Editing Lemba people

{{Short description|Ethnic group in Southern Africa}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Lemba
| native_name      = Sena
| image            = Gutu Lemba 1.jpg
| image_caption    = A Lemba man from the [[Gutu District]]
| population       = 
| popplace         = [[South Africa]] (esp. [[Limpopo Province]]), [[Malawi]], [[Mozambique]], [[Zimbabwe]]
| langs            = Presently [[Venda language|Venda]], [[Shona language|Karanga]] and [[Pedi language|Pedi]] (Previously [[Old South Arabian languages]])
| rels             = [[Christianity]], [[Islam]], [[Judaism]]
| related          = [[Swahili people|Swahili]], [[Shirazi people|Shirazi]], [[Hadhrami people|Hadhrami]]
}}

The '''Lemba''', '''Remba''', or '''Mwenye'''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Parfitt |first1=Tudor |title=Journey to the Vanished City: The Search for a Lost Tribe of Israel |date=4 April 2000 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-375-72454-1 |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kic8EAAAQBAJ&q=Mwenye+lemba |access-date=19 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref> are an [[ethnic group]] which is native to [[South Africa]], [[Malawi]], [[Mozambique]] and [[Zimbabwe]] of mixed [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]] and [[Yemen|Yemeni]] ancestry. Within South Africa, they are particularly concentrated in the [[Limpopo]] province (historically around [[Sekhukhuneland|Sekhukuneland]]) and the [[Mpumalanga]] province.

Since the late twentieth century, there has been increased media and scholarly attention about the Lemba's common partial descent from [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] peoples of [[West Asia]].<ref name="Parfitt, Tudor 2000">Parfitt, Tudor (1993/2000)'' Journey to the Vanished City: the Search for a Lost Tribe of Israel,'' New York: Random House (2nd edition)</ref><ref>Parfitt(2002), "The Lemba", p. 39</ref> Genetic [[Y-DNA]] analyses have established a [[paternal]] West Asian origin for the majority of the Lemba population, while the matrilineal origins are exclusively from  [[Sub Saharan Africa]].<ref name="SpurdleJenkins">{{Citation | title = The origins of the Lemba "Black Jews" of southern Africa: evidence from p12F2 and other Y-chromosome markers. | pmid = 8900243 | pmc=1914832 | volume=59 | issue = 5 | date=November 1996 | journal=Am. J. Hum. Genet. | pages=1126–33 | last1 = Spurdle | first1 = AB | last2 = Jenkins | first2 = T}}</ref><ref name="Soodyal2013">{{cite journal|last=Soodyal|first=H|title=Lemba origins revisited: Tracing the ancestry of Y chromosomes in South African and Zimbabwean Lemba|journal=South African Medical Journal|date=2013|volume=103|issue=12|url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/samj/article/view/98362|access-date=9 May 2014}}</ref>

==Etymology==
It has been suggested that the exonym "Lemba" may originate in ''kilemba'' (most likely spread via the [[Mwera language|Mwera]] derivative ''chilemba''), a [[Swahili language|Swahili]] word meaning turban. Thus, in context, the word "Lemba" as an ethnic identifier therefore translates to '''those who wear turbans''<nowiki/>'.<ref name=":0" />

Another theory is that the word "Lemba" may originate from the word ''lembi,'' a term which occurs in several [[Northeast Bantu languages|Northeastern Bantu languages]] meaning a "non-African" or a "respected foreigner".<ref name=":0">Parfitt, Tudor (1992) ''Journey to the Vanished City: the Search for a Lost Tribe of Israel.''see the full explanatory note on p. 263.</ref><ref name="Shimona2003">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRkpQAmnL8oC&q=lemba+halakhic&pg=PA178|title=Community and Conscience: the Jews in Apartheid South Africa|last=Shimoni|first=Gideon|publisher=[[Brandeis University Press]]|year=2003|isbn=978-1-58465-329-5|location=United States of America|page=178|access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref>

The 'Lemba' themselves prefer the name ''Mwenye'' as an exonym but call themselves ''Sena'' (or ''Sana'') as an endonym for their city of origin.<ref name=Parfitt2002>Parfitt, Tudor. (2002), "The Lemba: An African Judaising Tribe", in ''Judaising Movements: Studies in the Margins of Judaism'', edited by Parfitt, Tudor and Trevisan-Semi, E., London: Routledge Curzon, pp. 42–43</ref>

==History==
===Oral traditions===
[[File:Hills of Hadhramawt.jpg|thumb|[[Hadhramaut|Yemen, Hadhramaut]]]]
What is possibly the oldest recorded origin story of the Lemba people was documented by [[Henri-Alexandre Junod]] (a Swiss-born South African missionary). In 1908, he wrote:<blockquote>Some old Balemba of both the [[Spelonken]] and the '''[[Modjadjiskloof|Duiwelskloof]]''' country told my informant the following legend:

