The Lemba: An Oral History And Y Chromosome Review

The southern African Lemba have long maintained that they are a Jewish people directly descended from Jewish Babylonian exiles via Yemen. Cultural (linguistic) and Y-chromosome genetic analysis of their male lineages confirms a link to other Semitic-speaking peoples. The Lemba have also clearly have been influenced by neighboring Bantu-speaking peoples but at their core, their historical Jewishness appears validated genetically. Disaggregating cultural and biological data allows us to better understand the specific history of the Lemba. SPRING 2015 THE BACKBONE VOL 1 NO. 1 PAGE 2 ery (Thomas et al. 2000). The Lemba do not eat pork and practice circumcision. Lemba means “the people who refuse,” i.e., refuse to eat pork and to marry Gentiles. Biblical and Semitic names are common among the Lemba (Parfitt 2000). They speak a language known as Hiberu (Jones 1996). “Physically, many Lemba have a distinctive appearance: angular features with prominent hooked nose” (Van Warmelo 1974:81). Parfitt (2000) has also noted that some of the Lemba are similar to Middle Eastern Jewry or Peninsula Arabs. It has been suggested that the Lemba might be of Muslim origin, as Islam has similar dietary laws and social customs as Judaism (Thomas et al. 2000; Mandivenga 1983). Jones posits that “Lemba Jewishness stems in part from a diluted and almost forgotten Islam” (Jones 1996:158). Historically, the Lemba have always been a group that has produced goods, such as smelted metals and fine pottery. This set them apart from their Bantu speaking neighbors, who have primarily been occupied with stock-keeping and grain-growing (Van Warmelo 1974). Often the Lemba were employed in the courts of Bantu kings, as confidants and advisors. The kings were privy to the Lemba’s savvy in trading, which resulted in a natural shrewdness. In light of this data and further research, Van Warmelo was convinced that the Lemba were of Semitic origin. He offers the following: All these facts point to the conclusion that the Lemba are the descendants of Semitic traders from the East Coast, in other words, of Arabs. This is supported by the texts of prayers which have more recently come to light. They are unintelligible and look unlike Bantu, but suggest some mangled suras from the Koran. The words Saidi sangu or Zaidi zangu are constantly repeated and are said to mean “my master” (cf. Ar. seyyid “lord”). In the family name Hadzhi (Haji) and the oath Seremane (Ar. Sulaiman) we see a link with what is mentioned from the Arab side further down (Van Warmelo 1974:82). Mourant (1978) suggested that the Lemba represented a thoroughly African blood-group picture, even though they displayed Jewish cultural features. Acknowledging that the Lemba had done skilled metalwork, particularly for the Arabs. He