WOW! This is my FIRST video on MY channel to exceed 1000 views in its first day! (Obviously, SAMA was much higher, but you can't compare their 100,000 subscribers to my 2500.) For those of you asking questions, thanks so much, but the volume has been incredible. I won't be able to give everyone the usual complete answers. However, I have one general answer for you. In many of my lectures, I'm promoting a certain point-of-view, but this one is different. For this lecture, I really want you to decide for yourself. That's why I ended the lecture with a question. There is no right or wrong answer. I most definitely want to hear what YOU have to say, but I'm not judging or testing. Just having fun ...
There is always more information to consider. I was thinking about the Exodus and how some peoples went to the Aegean area. History (and biblical records in Ezra) show that many Jews were spread after the 1st and 2nd temples were destroyed, some losing direct access to their exact lineage. Many Jewish people were able to maintain their identity even though time and distance separated them from the Promised Land. In oral cultures, family stories play an important part in identity. Thus your interesting idea about the Danaoi coming to the coast - why there, unless they had a reason......
Congratulations for the 1000 viewers! It is more than deserved. A great final video for this series. Of course some points are weaker than others. A problem with the Sea-Peoples is, that it must be differed, where they came from and where they went to. If Dan went from Egypt to Greece or Cilicia and from there to Egypt again, to be settled in Canaan by Egypt, like they did it with the Philistines, there are two problems: Where lived they, before they came to Egypt the first time and how can this be proved? And why they settled in two places (Peloponnesus, Isle of Dana / Cilicia) between there visits in Egypt? According to the Bible and your video they lived not with the Hebrews. May it be, they lived in Greece first, where traders (or princes) from Phoenicia (Kadmos) and Egypt (Danaos) joined? The myths tell this and if there was trade, which Archaeoloy established, it is very probable, that something like it happened, as it did in every other region and period of time alongside trade. And since we know, that there lived people with Mycenean culture at the western and southern coasts of modern Turkey before the Bronze-Age ended, we need no explaination for them living in Cilicia and on the islands in later periods. Therefore it is more probable, that they came from Greece and Cilicia to Egypt, where they were pushed back. Years later they came back and were settled in Kanaan. There they had to leave the coast, because of Philistine pressure and settled at Tel Dan, perhaps with the help of there relatives from Cilicia. They joined the Hebrews round about the same time, as we can deduct from the Bible. This would correspond with the historical and archaeological sources and with the greek myths and biblical history either. The myths tell us, that, Troy being defeated, some Greeks went south. Other Greeks went to modern Italy and other Greeks to modern Greece. Of course, 'greek' is an modern expression. I use it for 'of Mycenean culture' or, perhaps better for the groups, that sieged Troy according to the Ilias. They didn't chieve their goal at Troy and went to Egypt where they could achieve a part of it, but had to leave. That is a siimple description of the main military actions at the end of the Bronze Age from a Mycenean perspective. (The goal, they could achieve was Helena. According to traditions from Athenes it was simply the statue of a goddess or heroine and no woman. And such statue were real reasons for war in the ancient east. Perhaps the Egyptians stole it during the raid on the Island of Dana. Since the island has been found, also the raid can be real.) So the hunt for a statue and the military part of the Bronze Age Collapse mixed together and with other myths can be the true heart of the Epic cycle. I think your series shows, that there more truth on this topic can be found in the Bible, if we search for such true nuclei. (Or is it core instead of nucleus? I don't know how this idiom is translated into English.)
Are phoénician jews ? I don't think so , hebrew yes . I m pretty sure they didn't have the same religion . Maybe a strange question but it's serious , why would jews have obélisk as tombstone ?
@@roberfred760 Thanks for watching. Jews and Phoenicians are both Semites, but there are not the same. They just come from the same neighborhood, and Biblically speaking are descendants of Shem. I don't understand the tombstone question?
@@fraso7331 Thanks for your comments! Great thoughts! (Your English is excellent) Let's get to the core issues ... Yadin proposed that the Danites were Sea People. The whole thing about the Danites being from the Levant and coming back home again as recorded by the Greeks ... it's just a nice connection, but it's not critical to the basic theory. Yadin's basic theory was that the Danites were Sea People who were integrated into the Israelite people. Yes, some points are stronger than others, but the Greek aspect isn't a necessary piece to his general premise, just icing on the cake. Therefore, you have a well-thought and explained proposal. Your view of the Danites is quite logical. As I said, there is no right or wrong answer here. It's just how everyone interprets the data. It is everyone's interpretation that's the fun part for me!
Thanks so much for this BAC series. You covered so much that is of interest to me, and the amount of effort and thought you put into it is much appreciated, as well as the academic sources you used. I learned some new things, and they often helped tie together various facts for a new understanding, and of course, more questions. But that is part of the fun of studying this era.
Great lecture. I read about Dan's migration to Greece during the Exodus in a book by John Pym Yeatman published in 1879 entitled, "The Shemetic Origins of the Nations of Western Europe, and more especially of the English, French, and Irish Branches of the Gaelic Race." Are you familiar with the proposed migration of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to the West?
Great work! It's good to hear that I'm not the only person who ever thought Dan originally were Sea People. You could technically use the term Near East for that region.
“Originally were”? They were a tribe of Israel like their kin. It is nice to know others have had the same idea, though. I think many left by sea when Pharaoh enslaved the Israelites. Then some escaped by sea rather than with Moses during the exodus. Still later, those of Dan who settled in the holy land ultimately migrated out to parts overseas, some joining their kin who left by sea from Egypt before.
Gosh I just found all this what gift,because I ve been studying Sampson and the tribe of Dan just rabidly for months and here you are with all the info I needed. Amazing❤❤❤
I don't like how most of the good teachers online have such low popularity. Not that it matters, but the work you do deserves more recognition. But for now, thanks for your teaching always.
You are the ultimate history channel, all I ever need to delve into the history of all and anything jew is so much clearer thanks to you!! I will never stop researching, and I will never stop referring you to people!
I love your videos.You deliver much information rapidly in a concise way while still injecting personal thoughts.Your videos keep me interested all the way to the end.Which is very rare for me to watch videos to the end.And....Your videos add detail that make the past and their events make coherent sense.I am not a scholar and have difficulty remembering stuff and usually have to write out stuff to make it sink in,but you make boring stuff very interesting.I especially like the sound and rhythm of your voice,and the way you reassure me you will be short if things get too complicated.example,the math.Which I almost decided to give up on but you managed to insert little facts that made me hang in to the end.I started watching your videos about the tribe of Dan and got hooked into watching any and all of your videos.Thank You,
Yes! This is the most dignified treatment of the subject I've seen yet. I thank you for rescuing this incredible tale from the realm of fringe pseudo-history and keeping it simple and objective. With these Aegean connections, a new look at a possible Spartan relation indicated by Maccabees is in order. If an archeology can shed light on this please don't hold back from presenting it to us!
"Masada" was in my library - a great book. "Isles" could refer to "coasts". Ancient peoples frequently adopted others to strengthen land claims and also for security. History raises intriguing questions and insights. Keep up the great work, Seth!
Kory, thanks for your comments. I agree with you about promontories/coasts. I discuss in more detail in this video: th-cam.com/video/G4NH9U2RM-k/w-d-xo.html
When I first heard this theory raised by Simcha Jacobovici almost 15 years ago, I dismissed it. The way you bring together so many different strands is extraordinary. I’m just fascinated about how the ancient Israelites may have absorbed the Danites.
I'm sorry to disappoint, but I'm honored to be missed. I truly want to start lecturing again, but work and family obligations have gotten in the way. Hopefully, one day ...
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel I can't wait for it, you're a very thorough teacher! Of course you'd look through history with an fine comb, it's your history!
AUM Shalom Aloha, Rabbi I have been deeply inspired by your work - and the Universe has conspired to make a midrash of events in my life that your scholarship and lectures have informed and enlightened. small case study - in April, last year, when this debuted, I watched it in San Luis Obispo, Ca - and was interupted then by a security guard who i got to know then named Delilah. I have since moved to Paonia Colorado - where I have fallen in love with a Single mother here, a Jewish woman named Dana Now I am rewatching this in preparation for writing a children's radio program & graphic novel about the relationships of Delilah and (my fictional embellishment) her great grandparents Meritaten and Zananza - who flee to Phoenecian settlements during the bronze age collapse and are then remembered as the Tuatha de Danaan. Your scholarship and presentation have given much of the dialogue and perspectives necesary to produce this. I hope to make a dedication to you in the opening credits of the book and videos, should they reach fruition. Your efforts inspire Mazel Tov Thank you Saul Aroha Nui Tea
Epic! Epic! Epic! The Tribe of The Dan! So many questions answered. Such a pivotal key tribe and masterful lessons walking us right up to such a dramatic insight. Thank you so much. Makes me proud to be half Jewish (father). Funny thing is, this lesson may result in increasing my family and cultural connection as I can trace my mother’s side to the same period. Dan did like to marry outside their group.
I just finished your series and really enjoyed it! My thoughts are that it's difficult to prove as a strong theory because there is no direct connection between the Danunim and the Danites. Just because the tribe of Dan filled the gap between the Tjeker and the Philistines doesn't make them a sea people. They may have adopted some of their culture and brought it with them when they migrated to Dan(Liash). I would be interested to know if there is a later connection of the Danites with the city of Mopsus due to synagogue because the synagogue was built centuries after the bronze age collapse so maybe if the Danites were the Danunim they went back to Adana after the Assyrian invasion.
You are very interesting!! I have lots of history questions. 1. Can you tell the story of the Dead Sea Scroll's? Who wrote them. What do the Dead Sea Scroll's talk about? 2. What was the total population of ancient Israel? 3. What type of food could the ancient Israeli produce? 4. When I look at a map of Israel I don't see any rivers near Jerusalem. Where does Jerusalem get there water from?
1) Sadducees. The DSS are a collection of all the Jeeish literature worth saving from the Romans. Most notable is what isn't included, which is the book of Esther. 2) It is forbidden to count Jews or for Jews to participate in a census, so Jewish population can never be determined. 3) Jews lived in the fertile crescent and had a wide variety of food. 4) There are many famous wells in Jerusalem. Jews also collected rain water.
Some time back I heard a preacher say that there were two exoduces from Egypt. That when the Egyptians first started persecuting the Israelites that a group left and emigrated to what we now call Greece. I can't specific sources for that, but I remember that Josephus relates that there was a kinship between the Israelites and Greece.
There *is* a slight problem with the suggestion that Mopsus would be directly related to the Danites, insofar as he should theoretically be one of the leaders of the final Sea People attack on Egypt, and you have set the Exodus as happening about half a century before this. Regardless, I can certainly say that it would be very interesting to find out how a group of people of the Danunym ethnic group who left Egypt with the Tribes of Israel (having been settled inside Egyptian lands earlier presumably when Egypt defeated the Sea Peoples in their earlier waves, assuming there is some truth to this series' claims) would have/did interact with the people of the same ethnic group coming down from Anatolia and then back from Egypt.
This is to say: I don't think there's sufficient enough evidence to suggest that Dan specifically left during the Exodus to go to Greece and then returned. It seems more likely that they were a tribe that greatly became influenced by the Sea Peoples that Egypt had settled in their lands following earlier attacks--- perhaps because Dan didn't have many sons (maybe one or none), and thus the majority of his generations to follow the Israelites settling in Egypt would have come from his daughters marrying people already living in those lands. Presumably, then, the later children of Dan would be greatly influenced by the tales and culture of their Greek fathers, and this is the reason why Dan is so different, and why there are so many warnings to respect prostelytes, and repeated references to the Israelite multitudes being *mixed* in the scripture.
Dan was sort of a castaway but they seem to survive even in relatively small numbers everywhere they went in Europe. They became the Vikings (I1) while the tribe of Asher (I2) basically followed conquering southern Europe and the Mediterranean, even North Africa. Truth is stranger than fiction but it’s true.
