"Brit-Am Now"-7
Contents:
1. Sharon Lindstrom: physical description not Important?
2. Gog and Magog and the Goths
3. Jackie Young: redheads in our family
4. Statistics on Red-heads
5. Excerpt from Chapter Two of "The Tribes" by Yair Davidiy
THE PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLES

1. From: Sharon Lindstrom
Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"- 6
Ouch!
I don't know what Judas's hair color was but it certainly does seem like
story-telling passed down through the centuries. It doesn't surprise me that
the Chinese would call us all "red-headed devils" either...(give the Arabs
enough time and they'll be passing along the same kind of myths to their kids too :-).
Whether Judas existed or not, we know for certain that Yeshua did
(exist) and that he was from the tribe of Judah. Funny that the gospel
writers did not give a physical description of him. Could it be that it
wasn't important?
Sharon

AND SAY, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD; BEHOLD, I AM AGAINST THEE, O GOG, THE
CHIEF PRINCE OF MESHECH AND TUBAL” [Ezekiel 38:2-3]
In Hebrew the word for “Chief Prince” is “Rosh” [i.e. head of] and this was
taken by Medieval non-Jewish Commentators to refer to Russia.  The Russians
themselves identified with the forces of Gog and Magog and took pride in
it, as documented by Leon Poliakov in Arian Myth.

>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Yair Davidiy" <britam@netvision.net.il>
>To: <britam@netvision.net.il>
>Sent: Saturday, April 27, 2002 2:42 PM
>Subject: "Brit-Am Now"- 6

http://www.fawny.org/rhcp.html

Statistics

Numbers of people with red hair are difficult to come by. And I’ve done a
lot of searching – forensic texts, dermatology books, genetics tracts,
everything. I have considerable research experience, and I’ve had better
luck looking up far more obscure topics, like the incidence of head
injuries among wheelchair athletes. There just aren’t a lot of stats on who
has what colour hair.

Here’s the available data.

    1. T. E. Reed (1952) declares simply that “The frequency of red hair in
Britain is only about 4%.” Reed (citation ) goes on to document his study
of 597 “mentally defective” boys and girls, which located 17 boys and 17
girls each with a hair colour “which could conceivably be classed as
’red.’” That’s 5.6%. Many of those subjects were later eliminated from the
definition of red hair through spectrophotometric analysis of hair colour.
Those and other pseudo-objective measurements later gave Reed the
confidence to declare that “the frequency of red hair in this population of
597 children is 0.042±0.008,” or 4.2±0.8%. At most 5%, in other words.
    2. Reaching even farther back, Michelson (1934) found 435 out of 2,397
male subjects “showed a red component in their hair.” That’s 18%.
Subsequent research by others verifies that the proportion of people with
any red hair – e.g., ruddy whiskers – hovers between 18% and 20%.
    3. However, Michelson (citation ) performed a careful count of the
proportion of red hairs in the heads of his subjects. Of 2,361 final
subjects (very light hair was excluded), 56 had 50% or more red hairs on
the head (2.37%).
    4. Tellingly, 45 of those 56 (1.91% of the total sample) had 75% or
more red-hair coverage, suggesting that redheads are rare, but when they’re
red-haired, they’re very red-haired, while the remainder are rather
borderline cases.
    5. Michelson seems unique in citing the ethnic backgrounds of his
subjects with any red hair: “214 Irish, 48 northern Europe, 31 Jewish, 26
German, 11 Scotch, 19 southern and central Europe, and 86 not given.”
    6. A more recent study in the field of genetics (citation) states that
“We found 4.85% of the parents to be red-haired or to have been so early in
life.”

There seems to be a consensus that redheads account for about 4% of the
population. Precious jewels, you might say.

Comment by Yair Davidi: A very High proportion of red-heads amongst Jews of "Galicia" in Eastern Europe. Red-heads also common in Ireland, Scotland, Norway and are found in small numbers throughout Europe. The term "Admoni" in addition to redhead can also mean golden-haired in general. David may have been exceptional in this regard.

