Ashkenaz ( he, ''ʾAškənāz'') in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' descendants of Noah. Ashkenaz is the first son of Gomer, and a Japhetic patriarch in the Table of Nations. In rabbinic literature, the descendants of Ashkenaz were first associated with the

Scythian cultures The Scytho-Siberian world was an archaeological horizon which flourished across the entire Eurasian Steppe during the Iron Age from approximately the 9th century BC to the 2nd century AD. It included the Scythian, Sauromati ...

, then later with the Slavic territories, and, from the 11th century onwards, with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and northern Europe, in a manner similar to

Tzarfat Tzarfat ( he, צרפת) is a Biblical placename that may refer to Sarepta in Lebanon. In later times, it came to be identified with France. It is still the name of France in Modern Hebrew, and is analogous to Sefarad, and Ashkenaz. The epithet ...

or Sefarad. His name is related to the Assyrian ''Aškūza'' (''Aškuzai, Iškuzai''), the

Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

who expelled the '' Gimirri'' (''Gimirrāi'') from the Armenian highland of the Upper Euphrates area.Russell E. Gmirkin
''Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus: Hellenistic Histories and the Date of the Pentateuch''
T & T Clark, Edinburgh, 2006 pp.148, 149 n.57.

Hebrew Bible

In the genealogies of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' descendant of Noah. He was the first son of Gomer and brother of Riphath and Togarmah (, ), with Gomer being the grandson of Noah through Japheth. According to , a kingdom of Ashkenaz was to be called together with Ararat and Minni against Babylon, which reads:

Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her e. Babylon call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars.

According to the ''

Encyclopaedia Biblica ''Encyclopaedia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religion History, the Archeology, Geography and Natural History of the Bible'' (1899), edited by Thomas Kelly Cheyne and J. Sutherland Black, is a critical encyclopedi ...

'', "Ashkenaz must have been one of the migratory peoples which in the time of

Esar-haddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning "Ashur (god), Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the d ...

, burst upon the northern provinces of

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, and upon

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

. One branch of this great migration appears to have reached Lake Urumiyeh; for in the revolt which Esar-haddon chastised, the Mannai, who lived to the SW of that lake, sought the help of Ispakai 'of the land of Asguza,' a name (originally perhaps Asgunza) which the skepticism of Dillmann need not hinder us from identifying with Ashkenaz, and from considering as that of a horde from the north, of Indo-Germanic origin, which settled on the south of Lake Urumiyeh."

Medieval reception

The Karaite philologist David ben Abraham al-Fāsi, writing around the turn of the millennium, identified Ashkenaz as the ancestor of the Khazars.

Rabbinic Judaism

In rabbinic literature, the kingdom of Ashkenaz was first associated with the Scythian region, then later with the Slavic territories,Kraus. S, 1932, Hashemot 'ashkenaz usefarad, Tarbiz 3:423-435 and, from the 11th century onwards, with northern Europe and Germany. The region of Ashkenaz was centred on the Rhineland and the Palatinate (notably Worms and Speyer), in what is now the westernmost part of

. Its geographic extent did not coincide with the German Christian principalities of the time, and it included northern France. How the name of Ashkenaz came to be associated in the rabbinic literature with the Rhineland is a subject of speculation., Chapter 3, footnote 9. In rabbinic literature from the 11th century, Ashkenaz was considered the ruler of a kingdom in the North and of the Northern and

Germanic people The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

. (See below.)

Ashkenazi Jews

Sometime in the post Biblical

early medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

period, the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe came to be called by the name ''Ashkenazim'',Paul Kriwaczek
''Yiddish Civilisation''
Hachette 2011 p. 173 n. 9. in conformity with the custom of designating areas of Jewish settlement with biblical names, Spain being identified as ''Sefarad'' (), France as ''Tsarefat'' (), and Bohemia as '' Land of Canaan''. By the high medieval period, Talmudic commentators like Rashi began to use ''Ashkenaz/Eretz Ashkenaz'' to designate

, earlier known as '' Loter'', where, especially in the Rhineland communities of Speyer, Worms and

