My Ten Tribes Challenge

[Tom 1]

Whatever it takes.

Satellite imaging?

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

No I don't.

There is a list of the ten northern tribes of Israel that was carried away by the Assyrians.

Validate their existence with science, if you can, please.

Why should we?

 

[AV1611VET]

Satellite imaging?

Test it.

See what happens and let me know.

Keep me posted.

 

[AV1611VET]

Why should we?

To show me you can.

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

To show me you can.

But why? It's the Bible that claims that the Ten Tribes were a real thing. If anything, the onus is on you to show that they were real.

 

[Bungle_Bear]

Are you saying they don't exist?

I'm not making any claims. I'm asking (for the third time) you to present the argument you would like to have validated.

 

[Tom 1]

Test it.

See what happens and let me know.

Keep me posted.

And lo the pharaoh did send up the far seeing-eye thing
And there was much curiosity
About what was happening on t’other side of the kingdom
Someone mentioned that 10 tribes had got lost
It seemedeth
But a stork did collideth with the eye
And well, that was that

So, no.

 

[AV1611VET]

Your stall tactics are being noted.

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

Your stall tactics are being noted.

I just don't get the question.

Why does science need to validate claim made by the Bible, and also the Jewish people as a faith? What's the reason for that?

 

[Tom 1]

Your stall tactics are being noted.

You can just go to your big reveal. Enjoy the dopamine rush. The suspense is mildly uh actually no it isn’t.

 

[Hans Blaster]

But why? It's the Bible that claims that the Ten Tribes were a real thing. If anything, the onus is on you to show that they were real.

I could never figure out why anyone thinks they are "lost".

We have these claims in Joshua about the territorial domains of all "12 tribes" and then later (at the time of David and Solomon as well as later) there are other peoples occupying some of that land (Philistines, Moabites, etc.) and at some point what is left of the 12-tribe zone is split into two kingdoms (Judah and Israel) which are eventually conquered and a small portion of their population (largely elites) are transported to Babylon in captivity. Their descendants eventually return.

 

[Bungle_Bear]

Your stall tactics are being noted.

Lol. This from the master. Could you give us feedback in how to improve?

 

[Hans Blaster]

Your stall tactics are being noted.

Why should we care about your "ten lost tribes"?

I'm not an Israelite or descended from them, so they don't hold any meaning to me.

If a group of them disappeared from the historical narrative, so what? What difference does it make? There are all kinds of obscure groups that appear in a few sources and then disappear forever in ancient history. Your "lost tribes" don't seem to be any different than the rest.

 

[Larniavc]

To show us your validation skills.

I'm giving your science a chance to shine.

Let's see how luminous it is.

You can’t validate something that is not real.

 

[Kylie]

Because I don't think you can.

So what? What do you think you are proving here?

 

[sjastro]

So what? What do you think you are proving here?

Giving Christians a bad name.

 

[AV1611VET]

So what? What do you think you are proving here?

If you can't find ten dispersed among the world and living among us for thousands of years, you can't find twelve on a peninsula for forty.

Thus the argument that the Exodus didn't happen because there is no evidence found can take a hike.

Ditto if they do it for Roanoke.

 

[Hans Blaster]

If you can't find ten dispersed among the world and living among us for thousands of years, you can't find twelve on a peninsula for forty.

This does not follow. The two are unrelated.

Thus the argument that the Exodus didn't happen because there is no evidence found can take a hike.

They have two very different kinds of expected evidence.

For the exodus, with millions of people spending decades in a small peninsula a certain and fairly obivious signal should exist in the archeology of the Sinai. It is not found. In this case absence of evidence that should be there is evidence of absence. Millions of Israelites for decades DID NOT HAPPEN. This does not preclude significantly fewer people or much shorter time. (Though the Egyptian records show the number of people leaving Egypt could not be that large.)

What evidence should we find for these "Lost Tribes"? If they exist what signal should they leave? Where should we look?

Ditto if they do it for Roanoke.

As a post up thread has indicated (or maybe it was on that Roanoke thread you revived) there is evidence that the English colony dispersed into the local population that was already there.

 

[AV1611VET]

What evidence should we find for these "Lost Tribes"?

DNA comes to mind.

But I'm under the impression that DNA can only go back so far.

I wouldn't know though: I'm not suited for giving scientific advice.

Why don't you try taking two Jewish volunteers and seeing if one came from the tribe of Asher and the other one from Zebulun?

Again though, it's not my call.

And besides, I don't think it can be done anyway.

So anyone who says the Exodus didn't happen should, in my opinion, spend the next forty years in the desert and then let their next-of-kin test for evidence.

 

[Hans Blaster]

DNA comes to mind.

But I'm under the impression that DNA can only go back so far.

I wouldn't know though: I'm not suited for giving scientific advice.

Why don't you try taking two Jewish volunteers and seeing if one came from the tribe of Asher and the other one from Zebulun?

Again though, it's not my call.

And besides, I don't think it can be done anyway.

DNA would certainly be a possible method, but how would we know what the distinctive genetic signals of these "lost tribes" are? If they are lost how do we get a reference sample?

Also if they are "lost" they don't have any coherent identity, so they have been intermarrying with other groups for 2500 years. If there was a genetic signal it would be lost.

(I assume "Asher" and "Zebulun" are two of these "lost tribes".)