THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (corrected)
I started my family tree in 1990 asking relatives about themselves and their family members, researching census records on microfiche in libraries, reading Benjamin family books, and surfing the Internet. Here's my story...
About 4,000 years ago, a man named Abraham left the city of his birth known as Ur, which was part of the Mesopotamian Civilization and is today called Iraq.Abraham traveled many years throughout the fertile crescent until finally settling in the land today known as Israel.Abraham gave this land to his children as an inheritance.His grandson, Jacob, changed his name to Israel and upon his death gave this land as an inheritance to his 12 sons.The families of these 12 children were referred to as tribes, and are now known as the 12 tribes of Israel.Due to famine, these tribes fled to Egypt where they remained as slaves for 400 or so years before returning to the land of their forefathers.Upon returning, the whole of the territory of Israel was divided up amongst each of the tribes.
About 3,000 years ago, Saul Benjamin was the first King of Israel. One hundred or so years later, after the death of King Solomon Judah, the Kingdom of Israel was divided into 2 kingdoms.The 10 tribes of the north retained the name Kingdom of Israel while the 2 tribes of the south (Benjamin and Judah) were known as the Kingdom of Judea.The City of Jerusalem was the capital of the southern Kingdom of Judea and was in the Benjamin's territory given to them as their inheritance.
Also around this time, the tribe of Benjamin was nearly extinct at the hands of the other tribes due to the Benjamin's violent nature and horrible treatment of travelers spending the night as guests in one of their villages.The Small remaining survivors were given foreign wives from the neighboring Ammorites rather than from the other tribes. When the New Testament mentions the Kingdom of Judea and Tribe of Judah, it is understood that this small surviving Tribe of Benjamins is included.
Around 2,700 years ago, the northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians and its inhabitants were dispersed, now known as the Diaspora.These 10 northern tribes are referred to as the "Lost Tribes" of Israel.A couple hundred years later, the southern Kingdom of Judea was conquered by the Chaldeans under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar.The inhabitants of the Kingdom of Judea, the Judeans, were held captive and taken to Babylon as slaves.It was during this Babylonian Captivity that these Judeans were first referred to as "Jews".
Due to overpopulation and persecution, some Benjamins migrated north and over a thousand years spread as far as the land today known as Germany and France.The apostle Paul Benjamin, also known as Saint Paul, lived around 100 AD and traveled all throughout the Mediterranean Sea to Turkey, Greece, and Italy.About 700 or so years later, a new religion spread quickly throughout the region and its followers conquered the land and remaining Jews of Israel.As a result, some of those Benjaminites who migrated north centuries earlier had gathered up support and returned to the land of their forefathers for battle, the first of over 9 crusades had begun.
About the time of the first Crusade, the surname appears in France.This is either due to Benjamins in Jerusalem at that time intermarrying with families of French Crusaders and being relocated, or else the French being aware of their family ancestry and re-using the name as their surname.Surnames were not commonly used as they are today until about this time.Around 1000 AD, this family of Benjamins are known to have crossed the channel to inhabit the land of England, where they flourished for over 600 years.A couple of these Benjamins (John and Richard) continued migrating west to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, arriving on the ship "Lyon" in 1632, and are responsible for nearly 400 years of Benjamins in America.
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/e/n/David-Michael-Benjamin/index.htmlhttp://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/e/n/David-Michael-Benjamin/index.html
David Benjamin, Professor of Philosophy, World Religions, and Ancient Civilizations 06/10/2014