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The Tribe of Dan when it
came out of Egypt with the rest of the
Children of Israel was, after Judah, the most populous of
Israelite
Tribes with 62,700 males between the ages of 20 and 60 apart from
women,
children, and the elderly (Numbers 2;26).
The son of Dan was called
"Hushim" (Genesis 46;23) who gave rise
to the Danite clan known as Shuhami (Numbers 26;43). Symbols associated
with the Tribe of Dan include a lion, snake, eagle, griffin, and dragon.
Aholiab of the Tribe of Dan assisted Betzaleel of the Tribe of Judah
in
building the Tabernacle in the Wilderness (Exodus 31;2 6).
Character appraisals of Dan
in tradition appear contradictory. One
source (Talmud, Shabat 67) says that all the children of Dan were
idolaters. It also says that Dan received the north side "whence
darkness
comes". A Midrash states that Samson the legendary judge hero had a
Danite
father and a mother from Judah whereas the future Messiah will have a
father from Judah and a mother from Dan or from Nephtali (Genesis Rabah
98;13)..
The mother of Dan was Bilhah
who also bore Nephtali. Dan and
Nephtali are often linked with each other. Bilhah was the maidservant of
Rachel mother of Benjamin and Joseph, and here too parallelisms are
noticeable.
Eldad HaDani (ca.800 c.e.)
quotes an old legend according
to which the Tribe of Dan left the Land of Israel after the Ten Tribes
separated themselves from Judah. The Northern Ten Tribes under Jeroboam ben
Nebat warred against Judah
in the south and so Dan rather than engage in a
fratricidal struggle went into voluntary exile.
SAMSON was from the Tribe of
Dan. Samson was an heroic saviour of
superhuman strength given to him at moments of Divine inspiration.. He
became the prototype for Hercules. In Greek Classical Mythology Hercules
appears to frequently represent peregrinations of migrating Phoenicians and
Israelites.
At first the Tribe of Dan
received an inheritance around the area
of Joppa (modern Jaffa- Tel Aviv). Most of the inheritance of Dan in the
south was to be lost to the Amorites and Philistines and later regained by
the Israelite Tribes of Ephraim and Judah BUT NOT DAN9. Nevertheless, the
populous Tribe of Dan was to launch forward and conquer an area in the
Upper Galilee, another region in Cilicia
(southeast Turkey),
establish
settlements in Anatolia, engage in an
attempted invasion of Egypt,
establish a base in Libya,
conquer Greece,
Cyprus,
and Crete, and establish
a presence in Bronze Age Scandinavia,
Britain,
and Ireland.
The Bible says that
Danites from the south went out (northward)
and conquered a place called Leshem that they renamed Dan: They did the
same thing with another place called Laish. When Dan had been in the south
they were unable to conquer all of the territory allotted to them and
apparently moved off and it would seem that the forces of Joseph
did
manage to later take over the areas originally allotted to Dan.
"And the Amorites
forced the children of Dan into the mountain:
for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley:
"But the Amorites would
dwell in Mount Heres
in Aijalon, and in
Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they
became tributaries" (Judges 2;34 35)..
It had been prophesied that Dan in his own way would become a formidable
force:
"Dan shall judge his
people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan
shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse's
heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. I wait for thy salvation, O
LORD" (Genesis 49;16 17).
"And of Dan, he said,
Dan is a lion's whelp that leaps from
Bashan" (Deuteronomy 33;22)*10.
The period of the Judges was a cruel age and even one setback
could have
near fatal consequences. This explains how and why the Tribe of Dan would
suddenly come, like a leaping lion, conquer and when beaten be forced to
move on, to conquer elsewhere.
LESHEM-LAISH
The Book of Judges (chapter
18) relates how 600 men from Dan in
the south went north and found a place named Laish whose inhabitants lived
like Sidonian-Phoenicians. They conquered Laish, wiped out the inhabitants,
and renamed the place Dan*11.
The Book of Joshua related a
very similar account which should be
considered since we believe (contrary to most others) that an entirely
different situation is being discussed:
"And the coast of the
children of Dan went out [(too little)] for
them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and
took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and
dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their
father"
(Joshua 19;47).
Both versions relate how the
inheritance of the children of Dan in
the south was either too small for them (Joshua ch.18) or how they had not
taken possession of that which had been allocated to them (Judges ch.19).
Both tell how Danites went north seized a city, slew its inhabitants and
re-settled it naming it after DAN their father.