Hi! I loved the series, I was in actual suspense and this was a fitting climax. I'm not sure if I'm ready to accept Yadin's conclusion (although it does capture my imagination). The tribe of Dan has always intrigued me for many of the reasons you discussed, as well as the way Dan is viewed in Jewish mystical thought. For example, the fact that the Talmud identifies "the stragglers" attacked by Amalek (Deuteronomy 25:18) with the tribe of Dan, as you stated. The term "stragglers" is seen by the Talmud as literal as well as spiritually symbolic. On the other hand there is also something special about them, so much so that the Midrash says that Jacob thought Samson would be the Messiah (Bereishis Rabbah 98:14). It is also said that the mother of the Messiah will descend from this tribe (Yalkut Shimoni, Torah, 160:1). This backstory would explain a whole lot. What bothers me, though, is the fact that nothing of it is found in the Scriptures, nor anywhere in the Talmud (that I'm aware of), aside for the cryptic hints you mentioned. Was it intentionally hidden? If so, why?
Thanks for your kind words and your excellent thoughts. I wish I had a good answer to match them. Was the backstory intentionally hidden or just plain forgotten? Well, I don't know. I believe the words of the the Tanakh were carefully selected. Therefore, the Song of Deborah, for example, would have been intentionally left like it was. We are given enough hints to know this tribe is different, and maybe that's all we're supposed to have. However, much of the scripture relies on Oral Tradition, so could certain parts be forgotten? Maybe a combination of both ...
Bravo. This was very enjoyable. Encore! Yadin's theory makes perfect sense. I'm sold. How accepted is this theory by the mainstream academics and what are the criticisms? I imagine the resistance is primarily from the religious conservatives.
Thank you! You will see this theory referenced in a lot of scholarly work on the Sea Peoples (something like "Yadin's Denyen Theory"). I'm not saying everyone agrees, but most scholars would say it has legitimacy enough to seriously consider. Religious authorities are of course more conservative, but if one takes the angle that there are Semites who left and then later returned ... there's not such an issue. Yadin himself gives some legitimacy for the simple fact that he was a respected scholar who believed the bible could be used for history to a degree.
The germanic tribes came to the Nort sea and the Baltic sea around 1000 BCE. Denmark is kalled Danmark in scandinavian and it means the land of the tribe Dan. In the south of Sweden we were called Geat and still call us götar (jötar) or goter (Got). The tribe Suear lives in North East and another part live in the south of Germany called Suebi. In The West of Denmark we have the peninsula Jutland or Cimbrian peninsula. In Swedish the people that lives there is called Jutar, very close to Götar (Jötar). The name for Jews in Swedish is Judar. I guess the tribe of Ash settled in Poland and the surroundings If they didn't came later and now are called Ashkenazy. The Danes, Suear and Jötar have been sea peoples all the time and later Vikings. Another interesting thing is the name Jutland or Cimbrian peninsula. The Cimmerians showed up around 800 BCE south of the black sea and If It is the same tribe that settled in the north of the Cimbrian peninsula they must have come after that time. A little late, but maybe they all left around 800 BCE. Who knows.
This video is fantastic, I only just discovered this channel but I’m already impressed. It’s tragic that good, high-quality presentations like these aren’t propped up by TH-cam’s algorithm more. Instead it’s all just corporatized garbage that does nothing to expand the minds and knowledge of the audience.
Hecataeus of Andera doesn’t seem like a reliable source. Back then, they literally tried reconciling oral sources without questioning whether or not they were legit, or whether the tradition was controlled or uncontrolled. So the medieval churches believed several ancient floods happened at once, instead of just one big one in Sumer. Likewise, it’s possible Hecataeus saw the word “Dan” and made up a story of Hebrews going from Egypt to Greece. I think the simpler explanation is that the tribe of Dan was originally called something else, but then they became so intermixed with the Aegean Danites near Philistia that they just called themselves “Danites”, and rewrote their ancestor with the name Dan as their point of origin. They still had Mycenaean history on their minds, and Samson’s strength is clearly God’s way of trying to lead that culture to God and away from Philistine culture and idolatry; beyond that, I think it’s a leap to say Hebrews pivoted to Greece then Israel. It’d be cool if it were true, but the problem is the new coming Danites never made the Sinai covenant, would probably speak a different language, and the Danites that stayed the journey would not have much reason to keep them. Where would Dan even get the boats if the rest of Israel had trouble just crossing the Reed Sea? Did they join the Sea People in covenant with Ramses? The hundreds of them? Nah, the name-swapping is a much simpler explanation. I feel bad we may never get to know Dan’s “real” name, but at the very least we know his tribe’s story, and that’s more we can say compared to most of the other ones, so 🥴
That larger, roundish island (or peninsula, it’s hard to tell) just west of Dana Island looks like a darn good place for camping, staging and boarding large numbers of troops and supplies (on the Google image of the area from your earlier lecture). It looks like a short hop from the Dana shipyard, with more land, wood and water than Dana for staging troops brought from the interior. I wonder if any related archaeological features, like submerged docks or jetties, or remains of camps, have been found there?
I guess every extended family has that one cousin who doesn't feel like doing whatever everyone else was doing. Dan's kids just didn't feel like farming and herding sheep and went a sailing instead. Only one was ever around keeping Dan company whenever the family took a census.
Research YDNA Haplogroup I, you will note that most of the alleged locations of the Danites in all their variants forms have a high density of Haplogroup I. Note also, Haplogroup I was at an early time one and the same as Haplogroup J, known as Haplogroup IJ, and YDNA Haplogroup J is prominent among ancient Jews and particularly Cohens/Levites, with the Cohen Model Haplotype.
I definitely see the Greek connection. I have seen connections of brother stories too. Esau and Jacob compared to the Roman brothers as well as Sumerian story.
What about the hypothesis that the Hebrews were actually pastoral nomads that came down from the mountains after the bronze age collapse and the tribes of Israel were actually just sub-Hebrew tribes. There was massive famine and starvation during the bronze age collapse which hit the developed world pretty hard. It hit everybody except the nomadic pastoral people that did not depend on food from trade or agriculture, such as the Habiru. Who were described as mountain/desert bandits by the Egyptians. During the collapse, farmers either got killed, or fled because of raids, and there was nobody really to defend the land. This left massive amounts of flatlands for the pastoral nomads to graze their animals on. So they came down from the mountains and started occupying more and more land. These mountain nomads consisted of various clans and families that claimed to share a common ancestor : Abraham. They just have different genealogical paths towards him. The sacrifice story of Cain and Abel might be a throwback to these pastoral nomad times. Where God clearly picks a pastoral nomad sacrifice over the agriculture one. As is the enormous dislike of city life. Settled life (including farming) seems something bad in the earlier parts. Living in tents with animals is the way to go. But the Bible seems to be completely oblivious of historical things before the 10th century. There is no mention of the Egyptian occupation of the levant until right before the bronze age collapse, there is no mention of the bronze age collapse itself, places are set in a time those places did not yet exist until centuries later, the description of Yericho is problematic etc. Moses would've fled from Egypt to a more militarized part of Egypt (because of the Hittites) since Egypt was controlling the levant. Joshua would've fought the Egyptian army. David was probably one of earlier generations after the Hebrews came down from the mountains and was actually semi historical. He lived during a time the expansion reached Philistine borders and conflict broke out. Which he won. He came from a pastoral nomad background and time, but changed society into a more developed and urban one. More in line with the great empires and powerful neighbours. He was the builder. He saw you are going to get overrun when you don't have an industry to make money and walls to protect you. We can place Joshua in the same time period as David. Coming down from the mountains and take advantage of the power vacuum after the Egyptians withdrew during the bronze age collapse. He might've lived just before David. Otherwise he would have lived before the 16th century bc due to Egyptian occupation. Perhaps Moses had to stay low for 40 years in the desert before the Egyptians fully withdrew and the levant was safe for him to go. Which would place him between 1300 and 1250BC. We know atleast his birth story is not true, so we don't really know his background. Perhaps he led a revolt among enslaved Sinaic Habiru. We know his group consisted of skilled warriors and they knew how to survive in the desert. So the Abrahamic religion has 2 layers, one being Abraham. The next being Moses that actually took them to the mountains of Israel and gave them some form of organisation and strict rules. The reason he needed these simple but clear laws is because his group basically consisted of nomadic bandits/raiders/habiru.
The Amarna letters shed some light on why the Bronze Age collapse happened. I will offer a brief synopsis of how I see it... Basically, in the Amarna Letters you have a number of Egyptian Proxy governors repeatedly asking the Egyptians to send soldiers to chase off the bandits that were raiding their lands. I believe that the "Sea Peoples" by and large were an assortment of proxy governers in Canaan, and other interested parties across the Aegean who relied on the agricultural and commercial wealth of Canaan. These Canaanite Proxy Governors are documented in the Amarna Letters paying tribute to the Egyptian Empire as their subjects, and thus Egypt would be expected to furnish military assistance in the case of bandit raids, like what happened with the Hapiru/Hebrews. I think the reason that bible doesn't mention a Bronze Age collapse, is because as you have noted, the Israelites were largely pastoralist nomads whose condition only improved during this period as they acquired more territory to graze their livestock. For them, civilization didn't collapse, but they used an entirely different style of administrative government likely relying on oral tradition and a simple nomadic lifestyle to manage their affairs as opposed to the systems of written language and commercial culture of the various sea peoples and Egyptians. The Amarna letters clearly indicate intermarriage between Canaanite proxy governors and Egyptian royalty, royal gifts from these proxy governors to the Egyptian dynastic families, and a general attitude of subservience to Egypt. Why the Danites would be allied with this group of agricultural interests who seemingly fell victim to Israelite bandits, seems questionable, but the Danaans as sea faring people may have simply been contracted as mercenaries to assist in these naval operations against Egypt. It may also be the case that "Dan" the patriarch and supposed son of Jacob, was just one of many Danites, and that his personal lineage composed only a fraction of the Danite population that would function within the context of Israelite society and religion. Maybe the Danites of the Israelites were a sub-group of the larger Denyen who could have well been a pre-Israelite population. In closing, if Egypt would have failed to send military aid into Canaan to defend their agricultural territories, many proxy governors would be at a serious loss losing much agricultural wealth and land. This could very well be the motivation that caused the raids on Egypt, because Egypt failed to uphold their end of the bargain in managing the Canaanite territories. Thus, after paying tribute to Egypt for many years, and not recieving military aid in their hour of need, the "Sea Peoples" would form a naval expedition to recover their losses by invading Egypt to either plunder and loot their civilization, or to entirely attempt to seize command of Egypt by defeating the Egyptian Army in war.
You know I greatly appreciate people thinking outside the box! Especially well-constructed theories ... However, there are a few issues for you to consider: (1) large increase in population in the mountains circa 1200 BCE, as in people who were not there before, but started settling about right at that time. (2) numerous small settlements (many un-walled) on those sides of Jordan and then spreading west. (3) these new settlements all share some unusual traits, four-room house, pottery, no pork, etc, which as a combination, didn't exist prior to ~1200 BCE. (4) these aforementioned traits are indicative of a shared culture that was expanding but connected to these various settlements. (5) they were a mix of pastoral and agriculture with some advanced agricultural skills unlikely to be known by pure pastoralists, like walled terraces. As for the historicity, I think the Bible picks up in 1200 BCE decently. I've made numerous connections in my lectures (Z6, Z7, & Z10), so feel free to glance back at those. Certainly, in terms of proof, I would agree you have to look beyond 900 BCE where the commonly agreed history matches with the Bible, but we've seen many indications that it records knowledge prior. The Book of Joshua is problematic, which is why I always say to refer to Judges when the two conflict.
