Beney Mosheh or ‘people of Moses’ is the appellation used by the elusive Eldad ha-Dani, a traveling messianic agitator of the eighth or ninth century, for the Jewish inhabitants of a distant land located east of Eretz Israel beyond the legendary Sambatyon or ‘sand’ river. Since the theme of the ‘people of Moses’ became such a prominent part of the medieval apocalyptic mentalité, and because the testimonies still remain largely unknown among Anglophone readers, I incorporate here a selection of annotated English translations of the most important texts. The most comprehensive treatment of the Eldad ha-Dani texts and traditions remains the 1891 study of Abraham Epstein, “Sefer Eldad ha-Dani,” reprinted in A. M. Habermann, ed., Kitvey Avraham Epstein (2 vols.; Jerusalem: Mosad ha-Rav Kook, 1949-56), 1:1-211, see also 1:357-90. See also D. H. Müller, “Die Recensionen und Versionen des Eldad Had-Dani … veröffentlicht und kritisch untersucht,” Denkschriften der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, philosophisch-historische Klasse 41 (1892): 1-80; Max Schloessinger, The Ritual of Eldad ha-Dani (Leipzig and New York: Rudolf Haupt, 1908); and Joseph Dan, Ha-Sippur ha-‘ivri be-yemey ha-beyanim: ‘Iyyunim be-toldotav (Jerusalem: Keter, 1974), 47-61. A recent useful summary of the primary traditions about this figure is provided by David J. Wasserstein, “Eldad ha-Dani and Prester John,” in Prester John, the Mongols and the Ten Lost Tribes (ed. Charles F. Beckingham and Bernard Hamilton; Aldershot: Variorum, 1996), 213-36. For the precise bibliographical references to the texts excerpted below, see the relevant chapter in my Trajectories in Near Eastern Apocalyptic (pp. 200-224).
1. Chronicles of Yeraḥmeel (ed. Yassif):
The levitical people of Moses: they are encamped east of the River Sa(m)batyon. Our Sages say that at the time when Israel went into exile to Babylon, they brought them to the Euphrates river, as Scripture says: ‘we sat down <there> by the rivers of Babylon, etc.’ (Ps 137:1). Their captors said to them; i.e., to the Levites: ‘Serve before the idol and sing a song the same way which you sang in the Temple.’ They answered them: ‘You fools! Had we sung (only) one song to celebrate all the miracles which the Holy One, blessed be He, has performed for us, we would not have been exiled from our land. Instead, He would have augmented our honor with yet more honors! And we should sing before an idol?!?’ They (the Babylonians) immediately arose and killed great heaps of them. Even though they slew a large number of them, (their?) joy was great, for they (the Levites) would not worship an idol. Therefore Scripture says: ‘our heaps (produced) joy’ (Ps 137:3).
What did the remaining Levites do? They severed the fingers of their hands so that they could not play the harps, and when they commanded them to play the harps and sing the same way that they did in the Temple, they showed them their severed fingers. At nightfall a cloud covered them: it concealed them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. The Holy One, blessed be He, shone over them in a column of fire, and He led them throughout the night until daybreak, and He brought them to the shore of the sea. When the sun rose, the cloud lifted, and (also) the column of fire (departed). The Holy One, blessed be He, stretched out the river before them—the Sabbatyinos—and it closed around them so that no one would be able to cross over to them. It surrounds them for a distance of a three month journey by a three month journey on every side, and the back side is surrounded by the sea in every direction. The Holy One, blessed be He, stretched out that river and it closed before them. The depth of that river is three hundred cubits. The river is full of sand and rocks, and it flows (like) an earthquake, its sound (carrying) at night a distance of half a day’s journey. It drags sand and rocks all during the six days on which one is permitted to labor, but on the Sabbath it rests. Then a fire emerges from the western side of the valley, burning from the eve of Sabbath until its end, and no one is able to approach closer than about a mile while the fire is burning (and) shooting out in all directions around the river.
No unclean animal or bird or reptile can be found among them; they have with them (only) their flocks and cattle. Six springs are there whose waters they have collected into a pool which they constructed, and they irrigate their land from the pool. All types of pure fish flourish in it (the pool), and by the springs and the pool flourish all kinds of pure waterfowl. They enjoy all kinds of fruits: (the fertility of the land is such that) whoever plants one seed harvests a hundredfold.
