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The Ibo Benei-Yisrael Jews of Nigeria
are an Ibo ethnic group whom descended from the southern and westward migrations of both ancient Hebrew and later Israeli peoplesfrom the Middle East into Africa. In more modern times the ancestral homeland of the Ibo Benei-Yisraelis in the Southeast and Western regions of Nigeria. The area where a majority of Ibo dwells straddles theRiver Niger, which divides the River and the Anambra States. Nigeria operates on a federal structure, of36 states and the capital Abuja. The overall Ibo populations are normally found in the states of: Abia,Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Rivers State, Delta State, and Imo.
The oral traditions of the Ibo maintain that their presence has been in what is termed "Iboland" forover 1500 years. The same oral histories also state that their ancestors were migrants from ancient Israel,possibly beginning with the Semitic migrations from Northern Arabia into Eastern Africa around 500BCE.According to the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) the Israelipatriarch Ya`aqov ben-Yitzhhaq (Jacob son of Isaac), had twelve sons whose descendents became the 12tribes of Israel whom inherited the land of Canaan. There are several tribes of Israel, which according to
This lineage comprises of the Ubulu Okiti, Ubulu Ukwu, in Delta State,who settled in Ubulu Ihejiofor. According to tradition, it is said that a descendent of the tribe ofZevulun named Zevulunu, on the advice of an certain Levite, married a woman from Oji, whomdescended from the tribe of Judah, and from this union was born Ozubulu ben-Zebulunu. It is saidthat Ozubulu then went on to have 4 sons of his own who settled into other parts of the region.These sons being: Amakwa, from whom a clan in Neni, Anambra State descended, and Egbema, fromwhom the Egbema Ugwuta clan in Imo State and the Ohaji Egbema clan in Rivers State descended.
The most likelyscenario is that the ancestors of the Ibo Benei-Yisrael were made up of familiar clans of Israelis and Judaens whom, for various reasons, left Israel before and during the Assyrian and Babylonian sieges.This would explain how their oral tradition contains the specific tribes these clans originated from.
Methods of Hebrew and Jewish Migrations into the Maghreb (West)
According to most accounts, the earliest Israeli settlements in Africa were in places such asEthiopia, Egypt and Tunisia. It is believed that these settlements may have been in existence as early asthe kingdoms of David and Solomon, as well as during the Assyrian invasion of northern Israel in 722BCE and the Babylonian captivity of Judah in 586 BCE in the Punic-Carthaginian age. These communitieswere augmented by subsequent arrivals of Jews after the destruction of the 2
nd
, and the parallel passage, where,"African land," is evidently the same as Carthage). The Septuagint (Isa. xxiii. 1), and Jerome (on Ezek.xxvii.), who, though a Christian, was taught by Jews, and very often the Aramaic Targum on theProphets, identify the Biblical Tarshish with Carthage, which was the birthplace of a number of rabbismentioned in the Talmud (compare above the identification with Tunis). Africa, in the broader sense, isclearly indicated where mention is made of the Ten Tribes having been driven into exile by the Assyriansand having journeyed into Africa
(Mek., Bo, 17; Tosef., Shab. vii. 25; Deut. R. v. 14; and especially Sanh. 94a)
.Connected with this is the idea that the river Sambation is in Africa. The Arabs, who also knowthe legend of the Beni Musa ("Sons of Moses"), agree with the Jews in placing their land in
Africa (compareBacher, "Ag. Tan." i. 298; Epstein, "Eldad ha-Dani," p. 15)
. The probable basis of this legend must be soughtin the actual existence of the Beta Yisrael (Jews of Ethiopia) in Africa. Rabbi Akiba, who traveled inAfrica, on one occasion made use of an African word (Rapoport, in "Bikkure ha-'Ittim," iv. 70,
Migration Routes of ancient Israelis into Africa.
The exact arrival date of the first Israeli ancestors of the Ibo Benei-Yisrael, from the Middle East intoWest Africa, is somewhat of a mystery. It is believed that the first migration of Semitic peoples into theregion was prior to 202 BCE with the appearance of iron working civilizations, the most notable of whichwas the Nok. According to
"The Penguin Atlas of African History"
Page 30, by Colin McEvedy:
Slouschz further wrote:"We have seen that in all probability there were in Carthage and its dependencies large numbersof Jews, whom followed the Phoenicians into Africa. In this local tradition is in agreement withcertain historical indications, while the manners and customs of the Jews of Tunis still giveevidence of their ancient origin. There is not the slightest doubt that the Jew was persisted inthese parts from the Roman epoch to our times."