I am enjoying your videos ! Very informative and full of evidence based on thoughtful investigation. Much food for thought. I don’t know if I agree though about the Danites getting Micah’s Levite priest because they wanted to understand YHWH or follow him better or be taught the actual mosaic law, etc. because they were outsiders. The Danites recognized the priest by his accent/ voice. I wonder if outsiders would be able to have such nuanced recognition if they weren’t already intimately familiar with the Levites. Also, they recognized that they needed a Levite priest for “legitimacy”for their altered system of worship in the north. They found a Levite that was corrupt enough to go along with them. Remember, Israel was in the habit of including idols already-Rachel’s idols, the gods of Egypt during that sojourn and the golden calf at Sinai. The debacle with the Levite’s concubine after this at the end of the book of Judges shows another Levite not following the law by having a concubine and not just being a man of one wife as was commanded of the priesthood. The book of Judges here repeats that people were doing what was right in their own eyes. What if this story of the campaign against Laish wasn’t perhaps an illustration of Dan’s modus operandi: Do not attack the well fortified (I.e. the philistines) rather run like pirates-attack and plunder the weak (Micah’s house) and then run far away to undefended places and take them over (Laish). Now they have the taste of it in their blood! The scent of faroff victory coming down on the tradewinds. Why they could do the same on ships, as well; maybe even more effectively! Maybe this story in Judges is seminal in the development of Danita culture. I am just musing here. But the Danites were clearly acting in a synchronistic fashion, using the Levites for a stamp of approval on their brand of paganism as happened more and more in northern Israel as time went on. I now see this weird story as a great pirate story, albeit land based. The is a lot of unpacking to do here in Judges. All the archeological information is invaluable in this respect! You have really got me thinking! I do very much appreciate all the research and work you have put in!!
First off ... WELL DONE! I do think one of the missing or weak connections is why the Dan, if a Sea People, would side with the Israelite tribes rather than the culturally similar Sea Peoples. I am not the first to advance this idea as others alluded to it in comments that were ignored (due to time constraints I am sure). The answer to this is in their shared experiences. The Egyptians defeated Sea Peoples attacks in several instances. In each case there would have been prisoners taken. For several reasons, they would have wanted to contain these foreigners in an area outside of main Egyptian society, as they did with the Jews. In fact, I suspect they would have had a common encampment and forced all slaves to do the same work. Over several years/decades these two communities would have mixed to some level. Sea Peoples, being mostly males would have taken Jewish wives. I suspect these couples and their children would have been viewed as ethnically separate from the main Jewish body, but a high level of trust would have developed over time. I also found it interesting that Jacob's instructions regarding tribe lots were disregarded, not only with Dan, but also Zebulum. Zebulum was to be by the sea with a border on Sidon... but that is the lot occupied by Asher. Not being familiar enough with Canaan geography I can not ascertain if any of the others were out of place.
Hi Steve, Glad you enjoyed it. I try to answer most questions, but I can't answer everything ... or I'd spend my time answering questions instead of creating new material. If I'm asked the same question several times, I'm unlikely to answer over and over. The Tribe of Dan was likely pushed to attaching themselves to the Israelites when they were attacked by the other Sea People (Philistines), which was has been shown archeologically (see Z17G) and biblically (see Z17F). Being similar but different has its own problems. Think Sunni/Shia or Catholic/Protestant. What seems to be a minor difference to an outsider can be HUGE to those within the culture. As for wives, the Egyptians clearly recorded wives and children being attached to the Sea Peoples in their invasion, which I covered in more detail in lecture Z09. Hope this helps.
Hey Seth!! When doing the next series, please so some emphasis on the territory of Kuwait! I want to know the early history of that Region. As you please
I've also heard that Dan traveled by ship through the Dardanelles into the Black Sea and also up the Don, Danube, and Dnieper rivers. Also later settling in Denmark (the land of Dan) and from there to the rest of Scandinavia and then Scotland, England, and, Ireland. Ship borne warriors indeed (think vikings). Just a small sampling of this migration story.
I really enjoyed the brilliant lecture. I was very impressed by quantity and diversity of the data. The comparison between Samson and Mopsus is shocking. Do you lead to the conclusion that both characters are the same person?, Or the stories about both heroes has written by inspiration? Or maybe Samson story came to Greece like the Alphabet?
Thanks so much! I'm going to let you draw your own conclusions. Like I said, all the data is there, but how do you read it? I'm not trying to avoid the question, as there is no concrete answer. It is everyone's interpretation that's the fun part for me!
Great lecture, thank you! Conclusion seems kinda short-sighted though . Given ancient Israels proclivity for syncretization with the surrounding cultures it seems far more plausible that the prophecy in Gen 49 is predicting that the tribe of Dan would become so intermingled with the pagans that their Israelite identity could be questioned. They probably intermingled with the sea peoples then moved north taking and blending cultural and religious elements as well as wives (as you mentioned was common).
Wondering what your take is ...on Hawaiians being from the Tribe of Naphtali. These would be those categorized as "Polynesians" who are a larger people....and are considered to have come back to the these islands in the Pacific after many years .... conquering the much smaller people (still resident here) by violent force. These smaller people were still holding their Sacred Peaceful ways ...and were forced to flee into the jungles and mountains and caves here. Many of the "Polynesians" consider themselves "Israelites".
I did a bit of advertising of your channel. You had 2.44k at about 11am on 4.13.21 Let's see...I hope you don't mind, I believe you have more interesting content. I appreciate your work.
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel looks like your subscriber number went up about 200...I hope that was me...I simply said in the comments section of a few of my History channels, "Check out..World History by a Jew "...
Supposedly, I'm in the tribe of Dan, Judah, and Ephraim. It appears that many family lines trace back to the House of David. Interestingly, my father's name is Dan, and the first of our family in America, his name was Dan. When I was younger, I did great feats of strength that are not all that interesting. Such as being able to easily pick up 3 stacks of 80lbs shingles and put them on one shoulder to carry them up to the roof, or to pick up 4 120lbs syrup contains at a time to move them, or easily lifting a VW engine out of a car. So, if anyone is having any trouble with Philistines...😁 I told my little brother a tiny bit of our heritage, and he wouldn't listen. So when he got his DNA test back, he couldn't figure out where all the Jewish DNA came from.🧬
Regarding the dress of Sea Peoples, I suspect that changes would begin to appear once they settled. The Tjekker ruling Sidon might begin to wear "purple" on their kilts and headdresses, they might even try to ban their subjects from wearing it. Meanwhile the Denyen would probably adopt the Jewish practice of not mixing clothing fibers, and probably give up their more Agean costume as their relationship with the Philistines soured. The Philistines would probably keep their tradition of dress the longest as a tie to their successful Agean ancestors.
Fascinating, I recall us talking sometime ago about how Judaism - and certainly re-entry into the land of Israel, would've turned out very differently if they Bronze Age collapse had not happened. The history of the Jewish people concerning the Bronze Age collapse and how this created the opportunity for the land of Israel to be re-colonised is evident. During the mid to late Bronze Age the Levant would have been a highly advanced and important strategic cultural Centre because of its geography with the empires Close by and, indeed, as a province of the first dynasty of Egypt. Abraham's legacy is essential to bear in mind when taking into consideration a truly ancient view of what this area and its political, social and economic relations would've been dating back to the mid-Bronze Age period. Is there any evidence of what was going on before and running up to at the time of Abraham?
Great Thank-you sir! My cousin and I are 'Dannats" from the Iowa area . There is word that the Dannites had a connection with the 'Mormons'...Any Thoughts?
Very well argued. Am I correct in thinking that Dan were sort of a "lost" tribe of Israel that left Egypt, went to Greece and then eventually found their way back to Israel? Which is why they were accepted by the other tribes? Thanks.
Fabulous, and as I have noted in previous posts, the history of the sea people, the story of Dan make total sense to my DNA findings. While having origins in the South Levant, I also have traces from Sardinia and Greece. I could have never understood from where these traces would come had it not been for your lectures. And one question, perhaps you can answer, did the Nation of Israel grow in size by being open to accepting groups like the Dan into the Nation of Israel? From my perspective, it would appear to be the case. Keep up the good work !!
Glad you enjoyed and learned something! You're like a walking UN or at least EU! As for your question, in short: Yes. Even in Exodus, when the Israelites left Egypt, we were already a "mixed multitude". Also, if you do a quick search in the Bible, there are numerous (and I mean very numerous) references and stories about proselytes. There is no question about it ... others came into the fold over time.
Excellent lecture! It seems to me that the Israelite tribe of Dan somehow developed connections to the phonecians. Rather than wander in the wilderness, they chose to follow phonecian traders to settlements in the Aegean, perhaps as mercenaries. Then crisis in Greece caused them to seek out new settlements and finally returning to their ancient homeland. It all comes together, based on your research an presentation. Have you noticed any evidence of them aligning with phonecians? I think it would explain how they became excellent ship builders. Perhaps they worked as ship builders for the Egyptians as another theory.
Thanks for your thoughtful remarks. Well, its a small neighborhood, and you have say Sidon and Tyre sailing on the same coast. For sure, there was interaction between the sea-faring people. We also know of very specific technical innovations that came from the Levant. Check out this clip from an earlier video: th-cam.com/video/G4NH9U2RM-k/w-d-xo.html
Great presentation Seth, lots to unpack. Here is my understanding with some questions: so you think the Danites initially had a low male birth rate and thus a low tribe population? By the time of the Exodus, they either had already joined with Greeks in Egypt or joined them at that time for a sea journey back to the Greek world. Do you think some part of Dan traveled by foot with Moses? At some point that population rejoined the Israelites near Jappa. At this point they had a mixed Greek-Israelite culture and tried to reintegrate. Do you think think Sampson was a retelling of Mopsus, a retelling of Hercules, or just local events recounted in the Mopsus/Hercules “style”? In Jappa, their seafaring culture couldn’t be put to use for Israel because they were squeezed between the Philistines in the south and Tjeker in the north. As a result, they gave up their seafaring way of life and migrated to north Israel on the southern border of the old Hittite Empire, which was not the threat that the sea peoples on the coast were. Is this more of less right?
Jeffrey, thanks for watching. I'm going to let you draw your own conclusions, though! Point of clarification, both the Bible and the archaeological evidence points to the Danites moving north due to conflict, especially with the Philistines. Who wants to give up a beachfront home? My thoughts on Mopsus and Greek connections, etc, are demonstrated at length in the video. I just want to leave you with something to think about it, and it sounds like I did.
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel if we are going to take the Bible/Torah at more-or-less face value historically (which your argument presupposes), then Sampson has to be a native hero retold in the same style of Hercules. The larger theory fits what we know from the various cultural traditions (Israelite, Greek, Egyptian, etc.) and the archeology. Still, the details of exactly who mingled with whom, their movements, and the resulting culture definitely need more scholarship to improve our understanding. Also, how the other tribes reacted to Danites would be very interesting. This seems like an early example like the Samaritans - a mixed racial and religious group attached to greater Israel. And we know those from the Kingdom of Judah did NOT respond well to that group. The mere fact that Dan always had small, frontier lands that were often indefensible already shows they were not well integrated into Israelite society.
Love your lectures. Just so that I understand in easy to read facts. The Jews vacated Canaan to work in Egypt. They were the same people as the Canaanites in terms of language, culture but not religion. They return to Canaan during the disruption of the LBAC and displace/conquer/assimilate the Canaanites and fight Pelestets?
I think it would help if there was an approximate, or even relative (qualitative), timeline. I’m not clear on the order of events relating to this people. So far my understanding is, I think: Mopsos started out in the Aegean, then settled in the Adana area with some other Aegean Greeks, who, as one of the sea peoples, the Denyen/Tenaya, invaded Egypt. Then he, or his group, led a group of Israelites out of Egypt to Argolid Greece for a while, then to Canaan, is that right? This people wanted to accepted back into Israel as the lost tribe of Dan, and sort-of were, as a bit of a marginal tribe, even though they had been significantly influenced by their leadership by Greeks and living with Aegean/Greek culture, and more importantly, had forgotten many of the ways of Israel (religious practice, etc.) during their Egyptian sojourn. After settling in Canaan, they were forced out of the Jaffa area to the area in the north called Dan, after them. I probably have the order of events all wrong! I would love if it you could clarify, thank you.
So damn interesting! This is coming from a non-jew too. May i ask you that how much the historian community agree with your theories? I find these very very fascinating.
Thank you! You will see this theory referenced in a lot of scholarly work on the Sea Peoples (something like "Yadin's Denyen Theory"). I'm not saying everyone agrees, but most scholars would say it has legitimacy enough to seriously consider. Point being, it's certainly not rejected on principal, but far from proven.
