Sena | |
|---|---|
 A Lemba man from theGutu District | |
| Total population | |
| 80,000-90,000 members. | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| South Africa (esp.Limpopo Province),Malawi,Mozambique, | |
| Languages | |
| PresentlyVenda,Ndebele language[disambiguation needed],Karanga andPedi (PreviouslyOld South Arabian languages) | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity,Islam,Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Swahili,Shirazi,Hadhrami |
| Part ofa series on |
| Judaism |
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TheLemba are aBantu-speakingethnic group found mainly inSouth Africa,Zimbabwe,Mozambique, andMalawi, with smaller numbers living in other parts ofSouthern Africa. They are widely noted for their mixed ancestry, tracing their origins to both indigenousBantu-speaking communities of the region and toJewish migrants from Yemen who are believed to have settled in Africa centuries ago as skilled traders and artisans, craftsmen, aristocrats and religious leaders.[1][2]
Since the late twentieth century, there has been increased media and scholarly attention about the Lemba's common partial descent fromSemitic peoples ofWest Asia.[3][4] GeneticY-DNA analyses have established apaternal West Asian origin for the majority of the Lemba population, while the matrilineal origins are exclusively fromSub Saharan Africa.[5][6]
It has been suggested that the exonym "Lemba" may originate inkilemba (most likely spread via theMwera derivativechilemba), aSwahili word meaning turban. Thus, in context, the word "Lemba" as an ethnic identifier therefore translates to 'those who wear turbans.[7]
Another theory is that the word "Lemba" may originate from the wordlembi, a term which occurs in severalNortheastern Bantu languages meaning a "non-African" or a "respected foreigner".[7][8]
The 'Lemba' themselves prefer the nameMwenye as an exonym but call themselvesSena (orSana) as an endonym for their city of origin.[9]
The Lemba were sometimes referred to by surrounding communities (Bantus) asMwenye, a Swahili term meaning "owner," "master," or "one with influence and power." This designation was linked to the Lemba's roles as long distance traders, skilled craftsmen, and community leaders, which gave them considerable influence in the regions where they settled.[10]
What is possibly the oldest recorded origin story of the Lemba people was documented byHenri-Alexandre Junod (a Swiss-born South African missionary). In 1908, he wrote:
Some old Balemba of both theSpelonken and theDuiwelskloof country told my informant the following legend:
- '[We]have come from a very remote place, on the other side of the sea. We were on a big boat. A terrible storm nearly destroyed us all. The boat was broken into two pieces. One half of us reached the shores of this country; the others were taken away with the second half of the boat, and we do not know where they are now. We climbed the mountains and arrived among the Banyai. There we settled, and after a time we moved southwards to theTransvaal; but we are not the Banyai.[11]
Tudor Parfitt interprets that the legend about the destruction of the boat and the division of the tribe is perhaps a way of explaining the fact that Lemba clans are to be found in several separate locations. However, it could equally be taken as an expression of a fractured sense of identity.[12]
The original Sena was most likely located inYemen, specifically in the ancient town ofSanā (also known asSanāw) which is located within the easternmost portion of theHadhramaut.[3][13]
The Lemba claim that they settled inTanzania andKenya, building what was referred to as another Sena, or "Sena II". Others supposedly settled inMalawi, where their descendants reside today. Some settled inMozambique, eventually migrating toZimbabwe andSouth Africa. They claim that their ancestors constructedGreat Zimbabwe, now preserved as a monument. Ken Mufuka, a Zimbabweanarchaeologist, believes that either the Lemba or theVenda may have participated in this architectural project but he does not believe that they were solely responsible for its completion. Writer Tudor Parfitt thinks that they may have helped construct the massive city.[14]
Most academics who are experts in this field believe that the construction of the enclosure at Great Zimbabwe is largely attributable to the ancestors of the indigenousShona.[15][16][17] Such works were typical of their ancestral civilizations.[15][18][19][20]
Whilst most Lemba are Christians, there is also a sizeable minority of Lemba who are practicing Jews or Muslims.[21]Edith Bruder wrote that "from a theological point of view, the Lemba's customs and rituals reveal religious pluralism and interdependence of these various practices" and see membership of these religions "in cultural rather than religious terms. These apparently religious identities do not prevent them from declaring themselves Jews through religious practice and ethnic identification."[22] In 1992, Parfitt pointed to the strong cultural component in Lemba identification with Judaism.[23] In 2002, Parfitt wrote that "Those Lemba, who perceive themselves as ethnically Jewish, find no contradiction in regularly attending a Christian church."[9]