In later centuries ancient Israelis and Jews are believed to have settled in Western Africa
duringthe height of the Songhai, Mali, Ghana and Kanem-Bornu empires. According to various accounts fromexplorers of the region, several of the rulers of the Songhai empire were of Jewish origin, until AskiaMuhammad came to power and in 1492 decreed that all Jews either convert to Islam or leave the region.
It is also more than possible that the Ibo Benei-Yisrael, as well as other West African Jews, may bedescendents of a people
Century Jewish traveler Eldad ben-Mahli (also known asEldad the Danite) who related the location of several of the "Lost Tribes of Israel." He further detailedthat his tribe, Dan, had migrated from their Palestinian home so as not to take part in the civil war at thetime of Yeroboam's secession, and were residing in the land of Havilah beyond the Rivers of Ethiopia.Three other tribes, Naphtali, Gath and Asher, were with them; these had joined them in the times ofSennacherib. They had an entire body of Scriptures barring Ester and Lamentations. They knew nothingof the Mishna nor the Talmud; but they had a Talmud of their own in which all the laws were cited in thename of Yehoshua ben-Nun (Joshua son of Nun) as he had received them at the hands of Mosheh(Moses). Eldad exhibited a ritual dealing mostly with the rules pertaining to the killing of animals forfood.
Iddao Ishaak descendents of Berber Jews forced to convert to Islam
Historically, Jews have migrated from region to region in Africa based upon three factors: 1)Persecution, 2) Trade, and 3) Freedom to practice Torah. Jewish communities in locations such as Egypt,Ethiopia, Tunisia, and Morocco served as the core population centers of the Jewish periphery in Africa.During times of Islamic persecution, and also during times of relative calm, Jews traveled all overNorthern and Western Africa for the purpose of establishing trade connections. According to Biblical andTalmudic sources this trade route, with West Africa, may have existed from as early as the reign of KingDavid and the use of the term Tarshish in the Tanakh, Hebrew Bible, could also describe the Ivory Coastof West Africa.
century historian and traveler Leon Africanus wrote accountsof peoples whom they termed as "Jewish Negroes" in the Western Sudan. Looking at maps from theperiod we find similar use of the terms Tarshish, Ethiopia, and Kush, which were often used in ancienttimes to describe all peoples whom at the time some chroniclers were calling "Negro/Negroid" in thevarious regions of Africa. Early maps made by these explorers often depicted the "Sudan" and "Ethiopia"as lands from as far-east as modern day Ethiopia to as far west as modern day Nigeria and Cameroon.This similar to the way the "Africa" is used to describe the continent.The decline of the Jewish communities of the Africa-Maghreb (West Africa) most likely beganwith the influx of Muslim invaders into North Africa starting in 640 CE and later into West Africa in the1300's and 1400's CE. Various accounts record that Jews were instrumental in fighting with and oftentimes leading the coalitions of peoples who unified to fight off the Islamic invasions. The most notable ofwhich was the Jewish Berber Queen Kahina Dahiyah Bint Thabitah ibn Tifan, known as El Kahina.Believed to have been a descendent of the Israeli priestly class, El Kahina was able to lead North-African Jews, Berbers, Christians, and Greeks alike against the Arab invasions until her defeat at the hands of theArab commander Hassan Ibn Numan.
During these times many of the Jews in Northern and WesternAfrica were forced to covert to Islam, exiled, sold into slavery, or massacred. Incursions of Christianmissionaries may have also played a role in the decline of the distinct Jewish written element in theregion.As with other Jewish communities in Moslem controlled lands, the Jews of West Africa alsosuffered at the hands of various nobles in the Islamic ruling parties, which took power in the 1300 to1400's. Such is the case of Al-Maghili whom tolled the death knell of Sahara and savanna Jewry when, in1492 after destroying the Jewish enclaves in the Tuat, Mali he convinced potentates throughout theWestern Sudan and the founder of Songhai to banish Jews from the empire's cities. No doubt that somesought refuge south and south east toward the forest. The records of such are some three hundred yearslater than the destruction of the independent Jewish enclaves of Qamnurya or Naghira, in the area ofmodern day Senegal, in the 11th and 12
th
century.Due to these and other pressures the Ibo Benei-Yisrael along with other West African Jewishcommunities lost whatever written documents such as Torah, and other written traditions that may haveexisted. Yet, these communities, including the Ibo Benei-Yisrael, to this day were able to maintain at theleast a knowledge of their Israeli origin and in some cases continue to practice their traditions in secret.Records of these communities however do exist within the Timbuktu, Mali Islamic library, which hasdocuments of the presence of several Jewish families in West Africa dating from before the Muslimarrival in the 1300's CE.
The Ibo Benei-Yisrael within Nigerian History
Modern day Nigeria is a federation of states segregated by 3 major ethnic groups: the Ibo (Igbo),the Hausa/Fulani, and the Yoruba. The Ibo dominate the eastern and some southern regions, the west bythe Yoruba and the north by the Hausa/Fulani. These three major groups were brought together viaEuropean efforts to divide Africa among themselves.
