Gold and precious stones from Madagascar to Solomon's temple in Jerusalem: An aspect of the concept of ancient Israelite migration to Africa
In Alakamisy, twenty-five kilometers north of Fianarantsoa, a regional capital in the central highlands of Madagascar, there is a rock formation—a plain wall, nearly one hundred meters high—with something that, at least from distance, looks like letters put together in an inscription. The rock is called Ivolamena, “the rock of gold,” and according to local tradition, the script is Hebrew, and the inscription says that emissaries sent by King Solomon of the Old Testament came here to find gold and precious stones for the temple in Jerusalem. This local tradition is part of a broad range of traditions that claim various sorts of historical interaction between Madagascar and ancient Israel, often in the form of an Israelite migration to Madagascar. These Malagasy traditions are then part of an even broader range of traditions that conceptualize similar sorts of historical interaction and migration between ancient Israel and many different parts of Africa, or the rest of the world for that matter. The article falls into three parts, all three engaging with the Alakamisy “inscription” from a specific perspective. First, a discussion of the “inscription” in its Malagasy interpretive context of claims about an Israelite migration to Madagascar. Second, a discussion of the “inscription” in its broader, African interpretive context of claims about ancient Israelite migration to Africa. And third, a discussion of the “inscription”—as an example of the concept of ancient Israelite migration between Madagascar and Africa—from a postcolonial perspective.
Publisert i 2024
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