Virgin. They translated it as we Christians do, and they are in total ignorance of the important controversy between Jews and Christians on that point.Narrative of a Mission to Bokhara, in the years 1843- 1845, to ascertain the Fate of Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly, by the Rev. Joseph Wolff, D.D. LL.D., Vol. 1, second edition, revised (John W. Parker, London {1845} M.DCCC.XLV.)
Page 7. ‘From various conversations with Affghauns in Khorassaun and elsewhere, I learnt that some of them are proud of an origin from the children of Israel, but I doubt the truth of that partial tradition.’
Page 13. ‘All the Jews of Tūrkistaun assert that the Tūrkomauns are the descendants of Togarmah, one of the sons of Gomer, mentioned in Genesis x. 3.’
Pages 14-16. ‘The Jews in Bokhara are 10,000 in number. The chief rabbi assured me that Bokhara is the Habor, and Balkh the Halah, of the 2nd Kings, xvii.6; but that in the reign of Genghis Khan they lost all their written accounts. At Balkh the Mussulman mullahs assured me that it was built by a son of Adam, that its first name had been Hanakh, and afterwards Halah, though later writers called it Balakh, or Balkh. The Jews, both of Balkh and Samarcand, assert that Tūrkistaun is the land of Nod, and Balkh where Nod “once stood.”…… The tradition is an old one at Bokhara, that some of the Ten Tribes are in China. I tried the Jews here on various points of Scriptural interpretation, particularly that important one in Isaiah vii.14 -- Virgin. They translated it as we Christians do, and they are in total ignorance of the important controversy between Jews and Christians on that point.
I obtained a passport from the King after this most interesting sojourn, and then crossed the Oxus, and arrived after a few days at Balkh; and from that city, where I also communed with the dispersed of Israel, I proceeded to Muzaur....... Some Affghauns claim a descent from Israel. According to them, Affghaun was the nephew of Asaph, the son of Berachia, who built the Temple of Solomon. The descendants of this Affghaun, being Jews, were carried into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, from whence they were removed to the mountain of Ghoree, in Affghanistaun, but in the time of Muhammed turned Muhammedans. They exhibit a book, Majmooa Alansab, or Collection of Genealogies, written in Persian.’
Page 17. ‘Hence I passed to Peshawr. Here I had also the singular book read to me of the origin of the Affghauns, the Poshtoo Book of Khan Jehaun Loote. The account in this book agrees with that given in the MSS., Teemur Nameh and Ketaub Ansabee Muhakkek Toose. I thought the general physiognomy not Jewish, but I was wonderfully struck with the resemblance that the Youssuf Szeye and the Khaibaree, two of their tribes, bear to the Jews. The Kaffre Seeah Poosh, if Affghauns, vary widely from the rest of their nation. Many travellers have thought them the descendants from Alexander’s army, but they do not say so.’
Page 18. ‘I always thought that the Kaffre Seeah Poosh were descendants of Israel; and some of the learned Jews of Samarcand are of my opinion.’
Pages 19-20. ‘Captain Riley, I was surprised to find, looked on the Affghauns as of Jewish descent.’
Page 58. ‘I spent six days with the children of Rechab (Beni Arhab)..…. With them were children of Israel of the tribe of Dan, who reside near Terim in Hatramawt, who expect, in common with the children of Rechab, the speedy arrival of the Messiah in the clouds of heaven.’
Page 131. ‘It is very remarkable that the Prophet Ezekiel, in the twenty-seventh chapter, fourteenth verse, gives an exact description of the trade carried on by the Tūrkomauns with the inhabitants of Bokhara, Khiva, and Khokand. The Prophet says: “They of the house of Togarmah (i.e. the Tūrkomauns) traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen, and mules.” The Tūrkomauns to this day, like the Swiss Guards, are mercenaries, and let themselves out for a few tengas a day. It is also remarkable, that I frequently heard the Tūrkomauns call themselves Toghramah, and the Jews call them Togarmah.
Viewing the hosts of camels coming with merchandise from Cashmeer, Cabūl, Khokand, Khetay, and Orenbourg, the passage of Isaiah 1x.6, comes forcibly on the mind, where the Prophet says: “The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense.” Mentioning gold, I must not forget, that near Samarcand there are gold mines and turquoises.’
Pages 236-237. ‘A few words on the Chaldeans in the mountains of Kurdistaun. These Chaldeans, as the late lamented Dr. Grant well observed, are of Jewish origin, though I cannot go so far as to affirm that they are of the Ten Tribes, since they do not know their own genealogy. They are now mostly Christians...... They resemble mostly the Protestants of Germany and England, for they have neither images nor monasteries, and their priests are married. The episcopal dignity, however, is hereditary, as well as that of the Patriarch, and at the time the mother of the patriarch becomes pregnant, she abstains from drinking wine and eating meat; and in case that a son is born, he is the patriarch, and if a daughter, she is obliged to observe eternal virginity.’