Now we have suggested before that this location of Ramah could have been within the borders of Lesotho, seen as the word has ancient Hebrew (Sotho/Tswana) roots in the meaning and sense off heights or high places. Lesotho is such a place, but there are other high places also in the area of Southern Africa, Botswana and Namibia included. And speaking of high places, we will look closer into the story of BaPhuthi Chief Moorosi (d.1879) and his stronghold setup in Lesotho as an example of what these places would have looked like in ancient times. Moorosi is an important historical person that had his reputation severely smeared during colonial campaigns and quest for power and land. A vassal of King Moshoeshoe he was said to have been, but we will come back to that. And fair bit of warning this will be a deep dive into recent South African war-history, mostly to clear Moorosis name somewhat. But First, we will have to look at the name and place of Ramah, because the problem with Ramah as one single location, is that there are several mentions of Ramah in our Bibles. As different locations, not just as one single location.
Now recently we became aware of a old map, Briton or Boers Map Fourth Edition March 1900 revised by John T. Wood and A.A. Ortlepp. Now this map has a Ramah a little further west then says another Rama in Lesotho, which we have suggested before. In this place though, not far from the old mining town of Hopetown, is where the River Jordan (Orange River) grows and joins with its fords (Vaal) coming from the areas of Jericho (Gauteng). And that makes it a very interesting place, is that the place would be on the borders between tribes. Now remember, in our Bibles there are several different cities and places called Ramah. So, which one is the one from the Old Briton or Boer` map ? Lets Dive!
So to avoid more confusion, If you go through your Scriptures you will find that, We have: Ramah of the tribe of Asher, near the northern border of Asher in the region of Tyre (Joshua 19,29), Ramah of Naphtali a village allotted to the tribe of Naphtali (could be the one in Lesotho) according to Joshua 19,36. And also remember Asher and Naphtali shared borders. And keep in mind, the ancient natural borders would be Rivers and Mountains. And see the River Jordan cut through the landscape as you can see it separates South African provinces today, the same river is to be applied when finding the tribes.
Now another Ramah belongs to The tribe of Benjamin, a town said to be not far from the place where Deborah ruled when she ruled as a Judger over ancient Israel (Judges 4,5). And another Ramah, called Ramah of the Negev, which would be Ramah of the south or Ramah of the Desert, this Ramah belonged to the tribe of Simeon (Somoni) according to Joshua 19,8. Could this Ramah of Somoni be the Ramah of the Free State in the map above? Also this is where Kind David divided spoils of war after defeating the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30,27).
Now when speaking of Rama, as an ancient Hebrew language (we are talking about an African Language) the word meant Height or High up. And the word can be found in our Scriptures in the context of military strongholds, that would be in high places. This is how they would build their strongholds in ancient but also still in modern times, on the heights so you could see the enemy coming from a far. See the sketch above of one of the last known (modern times) African strongholds, at Moorosi mountain in Lesotho. You can barely see the stronghold (a castle really) at the very top, as it was being defended from an attack led by the Cape Colony Government in 1879. The events that led up to this was called a revolt against all authorities, and it was not actually backed by King Letsie, Moshoeshoes first son, who sided with the Cape troops. Perhaps forced also. The revolt was nonetheless led by Baphuthi Chief Moorosi, a trusted fighter and vassal of Moshoeshoe. As the siege prevailed the Cape troops (800 Cape and 1500 Sothos strong) prevailed eventually, and Chief Moorosi was captured (almost sniped if the sources are correct) at the ripe age of 84!, beheaded and his body was severely mutilated. This was done by what must have been the higher ranked colonial forces on the scene... Some sources indicate that Moorosis head was boiled and stripped to the bone. Haybo! Soldiers generally have honour among themselves, and Moorosi was even said to be respected on account of his military strategic skills, but how this went down was not the right way of doing things. Moreover Moorosi`s wives and 200 men, along with all but one son who seemingly escaped (his son Doda), was killed.
Now what causes a man to be treated like this by other men? What justifies it... Well, the story started earlier, and sheds a different light on the chief. But people must understand, these are men that lived and died by the anthem, and EYE for an EYE. On both sides. So we have one side (colonial side) who is supposedly being the one coming under the guise of civilisation and also proclaiming to be men of the Gospel? Again, Haibo! And this was no more true then from the actions of the men in the background on the Colonial side. So which one is worse or necessarily in the right, we will leave to SoNiNi to judge. But we can see the story for what it was, and you see as The story will continue below, it was off course much more complicated then Moorosi deciding to just go rogue and start breaking the law. Which is why a price was put on his head. Rather barbaric..