In recent years, there has been a Jewish "renaissance" amongst the Lemba, with many of them reverting to religious Judaism under halakhic laws. Some Lemba have even madealiyah. Many religious holidays which were rarely celebrated due to urban migration andEvangelicalism in Africa are being celebrated by greater numbers of Lemba, with many communities coming together for passover seders all over the region.[24]
These Lemba practice dietary laws based on the books ofLeviticus andDeuteronomy. Permitted and forbidden animals are seen in Leviticus 11:3–8 and Deuteronomy 14:4–8. Forbidden birds are listed in Leviticus 11:13–23 and Deuteronomy 14:12–20. The Lemba do not eat rodents, shellfish or any other "sea-scavengers" such as crustaceans, unlike in Islam, where consumption of prawns is permitted.Mixtures of milk and meat are not prepared or eaten, with traditional Lemba households having separate pots for each of them.[citation needed]
InOrthodox JudaismHalakhicJewish status is determined by documentation ofan unbroken matrilineal line of descent and when no such line of descent exists, it is determined byconversion to Judaism. Jews who adhere toOrthodox orConservative rabbinism believe that "Jewish status by birth" is only passed from a Jewish female to her children (if she herself is a Jew by birth or a Jew by conversion to Judaism) regardless of the Jewish status of the father. Because of the absence of matrilineal Jewish descent for the Lemba, Orthodox or Conservative Judaism would not recognise them as 'Halakhically Jewish.' The Lemba would need to complete a formal conversion process in order to be accepted as Jews.[citation needed]
TheReform andReconstructionist denominations,[25] theKaraites, andHaymanot Jews all recognize patrilineage. As more is learned about the widespreadhistory of the Jewish people, the Reform branch of Judaism has acknowledged the existence of an unusual line of descent outside the European and indigenous Middle Eastern Jewish spheres. Especially since the publication of the genetic results of the Lemba, American Jewish communities have reached out to the people, offering assistance, sending books on Judaism and related study materials, and initiating ties in order to teach the Lemba about Rabbinic Judaism. So far, few Lemba have converted to Rabbinic Judaism.
South African Jews of European descent have long been aware of the Lemba, but they have never accepted them as Jews or thought of them as more than an "intriguing curiosity."[8] Generally, the Lemba have not been accepted as Jews because of their lack of matrilineal descent. Severalrabbis and Jewish associations support their recognition as descendants of the "Lost Tribes of Israel".[8] In the 2000s, the Lemba Cultural Association approached the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, asking for the Lemba to be recognized as Jews by the Jewish community. The Lemba Association complained that "we like many non-European Jews are simply the victims ofracism at the hands of the European Jewish establishment worldwide". They threatened to start a campaign to "protest and ultimately destroy 'Jewishapartheid'".[8]
InApartheid South Africa the Lemba were not recognized as an ethnic group which was distinct from other black South Africans.[26] The Lemba Cultural Association face misconceptions about their goals such as the belief that the Lemba identify more with European Judaism, the belief that they aim to affiliate with European Jewry rather than other black Jews, and the belief that they are distanced fromSouth African politics.[26] However, while the Lemba do identify with their religious Judaism, many practice Christianity as well.[26]
According to Gideon Shimoni, in his book,Community and Conscience: The Jews inApartheid South Africa (2003): "In terms ofhalakha the Lemba are not at all comparable to theFalasha[a] [of Ethiopia]. As a group they have no conceivable status in Judaism."[8]
Rabbi Bernhard of South Africa has stated that the only way for a member of the Lemba tribe to be recognised as a Jew is to undergo the formal Halakhic conversion process. After that, the person "would be welcomed with open arms."[8]
In May 2013, the Harare Lemba Synagogue was established in a rental building in Bluffhill, Harare, Zimbabwe with the assistance fromKulanu (organization)[27]
As of 2015, the Lemba were building their firstsynagogue in Great Zimbabwe, Mapakomhere, inMasvingo District.[28]
The Lemba are divided into 12 primary clans:[29][21]
There are various different transliterations of these primary clans depending on location.
The Lemba follow strictendogamous marriage practices, discouraging unions between Lemba and non-Lemba; mostly against tribes they live amongst (which they collectively refer to asSenji). Endogamy is also common among many groups.
