History
Israel May Share Ties With Igbos
- From generation to generation, some Igbos have passed down various versions of a migration story framed around Jacob, a patriarch of Judaism.
A popular version of the narrative holds that Gad, the seventh son of Jacob, had three sons who settled in present-day southeastern Nigeria, which is predominantly inhabited by the Igbos.
Those sons, Eri, Arodi and Areli (as mentioned in the book of Genesis), are said to have fathered clans, established kingdoms and founded towns still in existence in southeastern Nigeria today, including Owerri, Umuleri, Arochukwu and Aguleri.
Eze A.E. Chukwuemeka Eri, the king of a community in Aguleri, claims he presides over the throne of Gad’s son, Eri.
Wearing a white shirt with the Star of David stitched on the front, King Eri points to a calendar on the wall of his palace that lists the names of his 33 predecessors. He has no doubts that Eri is his ancestor. He has even acquired land to establish an educational center for the study of Jewish culture.
“Israelites and Igbos are brothers,” he says with a broad smile.
King Eri, like many, claims that the Igbo are the Jews of West Africa. They believe they are descendants of at least one of Israel’s lost tribes. In the eighth century B.C. the Assyrians invaded Israel’s northern kingdom forcing 10 tribes into exile. Historians say it is not unlikely that these tribes migrated westward to Africa.
Throughout history, large populations of dispersed Jews also became “lost” through forced conversions and cultural assimilation.
“There is evidence that is scientific that the Igbos descended from the people that evolved in Israel,” says Remy Ilona.
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He began investigating the stories from his youth more than a decade ago.
“When I grew up I heard, like virtually every Igbos here, that the Igbo people came from Israel,” the Abuja-based lawyer says
“His field work in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Mali led him to conclude that Igbo and Jewish culture are not just similar, but “identical.” He concluded.
In his latest book, Ilona draws parallels between Igbo rituals and customs and those practiced by Jews. Shared traditional practices include circumcising male children eight days after birth, refraining from eating “unclean” or tabooed foods, mourning the dead for seven days, celebrating the New Moon and conducting wedding ceremonies under a canopy.
Some historians have noted that the Igbos were practicing these customs before their exposure to the Bible and missionaries.
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