History: Are the Ashanti’s [Akans] from Ashan in Israel?

Paulina Opoku-Gyimah says: I read about the Ashanti’s [Akans] possibly coming from Ashan in Israel years ago via YouTube and just discarded it -even though I had no trouble believing our links to Egypt (we share soo many names –usually with Egyptian Gods)  …As we all know, YouTube –where I first stumbled across this possibility, is full of craziness, but then I slowly started to see some similarities between ancient Israel and modern Ghana… Anyway the following looks into said possibility…..

Tilte:HEBREWISM OF AFRICA

 

It's a historical fact that the mass majority of captive slaves broughtof captive slaves brought to the Americas, came from West Africa, although some were brought from East Africa, they were the minority. The west African tribal nations that our forefathers were taken from, have many ancient Hebrew customs in there culture. The KAFFIR, BO, GREBO, MARIBUCK, MAVUMBA, AKRA, FANTI, AKIN, YORUBA, KONGO, AND ASHANTI. Just to name a few of the many sub-Saharan nations that engage in ancient Israelite rituals.

Such rituals includes

• CIRCUMCISION,
• THE DIVISION OF THEIR TRIBES INTO TWELVE, BLOOD SPRINKLING UPON THEIR ALTARS AND DOOR POSTS,
• MARRYING OF THEIR BROTHER'S WIFE AFTER DEATH,
• SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION AFTER CHILD BIRTH,
• UNCLEANNESS DURING CHILD BIRTH,
• UNCLEANNESS DURING MENSTRUATION
• NEW MOON CELEBRATIONS.
• Plus many more.

Among the ASHANTI tribe the priesthood is hereditary to a specific family such a family has little or no possessions, is exempt from all taxes, supplied with food and advises the king. Compare this with the Levities of ancient Israel and you will see that both are exactly the same.  The name ASHANTI has Hebrew origins, the "TI" at the end means race of or people of, Ashan was the name of a city located in southern Israel Judah (Joshua 15:42 - 19:7 / 1st chronicles 4:32 - 6:59).  The word Ashan in Hebrew means smoke city / burning city. ASHANTI means the people of Ashan or the people of the smoke city, This was the reference to the city of Ashan after the Romans destroyed it in 70 C.E.  In a very informative book entitled HEBREWISM OF WEST AFRICA By Joseph J Williams. He gives detailed description of the Hebrew customs in many of the west African tribes. These were the tribes who were the main suppliers of slaves during the slave trade. And these are the tribes that the majority of Hebrews in the west are descendant from. I will present a few excerpts from his book, and this should further convince you of who the children of Israel are.

NOTE: I must say here that this book was written in the 1930's and the author who is white quotes some "racist" authors, from as far back as the 1700's. He also makes some misguided comments himself, as he tries to find out how so much Hebrew culture and lifestyle, got to West Africa. He would have known the answer to that had he known the prophecies. But nonetheless there is still A LOT OF useful information contained in HIS book.
 

PAGE 23, It was indeed surprising how many HEBREWISM, either real or at least apparent, were to be found among the unislamised tribes.

PAGE 52 In both ASHANTI and Hebrew the traditional vowel sound is equally important for the true signification of words.

PAGE 56, Thus in conjugation of the verb the ASHANTI prefix the personal pronouns to the verb stem, the same as it is found in the imperfect of Hebrew.

PAGE 61, One cannot help being impressed by the number of customs and practices there described that find their counter part among the ancient Hebrews. Thus, for example the Mosaic law of intra-tribal-marriages, which was devised expressly to preserve the inheritance of the daughters in the tribe and family of their father (NUMBERS 36:12) finds a close verification among the ASHANTI of today. And the cross-cousin marriages, so characteristic of the latter, are strictly similar to that of the daughter of salphadd who wedded the sons of their uncle by their father (NUMBERS 36:2). Again the preserving of certain names in a family is as much sought after by the ASHANTI as it was of old among the Hebrews, as shown in the case of naming of John the Baptist when the objection was made, "there is none of your Kindred that is called by this name" (Luke 1:61).