They are religiously observant, each of them learned in Torah, Bible, Mishnah, and Aggadah. They are ‘pure pietists.’ None of them ever swears a false oath. They live to be one hundred and twenty years old, and a son or daughter never dies during the lifespan of their father: they (usually) witness the succession of three or four generations. They construct their own houses and do their own sowing and harvesting because they have no slaves or maidservants. They never lock their doors at night. A very small child might go and tend their cattle for a number of days, and no one will be in the least bit anxious, for there are no thieves or dangerous wild animals or pests, and there are no demons or anything that might cause harm. Because they are holy and persist in the sanctity revealed by our teacher Moses, He (God) has granted all this to them and chosen them. They never interact with other human beings, nor do other humans interact with them, save for only four (Israelite) tribes: (those of) Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, who live ‘on the other side of the rivers of Cush’ (Isa 18:1; Zeph 3:10), with the River Sa(m)batyon separating them. They will remain there until the time of the Eschaton, and Scripture says about them: ‘Say to the captive ones, “Depart!”’ (Isa 49:9); i.e., (to) those in the direction of the River Sa(m)batyon.
2. Chronicles of Yeraḥmeel (ed. Yassif):
The exile of Titus, Vespasian, and Hadrian took place on the eve of the ninth of Av, at the end of Sabbath, and during the final period of a sabbatical year. The Levites remained in their places with their harps in their hands and continued singing their songs. What verse were they reciting? ‘He turns upon them their wickedness and annihilates them with their evil’ (Ps 94:23). They had not finished saying ‘He annihilates them’ before the enemy came upon them, killed some of them, and exiled the rest. When Nebuchadnezzar exiled them, it was also on the eve of the ninth of Av, at the end of the Sabbath day, and during the final period of a sabbatical year. The Levites remained in their places, sixty myriads of them, and they moreover were descended from the lineage of our teacher Moses. They were reciting this verse with their harps in their hands, saying: ‘He turns upon them their wickedness and annihilates them with their evil’ (ibid.). They had not finished saying ‘He annihilates them’ before the enemy came upon them and exiled them to Babylon.
When they arrived in Babylon, their enemies and captors said to them: ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ (Ps 137:3). They responded: ‘How can we sing a song of Zion in a foreign land?’ Their captors said to them: ‘You will nevertheless be compelled to sing now!’ Immediately they bit off their fingers with their teeth and threw them down before them, saying: ‘How can we strum in a foreign land with fingers we used to play with in the Temple?!? The Holy One, blessed be He, has said: “I will forget My right hand before I forget you, O Jerusalem!” (Ps 137:5).’
A cloud came and lifted up all the beney Mosheh—they only with their flocks and cattle—and brought them to Havilah in the east and set them down there at night. That night they heard there a heavy rumbling, for He was changing the location of the river. There was no spray from water: (they heard only) the rolling of stones and sand from a place where no great river had previously been. The river rolled stones and sand—not a drop of water—with a loud rumbling. If one were to encounter the great river it would crush him until the end of the Sabbath. This is the River Sa(m)batyon, and they named it Sabbatyinos. There were places at that river which were no wider than sixty cubits, and they would stand on one bank of the river and speak from there. On the Sabbath it would stop (flowing), but on the eve of the Sabbath a cloud would descend over it and it (the valley) would be filled with fog, and no one was able to approach nearer to it, neither we to them or they to us.
No harmful animal or unclean beast or vermin or insects live among them: (they live alone) with just their flocks and cattle. They plow and they sow. These once made inquiry of those (on the opposite side of the river), and they recounted to them (the news) about the destruction of the Second Temple.
We do not know what there is beyond the people of Moses, but Naphtali, Gad, and Asher came to Dan after the destruction of the Second Temple. (Initially) they were with Issachar in the mountains of Tehom, but they would quarrel with them, for they would call them ‘descendants of the maidservants.’ Fearing hostilities would break out between them, they journeyed until they reached Dan, and (now) four tribes remain in one place.
