Journey to the Vanished City: The Search for the Lost Tribe of Israel

Who are the strange Lemba people of Zimbabwe and South Africa? Are they indeed, as they claim, a lost biblical Jewish tribe directly descended from the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon? Or are they impostors, claiming to be Jewish merely to expedite a modern-day exodus to Israel, following a path undertaken by the Ethiopian Falasha Jews?
These are the questions that noted historian Tudor Parfitt tackles in this absorbing narrative, Journey to the Vanished City. Tracing the origins of these self-proclaimed black Jews in compelling whodunit fashion, Parfitt searches for the fabled city of Sena, from which the Lemba claim to have come centuries before. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that this is not merely an expedition through uncharted African territory, for the book takes on the aura of an epic journey through the terrain of myth. Along the way, the reader encounters fascinating stories of the Queen of Sheba, of long-lost Jewish kingdoms, of King Solomon’s mines, and of Ophir, the legendary biblical land of gold.
A compelling travel narrative in the best tradition of Paul Theroux and John McPhee, this is a work that through its controversial thesis is bound to generate public debate. Journey to the Vanished City opens up a new and exciting chapter in Jewish history.