THE PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLES

         Many of the early Scythians were described as fair and of an
apparent "Nordic" type appearance. This leads to a consideration of the
question whether or not this phenomenon had existed previously amongst the
ancient Hebrews. The Israelites of old were regarded by the Egyptians as
people from the land of Amuru, meaning the land of the Amorites which the
Israelites conquered.  Another term applied to the general Syrian area was
"Retenu".  The name "Upper Retenu"12 corresponded to the geographical space
encompassed by the Land of Israel, according to the Bible. People from the
area known as "Amuru" or "Retenu" after ca.1400 BCE were presumably
Israelites. They are depicted13 on Egyptian monuments as red, blonde, or
black-haired with frequent blue eyes and red beards. Illustrations of
individuals with this appearance are automatically assumed to pertain to
the Israelite or "Syrian" area. Another blonde blue-eyed people depicted on
Egyptian monuments were the so-called "Libyans" and it has now been proven
that these were not dwellers of "Libya" but rather of the Nile Delta and of
Hebrew origin13.
         On the Egyptian pictures skins of individuals from the Israelite
or "Syrian" area are often light colored and pinkish. In addition darker
individuals from these same areas are also depicted and sometimes they are
the majority. The identification of the "Amuru" people depicted with
Israelites may be confirmed from illustrations of an Egyptian monarch and
his campaign against the Tribes of Israel: In about 924 BCE the king of
Egypt, Shishak, invaded Judah and the (then) separate state of North
Israel. Pictures of the campaign of Shishak reveal him receiving homage
from the King of Judah and from the heads of cities and dignitaries in
Judah and throughout northern ISRAEL. The personages depicted are of
"Amuru" type and these pictures are sometimes even used as typifying the
Egyptian depiction of "Amuru" characteristics. In the said context “Amuru”
in effect often meant Israelite. It seems that the ancient Hebrews were a
people of mixed kinds. This concept is apparently confirmed by Talmudic
sources. One Midrash says that amongst the Tribes of Simeon and Levi: very
light-colored types (“bohakanim”) were common. On the other hand, a
Talmudic Mishna (Negaim 2;1) says that Israelites (meaning in this case,
the Jews of Judah) are mainly of an intermediate type coloring being
neither black like a "Cushi" (Negro) nor light like a "Germani".
"Germani"  in Talmudic terminology (Aruch HaShalem) meant someone from the
far north at that time or who looked like people from that area and the
term could be applied to a very light colored person (Maimonides) like part
of the people of Scandinavia. Joseph:, the son of Israel, was described in
a Midrash (Genesis Rabah 86;3)  , as looking like a “GERMANI” (i.e. like
someone from the North, “very white”, fair, according to Maimonides) and in
another passage (Talmud Sota 36) as having a face that was "pink like a
rose" . It follows that Joseph was considered as having been of Nordic
appearance which was a known familial trait since Joseph is also said to
have looked exactly like his father. [On the other hand it is implied that
Joseph was exceptional in this regard]. Joseph (Ephraim and Menasseh) was
the leading tribal group in the Northern Kingdom. The above sources
indicate that the original twelve tribes of Israel were of mixed physical
types and that in some tribes or geographical regions one kind was more
dominant than others. It has also been stated that the Tribes tended to
marry only within themselves and thus physical differences between
different tribes were emphasized14. The claim may also be made that peoples
of the same areas of otherwise entirely different physical characteristics
often have the same coloring. A mixed genetic stock of similar but
different variations will produce over a long period more often the type
that is most adaptable to the surrounding environment. This is not
evolution. It is adaptation of an already existing physical entity (i.e. a
group of people) to empirical circumstance in accordance with its already
existing Genetic potential.
         The suggestions that physical environment influences inherited
appearance and that the Israelite Tribes were of differing types to start
with anyway, should not surprise anybody -both ideas are indicated in the
Bible and in Oral Tradition.
         Regarding external influences, it is related in the Book of
Genesis how Jacob was set to mind flocks of sheep and goats belonging to
his father-in-law, Laban (Genesis 30; 31-43). The sheep were either all
white or of mixed-coloring whereas the goats were all black or
mixed-colored. Laban separated all the mixed-colored out leaving only the
pure colored in Jacob's care.
