The Ten Lost Tribes: A World History

By Zvi Ben-Dor Benite

Book Overview

The legendary story of the ten lost tribes of Israel has resonated among both Jews and Christians down through the centuries: the compelling idea that some core group of humanity was ''lost'' and exiled to a secret place, perhaps someday to return triumphant. In The Ten Lost Tribes, Zvi Ben-Dor Benite shows for the first time the extent to which the search for the lost tribes of Israel became, over two millennia, an engine for global exploration and a key mechanism for understanding the world.

As the book reveals, the quest for the missing tribes and the fervent belief that their restitution marked a necessary step toward global redemption have been threaded through countless historical moments--from the formation of the first ''world'' empires to the age of discovery, and from the spread of European imperialism to the rise of modern-day evangelical apocalypticism. More than a historical survey of an enduring myth, The Ten Lost Tribes offers a unique prism through which to view the many facets of encounters between cultures, the processes of colonization, and the growth of geographical knowledge.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019530733X
• ISBN13: 9780195307337
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.3"