Couldn’t the tribe of Dan been depopulated while in Egypt and the other people that went with the Jews during the Exodus were shuffled into the tribe of Dan by conversion because Dan needed to survive but didn’t have many living descendants?
What are your thoughts in the genesis story? Because to me it doesn’t describe the creation of the whole world, it describes the creation of an ecosystem. There is some evidence that there used to be periodic jungles in what is now the desert of Saudi Arabia because monsoon rains came every year. The earths axis shifted and the monsoons no longer came. But if(like most cultures) the Jewish god is a Storm or Sky God then the story of genesis makes sense. He was above the waters before creation, a storm coming in from over the ocean, he separates land from water, so the storm floods the region and creates rivers and lakes, thereby separating the land from the water. He creates light and day too, but that’s fairly common mythology for sky gods. Then all the Plants and animals show up. So these big monsoon storms came in turned arid dry land into a lush jungle. Now, we have evidence this monsoon jungle effect brought in many different animal species based upon the number of different animals represented in the historical record whether through myth or through actual physical evidence like bones, and we know it happened in cycles. It would be dry and then it would be jungle then it would be dry and then jungle again. This is likely due to the episodic change in the Earths rotation that happens over several thousands of years bring monsoon rains to the region and then taking it away. Early hunter gatherers must have thought of this as a great place to go when there was jungle life growing there. Then around 6-4000 BC was the last time there was lush jungles in Saudi Arabia, which is also around the start of civilization in the region. Having an agriculture based life in cities. So there is a place that is episodically green, that likely was a great place for hunter gatherers, and when they last returned to the region to see the lush jungles they also found farmers.they interact with the farmers and start learning agriculture themselves. Then the monsoon rains stop coming back. The Storm/Sky God was displeased. He takes away the lush jungles and now man is forced to survive through agriculture because the great supply of animals and plants have faded away without the regular monsoons. There. The garden of Eden, the fear of knowledge, being banished for discovering knowledge, yeah. And then the flood is just the Persian gulf flooding and is based off of old Sumerian stories.
You keep referring to "Jewish" rather Israelites; the Jewish identity wasnt mentioned till the division of the kingdom of David and Solomon; Jewish is primary the House of judah, Benjamin and Levi; but a great lecture all the same very interesting.
Everyone is well aware of this. Interchanging "Israelites" and "Jews" is a colloquialism perfectly acceptable in Jewish circles. While I welcome all viewers, my target audience is Jewish.
After all is said and done, Dan is still listed as one of the 12 sons of Jacob....from his union with Bilha. So, he is an Israelite tribe that has perhaps heavily intermarried with Sea Peoples?
Doesn’t the Torah also state that The Israelites helped build (Pi) Thom? Does this not complicate your stance on the Exodus date? Also, there are anachronisms in The Torah, so it would seem possible that the early jewish writers could just as easily be speaking about Avaris. I don’t mean to say they were the Hyksos, I’m just curious about your opinion. Either way I enjoy your channel. cheers
Thanks for your comments. I really prefer to stay way from the Exodus topic on this video. As you know I have a couple videos geared much more for that discussion (link: th-cam.com/video/LJUdGlG0LBg/w-d-xo.html), but quickly, I'll say that Pithom/Pi-Atum does not have a location everyone agrees. It's been narrowed down to probable locations, so it depends which one you choose. For example, Tell el-Retabah works great with the dating. Also, I'd like to add that no one is going to know of the city of Pi-Ramesses 400 or 500 years after it ceased to exist unless that specific knowledge had been passed down from people who knew when it was there. It's not like the Jews can find old street signs sitting in the the dirt :)
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel Thanks a lot for your reply and the knowledge! I appreciate, and really enjoy your lectures, and appreciate you referencing Robert Graves!
So are you suggesting that Dan *was* a son of Jacob and his descendants *were* the Tribe of Dan, but that they somehow left Egypt at an earlier date, became Hellenised as the Denyen, and then returned with the Sea Peoples and rejoined the rest of Israel? I didn't quite get what the significance of Dan only having one son was? You said in the video that Samson doesn't really have parallels with other Israelite heroes. I'm not sure about that - there are clear parallels between Samson and Samuel. Both had mother's who had no children, both mother's were told by divine revelation that God would give them a son, both dedicated the son to the Nazarite Vow from birth, both Samson and Samuel judged Israel, both fought the Philistines, and both appear to have a 20 year period where they are in opposition to the Philistines, with the Philistines being defeated at the end. When you said that if you mix Mopsus and Heracles together you get Samson, I would suggest that it's more like mixing Mopsus, Heracles and Samuel together. Finally, are you arguing that Samson was not a real person but just a mythical figure for the Danites? Thanks!
Thanks for all yuor thoughts! I'm going to let you draw your own conclusions, though. My point is really Dr. Yadin's point. The whole thing about the Danites being from the Levant and coming back home again as recorded by the Greeks ... it's just a nice connection, but it's not critical to the basic theory. Yadin's basic theory was that the Danites were Sea People who were integrated into the Israelite people. Yes, some points are stronger than others, but the Greek aspect isn't a necessary piece to his general premise, just icing on the cake. As for the comparison to Samuel, if you want to add him to your recipe in the pot, please feel free. To me, he's different. Yes, they are both Nazerites, but in actual deeds, Samuel is this amazing religious leader, whereas Samson is like a superhero. I don't think the characters are like at all. Infertility is hardly unusual in the Bible, (www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-interpretation/what-does-the-bible-say-about-infertility/), and fighting the Philistines is what just about every leader listed in Judges and Kings. However, I like the thought. One son ... Dan's genealogy is broken. One son with the plural for sonS, but different names, and not listed at all in other places. You may want to watch that scene again. I don't think I can explain it better here, other than to say "it's broken". It is everyone's interpretation that's the fun part for me!
One last mention I have been instructed to mention. The gift of choice is still available. If repentance is offered and by truth the acknowledgement of sin is stated from a true heart. All will be forgiven. I'm pissed off as to my human state to have to say this. Be true as your words to the father must match the word of your heart. Simple terms, the creator can see your heart and thus will be the evidence forming his decision. Insider information for you.
This whole cycle was a lot of fun and I do believe in the Dan/Denyan/Dannaoi connection however, I think the idea that they were simply Israelites whose exodus from Egypt had a detour in Greece is a bridge too far. The chronology is all wrong for an Israelite faction to have been the people of Danaus who taught the Greeks ship building (including supposedly commissioning Dana island to outfit the navy of the sea people). The Greeks and incorporated Minoans had been seafarers for centuries by this time. I think we can safely conclude that Hecataeus was simply wrong on that point (as he was on several other details). More likely to me is that he did what many other historical authors have done which is to conflate the story of the Exodus with accounts of the expulsion of the Hyksos - though the idea that some of them may have done to Greece is intriguing in its own right. Also, the saga of the Dan people possibly goes way beyond this near eastern context and ranges as far and wide as Scandinavia, the Celtic territories and India. It’s one of the great mysteries of humanity and, while I am extraordinarily grateful for all the work and scholarship that went into this presentation, I must quibble with the need to fit it into a neat, tidy story of a wayward Jewish tribe coming home.
Thanks for watching. It's beyond the scope of this lecture to discuss Exodus dating, as I covered it so much earlier. For more info, use this link to get you started: th-cam.com/video/xKApc3rMHxw/w-d-xo.html
You did say. One should comment and I thought it was over. My true second name is Samson. Norman, from " Viking North Man ,Dan mark, raiders of the sea". You self appointed ones know this from as you know, a God appointed judgement line. And I say that with head bowed. Give up your sin of delusions that you are above and chosen. That sin will be your demise. Show glory unto God and accept your equal place amongst all his creations. Know this.
Can't see why it's assumed that it was Semitic people that went to Greece; Hecataeus states that they were many "different" foreigners living in Egypt, some went to Greece, but a "greater number" went to Judea, so how do we know which of the different groups of foreigners actually went to Greece ?
Thanks for watching. Happy to address ... This is the importance of Hecataeus mentioning Cadmus and Danaus specifically, who were believed to be from a Levantine family based on earlier Greek writing. Remember the Greeks believed they brought the Phoenician alphabet as well, which the Greeks and archaeology both recognize as coming from the Semitic world in and around Canaan.
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel Thank you for replying; indeed Cadmus was a Phoenician, and Danaus seems to have been half Egyptian half Phoenician , yes they are listed individually as going to Greece, but Moses is mentioned as leading the majority that went to Judea; perhaps my query was not worded so well, as it was sparked by your remark that the the admission of the tribe of Dan into the 12 Tribes of Israel constituted "a return home", which seems misleading in a way as it implies that that Phoenicians can be viewed as ancient Israelis (!); surely most if not all of the ancient Israelis were there already with Moses who had lead his "colony", presumably his people, the Israelites
@@mackyvjemand7025 My point is really Dr. Yadin's point. The whole thing about the Danites being from the Levant (I agree Phoenecians are not Israelites) and coming back home again as recorded by the Greeks ... it's just a nice connection, but it's not crticial to the basic theory. Yadin's basic theory was that the Danites were Sea People who were slowly integrated into the Israelite people. Yes, soome points are stronger than others, but the Greek aspect isn't a necessary piece to his general premise, just icing on the cake. As for who Moses was leading ... Even in Exodus, when the Israelites left Egypt, we were already a "mixed multitude". Also, if you do a quick search in the Bible, there are many, many references about proselytes. It was never just one group of people. Hope this helps.
I definitely like you thinking outside the box, but remember Moses' name in the original Hebrew is "Moshe". If interested, I discuss the etymology here: th-cam.com/video/LJUdGlG0LBg/w-d-xo.html
WOW! This is my FIRST video on MY channel to exceed 1000 views in its first day! (Obviously, SAMA was much higher, but you can't compare their 100,000 subscribers to my 2500.) For those of you asking questions, thanks so much, but the volume has been incredible. I won't be able to give everyone the usual complete answers. However, I have one general answer for you. In many of my lectures, I'm promoting a certain point-of-view, but this one is different. For this lecture, I really want you to decide for yourself. That's why I ended the lecture with a question. There is no right or wrong answer. I most definitely want to hear what YOU have to say, but I'm not judging or testing. Just having fun ...
There is always more information to consider. I was thinking about the Exodus and how some peoples went to the Aegean area. History (and biblical records in Ezra) show that many Jews were spread after the 1st and 2nd temples were destroyed, some losing direct access to their exact lineage. Many Jewish people were able to maintain their identity even though time and distance separated them from the Promised Land. In oral cultures, family stories play an important part in identity. Thus your interesting idea about the Danaoi coming to the coast - why there, unless they had a reason......
Congratulations for the 1000 viewers! It is more than deserved. A great final video for this series. Of course some points are weaker than others. A problem with the Sea-Peoples is, that it must be differed, where they came from and where they went to. If Dan went from Egypt to Greece or Cilicia and from there to Egypt again, to be settled in Canaan by Egypt, like they did it with the Philistines, there are two problems: Where lived they, before they came to Egypt the first time and how can this be proved? And why they settled in two places (Peloponnesus, Isle of Dana / Cilicia) between there visits in Egypt? According to the Bible and your video they lived not with the Hebrews. May it be, they lived in Greece first, where traders (or princes) from Phoenicia (Kadmos) and Egypt (Danaos) joined? The myths tell this and if there was trade, which Archaeoloy established, it is very probable, that something like it happened, as it did in every other region and period of time alongside trade. And since we know, that there lived people with Mycenean culture at the western and southern coasts of modern Turkey before the Bronze-Age ended, we need no explaination for them living in Cilicia and on the islands in later periods. Therefore it is more probable, that they came from Greece and Cilicia to Egypt, where they were pushed back. Years later they came back and were settled in Kanaan. There they had to leave the coast, because of Philistine pressure and settled at Tel Dan, perhaps with the help of there relatives from Cilicia. They joined the Hebrews round about the same time, as we can deduct from the Bible. This would correspond with the historical and archaeological sources and with the greek myths and biblical history either. The myths tell us, that, Troy being defeated, some Greeks went south. Other Greeks went to modern Italy and other Greeks to modern Greece. Of course, 'greek' is an modern expression. I use it for 'of Mycenean culture' or, perhaps better for the groups, that sieged Troy according to the Ilias. They didn't chieve their goal at Troy and went to Egypt where they could achieve a part of it, but had to leave. That is a siimple description of the main military actions at the end of the Bronze Age from a Mycenean perspective. (The goal, they could achieve was Helena. According to traditions from Athenes it was simply the statue of a goddess or heroine and no woman. And such statue were real reasons for war in the ancient east. Perhaps the Egyptians stole it during the raid on the Island of Dana. Since the island has been found, also the raid can be real.) So the hunt for a statue and the military part of the Bronze Age Collapse mixed together and with other myths can be the true heart of the Epic cycle. I think your series shows, that there more truth on this topic can be found in the Bible, if we search for such true nuclei. (Or is it core instead of nucleus? I don't know how this idiom is translated into English.)
