A selection from "Israel's Tribes Today" by
Steven M. Collins,
chapter one, pages 31 to 49:
The Asian “Sacae” Become the European Saxons
Not all of the migrating Parthians and Scythians came to be
known as Goths or Germans. One of the famous branches of the Germanic tribes
entering Europe from the east was the Saxons.
Sharon Turner comments on their Scythian origins:
“The Saxons were a German or Teutonic,
that is, a Gothic or Scythian tribe; and of the various Scythian nations
which have been recorded, the Sakai, or Sacae,
are the people from whom the descent of the Saxons may be inferred...The Sakai...were an important
branch of the Scythian nation. Ptolemy mentions a Scythian people, sprung from
the Sakai, by the name of the Saxones...There
was a people called Saxoi, on the Euxine [the Black Sea],
according to Stephanus.”46 (Emphasis added)
The Scythian/Parthian people had been known as the Sacae or
Saka for over a millennium. This name was retained by the Germanic tribe that
the Romans called the “Saxons.” Phonetically, “Saxons” is the same as “Sac’s
sons,” or “Sons of Isaac.” While the English word “Saxon” has a Latin “x,” the
German word for “Saxon” is “Sachsisch” or “Sachse.”47 The modern German words
for “Saxon” still preserve the name of the Scythian “Sac-ae” who migrated into
Europe from Asia. The Sacae were Scythians and
Parthians in Asia, so the Saxons, or Sachse, were Scythian/Parthian refugees
entering Europe. The Bible prophesied in Genesis 48:14-16 that the name of Isaac would
specifically be placed on the Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Since
the Saxons still bore the name of Isaac as they migrated into Europe,
it confirms that the Saxons were primarily the Israelite tribes of Ephraim and
Manasseh.
The Scythian/Sacae origin of the Germans and Saxons has been
known for centuries. A famous British historian, William Camden, wrote the
following in 1610:
“...that the Germans are called Scythians, we gather not
only out of...Strabo...but also out of Pliny. The name of the Scythians (quoth
he) extendeth...even to the Germans...the Saxons descended from the Sacae, a
most noble nation, and of much worth in Asia...they came in
companies...together with the Getae, Suevi, Daci and others into Europe.”48
(Emphasis added)
Consider also Sharon Turner’s comment in the 1836 book, The
History of the Anglo-Saxons:
“The next great sources of its [Europe’s] population were
the Scythian or Gothic tribes, who entered it out of Asia, and who gradually
spread themselves from its eastern to its western extremity...The Saxons were a
German, that is, a Gothic or Scythian tribe; and of the various Scythian
nations which have been recorded, the Sakai, or Sacae, are the people from whom
the descent of the Saxons may be inferred...”49 (Emphasis added)
These accounts confirm that, in 1610 and 1836, it was known
that the Germans, Saxons, Getae, Sacae and Daci had migrated into Europe from
Asia, and that the Germanic and Saxon tribes of Europe descended from the
Scythian and Sacae tribes of Asia.
The Romans had a custom of naming leaders after the enemies
they fought. Thus one Roman leader was named “Germanicus” because he fought the
Germans. Another took the name “Parthicus” because he fought the Parthians. One
Roman leader who fought without success against the Parthians called himself “Decidius Saxa.” Since the Sacae (or Saka) were part
of the Parthian Empire, this Roman general had apparently taken the name Sac-ae
(or Sak-a), and represented it in a Latin form as “Sax-a.” Since this was done
long before Parthia fell,
the Romans apparently referred to the Parthian “Sacae” as the “Saxae” even
before they migrated to Europe. The Latin
plural is “Sac-ae,” and “Sax-a” is a singular form. It is not surprising then
that the descendants of the Sacae would be called the Saxons when they later
migrated to Europe. Col. Gawler also noted in
the 19th century that the classical writer Ptolemy:
“...mention[ed] a Scythian people sprung from the Sakai named Saxones.”51
(Emphasis added)
The link between the Scythian/Parthians and the Saxons is
well established. R.H. Hodgkin, in History of the Anglo-Saxons, elaborates
further on Ptolemy’s comment on the Saxones. He states:
“After Ptolemy’s statement that the Saxons were to be found
‘on the neck of the Cimbric
Peninsula,’ we have to
wait for more than a hundred years before we hear of them again. Then about 286
A.D. they are mentioned along with the Franks, first as pirates who infest the
coasts of Gaul and later as allies of Carausius, the Roman admiral who revolted
and established himself in Britain.”52
He says that the Saxons were first recorded as being “on the
neck of the Cimbric Peninsula [modern Denmark]” over a century prior to
286 A.D. This was likely an advance group of Scythian explorers or traders. The
Saxons were never present in large numbers in Northern
Europe until after the fall of the Parthian Empire. However, by
286 A.D., large numbers of Saxons and Franks are found as pirates in Northern
Europe, just six decades after Parthia’s
fall.
