Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

Was There More Than One Exodus Out of Egypt?

by John D. Keyser

We are all Familiar with the story of Moses leading the children of Israel towards the Promised Land. But do you realize there was MORE THAN ONE exodus out of Egypt?

Ancient history reveals SEVERAL mass emigrations from the land of the pharaohs to various parts of the ancient world. Notice what Diodorus of Sicily (1st century B.C. Greek historian) records:

Now the Egyptians say that also AFTER these events [the plagues of Exodus] a GREAT NUMBER of colonies were SPREAD FROM EGYPT all over the inhabited world...They say also that those who set forth with DANAUS, likewise from Egypt, settled what is practically the OLDEST CITY OF GREECE, ARGOS, and that the nations of the COLCHI IN PONTUS and that of the JEWS, which lies between ARABIA and SYRIA, were founded as colonies by certain emigrants from their country [EGYPT]; and this is the reason why it is a long-established institution among these peoples to CIRCUMCISE THEIR MALE CHILDREN, the custom having been BROUGHT OVER FROM EGYPT. Even the ATHENIANS, they say, are COLONISTS FROM SAIS IN EGYPT (Diodorus of Sicily, by G. H. Oldfather. Vol. I, bks. I-II, 1-34. 1933, p. 91).

Author Muller, in his work Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, also relates these events as recorded by the pen of Hecateus of Abdera (6th century B.C.):

Hecateus therefore, tells us that the EGYPTIANS, formerly being troubled by calamities [referring to the TEN PLAGUES AT THE TIME OF THE EXODUS], in order that the divine wrath might be averted, EXPELLED ALL THE ALIENS GATHERED TOGETHER IN EGYPT. Of these, SOME, under their leaders DANUS and CADMUS, MIGRATED INTO GREECE; others into OTHER REGIONS, THE GREATER PART INTO SYRIA [meaning Palestine]. THEIR LEADER IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN MOSES, a man renowned for wisdom and courage, founder and legislator of the state. Afterwards many Mosaic institutions followed (Vol. II, p. 385).

The "calamities" referred to here are obviously the PLAGUES which YEHOVAH God brought down on the Egyptians, and the "ALIENS" are clearly the Israelites, some of whom migrated into GREECE with DANUS AND CADMUS. Others, under the leadership of Moses, made their escape to Palestine.

During the time of Herodotus the Greek historian (484-425 B.C.), the story of the "EGYPTIAN ORIGIN" of the Greeks was so well recorded that he did not bother to go into details in his work. However, he did make the following comment: "If we ascend from DANAE, the daughter of Acrisius, we shall find that the ANCESTORS OF THE DORIAN PRINCES WERE OF EGYPTIAN ORIGIN. Such is the Grecian account of their descent" (Herodotus, book VI, 53-54).

The migrations out of Egypt led by Danaus and Cadmus, and the Exodus under Moses, are not the only ones recorded. Another important GRECIAN COLONY was founded by CECROPS who became the FIRST "LEGENDARY" KING OF ATTICA. Cecrops, as we shall see, was an Israelite! Author E. Raymond Capt notes:

According to "The Harmsworth Encyclopedia," CECROPS ("CALCOL" of I Chron. 2:26 and "CHACOL" of I Kings 4:31 -- and BROTHER OF DARDA) was the 'mythical' founder of ATHENS and its FIRST KING. He was thought to have been the LEADER OF A BAND OF HEBREW COLONISTS FROM EGYPT (Missing Links Discovered in Assyrian Tablets. Artisan Sales, Thousand Oaks, CA. 1985, p. 65).

The legends of ancient Greece are unanimous in claiming that the people who founded their nation CAME FROM EGYPT. Furthermore, the time of the arrival of these groups in Greece is also the TIME OF THE BONDAGE OF THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT. The ancient writers all agree that these founders of the Greek nation were, without doubt, ISRAELITISH REFUGEES from the Egyptian bondage.

