Origins

A Wandering Aramean  Was My Father

Here is an interesting historical curio.  The Guardian is reporting that gypsies arrived in Europe via the Balkans 1500 years ago, from Northern India.  The Roma or Travellers, as they are sometimes known, have maintained a separate identity for centuries (although doubtless assimilation and convergence occurred with many individuals and families over that time.)  In the common mind in Western Europe they have been associated with their separateness, on the one hand, and their being targeted by the Nazis as part of their Ultimate Solution.

This latest analysis has the gypsies arriving in Europe much earlier than previously thought.  It is being claimed that genetic research into their origins and history has scientifically established their provenance and lineage.

In parts of Europe they are still shunned as disruptive outsiders or patronised as little more than an exotic source of music and dance, but Gypsies have ancient roots that stretch back more than a millennium, scientists have proved.  A genetic analysis of 13 Gypsy groups around Europe, published in Current Biology journal, has revealed that the arrival on the continent of their forebears from northern India happened far earlier than was thought, about 1,500 years ago.

Given that most of the "settled" and older ethnicities in Western Europe derive their origins from migratory people, often part of marauding barbarian tribes, and at roughly the same time as the gypsies' arrival on the Continent, the ancient roots and history of the gypsies in Europe should give them more status--if status can be derived from such things. 

The earliest population reached the Balkans, while the spread outwards from there came nine centuries ago, according to researchers at Spain's Institute of Evolutionary Biology and elsewhere.  "There were already some linguistic studies that gave clues pointing to India and genetic studies too, though without being precise about the where or when," said David Comas, who led the research group.

"Now we can see that they arrived in one single wave from the north-west of India around 1,500 years ago." Gypsies were originally thought to have come from Egypt and some of the earliest references to them in English, dating back to the 16th century, call them "Egyptians".  Early European references describe wandering, nomadic communities who were known for their music and skill with horses.

They arrived in Spain in the 15th century or earlier – with records of groups of up to a hundred Gypsies travelling together, often led by someone who termed himself a "count" or "duke" – and held on despite attempts to expel them or imprison those who refused to give up their language and culture.  They were accompanied by a legend that they had been expelled from Egypt for trying to hide Jesus.

The spread of a migratory people across Europe can be more easily understood if we recall that nation states (a product of nineteenth century nationalism) were hardly the rigid, border delimited entities they are today.  The lust for power of nation states eventually became linked to blood lines in the modern period.  As the culture departed from the Christian faith identity derived from blood purity and descent became an unholy substitute.  The Roma suffered accordingly. 

The Divine commentary upon "all people that on earth do dwell" is given to us through the God-breathed words of the Apostle Paul:

The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; and He has made from one every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.  (Acts 17: 24--27)

That reality, that call to seek and find God is just as relevant to the Roma today as it is to all of us.  Together we are all of one, and we will only find human unity and oneness again when we all--Islamic, Jewish, Gentile alike--find Him.  Those who truly seek Him, we are promised, will surely find Him.