https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Lost_Tribes
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The Ten Lost Tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire c.โ722 BCE.[1][2] These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun; and the half-tribes of Manasseh and Ephraimโall but Judah, Benjamin, and some members of the priestly Tribe of Levi, which did not have its own territory. However, since the tribe of Simeon lived well within the territory of Judah, it is not clear why this tribe was never included in this list (or as a part of the northern kingdom of the 10 tribes). Also, the tribes of Asher and Reuben were never mentioned as participating in anything after the conquest, living in either Phoenician (Asher) or Moabite (Reuben) controlled territory. By the middle 9th century BCE the territory of Gad was also (re)taken by the Moabites (see Mesha Stele), so the Assyrians could at most have removed the other six tribes. Thus, the "10 tribes" appears to be a misnomer, meaning all of the Israelites that were living outside the Kingdom of Judah. The Jewish historian Josephus (37โ100 CE) wrote that "there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers".[3]
In the 7th and 8th centuries CE, the return of the lost tribes was associated with the concept of the coming of the messiah.[4]:โ58โ62โ Claims of descent from the "lost tribes" have been proposed in relation to many groups,[5] and some religions espouse a messianic view that the tribes will return.
According to contemporary research, the Transjordan and the Galilee did witness large-scale deportations, and entire tribes were lost. Historians have generally concluded that the deported tribes assimilated into the local population. In Samaria, on the other hand, many Israelites survived the Assyrian onslaught and remained in the land, eventually forming the Samaritan community.[6][7] However, this has not stopped various religions from asserting that some survived as distinct entities. Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, a professor of Middle Eastern history, states: "The fascination with the tribes has generated, alongside ostensibly nonfictional scholarly studies, a massive body of fictional literature and folktale."[4]:โ11โ Anthropologist Shalva Weil has documented various differing tribes and peoples claiming affiliation to the Lost Tribes throughout the world.[8]
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