: '[''We''] ''have come from a very remote place, on the other side of the sea. We were on a big boat. A terrible storm nearly destroyed us all. The boat was broken into two pieces. One half of us reached the shores of this country; the others were taken away with the second half of the boat, and we do not know where they are now. We climbed the mountains and arrived among the Banyai. There we settled, and after a time we moved southwards to the [[Transvaal (province)|Transvaal]]; but we are not the Banyai''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Junod |first=Henri-Alexandre |date=1908 |title=The Balemba of the Zoutspansberg |journal=Folklore: Journal of the Folklore Society |volume=19 |pages=279–280}}</ref>
</blockquote>[[Tudor Parfitt]] interprets that the legend about the destruction of the boat and the division of the tribe is perhaps a way of explaining the fact that Lemba clans are to be found in several separate locations. However, it could equally be taken as an expression of a fractured sense of identity.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Parfitt |first=Tudor |title=Genes, Religion, and History: The Creation of a Discourse of Origin Among a Judaizing African Tribe |date=2002 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29762754 |journal=Jurimetrics |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=209–219 |jstor=29762754 |issn=0897-1277}}</ref>

The original Sena was most likely located in [[Yemen]], specifically in the ancient town of ''[[Sena, Yemen|Sanā]]'' (also known as ''Sanāw'') which is located within the easternmost portion of the [[Hadhramaut]].<ref name="Parfitt, Tudor 2000"/><ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2706israel.html ''Lost Tribes of Israel''], ''NOVA'' Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), 22 February 2000</ref>

====Migration into Africa====
[[File:Lemba_man_from_the_transvaal.jpg|thumb|A Lemba man from the [[Transvaal (province)|Transvaal]], [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]] (1940)]]The Lemba claim that they settled in [[Tanzania]] and [[Kenya]], building what was referred to as another Sena, or "Sena II". Others supposedly settled in [[Malawi]], where their descendants reside today. Some settled in [[Mozambique]], eventually migrating to [[Zimbabwe]] and [[South Africa]]. They claim that their ancestors constructed [[Great Zimbabwe]], now preserved as a monument. Ken Mufuka, a Zimbabwean [[Archaeology|archaeologist]], believes that either the Lemba or the [[Venda people|Venda]] may have participated in this architectural project but he does not believe that they were solely responsible for its completion. Writer Tudor Parfitt thinks that they may have helped construct the massive city.<ref>{{cite book|last=Parfitt|first=Tudor|author-link=Tudor Parfitt|title=Journey to the Vanished City|publisher=Vintage (Random House)|year=2000|location=New York|pages=1–2}}</ref>
Most academics who are experts in this field believe that the construction of the enclosure at Great Zimbabwe is largely attributable to the ancestors of the indigenous [[Shona people|Shona]].<ref name="met"/><ref>Beach, D. N. (1994). A Zimbabwean past: Shona dynastic histories and oral traditions.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Historium|last=Nelson|first=Jo|publisher=Big Picture Press|year=2019|pages=10}}</ref> Such works were typical of their ancestral civilizations.<ref name="met">{{cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/zimb/hd_zimb.htm|title=Great Zimbabwe (11th–15th Century) |publisher=MetPublications |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays }}</ref><ref>Pwiti, Gilbert (1996). Continuity and change: an archaeological study of farming communities in northern Zimbabwe AD 500–1700. Studies in African Archaeology, No.13, Department of Archaeology, Uppsala University, Uppsala:.</ref><ref>[[Webber Ndoro|Ndoro, W.]], and Pwiti, G. (1997). Marketing the past: The Shona village at Great Zimbabwe. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 2(3): 3–8.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Pikirayi |first=Innocent |author-link=Innocent Pikirayi |title=The Zimbabwe culture: origins and decline of southern Zambezian states |year=2001 |publisher=Rowman Altamira |isbn= 978-0-7591-0091-6}}</ref>

== Religion ==
[[File:Lemba_Woman.jpg|thumb|299x299px|Lemba Woman During Ramadan]]
Whilst most Lemba are Christians, there is also a sizeable minority of Lemba who are practicing Jews or Muslims.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Mandivenga |first=Ephraim |date=1989-01-01 |title=The History and 'Re-Conversion' of the Varemba of Zimbabwe |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jra/19/2/article-p98_2.xml |journal=Journal of Religion in Africa |language=en |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=98–124 |doi=10.1163/157006689X00134 |issn=1570-0666}}</ref> [[Edith Bruder]] wrote that "from a theological point of view, the Lemba's customs and rituals reveal religious pluralism and interdependence of these various practices" and see membership of these religions "in cultural rather than religious terms. These apparently religious identities do not prevent them from declaring themselves Jews through religious practice and ethnic identification."<ref name="Bruder">{{cite book|last1=Bruder|first1=Edith|title=The Black Jews of Africa: History, Religion, Identity|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195333565|page=168|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XHBjAgAAQBAJ&q=lemba+Christianity+Islam&pg=PA168|access-date=21 February 2017}}</ref> In 1992, Parfitt pointed to the strong cultural component in Lemba identification with Judaism.<ref>Parfitt, Tudor (1992)  ''Journey to the Vanished City: the Search for a Lost Tribe of Israel''London: Hodder and Stoughton.</ref> In 2002, Parfitt wrote that "Those Lemba, who perceive themselves as ethnically Jewish, find no contradiction in regularly attending a Christian church."<ref name="Parfitt2002" />