PAGE 62, So also the remarkable simplicity of the ASHANTI marriage and the distinctive part that wine plays in the ceremonial reminds one of the ancient Hebrews.

PAGE 63, Not only in the marriage ceremony itself but also in after marriage customs there is a strange similarity between the ASHANTI and the Hebrews. Thus, for example, for 8 days after the birth of a child the ASHANTI "mother is considered as unclean". It is only on the 8th day, at the Ntetea that the child receives its personal name, and on the 40th day a still further ceremony has to be observe. In all this we are certainly reminded of Hebrew customs. Further, the ASHANTI women at the menstrual period, even to the retirement to the bara hut, read like a page borrowed from the book of Leviticus, (15:19-20). And the system of ASHANTI ablution to prevent legal uncleanness constantly brings to mind similar practices which were common among Hebrews.

PAGE 66, Thus far, however, we have shown certain cultural elements common to the ASHANTI and the ancient Hebrews, such as the ob cult, religious dances, use of "Amen", vowel value, patriarchal system, parallel symbolism of Authority in "stool" and "chair", endogamy, cross-cousin marriages, familiar names, exogamy, simplicity of marriage rite and the part wine plays in the ceremony, uncleanness after child birth, purification ceremony, Menstrual seclusion. and ceremonial ablutions; besides ASHANTI loan words of apparent Hebrew origin.

PAGE 70, For they ascribe to god the attributes of omnipresence, omniscience, and Invisibility, besides which they believe that he governs all things by providence. By reason god is invisible, they say it would be absurd to make any corporeal representation of him. Wherefore they have such multitude of Images of their Idol gods which they take to be subordinate deities to the supreme god.

PAGE 72, In the very fact that the Hebrews, despite their service of the true god frequently relapsed into idolatry. Captain Rattray, finds a parallelism with the ASHANTI, where, as Bosman noted, one finds a belief in a supreme being side by side with multitudes of their idol Gods.

PAGE 78, And there is a common saying among the ASHANTI: no priest may look upon the face of his God and live which sounds remarkably like an echo of "Yahweh's" (YHWH) warning to Moses at Mount Sinai "Thou canst see my face for man shall not see me and live".

PAGE 80, The supreme being of the ASHANTI is identical with the god of the Christians, the Yahweh of the old testament: and further that their tribal worship is strangely parallel to that of the divided worship that existed in Jerusalem immediately prior to the Babylonian exile, as we will see later in more detail. P

AGE 82, The breastplate on the central figure, the Herald (Osene), who is called by Stanley the Town-Crier, is strikingly similar to the breast plate of the High Priest among the Ancient Hebrews, even to its division into twelve parts. The head dress of the Herald, too with its gold disc in front satisfies the description of the miznefet as given in the Jewish Encyclopedia. "A tiara, or perhaps a peculiarly wound turban, with a peak, the front of which bore a gold plate with inscription "Holy unto YHWH". However, the division of the breast plate into twelve parts is certainly distinctive. So also is the head dress with gold disc in front.  
 

PAGE 83, The ASHANTI Myth might thus record progressive stages in the manifestation of "Yahweh" (YHWH) to the Hebrews; the burning bush; Sinai and the Covenant, that established the Nation as God's Chosen People.
This is only a few of the many comparisons he found out that existed among just ONE of the tribes that we (in the west) are descendant from. It would be way to lengthy to include all the tribes of west Africa who have Hebrew culture.

Today all of Africa has been lumped into one, Meaning that "All black skinned people are of the same culture, customs, etc." So as a consequence all this Hebrewism has went unnoticed by the world at large. Most of the customs that are taught to us as being "Traditional" African culture are actually cultural traits that can be found right in the first five books of your bible.
 

Credit /Source:  http://www.angelfire.com/ill/hebrewisrael/printpages/hebrewism.html