Review of Bambara
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Michael Villanueva
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Review of Bambara
[Following is a volunteer review of "Bambara" by Joseph Eidelberg.]
After reading Bambara, I sat down and thought, how would I pitch this book to a friend? A book can often be summarized in a short elevator pitch, this is a history book, or this is a theological study. I was looking for a sound bite that would easily communicate the main idea. Bambara: Uncovering the Hidden Footsteps from the Pillar of Fire to the Rising Sun by Joseph Eidelberg is a non-fiction that does not fit neatly into any one category. My best pitch would be to explain the book’s three main topics, the history of the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt and the Jewish diaspora, Jewish religious traditions and their influence in Africa and Asia, and a linguistic study of the Hebrew language and its links to the African Bambara language and the Japanese language. In short, this book covers history, theology, and etymology.
If that sounds like a lot, it is and it isn’t. One of my mistakes when I first started reading is I kept wanting the author to go deeper and explain more. Before I could get fully into a topic, the next chapter would switch to a different one. Bambara is not an in-depth analysis of a single subject, it is an appeal for further academic study. In Joseph’s final chapter he says that many might disagree with his thesis, but he hopes his book will foster a discussion that will bring “further clarifications, …[and] more plausible explanations.” Bambara is an ambitious work that covers a wide breadth of subjects with just enough research and insight to leave you wanting more. I was engrossed in the author’s historical theories surrounding the Exodus and the missing tribes of Israel. He backs up his historical narrative with religious and etymological theories that I found less convincing, but no less intriguing.
I enjoy reading books that teach me something. Sometimes a non-fiction focuses so much on one subject that I end up learning a lot about a little. This book was a joy in that I learned a lot about many topics. Learning about fusional, agglutinative, and isolating languages was a field of study I knew nothing about. If the book only covered language structure it would have been a taxing read, but the author keeps you interested by giving you just enough to grasp his various ideas.
The downside is that the number of topics can also Bambara’s weakness. I wasn’t fully convinced of some the proposed theories, which may have resulted from the Joseph’s attempt to cover so much. An example would be the author’s connection between the Japanese feasts of Bon and Tanabata to the Jewish holidays of Yom Kippur and Sukkot. The chapter in which this is covered explains the similarities of the holidays and argues that the Japanese holidays are rooted in the Jewish. It is then stated that both Japanese holidays are credited to Chinese influence. My question is, what is the argument against Chinese influence? A theory can’t argue in favor of itself and leave opposing theories unexplored. If Japanese historians have evidence linking the feasts of Bon and Tanabata to Chinese traditions with no mention of Jewish influence, then the new theory must address the old to convincingly revise the accepted historical narrative. Perhaps Chinese influence in Bon and Tanabata was studied by the author, but he covers so much with each chapter that this detail and many like it throughout the book are left unaddressed.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 and I would recommend it to etymologists, history enthusiasts, and biblical scholars. As for religious content, Bambara covers Jewish history and traditions, but at no point was the author arguing for religious beliefs one way or another. The author was respectful of all the religious traditions discussed while not pushing for any single belief. Bambara puts forth some interesting and revolutionary theories that could change the historical narrative. I hope scholars will read this work and build upon it.
******
Bambara
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
After reading Bambara, I sat down and thought, how would I pitch this book to a friend? A book can often be summarized in a short elevator pitch, this is a history book, or this is a theological study. I was looking for a sound bite that would easily communicate the main idea. Bambara: Uncovering the Hidden Footsteps from the Pillar of Fire to the Rising Sun by Joseph Eidelberg is a non-fiction that does not fit neatly into any one category. My best pitch would be to explain the book’s three main topics, the history of the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt and the Jewish diaspora, Jewish religious traditions and their influence in Africa and Asia, and a linguistic study of the Hebrew language and its links to the African Bambara language and the Japanese language. In short, this book covers history, theology, and etymology.
If that sounds like a lot, it is and it isn’t. One of my mistakes when I first started reading is I kept wanting the author to go deeper and explain more. Before I could get fully into a topic, the next chapter would switch to a different one. Bambara is not an in-depth analysis of a single subject, it is an appeal for further academic study. In Joseph’s final chapter he says that many might disagree with his thesis, but he hopes his book will foster a discussion that will bring “further clarifications, …[and] more plausible explanations.” Bambara is an ambitious work that covers a wide breadth of subjects with just enough research and insight to leave you wanting more. I was engrossed in the author’s historical theories surrounding the Exodus and the missing tribes of Israel. He backs up his historical narrative with religious and etymological theories that I found less convincing, but no less intriguing.
I enjoy reading books that teach me something. Sometimes a non-fiction focuses so much on one subject that I end up learning a lot about a little. This book was a joy in that I learned a lot about many topics. Learning about fusional, agglutinative, and isolating languages was a field of study I knew nothing about. If the book only covered language structure it would have been a taxing read, but the author keeps you interested by giving you just enough to grasp his various ideas.
The downside is that the number of topics can also Bambara’s weakness. I wasn’t fully convinced of some the proposed theories, which may have resulted from the Joseph’s attempt to cover so much. An example would be the author’s connection between the Japanese feasts of Bon and Tanabata to the Jewish holidays of Yom Kippur and Sukkot. The chapter in which this is covered explains the similarities of the holidays and argues that the Japanese holidays are rooted in the Jewish. It is then stated that both Japanese holidays are credited to Chinese influence. My question is, what is the argument against Chinese influence? A theory can’t argue in favor of itself and leave opposing theories unexplored. If Japanese historians have evidence linking the feasts of Bon and Tanabata to Chinese traditions with no mention of Jewish influence, then the new theory must address the old to convincingly revise the accepted historical narrative. Perhaps Chinese influence in Bon and Tanabata was studied by the author, but he covers so much with each chapter that this detail and many like it throughout the book are left unaddressed.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 and I would recommend it to etymologists, history enthusiasts, and biblical scholars. As for religious content, Bambara covers Jewish history and traditions, but at no point was the author arguing for religious beliefs one way or another. The author was respectful of all the religious traditions discussed while not pushing for any single belief. Bambara puts forth some interesting and revolutionary theories that could change the historical narrative. I hope scholars will read this work and build upon it.
******
Bambara
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Bambara by Joseph Eidelberg