In recent years, there has been a Jewish "renaissance" amongst the Lemba, with many of them reverting to religious Judaism under halakhic laws. Some Lemba have even made [[aliyah]]. Many religious holidays which were rarely celebrated due to urban migration and [[Evangelicalism in Africa]] are being celebrated by greater numbers of Lemba, with many communities coming together for passover seders all over the region.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Journal |first=Jewish |date=2015-04-13 |title=What?! A Passover Seder in a rural African village in ZIMBABWE? |url=https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/170393/ |access-date= |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Dietary laws which are followed by some Lemba who identify as Jewish ===
These Lemba practice dietary laws based on the books of [[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]] and [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]]. Permitted and forbidden animals are seen in Leviticus 11:3–8 and Deuteronomy 14:4–8. Forbidden birds are listed in Leviticus 11:13–23 and Deuteronomy 14:12–20. The Lemba do not eat rodents, shellfish or any other "sea-scavengers" such as crustaceans, unlike in Islam, where consumption of prawns is permitted. [[Milk and meat in Jewish law|Mixtures of milk and meat]] are not prepared or eaten, with traditional Lemba households having separate pots for each of them.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

===Halakhic status as Jews===
In [[Orthodox Judaism]] [[Halakha|Halakhic]] [[Who is a Jew?|Jewish status]] is determined by documentation of [[Matrilineality in Judaism|an unbroken matrilineal line of descent]] and when no such line of descent exists, it is determined by [[conversion to Judaism]]. Jews who adhere to [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] or [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] rabbinism believe that "Jewish status by birth" is only passed from a Jewish female to her children (if she herself is a Jew by birth or a Jew by conversion to Judaism) regardless of the Jewish status of the father. Because of the absence of matrilineal Jewish descent for the Lemba, Orthodox or Conservative Judaism would not recognise them as 'Halakhically Jewish.' The Lemba would need to complete a formal conversion process in order to be accepted as Jews.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

The [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] and [[Reconstructionist Judaism|Reconstructionist]] denominations,<ref name="virtual">[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/patrilineal1.html "Patrilineal descent"], Jewish Virtual Library</ref> the [[Karaite Judaism|Karaites]], and [[Haymanot|Haymanot Jews]] all recognize patrilineage. As more is learned about the widespread [[Jewish history|history of the Jewish people]], the Reform branch of Judaism has acknowledged the existence of an unusual line of descent outside the European and indigenous Middle Eastern Jewish spheres. Especially since the publication of the genetic results of the Lemba, American Jewish communities have reached out to the people, offering assistance, sending books on Judaism and related study materials, and initiating ties in order to teach the Lemba about Rabbinic Judaism. So far, few Lemba have converted to Rabbinic Judaism.

[[History of the Jews in South Africa|South African Jews]] of European descent have long been aware of the Lemba, but they have never accepted them as Jews or thought of them as more than an "intriguing curiosity."<ref name="Shimona2003"/> Generally, the Lemba have not been accepted as Jews because of their lack of matrilineal descent. Several [[rabbi]]s and Jewish associations support their recognition as descendants of the "[[Ten Lost Tribes|Lost Tribes of Israel]]".<ref name="Shimona2003"/> In the 2000s, the Lemba Cultural Association approached the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, asking for the Lemba to be recognized as Jews by the Jewish community. The Lemba Association complained that "we like many non-European Jews are simply the victims of [[racism]] at the hands of the European Jewish establishment worldwide". They threatened to start a campaign to "protest and ultimately destroy 'Jewish [[apartheid]]'".<ref name="Shimona2003"/>

In [[Apartheid]] South Africa the Lemba were not recognized as an ethnic group which was distinct from other black South Africans.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=TAMARKIN|first=NOAH|date=2011|title=Religion as Race, Recognition as Democracy: Lemba "Black Jews" in South Africa|journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|volume=637|pages=148–164|jstor=41328571|doi=10.1177/0002716211407702|s2cid=143763785}}</ref> The Lemba Cultural Association face misconceptions about their goals such as the belief that the Lemba identify more with European Judaism, the belief that they aim to affiliate with European Jewry rather than other black Jews, and the belief that they are distanced from [[Politics of South Africa|South African politics]].<ref name=":1" /> However, while the Lemba do identify with their religious Judaism, many practice Christianity as well.<ref name=":1" />

