Is the Ark of the Covenant in Zimbabwe?
The recent article by God Seeker and the subsequent discussion invited me to share with the good readers of this blog some fascinating clues that the Ark of the Covenant, mentioned in the Old Testament maybe right here in Harare. Earlier this year I read an article in TIME magazine that an artifact which some scholars claim could be a piece of the Ark of the Covenant is here in Zimbabwe! On reading this my eyes almost popped out of their sockets and needless to say I fell out of my chair. Could it be true that a central piece in the life of Old Testament Judaism was right here in a country that most have said is ‘God Forsaken’? (and how many times have you heard people making that statement?). Intrigued I set out to view this piece of religious treasure and hopefully to hear from experts whether indeed a piece of the Ark was in Harare.
My journey to the Harare’s Museum of Human Sciences started on a rather uneventful Christmas day in 2007. Searching for some meaningful entertainment I bumped into an interesting National Geographic documentary dealing with 7 Biblical mysteries. Being Christmas, and being somewhat a student of religion I decided to have a look. Also some of my Christian friends are not the biggest fans of National Geo which they mockingly call National Pornographic. Well as with some things I’m a bit of a contrarian on this. So I found myself riveted to the tube watching this docie focusing on among others the plagues that struck Egypt prior to the exodus, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the one I found incredibly intriguing was the disappearance of the Ark of the Covenant.
A quick disclaimer though, I’m not a Bible Scholar or Historian or any other kind of religious or archeological expert but simply a dude who’s intrigued. So a major challenge in writing this is not to provide a scholarly treatise but to ignite the spark of curiosity in you. What you do with that spark is your business.
As some of you who have read in the Bible, the Ark of the Covenant was central to the life of Israel especially after they came into the Promised Land and as they set out to conquer and take possession of it.
The story of the Ark of the Covenant begins more than 3,000 years ago, when Moses ascended Mount Sinai and received explicit instructions from God on how to construct the Ark. It became a sacred container, holding the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments and other sacred objects, including the rod of Aaron, and a golden jar holding manna from the journey across the wilderness. God issued very specific and detailed instructions about the materials to be used for it’s construction, the design, the dimensions, use and even who could touch/ handle the Ark and in what manner. Unfortunate or overzealous Israelites who forgot these instructions met a fiery and explosive end.
The Ark was not only central in Israel’s worship regimen but also played a pivotal part in battle. The Ark is carried around Jericho behind the trumpet players before the walls are brought tumbling down, and in numerous battles the Ark plays a central role in the defeat of Israel’s enemies. However, the Ark’s presence did not guarantee success in battle and on several occasions Israel is at the receiving end of a beating despite having the Ark, for example against Benjamin at Gibeah, Joshua lost despite the Ark’s presence. Often these defeats can be traced to indiscretions on the part of Israel.
The centrality of the Ark in Israel’s life is what makes its disappearance so enigmatic. The Bible simply stops mentioning the Ark. There is no indication that God instructed the Hebrews to destroy it or something else along those lines. It simply vanishes into thin air. The ignominious manner in which scripture dispenses of the Ark is the basis for all the extreme fascination with its fate and possible existence today. This interest has spurred the actions of treasure hunters as in the Hollywood movie “Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark”, historians, theologians and ordinary Joes like me.
Nat Geo proposed three theories as to what happened to the Ark and the one that made me stand up and notice was the claim that it could be in Ethiopia. Of the three theories the Ethiopian link was the strongest and most obvious. You see the Christian Orthodox church in Ethiopia expressly makes the claim of having the Ark and has various celebrations where replica Arks are carried around by the faithful. The church also claims to have in its possession the real McCoy. So how did the Ark end up in Ethiopia? Well it’s said that when the Queen of Sheba got to know Solomon, in the Biblical sense that is their progeny Menelik later brought it to Ethiopia after the destruction of Solomon’s Temple.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church says the Ark is housed in a temple within the town of Aksum in northern Ethiopia, not far from the shores of the Red Sea. Proving the case for the Ark in Ethiopia remains impossible because only the chosen guardian of the temple is allowed to view the sacred object. Daily he is said to kneel before the Ark and pray. Once a year, on the Feast of St. Mary, the chapel gates are opened to the public, but access and viewing of the Ark remains forbidden.