There are however several
differences between the two
accounts:
1. In the Book of Joshua the children of Dan had received an inheritance in
the south but it was insufficient for them and so they went to fight
against Leshem. In Judges though the Danites were in the region of Zorah
and Eshtaol (in the south) they had yet not taken possession of their own.
2. In Judges, at least at first, only six hundred went forth after
receiving the report of a reconnoitering mission: on the other hand, the
Book of Joshua may be understood to say that all (or nearly all) of Dan
went to fight.
3. In the Book of Joshua the city taken is called Leshem: In Judges the
city is called LAISH. Some Commentators have tried to state that
"Leshem"
and "Laish" are different forms of the same word but
"leshem" in Hebrew is
a type of precious stone (maybe amber) while "laish" means a young
male lion.
As stated, most (IF
NOT ALL) Commentators have assumed that the
accounts in the Books of Joshua and Judges are relating to one and the same
event and that Leshem and Laish are variations of the same name.
Nevertheless, it now seems certain that LESHEM and LAISH were two different
places!
The place called Leshem and
renamed Dan in the Book of Joshua
appears to be the site of DAN in northern Galilee
otherwise known as
Daphne. On the other hand, LAISH which was also renamed DAN and is recalled
in the Book of Judges is identical with a centre which gave its name to
LUASH of the DANANU! LUASH adjoins Smal of Cilicia
in modern southeast
Turkey.
The distance on foot between the two locations, Leshem of Dan in
the northern Galilee and Luash of the
Dananu in north Syria,
is more than
three hundred miles!!
The identification of Luash
with Liash involves identifying the
Dananu who lived in or besides Luash with the Danites of Israelite Dan.
1. The area hereby identified as that within
which Liash-Dan is to be
found is that known in ancient times as the Kingdom(s) of Smal of the
Dananu and of Yadi and of Luash and Hamath. This encompassed the areas in
Ptolemy's Map (of Arabia Deserta and Syria)
depicting Chalybonitis,
Cyrrestica, Commagena, Cilicia, and
extending into Armenia
Minor. To the
east and southeast of this region were the territories of Bathanaei and
Bathanaea Regio (i.e. Kingdom of Bathanaea) and Bathan is an Aramaic
("Syrian") pronounciation of BASHAN. Moses had blessed the Tribe of
Dan
(Deuteronomy 33;22): "Dan is a lion's whelp, he shall leap from Bashan".
The area of Luash may also be considered part of Bashan.
"LIASH" means
young male lion and therefore connects with the expression "Dan is a
lion's
whelp", i.e. Dan is a young "Liash" leaping forth from
the Bashan:
Luash-Liash may be considered a geographical extension, a "leaping
forward"
from the area denoted as Bathan or Bashan.
2. The names LIASH and LUASH are similar*12. The place-name Luash is
renderable as "LA'AS"13 which is close in sound to
"Liash".
3. Near Luash was the entity of Yadi which was an enclave of Judaeans
adjoining the Dananu of Smal and usually ruled by the same monarch. Dan
and Judah were neighbours in both north and south Israel.
Dan in the south
centred on the port
of Joppa adjoined
the territory of Judah.
In the
northern Galilee Judaeans in Gilead of Machir are believed to have bordered
Dan and to be those named "Judah upon Jordan toward the sunrising"
in the
Book of Joshua (19;34). In Jewish tradition Judah and Dan are often
juxtapositioned. Samson the superman-hero came from the Tribe of Dan but
his mother was from Judah.
Samson, in some respects, was considered a
forerunner of the Messiah who will come from Judah but his mother,
according to the Midrash, will be of the Tribe of Dan. Both Judah and Dan
were represented by a lion, though Dan has additional symbols such as
the
snake and dragon
THE BIBLE MENTIONS YAIR OF JUDAH
(DEUTERONOMY 3;14) IN THE BASHAN.
YAIR WAS CONNECTED BOTH WITH MENASSEH AND WITH THE CHELUBIE OF JUDAH.
THE
CHELUBIE ARE RECALLED IN CHALYBONITIS which was to the northwest of
Bathanae (Bashan) on Ptolemy's Map.
Yair was mentioned in Assyrian
inscriptions as the IARI in the region of Chalybonitis and the surrounding
area (including at times in Gauzanitis and elsewhere) raiding and waging
wars on both sides of the Euphrates
River14. Since Yadi was settled by
Judaeans and these were united with the Dananu so is the case strengthened
for the Dananu having come from Dan in Israel.
