One highly tenuous theory, is by Professor Kamal Salibi's of American University in Beirut. In his 1985 book Bible Came from Arabia, he compares place names in the Bible with names in Arabia today, and concludes that Palestine had absolutely no historical Hebrew presence, and rather South West Arabia is what the Bible refers to as Israel! Moreover, Moses and Pharaoh were not in Egypt, but rather in Yemen! Egypt in the Bible is not today's Egypt, ...etc.
- Summary of the theory
- References to this theory
- Asir is the promised land
- Summary of Salibi's views (in Arabic)
- Discussion of Salibi's theory
To bring both sides of the argument to the table, I have to mention that I received an email on April 2005 from Dr. Bernard Leeman stating the following:
I have just published "Queen of Sheba and Biblical Scholarship" (AWP, New Jersey) which concludes that Kamal Salibi's hypothesis is correct - that ancient Israel and Judah until 722 and 586 BCE were indeed in Western Arabia. Chaim Rabin's work (1951) (which Salibi didn't consult) on Ancient West Arabian concludes that there is too much Hebrew in certain South West Arabian dialects to be coincidental (in the same area that Salibi locates the Old Testament) . Also the map references, ancient legal code and other items in the Sheba-Melelik cycle of the Ethiopic (Ge'ez) Kebra Nagast support Salibi. Roger Schneider's discovery of Sabaean inscriptions near Mekele in Ethiopia not only confirms the presence there of Hebrews ca 800 BCE but also the narrative of the Kebra Nagast.
There is a lot more evidence, and Salibi should be taken very seriously, even though it means a major reassessment of faith-based history.
I emailed Dr. Leeman twice that I would be willing to publish a one page summary of his book on this site. I have not yet heard from him.
Comments
Noureddine (not verified)
The Right Conclusion
Sun, 2011/05/22 - 09:49Your opinion is a clear and direct opinion reflecting a pure finding. Thank for advising the Saudis and not only I share opinion with you but strongly agree that Arabia is the Hot Bed of history. Today the American tongue is corroborating everything especially that Americans are imposing their superpower character to sell THE GOOD NEWS BIBLE full of linguistic manipulations trying to impose the Modern State of Israel in its location north of the Nile Valley!! Look at Book 13 of Genesis about Abraham and Lot Separation and compare it to an old print of the Bible. You will see only perplexity and confusion. It is all about modern politics and interests. There has never been an Israelite state in the old times in Palestine. Israel was a population among other populations that we call today Palestinians, not a sovereign state. But if we look thoroughly, the actual people of Palestine are the real people of the Land since ever. They came from Arabia gradually through millennia prior to the coming of the Jews from Babylon. Palestine was the intersection between the Gypt Civilization and the Syro-Babylonian civilization. There was no strong kingdom in-between as described in the Old Testament. The Peoples of the Sea really came from the Red Sea because the Kingdom of the Israelites was there across the Red Sea. They tried to invade the Gypt Kingdom and Merneptah defeated them. He mentioned them by name on his Stella.
M. Essa (not verified)
The Origin of the name Palestine
Sun, 2011/01/09 - 11:04In my opinion there is no ancient language called "Hebrew". The old esraelites were speaking the sheba-Himiyar language which was spoken by all the yemeni tribes in the old Yemen. The Israelites used this language to write their stories and the stories
which took place in Old Yemen. Later in 282 B.C. when some of the Jewish Community in Alexandria translated these stories from the old Yemeni writings into greek language (later was known as the "Septuagint, Greek Old Testement"), the translators did not know that language well; because of time and place factors. They did many mistakes either because of lack of knowing or intentionally. They moved the scenes of events from old Yemen to Iraq; Egypt and Palestine. That counterfeiting entered history since that time. The word "Hebrew" is another story. In the ancient Yemen, all the tribes who were living or wondering in the desert were called "Ebran" when they cross to the civilized region. The inhabitants of the cities and towns were called "Kana'an" meaning the settled. In the year 1300 B.C. there were groups of gangs wondering in the area from Egypt to Syria and were known by historian as "Hebrews and Khafiros". The
Jewish writers in the 19th and 20th centuries tried to link the Old Israelites to those Hebrews in order to establish their existance in the area in old times.
