Lost Tribes Institute
Israel's Ten Lost Tribes in Japan and throughout Asia
Essays from the Tokyo symposium arguing that the Japanese descend from Israel's lost tribes.
View on Amazon →Lost Tribes Institute · Founded by Margot Crossing
Tracing the scattered tribes of Israel among the nations
The Lost Tribes Institute is a network of scholars working with indigenous nations and other peoples who say they descend from the tribes of Israel's northern kingdom, exiled in the 8th century BC. Their traditions often carry biblical stories and customs of their own. The Institute organizes round tables and symposiums across Asia and publishes what is presented.
70ethnic claims mapped
263books, papers & videos
7symposiums since 2006
17books from the Institute
Our founder
All her work in the library →Margot Crossing
Founder, Lost Tribes Institute · Researcher of oral history across Asia
Margot Crossing founded the Lost Tribes Institute to bring together the peoples, scholars and communities who trace their roots to the scattered tribes of Israel. Her own research follows a single thread across Asia: people after people who remember a sacred book they once had and lost.
She lived in Mizoram, northeast India, off and on from 2009 to 2019, listening to the elders and researchers of the Zo peoples, the Mizo, Kuki and Chin. From there her work reaches to the hill tribes of Myanmar, the Karen, the Q’iang of southwest China and the Kyrgyz of Central Asia, linking their epics, chants and customs into one migration story.
She has presented at symposiums in Kyrgyzstan, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam, Thailand, Japan, Arizona, Australia and Vanuatu. She has also transcribed and republished the 19th-century accounts of Francis Mason and George Moore on the Karen. Her book From Promise to Restoration is a six-week study of the prophets’ promise that scattered Israel and the nations will be restored.
“We have all heard about the peoples of ‘The Book.’ Even more epic may be the collective memories of the peoples of ‘The Lost Book.’”From The Peoples of the Lost Book, Bishkek, 2019
Nations and peoples who say they come from ancient Israel
Open the map →Communities, synagogues, churches, researchers, writers, university departments and YouTube channels around the world argue that a particular people descends from the ancient tribes of Israel. The register collects those claims, from rabbinic recognitions and old travel accounts to self-published books and online video, and puts each one on the map with the reasons given and the people who give them.
- The Americas15
- Europe5
- Middle East, Caucasus & Central Asia11
- South Asia10
- East & Southeast Asia7
- Pacific5
- Africa17
Peoples we work with
Photo credits →
The promised return
Read the chapters →The term “Lost Tribes” never appears in Scripture. What the Prophets do say, many times, is that the scattered northern tribes will one day come back, and that the houses of Israel and Judah will be joined again.
Symposiums
All symposiums →Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
1st International Symposium of World Epic
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
World Epic Festival scientific symposium
Aizawl, Mizoram, India
1st Scientific Symposium on the Interconnectedness of the Israelites in Asia
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Lost Tribes Institute's 2nd International Symposium
Plasa, Meghalaya, India
Scientific Symposium of the United Mikir's Research Society & Lost Tribes Institute
Tokyo, Japan
Israel's Ten Lost Tribes in Japan and throughout Asia
Assam, India
2nd Mikir Symposium
Watch
All videos →Recent books
All books →
Iran's Biblical History
Persia's place in the biblical story, from the exiles of Israel to the Magi.
View on Amazon →
Iconic Bible Chapters about Israel's Lost Tribes
The prophets' chapters on Israel's return and the messianic imagery in them.
View on Amazon →
Lost Tribes of Israel Found: in the Kyrgyz Epic
Essays presented at academic symposiums in Kyrgyzstan defending ethnic Kyrgyz as a lost tribe of Israel.
View on Amazon →People
Contact →Margot Crossing
Independent researcher of the Zo peoples of Mizoram and Manipur, the hill tribes of Myanmar, the Q'iang of southwest China and the Kyrgyz. Author of the “Lost Book Peoples” studies and From Promise to Restoration.
Her work →Richard Hewitt (Risbek)
Lived in Kyrgyzstan from 1994 to 2013. Speaker at symposiums hosted by Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Culture and author of books on the Kyrgyz, Scripture and the nations.
Their work →