4 Samaria Samarkand

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4. Samaria to Samarkand

Kyrgyz consider themselves an imperishable people. Some even think the name

Kyrgyz is a variation of the Kyrgyz word Kyrylgyz, indestructible. Hebrews

have also earned a similar reputation. Both nations seem to arise again and again

from an unending series of trauma, genocide, and destruction.1

Sin

Despite the divine favor both nations flaunt, they both uplift narratives that

reveal humiliating national sins. The Manas Epic records the following slaughter:

a Kitai khan, Alookei, attacked the Kyrgyz and scattered them from Samarkand.

The epic concludes that they were destroyed and exiled because of sin:

The poor people who came to Altay,

And the heroes who were exiled

Survived their hardships,

Were separated from their people,

And endured this on account of their sins.2

Manassehs biblical tribe and their heroes were destroyed and exiled for similar

reasons:

The members of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the

land. They were very numerous But they broke faith with

1 In 1916 the Tsars armies tried to completely annihilate Kyrgyz. This unknown genocide was

cut short by the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. In addition to this Kyrgyz have seen numerous

tyrants and conquerors sweep through their lands.

2 Karalaev, Saiakbai, Manas; Translated by Elmira Kochumkulkizi, Ph.D. Candidate in Near and

Middle Eastern Studies, University of Washington (Seattle) lines 3013-3018.


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the God of their fathers, and whored after the gods of the

peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of

Assyria, the spirit of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he

took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites,and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah,

Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day.3

This historic battle ended with Samarias capture in 721 BCE. The captives were

deported. Eventually Israel and Manassehs scattered masses disappeared from

history somewhere beyond the Euphrates. The tribes are now known as the

legendary Lost Tribes of Israel who, according to biblical prophecy, are

supposed to reappear in the last days.4

Samarkand and Samaria

The Manas Epic starts with Kitai khans deporting Jakyb and his ravished brothers

from the cities of Samarkand, Bukhara,Andijan, and Talas. Samarkand deserves

some attention in this analysis. The citys origins date back to about 700 BCE,

which correlates with Samarias deportation. A casual observer might think

Samarias deported captives brought the toponym of their capital with them - in

memory of the old capital Samaria, the exiles new land was called Fort Samar or

Samarkand. But the prevalent view on Samarkands etymology states asmara,

an old Persian word for rock or stone, and the suffix kand, meaning city or fort,

break down Samarkand to mean City of Rock, not City of Samar, or City of

Samaria. On that basis, Samarkand would have no connection to Samaria or

3 1 Chronicles 1:23-26 (English Standard Version). Emphasis added by author.

4 Zechariah 10:6-10


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Israels lost tribes. Nonetheless, Samaria and Samarkands deportation stories

deserve more attention, because we may have found a clue that other historians

overlooked. From the Manas Epic:

As for Alke and Molto's

Dreadful demands:

They took large quantities of gold.

If one couldn't give gold to them,

They took their grazing livestock.

If the numbers did not tally,

They beheaded and killed the owner.

Those Kyrgyz who fought backThey paid with blood

and sent to their ancestors those who talked back

They caught and made them slaves.

They destroyed everything,

They brought on a great calamity.

From the Alt-Shaar to Margilan,

All the way to Kokand,

And the sheikh with his soldiers wearing blue coats,In the lands of Bukara and Samarkand,

Were reduced in numbers and destroyed.5

Ashim Jakypbek also mentions Samarkand in his version, Tengiri Manas:

Khans Alooke and Molto, conquering from the beginning

they came and attacked Samarkand and Anjiyan, then killedthe hero Orozdu.6 When that was known they attacked Talas


Middle Eastern Studies, University of Washington (Seattle) lines 880-899. Parenthesis added by

author.

6 Orozdu is Jakybs father in this account


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and left no man to lead the people. Bent elders and nursing

babies were left. Pretty girls and ladies were taken. Ripped

from life and livestock, only beggars remained.7

The biblical chroniclers also note that only the poorest of the poor remained in the

land after the people were attacked and deported.

TheManas Encyclopedia states that many versions of the epic refer to Samarkand

as Manas fatherland.8 The mountains of Samaria, on the other hand, represented

Manassehs fatherland.9

And in 1885 Samarkands rabbi claimed SamarkandsJewish population was in fact descended from Reuben, Gad, and Manassehs

half tribe, not from Jews or Judeas Tribe.10 So perhaps Samarias toponym was in

fact exported to Samarkand.

The Scattered Ten

According to Ashim Jakypbek the ten orphaned sons of Orozdu were scattered

from Samarkand in ten different directions.