According to Gideon Shimoni, in his book, ''Community and Conscience: The Jews in [[Apartheid]] South Africa'' (2003): "In terms of ''halakha'' the Lemba are not at all comparable to the [[Beta Israel|Falasha]]{{efn|The term Falasha is now considered derogatory and the name [[Beta Israel]] is preferred.}} [of Ethiopia]. As a group they have no conceivable status in Judaism."<ref name="Shimona2003"/>

Rabbi Bernhard of South Africa has stated that the only way for a member of the Lemba tribe to be recognised as a Jew is to undergo the formal Halakhic conversion process. After that, the person "would be welcomed with open arms."<ref name="Shimona2003"/>

In May 2013, the Harare Lemba Synagogue was established in a rental building in Bluffhill, Harare, Zimbabwe with the assistance from [[Kulanu (organization)]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maeresera |first=Modreck |title=Harare Synagogue a Reality |url=https://kulanu.org/communities/lemba/harare-synagogue-reality-august-2013/ |access-date= |website=Kulanu |language=en-US}}</ref>

As of 2015, the Lemba were building their first [[synagogue]] in Great Zimbabwe, Mapakomhere, in [[Masvingo District]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Cengel |first=Katya |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/24/zimbabwes-lemba-build-their-first-synagogue.html |title=Zimbabwe's Lemba Build Their First Synagogue &#124; Al Jazeera America |publisher=America.aljazeera.com |date=2015-05-24 |access-date=2015-05-28}}</ref>

== Culture ==
The Lemba are divided into 12 primary clans:<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jaques |first=A. A. |date=1931 |title=Notes on the Lemba Tribe of the Northern Transvaal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40446148 |journal=Anthropos |volume=26 |issue=1/2 |pages=245–251 |jstor=40446148 |issn=0257-9774}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> 

# Dumah
# Hamisi
# Bakari
# Sulaymani
# Tobakare / Tobakale
# Mani
# Haji
# Sadiqi
# Sharifu
# Hasani 
# Madi
# Manga

There are various different transliterations of these primary clans depending on location.

=== Marriage ===
The Lemba follow strict [[endogamous]] marriage practices, discouraging unions between Lemba and non-Lemba; mostly against tribes they live amongst (which they collectively refer to as [[Zanj|''Senji'']]). Endogamy is also common among many groups.

=== Lemba's role in Southern African society ===
According to Tooke, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Lemba were highly esteemed for their mining and metalwork skills by the surrounding tribes which lived in the Zoutpansberg region of South Africa. He wrote in his 1937 book that the other tribes considered the Lemba outsiders.<ref name="Tooke">{{Cite book |author=Hammond Tooke, W.D. |title=The Bantu-speaking Peoples of Southern Africa |date=1974 |publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul |location=London |pages=81–84, 115–116}}</ref><ref name="VanWarmelo">{{Cite journal |author=van Warmelo, N.J. |year=1966 |title=Zur Sprache und Herkunft der Lemba |journal=Hamburger Beiträge zur Afrika-Kunde |publisher=Deutsches Institut für Afrika-Forschung |volume=5 |pages=273, 281–282}}</ref> According to articles which were written during the early 1930s, in the 1920s, the Lembas' medical knowledge earned them respect among tribes in South Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Some Observations on the Relics of Pre-European Culture in Rhodesia and South Africa|author=Trevor, Tudor G.|journal= J. Royal Anthropological Inst. Of Great Britain and Ireland|volume=60|date=December 1930|pages=389–399|doi=10.2307/2843783|jstor=2843783}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Notes on the Lemba Tribe of the Northern Transvaal|author=Jaques, Rev. A.A.|journal =Anthropos|volume=XXVI|issue=1/2|year=1931|pages=245–251|jstor=40446148}}</ref> Parfitt believes that colonial Europeans had their own reasons for considering some tribes rather than other tribes indigenous to Africa, because they made the British believe that they had a right to be on the continent just like other migrants.<ref name=Parfitt2002/> Modern Y-DNA evidence confirms the extra-African origin of some of the Lemba's male ancestors. By contrast, the lead anthropologist in Zimbabwe firmly places them among African peoples.<ref>Parfitt (2002), "The Lemba", pp. 43–44</ref>

===Sacred ngoma===
[[File:Royal Museum for Central Africa Small Drum From Congo.jpg|thumb|Small drum from Congo in the [[Royal Museum for Central Africa]], [[Tervuren]], [[Belgium]]]]