Nat Geo duly showed the Arks resting place at the Temple but from outside a securely locked gate. An interesting point made in the film was that although it was honour to become the guardian of the Ark the proximity to the Ark often led to a fairly rapid deterioration in health of the office’s incumbent.
The program concluded that Ethiopia was the most feasible resting place of the Ark based on current evidence. But if the Ark is in Ethiopia how then can it be at the Museum of Human Sciences in the city where the sun don’t shine eh I mean in the Sunshine city.
This part of the story starts with Professor Tudor Parfitt the author of the book The Lost Ark of the Covenant, Solving the 2,500 Year Mystery of the Fabled Biblical Ark. Parfitt is not just another crank with a good story to tell. In the 1980’s Parfitt’s claim that the Lemba (or Remba) an ethnic group who occupy parts of South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe where descendents of the tribe of Levi which God selected to be the priestly tribe. Academics scoffed at Parfitt’s claims. On the face of it who wouldn’t?
Parfitt first heard about the Lemba when he gave a lecture in South Africa on Ethiopian Jews the Falashas and their exodus from Ethiopia to Israel. The lecture was largely attended by white Jews but at the back of the audience Parfitt noticed some black people wearing yarmulkes, the Jewish skull cap. Afterwards in a discussion with them he was told they were Jews and after spending some time with them became convinced that there was substance to their claims. Parfitt’s subsequent study of the Lemba revealed the Semitic and Middle Eastern aspects of their culture notably the ritual slaughter of animals. Amongst many other clues Parfitt noted that the Lemba had clan names which sound similar to words in Arabic or Hebrew: names like Hamesi, Sadiki and Sulamani. The Lemba had another interesting claim: they build Great Zimbabwe (maybe more of that in another article).
Parfitt concluded that indeed these blokes were Jews but could he prove it beyond what could be said to circumstantial evidence? Until fairly recently, there was no way to test the Lemba’s belief in a Jewish heritage. But in the 1990s a key scientific discovery was made; a key as basic as blood and bone, and infallible as a fingerprint: Genetic Markers. The breakthrough in the discovery of genetic markers served to confirm the Lemba’s Jewish lineage.
Here’s a snapshot of how this knew knowledge unlocked the puzzle of the Lemba. The Hebrew Bible says that Aaron, the brother of Moses, was chosen by God to begin a family line of priests to serve in the temple. Priest in Hebrew is “Cohane,” plural “Cohanim.” And to this day, a small percentage of Jews identify themselves as Cohanim.
Parfitt and his team looked at the genetic markers of Cohanim in Israel and the results are stunning. Looking at the Y chromosome Parfitt’s team identified a group of genetic markers (a distinctive combination of letter changes and how this sequence is repeated. The letter changes are from the four chemical bases of DNA: Thymine, Adenine, Guanine, and Cytosine - known by their initials: T and A, G and C). The letter sequence that Parfitt identified was dubbed the Cohen Modal Haplotype (for example a letter sequence can be GATA) is seen in about 10% of the general Jewish population and in over 50% of the Cohanim. The long-held Jewish belief that priestly status is passed from father to son over the centuries seems to be confirmed in the genes. The long-held Jewish belief that priestly status is passed from father to son over the centuries seems to be confirmed in the genes.
Knowing this Parfitt realized that if the Cohen Modal Haplotype is found among a significant percentage of the Lemba, their claim to Jewish ancestry will suddenly become more credible. The distinctive Cohanim markers appear in the Lemba at the same frequency as they do in the general Jewish population, far more frequently than in any non-Jewish population tested.
The Lemba are divided into clans and there was one particular clan, the Buba, which is the premier clan amongst the Lemba, where the frequency of the Cohen Y chromosome was very high and in fact, almost 50%.
You can read an interesting article about the science and the tests here. The conclusion of the genetic test was that the Lemba ARE Jews and descended from the priestly line of Levi. Parfitt’s reputation moved from Nutty Professor to Newton’s chair (eh don’t let Stephen Hawking hear that!).
OK, so Parfitt was right about the Lemba’s heritage but whats the link with the Ark of the Covenant. Parfitt says the Ark made a voyage from Jerusalem and into the hands of the Lemba, who call the object ngoma.
