READING THIS NOW 📖
✨🕎✨ Paul Levy (Hebrew name: Pasach Yisrael Ben Tzvis Levy) and his 2007 book Jewish & Israelite Kingdoms: The Foundational Jewish Kingdoms of World Civilization with the Complete Story of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.
Levy, born in Calcutta’s Jewish community and later living in the U.S., wrote this as a comprehensive, illustrated overview of Jewish history through the lens of ancient kingdoms. The book aims to fill “gaps” in common knowledge of Jewish history, addressing questions like the fate of the Ark of the Covenant and whether there was only one ancient Jewish kingdom in Israel.
Key Structure and Summary
The book is divided into two main parts:
• Part One: Major Ancient Jewish Kingdoms Levy discusses nearly a dozen ancient Jewish kingdoms (beyond the well-known biblical ones), arguing they formed foundational contributions to world civilization. This includes kingdoms in the Land of Israel and others elsewhere, presenting a broader view of Jewish political entities from earliest times to later periods. (Exact list not fully detailed in sources, but emphasizes multiple beyond the standard biblical narrative.)
• Part Two: The Lost Ten Tribes Traces the history of the Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel from their settlement around 1550 BCE until the Assyrian conquest in 721 BCE. It explores their exile, subsequent migrations, histories, and proposed modern locations/descendants.
The book is described as accessible, beautifully illustrated, and appealing to both Jewish and non-Jewish readers interested in biblical roots (including connections to Christianity, Islam, and even Shinto). It’s praised for its vast scope across years and continents but is not an academic scholarly work—more popular history with a focus on traditional and expansive interpretations.