Lemba tradition tells of a sacred object, the ''[[Ngoma Lungundu]]'' or the "drum that thunders", which they brought from the place which was called Sena. Their oral history claims that the ''ngoma'' was the biblical [[Ark of the Covenant]] which was made by [[Moses]].<ref name="ReferenceC"/> Parfitt, a professor at [[SOAS, University of London]], wrote a book in 2008, ''The Lost Ark of the Covenant'' about the rediscovery of this object.<ref>{{cite book|date=2008|isbn=978-0007262670|author=Tudor Parfitt|author-link=Tudor Parfitt|title=The Lost Ark of the Covenant|publisher=Harper Collins}}</ref> His book was adapted into a television documentary that aired on the [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]], tracing the Lemba's claim that the ''ngoma lungunda'' was the legendary Ark of the Covenant. Following the lead of eighth-century accounts of the Ark in Arabia, Parfitt learned of a ghost town which was named [[Sena, Yemen|Sena]] in the [[Hadhramaut Governorate|Hadhramaut]].<ref name="ReferenceA">''Time,'' "A Lead on the Ark of the Covenant," Biema, David Van, 02/21/2008</ref>

Parfitt has suggested that the ''ngoma'' was related to the Ark of the Covenant, lost in [[Jerusalem]] after the city's destruction by the [[Babylonia]]n king [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] in 587 BC.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He believes that the ''ngoma'' is a descendant of the biblical Ark, which may have been destroyed or may have been repaired when more material was added to it as the artifact began to wear out. He says that the ark/ngoma was carried to Africa by its priestly guardians. The Lemba people's oral history claims that the Ark exploded 700 years ago,<ref>''ReporterNews,'' "Professor says he found Ark of the Covenant," Hamm, Britinni, 03/13/2008</ref> and was rebuilt on its remains.<ref>World Jewish Congress, Lemba tribe in southern Africa has Jewish roots, genetic tests reveal, 03, 18, 2010</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=World Jewish Congress |url=https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/9096/lemba_tribe_in_southern_africa_has_jewish_roots_genetic_tests_reveal |title=Lemba tribe in southern Africa has Jewish roots, genetic tests reveal |publisher=World Jewish Congress |access-date=2015-05-28}}</ref>

Parfitt claims that he discovered the ''ngoma'' in a [[Harare]], [[Zimbabwe]] museum in 2007. It had last been exhibited in 1949 by colonial officials in Bulawayo. They took it to Harare for protection during the [[Rhodesian Bush War|struggle for independence]], and it was later misplaced inside the museum.<ref name="ReferenceB">"Zimbabwe displays 'Ark of Covenant replica'", BBC News, 18 February 2010 accessed 7 March 2010</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite news|last=Vickers |first=Steve |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8550614.stm |title=Lost Jewish tribe 'found in Zimbabwe' |work=BBC News |date=2010-03-08 |access-date=2015-05-28}}</ref> Parfitt said he believed that the ngoma was the oldest wooden artifact in Zimbabwe. In February 2010, the 'Lemba ngoma lungundu' was put on display in the museum, along with a celebration of both its history and the history of the Lemba.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

Parfitt says that the ngoma/ark was carried into battles. If it broke apart, it was rebuilt. The ngoma, he says, was possibly built from the remains of the original Ark. "So it's the closest descendant of the Ark that we know of," Parfitt says. "Many people say that the story is far-fetched, but the oral traditions of the Lemba have been backed up by science", he said.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> The ngoma was on display in the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences, but in 2008, it disappeared. The story of Parfitt and the ngoma was updated in 2014 in the ZDF documentary "Tudor Parfitt and the Lost Tribe of Israel"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zdf-enterprises.de/en/catalogue/international/zdfefactual/history-biographies/secrets-of-the-bible|title=ZDFE.factual - ZDF Enterprises}}</ref>

The Lemba did not touch the ''ngoma'' because they considered it an intensely sacred object. It was carried by poles which were inserted into rings which were attached to each side of the ''ngoma''. The only members of the tribe who were permitted to approach it were the male members of its hereditary priesthood because it was their responsibility to guard it. Other Lemba feared that if they ever touched it, they would be "struck down by the fire of God" which would erupt from the object. The Lemba continue to regard the ngoma as the sacred Ark.<ref>Parfitt, Tudor, ''The Lost Ark of the Covenant,'' Harper Collins Publishers</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2015}}

== Jewish and Islamic links==
{{Undue weight|date=December 2024|section}}
Many pre-modern Lemba beliefs and practices have been tentatively linked to [[Abrahamic religions]]. [[Ebrahim Moosa]] wrote that, "Historians of religion have found among the Lemba certain religious and cultural practices which unmistakably resemble Middle Eastern rituals, and there are reflections of [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Arabic language|Arabic]] in their language."<ref>{{cite book |author1=Ebrahim Moosa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b8-glmO65Y0C&q=lemba+Christianity+Islam&pg=PA130 |title=Living Faiths in South Africa |date=1995 |publisher=David Philip |isbn=978-0864862532 |editor1-last=Prozesky |editor1-first=Martin |editor1-link=John W. De Gruchy |page=130 |access-date=21 February 2017 |editor2-last=De Gruchy |editor2-first=John W.}}</ref>

