Truth About The Crucifixion — Page 77
called Bani Israel (Children of Israel) used to live in Asareth and were engaged in trade. Thomas Ledlie in his book, More Ledlian, writing on the origin of Afghans, gives cogent reasons for connecting Asareth with Hazara District in the N. W. F. Province of Pakistan; and the territory of Kashmir adjoins that of Hazara. But the old boundary of Asareth in Swat was just on the opposite bank of the Indus river, and, higher up near Chilas, it ran into Kashmir territory. St. Jerome, who wrote in the fifth century of the Christian era while discussing the Dispersion of Israel, stated. . . Until this day the ten tribes are subjects to the Kings of the Persians nor has their captivity ever loosened. Another eminent scholar, Dr. Alfred Edersheim, in his book entitled The Life and Times of Jesus, the Messiah, says that vast numbers of Israelites, estimated at millions, inhabited the trans-Euphrates provinces - the great mass of the ten tribes was in the days of Christ, as in our own times, lost to the Hebrew nation. We read in the Jewish Encyclopedia under the heading Tribes: Abraham Farissol identifies the River Ganges with the River Gozan and assumes that the Bani-Israel of India are the descendants of the lost ten tribes. Let us look more closely at the history of the people of these regions. The claim of Afghans to be the Children of Israel is not merely founded on tradition. It is supported by ancient monuments, old inscriptions and historical works which are still to be found in manuscripts in their possession. In these books of history the 69