November 30, 2002

THE British HEBREWS

Adapted from "Lost Israelite Identity" by Yair Davidy, chapter fifteen:
THE HEBREWS OF BRITAIN
         Amongst Celtic names of importance was that of "EBER" (meaning
Hebrew) examples of which are found spread throughout the Celtic world. The
so-called "Celtic" settlers of Britain and Ireland referred to themselves
as "Hiberi" or "Iberi" and so they are named in the Geography of
PTOLEMY.  They did not call themselves "Celts" and possibly not even
"Britons". They did refer to themselves as HEBREWS! That is what they were.

         EBER: In the country of the Parissi was the city of York called
Eboracum by the British, Ireland was called Hibernia, and there were the
Hebrides Islands and numerous places in Gaul and other Celtic areas whose
names contained the root "eber" meaning Hebrew.
In addition,
         "...there were twenty or more places in Wales, the names of which
begin with another form of the name Eber, Aber, such as Aberystwyth and
Aberdare. In Scotland we find Aberdeen, Aberfoyle, Aberdour, Aberargie,
Abruthven  and several others" (Bennett p.114).

          Celtic Mythology and toponomy is replete with Hebraic names many
of which were recorded long before the christian era when the Celts were
still pagans and therefore cannot be ascribed to extraneous influences:
         The Iberi (Hiberi) had once been in Spain and due to them the
North African natives who invaded Spain after them and drove them out were
in turn called Iberi (Iberians) by the Greeks and Romans.
         An additional proof for ascribing the original application of the
name "HEBER" to the Celts is the fact that Celtic peoples such as the
Gaelics of Britain and Ireland called themselves Iberi and their dominant
presence in Britain is marked on the maps of Ptolemy. These people had been
in Spain at the time when the name Heber or Iber was first applied to
regions and rivers there and they had been driven out to Gaul and the
British Isles where numerous additional place and ethnic names received the
appellation HEBER and its cognates. This name is considered typically
Celtic and an indication of Celtic presence (de Rougemont p.102, Hubert
p.288). Its later application to the Spaniards is a misnomer.
         Names containing the root "HEBER" meaning Hebrew are found
throughout the Celtic sphere of influence especially in its western section
of Gaul and Britain:
          Examples of place names containing this root in places somehow or
other regarded as those of a sometime Celtic presence are multitudinous and
include Yboracum the original name of York, Hibernia the name of Ireland,
the Hebrides, and numerous others.
         The denomination "HEBREW" as applicable to ISRAELITE in
distinction to foreigners is found in the Book of Jonah: Jonah the prophet
had been commanded by God to go and call upon the inhabitants of the
Assyrian capital city Nineveh to repent. Jonah did not want to help the
Assyrians so he attempted to flee the Holy Land which place is most
conducive to Prophecy, whereas outside of the Land the Divine Presence
makes Itself less palpable. He went to the port of Jaffo on the coast and
took a ship headed for Tarshish. A supernatural storm arose and after
casting lots the sailors realised that their ship was endangered due to
Jonah's presence. The men of the ship asked Jonah:

         "Whence comest thou? what is thy country and of what people art
thou" (Jonah 1;8).

Jonah answered:

         "I AM AN HEBREW; AND I FEAR THE LORD, THE GOD OF HEAVEN, WHICH
HATH MADE THE SEA AND THE DRY LAND" (Jonah 1;9).

"Hebrew" in the Bible is synonymous with Israelite.

Names containing the root "Eber" or  " Iber" meaning Hebrew include:

Ybora: mouth of Halys River in Anatolia (Turkey), place of a  Galatian colony.
Hebros River: in Thrace, scene of Celtic presence.
Iberia: in the Caucasus, north of Assyria, legendary area of exiled
Israelite Ten Tribes re settlement, cultural connections with the proto-Celts.
Ibernia: name for Spain derived from the original Iberians who accepted
Celtic culture and migrated to the west and north.
Hibernia: name for Ireland.
Iberni in southwest Ireland.
Ibnerni Ocean east of Ireland.
Hebrides: islands off the northwest coast of Scotland, a Celtic
region.  Menasseh ben Israel spoke of an early Hebrew inscription having
been discovered on the Hebrides.
Eboracum: A Celtic name for the city of York in north England. York gave
its name to the North American city of New York where there are reportedly
more people of Jewish extraction (mainly from the tribe of Judah) than in
the modern State of Israel!
Eburodunum: also known as Embrun in the French Alps of ancient Gaul.
Evorolocum: in Auvergne, Gaul.
Eborobritum: Beira, Gaul, note the combination of Brit (Briton) with EBER!
Eborovices: Evreux, in Gaul
Eborobriga: Yonne, in Gaul.
Eboromagus: (in the region of Aude, in Gaul) also known as "Hebromagus" and
close to Narbonne in southern France an historically significant centre in
many ways.
Eborodunum: Yverdon, in Switzerland, once dominated by the Celtic Tribe of
Helveti.
Eboresheim, Eporestal, Eburingen: all Celtic place names in Germany. The
Galatian Celts were once based in west central Germany but were driven out.
Note the Semitic interchange of "p" for "b" as in Eporestal.
Eburones: a Celtic people who once dwelt between the Main and Rhine rivers.

To repeat: The inhabitants of Britain and of Ireland referred to themselves
as Iberi meaning Hebrews.

         There were Twelve Israelite Tribes and Welsh tradition listed
Twelve different peoples who invaded Britain. Representatives of all the
Israelite Tribes do seem to have settled within the British Isles though
the dominating elements belonged to the Tribes of Joseph, Ephraim and
Menasseh and eventually especially of Ephraim since much of Menasseh later
emigrated to North America.

TRIBES OF BRITAIN AND THE HEBREW CELTS.
         THE INVADERS OF BRITAIN ACCORDING TO THE WELSH TRIADS:
         The TRIADS are a collection of ancient Welsh traditions some of
which go back very far whereas others are more recent. The Triads list
twelve peoples who migrated to Britain. These are described in groups of
three.
   The first three peoples came to Britain in peace, and all three were
related to the Cymry who came with Hu Gadarn from across the Lazy Sea, from
Defrobane opposite Byzantium:

The three CYMRY peoples were:

1. The Cymry (proper);
2. The Lloegrwys from Gascony in southwest Gaul;
3. The Brythons.

   Another three peoples were admitted as refugees:

4. The Celyddon (i.e. Caledonni)  in the north;
5. The Gwyddyl in Alban (Scotland);
6. The Galedon who according to the Triads received Devon and Somerset (in
southwest England, bordering Cornwall) though the similarly named Golodini
were recalled in North Wales.

Three peoples came as usurpors:

7. The CORANNIED from Pwyl (Poland ?) to the coasts of Humber and the North
Sea.   Other sources say that the Corannied came from Ireland or maybe
"Pwyl" is yet another appellation for Ireland or a part of it.  The name
"Corannied" may be applicable to a branch of the Picts, one authority
ascribes it to the Angles, and in our opinion it may even refer to an
offshoot of the Vandals.

8. The Gwydell Ffichti (Gaeles Pictes) to Alban meaning
Scotland.
9. The Saxones. The Saxones and Corannied (of the north) united.

There were three tribes of invaders:

10. The Llychlynnwr (Scandinavians).
11. Ganvel the Gwyddel (Goidel) from Ireland.
12. The Cesariens:  which maybe means the
Normans..
 
 

PLEASE SEND THIS MESSAGE ON TO OTHERS
http://www.britam.org/
http://www.geocities.com/hiberi
 

Yair Davidiy
POB 595
Jerusalem 91004
Israel.

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