3. Bereshit Rabbati (ed. Albeck):
Some say that the levitical people of Moses are encamped east of the River Sa(m)batyon. Our Sages say that at the time when Israel went into exile to Babylon, they brought them to the Euphrates river, as Scripture says: ‘we sat down <there> by the rivers of Babylon, etc.’ (Ps 137:1). The nations of the world said to the Levites: ‘Serve before the idol and sing a song the same way which you sang in the Temple.’ The Levites answered them: ‘You fools! Had we sung (only) one song to celebrate all the miracles which the Holy One, blessed be He, has performed for us, we would not have been exiled from our land. Instead, He would have augmented our honor with yet more honors and our greatness with yet more greatness! And we should sing before an idol?!?’ They (the Babylonians) immediately arose against them and killed great heaps of them. Even though they slew a large number of them, (their?) joy was great, for they (the Levites) would not worship an idol. Therefore Scripture says: ‘our heaps (produced) joy’ (Ps 137:3).
What did the remaining Levites do? They severed their fingers so that they could not play the harps, and when they commanded them to sing, they displayed their severed fingers and said to them: ‘How can we sing? Our fingers are severed!’ When nightfall came, a cloud descended and covered them, their wives, their daughters, and their sons. The Holy One, blessed be He, shone for them in a column of fire, and He led them throughout the night until daybreak, and He left them on the shore of the sea. When the sun rose, the cloud lifted, and (also) the column of fire (departed). The Holy One, blessed be He, stretched out a river before them named the Sa(m)batyon, and it closed around them so that no one would be able to cross over to them. It surrounds them for a distance of a three month journey by a three month journey on every side, and (since) the back side was not surrounded in every direction, the Holy One, blessed be He, stretched out that river and it closed before them. The depth of that river is two hundred cubits. The river is full of sand and rocks, and it drags sand and rocks and makes a loud rumbling at night (whose noise carries) a distance of half a day’s journey. It drags sand and rocks all during the six days on which one is permitted to labor, but on the Sabbath it rests. Then a fire emerges from the side of the valley, and the fire burns from the eve of Sabbath until its end, and no one is able to approach it; that is, the valley any closer than about a mile. The fire burns away all the vegetation surrounding the valley until the ground is swept clean. These are the levitical people of Moses, and they remain on the east side of the valley.
No unclean domestic beast or wild animal or any type of pest can be found among them; they have with them (only) their flocks and cattle. They have moreover six springs whose waters they have collected into a pool, and they irrigate their land from them. In that pool all types of fish flourish, and by the springs and the pool fly all kinds of pure waterfowl. They enjoy all kinds of fruits: they sow and they harvest, and (the fertility of the land is such that) whoever plants one seed harvests a hundredfold.
They are religiously observant, each of them learned in Torah, Mishnah, and Aggadah. They are pious sages and saints. None of them ever swears a false oath. They live to be one hundred and twenty years old, and a son or daughter never dies during the lifespan of their father: they (usually) witness the succession of three or four generations. They construct their own houses and do their own plowing and sowing because they have no slaves or maidservants. They never lock their doors at night. A very small child might go and tend their cattle for a number of days, and no one will be anxious, for there are no thieves or dangerous wild animals or pests, and there are no demons or anything that might cause harm. Because they are holy and still persist in the sanctity revealed by our teacher Moses, He (God) has granted all this to them and chosen them. They never interact with any other human beings, nor do any other humans interact with them, save for only four (Israelite) tribes: (those of) Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, who live ‘on the other side of the rivers of Cush’ (Isa 18:1; Zeph 3:10).
How did they (i.e., the aforementioned four tribes) arrive there? Our Sages say that when Jeroboam b. Nebat arose and made two golden calves and made Israel err by seceding from the kingdom of the House of David, he assembled the Ten Tribes of Israel and ordered them: ‘Go forth and make war against Rehoboam and the inhabitants of Jerusalem!’ They said to him: ‘Why should we fight with our kinsmen, the citizens of our lord David, the king of Israel and Judah?’ The elders of Israel came up to him and said to him: ‘In all Israel there is not among us warriors and soldiers as mighty and skilled as the tribe of Dan. Command them to make war on Judah!’ Immediately Jeroboam said to the Danites: ‘Go forth and fight against Judah!’ They answered him: ‘We swear by the life of our ancestor Dan that we will not make war against our kinsman and that we will not shed blood without cause!’ Then the Danites took up their swords, bows, arrows, and spears, and resigned themselves to doing battle with Jeroboam until the Lord delivered them from having to shed the blood of their kinsmen. They made proclamation throughout the entire tribe of Dan, saying: ‘(Let us) flee, O Danites, and leave the Land of Israel! We will go to Egypt!’ They were planning to destroy and kill all the inhabitants of the land of Egypt, (but) their leaders said to them: ‘Is this where we should go? Is it not already written in the Torah: “you will not see them (i.e., the Egyptians) again forever” (Exod 14:13)?’ They continued to discuss (the possibility of invading) Egypt or Ammon, but when they saw that it was written in the Torah that the Holy One, blessed be He, would prevent Israel from taking possession of their territory(s), [they withdrew until] the Holy One, blessed be He, could give them good direction.