The conclusion is inescapable that masses of refugee Scythian
or Parthian Sacae migrated into northern Europe,
and were called Saxons by the Romans. Refugee Sacae would also be anti-Roman.
They preyed on Roman shipping and allied themselves with a Roman admiral who
was willing to oppose Rome.
Alfred Church wrote in Early Britain that the pirate tribes
who allied themselves to Carausius were:
“the first-comers of the swarms of invaders who, under the
names of Franks, Saxons, Danes and Normans, were
to work such a change on the face of Northern and Western Europe” [and adds]
Carausius was a native of the country now known as Holland.”53
This indicates that the Franks, Saxons, Danes and Normans
were allied tribes who jointly migrated into Europe
from a similar location. We now know that point of origin was in Asia. The Romans referred to
many of these tribes as “Germanic.” While the Saxons bore the name of Isaac,
the “Danes” bore the name of the Israelite tribe of Dan, which tribe had
attached its name to the major rivers entering the Black
Sea during Scythian times. William Camden also wrote in 1610 the
following about the Danes’ origin:
“Andrew Vellius a Dane and a very great scholar,
fetcheth their original from the Dahae, a people of “Scythia.”54
R.H. Hodgkin wrote: “the motive force of the [Saxon]
migrations was a land-hunger like that which has carried men of Anglo-Saxon
stock as migrants around the globe.”55 He also recorded that the Saxons:
“began to molest the Island (Briton) some time in the latter
half of the third century...After 250 A.D. the Imperial authorities began to
construct defenses along the coast...the Saxon raiders are not mentioned...till
the last quarter of the third century.”56 (Emphasis added)
These dates are extremely significant. The Parthian Empire
fell in 226 A.D., precipitating a massive migration of Sacae to the northwest
across Europe. From 250-300 A.D., the Saxons
and related tribes migrated into Europe in
great numbers. Some became pirates, attacking the
coast of Britain
after 250 A.D. Could anything be clearer? The Saxons were the Sacae who had
been dislodged from their homelands by the fall of Parthia
just decades previous to their appearance in Europe.
While the Goths struck directly at Rome, the
Saxons and their allied tribes migrated into Europe around the northern edge of
Rome’s European
territory in search of a new homeland.
D.V. Fisher’s Anglo-Saxon Age states that:
“Saxons from the eastern shores of the North Sea ravaged the
coasts of Britain
and occasionally penetrated deep into the lowland zone. Until the end of the
fourth century the [Roman] Empire was strong enough to repair the damage done
by the incursions.”57
However, Rome’s hold on Britain grew steadily weaker, and Rome eventually had to abandon Britain altogether. The native
British Celts at first invited Saxons from the European mainland to assist them
as mercenaries, but the Saxons eventually occupied much of England, pushing the native Celts into Wales and Scotland.
Several Germanic/Scythian tribes formed a confederation in
the lower Rhine and Weser River areas by 240 A.D.58 These
tribes had migrated out of Asia into Central Europe just 14 years after the
fall of Parthia!
The common denominator in all the Scythian-Germanic-Gothic migrations out of
Asia is that their tribes arrived in Europe in
huge numbers only after the fall of the Parthian Empire. Clearly, the fall of
the immense Parthian Empire is what triggered these great migrations.