M. Essa (not verified)
Imagined Palestine
Thu, 2011/01/13 - 04:23I admire Dr Kamal Salibi's theory "Israel from Arabia" because he was the first to write and publish about Bani Israel were in Ancient Yemen and not in Palestine. His theory, in my opinion is correct; however, his methods or tools of proof are not. Dr. Salibi tried to prove that the names of people and locations (villages; towns; rivers; mountains; valleys and places) still there in present Yemen by using the method of similarities of names even if he had to change some letters here and there or to shoe that the spelling of some Torah names were converted into the new Quraish Arabic. Sometimes he has to move forward or backward some letters to reach to the similar name. I believe Dr. Salibi missed to read and search in the old Arabic library for books
on his subject. Another writer named "Fadil AlRubie" from Iraq took advantage of the writings of an old Arab historian and geographer called AlHamdani who wrote two important books: (1) Al-Ikleel
i.e. The Wreath. The second was called " The Description of Arab Peninsula". Mr. Fadil AlRubie wrote a book in 2 volumes called "Imagined Palestine, the Land of the Torah in Old Yemen". He built his presentation on the books of AlHamdani and on the old Arabic poems. In fact 99% of the names used in AlHamdani books were exactly in the same spelling of the Torah. No change in the letters or word composition at all. I congratulate Mr. Fadil AlRubie for the great effort and urge
arab readers to read his book "Imagined Palestine". This is a very serious book including great
solid proofs that bani Israel were in Ancient Yemen where all the events and stories of the Torah
took place.
Dr.Nur (not verified)
ISRAEL/JERUSALEM NOT IN PALESTINE
Fri, 2011/01/14 - 01:52This below is the heart of the problem and if we don't know or understand history then we can not understand what is "Itsrealhell"and how and why it does what it wants. Christians and Muslims have a totally false zionized vision of history. It is a planted"Trojan-horse"in thorat/bible, a false-flag-info from the 70 rabbis who falsified the thorat in 300 B.C.
I am so surprised that the alternative media,are time and again complicit in zionist fraud by not
relaying the accurate historical and geographical facts. In fact many journalists write about jews and zionism who never read even a summary of Talmud,the book of fraud. Here are a
few basic history facts one must know: 1. It is the official foreign policy (it was "officious since Ben-Gurion) of
“Isrealhell”since the Ariel Sharon government that the
“historical”borders of the zionist farcical invention are from the
Nile to the Euphrates meaning Anatolia,Syria,the whole Arabian
peninsula,Irak,and Egypt. That is why "peace"is a farce and Israel will not draw borders and whoever would just try like Kennedy or Rabin will be killed or "Lewinskied" like B.Clinton. Of course this has no basis in history at
all but Palestine is partof it,that means that the "West Bank"and the
rest are scheduled for further Nakbah or holocaust. American leaders
are part and parcel of this comedy as they were/are with the broken
treaties with their american indians and their still ongoing genocide and
dispossession. 2. In fact, as we have demonstrated at
http://www.altajdeed.blogspot.com and
http://www.queen-of-sheba-university.org and also in the Haaretz
article by Dr.Zeev-Herzog chief archeologist at Tel-Aviv
University,and also by myself with Dr.kamal Salibi at
http://Www.kamalsalibi.blogspot.com and
http://www.kamal-salibi.blogspot.com and in the masterly free download
pdf book and maps”QueenofShebaandIsrael”by Dr.Bernard-Leeman, that
there never was any ancient “Israel”or even a “Jerusalem”in Palestine
(except the one “invented”by the crusaders who confused the death
place of one of the 3 Jesuses,see http://www.kamal-salibi.blogspot.com