Now this dispute, as so many others, seemingly started over land. Now as Moshoeshoe (image on left) had passed in 1871 , he did give pieces of the southwest corner of Basutoland specifically to chief Moorosi. Later Squabbles about taxes from colonial offices did not help the situation at all. And rightly some arguments would sound like, why should we pay tribute to some Cape colony magistrate who does not care for us and only want our lands? What is our place in this government? These would be legitimate questions. However, it seems this dispute was personal and started earlier then this.
If we go back to the Battle of Berea, when the lavishly titled Major-General Sir George Cathcart (1794-1854) came with a force into Basutoland in 1852, and guess what Moorosi defeated the high ranked major-general. Must have been humiliating. Defeated by a so-called savage, in doubt was a major blow that demanded swift retribution. Not long after, Cathcart then went on to say that Moorosi: was not amendable to reason. Well if someone is taking your land bit by bit, your way off life and everything you know about living getting stripped from you, how reasonable would you be? Now not long after Battles like Berea, Moshoeshoe wrote famously from Thaba Bosiu, as quoted by Colony Natal writer D. C. F. Moodie (1838-1891) in History of Battles... (1888, 83):
"This day you have fought against my people and taken much cattle. As the object for which you have come is to have a compensation for Boers, I beg you will be satisfied with what you have taken. I entreat peace from you. You have shown your power, you have chastised - let it be enough I pray you, and let me be no longer considered an enemy to the Queen. I will try all I can to keep my people in order in the future."
So then King Moshoeshoe had seen enough killings of his young men and women. His beloved MoSotho was being slaughtered. He pleaded for peace and there was peace, save only smaller factions here and there, considered hostiles to the Colonial forces and Boers encroaching on all sides and every corner of the land. Beersheba Mission Station reported clashes in 1858 between Basuto and Boers. Then President of Free State, Jacobus Boshof (1808-1881) appealed to Sir George Grey (1812-1898) the Governor of the Cape, and they signed a treaty. Then the hostile attacks all but stopped until 1865, until that date there was peace and Moshoeshoe was respected, on all sides. However, this is when then President of Free State Johannes Brand (1823-1888) decided to send Moshoeshoe an ultimatum after some Boer prisoners had been reportedly mistreated (no one died), and on account of this incident an all out war was proclaimed. Just looking for an excuse more like it. And all this background lobbying seems only for people reading about these actions now, like political ploys and setups to get an excuse to remove natives and get a hold of more land. And unfortunately that is what this is all about. Land. And not your everyday piece neither. The most beautiful and precious land, especially in the Caledon area, incredible pieces of land. Well nourished by the minerals dripping of the mountains of Lesotho. A great catchment of minerals really, makes it an all eyes on the price kinda place. It was coveted then as it is coveted now.
Now what follows, is how this whole ordeal went down. After the Ultimatum coordinated by Brand, on June 19 1865, the civil commissioner of Aliwal North wrote to the High commissioner that Moorosi (and Pushuli) they said these two had coordinated a whole system of thieving, and that the Boers and Basuto had clashed. These are their reasons for war. Alleged theft of cattle, although Moorosi would have been a cattle raider that was very active, well ranked even. Cattle theft is coming place even today, and is hardly a reason to go to war for. But, a good excuse. It seems. Anyways, Chief Moorosi must have caught wind of these allegations, because on the 20th of June 1865 (one day after the allegations), 2000 men under Moorosi crossed the Caledon River (Jordans Tributary) near the junction of Wilgeboom Spruit, and the district that lay before them was quite fiercely attacked. A farm adjoining the commonage of Smithfield was laid waste and a big part of the country (some 30 miles towards Bloemfontein) was ravaged. Most people caught wind of the attack and fled, leaving everything behind. Houses got set a light, implements got broken and reported over 100,000 sheep was driven off, among with cattle and horses. They say that in one hour the richest men in the Caledon River district was reduced to all but nothingness. All in all 13 white men were killed.
And this would be the heaviest weight on Moorosis increasingly spiked scale of injustice. War was proclaimed remember, by the perceived enemy that had taken land, Moorosi did only just (perhaps) beat them to an early attack on the richest farmers in the valley. Was this right? Well off course not. Death and war is not the answer, and should not be for Believers. We are called out to protect life, not take it. Although these where different times, heavy scales of weight one could say. So for a brief moment put yourself in Moorosis shoes, just for a minute. What would you have done if your hand was forced like that?
Not long after this event, Basutoland was declared a British territory in 1868, and Moshoeshoe passed on in 1870. Not a year after this, in late 1871, Basutoland was annexed into the Cape Colony, that went on to form a government not long after.
Now one could make different arguments here, the hundreds of people killed at Moorosi Mountain, and weigh them against the 13 white men killed in times of proclaimed war. Sadly, we think it does not make sense whichever way you put the scales. The brutality and political cunningness of the leaders of Free State and the Cape Colony offices shines through not exactly as their finest hour. Even the incarceration of Moorosi son Doda (Lehana), for alleged cattle theft at one point, but he escaped rather easily, often cited as the reason why Moorosi was to be hunted down, this seemed an obvious ploy to draw him out. More cunningness. And we can see from the backstory that, the games of war always take their tolls on both sides. And things are mostly always personal, and about control.