The armaments of the Saxons included spears, pikes, bows and
arrows, and defensive armor of mail-coats and helmets.59 The
fact that they wore metal armor indicates that the Saxons were a people skilled
in metallurgy, not ignorant nomads. Their use of the bow and arrow and pikes
for offensive weapons and use of mail armor for defense attest to their
Parthian origin. The previous book noted that the Parthians primarily fought
with a light cavalry with bows and arrows, and a heavy cavalry that charged
with long pikes (spears). Their heavy cavalry and horses were clad with mail
armor and metal helmets. The Saxons, while exhibiting traditional Parthian
weaponry, had to fight on foot instead of on horseback. The horses were needed
for hauling their families and possessions in wagons, and may even have been
eaten during the privations of migration.
There are additional cultural factors that identify the
Saxons with the Parthian/Scythian peoples, but these factors are also common to
the Angles, Goths, Germans, Vandals and others who migrated out of Asia into Europe. These factors will be discussed after we examine
the migratory history of some of the other tribes who also fled the fallen
Parthian Empire.
The tribes most likely migrated just far enough to come to a
vacant area and then settled there. New migrants then
leap-frogged past them to the next vacant area. Or, when the population
increased, they sent out more settlers in covered wagons, like in the American
West.
While small Gothic outposts had long existed in Northern
Europe,60 the Goths were mainly located in the Black
Sea region when they began to invade the Roman Empire.
Some accounts about the Goths speculate that the original Gothic homeland was
in Scandinavia and that they migrated south toward the Black
Sea, but that is incorrect. The vast numbers of Goths who massed
by the Black Sea circa 250 A.D. before pouring into Europe were Parthian and
Scythian refugees who had been driven out of Iran and Asia, as the evidence
clearly shows.
The Gothic-Scythian connection is also noted by the
Encyclopedia Britannica, which asserts that the Goths “migrated into Scythia.”61 (Emphasis added) Both
the Britannica and Henry Bradley discuss the assumption that the Goths migrated
into Scythia from the north, out of Scandinavia.
However, the Britannica properly expresses doubts about a Scandinavian origin
for so many Goths in these words:
“The credibility of the story of the migration from Sweden has been
much discussed by modern authors... [however] so many
populous nations can hardly have sprung from the Scandinavian
Peninsula.”62
How true! While there were some Goths in Europe prior to the
fall of Parthia,
they were not known for great numbers or strength until their ranks were
swelled by the masses of Parthians, Scythians and other Semitic people who fled
from the fallen Parthian Empire. Some Goths had settled as far north
Scandinavia, but Scandinavia was not the original homeland for the masses of
Goths who invaded the Roman Empire. There is
no historical record of massive populations of Goths in Scandinavia before
their appearance in Europe in great numbers.
The original “Gothic homeland” was Parthia
and Scythia!
At the beginning of the third century A.D., the Goths were
divided into the Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths) and the Visigoths (Western Goths). These two Gothic groups lived on each
side of the Dniester
River on the shores of
the Black Sea.63
The Goths, Germans, and Saxons are sometimes collectively called
the Teutonic people. Henry Bradley’s 1887 book, The Goths, states:
“The Gothic language...is very much like the oldest English,
though it is still more like the language that was spoken by the ancestors of
the Swedes and Norwegians. There is little doubt that in the first century all
the Teutonic peoples could understand one another’s speech, though even then
there must have some differences of dialect, which grew wider as time went
on...the old Teutonic speech...developed into the different languages which we
call English, German, Dutch, Swedish and Danish.”64
These tribes separated as they spread over Europe,
and the dialects of their old Teutonic Gothic”) speech developed into modern
European languages. The original Teutonic or Gothic speech gradually fell into
disuse and was last recognizable in its original form in the Crimea in the 16th
century, the original Black Sea region from
which they poured into Europe.65
There is evidence that the word “Goth” comes from the Gothic
word “Guth,” which meant “God.”66 Henry Bradley discounted this idea, although
he wrote that “Jacob Grimm, one of the greatest scholars who ever lived”
supported that concept.67 Bradley discounted it too quickly. He acknowledges
that the Gothic word for God is Guth.” The consonants of both Goth and Guth are
“G-TH.” Both words have identical consonants, supporting the concept that we
are dealing with the same root word. Also, the languages descended from the
Gothic language, such as English and German, use words descended from the word
Goth” or Guth” to describe the Deity: “God,” and “Gott.” Since the descendant
words still directly refer to the Deity, there is every reason to believe the
antecedent Gothic word did as well.