The professor says the Lemba migrated from Jerusalem via a spice route, arriving in the city of Senna, located in modern day Yemen. From a nearby port, the Lemba presumably harnessing the monsoon winds then sailed down to what would be modern day Dar-es-Salaam (see Map Here). Parfitt’s search for the Ark led him across the African continent and in a case were life imitates art was shot at like Indiana Jones. After such drama the economic chaos in Zimbabwe would have been a nice walk in the park. Eventually Parfitt search zeroed in to our dusty museum in Harare. In a spine tingling moment he came face to face with the holy grail of his search the Ark or in this case the ngoma. Parfitt describes the moment thus “amidst nesting mice, was an old drum with an uncharacteristic burnt-black bottom hole [As if it had been used like a cannon!], the remains of carrying rings on its corners; and a raised relief of crossed reeds.”
The most obvious objection to our Harare ngoma/ drum as the remnant of the Ark is simply because it does not fit the Biblical description. The description of the Ark renders it as gold plated box like structure with rings for carrying poles on the side. Also carbon dating of the our object places it around 1350 AD, that’s 2500 years after when it’s supposed to have first appeared.
Parfitt explains the ngoma ‘transformation’ on the supposition of the Ark’s frequent association with trumpets, and on aspects of a Bible passage where King David dances in its presence (maybe the dance was Jerusarema!). Parfitt admits that such a multipurpose object would be “very bizarre” in either culture, but insists, “that’s an argument for a connection between them (the Ark and the ngoma).”
On the second charge Parfitt contends that Lemba legend has it that the original ngoma destroyed itself some 400 years ago and had to be rebuilt on its own “ruins” — “constructed by priests to replace the previous Ark. There can be little doubt that what I found is the last thing on earth in direct descent from the Ark of Moses.”
So armed with this knowledge I made a trek to the Museum of Human Sciences to see for myself this piece of Biblical importance. My initial conversation with the attendants at the museum elicited cryptic and amused responses. One of the guys probably showing a lack of Biblical understating was struggling to understand what the Ark was. So maybe I was on a wild goose chase after all; but just as I was about to throw in the towel as if by divine providence a guy came down the steps and my three puzzled friends asked him if he knew anything about the Ark. He gave me one of those movie “Who wants to know?” type of looks and in fact proceeded to ask a question along those lines. Before he answered the original question he had been asked he asked me if I was a researcher. I almost said ‘Yes!’ I mean by a loose definition of the term as a seeker of knowledge I was a researcher. I passed on the temptation and answered NO. After a few more questions he said yeah they did have an object that some believed was a remnant of the Ark.
I almost hugged and kissed the guy…..ok so can I see it? At this point I hit my final brick wall. The object is under ‘high security’ and only available for viewing primarily to researchers and maybe just maybe to lay folks like me but by prior arrangement. It turns out the man I spoke to is an archeologist and by his opinion the object is not impressive and he does not believe it’s an artifact of the Ark. He did admit though that there had been tremendous interest from researchers and academics particularly from abroad about the artifact.
I’m still to communicate with some of the local researchers about the artifact and their findings but in a casual discussion a friend he noted that Ethiopia was never colonized highlighting their defeat of Mussolini’s army. Some accounts though indicate that Ethiopia was colonized by Italy between 1936 and 1941. He also noted that Ethiopia has a rich cultural history and is one of those African cultures with its own calendar, alphabet and writing culture. My friends contention is that Ethiopia has some ‘Jewish’ qualities, you know: intelligence and prosperity (not entirely sure about the latter though).
Conjecture aside, there is something afoot here. The evidence tells us there are Ethiopian Jews and descendents of the tribe of Levi in Southern Africa including Zimbabwe. One of my friends conjectures is that the reason why Zimbabwe has not exploded or collapsed into ungovernable chaos is because of God’s covenant with Israel (don’t ask me which covenant!). The Lemba say the ngoma is the Ark of the Covenant, this maybe debatable but their knowledge of it is a significant point.
I’m not sure what you make of all this; for me though the intriguing aspect is that this Biblical genealogy and maybe, just maybe the presence of the Ark in Zimbabwe may indeed suggest that we are part of God’s chosen people and not God forsaken afterall!
