Seeking The Ten Lost Tribes Of Israel, Finding DNA

The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel have been considered lost for over 3,000 years, but recent evidence demonstrates that they were not lost, they had merely been scattered around the world and had assimilated into other cultures. When a valued item is missing, one is generally directed back to the last place it was seen. This is true for tracing missing people too. By starting where they were last seen, in many cases one can trace their movements, follow their trail, read the signs and hopefully track them down.  Do the same methods work when not only people, but entire tribes are lost, thought gone forever? The principles still apply and when people who claim to be a part of the missing tribe are traced and their assertions can now be verified by DNA. It can be proved that the legends are more than just a desire to belong to a mighty nation.

Eretz Israel map in Amsterdam Haggada by Abraham Bar-Jacob (1695) (Public Domain)

The search for the lost tribes is not only about history. A long-held prophecy predicts that when the lost tribes are united in Israel, they will bring forth world peace. This fundamental prophecy, made by the prophet Ezekiel, is one of the main reasons for the interest in the mystery of the lost tribes and the reason it became central to all Abrahamic religions.

In order to trace the Ten Lost Tribes, one needs to return to their last known location. There, beyond the Judaean desert, along the banks of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, south of the Golan Heights, lies the Kingdom of Israel in the ancient land of Canaan. There, where dozens of skeletons from the respective territories were unearthed, is where this journey begins.