In chapter six it was noted that Col. J.C. Gawler, an official
of the British Government in the 19th century, quoted a book by M. Sailman
written in 1818 entitled Researches in the East; an Important Account of the
Ten Tribes. Gawler says:
“It states on page 25, that ‘on the authority of several
Armenian historians, the ten tribes passed into Tartary.’ It also quotes
Ortellius, who, it says, ‘in his description of Tartary, notes the kingdom of Arsareth, where the ten tribes
retiring...took the name of Gauthei’ because, he says, they were very jealous
of the glory of God.”68 (Emphasis added)
This record that the Israelites, when first fleeing into the
Black Sea region from the Assyrians, took the
name “Gauthei” out of a zeal for God, argues that the Gauthei or Goths did,
indeed, name themselves after God. Since the Goths lived in the same region in
which the term “Gauthei” originated, it follows that the term “Goth” was simply
a more recent form of the word “Gauthei.” Bradley also cites Gothic literature
in which is found the word:
‘Gut-thiuda, [meaning] ‘people of the
Goths.’ The word thiuda is the same as the Old English theod, meaning
‘people’...” 69 (Emphasis added)
There is good reason to conclude that the Goths considered
themselves to be the “people of God.” Once it is understood that they were the
descendants of the ten tribes of Israel, it is logical that their
Israelite ancestors believed themselves to be the “people of God.”
Since modern history almost completely ignores the history
of ancient Parthia’s massive
empire, it avoids addressing the pressing historical question of where its
hordes of Semitic people went when Parthia fell. If history texts gave
the Parthian Empire the prominent attention its position in the ancient world
merits, it would be impossible to miss the Parthian
origin of the masses of refugee Caucasians pouring into Europe.
We know the Goths were part of the Caucasian race (Semites) which migrated in
huge numbers out of Asia into Europe. We know
the Parthians had a Semitic culture when they exited Parthia, because their Semitic
culture is what drove the Persians to expel them. Parthian coins and Scythian
artwork confirm their people had white, Caucasian features. Only the fallen
empire of Parthia could have
provided the many nations and tribes of refugees which poured into Europe promptly after the fall of the Parthian Empire.
Yet history texts seem unwilling to make the obvious, easy connection between
their dispersion and the arrival of many tribes of “Caucasian” refugees
arriving in Europe right after Parthia’s
collapse. Curious, isn’t it?
The fact that the Goths, Germans, Saxons, and related tribes
risked the lives of their families by bringing them along as they sought new
homelands in Europe (in spite of military
opposition) proves that they had no other choice! If their former homelands had
been available to them, they would not have risked their entire civilian
population in this mass migration. Parthia was the only nation at the
time which could have provided such a mass of refugees.
Historical accounts needlessly obscure the history of the
ten tribes of Israel
by creating artificial gaps in their migratory paths. The first artificial gap
occurs with the fall of the ten-tribed kingdom of Israel — commonly called the
“Phoenician Empire” — in about 745 to 721 B.C. Historical accounts imply that
these Israelites “suddenly disappeared” into Asia, or became “lost.” It is not
that historians have been unable to follow their migrations, but rather, that
most have refrained from trying. We have the Scythians, Parthians, Gauthei, and
related peoples “suddenly appearing” in Asia with Hebrew names and customs just
after the Israelites migrated to Asia. We have
the additional testimony of Josephus that the ten tribes had become very
numerous in Asia, and he even named their western border, the Euphrates River,
which was the western border of the Parthian Empire. During the 1st century
A.D., an educated Jewish historian such as Josephus did not regard the ten
tribes of Israel
as “lost” or even difficult to find. Overwhelming evidence confirms that the
Scythian Sacae and Parthians were the ten tribes of Israel.
