As will be seen from this material, if we divorce ourselves from the multitudes of incorrect traditions and speculations in false LDS traditions and false speculations in Apocrypha on the Lost Ten Tribes, and confine ourselves to scriptural and historical accounts from historians in the know at the time, the actual location of the ten tribes "pure bloods" (or as pure blooded as an Israelite can get) becomes clear, the heartland of where the main body is located (i.e. NOT the ones that spread out, but the main body), it is clear that the majority of them never left the place where they were taken captive in the first place, because they were never permitted to do so, not by the Kings of the Persians and Medes the whole time they were in captivity, and not by the Parthians in the era of Rome. They are still there to this day, but have lost their identity like the Lamanites. Some that got away from the main body made their way along the Silk Road to the east and far east, but as I say, the majority, the main body, stayed put. This may come as a surprise to those that insist that there is a mystery about their location, but what better place to hide them, than to keep them where they were taken captive and assimilated while the world believes they were deported to some hollow place in the earth or some other planet? There is no mystery. It was to this area where the Lord visited them. It was from this area where the Magi, the three "Kings", came, to visit the Savior, who were three prophets from the Ten Tribes at the time of the Savior.
How more simple can it get than this?
Scriptures:"COMMENTARY 4 MAY 2007 - SALT LAKE CITY Approaching Mormon Doctrine
"Much misunderstanding about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints revolves around its doctrine . . .
Not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. A single statement made by a single leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, but is not meant to be officially binding for the whole Church . . . Isolated statements are often taken out of context, leaving their original meaning distorted."
"Some doctrines are more important than others and might be considered core doctrines. For example, the precise location of the Garden of Eden is far less important than doctrine about Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. The mistake that public commentators often make is taking an obscure teaching that is peripheral to the Church’s purpose and placing it at the very center . . ." (http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/a ... n-doctrine)
"In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria." (2 Kings 15:29).
"And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes." (2 Kings 17:4-6)
Quotes:"And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them." (2 Kings 18:11-12)
James E. Talmage:
Josephus, a Jewish Historian in 90 A.D. in his Antiquities of the Jews, recorded a statement from King Agrippa to the Jews:". . . From the scriptural passages already considered, it is plain that, while many of those belonging to the Ten Tribes were diffused among the nations, a sufficient number to justify the retention of the original name . . . are now in existence in some place where the Lord has hidden them. To them the resurrected Christ went to minister after His visit to the Nephites . . ." (Articles of Faith, p. 308)
Josephus also wrote:“What: Do you stretch your hopes beyond the river Euphrates? Do any one of you think that your fellow tribes will come to your aid out of Adiabene? Besides, if they would, the Parthians would not permit them.” (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews Book 11, Chapter 5, XI, V. 2)
"So he [Ezra] read the epistle at Babylon to the Jews that were there; but he kept the epistle itself, and sent a copy of it to all those of his own nation that were in Media; and when these Jews had understood what piety the king had toward God, and what kindness he had for Esdras, they were all greatly pleased; nay, many of them took their effects with them and came to Babylon, as very desirous of going down to Jerusalem; but then the entire body of the people of Israel remained in that country; wherefore there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers." (Antiquities of the Jews 11:2)
Jerome, in the 5th century AD wrote:
Also:"Until this day the ten tribes are subjects to the kings of the Persians, nor has their captivity ever been loosened" (Tom. 6 : 7).
Also:"The Ten Tribes of Israel inhabit to this day the cities and mountains of the Medes, as their fathers did a thousand years before." (Ibid., 6 : 80).
Account of Elder Jack Hughes, Senior Missionary to Armenia"The Hebrews say that the Assyrians and Chaldeans took the Jews into captivity not only to Persia and Media but also to the Bosporus and the north; and at the end of days God in his mercy will call them back from there."
Where is Assyria, and Land of the Medes?“When we were called to serve in the Russia Moscow Mission with a sub-mission to Armenia, I was one day packing to go to the MTC, and in a quiet moment it was like a voice said to me, 'Jack, You are going to teach the 10 tribes.' I stood there chilled, and from that moment I knew that many Armenians would turn out to be of the 10 tribes lineage. (http://web.archive.org/web/200806041442 ... ribes.html)
Study Finds Close Genetic Connection Between Jews, Kurds"The Medes . . . were an ancient Iranian people who lived in an area known as Media (northwestern Iran) and who spoke the Median language. They mainly inhabited the mountainous area of northwestern Iran and the northeastern and eastern region of Mesopotamia and located in the Kermanshah-Hamadan (Ecbatana) region Their emergence in Iran is thought to have occurred between 1000 BC to around 900 BC." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medes)
"Assyria was a major Mesopotamian East Semitic-speaking kingdom and empire of the ancient Near East and the Levant . . .
. . . between the mid-2nd century BC and late 3rd century AD a patchwork of small independent Assyrian kingdoms arose in the form of Ashur, Adiabene, Osroene, Beth Nuhadra, Beth Garmai and Hatra during the Parthian and early Sasanian Empires, a period which also saw Assyria become a major centre of Syriac Christianity and the birthplace of the Church of the East."
"Centered on the Tigris in Upper Mesopotamia (modern northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and the northwestern fringes of Iran), the Assyrians came to rule powerful empires at several times."(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyria)
The people closest to the Jews from a genetic point of view may be the Kurds, according to results of a new study at the Hebrew University.
Tamara Traubman Nov 21, 2001 12:00 AM
The people closest to the Jews from a genetic point of view may be the Kurds, according to results of a new study at the Hebrew University.
Scientists who participated in the research said the findings seem to indicate both peoples had common ancestors who lived in the northern half of the fertile crescent, where northern Iraq and Turkey are today. Some of them, it is assumed, wandered south in pre-historic times and settled on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean.
Professor Ariella Oppenheim and Dr. Marina Feirman, who carried out the research at the Hebrew University, said they were surprised to find a closer genetic connection between the Jews and the populations of the fertile crescent than between the Jews and their Arab neighbors. Oppenheim pointed out that previous research of DNA of Jews, including her own work, had revealed great genetic similarity between Jews and Arabs, particularly Palestinians from Israel and the territories.
The present study, however, involved more detailed and thorough examinations than previous research. In addition, this was the first comparison of the DNA of Jews and Kurds.
Genetic similarity between peoples is measured by comparing the frequency of genetic mutations among them. This information makes it possible to reconstruct their paths of migration and to discover their unwritten history. The present study, however, reveals only part of the story, since it is based on mutations of the Y chromosome. Since this chromosome, which determines male gender, is passed only from father to son, it does not contain information about the mothers' contributions to the genetic reservoir under study.
The study's findings are published in the current issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics.
The researchers used the DNA of 1,847 Jewish men of Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Kurdish descent; Muslims and Christians of Kurdish, Turkish and Armenian descent; various Arab populations; and Russians, Poles and residents of Belarus. (http://www.haaretz.com/study-finds-clos ... ds-1.75273)