Are phoénician jews ? I don't think so , hebrew yes . I m pretty sure they didn't have the same religion . Maybe a strange question but it's serious , why would jews have obélisk as tombstone ?
@@roberfred760 Thanks for watching. Jews and Phoenicians are both Semites, but there are not the same. They just come from the same neighborhood, and Biblically speaking are descendants of Shem. I don't understand the tombstone question?
@@fraso7331 Thanks for your comments! Great thoughts! (Your English is excellent)
Let's get to the core issues ... Yadin proposed that the Danites were Sea People.
The whole thing about the Danites being from the Levant and coming back home again as recorded by the Greeks ... it's just a nice connection, but it's not critical to the basic theory. Yadin's basic theory was that the Danites were Sea People who were integrated into the Israelite people. Yes, some points are stronger than others, but the Greek aspect isn't a necessary piece to his general premise, just icing on the cake.
Therefore, you have a well-thought and explained proposal. Your view of the Danites is quite logical. As I said, there is no right or wrong answer here. It's just how everyone interprets the data. It is everyone's interpretation that's the fun part for me!
Thanks so much for this BAC series. You covered so much that is of interest to me, and the amount of effort and thought you put into it is much appreciated, as well as the academic sources you used. I learned some new things, and they often helped tie together various facts for a new understanding, and of course, more questions. But that is part of the fun of studying this era.
My pleasure!
Great lecture. I read about Dan's migration to Greece during the Exodus in a book by John Pym Yeatman published in 1879 entitled, "The Shemetic Origins of the Nations of Western Europe, and more especially of the English, French, and Irish Branches of the Gaelic Race." Are you familiar with the proposed migration of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to the West?
Great work! It's good to hear that I'm not the only person who ever thought Dan originally were Sea People.
You could technically use the term Near East for that region.
“Originally were”? They were a tribe of Israel like their kin. It is nice to know others have had the same idea, though. I think many left by sea when Pharaoh enslaved the Israelites. Then some escaped by sea rather than with Moses during the exodus. Still later, those of Dan who settled in the holy land ultimately migrated out to parts overseas, some joining their kin who left by sea from Egypt before.
@@Zomfoo obviously didn't get the point of the lecture.
I'd love to see a series of lectures on the history of the temple mount. Keep up the great work
Noted!
Gosh I just found all this what gift,because I ve been studying Sampson and the tribe of Dan just rabidly for months and here you are with all the info I needed. Amazing❤❤❤
I don't like how most of the good teachers online have such low popularity. Not that it matters, but the work you do deserves more recognition. But for now, thanks for your teaching always.
Wow, thank you!
You are the ultimate history channel, all I ever need to delve into the history of all and anything jew is so much clearer thanks to you!!
I will never stop researching, and I will never stop referring you to people!
I love your videos.You deliver much information rapidly in a concise way while still injecting personal thoughts.Your videos keep me interested all the way to the end.Which is very rare for me to watch videos to the end.And....Your videos add detail that make the past and their events make coherent sense.I am not a scholar and have difficulty remembering stuff and usually have to write out stuff to make it sink in,but you make boring stuff very interesting.I especially like the sound and rhythm of your voice,and the way you reassure me you will be short if things get too complicated.example,the math.Which I almost decided to give up on but you managed to insert little facts that made me hang in to the end.I started watching your videos about the tribe of Dan and got hooked into watching any and all of your videos.Thank You,
Wow! Thanks so much for your kind comments! I'm honored.
The apostle Paul in his journeys in the book of Acts is your missing link. He was from Tarsus of the tribe of Benjamin. A ravenous 1:18:25 wolf.
i just viewed all your videos up to this point....in 1x speed! in HD!
you deserve a standing ovation
OMG your smile at 43:13 is so cute!!
Thanks!
Most interesting. Makes a lot more sense than other explanations (avoiding the issues instead of offering an explanation).
Appreciate you keep coming back!
Yes! This is the most dignified treatment of the subject I've seen yet. I thank you for rescuing this incredible tale from the realm of fringe pseudo-history and keeping it simple and objective. With these Aegean connections, a new look at a possible Spartan relation indicated by Maccabees is in order. If an archeology can shed light on this please don't hold back from presenting it to us!
Absolutely fantastic presentation...
Thank you for your excellent research.
Thanks! The research is a labor of love ...
"Masada" was in my library - a great book. "Isles" could refer to "coasts". Ancient peoples frequently adopted others to strengthen land claims and also for security. History raises intriguing questions and insights. Keep up the great work, Seth!
Kory, thanks for your comments. I agree with you about promontories/coasts. I discuss in more detail in this video: th-cam.com/video/G4NH9U2RM-k/w-d-xo.html
My compliments. Well done. It was a pleasure to experience these presentations.
Thank you, Seth. I've truly enjoyed the entire series; and look forward to your thoughts and further investigations . . . BRAVO!!!
Thanks! Appreciate you keeping coming back for more ...
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel Even Sampson, himself, couldn't keep me away! 😉
@@lesliesylvan awesome response :)
A great lecture, thank you.
Thanks!
This is amazing... makes me think more of my Dad's Sea-fearing stories passed down...
When I first heard this theory raised by Simcha Jacobovici almost 15 years ago, I dismissed it. The way you bring together so many different strands is extraordinary. I’m just fascinated about how the ancient Israelites may have absorbed the Danites.
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed. Just so proper credit is given ... the original idea goes to Yigael Yadin, and not Jacobovici
All of these videos are fantastic. Where have you gone, Seth?
I'm sorry to disappoint, but I'm honored to be missed. I truly want to start lecturing again, but work and family obligations have gotten in the way. Hopefully, one day ...
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel
I can't wait for it, you're a very thorough teacher! Of course you'd look through history with an fine comb, it's your history!
AUM Shalom Aloha, Rabbi
I have been deeply inspired by your work - and the Universe has conspired to make a midrash of events in my life that your scholarship and lectures have informed and enlightened.
small case study - in April, last year, when this debuted, I watched it in San Luis Obispo, Ca - and was interupted then by a security guard who i got to know then named Delilah.
I have since moved to Paonia Colorado - where I have fallen in love with a Single mother here, a Jewish woman named Dana
Now I am rewatching this in preparation for writing a children's radio program & graphic novel about the relationships of Delilah and (my fictional embellishment) her great grandparents Meritaten and Zananza - who flee to Phoenecian settlements during the bronze age collapse and are then remembered as the Tuatha de Danaan.
Your scholarship and presentation have given much of the dialogue and perspectives necesary to produce this. I hope to make a dedication to you in the opening credits of the book and videos, should they reach fruition.
Your efforts inspire
Mazel Tov
Thank you
Saul Aroha Nui Tea
Thanks so much! I'm honored!
Wonderful series, you’re amazing, Seth!
Thanks so much! Glad you're enjoying ...
Epic! Epic! Epic! The Tribe of The Dan! So many questions answered. Such a pivotal key tribe and masterful lessons walking us right up to such a dramatic insight. Thank you so much. Makes me proud to be half Jewish (father). Funny thing is, this lesson may result in increasing my family and cultural connection as I can trace my mother’s side to the same period. Dan did like to marry outside their group.
I just finished your series and really enjoyed it! My thoughts are that it's difficult to prove as a strong theory because there is no direct connection between the Danunim and the Danites. Just because the tribe of Dan filled the gap between the Tjeker and the Philistines doesn't make them a sea people. They may have adopted some of their culture and brought it with them when they migrated to Dan(Liash). I would be interested to know if there is a later connection of the Danites with the city of Mopsus due to synagogue because the synagogue was built centuries after the bronze age collapse so maybe if the Danites were the Danunim they went back to Adana after the Assyrian invasion.
Thanks for the great lecture. I'll need to look again since i was only able to listen.
Thank you! Great series of lectures.
Very interesting. Love this sort of research. Just subbed
Great shows. Thanks
You are very interesting!! I have lots of history questions.
1. Can you tell the story of the Dead Sea Scroll's? Who wrote them. What do the Dead Sea Scroll's talk about?
2. What was the total population of ancient Israel?
3. What type of food could the ancient Israeli produce?
4. When I look at a map of Israel I don't see any rivers near Jerusalem. Where does Jerusalem get there water from?
1) Sadducees. The DSS are a collection of all the Jeeish literature worth saving from the Romans. Most notable is what isn't included, which is the book of Esther.
2) It is forbidden to count Jews or for Jews to participate in a census, so Jewish population can never be determined.
3) Jews lived in the fertile crescent and had a wide variety of food.
4) There are many famous wells in Jerusalem. Jews also collected rain water.
Amazing!
Some time back I heard a preacher say that there were two exoduces from Egypt. That when the Egyptians first started persecuting the Israelites that a group left and emigrated to what we now call Greece. I can't specific sources for that, but I remember that Josephus relates that there was a kinship between the Israelites and Greece.
From 1000BC the Levant was slowly colonised by the Greeks.
Great work.
Well researched!
This is fascinating.
There *is* a slight problem with the suggestion that Mopsus would be directly related to the Danites, insofar as he should theoretically be one of the leaders of the final Sea People attack on Egypt, and you have set the Exodus as happening about half a century before this. Regardless, I can certainly say that it would be very interesting to find out how a group of people of the Danunym ethnic group who left Egypt with the Tribes of Israel (having been settled inside Egyptian lands earlier presumably when Egypt defeated the Sea Peoples in their earlier waves, assuming there is some truth to this series' claims) would have/did interact with the people of the same ethnic group coming down from Anatolia and then back from Egypt.
This is to say: I don't think there's sufficient enough evidence to suggest that Dan specifically left during the Exodus to go to Greece and then returned. It seems more likely that they were a tribe that greatly became influenced by the Sea Peoples that Egypt had settled in their lands following earlier attacks--- perhaps because Dan didn't have many sons (maybe one or none), and thus the majority of his generations to follow the Israelites settling in Egypt would have come from his daughters marrying people already living in those lands. Presumably, then, the later children of Dan would be greatly influenced by the tales and culture of their Greek fathers, and this is the reason why Dan is so different, and why there are so many warnings to respect prostelytes, and repeated references to the Israelite multitudes being *mixed* in the scripture.
Dan was sort of a castaway but they seem to survive even in relatively small numbers everywhere they went in Europe. They became the Vikings (I1) while the tribe of Asher (I2) basically followed conquering southern Europe and the Mediterranean, even North Africa. Truth is stranger than fiction but it’s true.
5:55
WOW! I have lots to catch up on!
Very interesting.
Hi! I loved the series, I was in actual suspense and this was a fitting climax. I'm not sure if I'm ready to accept Yadin's conclusion (although it does capture my imagination). The tribe of Dan has always intrigued me for many of the reasons you discussed, as well as the way Dan is viewed in Jewish mystical thought. For example, the fact that the Talmud identifies "the stragglers" attacked by Amalek (Deuteronomy 25:18) with the tribe of Dan, as you stated. The term "stragglers" is seen by the Talmud as literal as well as spiritually symbolic. On the other hand there is also something special about them, so much so that the Midrash says that Jacob thought Samson would be the Messiah (Bereishis Rabbah 98:14). It is also said that the mother of the Messiah will descend from this tribe (Yalkut Shimoni, Torah, 160:1). This backstory would explain a whole lot. What bothers me, though, is the fact that nothing of it is found in the Scriptures, nor anywhere in the Talmud (that I'm aware of), aside for the cryptic hints you mentioned. Was it intentionally hidden? If so, why?
