Dan and Co.

Asher, Dan, and Naphtali

Israelite Tribal Parallels of Location in North Europe

(21 May, 2014, 21 Iyar, 5774)

Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Dan, Asher, and Naphtali in the Wilderness
3. Dan, Asher, and Naphtali in the Land of Israel
4. Dan, Asher, and Naphtali in Northern Europe
5. Dan, Asher, and Naphtali in Ireland and Britain
6. Scandinavia and Israel
7. Tribal Identifications and Overlapping Patterns of Settlement

Israelite Tribes Around the Tabernacle

1. Introduction After the Israelites were delivered from Egypt they sojourned in the Wilderness for 40 years. Most of this time they spent encamped around the Tabernacle. The 12 Tribes were organized  in 4 groups of 3 tribes each. The arrangement of the Tribes was similar to that which they would have after receiving their Territorial Inheritances in the Promised Land of Canaan. This stretched from the Nile River to the River Euphrates.  The same relative physical placements between one tribe and another  also are evident amongst the Lost Ten Tribes. There were originally 12 Tribes united in one Kingdom of Israel under Kings Saul, David and Solomon. After that they divided into two separate kingdom Kingdoms. The Kingdom of Israel in the north which comprised Ten Tribes was conquered by the Assyrians. All of its inhabitants were exiled. The exiles lost awareness of their Hebrew ancestry. They became the Lost Ten Tribes. We trace these lost Israelites to countries in the West. It is possible to identify historical nationalities with specific Israelite Tribes, as explained in our book. The Tribes". Each of the Israelites Nations is found neighboring other Israelite countries in the same way as the Tribes to which they belong adjoined each other in the Land of Israel and before that when they were encamped around the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. The Three Northern Tribes

2. Dan, Asher, and Naphtali in the Wilderness In the encampment around the Tabernacle we found the group associated by Dan  which included the Tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. Numbers 2: 25 On the north side shall be the regimental encampment of Dan by companies. The leader of the Danites shall be Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, 26 with a company as enrolled of sixty-two thousand seven hundred. 27 Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher. The leader of the Asherites shall be Pagiel son of Ochran, 28 with a company as enrolled of forty-one thousand five hundred. 29 Then the tribe of Naphtali: The leader of the Naphtalites shall be Ahira son of Enan, 30 with a company as enrolled of fifty-three thousand four hundred. 31 The total enrolment of the camp of Dan is one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set out last, by companies.

3. Dan, Asher, and Naphtali in the Land of Israel In the Land of Israel we find Dan settled at first in the southwest on the coast adjoining Judah and Ephraim. Later however elements from Dan moved out and settled in the northern Galilee. They also settled further to the north. North of Dan and Naphtali in the northern Galiee we find the Tribe of Asher  occupying most of what we now call Lebanon. When the tribes were still in the Land of Israel before the Exile of the Ten Tribes, in the period of the Judges,  we found Dan settled  at first in one area. Later Dan moved northwards to Dan in the north Galilee , and also to the Dananu in Cilicia (southeast Turkey).  We also find Dan in the Island of Cyprus which the Assyrians referred to as Ydnna or Island of the Dananu i.e. of Dan. The Promised Land The Promised Land

4. Dan, Asher, and Naphtali in Northern Europe The spatial arrangement of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali in the Land of Israel was repeated after the tribes had moved westward and settled there. We find Dan in Denmark, Naphtali in Norway, Asher in Scandinavia in general  (as the As, plural: Aseir) as well as in Sweden. [Sweden on the whole however pertains more to the Tribe of Gad.]

5. Dan, Asher, and Naphtali in Ireland and Britain  Similarly we find Dan, Asher, and Naphtali all located in neighboring regions in the British Isles. In Ireland we had the legendary Tribe of Dana. THE TRIBE OF DANA [TUATHA DE DANAAN] http://britam.org/traditions3.html In Wales we had the Children of Don. Don and Bile. The Welsh Version of their Origins http://britam.org/traditions4.html In  pre-Roman  Britain we find the Damnoni (Dannonia) in the southwest. We also note the River Don, and city of Danum (mentioned by Ptolemy, modern Doncaster) on the north east coast of what became England. See: Doncaster. Roman Heritage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doncaster#Roman_heritage The Vandals and Angles settled in this region  of northeast England after the Anglo-Saxon  invasion of England. We have shown, in The Tribes, that the Vandals participated alongside the Angles and Saxons in the Anglo-Saxon conquest. The Vandals  descended from the Tribe of Asher. They also moved into Scotland. In this same area later settled many of the Danes from Denmark  in the Viking Era. The Viking Danes from Dan were on the east coast of England and the  Norwegian Vikings from Napthali were on the northwest coast. Vikings (mainly from Denmark) also settled in Ireland. They founded all the first large towns of Ireland: Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick. According to Tribal Characteristics and other factors we have additional evidence indicating the presence of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali together in Ireland . See: Dan in Ireland and Wales http://www.britam.org/DanWales.html The Tribe of ASHER in IRELAND http://www.britam.org/AsherIre.html Naphtali in Ireland? http://britam.org/ErinNaphtali.html We thus find the triumvirate of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali in the west, and  in  similar  formations to  that which existed in Biblical Times.

6. Scandinavia and Israel The Israelite Tribe of Naphtali became the Nephtali-Huns (or "Hephtalites" as they are also called) who together with the Dani were once in east Scythia. From east Scythia the Naphtali migrated to Norway and the Danes to Denmark. This is proven by Scandinavian tradition, by tracing names, by demographic considerations, and by archaeological finds. Elements from Asher, Dan, and Naphtali also reached the region from other directions. In the Bronze Age, Scandinavia had been settled by peoples from the Middle East whose culture has been defined as Minoan i.e. from Crete and Cyprus. It also bore features reflecting the Phoenicians and Ancient Hebrews. They were Israelites. The legendary ancestral gods of the Scandinavians were known as the As or in the plural  Aseir. The name AS (as noted by Nahum Slouschz) is the Phoenicians pronunciation of Asher#. #Nahum SLOUSCHZ, , "Les Hebreo-Pheniciens. Introduction a ire Des Origines de la Colonisation Hebraique dans les Pays Mediteranee," Paris 1909. NACHUM SLOUSCHZ, "Ba Eyay Ha Yam," (Hebrew), New York 1919.

7. Tribal Identifications and Overlapping Patterns of Settlement It is to be noted that the above notes do not necessarily reflect the majority Israelite Tribal Identification of the peoples concerned. The Tribes were there alongside Israelites from other Tribes. As mentioned, Asher was to be found throughout Scandinavia but Sweden on the whole appears to be dominated by Gad. So too, in Ireland there were also elements from Ephraim, Manasseh, Judah, Simeon, and others. So too, with Britain. Nevertheless definite Tribal patterns existed in the Biblical Era. We find these alignments repeated in our times. The Dan, Asher, and Naphtali threesome is one of them. This pattern was repeated from around the Tabernacle, to settlement in the land of Israel, to northern Europe, and again in Britain, and in Ireland, and possibly elsewhere as well. What we found concerning the group of Three Tribes: Asher, Dan, and Naphtali, parallels what pertains to the rest of the Tribes, as we shall show. Isaiah 49: 5 And now the Lord says,    who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him,    and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord,    and my God has become my strength, 6 he says, 'It is too light a thing that you should be my servant    to raise up the tribes of Jacob    and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations,    that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.' Scandinavia, Ireland, and Britain are at the Ends of the Earth. This is where we find the Tribes of Asher, Dan, and Naphtali. The sdame applies to the rest of the Israelite Tribes. Israelite Tribes at the Ends of the Earth

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