The Danites went up opposite the River Pishon and journeyed on camels, setting up encampments, until they arrived among the rivers of Cush. They found the land to be rich, desirable, and broad, consisting of fields, vineyards, gardens, and parks. The inhabitants of the land did not prevent the Danites from dwelling (there) with them, and they formed an alliance with them. The Cushites paid them tribute, and they dwelt with them for many years until they had grown very populous and numerous.
After the death of Sennacherib, three tribes from Israel made the journey to them; namely, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. They journeyed, setting up encampments, until they arrived next to the territory of the Danites. Each tribe spends three months a year killing the Cushites …. Members of the tribe of Simeon are with the Danites, [and the Levites are] with these three tribes camped in Havilah ‘where there is gold’ (Gen 2:11). They possess gold, for it is as common as stones, and very many flocks, herds, camels, and horses. They sow and reap; they dwell in tents made of hair; and they migrate and encamp from border to border over an area two hundred days journey by two hundred days journey in size. The place where they pitch their tents is not a place where one should enter, and they only set up camp in fields and vineyards. They adjudicate in accordance with the four types of capital punishment. Scripture says about them: ‘on the other side of the rivers of Cush are My worshippers, the progeny of My dispersed ones: they will bring My offering’ (Zeph 3:10).
The tribe of Issachar dwell among the mountains of Tehom. These are located in the lower part of the land of the Medes and Persians. They are fulfilling (the Scriptural verse) ‘the book of the Torah will not depart [from your mouths]’ (Josh 1:8); consequently, no yoke of sovereignty achieves dominance over them except for the yoke of the Torah. They enjoy security and tranquility, ‘untroubled by any adversary or misfortune’ (1 Kgs 5:18). They encamp (over an area the size of) a ten-day journey in circumference. They possess numerous herds, camels, and slaves. However, they do not raise horses, nor do they own any weapons except for the knife which they use for slaughtering (animals). They are religiously observant and never experience robbery or theft. Should they chance to find some money in the road, even their slaves will not extend their hands to take it. (By contrast), their neighbors are wicked: they worship fire (and) contract marriages with their mothers and their sisters. They do not engage in the tilling of the soil or in labor on vineyards, but purchase everything (produced agriculturally) with money. They have a judge and a prince who adjudicate with the four types of capital punishment. They speak Hebrew, Persian, and Arabic.
The descendants of Zebulon encamp in the hill-country of Paran, pitching tents of hair. They come from Armenia, and extend up to the Euphrates river. The tribe of Reuben is opposite them on the back-side of the mountains of Paran. They enjoy peace and friendship between themselves, fighting their wars in common and cutting the roads which they make … and together they divide all their spoil. They acquire a camel’s load of a kind of food for two pieces of silver. They speak Arabic and possess the Bible, Mishnah, Talmud, and Haggadah. Every Sabbath they expound (the Scripture portions) in Hebrew and translate (them) into the Arabic language. The tribe of Simeon and the half-tribe of Manasseh are in the land of the Chaldeans, a six-month journey’s distance from the Temple. They are too numerous to be counted. They receive tribute from twenty-five kingdoms, and some of the Ishmaelites even pay them a tax. The tribe of Ephraim and the other half of the tribe of Manasseh are there opposite the city of Mecca. They are ill-tempered and dull-minded, skilled horsemen. They show mercy to no one and will cut out their heart. They possess no wealth except for the spoil taken from their enemies. They are professional warriors: one of them (can prevail) over a thousand (adversaries). However, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin are dispersed among all lands. Woe to the ‘other son’ (Gen 30:24): ‘another’ for exile! Another opinion: he will do the work of others.