Thanks for your kind words and your excellent thoughts. I wish I had a good answer to match them. Was the backstory intentionally hidden or just plain forgotten? Well, I don't know. I believe the words of the the Tanakh were carefully selected. Therefore, the Song of Deborah, for example, would have been intentionally left like it was. We are given enough hints to know this tribe is different, and maybe that's all we're supposed to have. However, much of the scripture relies on Oral Tradition, so could certain parts be forgotten? Maybe a combination of both ...
Dan was one of the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaiden, born during the years when Leah was fertile but Rachel was barren.
Bravo. This was very enjoyable. Encore! Yadin's theory makes perfect sense. I'm sold. How accepted is this theory by the mainstream academics and what are the criticisms? I imagine the resistance is primarily from the religious conservatives.
Thank you! You will see this theory referenced in a lot of scholarly work on the Sea Peoples (something like "Yadin's Denyen Theory"). I'm not saying everyone agrees, but most scholars would say it has legitimacy enough to seriously consider. Religious authorities are of course more conservative, but if one takes the angle that there are Semites who left and then later returned ... there's not such an issue. Yadin himself gives some legitimacy for the simple fact that he was a respected scholar who believed the bible could be used for history to a degree.
The germanic tribes came to the Nort sea and the Baltic sea around 1000 BCE. Denmark is kalled Danmark in scandinavian and it means the land of the tribe Dan. In the south of Sweden we were called Geat and still call us götar (jötar) or goter (Got). The tribe Suear lives in North East and another part live in the south of Germany called Suebi. In The West of Denmark we have the peninsula Jutland or Cimbrian peninsula. In Swedish the people that lives there is called Jutar, very close to Götar (Jötar). The name for Jews in Swedish is Judar. I guess the tribe of Ash settled in Poland and the surroundings If they didn't came later and now are called Ashkenazy. The Danes, Suear and Jötar have been sea peoples all the time and later Vikings. Another interesting thing is the name Jutland or Cimbrian peninsula. The Cimmerians showed up around 800 BCE south of the black sea and If It is the same tribe that settled in the north of the Cimbrian peninsula they must have come after that time. A little late, but maybe they all left around 800 BCE. Who knows.
O I love this stuff, thanks so much
Glad to hear it!
Thanks again for another interesting and informative video
Glad you enjoyed. Thanks for coming back yet again
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel as long as your making the vids, I will check them out. One of my favorites on youtube. Love em.
@@-757- Awesome. Thx!
This video is fantastic, I only just discovered this channel but I’m already impressed. It’s tragic that good, high-quality presentations like these aren’t propped up by TH-cam’s algorithm more. Instead it’s all just corporatized garbage that does nothing to expand the minds and knowledge of the audience.
Welcome aboard! Thanks so much for your kind comments
Hecataeus of Andera doesn’t seem like a reliable source. Back then, they literally tried reconciling oral sources without questioning whether or not they were legit, or whether the tradition was controlled or uncontrolled. So the medieval churches believed several ancient floods happened at once, instead of just one big one in Sumer.
Likewise, it’s possible Hecataeus saw the word “Dan” and made up a story of Hebrews going from Egypt to Greece.
I think the simpler explanation is that the tribe of Dan was originally called something else, but then they became so intermixed with the Aegean Danites near Philistia that they just called themselves “Danites”, and rewrote their ancestor with the name Dan as their point of origin.
They still had Mycenaean history on their minds, and Samson’s strength is clearly God’s way of trying to lead that culture to God and away from Philistine culture and idolatry; beyond that, I think it’s a leap to say Hebrews pivoted to Greece then Israel. It’d be cool if it were true, but the problem is the new coming Danites never made the Sinai covenant, would probably speak a different language, and the Danites that stayed the journey would not have much reason to keep them.
Where would Dan even get the boats if the rest of Israel had trouble just crossing the Reed Sea? Did they join the Sea People in covenant with Ramses? The hundreds of them?
Nah, the name-swapping is a much simpler explanation. I feel bad we may never get to know Dan’s “real” name, but at the very least we know his tribe’s story, and that’s more we can say compared to most of the other ones, so 🥴
That larger, roundish island (or peninsula, it’s hard to tell) just west of Dana Island looks like a darn good place for camping, staging and boarding large numbers of troops and supplies (on the Google image of the area from your earlier lecture). It looks like a short hop from the Dana shipyard, with more land, wood and water than Dana for staging troops brought from the interior. I wonder if any related archaeological features, like submerged docks or jetties, or remains of camps, have been found there?
I guess every extended family has that one cousin who doesn't feel like doing whatever everyone else was doing. Dan's kids just didn't feel like farming and herding sheep and went a sailing instead. Only one was ever around keeping Dan company whenever the family took a census.
Research YDNA Haplogroup I, you will note that most of the alleged locations of the Danites in all their variants forms have a high density of Haplogroup I. Note also, Haplogroup I was at an early time one and the same as Haplogroup J, known as Haplogroup IJ, and YDNA Haplogroup J is prominent among ancient Jews and particularly Cohens/Levites, with the Cohen Model Haplotype.
I definitely see the Greek connection. I have seen connections of brother stories too. Esau and Jacob compared to the Roman brothers as well as Sumerian story.
AMAZING !!!!!
What about the hypothesis that the Hebrews were actually pastoral nomads that came down from the mountains after the bronze age collapse and the tribes of Israel were actually just sub-Hebrew tribes.
There was massive famine and starvation during the bronze age collapse which hit the developed world pretty hard. It hit everybody except the nomadic pastoral people that did not depend on food from trade or agriculture, such as the Habiru. Who were described as mountain/desert bandits by the Egyptians.
During the collapse, farmers either got killed, or fled because of raids, and there was nobody really to defend the land. This left massive amounts of flatlands for the pastoral nomads to graze their animals on. So they came down from the mountains and started occupying more and more land. These mountain nomads consisted of various clans and families that claimed to share a common ancestor : Abraham. They just have different genealogical paths towards him.
The sacrifice story of Cain and Abel might be a throwback to these pastoral nomad times. Where God clearly picks a pastoral nomad sacrifice over the agriculture one. As is the enormous dislike of city life. Settled life (including farming) seems something bad in the earlier parts. Living in tents with animals is the way to go.
But the Bible seems to be completely oblivious of historical things before the 10th century. There is no mention of the Egyptian occupation of the levant until right before the bronze age collapse, there is no mention of the bronze age collapse itself, places are set in a time those places did not yet exist until centuries later, the description of Yericho is problematic etc.
Moses would've fled from Egypt to a more militarized part of Egypt (because of the Hittites) since Egypt was controlling the levant. Joshua would've fought the Egyptian army.
David was probably one of earlier generations after the Hebrews came down from the mountains and was actually semi historical. He lived during a time the expansion reached Philistine borders and conflict broke out. Which he won. He came from a pastoral nomad background and time, but changed society into a more developed and urban one. More in line with the great empires and powerful neighbours. He was the builder. He saw you are going to get overrun when you don't have an industry to make money and walls to protect you.
We can place Joshua in the same time period as David. Coming down from the mountains and take advantage of the power vacuum after the Egyptians withdrew during the bronze age collapse. He might've lived just before David. Otherwise he would have lived before the 16th century bc due to Egyptian occupation.
Perhaps Moses had to stay low for 40 years in the desert before the Egyptians fully withdrew and the levant was safe for him to go. Which would place him between 1300 and 1250BC.
We know atleast his birth story is not true, so we don't really know his background. Perhaps he led a revolt among enslaved Sinaic Habiru. We know his group consisted of skilled warriors and they knew how to survive in the desert.
So the Abrahamic religion has 2 layers, one being Abraham. The next being Moses that actually took them to the mountains of Israel and gave them some form of organisation and strict rules. The reason he needed these simple but clear laws is because his group basically consisted of nomadic bandits/raiders/habiru.
The Amarna letters shed some light on why the Bronze Age collapse happened. I will offer a brief synopsis of how I see it...
Basically, in the Amarna Letters you have a number of Egyptian Proxy governors repeatedly asking the Egyptians to send soldiers to chase off the bandits that were raiding their lands. I believe that the "Sea Peoples" by and large were an assortment of proxy governers in Canaan, and other interested parties across the Aegean who relied on the agricultural and commercial wealth of Canaan. These Canaanite Proxy Governors are documented in the Amarna Letters paying tribute to the Egyptian Empire as their subjects, and thus Egypt would be expected to furnish military assistance in the case of bandit raids, like what happened with the Hapiru/Hebrews. I think the reason that bible doesn't mention a Bronze Age collapse, is because as you have noted, the Israelites were largely pastoralist nomads whose condition only improved during this period as they acquired more territory to graze their livestock. For them, civilization didn't collapse, but they used an entirely different style of administrative government likely relying on oral tradition and a simple nomadic lifestyle to manage their affairs as opposed to the systems of written language and commercial culture of the various sea peoples and Egyptians.
The Amarna letters clearly indicate intermarriage between Canaanite proxy governors and Egyptian royalty, royal gifts from these proxy governors to the Egyptian dynastic families, and a general attitude of subservience to Egypt. Why the Danites would be allied with this group of agricultural interests who seemingly fell victim to Israelite bandits, seems questionable, but the Danaans as sea faring people may have simply been contracted as mercenaries to assist in these naval operations against Egypt. It may also be the case that "Dan" the patriarch and supposed son of Jacob, was just one of many Danites, and that his personal lineage composed only a fraction of the Danite population that would function within the context of Israelite society and religion. Maybe the Danites of the Israelites were a sub-group of the larger Denyen who could have well been a pre-Israelite population.
In closing, if Egypt would have failed to send military aid into Canaan to defend their agricultural territories, many proxy governors would be at a serious loss losing much agricultural wealth and land. This could very well be the motivation that caused the raids on Egypt, because Egypt failed to uphold their end of the bargain in managing the Canaanite territories. Thus, after paying tribute to Egypt for many years, and not recieving military aid in their hour of need, the "Sea Peoples" would form a naval expedition to recover their losses by invading Egypt to either plunder and loot their civilization, or to entirely attempt to seize command of Egypt by defeating the Egyptian Army in war.
You know I greatly appreciate people thinking outside the box! Especially well-constructed theories ... However, there are a few issues for you to consider: (1) large increase in population in the mountains circa 1200 BCE, as in people who were not there before, but started settling about right at that time. (2) numerous small settlements (many un-walled) on those sides of Jordan and then spreading west. (3) these new settlements all share some unusual traits, four-room house, pottery, no pork, etc, which as a combination, didn't exist prior to ~1200 BCE. (4) these aforementioned traits are indicative of a shared culture that was expanding but connected to these various settlements. (5) they were a mix of pastoral and agriculture with some advanced agricultural skills unlikely to be known by pure pastoralists, like walled terraces.
As for the historicity, I think the Bible picks up in 1200 BCE decently. I've made numerous connections in my lectures (Z6, Z7, & Z10), so feel free to glance back at those. Certainly, in terms of proof, I would agree you have to look beyond 900 BCE where the commonly agreed history matches with the Bible, but we've seen many indications that it records knowledge prior. The Book of Joshua is problematic, which is why I always say to refer to Judges when the two conflict.
That was quiet a tour de force ! Thanks for that! But it still feels like there’s more info to be discovered... and Dan + Ascalum in Italy
Thank you! There's definitely more out there, but I'm handing off to others. After 6-7 hours of video on the subject, I think I've done my part :)
Your channel is very interesting and intuitive. Can you make a video regarding the Jewish y-dna links to the ancient Israelites?
Thanks
I am enjoying your videos ! Very informative and full of evidence based on thoughtful investigation. Much food for thought.