Mounting ethnic tensions between these groups caused the Biafrans - the Ibos and other minorityethnic groups - in the southern-eastern region to fight for their independence from the federation only 6years after Nigeria gained it independence from British rule in 1960.
The Ibo Benei-Yisrael as with other Jews have had to fight persecution as was seen during theunfortunate Nigeria - Biafra war (1966 to 1970), when abandoned by all, the Ibos alone faced Britain,Russia and the rest of greater Nigeria for more than 2 years. The Ibos forged armored cars from sedans,refined petrol using the crudest home made implements, made rockets, all these while under a blockadeenforced by Nigeria, Britain, Russia, and certain Arab States, which sent military personal to the region.The current Ibo population is estimated to be between 30 - 40 million worldwide. A briefrendition of the character and behavior of the Ibo Benei-Yisrael and Ibo in general is that of, "
a habitualwanderer, a trader, but his heart is always in Iboland."
A true and popular saying in Nigeria is,
“If you visitanyplace and fail to see an Ibo there, leave the place with haste as it is uninhabitable.”
.The second theory is that Ibo society may have been alreadyestablished before Jewish migrations into the region. This theory goes on to state that as Jews made theirway into West Africa that they intermingled with certain Ibo ethnic groups and thus only certain Ibofamilies have Jewish descent while others may have converted or were influenced by the Jewish presencein the society.Most Ibos profess a belief system about which a partial description of can be found in thewritings of Olaudah Equiano titled,
"Interesting Narratives of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African,1789."
This belief system is believed to be that of an early form of the Israeli faith before and during theearly stages of when the people of Israel settled in Canaan. This system, as described by OlaudahEquiano, has for some Ibo been fused with Christianity due to the push of missionaries into West Africa.Yet, there is a minority that still cling on to the older purer version, which is believed to be the core of theIbo Benei-Yisrael Jewish heritage.When missionaries first made their way into West Africa the Ozubulu clan of the Ibo Benei-Yisrael resisted the Christian religion and most never converted. In recent years, a number of Ozubuludescendents are modernizing the very ancient form of the Israeli faith that their ancestors once practiced.In the Ozubulu region, they built a synagogue, even though for a lack of better terms they called it a"Traditional Church." This move took place with no outside influence, and is now causing a ripple effectwithin the local Ibo Benei-Yisrael communities.
Ilona family in Ozubulu, Nigeria
Even to this day Ibo Benei-Yisrael practices are still in line with the commands given in theTorah. Even with the loss of the written record, the Ibo Benei-Yisrael people have maintained thecustoms and traditions of ancient Israel in an oral form. A few of these customs still in practice are:circumcision of sons on the eighth day of life, separation of women during the menstrual cycle, not crossbreading animals or plants, the prohibition of un-kosher animals for consumption, the celebration of YomKippur and Sukkoth, immersion for uncleanness, and Passover just to name a few. Similar to theSamaritans in Israel, and some Moroccan Jews certain Ibo Benei-Yisrael elders, believed to be descendedfrom ancient Levites due to their Levitical practices, are distinguished within the community by donningred head coverings which only they can wear.Though, for many Ibo Benei-Yisrael these practices have existed in their society for more than1,000 years it was not until recently that some were able to make the more distinct connection to exactlywhy they were to be performed. This of course was another result of the loss of the written Torah fromwithin the Ibo Benei-Yisrael community.
According to G.T. Basden
“The Ibo country lies within the recognized Negro belt, and the people bear the maincharacteristics of that stock… There are certain customs which rather point to Levitic influence ata more or less remote period. This is suggested in the underlying ideas concerning sacrifice and
Men of the Beith Keneseth Siyahh Yisrael Synagogue in Abuja, Nigeria
Recent archaeological discoveries in Igboukwu, a town about 30 kilometres from Onitsha by ateam of researchers led by Professor Thurstan Shaw (1970) of the University of Ibadan, seem to suggest alot more facts about the relationship between the Ibos and the Jews of old than was hitherto imagined.Like the mentioned teams of archaeologists, a fact-finding team of Israelis from King Solomon SephardicFederation made yet another significant discovery on the origin of the Ibos in 1997. On this Alaezi (1998)comments.
Ibo Kohein wearing traditional read head-covering wrapped in a linen fringed garment
According to various accounts there is a very significant concentration of the descendents of Eri,the fifth son of Gad (see Genesis 46:16) live in Aguleri, Anambra State. Recently a very importantdiscovery of clear evidence of Jewish ancestral origin of the Maghrebi Ibos was made in the domain .
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