4. BHM 2:103-105 (ed. Jellinek):
And also (there) are members of the ‘people of Moses’ our teacher (upon whom be peace!) making their encampment next to the river which is named Sa(m)batyon. It is so called because they fled from Eretz Israel and the river surrounds them. The gentile nations call that river Sabbation. The river surrounds them for a distance of a three month journey on every side. They dwell in houses, courtyards, and towers, and there is no impure thing among them. There are no impure birds or animals, no dogs or wolves, no dangerous wild animals, no flies, no fleas, no lice, no swarms, no scorpions, no snakes, no foxes, no lions, and no panthers—only flocks and cattle. Their flocks give birth twice a year, and they sow and reap. They possess all the kinds of fruit there are in the world and all kinds of legumes, cucumbers, melons, onions, and garlic.
They are religiously observant, being learned in Torah, Mishnah, and Talmud. When they teach, they say: ‘(Thus did) Joshua b. Nun say, who received it orally from God.’ They never mention the name of a (rabbinic) Sage, for they do not know them. They do not know how to speak except in Hebrew. Their halakhot pertaining to libation wine, ritual slaughter, and declaring animals ritually unfit for food are stricter than those of the scribes, because Moses our teacher (upon whom be peace!) made them more stringent than the rulings of the scribes. They maintain purity, they are pious, they are righteous, and they never swear oaths using the Name (of God). And if they hear that someone has sworn by the Name, they say to him: ‘Wretch! Why did you swear with the Ineffable Name? How can you bear the Name in your mouth? Is it a morsel of bread that you can eat it, or water that you can drink it? You will realize no benefit from mentioning the Name in vain. Come and see, for it is on account of swearing oaths that children die while they are still young!’ They are religiously observant and pious, and they live long lives, almost one hundred and twenty years, and no child dies during the lifespan of their father. They behold (their) children and grandchildren up to the third and fourth generations.
They sow and they harvest. A small child accompanies their herds on a journey lasting a number of days, but they do not worry about anything: there are no dangerous animals, no demons, or anything extant that might cause harm. It is on account of their holiness, purity, righteousness, and piety that the Holy One, blessed be He, has granted them all these good things, for they still persist in maintaining the sanctity associated with Moses our teacher (upon whom be peace!). They dwell alone: they never see (other) human beings, nor do (other) human beings ever see them, save for the four tribes who dwell adjacent to them on the other side of the River Cush (sic). The River Sa(m)batyon effects a division between them. They are the ones of whom the verse speaks: ‘Say to the prisoners, “Depart,” and to those in darkness, “Become visible!”’ (Isa 49:9). They have vast quantities of gold. They sow flax and raise the worm that yields scarlet coloring and manufacture beautiful garments from them. They are very soft, more than twice as soft as those produced by Egypt. Of those four tribes Scripture states: ‘O land of buzzing wings, which lies beyond the rivers of Cush’ (Isa 18:1).
The width of the River Sa(m)batyon is two hundred and twenty cubits, ‘about a bowshot’s distance’ (Gen 21:16). The river is full of sand and rocks. It all flows for a great distance, and the noise of the rocks is similar to a great rumbling like that of the waves of the sea or like a storm wind, and at night its noise is audible a distance of a half-day’s journey. They possess a number of springs from which they collect the waters into one pool and from which they irrigate their land. In that pool swarm all kinds of fish, and all kinds of pure waterfowl flourish around it. The river and the sand and the rocks flow all the days of the week, but they cease (flowing) on the Sabbath. It remains stationary from Sabbath eve until the end of the Sabbath. On the other side of the river is a fire (whose nature is) that no one is able to approach the river closer than about a mile. The fire burns everything surrounding the river which the ground has produced. Those four tribes come with their herds to the bank of the river in order to shear their flocks, for the ground is flat and clear: no thorns or briars or vegetation or grass take root there. When the people of Moses our teacher (upon whom be peace!) see them, they assemble and stand on the (opposite) bank of the river. They call out to them, saying: ‘By the life of the One Who is! O Danites, show us <your> horses, camels, and asses!’ They discuss how long this one is, how long its neck is, how small its ear appears, (and) how much it has straightened. They are righteous and pious, and they dwell securely, peacefully, and complacently.
