Studies show that in the first few centuries of the Christian era in West Asia /Mediterranean region , as Christians were small in number Persians , Jews , Greeks ,Romans and Armenians who were the first to adopt Christianity intermarried each other . This view is supported by John C. England in his book ‘Hidden history of Christianity in Asia’ .
“The foundation of Eastern Churches ,beginning in the last decades of first century was formed amongst Aramaic and Syriac speaking communities of Syria and Mesopotamia…Christian communities were already well established by 4th and 5th centuries in Armenia( first proclaimed Christian state) ,Arabia and Khurasan (Northeast Persia)….Chritianity thus became a significant minority within Pesian empire ,comprising largely of West Syrians, Sogdians(Turks) and Greeks .deported from Roman provinces…”8
We have another instance of intermarriage in the ancient West Asian Christians in the case of Timothy whose father was a Greek Christian and mother a Jewish Christian. 9
So it may be surmised that the ancestors of theThulasseryManapurathu family belonged to a mixed stock .The changing power equations between the Romans and the Persians / Arabs and their respective religions during various periods in West Asia / Mediterranean region must have hastened the migratory tendency of the people of that region.
As its engraved on the Persian cross set up by Mar Sapor in Kadammatom Church that the place from which he migrated was Ninevah we can have a glance at the origin of Christianity in Ninevah. Ninevah has been part of the rules of Greater Syria, Persia, Babylonia , Greeks and the Romans in different periods of history . Hence the people of this region were a mixture of people from Syria, Persia, Babylonia ,Greece and Rome. In Ezra Chapters 9 and 10-15 we find that during the time of 'exodus' as some Jewish men from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin had children and wifes from non Jewish tribes ,especially Assyrian tribes, while they were in Ninevah( modern Mosul in Iraq) they did not return to Jerusalem even while given the freedom by Emperor Cyrus 10 .The Assyrian Christians evolved from them.They used Aramiac language. The Apostles Thomas, Bartholomew , and Thaddeus in 33 A.D established the Assyrian Church of the East in Eddessa. From the seventh century the Assyrian Church became active and by the end of the 12th century the Assyrian Church had spread from Syria to Mongolia, India, China , Japan , and Korea .
The ten of the original twelve Hebrew tribes, which, under the leadership of Joshua, took possession of Canaan, the Promised Land, after the death of Moses were Asher, Dan, Ephraim, Gad, Issachar, Manasseh, Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon, and Zebulun. In 930 BC while the 10 tribes formed the independent Kingdom of Israel in the north , the two other tribes, Judah and Benjamin,set up the Kingdom of Judah in the south. Following the conquest of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians in 721 BC, the 10 tribes were gradually assimilated by other peoples and thus disappeared from history.But the tribes of Judah and Benjamin survived as Jews because they were allowed to return to their homeland after the Babylonian Exile of 586 BC.11
Peoples who at various times were said to be descendants of the lost tribes include the Nestorians, the Mormons, the Afghans, the Falashas of Ethiopia, some tribes of the American Indians and some groups of people in Japan etc. The Celts of Scotland also are considered to be part of the lost Jewish tribe.
All these shows that since early history the Jews / Semitic people were a group of people / race who with or without the consent of the community married people from other geographical areas or ethnicities. No wonder the large number of Jewish diaspora around the world .
Why and how roots are lost ?
But it remains a sad fact that much knowledge about history of communities or families have been lost due to lack of transmission and preservation of knowledge .It can also be inferred that due to known or unknown cultural reasons and adverse political and social conditions some communities either ignore or do not reveal their roots .