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On The Zimbo Jam- Alick Macheso- Lucky Guitarist or Musical Genius?By Memory Chirere Although many Zimbabwean music lovers are agreed that Alick Macheso is the King of Sungura, the Zimbabwean brand of Rhumba, that is as far as the agreement will go. As Masimba Kuchera admits in an article on the Chesopower website, ‘there have been many schools of thought on the (real) strength of Macheso- some arguing about his skills with the bass guitar, some contending that it is his vocals and others proffering his dancing skills, it is generally agreed that the musician is of immense talent.’ When people agree that you are extremely talented but go on to debate hotly about exactly whether your strength lies in theway you walk or the way you run, then that is a mark of genius. You actually put people in a crisis of naming aspects of a phenomenon.
- A Dance Farewell for Isabel MatolaBy Ruvimbo Hope Masike Here is one of the most beautiful things about Zimbabwe. It is inimitably Zimbabwean. We Zimbabweans love peace, of course, among other things. We love fun, joy and we are naturally celebratory people even when there isn’t much to celebrate about. For instance young children jump around joyously chanting “Ndege! Ndege!” when an aeroplane passes over them. Now when there is something worthy of the celebration, the joy is electric, understandably so, considering how almost everything else around us is seemingly dull and confusing and uninspiringly so. As a result, when Isabel Matola’s Mozambique Dance Festival came by, it turned out to be one of the brightest lights in town, which was a well deserved acclaim.
- Kanda Bongo Man Lands in Harare With One Guitar[Herald] France-based rhumba maestro Kanda Bongo Man had just one guitar when he set out to perform at the Harare International Conference Centre on Wednesday evening, and his day was saved by a local musician who offered him his instruments on the 11th hour to avert what could have turned out to be an international disaster.
- Alick Macheso- Lucky Guitarist or Musical Genius?
Fascinating stuff Brian. Got me thinking about how claims of ownership of land and other things can be based on much more than the colour of one’s skin!. I like the last bit about how we are not God forsaken.
A well researched article man. My head is spinning from trying to digest it all. I will put it aside for now and reread at another time!
Intriguing but not surprising. People talk about Africans having Jewish traits but this probably because the Bible has become such a central text to many people’s lives that it is viewed as the primary historical text. However, what if we were to look at it this way, Jewsih culture has African traits. If Jews were in captivity in Egypt for 300 years, and Egypt (Kemet) was originally African, this should not be surprising. Semite- you have semi- meaning half…And you don’t stay in slavery for 300 years in slavery without your culture being shaped and influenced by that of your masters (look at what just 100 years of colonialism did to us)…
You know, I once said to a colleague of mine, when you read the Old Testament, the laws rules, rituals and sacraments and you look at Zimbabwe undiluted traditional religion and its true teachings (far removed from the Tsikamutanda craze) one sees similarities and continuities (including priestly laws and garb)…
Go back to Bantu migration and you are going to an original homeland, the Great River Nile cropping up again and again in one form or another and then…there is the splendour of Great Zimbabwe…the Conical Tower…
Great stuff Brian, the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are falling into place and in the end the Truth shall be revealed and for those of who know part of it, a smile tugs the lips, for quiet clearly, the Truth is out there and it’s bigger than any of us imagine or have been allowed to know or think thus far
@Shingairai a friend of mine shared with me a story about how sometime back he was fed up with Zim and was on the verge of emigrating to the US. He went to the US and amid the wealth of money and opportunity he also saw poor people. At that point he realised that Zimbabwe was not ‘God Forsaken’ afterall there were still some positives back home, although I must say he may change his mind if things remain as they are now.
@Fungaijames thanks for your kind words. I hope your head settles!
@rmupfudza you make some interesting observations my friend. Indeed I agree about the similarities you highlight. My sincere hope is that there is more research about these issues and that the findings are placed in the public domain. I also hope there is more exposure of these issues are given in our schools.
The Ark of the Covenant is in Ethiopia. The story of how it got there is recorded in the Kebra Naghast. It is my dream to one day make available the Kebra Naghast in local languages so that all can understand Africa’s place in the Judaeo-Christian dispensation.
What the Lemba possess is another holy artefact. There are other African people who possess other things from the Temple.
@Masimba Musodza. In the meantime how can the Kebra Naghast be accessed, read? What other literature is there in a similar vein and how can we access it?