5. BHM 3:9-11 (ed. Jellinek):
And also (there) is the tribe of Moses our teacher (upon whom be peace!), the righteous one (and) servant of the Lord. The tribe’s name is called by us ‘Yanūs’, for it fled from idolatry and adhered to reverence for the Lord. The sea surrounds them for a distance of a three month journey by a three month journey. They live in magnificent houses and in splendid structures and in towers which they erected for themselves at the time they celebrated (victory?) over the elephant (?). No impure thing troubles them: there are no impure birds, wild beasts, or cattle, and there are no flies, fleas, lice, foxes, scorpions, snakes, or dogs, for all these are the result of idolatrous worship practiced in a land. (No animals live there) except for flocks, herds, and game fowl. Their flocks give birth twice a year, and they also plant their seed twice a year, sowing and harvesting. They have gardens, parks, olive groves, pomegranates, figs, and all kinds of legumes, melons, vegetables, onions, garlic, barley, and wheat. Each crop yields a hundred-fold.
They are religiously observant, learned in Mishnah, Talmud, and Aggadah. Their Talmud is entirely in Hebrew, and this is what they say: ‘Our Sages learned it this way orally from Joshua b. Nun, who received it orally from our ancestor Moses, who received it orally from God.’ They have no knowledge of the Sages who were active during the Second Temple period, nor do they engage in argument with them. The only language which they can speak is Hebrew.
All of them observe (the rules of) purity, engaging in ritual immersion. They never swear oaths. Should someone ever trivially invoke the Name, they cry out against that person saying, ‘Because of (your) sinful oath, your children may prematurely die!’ They have prolonged life-spans, living to an age of one hundred or one hundred and twenty, and no child dies during the lifetime of its parent; instead their life-spans overlap those of the third or fourth succeeding generations. They do their planting and harvesting [themselves], for they have no bondsmen or maidservants. All of them are equal (in social status). They never lock their houses at night: (such a habit) would cause them shame. A small child might accompany the herd for a distance of a ten-day journey, and there is no anxiety about thieves or demons. All of them are Levites; no priests or laity are present among them. They still maintain the sanctity associated with Moses our Teacher, the servant of the Lord.
They never see other human beings, nor do other humans see them except for those four tribes who inhabit ‘the opposite side of the rivers of Cush’ (Isa 18:1; Zeph 3:10). There is a spot where they can see and converse with one another by each shouting (to the other), with the River Sa(m)batyon separating them. They (the people of Moses) will say, ‘Something like this happened to us in battle,’ and they (the four tribes) will communicate to all Israel what happened to them. And when they wish to relate an important message or matter, they possess among them a certain type of pigeon: they write down their messages and tie them to the wings or the feet of the pigeons, and the pigeons then fly over the River Sa(m)batyon and come to their (i.e., the four tribes’) rulers and princes.
They moreover possess a vast quantity of precious stones, silver, and gold. They sow flax and raise the worm that yields scarlet coloring and manufacture countless beautiful garments. They are more than five times as numerous as those produced by Egypt.
The width of that spot by the river is two hundred cubits, ‘about a bowshot’s distance’ (Gen 21:16). The river is full of stones, both large and small, and their noise thunders like a massive earthquake, like a storm wind during the day, and at night its noise is audible a distance of a day’s journey. They have among them six springs, and they collect all of them into a single pool from which they irrigate their land. Pure fish swarm in it. The river flows and the rocks and the sand thunder during the six days when one labors, but on the seventh day it ceases and rests until the end of the Sabbath. On the opposite side of the river at the side of those three (sic!) tribes, there is a fire burning in the place, and no one is able to approach the side of the land of the princep[e] closer than about the distance of a mile.
6. BHM 5:18-20 (ed. Jellinek):
And also (there) is the tribe of Moses our teacher, the righteous one (and) servant of the Lord. Its name is called ‘tribe that flees’, for it ‘fled’ from idolatry and adhered to reverence for the Lord. The river surrounds them for a distance of a three month journey by a three month journey on every side. They live in magnificent houses and in splendid structures and in towers which they erected for themselves. No impure thing is among them: there are no impure fowl, animals, or cattle. There are no dangerous wild animals, flies, foxes, fleas, lice, serpents, scorpions, dogs, or any thing that might cause harm. They have only their flocks and herds, and their flocks bear young twice a year. They sow and reap, and they have gardens and parks and all kinds of fruits and all kinds of legumes, melons, vegetables, onions, garlic, wheat, and barley, and each (seed) yields a hundred-fold.
