The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel: New Identities Across Time and Space

Description

The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel is the first study to treat the history of claims to an Israelite identity as an ongoing historical phenomenon from biblical times to the present. By treating the Hebrew Bible's accounts of Israel as one of many efforts to construct an Israelite history, rather than source material for later legends, Andrew Tobolowsky brings a long-term comparative approach to biblical and nonbiblical "Israelite" histories. In the process, he sheds new light on how the structure of the twelve tribes tradition enables the creation of so many different visions of Israel, and generates new questions: How can we explain the enduring power of the myth of the twelve tribes of Israel? How does "becoming Israel" work, why has it proven so popular, and how did it change over time? Finally, what can the changing shape of Israel itself reveal about those who claimed it? Cover Half-title Title page Copyright information Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: The Twelve Tribes Tradition and the Hidden History of ''Becoming Israel'' 1 Judah's Israels: The Twelve Tribes of Israel in the Hebrew Bible 1.1 The Origins of the Preservative Method 1.2 The Preservative Method Today 1.3 The ''Cultural Invention'' Method 1.4 Towards a Redescriptive Method 1.5 Learning to Code 1.6 Conclusion 2 The Tribes That Were Not Lost: The Samaritans 2.1 The Samaritans 2.2 The Varieties of Ethnic Competition 2.3 The Capabilities of Segmented Systems 2.4 The Internal Logic of Segmented Systems 2.5 Conclusion 3 Across the River Sambatyon: The Lost Tribes of Israel in Medieval Legends 3.1 An Interpretive Framework 3.2 The Armies of the Prester 3.3 The Lost Tribes in the Lands of Prester John 3.4 The Gates of Alexander 3.5 Hopes and Fears of Israel 3.6 Eldad ha-Dani and the Jews of Kairouan 3.7 A Jewish Prester John 3.8 Conclusion 4 Becoming Israel in America: The Mormons and the New Jerusalem 4.1 The ''Jewish Indian Theory'' 4.2 The Book of Mormon 4.3 On the Trail of Israel 4.4 Becoming Israel 4.5 Israel in the Mormon Patriarchal Blessing 4.6 Conclusion 5 A Lost Tribe Returns: The Beta Israel in Ethiopia and Israel 5.1 Israelites Among Israelites in Ethiopia 5.2 The Children of Solomon and Sheba 5.3 The Danite Legend 5.4 Israel Meets Israel 5.5 Israelites Among Israelites Again 5.6 Conclusion Conclusion: The Making of Many Israels Bibliography Index