According to Tooke, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Lemba were highly esteemed for their mining and metalwork skills by the surrounding tribes which lived in the Zoutpansberg region of South Africa. He wrote in his 1937 book that the other tribes considered the Lemba outsiders.[30][31] According to articles which were written during the early 1930s, in the 1920s, the Lembas' medical knowledge earned them respect among tribes in South Africa.[32][33] Parfitt believes that colonial Europeans had their own reasons for considering some tribes rather than other tribes indigenous to Africa, because they made the British believe that they had a right to be on the continent just like other migrants.[9] Modern Y-DNA evidence confirms the extra-African origin of some of the Lemba's male ancestors. By contrast, the lead anthropologist in Zimbabwe firmly places them among African peoples.[34]
Lemba tradition tells of a sacred object, theNgoma Lungundu or the "drum that thunders", which they brought from the place which was called Sena. Their oral history claims that thengoma was the biblicalArk of the Covenant which was made byMoses.[35] Parfitt, a professor atSOAS, University of London, wrote a book in 2008,The Lost Ark of the Covenant about the rediscovery of this object.[36] His book was adapted into a television documentary that aired on theHistory Channel, tracing the Lemba's claim that thengoma lungunda was the legendary Ark of the Covenant. Following the lead of eighth-century accounts of the Ark in Arabia, Parfitt learned of a ghost town which was namedSena in theHadhramaut.[37]
Parfitt has suggested that thengoma was related to the Ark of the Covenant, lost inJerusalem after the city's destruction by theBabylonian kingNebuchadnezzar II in 587 BC.[37] He believes that thengoma is a descendant of the biblical Ark, which may have been destroyed or may have been repaired when more material was added to it as the artifact began to wear out. He says that the ark/ngoma was carried to Africa by its priestly guardians. The Lemba people's oral history claims that the Ark exploded 700 years ago,[38] and was rebuilt on its remains.[39]
Parfitt claims that he discovered thengoma in aHarare,Zimbabwe museum in 2007. It had last been exhibited in 1949 by colonial officials in Bulawayo. They took it to Harare for protection during thestruggle for independence, and it was later misplaced inside the museum.[40][35] Parfitt said he believed that the ngoma was the oldest wooden artifact in Zimbabwe. In February 2010, the 'Lemba ngoma lungundu' was put on display in the museum, along with a celebration of both its history and the history of the Lemba.[40]
Parfitt says that the ngoma/ark was carried into battles. If it broke apart, it was rebuilt. The ngoma, he says, was possibly built from the remains of the original Ark. "So it's the closest descendant of the Ark that we know of," Parfitt says. "Many people say that the story is far-fetched, but the oral traditions of the Lemba have been backed up by science", he said.[35] The ngoma was on display in the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences, but in 2008, it disappeared. The story of Parfitt and the ngoma was updated in 2014 in the ZDF documentary "Tudor Parfitt and the Lost Tribe of Israel"[41]
The Lemba did not touch thengoma because they considered it an intensely sacred object. It was carried by poles which were inserted into rings which were attached to each side of thengoma. The only members of the tribe who were permitted to approach it were the male members of its hereditary priesthood because it was their responsibility to guard it. Other Lemba feared that if they ever touched it, they would be "struck down by the fire of God" which would erupt from the object. The Lemba continue to regard the ngoma as the sacred Ark.[42][page needed]
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Many pre-modern Lemba beliefs and practices have been tentatively linked toAbrahamic religions.Ebrahim Moosa wrote that, "Historians of religion have found among the Lemba certain religious and cultural practices which unmistakably resemble Middle Eastern rituals, and there are reflections ofHebrew andArabic in their language."[43]
According to Rudo Mathivha, a Lemba of South Africa,[44] practices and beliefs which are related to Judaism include the following:
Some of these practices and traditions are not exclusively Jewish; they are common to Muslims in the Middle East and Africa, and they are also common to other African tribes and other non-African peoples. In the late 1930s, W. D. Hammond-Tooke wrote a book in which he identified Lemba practices that are similar to those of Arab Muslims: for instance, their practice ofendogamy codified by Muslims and Jews, as are certain dietary restrictions. There are many similarities between Lemba and Jewish animal slaughter. Known to the Lemba as kuShisha (derived from the termShechita)[citation needed], only a circumcised Lemba man who adheres to kashrut may slaughter an animal. If a non-Lemba or non-circumcised male kills the animal, even if it is killed within the same manner as the Lemba, the wider community cannot eat the meat.[47] The Lemba also engage in ritual drinking, especially on high holidays. Considering the Lemba's strict adherence to dietary and custom laws, if they were descendants of Muslims, it would be unlikely that they would partake of such activities, considering that it is consideredharam, suggesting closer links to Judaism than Islam.