I don’t know if I agree though about the Danites getting Micah’s Levite priest because they wanted to understand YHWH or follow him better or be taught the actual mosaic law, etc. because they were outsiders. The Danites recognized the priest by his accent/ voice. I wonder if outsiders would be able to have such nuanced recognition if they weren’t already intimately familiar with the Levites. Also, they recognized that they needed a Levite priest for “legitimacy”for their altered system of worship in the north. They found a Levite that was corrupt enough to go along with them. Remember, Israel was in the habit of including idols already-Rachel’s idols, the gods of Egypt during that sojourn and the golden calf at Sinai. The debacle with the Levite’s concubine after this at the end of the book of Judges shows another Levite not following the law by having a concubine and not just being a man of one wife as was commanded of the priesthood. The book of Judges here repeats that people were doing what was right in their own eyes. What if this story of the campaign against Laish wasn’t perhaps an illustration of Dan’s modus operandi: Do not attack the well fortified (I.e. the philistines) rather run like pirates-attack and plunder the weak (Micah’s house) and then run far away to undefended places and take them over (Laish). Now they have the taste of it in their blood! The scent of faroff victory coming down on the tradewinds. Why they could do the same on ships, as well; maybe even more effectively! Maybe this story in Judges is seminal in the development of Danita culture. I am just musing here. But the Danites were clearly acting in a synchronistic fashion, using the Levites for a stamp of approval on their brand of paganism as happened more and more in northern Israel as time went on. I now see this weird story as a great pirate story, albeit land based. The is a lot of unpacking to do here in Judges. All the archeological information is invaluable in this respect! You have really got me thinking! I do very much appreciate all the research and work you have put in!!
First off ... WELL DONE!
I do think one of the missing or weak connections is why the Dan, if a Sea People, would side with the Israelite tribes rather than the culturally similar Sea Peoples. I am not the first to advance this idea as others alluded to it in comments that were ignored (due to time constraints I am sure). The answer to this is in their shared experiences.
The Egyptians defeated Sea Peoples attacks in several instances. In each case there would have been prisoners taken.
For several reasons, they would have wanted to contain these foreigners in an area outside of main Egyptian society, as they did with the Jews. In fact, I suspect they would have had a common encampment and forced all slaves to do the same work. Over several years/decades these two communities would have mixed to some level. Sea Peoples, being mostly males would have taken Jewish wives. I suspect these couples and their children would have been viewed as ethnically separate from the main Jewish body, but a high level of trust would have developed over time.
I also found it interesting that Jacob's instructions regarding tribe lots were disregarded, not only with Dan, but also Zebulum. Zebulum was to be by the sea with a border on Sidon... but that is the lot occupied by Asher. Not being familiar enough with Canaan geography I can not ascertain if any of the others were out of place.
Hi Steve, Glad you enjoyed it. I try to answer most questions, but I can't answer everything ... or I'd spend my time answering questions instead of creating new material. If I'm asked the same question several times, I'm unlikely to answer over and over. The Tribe of Dan was likely pushed to attaching themselves to the Israelites when they were attacked by the other Sea People (Philistines), which was has been shown archeologically (see Z17G) and biblically (see Z17F). Being similar but different has its own problems. Think Sunni/Shia or Catholic/Protestant. What seems to be a minor difference to an outsider can be HUGE to those within the culture. As for wives, the Egyptians clearly recorded wives and children being attached to the Sea Peoples in their invasion, which I covered in more detail in lecture Z09. Hope this helps.
Hey Seth!! When doing the next series, please so some emphasis on the territory of Kuwait! I want to know the early history of that Region. As you please
I've also heard that Dan traveled by ship through the Dardanelles into the Black Sea and also up the Don, Danube, and Dnieper rivers. Also later settling in Denmark (the land of Dan) and from there to the rest of Scandinavia and then Scotland, England, and, Ireland. Ship borne warriors indeed (think vikings). Just a small sampling of this migration story.
I really enjoyed the brilliant lecture. I was very impressed by quantity and diversity of the data. The comparison between Samson and Mopsus is shocking. Do you lead to the conclusion that both characters are the same person?, Or the stories about both heroes has written by inspiration? Or maybe Samson story came to Greece like the Alphabet?
Thanks so much! I'm going to let you draw your own conclusions. Like I said, all the data is there, but how do you read it? I'm not trying to avoid the question, as there is no concrete answer. It is everyone's interpretation that's the fun part for me!
Interesting
Great lecture, thank you! Conclusion seems kinda short-sighted though . Given ancient Israels proclivity for syncretization with the surrounding cultures it seems far more plausible that the prophecy in Gen 49 is predicting that the tribe of Dan would become so intermingled with the pagans that their Israelite identity could be questioned. They probably intermingled with the sea peoples then moved north taking and blending cultural and religious elements as well as wives (as you mentioned was common).
The behaviour of the Sea Peoples of the Bronze age collapse remind me of the Vikings raids, which occurred 2000 years later.
Roland, check out this clip from one of my earlier lectures: th-cam.com/video/OKqdhX50Ehg/w-d-xo.html
Wondering what your take is ...on Hawaiians being from the Tribe of Naphtali. These would be those categorized as "Polynesians" who are a larger people....and are considered to have come back to the these islands in the Pacific after many years .... conquering the much smaller people (still resident here) by violent force. These smaller people were still holding their Sacred Peaceful ways ...and were forced to flee into the jungles and mountains and caves here. Many of the "Polynesians" consider themselves "Israelites".
I did a bit of advertising of your channel. You had 2.44k at about 11am on 4.13.21
Let's see...I hope you don't mind, I believe you have more interesting content. I appreciate your work.
Thanks so much!!! Our channel can't grow without help from viewers like you, so ... I ask all my subscribers to please share with others!
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel looks like your subscriber number went up about 200...I hope that was me...I simply said in the comments section of a few of my History channels, "Check out..World History by a Jew "...
@@eavaharris3519 It's increased about 20 today. It's 2440 to 2460. I appreciate every one of them! Thanks!
Supposedly, I'm in the tribe of Dan, Judah, and Ephraim. It appears that many family lines trace back to the House of David. Interestingly, my father's name is Dan, and the first of our family in America, his name was Dan. When I was younger, I did great feats of strength that are not all that interesting. Such as being able to easily pick up 3 stacks of 80lbs shingles and put them on one shoulder to carry them up to the roof, or to pick up 4 120lbs syrup contains at a time to move them, or easily lifting a VW engine out of a car.
So, if anyone is having any trouble with Philistines...😁
I told my little brother a tiny bit of our heritage, and he wouldn't listen. So when he got his DNA test back, he couldn't figure out where all the Jewish DNA came from.🧬
33:22
Both!
Regarding the dress of Sea Peoples, I suspect that changes would begin to appear once they settled. The Tjekker ruling Sidon might begin to wear "purple" on their kilts and headdresses, they might even try to ban their subjects from wearing it. Meanwhile the Denyen would probably adopt the Jewish practice of not mixing clothing fibers, and probably give up their more Agean costume as their relationship with the Philistines soured.
The Philistines would probably keep their tradition of dress the longest as a tie to their successful Agean ancestors.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments
Fascinating, I recall us talking sometime ago about how Judaism - and certainly re-entry into the land of Israel, would've turned out very differently if they Bronze Age collapse had not happened. The history of the Jewish people concerning the Bronze Age collapse and how this created the opportunity for the land of Israel to be re-colonised is evident. During the mid to late Bronze Age the Levant would have been a highly advanced and important strategic cultural Centre because of its geography with the empires Close by and, indeed, as a province of the first dynasty of Egypt. Abraham's legacy is essential to bear in mind when taking into consideration a truly ancient view of what this area and its political, social and economic relations would've been dating back to the mid-Bronze Age period. Is there any evidence of what was going on before and running up to at the time of Abraham?
Great Thank-you sir! My cousin and I are 'Dannats" from the Iowa area . There is word that the Dannites had a connection with the 'Mormons'...Any Thoughts?
Zebulun was a local fishing village with their boats?
Very well argued. Am I correct in thinking that Dan were sort of a "lost" tribe of Israel that left Egypt, went to Greece and then eventually found their way back to Israel? Which is why they were accepted by the other tribes? Thanks.
Thank you! That definitely could be construed by the evidence, but it doesn't have to be ... you decide!
Fabulous, and as I have noted in previous posts, the history of the sea people, the story of Dan make total sense to my DNA findings. While having origins in the South Levant, I also have traces from Sardinia and Greece. I could have never understood from where these traces would come had it not been for your lectures. And one question, perhaps you can answer, did the Nation of Israel grow in size by being open to accepting groups like the Dan into the Nation of Israel? From my perspective, it would appear to be the case. Keep up the good work !!
Glad you enjoyed and learned something! You're like a walking UN or at least EU! As for your question, in short: Yes. Even in Exodus, when the Israelites left Egypt, we were already a "mixed multitude". Also, if you do a quick search in the Bible, there are numerous (and I mean very numerous) references and stories about proselytes. There is no question about it ... others came into the fold over time.
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel Thanks Seth, makes sense !!!
Excellent lecture! It seems to me that the Israelite tribe of Dan somehow developed connections to the phonecians. Rather than wander in the wilderness, they chose to follow phonecian traders to settlements in the Aegean, perhaps as mercenaries. Then crisis in Greece caused them to seek out new settlements and finally returning to their ancient homeland. It all comes together, based on your research an presentation. Have you noticed any evidence of them aligning with phonecians? I think it would explain how they became excellent ship builders. Perhaps they worked as ship builders for the Egyptians as another theory.
Thanks for your thoughtful remarks. Well, its a small neighborhood, and you have say Sidon and Tyre sailing on the same coast. For sure, there was interaction between the sea-faring people. We also know of very specific technical innovations that came from the Levant. Check out this clip from an earlier video: th-cam.com/video/G4NH9U2RM-k/w-d-xo.html
Great presentation Seth, lots to unpack.
Here is my understanding with some questions: so you think the Danites initially had a low male birth rate and thus a low tribe population? By the time of the Exodus, they either had already joined with Greeks in Egypt or joined them at that time for a sea journey back to the Greek world. Do you think some part of Dan traveled by foot with Moses? At some point that population rejoined the Israelites near Jappa. At this point they had a mixed Greek-Israelite culture and tried to reintegrate. Do you think think Sampson was a retelling of Mopsus, a retelling of Hercules, or just local events recounted in the Mopsus/Hercules “style”? In Jappa, their seafaring culture couldn’t be put to use for Israel because they were squeezed between the Philistines in the south and Tjeker in the north. As a result, they gave up their seafaring way of life and migrated to north Israel on the southern border of the old Hittite Empire, which was not the threat that the sea peoples on the coast were.
Is this more of less right?
Jeffrey, thanks for watching. I'm going to let you draw your own conclusions, though! Point of clarification, both the Bible and the archaeological evidence points to the Danites moving north due to conflict, especially with the Philistines. Who wants to give up a beachfront home? My thoughts on Mopsus and Greek connections, etc, are demonstrated at length in the video. I just want to leave you with something to think about it, and it sounds like I did.
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel if we are going to take the Bible/Torah at more-or-less face value historically (which your argument presupposes), then Sampson has to be a native hero retold in the same style of Hercules.
The larger theory fits what we know from the various cultural traditions (Israelite, Greek, Egyptian, etc.) and the archeology. Still, the details of exactly who mingled with whom, their movements, and the resulting culture definitely need more scholarship to improve our understanding. Also, how the other tribes reacted to Danites would be very interesting. This seems like an early example like the Samaritans - a mixed racial and religious group attached to greater Israel. And we know those from the Kingdom of Judah did NOT respond well to that group. The mere fact that Dan always had small, frontier lands that were often indefensible already shows they were not well integrated into Israelite society.
Love your lectures. Just so that I understand in easy to read facts.
The Jews vacated Canaan to work in Egypt. They were the same people as the Canaanites in terms of language, culture but not religion.
They return to Canaan during the disruption of the LBAC and displace/conquer/assimilate the Canaanites and fight Pelestets?
Who wasn’t a sea people? I’m glad we’re done with the bronze age collapse. It’s about time.
