About great Jewish warriors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_military_history it goes on to modern times
Ancient Israelites
While complete details in the Biblical account of a system of fighting forms are not extant, the Midrashic, Talmudic, and Rabbinic accounts testify to fighting and combat strategies used by the ancient Israelites as well as legendary depictions of Israelite combatants.
[edit] Maccabees
Main article: Maccabees
The Maccabees (Hebrew: מכבים or מקבים, Makabim) were a Jewish national liberation movement that fought for and won independence from Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was succeeded by his infant son Antiochus V Eupator. The Maccabees founded the Hasmonean royal dynasty and established Jewish independence in the Land of Israel for about one hundred years, from 164 BCE to 63 BCE.
[edit] Bar Kokhba
Main article: Bar Kokhba revolt
The Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135) (Hebrew: מרד בר כוכבא) against the Roman Empire, also known as "The Second Jewish-Roman War" or "The Second Jewish Revolt", was a second major rebellion by the Jews of Iudaea and the last of the Jewish-Roman Wars. Alternatively, some sources call it "The Third Revolt", counting also the riots of 115–117, the Kitos War, suppressed by the general Lusius Quietus who governed the province at the time.
[edit] Later communities
According to a number of accounts various Middle Eastern and Asian Jewish communities, who were either known for their fighting prowess,
[edit] Samuel ibn 'Adiya Arabian warrior poet
Poet and warrior; lived in Arabia in the first half of the 6th century CE. His mother was of the royal tribe of Ghassan, while his father, according to some, was descended from Aaron, or, according to others, from Kahin, son of Harun and progenitor of the Jewish tribes of Kuraitza and Nathir. Samuel owned a castle near Taima (eight hours north of Medina), built by his grandfather 'Adiya and called, from its mixed color, Al-Ablak. It was situated on a high hill and was a halting-place for travelers to and from Syria.
More than for his poetic talents Samuel ibn 'Adiya is famous for his connection with the warrior-poet and prince Amru al-Kais, which won for him the epithet "faithful", and gave rise to the saying, still common among the Arabs, "more faithful than Samuel." Samuel ibn 'Adiya's reputation as a poet rests upon one of the first poems in the collection called the "Hamasa." It is full of warlike vigor and courage, and manifests a high ideal of honor. Another poem attributed to him has been published in Arabic and Hebrew, with an English translation, by H. Hirschfeld ("J. Q. R." xvii. 431-440).[1]
[edit] Jews of China
Further information: History of the Jews in China and Kaifeng Jews
There are many theories surrounding when Jews first settled in China. Despite trading in China since at least the 9th century,[2] many modern scholars “unanimously” believe an actual community was founded in Kaifeng City, Henan province during the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty.[3] However, one of the three stelae (stone edicts) left by the community claims “they entered and settled in China during the Han Dynasty", almost 800 years earlier.[4]
The stele dating 1489 states that Song Dynasty founder Emperor Taizu (mistakenly referred to as Ming Taizu) went on military campaigns to “pacify the Under Heaven” during the early years of his reign.[5] When the armies successfully gained control of China and solidified the power of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizu bestowed the “sinicized” Jewish soldiers with land “to settle and enjoy their occupation in the villages”.[5] Jewish soldiers continued to serve in the Chinese military through the Southern Song Dynasty. The stele dating 1512 states “those who subdued the enemy and resisted aggression and were ‘boundlessly loyal to the country’” were successful in their endeavors.[6] The term “boundlessly loyal to the country” refers to the famous tattoo on the back of General Yue Fei, a noted patriot and martyr.[7] So the loyalty of the Jewish soldiers was compared to that of Yue Fei. The same source even claims that "Israelites" served in Yue Fei's armies and helped to combat the Jurchen armies invading China during that time.[8]
Modern scholars that translate the 1489 stele mention how a physician named Ancheng received a sizable amount of money from “Prince Ding of Zhou prefecture” to rebuild the community’s destroyed synagogue in 1421.[9] In 1423, Ancheng was given the surname “Chao” by the emperor himself, received the “rank of Military Commissioner in the Embroidered Uniform Guard” and was promoted to “Assistant Military Commissioner of Zhejiang."[10] However, a journal entry from 1965 formally corrected a translation error that proceeding authors still make today. The physician Ancheng was “apparently a romantic fabrication” and the actual person was “a common soldier named An San, who belonged to the Honan Central Bodyguard Division”.[11] He had warned the Yongle Emperor of a plot against him by Prince Zhou, An’s military commander and benefactor of the Jewish community, and was subsequently promoted (as mentioned above) and given the “properly Chinese name Chao Ch’eng (Chao the Honest), and in due course became a notable leader of the community and ancestor of the principal Jewish clan.” [11]
[edit] Habbani Jews of Southern Yemen
Main article: Habbani Jews
In 1912 Zionist emissary Shmuel Yavnieli came into contact with Habbani Jews who ransomed him when he was captured and robbed by eight Bedouin in southern Yemen. Yavnieli wrote about the Jews of Habban describing them in the following way.