In the late 20th century, the British scholarTudor Parfitt, an expert on marginalized Jewish groups, became involved in researching the Lemba's claims. He helped trace the origin of their ancestors back to Senna, an ancient city which they believe was located on theArabian Peninsula, in present-dayYemen. In an interview which was featured onNOVA in 2000, Parfitt said he was struck by the Lemba's maintenance of rituals which seemed Semitic and Judaic/Islamic:
The other thing was the extraordinary importance they placed upon ritual slaughter of animals, which is not an African thing at all. Of course, it's Islamic as well as Judaic, but it's certainly from theMiddle East, it's not African. And the fact that every lad was given a knife with which he did his ritual throughout his life and took to his grave. That seemed to me to be remarkably, tangibly Semitic Middle Eastern.[45]
In a 1931 article H.A. Stayt described them as an Arabic-Bantu tribe withArmenoid features, with on average, longer and thinner faces than that of the average Bantu, their lips are thinner, their noses longer and more aquiline and their eyes smaller, darker and deeper-set.[48]
According toY chromosome studies by Amanda B. Spurdle & Trefor Jenkins (1996), Mark G. Thomas et al. (2000), and Himla Soodyall (2013), the Lemba are paternally most closely related toSemitic-speaking populations inWestern Asia (HaplogroupJ = 51.7%); as well asCentral Asians andSouth Asians (LT,K,R,F = 24.5%); with minor contributions fromBantu speaking males.[49][50][6]
The study by Thomas et al. (2000) revealed that a substantial number of Lemba men carry a particular haplotype of theY-chromosome which is known as theCohen modal haplotype (CMH), as well as a haplogroup of Y-DNAHaplogroup J which is found in some Jews, as well as in other populations which live across theMiddle East and Arabia.[50]
Among Jews, the CMH marker is most prevalent inKohanim, or hereditary priests. As recounted in Lemba oral tradition, members of the Buba clan "had a leadership role in bringing the Lemba out of Israel".[51] The genetic study found that 50% of the males in the Buba clan had the Cohen marker, a proportion which is higher than that which is found in the general Jewish population.[52]
In order to more specifically define the Lemba people's origins, in 2002 Parfitt and other researchers conducted a larger study in order to compare additional Lemba subjects (whose clans were recorded) with males fromSouth Arabia andAfrica, as well asAshkenazi andSephardi Jews.[53] They found that significant similarities exist between the markers of the Lemba and the markers of the men of theḤaḍramawt inYemen. They also learned that the population ofSena, Yemen was relatively recent, so its members and the Lemba would not have shared common ancestors.[53]
More recently, Mendez et al. (2011) observed that a moderately high frequency of the studied Lemba samples carried Y-DNAHaplogroup T, which is also considered to be ofNear Eastern origin. The Lemba T carriers exclusively belonged to T1b, which is rare and was not sampled inMizrahi Jews of either theNear East or North Africa. T1b has been observed in low frequencies inAshkenazi Jews as well as in a fewLevantine populations.[54] Some Lemba women have also carried markers denoting descendance from the Near East.
A study conducted byHimla Soodyall (2013) observed that the non-African Y component in the Lemba is around 73.7% to 79.6%. However, overall, the study shows that Y chromosomes which are typically linked to Jewish ancestry were not detected through higher resolution analysis. It seems more likely thatArab traders, who are known to have established long-distance trade networks which stretched thousands of kilometers along the western rim of the Indian Ocean, from Sofala in the south to the Red Sea in the north and beyond, to the Hadramut, to India, and even to China from about 900 AD, are more likely linked with the ancestry of the non-African founding males of the Lemba/Remba.[6]
In a 2016 publication, Himla Soodyall and Jennifer G. R Kromberg state that:
When blood groups and serum protein markers were used, the Lemba were indistinguishable from the neighbors among whom they lived; the same was true for mitochondrial DNA which represented the input of females in their gene pool. However, the Y chromosomes, which represented their history through male contributions, showed the link to non-African ancestors. When trying to elucidate the most likely geographic region of origin of the non-African Y chromosomes in the Lemba, the best that could be done was to narrow it to the Middle Eastern region. While no evidence of the extended CMH 11 was found in the higher resolution study, CMH however, was present at a rate of 8.8% being one mutational step away from the extended form.[55]