@Masimba thanks for this additional information. I’m also keen on reading the Kebra Naghast. Would you know why the Ethiopian church does not grant public access to the Ark given the fact that originally the Ark was not closeted away but played an integral part in Hebrew life?
The Kebra Naghast was translated in to English by one Budge. An online copy can be seen on http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/kn/index.htm
I have a copy in Amharic and the original Ge’ez. I belong to a small sect of Rastafarians that draw from the African Jewish heritage and the Ethiopian Christian tradition. I can read Amharic perfectly, but I still need more lessons. Ge’ez is more complicated because it is no longer spoken but remains the language of the church and of scholarship, rather like Latin to the Europeans or Sanskrit to the Hindus.
To answer Brian’s question: Even the replicas that are to be found in every ethiopian church can only be viewed by clergy. In every church, the ark is kept covered. I think I am one of the few Zimbabweans who has had the privilege of witnessing an Ethiopian Orthodox service,and I can tell you that much of our own churches (the Zionist Apostolic sects) echo a very strong Ethiopian influence.
The actual ark is considered to sacred for ordinary eyes, it is powerful, that is what the priests say. Clues are there in the Bible about its power- like striking dead people for handling it wrong. A sceptical European asked the Priest Tessa Mariam if there was any proof that the Ark was in Ethiopia. Priest Tessa Mariam pointed at the huge stelae and asked him if he could explain how they were built.
There is a book, the Sign and the Seal by Graham Hancock. I have a copy.
There are plans to set up some sort of library where such reading material can be made available to all Zimbabweans. I have also plans to do a series of lecture videos. The only obstacle is how to get these across without charging people- knowledge can never be for sale. At the same time, I don’t want to look like I am canvassing for converts to Rastafari.
Oh, and another thing: Carl Mauch, the German explorer who saw the Zimbabwe Ruins in the 1800s described in his diary what he saw as Jewish rites being observed by the local people. An English translation of this diary is in the Reading Room at the National Archives in Harare.
It is my belief that Zimbabwe or Southern Africa is the Biblical land of Ophir. (compare Ophir with the ancient Egyptian frw or our Shona Mu-FaRo or the Somali EFRaax- a girl’s name, or the ancient tribe Afar etc.)
So, there you have it, we are people of the Book in a way that the missionaries (and the Pentecostals) do not want us to see ourselves. And we have the Ark, and the Priestly Kohen bloodline, and the Royal Davidic bloodline.
@Masimba.This is intriguing. I am sure there are any people out there who have a passion for ideas and are not hampered by the fear of being “converted” or “contaminated” and would simply want to expand their knowledge threshold.
Some time back I used to watch the theological “wrestling” matches between the Black Jews of Zimbabwe and Christians- the former tended to have more substance while the latter tended to be emotive and disparaging)…But I would really like to find out more info you might have, from your perspective about this Priestly Kohen Bloodline, Royal Davidic bloodline- your perspectives, and any other literature at your disposal…
I remember reading the other day about the Bantu echoes in name of the Egyptian Queeen Nerfetiti and its proper rendition Nfuraa- ti and its kin in Kiswahili. “The Shona-Bantu verb FARA is closely connected to the Kiswahili-Bantu verb FURAHI, which is also pronounced as FURAI,” states the researcher, Ferg Somo.
Mmmm…this is all tantalising stuff and would relish a more focused and systematic chance to delve more into this…
@Brian Godo: My friend, do you see the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle falling into place here?
@rmupfudza. Indeed the pieces of the puzzle are coming together but in a sense I still feel like we are the proverbial blind men who are asked to touch the different parts of an elephant and who then proceed to describe it. Indeed there is a lot of stuff out there for it just to be coincidence and it’s exciting to be looking at new pieces of this puzzle.
Masimba the online version of the Kebra Naghast is quite interesting. Your initiative to deciminate this information is noble and should be encouraged. I’d to check out some of that book by Hancock that you cite so give me a shout at briangondo(at)gmail(dot)com. Thanks
Selamte my brothers ( “Greetings”)
Yes, I remember the debates with the Jewish and the Christians. One of the biggest problems that we have in Zimbabwe is that a small group of Christians have decided that Zimbabwe is to be a Christian nation. Not only should it be a Christian nation, but that it should be only according to THEIR understanding of Christianity. Anything else is anathema. I have been called a Satanist a few times, by people who don’t even know what a Satanist is.