The next artificial gap in Israelite history occurs in the
third century A.D. when history texts, if they mention Parthia at all, ignore the historical fact that
the Parthians fled to the northwest in the direction of South Russia and the Black Sea. Just a few years after the Parthian collapse, we
find the Saxons, Goths and related Germanic tribes “suddenly appearing” in vast
numbers as they migrate in search of new homelands, entering Europe from the
regions of South Russia and the Black Sea. It
is not difficult at all to make the historical connection between these events.
Classical writers of Greece
and Rome had much to say about Parthia, and in the 19th century historians
wrote extensive histories of Parthia,
yet 20th-century history texts widely ignore Parthian history. Is it only
coincidental that the study of Parthian history has declined at the same time
that evolutionary theories permeated our textbooks? To foist the theory of
evolution on people it was necessary for the apostles of evolution to discredit
the Bible. It served their interests to delete from history texts any factual
accounts which supported the Bible or which identified the hand of a Living God
guiding the affairs of nations. Since a knowledge of
the history of Parthia and
Scythia could easily reveal where the ten tribes of Israel went and would confirm God’s
guidance of world events, the story of these mighty empires was deleted or
grossly downplayed in the textbooks. It was deceitful, but it served the
purposes of those who wanted to foist evolutionary ideas on the populace of the
Western World. This series of books is an effort to restore to modern audiences
the truth about the forgotten Israelite empires and God’s active role
throughout human history.
We will now examine striking commonalities between the
tribes that formed ancient Scythia and Parthia
and those who settled in Europe after the
Parthian Empire fell. As noted above, the Scythian “Sacae,” many of whom
migrated into Parthia’s
eastern provinces during the pre-Christian period, were also called the
“Saxones.” As they migrated into Europe, their name was placed on portions of
the European mainland, such as several regions of Germany
named “Saxony” and the modern French province
of “Al-sace.” Also, it was noted earlier that the German word for the Saxons
preserves the “Sac” root word that was brought to Europe
by the Sacae. These names still preserve the name of the Hebrew Patriarch,
Isaac, as God had promised in Genesis 21:12.
Many Saxon tribes migrated into the British
Isles, along with the Angles and Jutes. Angle, or Engle, is likely
based on the Hebrew word “egel” for “bull” or “calf,” an identifying sign
historically attached to the tribe of Ephraim. “Jutes” may simply be a
variation of the name, Judah or Jats.
God gave Jacob the new name, “Israel.” (Genesis 32:28) This was
the birthright name, and by this God gave to Jacob-Israel the blessings that
had been promised to Abraham and Isaac. Many years later, Jacob-Israel passed
the birthright name, Israel,
to his grandsons, the sons of his favorite son, Joseph. These sons were Ephraim
and Manasseh. When he did this, Jacob-Israel said, “....let my name be named on
them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a
multitude in the midst of the earth.” (Genesis 48:16, KJV)
Because of this blessing, the names of “Israel” and
“Isaac” — the “Sacae” or “Saxons” — were placed primarily on the Israelite
tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in perpetuity. When you see the name “Israel” in the Bible, it usually designates
these two tribes of the ten tribes of Israel. The term “Isaac” has been
very well preserved in secular records throughout history, making it relatively
easy to trace the two birthright tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
Asia's "Germanii" Become Europe's
"Germans"
Other names from the Parthian Empire were brought to Europe as well. One Parthian province was named Carmania,
the home of the Kermans or Germanii. The Sassanian Persians attacked these
people along with the Parthians, so the Kermans also had to flee Persian
persecution. Indeed, since the Kermans were one of the first nations attacked
by the anti-Semitic Persians, it is logical that the Kermans were Semites.
Where did these people get their name? Historian Herbert Hannay answered that
question in his 1915 book, European and Other Race Origins. Hannay wrote:
"It was the Romans, then, about B.C. 58, who, by
applying the name of a particular Persian tribe in a loose way to other tribes
inhabiting the same country, originated, or rather appropriated and established
the name Germanii, "Germans," as a generic appellation for the
collection of tribes who eventually became so called..."70 (Emphasis
added)
It was the Romans who gave this name to a variety of tribes
living in Persia
in 58 B.C! Of course, at that time, all of Persia was in the Parthian Empire!