According to Rudo Mathivha, a Lemba of South Africa,<ref name="Wuriga">[http://www.kulanu.org/newsletters/1999-summer.pdf Wuriga, Rabson (1999) "The Story of a Lemba Philosopher and His People"], ''Kulanu'' 6(2): pp.1,11–12 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516182541/http://www.kulanu.org/newsletters/1999-summer.pdf |date=16 May 2012 }}</ref> practices and beliefs which are related to Judaism include the following:
* They observe [[Shabbat]].
* They praise ''Nwali'' (a deity) for looking after the Lemba, and they identify themselves as part of the [[Jews as the chosen people|chosen people]].
* They teach their children to honour their mothers and fathers. (This is common to many ethnicities and religions.)
* They refrain from eating pig and other beasts which are forbidden by the [[Torah]], and they forbid certain combinations of permitted foods.
* They practice ritual animal slaughter and ritual preparation of meat for consumption, a Middle Eastern practice rather than one which is common to African ethnicities.<ref name="parfitt" />
* They practice male [[circumcision]]; according to Junod's work in 1927,<ref name="Junod">{{Cite book |author=Junod, H.A. |title=The Life of a South African Tribe, vol. '''I:''' Social Life |publisher=Macmillan |year=1927 |location=London |pages=72–73, 94}}</ref> surrounding tribes regarded the Lemba as the masters and originators of that practice with their circumcision ceremonies involving recitations in Hebrew, Arabic and Kiswahili
* Traditionally, the Lemba are buried facing North (towards Jerusalem, as Zimbabwe is in the Southern Hemisphere) and stones are placed on tombs at the funeral.
* Since the late 20th century and due to an increasing amount of interest in their possible Jewish ancestry, they have placed [[Star of David|Stars of David]] on their tombstones.
* Lemba are discouraged from marrying non-Lemba.

Some of these practices and traditions are not exclusively Jewish; they are common to Muslims in the Middle East and Africa, and they are also common to other African tribes and other non-African peoples. In the late 1930s, W. D. Hammond-Tooke wrote a book in which he identified Lemba practices that are similar to those of Arab Muslims: for instance, their practice of [[endogamy]] codified by Muslims and Jews, as are certain dietary restrictions. There are many similarities between Lemba and Jewish animal slaughter. Known to the Lemba as kuShisha (derived from the term [[Shechita]]){{Cn|date=December 2024}}, only a circumcised Lemba man who adheres to kashrut may slaughter an animal. If a non-Lemba or non-circumcised male kills the animal, even if it is killed within the same manner as the Lemba, the wider community cannot eat the meat.<ref name=":8" /> The Lemba also engage in ritual drinking, especially on high holidays. It is worth noting, considering the Lemba's strict adherence to dietary and custom laws, if they were descendants of Muslims, it would be unlikely that they would partake of such activities, considering that it's [[haram]], suggesting closer links to Judaism than Islam.

In the late 20th century, the British scholar [[Tudor Parfitt]], an expert on marginalized Jewish groups, became involved in researching the Lemba's claims. He helped trace the origin of their ancestors back to Senna, an ancient city which they believe was located on the [[Arabian Peninsula]], in present-day [[Yemen]]. In an interview which was featured on ''[[Nova (American TV series)|NOVA]]'' in 2000, Parfitt said he was struck by the Lemba's maintenance of rituals which seemed Semitic and Judaic/Islamic:

{{blockquote|The other thing was the extraordinary importance they placed upon ritual slaughter of animals, which is not an African thing at all. Of course, it's Islamic as well as Judaic, but it's certainly from the [[Middle East]], it's not African. And the fact that every lad was given a knife with which he did his ritual throughout his life and took to his grave. That seemed to me to be remarkably, tangibly Semitic Middle Eastern.<ref name="parfitt">[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/tudor-parfitts-remarkable-quest.html ''Tudor Parfitt' Remarkable Quest''], NOVA, PBS, 22 February 2000, accessed 10 May 2013</ref>}}

In a 1931 article H.A. Stayt described them as an Arabic-Bantu tribe with [[Armenoid race|Armenoid]] features, with on average, longer and thinner faces than that of the average Bantu, their lips are thinner, their noses longer and more aquiline and their eyes smaller, darker and deeper-set.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Stayt |first=H. A. |date=1931 |title=Notes on the Balemba |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2843832 |journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=61 |pages=231–238 |doi=10.2307/2843832 |issn=0307-3114 |jstor=2843832}}</ref>

