Could the Tinkers Represent the Ancient Hebrews?

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

the blender approach, ya.

[jsbrads]

I think RJ's brilliance is that no nation is a nation from our history.

Misnomer Abraham is Ivri due to descent from Ever, He was called that because it means Rebel*, he rebeled against the Tower of Babel, Nimrod, history's only world conquerer.

That said Tinkers more like Bedouins,

Aiel a cross between the Israelites and Native Amercians

Seachan have some characters of Fuedal Japan and Shinar some.

Andor UK and Two Rivers US

Cairhaien Mix of German and Spain

Tear, mix of French & Italy maybe?

Shara has some of china and Russia, but chinese food is domani

Kandor has some Eastern Europe

...

[suchmadness]

I've only read the bible in Hebrew and I think you my be relying too heavily on questionable sources.

 

tinkers have direct modern day equivalents. they're known among other things as tinkers,

Such as Gypsy perhaps.

[jedman67]

I think RJ's brilliance is that no nation is a nation from our history.

Misnomer Abraham is Ivri due to descent from Ever, He was called that because it means Rebel*, he rebeled against the Tower of Babel, Nimrod, history's only world conquerer.

That said Tinkers more like Bedouins,

Aiel a cross between the Israelites and Native Amercians

Seachan have some characters of Fuedal Japan and Shinar some.

Andor UK and Two Rivers US

Cairhaien Mix of German and Spain

Tear, mix of French & Italy maybe?

Shara has some of china and Russia, but chinese food is domani

Kandor has some Eastern Europe

...

Theres a whole list where RJ shows the closest analogy between randland countries and real world history. Aiel are a mixture of Native American and Tribal African, nothing to do with Israelites.

Seanchan is a combination of Imperial Japanese and Imperial Chinese, prob a little Mongolian as well

Carhain is France with a touch of Imperial Japanese

Shinar is Feudal Japan with a little bit of Samurai culture

Malkier is mostly Thai

Ebu Dar is Venice

Andor is England, Caemlyn is London and the Two Rivers is I think Scottish highlands

 

here is a nice link from the 13th Dep. I'm sure there are more http://13depository.blogspot.com/2009/03/real-life-influences.html

[wotfan4472]

I have always felt that the Aiel were, to me, being from NZ very close to my Maori ancestry, as well.

[Dagon Thyne]

Tinkers are based primarily on gypsies.  They travel in wagons, wear colorful, flamboyant cloths, almost all aspects of their lifestyle, aside from the Way of the Leaf, can be linked to gypsy bands, even their reputation for thievery and their skill at fixing things.

 

[Rhienne]

I have always seen the Tinkers as primarily Romanov gypsies, with some lesser aspects of Irish/Celtic travellers.

[jsbrads]

LoL Jedman, 12 tribes? spears? exiled in a desert? list goes on...

there is no African tribe they are like, it is the Israelites.

[Suttree]

LoL Jedman, 12 tribes? spears? exiled in a desert? list goes on...

there is no African tribe they are like, it is the Israelites.

 

You really should look this stuff up before laughing at other people.

 

 

 

Interview: Jun 27th, 1996

AOL Chat 1 (Verbatim)

Seraph23

First off, I'd like to say thanks Mr. Jordan for providing my family and I countless hours of reading enjoyment, and I'd like to ask you something about the Aiel, well, who are they?

Robert Jordan

You're welcome. And they are the descendants of the pacifists who were in service to the Aes Sedai in the Age of Legends. If on the other hand, you mean the source of the culture...in my mind, they contain some elements of the Apache, some of the Zulu, some of the Bedouin, and some elements of my own including that I rather liked the fact of making the desert dwellers blue-eyed and fair instead of the usual dark-eyed, dark-complected desert people.

 

 

 Robert Jordan

 

Not a great deal from today's society, no. Not really. The Whitecloaks are based on any number of groups who knew the truth, who know the truth and they want you to believe the truth. They want you to know the truth too. And if you don't know the truth, if you don't believe the truth they'll kill ya. There's been a lot of them, all over the world. They're the basis for the Whitecloaks. The Aiel, for instance, bits of the Bedouin, bits of the Yaqui Indians, the Apaches, bits of Zulu, bits of the Northern Cheyenne, a lot of bits of my own.

 

 

 Robert Jordan

 

Not one-to-one. Not for any given cultures. Well, the Aiel for instance, there are bits of Berber and Bedouin cultures. Zulu. Some things from the Japanese historical cultures. From the Apache Indians. Also from the Cheyenne. I put these things together and added in some things that I also wanted to be true about the culture beyond these real cultures.

 

 

 There are many more quotes along those lines.

[jedman67]

LoL Jedman, 12 tribes? spears? exiled in a desert? list goes on...

there is no African tribe they are like, it is the Israelites.

the only thing the Aiel have in common with any part of Israeli/Hebrew/Jewish history is a) a desert, b) different tribes/clans. Being that there were many historical desert based cultures, this is much the same as calling Shakespeare an Austrailian, because they speak English in Australia and Shakespeare wrote his plays in English.

 

Robert Jordan had a tendency to develop his cultures by taking bits and pieces of different historical cultures and mixing them up together.

 

The single most common similarity between RJ's Aiel and any world culture is with the Native American Indians. The Indians were very resourceful about living off the land with a relatively minor footprint. The Indians put great authority in clan chiefs, the plants they cultivated (squash, corn and cotton/algode, to name a few). 

There are a number of differences as well. Indians were great cavalry, Aiel disdain horses. (The ancient Israelites were very effective infantry. The Israeli Defense Forces is one of the most disproportionaly powerful militaries in the world today, considering the entire country is smaller than New Jersey).

 

The little I know of Bedouin culture (thanks Wikipedia) is that they are desert dwellers, and were usually nomadic. They raise goats and camels and live in very tribal/clan based settlements. In Israel, about half the Bedouin population is urban (i.e. live in fixed cities with schools, electricity etc) and in Jordan, more than half the Bedouin population is nomadic.

[jsbrads]

Aiel aren't nomads... I'm sure it isn't common, but I met some bedouins outside Jerusalem, sheparding.

I never discounted the closeness between Native Americans and Aiel

I have to admit, Zulu are big on spears.

12 tribes persist, also desert as a place of exile...

[jedman67]

from the same chat:

 

aol chat

JJVORSMITH

There's been some question about how the Aiel sustain their vast numbers east and west of the Dragonwall. How can millions of Aiel live on grubs in the Waste and why don't they scavenge the land clean in Illian, Cairhien, and Caemlyn?

ROBERT JORDAN

They can live in the same ways that the Bedouin manage to live in a desert where you or I would die, and the Apache did so. They make very efficient use of what they find. And if they stay in one place for too long in too great a number they would indeed strip the land bare. But there certainly aren't millions of them in Illian.