The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-06-17


which many persons have
made a hobby, is that of
the fate of the ten northern
tribes Of Israel. who were carried into
captivity by Assyria, and theneetorth
disappear from the Bible record. Inc
mystery has been the theme OF many
books, and Of endless discussion Some
persons have intense convictions up
on it, and this present article VIII
doubtless call out hostile rejoinders-
One company of persons hold that the
Chinese are the lost Ten Tribes, while
others say that the North American
Indians are the descendants OF the
ancient Hebrew captives; still larg-
er body of advocates claim that the
Anglo-SaxOn race can boast this
Scriptura1 origin. There are theor-
les galore, for the subject is an al
Turing one. Today the whole Sunday
school world will study the tragic
episode that gives rise to- al the spec
tlations, the downfall of Samaria, the
capital of the Northern Kingdom of
Israel, and the carrying into captivity
OF the people by the Assyrians. Inc
awful end, many times foretold, had
come at last.
The romancers have long had their
vvav with this subject. No speculation
has been too wild to have adherents.
A little less imagfnativeness, and q
little more attention to the records OF
history and geography IN the case,
clears up the whole subject removing
&c out of the re- i'm of uureahty, pur
detracting not one whit from its in
terest. The very chapter from when
this lesson is taken plainly says, so
Israel was carried away out of their
own lands to Assyria, unto this day.
In other words, the Ten Tribes were
never lost; they were taken to AS
syria, where they remain to this day
They ceased to have q national exist
ence but their descendants are Still
despite the marvellous changes which
history has brought to this region,
within the confines of the territory
where they were placed by Sargon II.
A aFind7 Along the Tigris.
What is written briefly in the Old
Testament upon this subject is fully
corroborated by what is written at
length in the latest books of travel.
During my own travels in Mesopo-
tamia, a few weeks ago, I was not a
little Notwithstanding paid more at
tention to ingenious theories upon the
fate OF the lost" Ten Tribes than I
had to the simple recOrd-to learn that
the Jews are still scattered in COM
munities over the region along the IL
girls river that was once Assyria. It
is not they who have been lost but
we. The ancient center of civiliza-
ton has passed almost wholly out of
the common knowledge of mankind.
Assyria is not so well known as
China. There are a thousand Eu-
the Yangtze to every one that travels
on the 1igris or Euphrates. Mesopo-
tamia is not so well known as Ugan-
da SO through all these centuries, in
strange fulfllment of Biblical rec
ord these Jews have persisted in the
place Of their captivity, despite almost
constant poverty and oppression, while
the kingdom of Assyria and Baby
lon and Persia and Greece and Rome
and the Caliphate have thriven and
waned and disappeared before their
eyes. This persistence or the Jew
is uncanny, though Scr.ptural.
In Bagdad, where there are from
sixty to eighty thousand Jews. and
several miserable synagogues, had
a conference with the chief Rabbi and
his associates upon this subject Of the
lost tribes, and the existing Jews
IN Mesopotarnia- They say that their
people have always been rers since the
captivity, and that now there Is no
line OF division between the captives
from the northern and those from the
southern Kingdoms. The entire twelve
tribes are represented in Bagdad, as
we'll as up and down the valley. There
are also many Jews in Persia, the an
cient land of the Modes, whittier Sar-
gon sent them. While they have
been desperately poor and oppressed,
better days seem to be coming, and
with the opening Of the region to set
Element, they should find their oppor-
tunity. The revived life and con-
seriousness Of the Jewish nation will
not pass them by.
A Great Journey.
The average newspaper -eader. who
sees fncomprehensib1e dispatches con-
corning the new Bagdad railway, never
thinks that there is any connection
between this and the story of the
exile Of Israel. Yet the present dis
cussion is quite opportune for the
Bible teacher who would make the Old
Testament story vivid and real. The
route Of the Bagdad railway, from
Aleppo southwark, IS, broadly speak
Ing, the route of the great and miser-
able journey made by the Jewish cap
tives. That this forced emigration
was as definite and real as the daily
runs of the limited trains between
New York and Chicago is an impor-
tant point for the average boy and
girl to fix in mind permanently. Shall
maneser " and Sarge II are per-
fectly historical persons and my
self have read the lattcr's boastful
writings on the bricks Of his now bur
led capital, which he thought was to
endure forever. The person who
would go further into the absorbing
archaeological aspect of this story, and
learn the marvellous historical con-
6rmation of the Old Testament mar
rative, would better read Prof. Albert
+. Clay's Light on the Old Tesla
ment From Babel" published by the
Sunday School Times company. I
read It while floating down the tt
girls river, and found If illuminating
To remove the haze and obscurity
that envelopes Assyria fer the aver
age person, it would be well to take
a map and trace the probable route
Of the captives. acquiring on the way
some knowledge of geography that
will be Useful n the interpretation Of
the days news. Probably the Jordan
was crossed somewhere near the
Lake Of Galilee-and how different
this crossing from the one which their
fathers had made under Joshua as
the captive's consciences doubtless
reminded them-and them the noun
tains passed, they slowly 5ourneyed
up the valley through which now runs