Jacob had only entirely black goats and entirely white  sheep. There were
admixtures left with him. Nevertheless, according to the Law of Genetics
(as explained by Professor Y. Feliks) part of the pure-colored animals left
with Jacob were probably the offspring of mixed-colored and pure-colored
mating who appeared pure-colored yet retained the Genetic potential for
mixed-coloreds within them. Jacob placed rods peeled in certain patterns in
the watering-troughs of the "STRONGER" (Genesis 30; 41) beasts before their
mating and so produced mixed-colored lambs. The Hebrew word translated as
"stronger" (Mekusherot) actually more correctly means the "first-to-breed"
(Rashi, Onkelos) . “But when the cattle were feeble he put them [i.e. the
rods] not in” (Genesis 30; 42). The Hebrew word translated here as “feeble”
is interpreted in the Aramaic translation to mean “late coming” meaning
late to breed. Jacob placed the rods in the watering troughs when the
animals that were sexually precocious came to drink. He took the rods out
of the water when the late developers approached. In animals and plants,
crossbreeds often breed earlier. In other words the account may be
understood as saying that Jacob placed the peeled-rods before those animals
that were of mixed parentage with a mixed genetic constitution even though
externally they appeared to be pure-breeds.  Those that were "the
first-to-breed" would have been the ones with the mixed genetic potential.
Jacob was inspired to utilize external influences in order to realize the
inherent genetic potential since he placed rods only before those beasts
that were of mixed parentage and acted accordingly by maturing earlier. The
rods may also have acted as some type of catalyst. This does not mean that
no miracle was involved since Jacob apparently succeeded far beyond what he
could have been expected to by the Laws of Nature alone. Nevertheless Jacob
did act rationally as explained by Professor Felix.
         As for different types having been present in the ancestry of
Israelite Tribes from the very beginning, Jacob (i.e. Israel) the
Fore-Father was twin-brother to Esau who was "Admoni" (red-haired)   and
hairy (Genesis 25; 25) whereas Jacob was smooth-skinned (Genesis 27;11).
David, King of Israel, was also an "Admoni" (1-Samuel 16;22) meaning red or
golden haired. Laban, the father-in-law of Jacob has a name meaning
"Whitish" and which is cognate with the English word "blond."15   On the
other hand the Shepherdess in the Song of Solomon (1;6) announces, "I am
black but comely...". The Tribal Patriarchs all took women from different
nations and in the course of time the separate genetic potentials combined
with differing environments would have produced distinctly different types.
The area of ancient Israelite settlement contained climates varying from
the semi-tropical to the Alpine.
         These days physical appearance is not relied upon by researchers
to determine ancestral origin. DNA is employed instead. DNA research is
still not an exact science. Findings often contradict each other and
previously accepted conclusions sometimes have to be reversed.
Nevertheless, for what it is worth, DNA studies indicate that the ancestors
of a significant portion of the inhabitants of Western Europe originated in
the Middle East. This also holds true for people in other parts of Europe
but it is far less so in the Center and East than it is in the West. These
findings do not necessarily prove our beliefs but they are consistent with
them.
         According to the Bible and later Jewish legends (as recorded in
"Seder HaDorot", and "Sefer HaYashar") the tribal Heads married women from
various nations16. Joseph married an Egyptian woman(Genesis 41;45).
Machir:, son of Menasseh had an Aramaean concubine (1-Chronicles 7; 14).
Reuben: married a Hivite. Levi and Asher married descendants of Eber. Judah
had one Canaanite and one Semite wife. Zebulon married a Midianitess and
Issachar a descendant of Sem. Benjamin married a daughter of Zimran, son of
Abraham and Keturah. Dan: took a daughter of Lot, nephew of Abraham.
Naphtali consorted took a daughter of Nahor, as did Gad, and so on. The
Apocryphal Book of Jubilees (ca. 200 BCE?) also says that the Tribal
Patriarchal heads married women from different nations and mentions
Canaanite, Egyptian, Semitic, and Mesopotamian women. Whether all of the
above traditions are correct or not, they do reflect the apparent reality
of some mixing with other nations whilst retaining an Israelite Tribal
identity that is Biblically and Historically acceptable. Intermarriage of
the Tribes with different nations combined with other factors must have
produced different types, and this with the later influence of varying
physical environments is enough to explain the superficial differences
amongst the descendants of different Israelite Tribes today.

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