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, the most important Jewish communities arose. Rashi uses ''leshon Ashkenaz'' (Ashkenazi language) to describe the German language, and Byzantium and Syrian Jewish letters referred to the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

as Ashkenazim. Given the close links between the Jewish communities of France and Germany following the Carolingian unification, the term Ashkenazi came to refer to both the Jews of medieval Germany and France.David Malkiel
''Reconstructing Ashkenaz: The Human Face of Franco-German Jewry, 1000–1250''
Stanford University Press, 2008, p. ix. Ashkenazi Jewish culture later spread in the 16th Century into Eastern Europe, where their rite replaced that of existing Jewish communities whom some scholars believe to have been larger in demographics than the Ashkenazi Jews themselves, and then to all parts of the world with the migrations of Jews who identified as "Ashkenazi Jews".

Armenian tradition

In Armenian tradition, Ashkenaz, along with Togarmah, was considered among the ancestors of the

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...

Koriun Koriun ( hy, Կորիւն, reformed spelling: Կորյուն; also transliterated as ''Koriwn'', ''Koryun'') was the earliest Armenian-language author. Writing in the fifth century, his ''Life of Mashtots'' contains many details about the evangel ...

, the earliest Armenian historian, calls the Armenians an "Askanazian (i.e., Ashkenazi) nation". He starts the "Life of Mashtots" with these words:

I had been thinking of the God-given alphabet of the Azkanazian nation and of the land of Armenia—when, in what time, and through what kind of man that new divine gift had been bestowed ...

Later Armenian authors concur with this. Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi (10th century) writes:

The sixth son was Tiras from whom were born our very own Ashkenaz sk'anazand Togarmah 'orgomwho named the country that he possessed Thrace after himself, as well as Chittim 'itiimwho brought under his sway the Macedonians. 7. The sons of Tiras were Ashkenaz, from whom descended the Sarmatians, Riphath, whence the Sauromatians oramatk' and Togarmah, who according to Jeremiah subjugated the Ashkenazian army and called it the House of Togarmah; for at first Ashkenaz had named our people after himself in accord with the law of seniority, as we shall explain in its proper place.

Because of this tradition, ''Askanaz'' is a male given name still used today by Armenians.

German royal genealogy

In 1498, a monk named

Annio da Viterbo Annius of Viterbo ( la, Joannes Annius Viterb(i)ensis; 5 January 143713 November 1502) was an Italian Dominican friar, scholar, and historian, born Giovanni Nanni in Viterbo. He is now remembered for his fabrications. He entered the Dominican Or ...

published fragments known as " Pseudo-Berossus", now considered a forgery, claiming that Babylonian records had shown that Noah had more sons than the three sons of his listed in the Bible. Specifically, Tuiscon or Tuisto is given as the fourth son of Noah, who had been the first ruler of Scythia and Germany following the dispersion of peoples, with him being succeeded by his son Mannus as the second king. Later historians (e.g.,

Johannes Aventinus Johann Georg Turmair (or Thurmayr) (4 July 1477 – 9 January 1534), known by the pen name Johannes Aventinus (Latin for "John of Abensberg") or Aventin, was a Bavarian Renaissance humanist historian and philologist. He authored the 1523 ...

and Johann Hübner) managed to furnish numerous further details, including the assertion by

James Anderson James Anderson may refer to: Arts *James Anderson (American actor) (1921–1969), American actor *James Anderson (author) (1936–2007), British mystery writer *James Anderson (English actor) (born 1980), British actor * James Anderson (filmmaker) ...

in the early 18th century that this Tuiscon was in fact none other than the biblical Ashkenaz, son of Gomer.

