scientific thought both about the tribes and their whereabouts and about
emerging world geography.
The Jewish community of al-Qayrawan (in today’s north-central Tunisia)
was the first epicenter of major rumors about the ten tribes. In 883 CE,a
mysterious man showed up one day and identified himself as a member of
the tribe of Dan, one of the most enigmatic among the ten tribes, with a history
of migration from its original place of dwelling recorded already in the Bible.
After settling in the central coastal region of the land of Israel, the Danites ran
into trouble with their neighbors the Philistines and had to migrate and
conquer a new territory elsewhere. It was the first act of conquest after the
initial and divinely guided conquests of Joshua, when the Israelites returned
from Egypt. Dan was one of the first tribes to be exiled by the Assyrians; its
territories were conquered by Tiglath-pileser, well before Sargon, during the
invasion of 724 BCE. The judge Samson, a Herculean persona whose career
was based on amazing physical strength and a mysterious relationship with
the divine, was a Danite. He once wrestled and killed a lion with his bare hands
and enjoyed the honey produced by bees that had settled in its carcass; he
tormented the Philistines, his mortal enemies, with riddles about it. An
unusually colorful judge, who always fought Israel’s wars alone as an individu-
al, Samson’s wars with the Philistines combined the use of physical power, a
great degree of intelligence, and a sense of humor. The book of Judges tells us
that he once killed a thousand Philistines using a donkey’s jawbone.^1
The Danite who arrived in al-Qayrawan was certainly inspired by the stories
of Samson’s heroism and wit. The man, “Eldad son of Mahli, son of Atiel, son of
Yekutiel... son of Hushim, son of Dan, son of Jacob the Patriarch,” or, in short,
Eldad Ha-Dani, said he was a merchant. He came to al-Qayrawan, a commercial
center of major significance in North Africa, after a travel adventure in the
depths of Africa, about which he told the town’s inhabitants.
The encounter produced three important documents. The first is an epistle
composed by Eldad telling of his adventures,Sefer Eldad.The second is a query
about this man sent by the Jews of al-Qayrawan to the highest legal authority of
the time; it includes his response. The third is a study of certain rituals
described by Eldad and written by the Qayrawanis, which exists independently
and was probably rewritten at a later point.^2
A “modern” incarnation of Samson, Eldad provided a riveting account of
his adventures: “Going forth from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia... I and a Jew
of the tribe of Asher entered a small ship to trade.” Suddenly, a great wind
erupted and the ship was wrecked. The two clung to a box until they landed at
last on a shore where they were caught by the “Romarnos, who are black
Ethiopians, tall, without garment of clothing upon them, likened to beasts,
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