their deportation was written and processed during the later period of the Second
Temple. While I agree with her line of argument, I suggest that this moment of losing
the tribes occurred much earlier, even before the Babylonian captivity, and that at work
were theological and geographical considerations, so Barmash’s choice of “memory” as
the central category for her analysis of the transformation of the story, and “transfigu-
ration of memory” as the main explanation for it are not directly applicable here.
Barmash, “Nexus of History.”
77. See Stuart Hall’s seminal essay on this: “Cultural Identity and Diaspora.”
78. See Liverani,Israel’s History, 218 – 219.
79. Ibid., 214 – 230.
80. Hine,Forty-Seven Identifications( 1871 ), 4.
81. Bassin, “Lost Ten Tribes [of] Anglo-Israel,” 7.
82. Liverani,Israel’s History, 218 – 221.
CHAPTER 2
- The book of Esdras is mostly known as Fourth Esdras or 4 Ezra; I will stick to
the Greek “Esdras” to avoid confusion with the canonical Ezra. See Bergren, “Christian
Influence,” 102 – 128. For basic details on the book’s variations, see Nigosian,Ancient
Writings to Sacred Texts, 198 – 199. - Baumgarten, “The Jewish People”; Gafni,Land, Center and Diaspora.
- Josephus,Works of Flavius Josephus, 372.
- This periodization follows Peter Scha ̈fer’s inHistory of the Jews.
- See Jobes and Silva,Invitation to the Septuagint, 29 – 44.
- One of these wasOracula Sibyllina, another Jewish apocalypse that mentions the
coming “ten tribes, lost by the Assyrian[s],” who will look for their other Hebrew brethren. - See Acts 7 : 8 , 26 : 7 ; James 1 : 1 ; Revelation 21 : 12 ; Luke 19 : 28 , 22 : 30.
- Daniel Boyarin, among others, questions this differentiation between Jews and
Christians at these early stages of the postbiblical period. Boyarin,Border Lines, 1 – 13. - For the dating of this book, see Murphy, “ 2 Baruch.”
- Some such epistles have been compiled, for instance, in Wishnevitz,Metsi’at
‘aseret ha-shevatim. - Hamilton,Apocryphal Apocalypse, 1.
- For the dating of these passages, see Coggins and Knibb,First and Second
Books, 101 – 105.
13 .Aninteresting take on the various audiences of Esdras is in Esler,First
Christians, 110 – 130. - On the origins of the messianic idea, see Sacchi,Jewish Apocalyptic, 150 – 167.
- Gow,The Red Jews, 37 – 64.
- Romm,Edges of the Earth, 3 – 5.
- On the “man of the sea” and other apocalyptic visions, see Beale, “Problem of
the Man from the Sea.” - One should remember, of course, that it was in fact Sargon, Shalmaneser’s
successor, as explained in the previous chapter. This biblical confusion of the two
Assyrian kings shall remain with us throughout.