The Celts

The Celts
The ancient Celts, the bulk of whom, history says, inhabited the central and western parts of Europe, were in fact, Israelites whose origins are traced from that region in Europe through which flows the River Danube, and from the Near East.
The Anglicized "Celt," or "Kelt," is nothing more than the generic name of the ancient people who inhabited Northern and Western Europe.
They were regarded, by ancient writers, as "all the fair-haired peoples dwelling north of the Alps," and the name "Celt" comes from the Greek language, for the Greeks termed them all "Keltoi."
The Kelts were classified as falling into two loosely divided groups, which shaded off into each other.
The first was distinguished by "a long head, a long face, a narrow aquiline nose, blue eyes, very light hair and great stature," and these lighter-complexioned "Kelts" were usually termed "teutonic" by early writers.
The other group was marked by "a round head, a broad face, a nose often rather broad and heavy, hazel-gray eyes, light chestnut hair, and were said to be thick-set and medium height."
It is fascinating that the ancient "Teutons," whose name is generic for "Germans," appear in history along with the Cimbri, universally held to be Celts,
but coming from the same region as the Guttones (Goths, which was a Roman name for these peoples) by the shores of the Baltic and North Sea.
The Belgic tribes in northern France were the Cimbri, and had, according to history, migrated into the region from east of the Rhine.
The dominance of the Celts in northwestern Europe and the British Isles is well known.
Ancient writers spoke of the Gauls, who gave their name to modern-day France, as the "Cimbri," and identified them with the Cimmerians of an earlier date, who are mentioned by Homer.
They are identified as migrating through the mouth of the Danube, and early Celts are said to have been "continually moving westward." The "Belgae" were also Cimbri in origin. They spread across the Rhine and gave their name "to all northern France and Belgium" (Encyclopaedia Britanica, 11th edition, Vol. 5, page 612). Even in language the ancient Celts were identified as having come from the Near East. In 1831, James Pritchard was one of the first to demonstrate the true relationship of the Celts in his publication Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations. A famous Bavarian historian, J.C. Zeuss (l806-I856), demonstrated conclusively the Indo-European origin of the Celtic dialects. Rediscovering old Irish manuscripts, he published a striking study in Celtic philology, called Grammatica Celtic, publishing the work in 1853. But who were these "Cimbri," or "Khummee," who were migrating along the river valleys of the Caucasus and the Carpathians? Omri began to reign in 929 B.C., having been placed on the throne by the army, during the siege of Gibbethon, a Levitical city in Dan. The death of Elah and the usurpation of Zimri led to the declaration by the army that their general, Omri, was now king of Israel. His "...chief [achievement] was the foundation of Samaria, which thenceforth became the capital city of the Kingdom of Israel" (Encyclopedia of Biblical Literature, John Kitto, Vol. 3, page 365). Omri, while appearing from biblical records to be one of the lesser kings of Israel, nevertheless became one of the most important to the Assyrians, the Moabites, and other kingdoms to the north and east of Palestine. In Hasting's Bible dictionary under the article "Omri," the Assyrian spelling is given as "Humri or Humria" with the comment that the equivalent of the Hebrew-Canaanite y with the Assyrian h is illustrated by Schrader; Cot 2 i p.179. Several other examples are given, including the identification of "Ammi-rabi" (Amraphel) with Hammurabi, demonstrating how some languages pronounce the h like a k while others leave it silent. An extensive inscription from the Moabite stone published in Hasting's Bible dictionary (Vol. 3, page 621) reads "Omri was King of Israel and oppressed Moab a long time (lit. many days), for Chemosh was wroth with his land. And his son succeeded him (i.e. Omri), and he too said 'I will oppress Moab' in my time (i.e. of Mesha) he said thus. But I saw (my desire) on him and his house, and Israel perish with an everlasting destruction." (This merely implies that Ahab, who was a son of Omri, was finally compelled to relinquish his hold on Moab and is an exaggeration.) "So Omri obtained possesion of the land of Mehedeba, and dwelt therein during his days and half the days of his son, forty years..." Hasting's says, "These dates (following information on difficulties in the chronology of Omri's reign) harmonize better with the results of Assyriology, with the deep impression which Omri had produced in western Asia by his military prowess." This impression was no fleeting one, but extended over a very long period. We have clear indication of this in the fact that Palestine was called Bit Humri or 'land of the house of Omri,' from the time of Shalmaneser II (860) to that of Sargon (722-705). 