So at the time the name "Germans" was placed on a group of tribes in Asia, they were all living in the Parthian Empire! By the
time Parthian fell, large tribes of Germanii, or Germans, had been living in
the Parthian Empire for almost three centuries! (58 B.C. - 226 A.D.) In 58
B.C., the Parthians were called "Persians" by many writers because
they lived in and ruled the entire territory of the former Persian
Empire.
Herbert Hannay also wrote the following about the Germans
when they left Asia:
"...the original ancient Persians - amongst whom the
German were included - took advantage of the occasion to abandon Asia and to
migrate bodily into Europe."71 (Emphasis
not added)
The many German tribes came to Europe
from the Parthian Empire. Yet the Germans, or "Kermans," came from
but one province in Parthia.
If the very numerous Germans coming into Europe came from but one of Parthia's provinces, it gives us an insight into
just how huge and heavily-populated the entire empire of Parthia was!
As the "Kermans" or "Germanii" migrated
into Europe with the rest of Parthia's
refugees, they were still called "Germans." The name
"Carmania" was transplanted into Europe as "Germania,"
a general name used by the Romans to describe many different, but similar,
tribes. However, we have evidence that the name "German" was applied
to tribes in the Persian region long before the Roman
Empire existed!
Herodotus recorded that the "Germanii" were a
subject people in the old Persian Empire of the Achaemenids, before either the
Roman or Parthian Empires existed.72 The Encyclopedia Britannica, in
commenting on this passage of Herodotus, indicates that the
"Germanii" and the "Carmanians" were two names for the same
people.73 Obviously, these people kept that same name for centuries and
were still called the "Germanii" in the Parthian Empire. Clearly, the
term "German" originated in the Iranian-Mesopotamian region, and
later spread to Europe. We have already seen
that the Sacae Scythians of Asia had colonial outposts in Europe long before
the main body of Sacae and Parthians migrated to Europe
to seek refuge. Perhaps the Germans did as well. As the reader can see, the
ancient Asian tribal name, "Germanii," was virtually unchanged over
the centuries as it became "Germany"
in Europe.
It is this book's opinion that the original people called
"Germanii" by Herodotus were not the only people later called
"Germans" by the Romans. As noted above, the Romans came to
"loosely" attach that same name to other tribes who happened to live
in the same region as the Germanii during Parthian times. This fact indicates
that the name "German" was eventually applied to many other Semitic
people by the time these commonly-named tribes were attacked by the Sassanian
Persians and driven from Asia. As the Germans
migrated from their old Parthian homelands into Europe,
they kept the name “German” which had been applied by the Romans to a much
larger grouping of tribes.
Readers can confirm for themselves the region of ancient Persia in which
the ancient Kermans (or "Germanii") formerly lived. The region of
ancient Persia is now called
"Iran," and a
modern city in Southern Iran is still named "Kerman,"
after the ancient Semitic tribes which formerly inhabited that region before
they migrated to Europe.
The ancient writer, Strabo, records that the Carmanians
(Germanii or Kermans) were a warlike people.74 Also
interesting is the fact that Strabo records that an area of Asia
Minor was named "Prusa."75 When Hannibal,
Carthage's greatest general, fled in the second
century, B.C., after being defeated by the Romans, he fled to Armenia and was given refuge in Asia Minor by a King "Prusias."76 Were the
residents of Prusa called "Prusians?" The resemblance between the
ancient names "Prusa" and "Prusias" with the modern term
"Prussia"
is obvious, and both the ancient "Prusa" and the modern
"Prussians" were known for their warlike traits. The region of
Armenia/Asia Minor where the Prusa (and King Prusias) lived was often within Parthia's empire but always within Parthia's
sphere of influence. Given the very large migration of people from the region
of Parthia into Europe after
Parthia
fell, it is possible that the ancient Prusa were the namesake or ancestors of
the modern Prussians.
