The lost tribes of Israel : sources, motifs and discourse in the development of a literary myth
For centuries people from different nations have speculated about the ultimate fate and whereabouts of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. As a result it has become a myth with universal appeal that has been recruited for a variety of causes, and even a myth that has the power to persuade people to create a past which has little or no bearing on the objective reality. It has travelled effortless through time and transcended national, cultural, and religious boundaries. The myth originated in a terse report of seven repetitive biblical verses and soon grew into a vast literary corpus. Nevertheless, the structure of the myth is such that it can be moulded according to the needs and aspirations of the user. Through a three-pronged methodology it was established that the myth of the Lost Tribes is an essential feature of Jewish-Christian deliverance discourse from biblical times until the present day. Firstly a number of representative sources and groups ranging from biblical times until today were chosen. Each of these sources enhanced the myth in their own way. A number of them were exclusively Jewish in nature, others were wholly Christian, several were shared between the two, and a few were deemed to be neither
Sherlock-Taselaar, Ingrid
The lost tribes of Israel : sources, motifs and discourse in the development of a literary myth. For centuries people from different nations have speculated about the ultimate fate and whereabouts of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. As a result it has become a myth with universal appeal that has been recruited for a variety of causes, and even a myth that has the power to persuade people to create a past which has little or no bearing on the objective reality. It has travelled effortless through time and transcended national, cultural, and religious boundaries. The myth originated in a terse report of seven repetitive biblical verses and soon grew into a vast literary corpus. Nevertheless, the structure of the myth is such that it can be moulded according to the needs and aspirations of the user. Through a three-pronged methodology it was established that the myth of the Lost Tribes is an essential feature of Jewish-Christian deliverance discourse from biblical times until the present day. Firstly a number of representative sources and groups ranging from biblical times until today were chosen. Each of these sources enhanced the myth in their own way. A number of them were exclusively Jewish in nature, others were wholly Christian, several were shared between the two, and a few were deemed to be neither
lose tribe israel source motif discourse development literary myth century people_different nation ultimate fate tribes israel become myth universal appeal recruit variety cause even myth power persuade people create past little bearing objective reality travel time transcend national cultural_religious boundary myth originate report repetitive biblical verse soon grow vast literary_corpus nevertheless structure myth mould accord need aspiration user establish myth tribes essential feature jewish_christian deliverance discourse biblical time firstly number representative source group range biblical time today choose source enhance myth way number exclusively jewish nature others wholly christian several share deem neither