Yet another group fled Egypt under the leadership of DARDA -- brother to Calcol and son of Zarah. Notice what W. H. Bennett says of this exodus --

...let us now turn to that other part of ZARAH'S DESCENDANTS which FLED OUT OF EGYPT under the leadership of...DARDA. In the Authorized Version of the Bible this name is spelled DARA, but in the margin the alternate spelling is DARDA and the Jewish historian Josephus calls him DARDANUS. This is significant because the group which he led went NORTHWARD across the Mediterranean Sea to the north-west corner of what we now call ASIA MINOR. There, under the rule of DARDA (DARDANUS) they established a Kingdom, later called TROY, on the southern shore of that narrow body of water which bears his name to this day -- DARDANELLES (Symbols of Our Celto-Saxon Heritage. Canadian British Israel Assn., Windsor, Ontario. 1985, pp. 119-121).

Did these bands of Israelite refugees stay in Greece and Asia Minor, or did they migrate further to distant lands across the sea? Let's see what happened to DANAUS. According to Euripides and the Greek geographer and historian STRABO (63?B.C.-24?A.D.):

DANAUS having arrived in ARGOS made a law that those who had borne the name of PELASGIOTAE throughout GREECE should be called DANAI (Strabo V. ii. 4).

If you compare this with Judges 18:29 in the Bible you will find that this act of Danaus was one employed by the TRIBE of DAN throughout their history!

Writes E. Raymond Capt --

We further learn from STRABO and others that this ARGOS soon spread its name to the PELOPONNESUS and afterwards to all Greece, for he says, "Homer calls the WHOLE of Greece ARGOS, for he calls all ARGIVES, as he calls them DANAI and ACHAEI" (Missing Links Discovered in Assyrian Tablets, p. 62).

Author Latham, in his Ethnology of Europe, says, "that the eponymus [national origin] of the ARGIVE DANAI was no other than that of the ISRAELITE TRIBE OF DAN, only we are so used to confine ourselves to the soil of Palestine in our consideration of the Israelites, that we treat them as if they were 'adscripti glebae,' and ignore the share they may have taken in the ordinary history of the world...(p. 157).

Note WHERE the Danai went from Greece --

...the name DAN was an important one in ancient GREECE. The leader of one of the first groups to settle there was DANus and the northern part of Greece is still called MaceDONia. Further, ancient IRELAND was partly settled by a people called DANans who came from GREECE; and it is interesting, too, that SCOTLAND was anciently called CaleDONia. That there was a connection between CaleDONia and Greece is evidenced by the fact that the people of one of the three tribes of ancient Greece were called DORICS; that the Doric dialect was harsh and that the people in some parts of Scotland still speak a dialect referred to as 'BROAD DORIC.'....it is undeniably true that many of the ancient Greeks LEFT THAT COUNTRY TO SETTLE IN SCANDINAVIA AND THE BRITISH ISLES...(Symbols of Our Celto-Saxon Heritage, pp. 184-186).

CALCOL, or CECROPS as the Greeks called him, evidently left Egypt BEFORE the Exodus of the Bible. Herman L. Hoeh, author of the Compendium of World History, states that "ATHENIAN history commences with the founding of the city by Cecrops in 1556 [B.C.]" (Volume I, p. 390).

The Encyclopedia Britannica states that Cecrops was "traditionally the FIRST KING OF ATTICA (Pausanias ix. 33). He was said to have divided the inhabitants into 12 COMMUNITIES, to have instituted the LAWS OF MARRIAGE and PROPERTY and a NEW FORM OF WORSHIP. The introduction of BLOODLESS SACRIFICE, the BURIAL OF THE DEAD and the invention of WRITING were also attributed to him" (1943 edition. Vol. 5, p. 85).