The term "German" also came to include many of the
Scythian tribes who migrated into Europe. In
the first century, A.D., the Roman historian and writer Pliny wrote concerning
the Scythians in Europe:
"the name of the Scythians has
altogether been transferred to the Sarmatae and the Germans."77
This is a very important historical observation. It confirms
that many Scythians, as they migrated out of Asia into Europe,
also became known as "Germans." The Encyclopedia Britannica notes
that the Greek writers Herodotus and Hippocrates regarded the Sarmatae, or
Sarmatians, as a Scythian tribe.78 The above
sources confirm that the Scythians were not "lost" in history, but
simply became known as "Germans" when they migrated into Europe. We also have seen that many Sacae Scythians came
to be known as "Saxons" when they entered Europe,
and the Saxons are viewed as a branch of the Germanic tribes. Since many
Israelite tribes were known as "Scythians" in Asia, this confirms
that many of them were called "Germans" or "Saxons" as they
entered Europe.
Asia's "Jats" and "Alani" Become Europe's "Jutes" and "Alans"
As the Saxons migrated into Europe and the British
Isles, they were closely allied to the "Jutes." History
records that after their entry into the British Isles, they settled in Kent, the Isle of Wight and parts of
Hampshire.79 The Jutes left their name
(Jute-land) on the Danish peninsula of "Jutland."
Where did they come from? Is there evidence of their name in Asia?
There certainly is, and even then we find them closely identified with the
Sacae, who became the Saxons.
When describing the Sacae Scythian tribes who migrated from
the Caspian Sea region in the second century,
B.C., to settle within the Parthian Empire, historian George Rawlinson notes
that the greatest tribe, the Massagetae, was also named the "great Jits,
or Jats."80 These migrating Sacae or Saka gave their name to the
Parthian province of Sacastan and to the Saka kingdoms of Northwest India. The term "Jat" has survived as
a caste-name in northwest India
into modern times, attesting to the ancient dominance of the Jats in that
region. The Encyclopedia Britannica states the following about the ancient
"Jats:"
"The early Mohammedans wrote of the Jats country as lying
between Kirman and Mansura...Speculation has identified them with the Getae of
Herodotus ...[or] Scythians or
Indo-Scythians."81 (Emphasis added)
The Asian Jats lived near the land
of Kirman (i.e. the Kerman
or German region of Parthia).
If they were Asian "Getae," their later European name was the
"Getes" or "Goths." If they were Scythians (Sacae), they
became known as Germans or Saxons as they entered Europe.
Collier's Encyclopedia states of the Jats:
"They are believed to be descended from the Saka or
Scythians, who moved into India
in a series of migrations between the second century B.C. and the fifth century
A.D."82 (Emphasis added)
Since the Jats were a branch of the "Sacae,"
called "Saxones" by Ptolemy, it is not surprising that they were
still allied to the "Saxons" and called "Jutes" by the time
they reached Europe and the British Isles.
Note that the consonants of the words “Jats” and “Jutes” are identical.
Many Sacae moved into Parthia
in the second century B.C., but some did stay in Asia centuries after the fall
of Parthia
as we will document in the next chapter. In Asia, the Sacae and Jats lived next
to the Kermans (Germanii); in Europe they were
called the Saxons and Jutes, and were part of the migrating Germans. Their
names changed very little as they moved from Parthian Asia into Europe as part of the great Caucasian migrations. The
names "Kerman" and "Jats"
also remained in the regions of Asia where
they once lived. Some Jats stayed in India and intermarried with other
tribes in the region. Today, the Indian Jats "in general have a fair
complexion,"83 supporting the conclusion that they had Saka
ancestors. As discussed in books two and three of this series, the Massagetae,
a leading tribe of the Sacae were most likely the descendants of the Israelite
tribe of Manasseh, and the suffix "-getae" indicates a common origin
with the "Getae" ("Goths") of the Black Sea region.
Historian Herbert Hannay wrote about this connection:
"The Goths, too, it will be remembered, when in Asia as the Massagetae, had been worshippers of the
Sun..."84(Emphasis added)
The second book in this series discussed the Massagetae in
detail, acknowledging that they were sun-worshippers. After crushing the army
of the Persian King, Cyrus the Great, in the sixth century B.C., they migrated
into Parthia
in the second century B.C. They lived in the Parthian province of Sakastan,
named for their Sacae origins. It must be acknowledged that while Christianity
had significant numbers of converts in the Parthian Empire, many Parthians and
Scythians remained Zoroastrians or sun-worshippers. Hannay's quote identifies
the Massagetae with the "Goths" who migrated into Europe.
