The History and Origin of the Celtic People

A common thread held by the British Israelites and other sects which want to identify themselves with Israel after the flesh, is the precept that that 10 lost tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel migrated to northwestern europe and from there to America. It is therefore important that we examine the history of these people groups in order to determine the historicity of these claims.

Linguistic Evidence

A common tool used by the Ephraimites is the similarity of English, Danish, Flemish, and Gaelic words to known Semitic Words. Often these word similarities have the outward appearance of having a Hebrew origin, but many times the similarities have no basis in etymology (the study of word origins). An excellent example of this is the commonly used Saxon which is proposed to be the synthesis of ItSSAC and SON, demonstrating that the Saxons are the Sons of Issac. It takes little analysis to determine that SON is an Anglo word while Itzak is Hebrew... a name of true Hebraic origin would not mix Hebrew and English.

What is the true linguistic origin of these languages? Most scholars trace the languages of Europe to a lost root language called Indo-European. This finds its origins not in the sons of Shem but in the descendants of Japeth. We can see examples of this origin in many common words throughout Europe and Asia.

Mother = English

Mater = Latin

Mothar = Gothic - the Paleo Germanic Language

Mathir = Gaelic - The Irish Celtic Language

Matar = Sanskrit - The Paleo Indian Tongue

All of these language groups are classified by Linguists as paterfamilias indo-European or in other words of the greater family of indo-european languages. Cross cultural communication over thousands of years through trade and intermarriage can and does produce borrowed words, but in general scholars agree the linguistic roots of English and other European languages rest in India and Asia not in the Semites of the middle east.

In the Europe that spans, to borrow De Gaulle's expression, from “the Atlantic to the Urals”, the European family is today represented by the following seven branches:

1. Celtic languages : Breton in France, Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Welsh, Manx, and Cornish.

2. Germanic languages: North Germanic branch: all the Scandinavian languages (Denmark, Norway, Sweden), with the exception of Finnish & Lapp and Icelandic;

West Germanic branch: Low German, High German, Dutch, English, Frisian.

3. Baltic languages: Lithuanian, Latvian (Lettish)

4. Romance languages: West Romanic branch: Italian, Rhaeto- Romanic or Rhaeto-Romance (i.e. the dialects spoken in southern Switzerland, northen Italy and Tyrol), French, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese;

East Romanic branch: Romanian.

5. Slavonic languages East Slavonic branch: Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian;

West Slavonic branch: Polish, Sorb, Czech, Slovak;

South Slavonic branch: Slovene, Croation, Serbian, Macedonian.

6. Hellenic languages Greek and Hellenic dialects;

7. Albanian with its two dialects, Tosque and Guègue

Note.: Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Turkish, and Basque are non Indo-European languages... and derive from Middle Eastern or Oriental roots.

Basque in particular should be of interest to us because the language is actually derived from the same sources as Punic, the language of Carthage in North Africa. Basque tradition holds that they were the Iberian people, left behind by Hannibal in his invasion of Italy. If true then they are derived from the Phoenicians and hence have a Semitic language. The Iberians were known to have considerable cross cultural contact with the Celts and are the most likely source of any borrowed words in the Celtic languages.

Much of the etymology of European languages and of the culture of europe can be attributed to western Hellenization. Alexander of Macedonia absorbed the cultures of Babylon, Persia, and India and distributed them to the world in his conquest. Compare the scarcity of Semitic borrowed words in the English language with the richness of Hellenistic words by examining these Greek clauses:

ana- upward progression, caco- bad, micro- small, cata- downward, pseud- false, nano- extreme smallness, palino- backwards

strepto- twisted, brachy- short, makros- largeness, dino- frightening, callo- beautiful, terato- monstrous, lepto- thin

logo- discourse, -logy science, -graphy writing, theo- god, pan- all, thermo- hot, hydro- water, cryo- cold, helio- sun

seleno- moon, astero- star, cephalo- head, sterno- chest, -derm skin, chryso- gold, oniro- dream, -morph shape, form, structure

Truely the modern Western tongue can attribute more to Alexander than to the Lost Tribes of Israel.

Historical Evidence

The cradle of Celt civilization was located in Central Europe, in a region corresponding to actual Bohemia [a region in today's Czech Republic], (from Latin Boihaemum, i.e. “home of the Boii”: Celtic Boii (fighters), name of the Celtic people who inhabited this region] and Bavaria, [the largest state of Germany, in the southern part of the country ; capital, Munich]. We know little on how far and how wide they had expanded until the middle of the first millenium B. C. , i.e. at the period of the “iron age” (Hallstatt), but we do know that toward the end of the fifth century B. C. , at the time of the second “iron age” period, also called La Tène period, which goes from the fifth century B. C. until the Roman conquest, the Celts have moved toward the West and the North Sea.

In the beginning of the fourth century, they entered Italy and, after progressing in Central Europe along the Danube, it is then, around 300 B. C. E. that they reached their greatest expansion. They pushed as far as Asia Minor, hence the name Galatia in central Turkey or Galata, the chief commercial district of Istanbul. While the contention of the British Israelists is that the Celts moved from Assyra to Galatia and then to Europe, the testimony of history is that they developed in Europe and edvanced to the middle east before being driven back by the Romans.

Cultural Evidence

While the languages of Northwest Europe are decidely indo-european as are other Hellenized groups... the true origin of the people is found not in language but in religion. Here we find a pantheon not derived from Babylon and the other Hamish and Semitic cultures of the Middle East but a decidedly Germanic / Scandinavian religion which encompasses traditional Shamanism and a mythos derived from the Nordic creation mythos. Balor, the shining one, is a direct comparison with Loki. Dahgda with his eartly overtones and unsightliness mixed with wisdom reminds us of Odin/Wooden. Brighid is a representation of Freya with her combination of warlordess and poet. Moreover the exaltation of a pantheon nature spirits is typical of most hunter/gatherer cultures and is quite distinct from the agrarian civilized city builders of the Middle East.

Hellenize a Tueton and you have a Tuetonic warrior who speaks greek. The culture of the Celts, their religion, their social structure, and most importantly their style of warfare (They employed the same berserker tactics as the Norsemen) has no relationship to the People of Israel.