The Kohenic line is the descendants of Aaron. In fact, Kohen simply means Priest. Thus, in European Judaism, anyone with the surname Cohen, Coen, Katz etc is considered a direct descendant of Aaron. While in the European version of Judaism Jewish descent is in the maternal line, the Cohen line is male. It comes with special priveleges. For example, during the Reading of the Torah in the synagogue, the Cohens read first then any other male Jew. This has nothing to do with training or notable piety etc. Thus if we were at a synagogue service with Sasha Baron Cohen- the chap who plays BORAT- he would have this special place as a Cohen.
Levi can be read to mean MY HEART/SOUL, and thus Jacob’s blessing on Levi in Genesis 49 can be taken as a play on a word that can mean Heart. Interestingly, Carl Mauch’s diary notes that the Rozvi are the ones “closest to Jewry”, and they are of the Moyo totem, which means Heart…….In fact, our totem system echoes the symbols of the Twelve Tribes as described in the Blessing of the Patriarch Jacob. Read Genesis 49 and ask yourself if Jacob was not talking of Dziva/Siziba, Mhofu/Mpofu, Moyo, Shumba/Sibanda etc.
The Davidic line was established from the union of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Before that, the Queen of Sheba could trace her lineage to Ori, the grandson of Kush and further to Noah up to Adam. Many African Kings can trace their lineages to Shem or Ham, because these two peoples have occupied Asia and Africa before the Japhetic peoples (the Indians and the Chinese). The Yoruba people for example trace their lineage to a Lamurudu or Namrudu- the Nimrod of the Bible. In fact, some scholars believe the name Yoruba to be the Yerubaal of the Canaanites. Thus, a study of world history will confirm the narrative of the Bible.
Speaking of the Bible, did you know how many words in the Hebrew and also Akkadian Sumerian (the language of Abraham’s time) bear phonetic similarity to those of the language we call Shona? The Epic of Gilgamesh speaks of ancestral spirits called….Iddimmu. The famed King Hammurabi’s name sounds like Hamamurapi, which is precisely what it means in Akkadian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammurabi .
There have been attempts by European scholars to tie European Kings to the House of David. This was the whole idea behind the media hype about The Da Vinci Code, an attempt to get people to accept the wild and laughable idea that Europe’s royal houses are descended from Jesus and Mary Magdalene. But the only family that has always publicly stated its descent from King David is Imperial family of Ethiopia
Intriguing stuff, I agree. It shows us that we most certainly not the ignorant savages living in a wasteland of centuries of non-achievement, just waiting for the missionaries and the colonisers to show us the way, but we have been an active part of the world from creation.
Selamte, indeed, to one and all. “I believe that much of what is written has been written before; much of what is said has been said before. What each generation gets is a re- appearance of information in a style and context that speaks to their needs and wants, that speaks to their particular void”- Haki R Madhubuti.
Brian, I do get that sense, too, that there is a lot of information out there, and it’s in different hands, groups, etc. I think there is an urgent need to transcend the proverbial blind man and the elephant syndrome. That, I think, requires a more systematic, coordinated and co- operative approach so that at the end end of the day, we behold not just a small fraction of the elephant, but the whole (while understanding its many different parts and how it contributes to the sum total).
Masimba, I understand that there is a way in which our totemic system can be explained using the Twelve Tribes…Can you shed more light on this?
Then there is the whole question of the sacred texts of Ancient Egypt. Are the Ten Commandments can be found in “The Book of Coming Forth By Day” (125th chapter), a book much older than the Bible? Was Moses inspired, not just by the Burning Bush, and by Egyptian sacred texts such as the “Book of Amenomope’, “Book of Ptah- Hotep” and of “Kagemni” and of “Kheti” Did Solomon borrow from Amenomope?
One would like to read such texts for oneself, without having to learn how to read hieroglyphics (but if the need absolutely arises…)…but how? where?
Selamte my brothers
“Brian, I do get that sense, too, that there is a lot of information out there, and it’s in different hands, groups, etc. I think there is an urgent need to transcend the proverbial blind man and the elephant syndrome. That, I think, requires a more systematic, coordinated and co- operative approach so that at the end end of the day, we behold not just a small fraction of the elephant, but the whole (while understanding its many different parts and how it contributes to the sum total).”
