Brit-Am Now no. 1181
Date 4 Tammuz 5768 7 July 2008
Contents:
1. George Helon:  "By the Rivers of Babylon"
2. Was Asgard Identical to Troy or Somewhere Else?
3. Secular Proofs: Mythology- Saturn and Britain
###################################################

---

---

Publications	Brit-Am Discussion Group	Contents by Subject	Research Revelation Reconciliation Contribute	Site Map Contents in Alphabetical Order	This Site

1. George Helon:  "By the Rivers of Babylon"
From: George Helon <ghelon@yahoo.com.au>
re Brit-Am Now no. 1180
#1. Instinctive Israelite Identification in American Music
http://britam.org/now/1180Now.html#Instinctive

Shalom Yair,
On the subject of "Instinctive Israelite Identification in Music" [BRIT-AM Now no. 1180], you might recall the band Bony M which in 1978 released "By the Rivers of Babylon" based on Psalm 137. The song was a "Hit" around-the-World for many months. I was 13 at the time. It was one of a few "Hits" for Bony M that had a "religous" undertone: Rivers of Babylon - I think there was a third.

Here are Links to a few articles about the song Rivers of Babylon

Tuning Hebrew Psalms to Reggae Rhythms: Rastas' Revolutionary Lamentations for Social Change
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/
mi_m2096/is_4_50/ai_70396486/pg_7

Rivers of Babylon "From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_of_Babylon

Best regards from the Land of Sinim,
George HELON
ben Akhar ben Zebulon

---

---

###################################################
2. Was Asgard Identical to Troy or Somewhere Else?
From: Didrik Samundsson <didriksa@mmedia.is>
Re: Brit-Am Now no. 1180
#2. Was Asgard (legendary home of the Scandinavian heroes) in Khazaria?
http://britam.org/now/1180Now.html#Was

No no no!
Read Snorri Sturlason, Ynglingasaga
He says;
That time "Odin" had many areas in Asia and there among "Troja" (Troy) in Asgardur.
That means Troy in Asia Minor.
And the story of our people starts with the time when Hector was in Troy! (How did the Dorians (Benjaminites from the first civil war) get in Troy except with the Trojan horse).
Yours sincerely
Ingileif

---

================================================
Brit-Am Reply:
We do not know about Benjaminites in Troy.
Concerning the Eddas,
I have read only part of the original sources all the way through and that some time ago but the impression I received from looking it up on the web (especially the Wikipedia articels) is that Asgard was just to the north of the Caucasus.
In his earlier collection of Scandinavian Mythology Snorri voiced his opinion identifying it with Troy and in later collections he identified it with somewhere east of the Don River.

Snorri wrote down several different collections of Scandinavian legends.

The Gylfaginning was probably the first.

Snorri identified Asgard with Troy in the Gylfaginning

Asgard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asgard
##The sons of Bor then constructed Asgard (to be identified with Troy, Snorri insists in section 9) as a home for the Aesir##

The identification of Asgard with Troy appears to be the private opinion of Snorri and not part of the original material.
Later Snorri identified Asgard with a place east of the Don River.

Ynglinga Saga
By the time of the Ynglinga Saga, Snorri had developed his concept of Asgard further, although the differences might be accounted for by his sources. In the initial stanzas of the poem Asagarth is the capital of Asaland, a section of Asia to the east of the Tana-kvil or Vana-Kvil river (kvil is "fork"), which Snorri explains is the Tanais, or Don River, flowing into the Black Sea. The river divides "Sweden the Great", a concession to the Viking point of view. It is never called that prior to the Vikings (Section 1).

The Ynglingasaga that you refer to is also known as the Prose Edda or Younger Edda
http://www.northvegr.org/lore/history_viking/021.php

This Saga places Asgard east of the Don River.
http://www.viking.no/e/life/eorb.htm

The orb of the world, which mankind inhabits, is riveted by many fjords, so that great seas run into the land from the Outer Ocean. Thus, it is known that a great sea goes in through NORVASUND (Straits of Gibraltar) all the way to the land of Jerusalem. From that same sea a long bight stretches towards the north-east, called the Black Sea, which divides the three continents of the earth: to the east lies Asia, to the west lies Europe, but to the north of the Black Sea Greater Sweden or Sweden the Cold (Russia)

Through Greater Sweden (Russia) from the range of mountains that lie to the north beyond the edge of human habitation, there runs a river properly called the Tanais (Don), which flows into the Black Sea. In Asia to the east of the TANAIS there was a land called Asaland or Asaheim (land of the sir); its chief city was called Asgard (Home of the sir). The city was ruled by a chieftain called Odin and it was a great centre for sacrifices...

We considered the version placing Asgard east of the Don River to be the more reliable.
It was fashionable to claim ancestry from Troy.
The Romans claimed descent from Troy.
So did Geoffrey de Monmouth on behalf of the British Celts.
So did the Franks.
And the Saxons of Germany.
And the Anglo-Saxons in a European version.
http://www.boudicca.de/teut.htm

Troy was in Asia Minor (also known as Anatolia) meaning in our terms the Asian part of Turkey.
This identification is accepted but was it know to Snorri?
Maybe Snorri thought Troy was somewhere else?

Troy also seems to have been confused with the Thracians.
http://www.osterholm.info/thracian.html

The location of Asgard in the Don River and therefore associated with the Scythians and Khazars conforms with the latest archaeological findings and with our own understanding.
See also the article by David Faux:
SCANDINAVIAN AND CENTRAL ASIAN GENETIC CONNECTION
http://www.davidkfaux.org/CentralAsiaRootsofScandinavia-Y-DNAEvidence.pdf

For more on this subject see our new Mini-Article:

#2. The Importance of Troy, Foundation of Rome, and the Tribe of Benjamin
http://www.britam.org/Questions/
QuesMythology.html#Importance

---

---

###################################################
3. Secular Proofs: Mythology- Saturn and Britain
 Greek and Roman records identified Israel with Saturn and recorded Saturn having been expelled and gone to the British Isles.
Saturn was also equated with Seth which in Egyptian terminology could mean Israel. Saturn, Cronos, and Baal in the eyes of pagans were all taken to represent Israel and all were to be found later under the same names in the British Isles.
Saturn identified with Lost Tribes of Israel and located in Britain.
For a more expanded discussion see:
Mythology:
http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesMythology.html#Did
#1. Did the Ancients identify the Lost Israelites with Saturn in the British Isles?

Pleased with what you read? Did you benefit from it? We do this because we believe in it and enjoy doing it. Your benefit and wellbeing are goals of ours and worthwhile to us in themselves. Nevertheless, Brit-Am depends on contributions alongside purchases of our publications Click Here to make an offering. Click Here to view our publications.

---

---

---

'It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God or the Bible.'
  George Washington

---

---

---

Brit-Am is the "still small voice" that contains the truth.
[1-Kings 19:12] AND AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE A FIRE; BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE FIRE: AND AFTER THE FIRE A STILL SMALL VOICE.

PREVIOUS ISSUES