Jakyb told Manas about the Kitai, Kalmak, and Manjuu

attacking the Ala Too, destroying the pillars of the palace in

7 Ashim Jakypbek, Tengiri Manas, (Kyrgyzstan Bishkek, 1995) p. 19

8

Kyrgyz Republics National Academy of Sciences; Manas Encyclopedia, (Bishkek, 1995) Vol.II, p. 177

9 I interviewed Kuki members of the bnei Menashe who came from northeast India to Israel, but

specifically want to return to their fatherland in the mountains of Samaria (Jerusalem, 2006).

10 Lansdell, Henry Russian Central Asia, Including Kuldja, Bokhara, Khiva, and

Merv (Boston, Houghton, Mifflin, and Compny, 1885; Elibron Classics Replica Edition, 2003)

vol. 2, p. 595


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Talas, felling the flag and scattering the 10 young sons of the

Hero, Orozdu, in 10 directions when they did not have a

chance to fight11

Jakybs history and the Manas Epic start with ten brothers being scattered from

Samarkand, while Jacobs northern kingdom ends with the ten tribes scattered from

Samaria toward Persia, in the direction of Samarkand.12

First a view of those ten tribes who separated from Judea after the death of

Solomon, who lived about 3000 years ago:

And he said to Jeroboam, Take for yourself ten pieces, for

thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will tear the

kingdomout of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes

to you.13

Those ten tribes (also known as Joseph) often fought against Judah and Jerusalem.

Generations later Josephs tribes were destroyed:

the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel (the

ten tribes) away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by

the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the

Medes.14

11 Ashim Jakypbek, Tengiri Manas, (Kyrgyzstan Bishkek, 1995) p. 60. Authors translation.

12 1 Kings 11:31, 35. Assyrian kings attacked Manasseh and the northern tribes, captured

Samaria, and took the ten tribes to the northeast, as far as the cities of the Medes.

13 1 Kings 11:31 (New King James Version)

14 2 Kings 17:6 (New King James Version) Emphasis added by author.


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The Medes are proto-Persians. This is important because Tajik is a part of the

Persian language family; additionally Tajiks consider Samarkand and Bukhara two

of their cities even though they lie within Uzbekistans geographical boundaries.

Additional significance is connected to the Medes, because one of the Median

kings was Madius the Scythian (653-625 BCE). Prominent Kyrgyz scholars trace

their lineage from Scythian or Saka peoples. Kyrgyzstans award-winning author,

Turusbek Madylbai, claims Toktugul was previously Rakhshanak (), a

Saka city within the Persian-Mede empire.15

Such Median-Scythian linksstrengthen the journey from Jacobs son Manasseh to Jakybs son Manas.

Twelve Lost Centuries

The Manas Epic records a twelve century gap, possibly the time that passed

between Samaria destruction and Samarkands defeat, or more precisely, the period

between the biblical recording of Manassehs captivity and the epics account of

Manas resurgence:

In the twelve centuries

Since Karakhan's death,

There was no one to resist

The wrath-pouring infidels.16

15 Madylbai, Turusbek; interview (Bishkek, 2009)


Middle Eastern Studies, University of Washington (Seattle) lines 275-278


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Where were the Kyrgyz during the twelve centuries after Assyria destroyed

Samaria, from the 8th century BCE to the 4th century CE? Or should we flip the

question and ask where Manassehs descendants were at this time?

Samaria, Samarkand, Samakai

Later we will analyze a tribal people in Northeast India called the Kuki, who claim

descent from Israels tribe, Manasseh. They sing about the time they were parted

from their brothers on the Samakai Mountains.17 Dr. Khuplam, a Kuki scholar,

told me he believes Samakai (or Somakai) may be in Tibet because Kuki prayers

mentioned Samakai in conjunction with Tibet, but Khuplam has not been able to

locate the exact place of this parting.

Could this place of parting for three ethnic groups be the same location? Kuki

descendants of Manmasi (Manasseh) call it Samakai; Kyrgyz descendants of

Manas call it Samarkand; biblical records refer to Manasseh being torn from

Samaria. If history repeats itself, Samakai and Samarkand be historical repeats

of Samaria. But more likely, the descendants of Jacob remember a place of parting

that sounds like sama-something and maintain of memory of a father Manase or

some thing similar. Putting all the pieces of this historical puzzle together will not

be accomplished quickly, and may require revisiting some traditional perceptions;

like the etymology of Samarkand, the overall role of the Bible in the Manas Epic,

and the prevalent opinion about the disappearance of Jacobs ten northern tribes.

17 Khuplam, Milui Lenthang, Manmasi Chate (Kuki-Chin-Mizo) thulhun kidang masa (Hills

Tribals Council, Manipur India, 2005) page 35

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