about the koranic Jesus, with the city of David and Solomon (at
Arwa+Salam villages near present day Tanumah) of the rainy saudi
highlands-the ancient kingdom of Juddah near Yemen). (the ancient jews
were mountain pirates preying on the incense caravans trade between
India,Yemen,Egypt and Europe. They were of the “bin-Yamin”tribes or
“sons-of Yemen”like modern day pirate Binyamin Netanyahu). They used
to ransack,ransom, and racket the caravans,and pillage other arab
(arab/hebrew are the same word/reversal of consonants)
tribes-including the northern tribe of, Israel from the area of
present Madina,prior to "unity"-whereby their claimed "wealth",and for
that reason,their hideout Jerusalem was sacked and 10000 of their
aparatchik/leader“warrior-priests” brought captives by the king of
Babylon-and they were freed 40years later by Cyrus king of Persia
after his victory over Babel with the help of jewish
traitors/informers from inside,and Cyrus used some of them as
administrators to rule Palestine where he built a temple, by his order
and money, as a one-sided “joint venture”of sorts since the false prophet
“Ezra”or“Esdras”had told Cyrus that the Abraham/Ibrahim of jews is the
same Ibrahim-Zeradust or Zarathoustra/Zoroaster of persians. Hence the
small colony of jews of Palestine sentby Cyrus were known as
“Pharisees”that is farsis or persians in the land of“Philistines”or
Palestine as per semitic pronunciation. When Alexander the great of
Greece defeated the persians 2 centuries later they invented their
story and fraud about escape from Egypt in their frauded septuagint
greek "Thorat" used to this day by christians,mormons ,and morons as
well,so as to hide their past as persian enemies and keep privileges,
by farce and fraud, with the new greek masters. In Roman times,after the greeks and the semi-autonomous Hasmonean "pharisean/macchabean" kingdom ,the city of Cyrus was called Aelia Capitolana. It was never jerusalem. The stones where jews come shaking their heads to put paper prayers are the public works of Justinian in 4th cent AD to stengthen the mount,nothing to do with temple of Solomon at all. Ezra was of the
illegal zadokite priest caste (no blood line to David,or
Moses/Aaron),not recognized by original jews,like
samaritans,Hunafas,etc. He invented and started the talmud
"master-race" propanda and its “chosen “people myth together with
other jewish criminal fantasies.The temple of Cyrus story is related
in any bible in the part called "book of Ezra" as such: “and the lord
moved the heart of Cyrus by the mouth of Jeremiah,.and he ordered and
put it in writing that a temple be built in that land..” So as they do
now,they were doing then: appropriating the history of others,their
lands and lives by lies ( Mossad's motto:"by deception thou shalt make
war.." : the oldest mafia in the world disguised as a religion …e.g
USS LIBERTY,9/11,ETC.,)... Not long ago Shimon Peres praised king
Cyrus on TV as the "first zionist"!..He knows the farce..!
Note:At the time of the arrival of Islam 70% of arabs were jews of
many original-now disappeared-and reformist denominations from prior
to the zadokite "deuteromy"and Talmud fascist credo imposture(the
original israelites were arabs unlike today's turkish-hun khazar
invaders of Palestine)and 25% christians. Both Islam and Christianity
ARE reformed sects of judaism which the people could no longer accept
as such because of its incoherence, inhumanity and racist genocidal
primitivity but some criminals want to revive it today as a blueprint
for mankind's enslavment to a tiny orogenitally constipated
frankensteinian mythomaniac mafia who should be banned and/or hung by
their balls without ceremony wherever they can be found as they are a
peril to mankind ,and to themselves of course !...
Anonymous (not verified)
You seem to really hate Jews.