'The usurper Jehu is called on Shalmaneser's black obelisk "Ja'ua agal Humari," "Jehu, son of Omri." And no less deep was the impression produced in Israel and Judah. 'The reference to the "statutes of Omri" in Micah 6:16 is an indication of this, his name being coupled with that of his son Ahab.'" "Bit Humri" is the equivalent of "Beth Omri" in the Hebrew, or the "House of Omri," which was the name applied to all Israel by the ASSYRIANS! Thus, when Shalmaneser's army brought hundreds of thousands of captured Israelites as slaves into the land of Assyria, the Assyrian army and local populace only knew them as "Bit Humri." And never referred to them as Hebrews, Israelites, or by any other Israelitish or Jewish term! In any number of languages, the h is silent. However, in other languages the h has a hard sound, pronounced by forcing the sharp sound against the hard palate, as in the English word "how." In some languages, such as German, the h can be pronounced quite similarly to the English k. Thus "Bit Humri" was pronounced by some "Kumri" and by the Greeks "Kimri," "Cimri" or "Gymri." These peoples are also found in history as the "Cimmerians." The "Bit Humri," or the "Kumri," who were known by the Greeks as the "Kimbri," are said to be the progenitors of the Celts! The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition, Vol. 20, page 105, says: "The inscription of Mesha throws welcome light upon his conquest of Moab; the position of Israel during the reign of Omri's son Ahab bears testimony to the success of the father; and the fact that the land continued to be known to the Assyrians down to the time of Sargon (after Shalmaneser, who carried away the hulk of the northern ten tribes into captivity) as 'the house of Omri' indicates the reputation which this little-known king enjoyed." The Cimbri are identified as a "teutonic tribe" who first make their appearance in Roman history in about 113 B.C., and who had been "wandering along the Danube for some years warring..." The Encyclopaedia Britannica says, "The original home of the Cimbri has been much disputed. It is recorded in the Monumentum Ancyranum that a Roman fleet sailing eastward from the mouth of the Rhine (about 5 A.D) ...at the farthest point reached the [region] of a people called Cimbri, who sent an embassy to Augustus." Several early writers agree in saying that the Cimbri occupied a peninsula, and in the map of Ptolemy JUTLAND appears as the Cimbric "Chersonese." Under the article "Cimmerii," the Britannica 11th edition says they were "an ancient people of the far north or west of Europe first spoken of by Homer." Herodotus, the famous historian (Herodotus iv. 11-13) regards them as the "early inhabitants of south Russia, driven by the Scyths along by the Caucasus into Asia Minor, where they maintained themselves for a century. This authority also reveals that "later writers identified them with the Cimbri of Jutland, who were probably Teutonized Celts..." The Encyclopedia Biblica says of Assyrian reference to Omri: "On inscriptions from the time of Shalmaneser II (854) down to Sargon (720) we find the northern kingdom designated as Mat Bit-Humri, 'the land of the house of Omri'; or simply Mat Humri, 'Land Omri,' Jehu even is called 'son of Omri' (Schrader Kat 190 ff.). The use of this phrase shows great was the reputation which Omri enjoyed abroad." The Encyclopedia Biblica also lends support to the very great possibility that the captured Israelites, who had already become corrupt while they were yet in the land, carried the names of Baal with them in their migrations, explaining the many names of Baal persisting in Ireland until modern times! It says, "The dynasty which the [Omri] founded lasted for half a century, and was only overturned by the hatred of the prophets to the worship of Baal" (Encyclopedia Biblica, 3500).