(This may seem obvious, but
it is still not conventionally entirely recognised). The name Yair is often
transliterated as "Jair".
"Jair the son of
Menasseh took all the country of Argob unto the
coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name Bashan
Havoth Jair, unto this day" (Deuteronomy 3;14).
Hezron (son of Judah)
begat both Chelubai and Segub the father of
Jair*15. Jair was therefore the nephew of Chelubai and familial
relationships often presaged political and settlement combinations amongst
the descendants*16.
4. In both accounts the conquered and re-settled city is renamed DAN
"after
the name of their forefather Dan a son of Israel".
This may reflect a
Tribal characteristic and some have interpreted the phrase "Dan shall be
a
serpent by the way, an adder in the path .." (Genesis 49;16) as
referring
to a Tribal Trait of leaving their namesake everywhere, e.g. "Mahaneh
Dan"
(Judges 18;12), Don, Daneister, Danaper, Danube,
Denmark,
Dannonia....
5. Laish "was in the valley that lieth by Beth Rehob" (Judges 18).
Beth
Rehob is identifiable with "REHOB" in the northern territory of the
Tribe
of Asher*17 (Joshua 19;28, 30) and as "Rehob as men come to Hamath"
(Numbers 13;21). HAMATH is the name of an area and the city of Hamath
(said
Rashi) is identical with that known as Antiochea on the Orontes
River in
north Syria.
Hamath was a kingdom which may have included HOMS
in east
Syria
but nevertheless Scripturally should be identified more with the area
of Antiochea which was more to the north. Similarly DAMASCUS
was far to the
north near (or in Cilicia) and not Damascus
of today. Eliyahu ("The Gaon")
of Vilna (ca.1700 c.e.) was one of the most authoritative Jewish scholars
that ever lived. He was an expert in Judaic Studies and wrote a Commentary
on several Biblical Books. He had a profound understanding of the Hebrew
language and of the True Literal meaning of Scripture and was acquainted
with numerous sources. He too (on Joshua 19;28) identified REHOB with Beth
Rehob and placed the border of Asher in the north by Hamath Antiochea
and Damascus
of the north which was near Cilicia. A
Map of Tribal
Territorial Allocations attributed to Eliyahu of Vilna18 shows the northern
portion of Dan as stretching from the Mediterranean Sea
to the Sea of
Galilee, by Tyre
in the west and by HAMATH in the north!
[Since writing this opinion we have come across an archaeological opinion
that claims there were two places identifiable with Damascus:
one in the
present site of Damascus
of Syria
and another much further to the north].
The Yadi ruled over the Mushkabim19
who (according to a bi-lingual
Phoenician-Hittite inscription) are apparently identical with the Moshki or
people of Mopsus who were also subjects of the Dananu king. The names
Mushkabim and Moshki support the notion that Smal and Yadi are identical
with the Biblical Da-Meshek i.e. Damascus:-
"Damascus
[i.e. Da-Meshek] and
Hamath to Judah
in Israel"
(2 Kings 14;28). Both the Danites and Yadi of
Judah
ruled over the same subject Moshki people who later were known as
Muski and are identified with the Phrygians. There were periods when both
the Dananu and Yadi were ruled by the same monarch. At some stage they
separated, Kalamu a king of Yadi backed the subject Mushkabim (i.e. Moshki)
against the Baririm or nobility of his own people and also enlisted
Assyrian help against the Dananu*20. The ultimate result was that both
kingdoms were destroyed and the Yadi and Dananu exiled. Centuries later the
Jutes (from "Yadi"?) were to settle in Denmark
and a Danish tradition
traced the Jutes to Judah
and the Danes to Dan.
6. In the Book of Ezekiel (48;1) it says concerning the future
apportionment of the Promised Land amongst the Israelite Tribes,
"From the north end to
the coast ..as one goes to Hamath...the
border of Damascus
northward, to the coast of Hamath..a
portion for Dan".
This verse according to
Commentaries indicates that Dan is
destined to receive a portion stretching beyond Hamath (Antiochea on the
Orontes) and into the region northward
of it. This Millenial Promise seems
to have had an historical precedent.
7. The Orontes
enters the Mediterranean Sea at
Antiochea (modern:
Antakya) in northern Syria.