Very dangerous thinking, my friend. If you study the history of the different religions, you would know that each religious group has sought to keep hidden much of the information. It took hundreds of years before the Bible as we know it was established (hundreds of years and the wholesale slaughter of those who had their own canon). Today, Islam has managed to maintain that the Quran has been unaltered from when it was revealed-but there are allusions to alternative versions and evidence of influence from the large body of Jewish and Christian writings. The Muslims also took the trouble to burn down the Alexandrian Library when they came to Africa, after deciding what to destroy and what to keep. Napoleon helped himself to the Vatican Library.
Who knows what was taken from Zimbabwe by way of literature? It is known that in the Middle-Ages, the Catholic population in Zimbabwe was c15000. That is a lot of people when you consider that the biggest city at the time had 20000 inhabitants. There is a chap I met on the train in London who is writing a book about Zimbabwe’s contribution to Catholic scholarship.
“Masimba, I understand that there is a way in which our totemic system can be explained using the Twelve Tribes…Can you shed more light on this?”
Well, a member of the Zimbabwe Hebrew Congregation explained it thus.
Genesis 49: Reuben is described as “unstable as water”, a play on his totem as Dziva/Siziba. In this group falls Ndlovhu/Nzou, who are also said to have been originally Dziva. Simeon and Levi represent the Moyo-Lev is Heart in Hebrew, and Levi is My Heart. A European observer noted that the Lemba Kohenic clan actually spread itself all over Southern African and attached itself to every family to serve them as priests, fulfilling Jacob’s wish that they will be scattered all over Israel. Judah of course is quite clearly Shumba/Sibanda.
“Then there is the whole question of the sacred texts of Ancient Egypt. Are the Ten Commandments can be found in “The Book of Coming Forth By Day” (125th chapter), a book much older than the Bible? Was Moses inspired, not just by the Burning Bush, and by Egyptian sacred texts such as the “Book of Amenomope’, “Book of Ptah- Hotep” and of “Kagemni” and of “Kheti” Did Solomon borrow from Amenomope?”
The Bible testifies that Moses was educated as an Egyptian- Acts 7:27. Solomon too was educated, he married an Egyptian Princess and so would have known about the culture which was the highest at the time. Have a look at http://touregypt.net/instructionofamenemope.htm and the Book of Proverbs.
Remember at the time there wasn’t a Bible. Much of what we call the Bible was compiled during Ezra’s time. That is why Moses writes his own obituary in Deuteronomy, a book that he is supposed to have written. The Hebrews had access to the library of a higher culture, that of Babylon, and so were able to get information such as the origin of the different nations etc. This is the situation that we are facing now, much of the information is in European hands. Instead of just swallowing what they give us, we should be in the archives and libraries searching out that which will be useful to us.
There arose in Egypt a King who challenged the polytheism of the time and declared that there was only One God. He was Akhenaton, and his symbol of this one God is a white disc on a black cloth. If you have been at a bira, you know that this is the same symbol that the spirit medium has on his garments. Actually, the medium at the bira I attended wore Akhenaton’s disc and also the Star of David. Later, I asked him about the origins and he said all he knew was that they were from a tradition dating from before our people set foot in this country. He was shocked to see them in a book by Europeans. Akhenaton’s hymns of praise to the new one God have been compared to the Psams of David. Have a look at http://www.interfaith.org/ancient/akhenaten.php . This hymn has been compared to Psalm 105
Some scholars think that Akhenaton was the historical Moses. Reason being Moses isn’t a Hebrew name, but an Epyptian one. However, he was raised as an Egyptian so I don’t see how that should be surprising.
There is a translation of the Book of the Coming Forth By Day and By Night by Wallace Budge http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ . A print version contains the English, the heiroglyphics and the Egyptian language in English letters. By the way, the closest surviving language to Egyptian is Wolof of West Africa.
I am finding this interesting. I thought I was the only Zimba who took this seriously.
This is an interesting discussion and I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a friend the other day. He says to me Zimbabwe is still in the throes of a crisis because God is still working out his purposes for the nation. He believes just as in the time of Nehemiah and Ezra, divine judgement has been passed on Zimbabwe for which it needs to atone. I then asked him “So what sin has Zimbabwe committed?” He couldn’t answer that with any specificity. The lack of a specific answer simply made me more curious about his argument.