Although Calcol died in Greece in the year 1506 B.C., he directed his son GATHELUS to plant the royal line of Judah (through Zarah) in distant lands to the west! Notice what E. Raymond Capt reveals:

The Danaan were not the first Hebrews into Ireland. CALCOL (I Chron. 2:6 -- Chalcol of I Kings 4:31) FOUNDER OF THE ANCIENT IRISH LINE OF KINGS [through his son Gathelus], planted a royal Dynasty in ULSTER (as well as other royal dynasties in Europe). He and his brother DARDA (DARDANUS) the founder of TROY had both migrated from Egypt BEFORE the Exodus. They are SONS OF ZARAH, one of the twin sons of Judah. The Hebrew name "Zarah" signifies "to scatter," and the subsequent history of Zarah and his descendants fully justifies the claim that he was named with prophetic intention, even as was Jacob, the supplanter (Missing Links Discovered in Assyrian Tablets. Artisan Sales, Thousand Oaks, CA. 1985, p. 64).

Gathelus' movements are noted by Capt --

Historical records tell of the WESTWARD MIGRATION of the descendants of CALCOL along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, establishing "IBERIAN" (HEBREW) trading settlements. One settlement now called "SARAGOSSA," in the EBRO valley in Spain, was originally known as "ZARAH-GASSA," meaning the "STRONGHOLD OF ZARAH." From Spain they continued westward as far as Ireland. The Iberians gave their name to Ireland, calling the island "Iberne" which was later abbreviated to "Erne," and subsequently Latinized to "Hibernia," a name that still adheres to Ireland (ibid., p. 65).

The story of Gathelus' travels is truly remarkable -- showing the hand of YEHOVAH God at work as He dispersed His people Israel from Egypt. The Chronicles of Scotland by Hector Boece (translated into Scottish by John Bellenden in 1531) tell how Gathelus left Greece and went to Egypt to enter the service of the pharaoh:

For, as the old chronicles reveal, there was a Greek, called GATHELUS, SON OF CECROPS [CALCOL] OF ATHENS, otherwise of Argus, King of the Argives, who...left his native country of Greece and CAME TO EGYPT with a strong company of goodly young men....At this time there reigned in Egypt Pharaoh, THE SCOURGE OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL: whose SON, following in his father's iniquities, was DROWNED IN THE RED SEA, with all his army...The King Pharaoh received Gathelus openly because he [Gathelus] appeared to support the Pharaoh against the Ethiopians and the people of Midian....The Pharaoh, with the support of Gathelus, won a fierce battle against the Ethiopians, and brought them so close to defeat that Gathelus took their principal city called MEROE. Gathelus, after this great victory, returned to Egypt; and...was made general lieutenant over all of the Pharaoh's army. Soon after, because he was...of the ROYAL BLOOD LINE OF GREECE...King Pharaoh gave him his DAUGHTER, CALLED SCOTA, in marriage....

The Chronicles next relate the return of Moses --

A few years after this, the Pharaoh died, and his son Bochoris Pharaoh received the crown of Egypt, and he oppressed the people of Israel with a worse slavery than did his father. Therefore, no hope of liberty appeared to the people of Israel, until MOSES returned from Midian, where he was banished, to show the commands of God to this Bochoris Pharaoh, in order to deliver the Israelites out of bondage. Following this, Egypt was punished with strange plagues, because they held the prophecy of Moses in contempt....Gathelus...concerned by the present plague that was the terrible response of God, resolved TO LEAVE EGYPT FOR ANOTHER ABODE....A short time afterwards he provisioned a ship and SAILED OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THE RIVER NILE with his wife, friends and servants -- Greeks and Egyptians -- for fear of the plagues of God....After a dangerous voyage ON THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, Gathelus...LANDED IN A PART OF SPAIN CALLED LUSITANIA, which was afterwards called PORTUGAL, that is, THE PORT OF GATHELE [GATHELUS]....

