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The Lemba, wa-Remba, or ''Mwenye''〔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, p. 42〕 are a southern African ethnic group found in present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa, with smaller, little-known branches in Mozambique and Malawi. According to Tudor Parfitt, Professor of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, in 2002 they numbered an estimated 50,000.〔Parfitt (2002), ''The Lemba'', p. 42〕 They speak the Bantu languages spoken by their geographic neighbours and resemble them physically, but they have some religious practices and beliefs similar to those in Judaism and Islam, which they claim were transmitted by oral tradition. The name "Lemba" may originate in ''chilemba'', a Swahili word for turbans worn by some Bantu peoples, or ''lembi,'' a Bantu word meaning "non-African" or "respected foreigner". Magdel le Roux says that the name ''VaRemba'' may be translated as "the people who refuse" – probably in the context of "not eating with others" (according to one of her interviewees).〔 In Zimbabwe and South Africa, the people prefer the name ''Mwenye.''〔 Since the late twentieth century, there has been increased media and scholarly attention to the people's claims of partial common descent to the Jewish people.〔Parfitt, Tudor (1993/2000)'' Journey to the Vanished City: the Search for a Lost Tribe of Israel,'' New York: Random House (2nd edition)〕〔Parfitt(2002), "The Lemba", p. 39〕〔(Wuriga, Rabson (1999) "The Story of a Lemba Philosopher and His People" ), ''Kulanu'' 6(2): pp.1,11–12] 〕 Genetic Y-DNA analyses in the 2000s have established a partially Middle-Eastern origin for a portion of the male Lemba population. Both Arabs and Jews share this DNA, but the Cohen Modal Haplotype, an indicator of Jewish ancestry, has been found among the males of one leadership clan at rates even higher than in the general Jewish population.〔 ==Jewish or Arab links== In the period in which Jews were settled in southern Arabia, they were proselytising, and attracted converts from around the Mediterranean and North Africa.〔Parfitt (2002), "The Lemba", pp. 47–50〕 Many pre-modern Lemba beliefs and practices can be linked to Judaism, and some are also common to Islam. According to Rudo Mathivha, a Lemba of South Africa,〔 these include the following: * They observe Shabbat. * They praise Nwali (God) for looking after the Lemba, and identify themselves as part of the 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 animals forbidden by the Torah, and forbid certain combinations of permitted foods. * They practice ritual animal slaughter and ritual preparation of meat for consumption, which is a Middle Eastern practice rather than common to African ethnicities.〔 * They practise male circumcision; according to Junod's work in 1927, surrounding tribes regarded the Lemba as the masters and originators of that art. * Since the late 20th century and increased attention to possible Jewish ancestry, they have placed a Star of David on their tombstones. * Lemba are discouraged from marrying non-Lemba,〔Note: Such endogamous marriage patterns are common among many ethnic groups in Africa and elsewhere〕 just as Jews are discouraged from marrying non-Jews. According to Magdel le Roux, the Lemba have a ritual of sacrifice which they call the "Pesah", which seems similar to the Jewish ''Pesach'' or Passover. Some of these traditions are not exclusively Jewish; they are common to Muslims in the Middle East and Africa, as well as being common to other African tribes and other peoples. In the late 1930s, W. D. Hammond-Tooke wrote a book identifying Lemba practices that are similar to those of Muslims: for instance, their endogamous marriage practices are also common to Muslims, as are certain dietary restrictions. Together with the similarities between many Lemba clan-names and known Arabic and Semitic words; e.g., ''Sadiki, Hasane, Hamisi, Haji, Bakeri, Sharifo'' and ''Saidi,'' Hammond-Tooke concluded that the Lemba were descended, at least in part, from Muslim Arabs. In the late 20th century the British scholar Tudor Parfitt, an expert in marginal Jewish groups, became involved in researching the Lemba's claims. He helped trace ancestors to Senna, what they believe is an ancestral city on the Arabian peninsula, in present-day Yemen. In an interview featured on ''NOVA'' in 2000, Parfitt said he was struck by the Lemba's maintenance of rituals that seemed Jewish and/or Semitic: "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.〔(''Tudor Parfitt' Remarkable Quest'' ), NOVA, PBS, 22 February 2000, accessed 10 May 2013〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lemba people」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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