They are religiously observant, learned in Torah, Mishnah, Talmud, and Aggadah. Their Talmud is in Hebrew, and this is how they teach: ‘Thus did our ancestors learn it, and thus did our sages learn it orally from Joshua b. Nun, (who learned it) orally from Moses, (who received it) orally from God.’ They know nothing about the tannaim or amoraim (whose floruit was) during the period of the Second Temple because they (i.e., their teachings) did not reach them and they have no knowledge of them. They only know how to speak Hebrew. They are stringent regarding the use of libation wine, and whereas the Rabbis were strict in the halakhot pertaining to slaughter and the fitness of animals for sacrifice in accordance with the opinions of the scribes, Moses our Teacher was more stringent than the opinions of the scribes. They never swear oaths using the Name, and they become vocally angry with anyone who so swears in their presence. They upbraid them and say to them: ‘O wretches! How can you bear to mention the Name with your mouth? (Think of) all that has been on your mouth! Is it bread that you can eat it, or water that you can drink it? Do you not know that your children will die while they are young for the sin of swearing?’ Thus do they warn everyone to serve the Lord with awe and reverence and complete integrity. The ‘people of Moses, servant of the Lord’ have prolonged life-spans, living for one hundred or one hundred and twenty years. No daughter or son dies during the lifetime of their parent, and they attain (an age) reaching to the third or fourth generation (after them), personally seeing their children, grandchildren, and their descendants.
They (themselves) do their plowing and harvesting because they have no slaves or maidservants. They are store-owners (?). While their houses have locks, they never shut them at night because there are no thieves or criminals among them, nothing that would cause damage. There is also this: a small child will go with the cattle a distance of many days, and no one worries at all about brigands or demons or dangerous animals or anything else in the world that is harmful, for they maintain sanctity and purity. They are Levites who exert themselves for the Torah and the commandments, and they still maintain the level of sanctity associated with Moses our Teacher. For this reason the Holy One, blessed be He, has given them all this. They moreover never see other human beings, nor do other humans see them except for those four tribes who inhabit ‘the opposite side of the rivers of Cush’ (Isa 18:1; Zeph 3:10). They can see each other and they can converse together, with the River Sa(m)batyon between them. Scripture says about them: ‘[Say] to the prisoners, Depart!’ (Isa 49:9).
They possess moreover large quantities of silver and gold. They sow flax and raise the worm that yields scarlet coloring and manufacture beautiful garments and cloaks. Their population is twice or four times that (of Israel) at the time of the Exodus, so many the number cannot be determined. The width of the River Sa(m)batyon is two hundred cubits, ‘about a bowshot’s distance’ (Gen 21:16). The river is full of sand and rocks, but no water, and the noise of those rocks rumbles like the loud sound of thunder, or like (the sound of) the waves of the sea, or like that of a windstorm, and its noise is audible at night up to a distance of half a day’s journey. They possess springs there, and they collect all of them into a single pool which they use to irrigate their land. Fish swarm in that pool, and all kinds of pure waterfowl fly around it on every side. That river rumbles due to the rocks and the sand during the six days when one labors, but on the Sabbath it ceases and rests, and immediately a fire ascends on the banks of the river from Sabbath eve until the end of the Sabbath, and the fire blazes with flame, and no one is able to approach the river or either shore of the river closer than half a mile. The fire consumes everything that grows on the banks of the river until the ground is bare. Those four tribes—Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher—stand with their cattle next to the bank of the river in order to shear their flocks, for the ground is smooth, level, and bare with no thorns or vegetation growing. When the tribe of Moses sees (them), they come together and stand on the (opposite) bank of the river. They shout (to them) and say: ‘Tribes of Jeshurun, our brethren! Show us camels, dogs, and asses!’ They ask: ‘How long is this camel? How long is its neck? How short is its tail?’ They exchange greetings with one another.