Gathelus' settlement of Spain is described next:

Soon afterwards he built a town UPON THE RIVER OF MUNDE, then called BRACHARA -- NOW BARSALE....[After a major battle with the Spaniards] they [the Spaniards] therefore asked Gathelus for a peace conference and quickly gave him...part of their land in the NORTH PART OF SPAIN, NOW CALLED GALYCIA, because they had a prophecy that said a strange people would sometime come to dwell there....with the close collaboration of the inhabitants, [he] built the TOWN OF BRYGANCE -- now called COMPESTELLA....Following this Gathelus NAMED ALL HIS SUBJECTS SCOTS, IN HONOR AND AFFECTION FOR HIS WIFE, WHO WAS CALLED SCOTA, with whom he had two sons -- HIBER AND HEMECUS....(Vol. I. William Blackwood & Sons, pp. 21-24).

Notice WHERE the Scots went from Spain --

Gathelus, seeing the number of his people increasing in Brigance, thought it more fitting to take his people to SOME OTHER PLACE where they may live in peace....Gathelus...assembled all the SHIPS he could find in a nearby port, in which he placed his sons HIBER and HEMECUS -- with sailors, warriors and all the other things necessary for the expedition. He commanded Hiber, as Admiral, to go to the ISLAND...with favorable winds, [they] arrived five days later....HIBER sacrificed to the honor of his God...then returned to Spain....Hemecus, who was left behind on the island by his brother, NAMED THE ISLAND HIBERNIA after Hiber -- that is to say, IRELAND. And since this island was inhabited by two peoples, the SCOTS and the old inhabitants....Hemecus governed both those peoples in great justice (pp. 24-27).

Eventually the SCOTS moved on once more and invaded the land TO THE NORTH OF ENGLAND! Notice!

The Scots historically are intruders -- THEY CAME FROM IRELAND AND BUILT THE KINGDOM OF DALRIADA on land which had once been Pictish, IN THE WEST OF SCOTLAND, IN ARGYLL and the ISLES. By the mid-sixth century they held a sizable kingdom lying north of the Britons of Strathclyde and stretching up beyond the Great Glen, and they named it AFTER THE DISTRICT IN ULSTER [Northern Ireland] FROM WHICH THEY TOOK THEIR ROYAL HOUSE....(A History of Scotland, by Rosalind Mitchison. Methuen & Co., Ltd. London, 1970, p. 6).

The oldest Irish chronicles reveal that Abbot Tighernac, a descendant of the SCOTIC KINGS OF ULSTER, led a colony of MILESIAN SCOTS from Antrim in Northern Ireland to the northernmost parts of England. After defeating the PICTS in a number of battles, they gained complete control of this area and also named it in honor of SCOTA -- SCOTLAND, "THE LAND OF THE SCOTS"!

The LAST MAJOR MOVEMENT of these descendants of ZARAH occurred in recent centuries when waves of emigration from SCOTLAND traveled across the Atlantic to NOVA SCOTIA in Canada! Once again, probably unconsciously, they named their new home in Canada after SCOTA -- the wife of Gathelus!

The kingdom DARDA founded in the DARDANELLES was eventually destroyed in a war with the Greeks.

Some of the survivors fled northward INTO EUROPE where their emblem, the RAMPANT RED LION, appears in the Arms of some of the nations, provinces and old families in the lands NEAR OR BORDERING THE NORTH SEA. Others fled westward across the Mediterranean to SPAIN and on to the BRITISH ISLES where, with some members of other Israel tribes, they were the first settlers in much of what is now called SCOTLAND. A larger group led by PRINCE BRUTUS, A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF DARDANUS AND ZARA, after living in Italy for a time, also moved on through Spain to BRITAIN, arriving here about the year 1100 B.C. Though Britain had a considerable population long before the arrival of these TROJANS, their coming and the setting up of this TRANSPLANTED TROJAN KINGDOM is the actual BEGINNING of the British nation (Symbols of Our Celto-Saxon Heritage, pp. 119-120).

Thus, all the groups (with the possible exception of CADMUS) that left Egypt during the time of the bondage, ended up in the British Isles! The ROYAL LINE OF JUDAH was firmly planted in the nations of Europe and across the Channel in IRELAND.

The present Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations -- Elizabeth II -- is directly descended from JUDAH through ZARAH and the ROYAL HOUSE OF THE SCOTS!

Hope of Israel Ministries -- Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God!

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