==Genetics==
===Uniparental DNA===
According to [[Y chromosome]] studies by Amanda B. Spurdle & Trefor Jenkins (1996), Mark G. Thomas et al. (2000), and Himla Soodyall (2013), the Lemba are paternally most closely related to [[Semitic languages|Semitic]]-speaking populations in [[Western Asia]] (Haplogroup [[Haplogroup J (Y-DNA)|J]] = 51.7%); as well as [[Central Asians]] and [[South Asians]] ([[Haplogroup LT|LT]],[[Haplogroup K-M9|K]],[[Haplogroup R (Y-DNA)|R]],[[Haplogroup F-M89|F]] = 24.5%); with minor contributions from [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]] speaking males.<ref>{{Citation | title = The origins of the Lemba "Black Jews" of southern Africa: evidence from p12F2 and other Y-chromosome markers.| pmid = 8900243 | journal = American Journal of Human Genetics | issue = 5 | volume = 59 | pages = 1126–33 | date = November 1996 | pmc=1914832 | last1 = Spurdle | first1 = AB | last2 = Jenkins | first2 = T }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceD">{{Citation | title = Y Chromosomes Traveling South: The Cohen Modal Haplotype and the Origins of the Lemba – the "Black Jews of Southern Africa"| pmid = 10677325 | journal = American Journal of Human Genetics | issue = 2 | volume = 66 | pages = 674–86 | date = 1 February 2000 | doi=10.1086/302749 | pmc=1288118 | last1 = Thomas | first1 = MG | last2 = Parfitt | first2 = T | last3 = Weiss | first3 = DA |display-authors=etal }}</ref><ref name="Soodyal2013"/>

The study by Thomas et al. (2000) revealed that a substantial number of Lemba men carry a particular haplotype of the [[Y chromosome|Y-chromosome]] which is known as the [[Y-chromosomal Aaron|Cohen modal haplotype]] (CMH), as well as a haplogroup of Y-DNA [[Haplogroup J (Y-DNA)|Haplogroup J]] which is found in some Jews, as well as in other populations which live across the [[Middle East]] and Arabia.<ref name="ReferenceD"/>

Among Jews, the CMH marker is most prevalent in [[Kohen|Kohanim]], or hereditary priests. As recounted in Lemba oral tradition, members of the Buba clan "had a leadership role in bringing the Lemba out of Israel".<ref name="PBS">[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/israel/familylemba.html "The Lemba, The Black Jews of Southern Africa"], ''NOVA'', Public Broadcasting System (PBS), November 2000, accessed 26 February 2008</ref> The genetic study found that 50% of the males in the Buba clan had the Cohen marker, a proportion which is higher than that which is found in the general Jewish population.<ref>Parfitt (2002), "The Lemba", p. 49</ref> 

In order to more specifically define the Lemba people's origins, in 2002 Parfitt and other researchers conducted a larger study in order to compare additional Lemba subjects (whose clans were recorded) with males from [[South Arabia]] and [[Africa]], as well as [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]] and [[Sephardi Jews]].<ref name="Parfitt 2002 pp. 47–48">Parfitt (2002), "The Lemba", pp. 47–48</ref> They found that significant similarities exist between the markers of the Lemba and the markers of the men of the [[Ḥaḍramawt]] in [[Yemen]]. They also learned that the population of [[Sena, Yemen|Sena]], Yemen was relatively recent, so its members and the Lemba would not have shared common ancestors.<ref name="Parfitt 2002 pp. 47–48"/>

More recently, Mendez et al. (2011) observed that a moderately high frequency of the studied Lemba samples carried Y-DNA [[Haplogroup T (Y-DNA)|Haplogroup T]], which is also considered to be of [[Near East]]ern origin. The Lemba T carriers exclusively belonged to T1b, which is rare and was not sampled in [[Mizrahi Jews|indigenous Jews]] of either the [[Near East]] or North Africa. T1b has been observed in low frequencies in [[Ashkenazi Jews]] as well as in a few [[Levant]]ine populations.<ref name = "Mendez2011">F.L. Mendez ''et al.'', "[https://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3378/027.083.0103 Increased Resolution of Y Chromosome Haplogroup T Defines Relationships among Populations of the Near East, Europe, and Africa"], ''BioOne'' Human Biology 83(1):39–53, (2011)</ref> Some Lemba women have also carried markers denoting descendance from the Near East.