7. Cambridge Genizah fragment:
… concerning them and concerning the Levites which were among them. They said to them: ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ (Ps 137:3). The Levites arose and focused their thoughts upon God, and then their group collectively sought to sever their fingers with their teeth, for they said: ‘We once used our fingers to play song(s) in the Temple! How can we use them for music in an impure land?!’ They assembled themselves and sought to move, and the Holy One, blessed be He, performed a miracle for them and assisted their departure. While they journeyed, a cloud surrounded them so that they, their children, and their herds effected a departure to the ancient land of Havilah. They arrived at that place where the cloud stopped during the night—thus their ancestors recounted to them. That night there was a mighty thundering and quaking, and when it was morning they saw a great and resplendent light, for there were among them righteous ones, pious ones, perfect ones, fearers of God, and His servants. At that time a river which rolled stones and sand surrounded them, having burst forth where no river had previously been located. It rolled many rocks and (a quantity of) sand that defied measurement, making a loud noise which was audible to a great distance. On the Sabbath it would be filled with smoke, and the areas around it would be encompassed by fog and darkness. No one was able to approach it, nor could anyone discern the road or its (i.e., the river’s) location until the end of the Sabbath when it would return (to flowing) as it previously did. They call it the River Sanbatyon, but in their language they call it ‘Sabbatyinos.’ By this river are places where the width (of it) is sixty cubits.
These are tribes who have no knowledge about the destruction of the Second Temple, for they went into exile at the time of the first destruction, but Naphtali, Gad, and Asher were exiled <before> the destruction of the First Temple. They gathered together adjacent to the Danites, and they were with ….
The Sages of Eretz Israel and the Sages of Babylonia have one Mishnah expressed in one language, with no (textual) deficiencies or additions except for the matter of Talmud. There are differences between them, for these will have a reason for this (practice or interpretation), but those will substitute another reason. So too for this (group) scriptural verses appear with one intonation, and for that (group) they appear with a different intonation: even when the consonantal spelling has been fixed, they retain between them differences in pronunciation. The Babylonians have arranged, added, opened, closed, punctuated, supplied Masorah, and demarcated the verses. This is all the more so with regard to Mishnah, which is an opaque subject ‘and very deep—who can find it out?’ (Qoh 7:24), where one does not find differences between the (two schools of Sages), but is not so with regard to Talmud, for the Babylonians learn it in Aramaic, but those of Eretz Israel use their own rendition. And what you have said is that the (lost) tribes have their own Talmud, for the Sages who went into exile to Cush with the tribes arranged for them a Talmud in Hebrew, and their Mishnah does not record the name of a Sage, for before ….
8. Cambridge Genizah fragment:
And he (i.e., Eldad) recounted the excellence of the tribes, they being Dan, Asher, and Naphtali, who dwell on ‘the opposite side of the rivers of Cush’ (Isa 18:1; Zeph 3:10) in the ancient land of Havilah, where they inhabit a territory measuring forty days journey square in size. He testified that his custom was to go out (sailing) upon the Great Sea, to procure garments and iron, and then to return to his home. But this time the Holy One, blessed be He, decided to reveal His power to him. A great windstorm blew up over them at midnight and cast them in the land of their enemies, where they were captured by Cushites who were cannibals. One who was with them (i.e., the shipwrecked merchants) from the tribe of Naphtali was fat, and they ate him. The Holy One, blessed be He, worked a miracle for me: a raiding party attacked them and took me along with them as spoil. I remained with them for four years, being passed (as a slave) from the possession of one to another in the land of Cush until they brought me near the border of Ishmael, and Isr[ael] ransomed me. I came among the tribe of Issachar, who lived among the mountains of Tehom in the land of the Medes and Persians.
He said: They are pious, learned sages, and fearers of Heaven. I went up from there to the mountains of Paran, wherein is <Mecca> about which the Ishmaelites get excited. There I saw the descendants of Zebulun, who are tent-dwellers, and behind them the tribe of Reuben, and behind them the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim.
He moreover said: These tribes possess among them Torah and abundant wisdom, for they were exiled from Sa[maria] before the destruction of the First Temple, and they retain their wisdom … narrative. And when we heard this message … Elijah to instruct us (about) this matter, and by the taking of this R. Eldad ha-Dani to inform us. May He gather our dispersed ones soon, amen!