text: what ever happened to the lost tribes of israel? do you think they will ever return? will they have to become jews if they do? hi there,  i'm a historian and i focus on ancient history. i can tell you that the 10 lost tribes were taken out of the northern israelite kingdom, known as samria in the early 8th century bc. this is when the assyrian armies captured samaria, not only is this documented in history but in the bible as well. i think it's in i kings.   anyway, after the assyrian conquest, the 10 tribes were scattered throughout the eastern portion of the assyrian empire by king sargon. from this point on it appears that they took the name scythians (or kuthia in persian). however, there's no real proof of the name-change. it is well known however, that historically speaking they ceased to be a people after the assyrian conquest, and other peoples were relocated to samaria from throughout the empire to populate samaria. these new people, not at all related to the jews that still lived in judea.  i hope this helps you. god bless!