A study conducted by [[Himla Soodyall]] (2013) observed that the non-African Y component in the Lemba is around 73.7% to 79.6%. However, overall, the study shows that Y chromosomes which are typically linked to Jewish ancestry were not detected through higher resolution analysis. It seems more likely that [[Arab]] traders, who are known to have established long-distance trade networks which stretched thousands of kilometers along the western rim of the Indian Ocean, from Sofala in the south to the Red Sea in the north and beyond, to the Hadramut, to India, and even to China from about 900 AD, are more likely linked with the ancestry of the non-African founding males of the Lemba/Remba.<ref name="Soodyal2013"/>

In a 2016 publication, Himla Soodyall and Jennifer G. R Kromberg state that:

{{blockquote| When blood groups and serum protein markers were used, the Lemba were indistinguishable from the neighbors among whom they lived; the same was true for mitochondrial DNA which represented the input of females in their gene pool. However, the Y chromosomes, which represented their history through male contributions, showed the link to non-African ancestors. When trying to elucidate the most likely geographic region of origin of the non-African Y chromosomes in the Lemba, the best that could be done was to narrow it to the Middle Eastern region. While no evidence of the extended CMH 11 was found in the higher resolution study, CMH however, was present at a rate of 8.8% being one mutational step away from the extended form.<ref name="Soodyall">{{cite book|author1=Himla Soodyall|author2=Jennifer G. R Kromberg|editor1-last=Kumar|editor1-first=Dhavendra|editor2-last=Chadwick|editor2-first=Ruth|title=Genomics and Society: Ethical, Legal, Cultural and Socioeconomic Implications|publisher=Academic Press/Elsevier|isbn=978-0-12-420195-8|page=316|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E9icBAAAQBAJ&q=Cohen+Modal+Haplotype+Lemba&pg=PA309|chapter=Human Genetics and Genomics and Sociocultural Beliefs and Practices in South Africa|date=29 October 2015}}</ref>}}

==Representation in other media==
* Channel Four documentary based on Parfitt's ''Journey to the Vanished City'' (1992 first edition).
* PBS ''Nova'' documentary: ''Lost Tribes of Israel'', includes content about the Lemba.<ref name="lost">[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2706israel.html ''Lost Tribes of Israel''], Transcript, ''NOVA'', Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), aired 22 February 2000</ref> Website includes transcript of an interview with Tudor Parfitt based on his work with them.<ref name="PBS1">[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/israel/parfitt.html "Tudor Parfitt's Remarkable Quest"], ''NOVA: Lost Tribes of Israel,'' PBS, 22 February 2000, accessed 26 February 2008</ref>
*William Rasdell, a researcher, photographer, and visual artist developed the JAD photographic field study that outfits Lemba people of Zimbabwe with a point-and-shoot camera to document aspects of their daily lives.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2015-04-28-dilemma-for-the-lemba-of-zim|title=Dilemma for the Lemba of Zimbabwe|last=Mohlomi|first=Setumo-Thebe|work=The M&G Online|access-date=2018-10-12|language=en}}</ref>
*Jewish Journal: ''A Passover Seder in Rural Zimbabwe?'' <ref>{{Cite web |last=Journal |first=Jewish |date=2015-04-13 |title=What?! A Passover Seder in a rural African village in ZIMBABWE? |url=https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/170393/ |access-date= |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> 
*Aljazeera article: ''Zimbabwe's Lemba build synagogue'' <ref>{{Cite web |title=Zimbabwe's Lemba build first synagogue, but struggle to keep the faithful |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/24/zimbabwes-lemba-build-their-first-synagogue.html |access-date= |website=america.aljazeera.com}}</ref> details the efforts of the Lemba to reengage in religious Judaism within the community
*Mickey Feinberg: ''Zimbabwe with love''<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Feinberg* |first=Mickey |title=Zimbabwe with Love |url=https://kulanu.org/communities/lemba/zimbabwe-with-love2014/ |access-date= |website=Kulanu |language=en-US}}</ref> detailing his stay amongst the Lemba of Harare

==See also==
* [[Genetic history of Africa]]
* [[Genetic studies of Jews]]
* [[Great Zimbabwe]]
* [[Groups claiming affiliation with Israelites]]
* [[History of the Jews in Africa]]
* [[Islam in Africa]]
* [[Islam in South Africa]]
* [[Islam in Zimbabwe]]
* [[Jewish diaspora]]
* [[Jewish ethnic divisions]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal | last1 = Junod | first1 = H. A. | title = The Lemba | journal = Folklore | volume = XIX | issue = 3| page = 1908 }}

==External links==
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/israel/ "Lost Tribes of Israel (2000)"] (PBS documentary on the Lemba and their origins), February 2000
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8550614.stm BBC News – Lost Jewish tribe 'found in Zimbabwe']
* [http://www.extrageographic.org/ark-of-the-covenant-found-in-africa-the-stories-behind-the-story/ "The Lemba, their origins and the Ark"], Extrageographic
* [https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/1.5126950 Scholar's Ark of the Covenant Claims Spark African Storm]
{{Ethnic groups in Mozambique}}
{{Ethnic groups in Zimbabwe}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemba People}}
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Malawi]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Mozambique]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Zimbabwe]]
[[Category:Groups claiming Israelite descent]]
[[Category:Jewish South African history]]
[[Category:Jewish Zimbabwean history]]
[[Category:African Jews]]