When Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel they deported the ten tribes there and they, apparently, never returned — as did the tribe of Judah deported from the southern kingdom by the Babylonians almost 200 years later. The “lost tribes of Israel” have entered into cultural myth. However, the Bible suggests maybe they weren’t as lost as it seems. For example, 700 years after the initial deportation we have tribal memory lingering: There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. Asher had the northernmost tribal heritage and a memory of that lineage obviously was not lost. Maybe that tells us that the ways of God are not a straight-line narrative where all the parts fit nicely together in a coherent whole.
