But II Kings 17 clearly describes them being settled East of the Euphrates River. In part of Assyria and in the cities of The Medes. The same area The Kurds are now.
Josephus in Antiquities of The Jews Book Chapter 5 Section 2 says.
the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers.Adiabene and Osroene and some other Mesopotamian client kingdoms of the Parthian Empire existed in this region and many became Proselytes to Judaism or Christians during the New Testament era. And some have pointed out that the Parthians themselves don't seem to show up in history till after the deportation of the Northern Kingdom, and near the Medes.
Daniel was placed in charge of the Median Magi after the Lion's Den incident. And I like Chuck Missler believe The Magi who presented gifts to Jesus after he was born were a sub group entrusted with the knowledge of what to look for by Daniel. I also think they could have had northern Israelite ancestry.
Some also think the Eranites from Eran grandson of Ephraim in Numbers 26:36 could have became the Aryans/Iranians. The Aryans have nothing to do with the West, that was invented by Nazi mythology, they are purely an Indian concept.
Going further East, there are theories about the Kashmiri and Pashtun. Sanskrit mythology has the Danavas. And there is a Danu people among the Bamar in Burma.
Most controversially is the theories about the the Lost Tribes going to Japan. I do find it interesting that even Japan's mythology has them so much younger then China and Korea, their first Emperor was born in 711 BC and began his reign about 660 BC.
One could even count under this, theories about them winding up among the Native Americans, since the Native Americans definitely came (in different waves) from East Asia. Besides the Olmecs (who I believe had strong ties to the Phoenicians) and some sites in Peru. All the major civilizations of the American continents didn't show up until after the deportation of the Northern Kingdom. That includes all the Ziggurat like Meso-American Pyramids. I could very well see some of the Northern Israelites being inspired by seeing the ruins of the Tower of Babel's imitators while they were in Mesopotamia.
None of that means I'm endorsing The Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon has a very specific narrative that is nonsensical.
Most people don't see where in Revelation the return of the Lost Tribes to the land is, because they're either rejecting the Lost Tribes idea altogether or looking to The West. It happens in Revelation 16, in the Sixth Bowl.
The Euphrates is dried up to allow the King of The East to cross it. And they're gathered at Armageddon, in the valley of Jezreel, Northern Kingdom territory. In Hosea God says he will avenge the Blood of Jezreel against the House of Jehu.
Scholars have constantly disagreed about the Kings of The East's role. The same passage also refers to all the kingdoms of the Earth, are the Kings of The East merely part of that or are they distinct? Are they for or against The Beast? We know the Beast is manipulating this, but do they know they're doing what he wants?
I don't think this correlation to the fate of the Northern Kingdom is a coincidence.
Looking for The Lost Tribes in the East is in mainstream scholarship limited to isolated peoples who have in fact maintained Moasic Faith. Like the Bukharan of Persia or the Bene Israel of Pakistan, or the Bnei Menashe and Bene Ephraim in India. But II Kings 17 makes clear the majority of the deported Israelites no longer Feared YHWH (they did fear him in the land even though they were idolatrous) and lost their Israelite identity.
None of this suggests any of these people were purely Israelite in origin. There were certainly many people there long before the deportation, with whom these deported Israelite intermingled. I talk a lot about my views on The Table of Nations here.
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