Abstract. – On the basis of comparative studies between the dynastic tradition of the Ọyọ-Yoruba and ancient Near Eastern history, the present article argues that Yoruba traditions of provenance, claiming immigration from the Near East, are basically correct. According to Ọyọ-Yoruba tradition, the ancestral Yoruba saw the Assyrian conquests of the Israelite kingdom from the ninth and the eighth centuries B.C. from the perspective of the Israelites. After the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C.., they were deported to eastern Syria and adopted the ruling Assyrian kings as their own. The collapse of the Assyrian empire is, however, mainly seen through the eyes of the Babylonian conquerors of Nineveh in 612 B.C. This second shift of perspective reflects the disillusionment of the Israelite and Babylonian deportees from Syria- Palestine towards the Assyrian oppressors. After the defeat of the Egypto-Assyrian forces at Carchemish in Syria in 605 B.C. numerous deportees followed the fleeing Egypto-Assyrian troops to the Nile valley, before continuing their migration to sub-Saharan Africa. [Nigeria, Assyrians in Africa, Lost Tribes of Israel, migrations, state foundation, conquest state, dynastic traditions, oral traditions, African king lists]