Looking at some of the comments here though I’m spurned to think that maybe the ’sin’ that the nation committed was to grant refuge to Mengistu Haile Mariam.
Remember Mengistu is reported to have killed Haile Salassie I who as stated before is a descendant from the royal line of David. Look at the following scripture about God’s covenant with David:
“The Lord hath sworn a true oath to David from which He will never turn aside: Of the fruit of thy loins I will seat upon thy throne. If they will keep the allegiance of My Covenant and of My testimony which I shall teach them, their children shall sit upon thy throne for ever.”
Are we bearing divine judgement for habouring one who struck a heir to the throne of David?
Prometheus dared steal fire from the Olympian gods- he, too, must have been dangerous thinker…Alas, his fate! Nimrod’s Tower of Babel also kind of went against the grain, didn’t it? I hope I’m not in dangerous company here, Masimba…
Delusions of granduer aside, this really is turning out to be fascinating and enlightening.
“There arose in Egypt a King who challenged the polytheism of the time and declared that there was only One God. He was Akhenaton, and his symbol of this one God is a white disc on a black cloth. If you have been at a bira, you know that this is the same symbol that the spirit medium has on his garments. Actually, the medium at the bira I attended wore Akhenaton’s disc and also the Star of David. Later, I asked him about the origins and he said all he knew was that they were from a tradition dating from before our people set foot in this country.”
I, too, have seen the disc, but knew not what it was and David’s Star, recognised it for what it is commonly associated with and wondered why it was there, along with the disc, where I had seen it…And then there is the whole kneeling while facing the place of the rising sun thing… It would really be great to immerse oneself in these books you have, look more closely at the story of our people’s dispersion (resulting in multitudes of migrations)… What more do you have to help us connect the dots (drop me a line on rmupfudza@yahoo.com)
Yes, alas, libraries were burnt and plundered. Remember too, Greeks who taught what was essentially essentially Egyptian philosophy were forced to drink from the poisoned chalice… Ah that, Napoleon, the nose of the Sphynx owes its mutilation to him simply because it was too “negroid’ (African)…Indeed, we should be in re- plundering what they have plundered and hidden in their vaults, basements, et al… and then bring it forth, even in vernacular as you have envisioned..
Can you share a bit more about the Ezra era and compilation bit, because some people have tended to pick out the inconsistencies in the Torah, in particular, to debunk its authenticity….and then there was also Nicerene…
The Lemba and their priesthood in Zim…what more do you have?
Who would have thought Brian’s article would open these splendid floodgates?
And Masimba, you are not the only who thought you were the only Zimba who took this stuff seriously…
Selamte my brothers and sisters
Sorry for the absence.
I think the real sin of Zimbabwe is not about Haile Selassie (who, by the way is alive in Ethiopia. He is a wandering hermit by the name Abba Qiddus Tukur Amlak and attended a conference in 1997. I have a picture of a very old man with dreadlocks who is almost certainly the Emperor)
The real sin is how we lost our unhu. Our love for each other. When we neglected our duty towards our families and created streetkids in a culture that had never heard of such, and encouraged prostitution, when our leaders lost the plot- including those religious ones who can be as easily bought as the political ones.
I have heard this claims of inconsistencies with the Bible. The ones that have been drawn to my attention appear to be down to mistranslations or misinterpretations. At Sunday School, a teacher told us that Jesus had predicted child abuse when he said “Suffer the little children”. I was 9, I think, but I pointed out that “Suffer” in Old English meant “Allow”. Sure enough, a check with the modern translation revealed that the verse had been rendered as “Let the children come to me”. I have been having this debate with an American Rastafarian who claims that there was another race before Adam. He bases his arguement on the use of the words “replenish the earth” in Genesis. I pointed out that in the English of King James’ time, “replenish” meant to “fill” and not “refil” as it does now. Unffortunately, he is one of those who is selective about what to learn and teach, and what sources are reliable.
The history of the restoration of Israel is in the books of Ezra and Nehemaiah. It describes the rebuilding of the Temple, and the establishment of modern Judaism. Interestingly, one of the Jewish people that returned from captivity were called Senaah (Ne 7:38)
Let me see if I can find relevant passages in this book about Biblical History.