Various Traditions no.4 by Yair Davidiy
THE WELSH VERSION
In Welsh sources the Tribe
of Dana is paralleled by the people of
DON. The Welsh spoke of the goddess Don and her consort Bile the god of
the
dead. Britain was nicknamed "the honey isle of Bile". BILE is the
equivalent of Bel meaning the Canaanite Baal whom the Romans in Syria
apparently identified with Saturn and this perhaps explains why they considered Britain to be the domain of Saturn. They also equated
Saturn
with Israel. The Welsh collection of legends (called Mabinogion) speaks
of
Beli son of Manogan king of Britain. Beli is thought to be a derivation
of
Belinus a Druid god. Beli is named as the ancestor of Welsh royal houses
and is apparently considered (in Welsh tradition) a member of the House
of
David. The Tudor monarchs of Britain had Royal
Welsh origins: "At any rate, there is reason to believe that the Tudors were descended from the old British kings who ruled at the time of the
Anglo-Saxon invasions".
The Greeks said that Belus (i.e. Baal) son of Poseidon (Neptune) was the father of Danaus and that Danaus escaped from Egypt with other people the bulk of whom led by Moses settled in Judea. This confirms the identification of Danaus with the Israelite Dan as well as paralleling the Welsh pairing of Don with Bile (i.e. Belus, i.e. Baal). Poseidon the Greek god of the sea and father of Danaus has a name which is capable of being understood to mean "Son(s) of Dan". The Greeks said that Doros son of Poseidon founded the important city port of Dor on the coast of Israel in the territory of Menasseh30. A Phoenician inscription also reported the presence of Israelite DAN in that area. The name "Neptune" (the Roman term for Poseidon) was believed by Nahum Slouschz* to be derived from the Israelite Tribe of Nephtali32. Nephtali and Dan were full brothers the only sons Bilhah (maidservant of Rachel and concubine of Israel) had. The Tribes of Nephtali and Dan were often closely associated with each other. Neptune (according to the Romans) fathered Albion who founded a kingdom in Britain. Albion is a form of the name Lebanon in which country Nephtali and Dan had inheritance.
The above name-association indicate pathways linking Israelite ancestors of British Peoples to figures in ancient mythology.
They should be considered in the light of additional evidence. It must be remembered that the northern Israelites prior to their exile were already pagans. They would have assimilated whatever Biblical traditions they retained to concepts understandable in pagan terms.
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