North of the Orontes River
were the lands of
Alasiya or Luash. Zakir, the King of Hamath in one inscription bears a
Hebrew name and uses a type of Aramaic influenced by Hebrew. He is entitled
"King of Hamath and LUASH". Zakir also ruled over Chazrik in this
same region.
8. The king of Sma'al in the valley north of
ASI (Orontes
embouchemont) on the edge of LUASH (LIASH) called himself "KING of the
DANIM"*21. The Danes (Dananu) also controlled the neighbouring area of
Cilicia and at one stage their capital
was Adana by Tarsis
of Cilicia and
their suzerainity reached as far north as Karatepe. A bi-lingual
inscription of theirs found at Karatepe employs a Phoenician type of Hebrew
and a version of Hittite. Branches of the Hittites in Anatolia
neighboured
the Dananu of Cilicia. This northern
portion of Dan is referred to
variously as Dananu, Danau, Denye, Denyen, Danuna. They are probably
identical with the original Danaioi of Classical Greek writings.
9. A Phoenician inscription discovered in 1855
in a cave outside of
ancient Sidon
speaks in the name of "Ashmunezer king of Sidon".
The text
is of unknown date and may be copied from an original written anytime in
the period 1000 b.c.e. to 600 b.c.e. The text is transmitted by A.Markus22
who claimed that the Phoenician form of Hebrew appears like a foreign
language in the Phoenician mouth and did not sit easily with them.
Nevertheless, about half the words are Hebrew words and are comprehensible
(with some effort) to a Hebrew reader. The text may be translated directly
approximately as follows:
(18) ......The Lord of the
Kings exiled and gave unto us (19) Doar
(i.e. Dor) and Jaffo lands of the mighty Dagan which are of the root of
Dan, who were experienced in power, which he exercised and added the port
(20) onto the borders of my lands to regulate my land for ever"*23.
The inscription appears to
link Dan with Dagan god of the
Philistines. It testifies to the prestige the Tribe of Dan once held in
those maritime parts. It links Dan with both Dor and Jaffo off the coast of
Israel
and thus with the Sea Peoples. This inscription recalls the Biblical
Statement which speaks of a time when the Phoenicians of Sidon
and others
oppressed Israel:
"The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the
Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of
their hand" (Judges 10;12). It is interesting to note that the Maonites
("Maoni") were a people who lived to the east of Israel
as well as in
Lydia
(northwest Turkey)
where they were seafarers.
10. The names by which the Dananu (Denye, etc.) are
known are those
which would be expected in foreign parts for Dan. There is an identity
between the Danaoi of Greek tradition, the Dananu of Cilicia,
and Dan of
Israel*24.
11. Egyptian accounts of the Dananu connect
them with the northern
region of Israel, with Cilicia, Cyprus, and with other groups whose names
and characteristics appear Hebraic and with the Philistines who neighboured
(and at times controlled) the Tribe of Dan in the south.
12. The Danaioi of Greek Mythology were
described by the Greeks as
having come out of Egypt
and as being brothers to the Jews. This
identifies the Danaioi of Greek tradition with Dan of Israel.
The Danaioi
are associable with the Danuna of Cilicia.
13. Greek sources speak of the people of Mopsus
of Anatolia who have
been identified (thanks to a bi-lingual inscription) with the Dananu of
Cilicia. The "people of
Mopsus" (i.e. the Dananu) in legendary accounts
also parallel Dan of Israel and Samson the judge hero of Dan.
14. The Dananu ruled Cyprus which was named
"Yadnana" ("Isle of the
Dana") in their honour. Other sources indicate a strong Israelite
influence
in Cyprus at some time or other. Culturally Cyprus was very much a
Phoenician island. This shows the possibility of an overlap between Dan and
the Phoenicians.
15. Mutual cultural influences between northern
Syria, Cilicia,
Anatolia, and Israel confirm the impression of close contact between these
regions consistent with colonisation of Israelites in the north..
16. The Tribe of Dana (Tuatha de Danaan)
according to different
accounts of Irish Mythology had been in both the northern land of Israel
and in the area of Greece and displays Israelite characteristics. Taking
the facts at their face value a simple solution is available concerning the
identity of the Tribe of Dana in Irish Mythology: The Dana of the Irish
were Israelites from the Tribe of DAN and probably at least contained
elements from the Dananu in Smal who were also from Dan of Israel.
17. Solinus said that before the rise of
Assyria25, Cilicia was one of
the four great powers of Asia. Cilicia was the region from which the Dananu
made their power effective.
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