So then, when the Elephants fight right? Whoever is around, innocent people, will very often take the brood of mighty mens decisions. Now, the remains of African architecture still remains for us to investigate up top there among the Drakensberg (Ararat) peaks and slopes. And if you start searching for lookout points, such as the newly built one on Moorosi Mountain, you will quickly find that there are indeed many such strongholds. So are these places from the hill country of Ephraim, Juda, Benjamin or even Natali? It could very well be we are looking at some of these old borders of Ephraim within The Kingdom of Lesotho itself. Remember also Griqualand and Thembuland would need to be taken into consideration. Old (proper) Xhosas today even have old songs that tie some of IsiXhosa speakers to The Tribe of Benjamin (Beniyoni).
But we will come back to that in another article. And we know all too well Xhosa is in no way a term that should be used for the area or the people of the Eastern Cape, there are LOTS of tribes too account for. Xhosa and Zulu are newer and rather colonial terms. And we are aware, and will try to do a closer study when we have more of the ancient the tribes of old mapped out, remember there are SEVEN so-called original nations according to the Bible, Kanaanites, Amorites, Girgishites, Hittites, Hivites,, Jebusites and Perrizzites. They must all be historically accounted for, as African tribes. And most of these ancient tribes are all still in the in the Land, to this day. So the tribes of old days are still there but with newer names, just look at the names on the image on your right, precolonial African Chiefdoms. Your will have you representatives of the tribes of Pondo, Thembu, Xesibe, Cele, Griqua, Gcaleka and so so many more, and that is just in the area in question (Eastern Cape). Quite an exhaustive study to trace all these, when some are of the 12 Tribes, while others are of the nations, while others are of the many other tribes mentioned in our Bibles. Mostly decedents of Abraham mind you. Although the newer Gene-pools has seen a mixing of European settlers. Another complicated topic. Lets just say that Xhosa, is a very new term used on a lot of different ancient peoples. But, Immanuel spoke a dialect of Xhosa and Zulu, Talitha Kumi, so the remnants of the research starts there. And Benjamin would also have been in these areas close to Jordan.
Now, back to Ramah. And it is the Ramah in the Tribe of Benjamin that plays the biggest role in our Scriptures. This Ramah of Benjamin was very close to Jerusalem, west of Bega and Michmash. And close to this place was the birthplace, hometown and burial site of Samuel the Prophet (I Samuel 1,1 & 19,20). So then, if we open our Bibles and go to I Samuel we find Ramah in the Hill country of Ephraim, a vast mountainous territory that had shared borders between Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Now another same Ramah, is the one where Deborah had set up her headquarters very close to Ramah of Benjamin (Judges 4,5):
4 Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. 5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided.
So here we can see that Ramah and Bethel would not be far from one another and both in the Hill country of Ephraim. This Ramah was also close to Gibeah, which was King Sauls hometown (I Samuel 10,26).
Now the reason we are bringing up Moorosis story as an example of the intricacies of war and fighting over important pieces of land and areas. Either strategically or for resources. Thats all people ever fight about. Resources. Now events back then, they tend to repeat themselves in the hear and now. As we see in our Bibles, Ramah of Benjamin appears during the divided monarchy and the rivals of Ancient Israel and between the Land of Juda. Now to mention King Baasha of Israel did build a fortress at Ramah of Benjamin to stop people from entering Juda, which leads one to believe the only road would be to or close to this fortress. However King Asa, ruling King in Juda, went into an alliance with Ben-Hadad of Damascus the reigning King of Assyria. After Ben-Hadad attacked and took cities in Israel, King Baasha stopped the work at Ramah and left for Tirzah (I Kings 15,17-22).
More mentions are in Isaiah about how the Assyrians would advance towards Jerusalem, by way of Ramah, so this Ramah was definitely a cross roads you have to go through to get to Judah and then Jerusalem. And this Ramah of Bejnamin is mentioned a few times in the Old Testament, like in Isaiah 10,29:
They go over the pass, and say, “We will camp overnight at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.
This talks about this advancement towards Jerusalem by way of Ramah, also the place where Hosea dried a warning against Israel and the coming judgement (Hosea 5,8):
“Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, Benjamin.
After Jeremiah had been imprisoned and thrown down into the cistern by King Zedekiah, he was sent to Ramah and released (Jeremiah 40,1). And lastly after the exile to Babylon, The People returned to Ramah of Benjamin, as a place of where they would build a settlement (Book of Ezra 2,26 & Nehemiah 7,30).
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