Sun, 2011/09/18 - 22:24You seem to really hate Jews. You should be careful, that is not healthy to have so much hate
pipeline (not verified)
Abraham, Ibrahim
Sun, 2011/10/02 - 09:30Abraham, Ibrahim went to Gerar (Gerrha, Saudi Arabia) to Tzoar (Suhar, Sohar, Oman).
Ezion-Geber is Sur, Oman
Kadesh Barnea is Muscat, Oman
Jabal Shams is Mount Horeb
Jabal Akdar is Mount Sinai
Bibi Miriam, Oman is the place of Maryam's burial. Maryam, the sister of Mosis, Moses, Musah and Aaron, Harun.
Dr.Nur (not verified)
Salibi
Sun, 2011/10/02 - 16:22Mr.Anonymous or Mr."Jew":everybody here has a name but you have chosen to call yourself "Anonymous" to tell us in your typical sneaky way that you are a jew and that you have no concern at all to know,acknowledge or refute the very valuable historical data from varied sources showing that your people are the perpetrators of a 2 to 3 k years old fraud whereby you justify the genocide and theft of the land of the people of Palestine. In a classical jewish manner by ignorance and farce. Exposing the lies of your ratkind against mankind to you-truth- is "hatred" whereas your lies and what you do to palestinians and others as your "god-given"(self)-"chosen-people" "rights"should bring applause maybe?Do you think we don't know your talmud? You and your kind are no more than vile orogenitally perverted sociopathic-psychotic-schizophrenics-the plague of Man-kind. You know it and that is why you have no dignity or knowledge to contribute here except "it is not good to be against the ratkind jews.Nyanyanya.."!
Anonymous (not verified)
Mr. Anonymous
Wed, 2011/10/19 - 19:20Mrs. Anonymous here - totally agree with you Mr. Anonymous; a voice of reason in the wilderness of hate. And that really is why many people don't want to read anything 'scientific' if it is served upon a bed of hatred. In the end it doesn't really matter what started where - what matters is that we all eat, breathe, bleed and die. The human family is one family.
I am reminded that those who speak words of hatred really do show themselves for what they are at heart - a mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. I am also reminded of the saying that if anyone hates his brother, he doesn't know God.
Too bad really cause the info seemed interesting until a supposed 'Dr' showed their true colours with the use of the term "ratkind" - what academic 'Dr' of any intellect would use such a disgraceful term. This is 2011 not 1940.
Noureddine (not verified)
Polemics instead of reasonable proposals?
Sun, 2012/01/29 - 17:43We are not here to make polemics and talk about hatred and insults. From the start of this topic, the political side was going to enter this tribune sooner or later. I know Dr. Nur from his previous writings as an authentic Jew who dedicated himself to justice and truth. He is a valuable researcher, methodic and objective. It irks him to see his own "nation" on the wrong way as he is afraid of what the future could bring to it as the result of the Political Modern Israel's behaviour, in an Arab World mutilated by Hollywood and the Western media, an Arab World who was never apt for war or aggression or even belligerence, as lazy and ill-prepared as a slug or a sleuth. In the same time he is the one who found the real grounds of Kamal Salibi's proposals, with pictures and maps. Put your self in his place, what would you do when you find fellow Jews talking nonsense. This in itsself is a mutilation to the Holy Scriptures. No wonder Dr. Nur got angry! However, I do not agree with anger, nor do I agree with nonsense.
sheldon (not verified)
DNA Studies
Thu, 2012/03/22 - 18:27I'm wondering if anyone can see a way to support one side or the other of this historical discussion using the findings of the National Geographic DNA study. I used to live in the Asir and was immediately struck by how much the Qatani peoples that I saw in the markets of Abha and Khamis Mushait looked like orthodox jews. They even kept their hair in long ringlets. If the Jewish people are from the valleys of the escarpment should there not be a close genetic match with the current inhabitants? Or perhaps the wandering nature of the non settled people would spread the DNA too widely. Anybody know of any research?
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