''Royal Genealogies, Or the Genealogical Tables of Emperors, Kings and Princes''
(1732) p. 441 (Table 213); also p.442 "The Most Ancient Kings of the Germans". James Anderson's 1732 tome ''Royal genealogies'' reports a significant number of antiquarian or mythographic traditions regarding Askenaz as the first king of ancient Germany, for example the following entry:

Askenaz, or Askanes, called by Aventinus Tuisco the Giant, and by others Tuisto or Tuizo (whom Aventinus makes the 4th son of Noah, and that he was born after the flood, but without authority) was sent by Noah into Europe, after the flood 131 years, with 20 Captains, and made a settlement near the
Tanais Tanais ( el, Τάναϊς ''Tánaïs''; russian: Танаис) was an ancient Greek city in the Don river delta, called the Maeotian marshes in classical antiquity. It was a bishopric as Tana and remains a Latin Catholic titular see as Tana ...
, on the West coast of the Euxin sea (by some called Asken from him) and there founded the kingdom of the Germans and the Sarmatians ... when Askenaz himself was 24 years old, for he lived above 200 years, and reigned 176. In the vocables of Saxony and Hessia, there are some villages of the name Askenaz, and from him the Jews call the Germans Askenaz, but in the Saxonic and Italian, they are called Tuiscones, from Tuisco his other name. In the 25th year of his reign, he partitioned the kingdom into Toparchies, Tetrarchies, and Governments, and brought colonies from diverse parts to increase it. He built the city
Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...
, made a body of laws in verse, and invented letters, which Kadmos later imitated, for the Greek and High Dutch are alike in many words. The 20 captains or dukes that came with Askenaz are: Sarmata, from whom
Sarmatia The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th c ...
; Dacus or Danus – Dania or Denmark; Geta from whom the Getae; Gotha from whom the
Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
; Tibiscus, people on the river Tibiscus; Mocia –
Mysia Mysia (UK , US or ; el, Μυσία; lat, Mysia; tr, Misya) was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia, Asian part of modern Turkey). It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on th ...
; Phrygus or Brigus – Phrygia; Thynus – Bithynia; Dalmata – Dalmatia; Jader – Jadera Colonia; Albanus from whom
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
; Zavus – the river Save; Pannus – Pannonia; Salon – the town Sale, Azalus – the
Azali An Azali ( fa, ازلی) or Azali Bábí is a follower of the monotheistic religion of Subh-i-Azal and the Báb. Early followers of the Báb were known as Bábís; however, in the 1860s a split occurred after which the vast majority of Bábís ...
; Hister – Istria; Adulas, Dietas, Ibalus – people that of old dwelt between the rivers
Oenus Oenus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Cap and succeeded by Sisillius III Sisillius III () was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded ...
and
Rhenus Rhenus may refer to: *the Latin name of the Rhine * Rhenus of Carthage (died 259), one of the Martyrs of Carthage under Valerian *Rhenus Pater, allegory or personification of the river *a ship of the Classis Misenensis * Rhenus (company) The Rhe ...
; Epirus, from whom
Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...
. Askenaz had a brother called Scytha (say the Germans) the father of the
Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...
, for which the Germans have of old been called Scythians too (very justly, for they came mostly from old Scythia) and Germany had several ancient names; for that part next to the Euxin was called Scythia, and the country of the Getes, but the parts east of the Vistule or Weyssel were called Sarmatia Europaea, and westward it was called
Gallia Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during Rep ...
, Celtica, Allemania, Francia and Teutonia; for old Germany comprehended the greater part of Europe; and those called
Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...
were all old Germans; who by ancient authors were called Celts, Gauls and Galatians, which is confirmed by the historians Strabo and Aventinus, and by Alstedius in his Chronology, p. 201 etc. Askenaz, or Tuisco, after his death, was worshipped as the ambassador and interpreter of the gods, and from thence called the first German Mercury, from Tuitseben to interpret.

In the 19th century, the German theologian

August Wilhelm Knobel August Wilhelm Karl Knobel (7 February 1807 – 25 May 1863) was a German Protestant theologian born in Tzschecheln near Sorau, Niederlausitz. From 1826 he studied philosophy, philology and theology at the University of Breslau, earning hi ...

again equated Ashkenaz with the Germans, deriving the name of the Aesir from Ashkenaz.''Die Völkertafel der Genesis'', ( The Table of Nations from the Book of Genesis) (1850) by August Wilhelm Knobel

References

* J. Simons: ''The Geographical and Topographical Texts of the Old Testament'', Leiden, 1959, § 28. {{Sons of Noah Hebrew Bible nations Japheth Noach (parashah) Book of Genesis people