Yeah, this is another tendril of American exceptionalism, that we MUST somehow have a link to the biblical era (although some are happy linking the Bible to whiteness somewhere instead). This is where you get Joseph Smith claiming that the Native Americans are the lost 12th tribe, or the Templars burying the treasures of Jerusalem in Canada, or “the British people are the Twelfth Tribe” or whatever.
Yeah, this is another tendril of American exceptionalism, that we MUST somehow have a link to the biblical era (although some are happy linking the Bible to whiteness somewhere instead). This is where you get Joseph Smith claiming that the Native Americans are the lost 12th tribe, or the Templars burying the treasures of Jerusalem in Canada, or “the British people are the Twelfth Tribe” or whatever.
I should say too, that whole idea of wanting (needing?) to reach out and attach to a previous culture isn’t limited to Americans.
The whole point of the Aeneid by Virgil was for Rome to somewhat ride on the Greek coat tails founded by Homer.
So we have seen that kind of thing before.