However, this author thinks most of the Massagetae (a "Sacae" tribe)
merged into the Saxon tribes who migrated into northern Europe after Parthia fell.
Another Asian tribe that moved from Asia into Europe was the Alans (or Alani). Historian George
Rawlinson notes that bands of Alani lived from the Black Sea region to the east
of the Caspian Sea.85 They have been called "half-caste Scyths,"
and many Alani followed the Vandals into Europe.86 Collier's Encyclopedia
asserts the Alans were a tribe of "Iranian-speaking nomads" who moved
from Asia into Europe in the 5th century A.D., and established a kingdom of
their own in Portugal.87 Even as the numerous third century Goths by the
Black Sea exhibited "Iranian" (i.e., Parthian) traits, the Alans had
an "Iranian" language. This confirms they had a common origin with
the Parthians and Scythians, whose "Iranian" language and culture is
well-documented.
The Indo-Europeans who migrated from Asia into Europe in the
aftermath of Parthia's
fall included many different nations and tribes. As tribes intermingled, became
allied or split up as they poured into Europe,
there came to be considerable overlap in terms such as "Germans,"
"Goths," and "Saxons." The term "Caucasian"
became an overall term to describe all these tribes migrating into Europe through the Caucasus Mountain/Black Sea region.
Footnotes:
46.Turner, Sharon, The History of
the Anglo-Saxons, pp. 100-101
47.Langenscheidt's
German-English/English-German Dictionary, see word "Saxon" in
English-German section, p. 510
48.Camden,
William, Britannia, p. 129
49.Turner, Sharon, The History of
the Anglo-Saxons, Vol. 1, pp. 31 and 34
50.Rawlinson, The Sixth Oriental
Monarchy, pp. 187-189
51.Gawler, Colonel J.C., p. 6 (citing Sharon Turner's
History Of The Anglo-Saxons, Vol. 1, p. 100)
52.R. H. Hodgkin, History of the
Anglo-Saxons, p. 17
53.Church, Early Britain, pp.
80-82
54.Camden,
Britannia, p. 141
55.Hodgkin, p. 36
56.Ibid, p.42
57.Fisher, DV., The Anglo-Saxon
Age, p. 1
58.Turner, Vol. 1, p. 50
59.Hodgkin, pp. 24-27
60.Bradley, pp. 1, 7-8
61.Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol.
10, Heading entitled: "Early History," p. 549
62.Ibid. p. 549
63.Ibid, p. 5
64.Ibid, p. 4
65.Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol.
10, Heading entitled "Goths," Subhead: Gothic Language," pp.
551-552
66.Bradley, p. 5
67.Ibid, p. 5
68.Gawler, p. 9
69.Bradley, pp. 4-5
70. Hannay, Herbert, European and other Race Origins, p. 232
71.Ibid, p. 232
72.Herodotus, The History, 1, 125
73.Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol.
17, Heading entitled "Persis," p. 611
74.Strabo, The Geography of Strabo,
Vol. 7, 15. 2. 14
75.Ibid., Vol. 5, 12. 4. 3
76.Church, Alfred, Carthage, p. 269
77.Dilke, O.A.W., Greek and Roman
Maps, p. 46 (citing Pliny, iv. 81)
78.Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol.
19, Heading entitled "Sarmatae," p. 1001
79.Ibid., Vol. 13, Heading
entitled, "Jutes," p. 217
80.Rawlinson, The Sixth Oriental
Monarchy, p. 118
81.Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol.
12, Heading entitled "Jat," p. 970
82.Collier's Encyclopedia, Vol. 11,
Heading entitled "Jats," p. 356
83.Ibid., p. 357
84. Hannay, Herbert, European and other Race Origins, p. 233
85.Rawlinson, The Sixth Oriental
Monarchy, p.291 (see also footnote 2)
86.Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 1,
Heading entitled "Alani," p. 496
87.Collier's Encyclopedia, Vol. 1,
Heading entitled "Alani," p. 310
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