TUATHA DE DANAAN]
http://britam.org/traditions3.html
Dan and the Serpent Way.
Dan in Northern Israel, Greece, and Elsewhere
http://britam.org/dan3.html
Articles on the Tribe of Dan
http://www.britam.org/DanContents.html
The Dana were described as wise, as adepts in metallurgy, and as coming from the north.
This fits Scandinavia. Thomas Moore (1779-1852) traced them to Norway.
Bronze Age Scandinavia had close contacts with Egypt, Crete, and area of Syria and Israel.
Kistensen considered Scandinavia a colony of the Minoans of Crete.
See:
GELLING and DAVIDSON. Peter Gelling and H.E. Davidson, "The Chariot of the Sun," London 1969.
Kjell Artun,"Runer" (in Norwegian), Oslo, 1994: Problematic. If it was true and accepted the implications would be revolutionary.
The Rise of Bronze Age Society by Kristian Kristiansen and Thomas B. Larssen 2006
http://www.cambridge.org/br/academic/subjects/archaeology/archaeology-general-interest/rise-bronze-age-society-travels-transmissions-and-transformations
Minoan Civilization was that of the Philistines.
Putting all this together we identify the Dana with the Israelite Tribe of Dan.
They had been in the Land of Israel with the rest of the Ten Tribes. The tribe of Dan had been spread out in several areas.
Joshua ch.2 tells how at first Dan had received his inheritance int he south between Judah and Ephraim.
From south different groups broke off.
One group went to the area of Dan (Banias) in the Galilee known previously as Leshem (Joshua 2).
Later another went to La'as (Liash) in the north of Syria-southeast Turkey (Cilicia). They were linked with elements from Judah.
The Assyrians took them into exile.
A portion of them were transported by the Philistines acting as proxies of the Assyrians.
Some were taken at first to Greece, others directly to Scandinavia. Those in Greece broke away and moved to Scandinavia. From there they came to Ireland and later to Scotland and Britain.