The Jews in these parts are held in high esteem by everyone in Yemen and Aden. They are said to be courageous, always with their weapons and wild long hair, and the names of their towns are mentioned by the Jews of Yemen with great admiration.[12]
There are a number of legends about the origins of the Jews of Habban. The most prominent is that they descend from Judean soldiers who were stationed in southern Arabia by King Herod of Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period. Herod dispatched a unit of Jews in the region to assist the Romans with fighting wars in the area. Unlike the Jews of northern Yemen the Habbani Jews wore: Jambiyya (curved knife), Matznaph (turban) and Avne`t (sash).
Benjamin of Tudela (twelfth century) found an independent Jewish warrior tribe living in the highlands of Khorasan near Nisapur, numbering many thousand families, regarding themselves as descendants of Dan, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali, under a Jewish prince of the name of Joseph Amarkala ha-Levi.[13] Another independent Jewish tribe bent upon warlike expeditions is mentioned by Benjamin as living in the district of Tehama in Yemen.[14] [3]
[edit] Mountain Jews of Daghestan
Armed Mountain Jewish men, c. 1900 (1905-06 Jewish Encyclopedia)
Main article: Mountain Jews
And we, the Tats
We, Samson warriors,
Bar Kochba's heirs...
we went into battles
and bitterly, heroically
struggled for our freedom
-The Song of the Mountain Jews[15]
The Jews of Daghestan lived isolated and in one of the most remote, impenetrable areas in the world for many centuries. They have been historically known for their fierce and war-like nature. In dress and custom they were hardly distinguishable from other Caucasian fighting people in the region. Though they are considered dhimmi by their surrounding Muslim population, the Mountain Jews owned land were known to be fierce, not hesitating to defend, by sword or the rifle, their family, religion, or personal dignity.
The Jews of Daghestan greatly resemble the other warlike inhabitants of this mountainous region; and they have acquired the virtues as well as the faults of the latter. There is a tradition among the Jews of Daghestan that they are the descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes; but the history of their wanderings is now forgotten, the written documents which they once possessed having in the course of time been either lost or destroyed. They differ from their Christian and Mohammedan neighbors in speech, using the Tat language, which is a combination of Persian and Hebrew. Their writing is a mixture of square characters and Rashi. They wear the Circassian dress, and always go heavily armed, even sleeping without having removed their weapons.[16]
It is possible that the Mountain Jews are descendants of Persian-Jewish soldiers who were stationed in the Caucasus by the Sasanian kings in the fifth or sixth century to protect the area from the onslaughts of the Huns and other nomadic invaders from the east. Under the impact of the invading Turkish hordes, later generations of Jewish inhabitants of the Caucasian lowlands were forced to migrate even further north to Daghestan.[17]
[edit] Jews of Tirdirma, Mali
According to a West African Arabic record called the Tarikh el-Fetash, in 1402 in Tiridirma near the [censored] river lived a community of Jews known as the Bani Israeel who were said to have seven rulers, 333 wells, and a well trained army. The record suggests that their presence in the area proceeded the rise of Islam.[18]
[edit] Jewish soldiers in Spain
Jewish soldiers assisted Childeric in his war against Wamba. The Moors are said to have entrusted to Jews the guardianship of the conquered cities of Spain. Under Alfonso VI of Castile, in 1068, 40,000 Jews fought against Yusuf ibn Teshufin in the battle of Zalaka, with such heroism that the battle-field was covered with their bodies. Under Alfonso VIII of Castile. (1166-1214) there were many warriors among the wealthy and cultured Jews of Toledo that fought bravely against the Moors.[19] Alfonso X., called "the Wise", while infante, had many Jews in his army; and in the capture of Seville (1298) the Jewish warriors distinguished themselves so highly that, in compensation for their services, Alfonso allotted to them certain lands for the formation of a Jewish village. He also transferred to them three mosques which they turned into synagogues. The cruel fanaticism of the Moors had alienated the Jews, who were now won over to the Christians by the tolerant rule of the latter.[20] Jews fought bravely at the side of Pedro the Cruel in defense of the cities of Toledo, Briviesca, and Burgos, against Henry de Trastamara, his brother, and had to pay for their loyalty to their king either with their lives and the lives of their undefended wives and children, or, as the Jews of Burgos had to do, with a heavy ransom to the relentless victor.[21]
[edit] Jewish defenders during the First Crusade
Further information: Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
Jews fought side-by-side Egyptian Fatimad soldiers to defend Jerusalem against the Crusaders during the First Crusade.[22] Saint Louis University Professor Thomas Madden, author of A Concise History of the Crusades, claims the "Jewish Defenders" of the city knew the rules of warfare and retreated to their synagogue to "prepare for death" since the Crusaders had breached the outer walls.[23] However, another source states the joint Jewish-Egyptian forces retreated from the walls and made their last stand against the crusaders by the Temple Mount, only then going to their respective houses of worship once they were overpowered.[24] According to the Muslim chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi, "The Jews assembled in their synagogue, and the Franks burned it over their heads."[25]
[edit] Modern times
Topic: Any information on Jewish/Ancient hebrew/Israelite architecture or weapons? (Read 5124 times)