meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Fascinating People Fascinating Places

Lost Tribes and the Ark of the Covenant found in Africa? Tudor Parfitt Interview

Fascinating People Fascinating Places

Daniel Mainwaring

Documentary, Society & Culture:documentary, History, Society & Culture

51.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

By the mid Nineteenth century Europeans had conquered or explored all of the Americas, Asia and even remote Pacific outposts that we know today as Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti. But bizarrely one area remained largely unexplored and it was right on Europe’s doorstep: Sub Saharan Africa.  As you might expect, explorers, missionaries and of course colonialists soon made their way down South. They encountered new languages, customs, ethnic groups and evidence of previously unknown (to Europeans) civilizations. But more surprisingly, they also encountered a group of people who identified as Jews. These were not converts to the religion but rather African people who claimed they were ethnically the descendants of Abraham, and perhaps even one of ”The Lost Tribes of Israel.” More remarkably, they also had an explanation for what had happened to the Ark of the covenant. It wasn’t in Ethiopia, Israel,  or in a huge CIA operated warehouse full of crates. No, it was in their own backyard. British Scholar Tudor Parfitt who has specialized in studying Jewish history decided to investigate these seemingly outlandish claims. Had these people in Zimbabwe merely adopted a form of Judaism introduced by Christian missionaries? Was there any evidence aside from oral tradition to substantiate their claims? The results of his research stunned the world. In this episode I speak with Tudor Parfitt. Guest:  Tudor Parfitt Bio Music: Pixabay

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

By the start of the 19th century, Europeans had either colonized or at least explored

0:07.0

all of the Americas, Asia, and even the Pacific, remote outcrops that we now think of as places

0:14.0

like Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti. But one area of the globe remained largely unexplored.

0:22.6

And surprisingly, it was right on Europe's doorstep.

0:26.6

Sub-Saharan Africa, as Dutch, British and German settlers and explorers moved further into this region,

0:34.6

unsurprisingly, they found a huge array of different ethnic groups, languages and evidence

0:40.6

of lost and current civilizations no one in Europe had ever heard of before.

0:45.8

But more surprisingly, they found something else.

0:49.5

On the borders of today Zimbabwe and South Africa, they encountered a black African tribe called

0:55.5

Alamba, who to this day claim they're Jewish.

1:00.4

But these weren't converts to the religion, who'd adopted Judaism after encountering evangelists

1:06.4

from the Holy Land.

1:08.4

These were people who claimed no, they weren't religiously Jewish. They were ethnically

1:13.6

Jews. They were the descendants of Jacob and perhaps remnants of one of the lost tribes of Israel.

1:23.6

But could this fantastical story possibly be true?

1:28.3

His something British historian, Tudor Parthet, my guest today, has spent years investigating

1:35.3

and his multi-disciplinary research has led him to some astounding conclusions.

1:42.3

I really appreciate you joining me for this episode because it's a topic that I've had an interest in for many years now.

1:49.4

I saw some of your work in a documentary 15 years ago or so and I know since then you have done more research.

1:56.5

So I'm really excited to delve into this.

1:59.8

But can you begin by just broadly explaining the claims and

2:05.4

evidence of the Lember people to this idea that they are descended from the ancient Israelites?

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 25 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Daniel Mainwaring, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Daniel Mainwaring and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.