The Elephantine Island        Forum           Go Back           Updated  15 Jan 2008           Page 39
More photos to be added soon!                   Pictured above is the historic route where  you can see the Falashas territory, between Gondar, the Simien mountains, Axum and Lalibela.	On the Elephantine island in the middle of the river Nile in Egypt near Aswan, a Jewish settlement with a temple was discovered by the German archaeology institute of Berlin! Joachim Kreckler  was the leading archaeologist in charge of the excavations.  There is much debate about the reasons of this Jewish settlement including a temple, but if we observe the date of its creation and the date of its destruction which were between the seventh and fifth centuries BC  we come to interesting conclusions. Now when we further compare and study the events in Israel just before this settlement was established we could easily see the reason to why it was created! A number of Assyrian war expeditions against Israel were carried out and there was an eminent future danger to do so again. My guess is that a number of high priests of the temple of Solomon organized an escape with all their families in order to avoid capture and possible extinction. So the place the new best from their forefathers was Egypt. They travel then to Egypt and chosen a very remote and safe place: the Elephantine island inside the river Nile near Aswan! From an other source we know, that few years before its destruction, Kambysis, an Assyrian king, occupied Egypt and although destroyed many Egyptian monuments and temples,  somehow sympathized with the inhabitants of this Jewish settlement! That is why after he was thrown out of Egypt the local inhabitants (Egyptians) fought the Jewish settlers and after burning this settlement push them  away! Now we can assume that these Jewish settlers when they were pushed out, looking for a safe route which was definitely not to the North, through a hostile territory and probably having knowledge of the existence of a Jewish community in Ethiopia, traveled through Meroee and settled in the highlands of Ethiopia!    Meroee was a big city between Sudan and Ethiopia most probably on an ancient popular trade route between the Ethiopian highlands and Pharaohs Egypt!  From other sources we know that the main items they imported were: Elephants which Egypt used them to win many wars, other goods like barley for beer making and slaves! A very accurate report from the Father of History, Herodotus,  at around 500 BC, mentions another incident involving the city of Meroee. During a war with an enemy to the south, Egypt sent out an army, which also included Jewish conscripts. This army somehow defected through Meroee  “22 days journey to a land beyond" possibly Ethiopia , which thereafter  was also called in other scriptures as the land of the deserters!    Send your comments to: Forum@abyssinia-et.com   You could also read related subjects:   The Falashas The Old Testament  The Exodus The Arc of the Covenant The Queen of Sheba The Chartres Cathedral   New!
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