I think it would help if there was an approximate, or even relative (qualitative), timeline. I’m not clear on the order of events relating to this people. So far my understanding is, I think: Mopsos started out in the Aegean, then settled in the Adana area with some other Aegean Greeks, who, as one of the sea peoples, the Denyen/Tenaya, invaded Egypt. Then he, or his group, led a group of Israelites out of Egypt to Argolid Greece for a while, then to Canaan, is that right? This people wanted to accepted back into Israel as the lost tribe of Dan, and sort-of were, as a bit of a marginal tribe, even though they had been significantly influenced by their leadership by Greeks and living with Aegean/Greek culture, and more importantly, had forgotten many of the ways of Israel (religious practice, etc.) during their Egyptian sojourn. After settling in Canaan, they were forced out of the Jaffa area to the area in the north called Dan, after them. I probably have the order of events all wrong! I would love if it you could clarify, thank you.
So damn interesting! This is coming from a non-jew too. May i ask you that how much the historian community agree with your theories? I find these very very fascinating.
Thank you! You will see this theory referenced in a lot of scholarly work on the Sea Peoples (something like "Yadin's Denyen Theory"). I'm not saying everyone agrees, but most scholars would say it has legitimacy enough to seriously consider. Point being, it's certainly not rejected on principal, but far from proven.
Ive often made this connection between israel and sea people, do you subscribe to the notion that Phoenicians were the northern kingdom?
Dan figured out how to survive, maybe not the right way…
Couldn’t the tribe of Dan been depopulated while in Egypt and the other people that went with the Jews during the Exodus were shuffled into the tribe of Dan by conversion because Dan needed to survive but didn’t have many living descendants?
What are your thoughts in the genesis story? Because to me it doesn’t describe the creation of the whole world, it describes the creation of an ecosystem. There is some evidence that there used to be periodic jungles in what is now the desert of Saudi Arabia because monsoon rains came every year. The earths axis shifted and the monsoons no longer came. But if(like most cultures) the Jewish god is a Storm or Sky God then the story of genesis makes sense. He was above the waters before creation, a storm coming in from over the ocean, he separates land from water, so the storm floods the region and creates rivers and lakes, thereby separating the land from the water. He creates light and day too, but that’s fairly common mythology for sky gods. Then all the Plants and animals show up. So these big monsoon storms came in turned arid dry land into a lush jungle. Now, we have evidence this monsoon jungle effect brought in many different animal species based upon the number of different animals represented in the historical record whether through myth or through actual physical evidence like bones, and we know it happened in cycles. It would be dry and then it would be jungle then it would be dry and then jungle again. This is likely due to the episodic change in the Earths rotation that happens over several thousands of years bring monsoon rains to the region and then taking it away. Early hunter gatherers must have thought of this as a great place to go when there was jungle life growing there. Then around 6-4000 BC was the last time there was lush jungles in Saudi Arabia, which is also around the start of civilization in the region. Having an agriculture based life in cities. So there is a place that is episodically green, that likely was a great place for hunter gatherers, and when they last returned to the region to see the lush jungles they also found farmers.they interact with the farmers and start learning agriculture themselves. Then the monsoon rains stop coming back. The Storm/Sky God was displeased. He takes away the lush jungles and now man is forced to survive through agriculture because the great supply of animals and plants have faded away without the regular monsoons. There. The garden of Eden, the fear of knowledge, being banished for discovering knowledge, yeah. And then the flood is just the Persian gulf flooding and is based off of old Sumerian stories.
Was on my way to ask if the Danes were part of this and read a comment. Wow! B”H and much thx.
You keep referring to "Jewish" rather Israelites; the Jewish identity wasnt mentioned till the division of the kingdom of David and Solomon; Jewish is primary the House of judah, Benjamin and Levi; but a great lecture all the same very interesting.
Everyone is well aware of this. Interchanging "Israelites" and "Jews" is a colloquialism perfectly acceptable in Jewish circles. While I welcome all viewers, my target audience is Jewish.
“Jewish” Sea People: like Apache braves sporting Bulovas in 1950s Hollywood Westerns.
Dan came in last… a long time ago… then they settled in the land.
After all is said and done, Dan is still listed as one of the 12 sons of Jacob....from his union with Bilha. So, he is an Israelite tribe that has perhaps heavily intermarried with Sea Peoples?
Doesn’t the Torah also state that The Israelites helped build (Pi) Thom? Does this not complicate your stance on the Exodus date? Also, there are anachronisms in The Torah, so it would seem possible that the early jewish writers could just as easily be speaking about Avaris. I don’t mean to say they were the Hyksos, I’m just curious about your opinion. Either way I enjoy your channel. cheers
Thanks for your comments. I really prefer to stay way from the Exodus topic on this video. As you know I have a couple videos geared much more for that discussion (link: th-cam.com/video/LJUdGlG0LBg/w-d-xo.html), but quickly, I'll say that Pithom/Pi-Atum does not have a location everyone agrees. It's been narrowed down to probable locations, so it depends which one you choose. For example, Tell el-Retabah works great with the dating. Also, I'd like to add that no one is going to know of the city of Pi-Ramesses 400 or 500 years after it ceased to exist unless that specific knowledge had been passed down from people who knew when it was there. It's not like the Jews can find old street signs sitting in the the dirt :)
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel Thanks a lot for your reply and the knowledge! I appreciate, and really enjoy your lectures, and appreciate you referencing Robert Graves!
It seems that Moses is close to Nosentepe. Can that be so?
So are you suggesting that Dan *was* a son of Jacob and his descendants *were* the Tribe of Dan, but that they somehow left Egypt at an earlier date, became Hellenised as the Denyen, and then returned with the Sea Peoples and rejoined the rest of Israel?
I didn't quite get what the significance of Dan only having one son was?
You said in the video that Samson doesn't really have parallels with other Israelite heroes. I'm not sure about that - there are clear parallels between Samson and Samuel. Both had mother's who had no children, both mother's were told by divine revelation that God would give them a son, both dedicated the son to the Nazarite Vow from birth, both Samson and Samuel judged Israel, both fought the Philistines, and both appear to have a 20 year period where they are in opposition to the Philistines, with the Philistines being defeated at the end.
When you said that if you mix Mopsus and Heracles together you get Samson, I would suggest that it's more like mixing Mopsus, Heracles and Samuel together.
Finally, are you arguing that Samson was not a real person but just a mythical figure for the Danites?
Thanks!
Thanks for all yuor thoughts! I'm going to let you draw your own conclusions, though.
My point is really Dr. Yadin's point. The whole thing about the Danites being from the Levant and coming back home again as recorded by the Greeks ... it's just a nice connection, but it's not critical to the basic theory. Yadin's basic theory was that the Danites were Sea People who were integrated into the Israelite people. Yes, some points are stronger than others, but the Greek aspect isn't a necessary piece to his general premise, just icing on the cake.
As for the comparison to Samuel, if you want to add him to your recipe in the pot, please feel free. To me, he's different. Yes, they are both Nazerites, but in actual deeds, Samuel is this amazing religious leader, whereas Samson is like a superhero. I don't think the characters are like at all. Infertility is hardly unusual in the Bible, (www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-interpretation/what-does-the-bible-say-about-infertility/), and fighting the Philistines is what just about every leader listed in Judges and Kings. However, I like the thought.
One son ... Dan's genealogy is broken. One son with the plural for sonS, but different names, and not listed at all in other places. You may want to watch that scene again. I don't think I can explain it better here, other than to say "it's broken".
It is everyone's interpretation that's the fun part for me!
Further to my comment about the genealogy, this other video has more detail: th-cam.com/video/z83kzHTcxJc/w-d-xo.html
One last mention I have been instructed to mention. The gift of choice is still available. If repentance is offered and by truth the acknowledgement of sin is stated from a true heart. All will be forgiven. I'm pissed off as to my human state to have to say this. Be true as your words to the father must match the word of your heart. Simple terms, the creator can see your heart and thus will be the evidence forming his decision. Insider information for you.
This whole cycle was a lot of fun and I do believe in the Dan/Denyan/Dannaoi connection however, I think the idea that they were simply Israelites whose exodus from Egypt had a detour in Greece is a bridge too far. The chronology is all wrong for an Israelite faction to have been the people of Danaus who taught the Greeks ship building (including supposedly commissioning Dana island to outfit the navy of the sea people). The Greeks and incorporated Minoans had been seafarers for centuries by this time. I think we can safely conclude that Hecataeus was simply wrong on that point (as he was on several other details). More likely to me is that he did what many other historical authors have done which is to conflate the story of the Exodus with accounts of the expulsion of the Hyksos - though the idea that some of them may have done to Greece is intriguing in its own right.
Also, the saga of the Dan people possibly goes way beyond this near eastern context and ranges as far and wide as Scandinavia, the Celtic territories and India. It’s one of the great mysteries of humanity and, while I am extraordinarily grateful for all the work and scholarship that went into this presentation, I must quibble with the need to fit it into a neat, tidy story of a wayward Jewish tribe coming home.
Read I Kings 6:1, it states the Exodus happened 480 years before Solomon. That's the 15th Century.
Thanks for watching. It's beyond the scope of this lecture to discuss Exodus dating, as I covered it so much earlier. For more info, use this link to get you started: th-cam.com/video/xKApc3rMHxw/w-d-xo.html
You did say. One should comment and I thought it was over. My true second name is Samson. Norman, from " Viking North Man ,Dan mark, raiders of the sea". You self appointed ones know this from as you know, a God appointed judgement line. And I say that with head bowed. Give up your sin of delusions that you are above and chosen. That sin will be your demise. Show glory unto God and accept your equal place amongst all his creations. Know this.
Can't see why it's assumed that it was Semitic people that went to Greece; Hecataeus states that they were many "different" foreigners living in Egypt, some went to Greece, but a "greater number" went to Judea, so how do we know which of the different groups of foreigners actually went to Greece ?
Thanks for watching. Happy to address ... This is the importance of Hecataeus mentioning Cadmus and Danaus specifically, who were believed to be from a Levantine family based on earlier Greek writing. Remember the Greeks believed they brought the Phoenician alphabet as well, which the Greeks and archaeology both recognize as coming from the Semitic world in and around Canaan.
@@WorldHistorybyaJewTheChannel Thank you for replying; indeed Cadmus was a Phoenician, and Danaus seems to have been half Egyptian half Phoenician , yes they are listed individually as going to Greece, but Moses is mentioned as leading the majority that went to Judea; perhaps my query was not worded so well, as it was sparked by your remark that the the admission of the tribe of Dan into the 12 Tribes of Israel constituted "a return home", which seems misleading in a way as it implies that that Phoenicians can be viewed as ancient Israelis (!); surely most if not all of the ancient Israelis were there already with Moses who had lead his "colony", presumably his people, the Israelites
@@mackyvjemand7025 My point is really Dr. Yadin's point. The whole thing about the Danites being from the Levant (I agree Phoenecians are not Israelites) and coming back home again as recorded by the Greeks ... it's just a nice connection, but it's not crticial to the basic theory. Yadin's basic theory was that the Danites were Sea People who were slowly integrated into the Israelite people. Yes, soome points are stronger than others, but the Greek aspect isn't a necessary piece to his general premise, just icing on the cake. As for who Moses was leading ... Even in Exodus, when the Israelites left Egypt, we were already a "mixed multitude". Also, if you do a quick search in the Bible, there are many, many references about proselytes. It was never just one group of people. Hope this helps.
I don't know if this makes sense, but Mopsos and Moses sounds similar.
I definitely like you thinking outside the box, but remember Moses' name in the original Hebrew is "Moshe". If interested, I discuss the etymology here: th-cam.com/video/LJUdGlG0LBg/w-d-xo.html
You will find the tribe of "DAN" in Lon"DON". They are not the tribe of JUDAH like they claim. Judah is in the Phillipines, in my opinion.
Be careful when you talk about me because it might hit home a little bit.
Jewish? Don’t you mean Israelite? Unless you’re suggesting they are all from the tribe of Judah.
I agree 👍 i asked the same question with no intention of offending; the gentleman did answer my query by informing me the target audience was jewish.🤔