Syriac Alexander Legend
The Syriac Alexander Legend is a 6th or 7th century legend detailing the exploits of Alexander the Great.
In the beginning of the story, Alexander declares his intentions to explore the ends of the world, and he promises to God that he will rule the world. He gathers an army in Egypt, and then travels to the Fetid Sea but is not able to cross it. Instead, he finds the "window of heaven" that allows him to travel from the place where the sun sets to where it rises. In the region of the sunrise, he travels to Central Asia and sets up camp near a mountain pass, only to be informed that he is now in the domain of the Persian emperor. He learns that beyond the mountain pass are barbarian tribes, with Gog and Magog as two of their kings. Deciding to seal up their entryway through the mountains, he tasks his blacksmiths and metalworkers from Egypt to construct an iron and bronze wall. He then reveals two prophecies about when the barbarians will penetrate the wall and bring about a world war, out of which the Romans will emerge victorious. Later, the Persian emperor learns of Alexander's presence. He advances an army against Alexander, but the advance is miraculously revealed to Alexander, who then proceeds to defeat the emperor despite his numerical disadvantage. After victory, Alexander travels and prays in Jerusalem, and finally, returns to Alexandria.
The Syriac Alexander Legend is the first narrative to weave together many motifs that previously existed across different stories, including the Gates of Alexander, the apocalypse, and the barbarian tribes of Gog and Magog. It went on to exert a major influence on apocalyptic literature written after it, especially that in the Syriac tradition, such as the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius and the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem. The portrayal of Alexander in the Legend is also believed to lie behind the character known as Dhu al-Qarnayn in the Quran.
Other names that the text goes by includes "The Victory of Alexander", the "Christian Syriac Alexander Legend", or in the 1889 Budge edition, it appears under the title "A Christian Legend concerning Alexander". Other legendary works on Alexander in the Syriac language include the Syriac Alexander Romance and the Song of Alexander.
Composition
Date
The old consensus, since Theodor Nöldeke, placed the provenance of the Syriac Alexander Legend in north Mesopotamia in around 629–630 CE, shortly after Heraclius defeated the Sasanians. In recent years, many historians have conducted a reappraisal of the date of the text. The basis of the original dating has been a vaticinium ex eventu prophecy, whose termination was placed around the year 630. One reanalysis of the internal chronology of the text has placed the termination of this prophecy instead in 614. A more common approach in recent years has been to re-emphasize a second, earlier vaticinium ex eventu prophecy which describes an event that occurred in 514/5. Several scholars have since argued that the text was originally composed in the aftermath of this event, from the early-to-mid-6th century CE, and that the second and later prophecy was a hastily made interpolation in the text in the context of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, potentially to propagandistically reignite its utility for the current war situation.Aside from the written date of the text, others have also argued that the contents of the legend likely circulated orally for several decades prior to its being placed into a written form.
The text of the legend is attached to Syriac versions of the Alexander Romance, and is preserved in six late manuscripts, the oldest of which was copied in 1708–1709. The slightly later Song of Alexander survives in five manuscripts, the oldest of which was copied in the 9th century CE.
Plot
The plot of the Legend can be divided into three main sections:- First section. Alexander summons his council to declare his desire to explore the outermost part of the world. He is warned of the problems that he will encounter, but decides to go through anyways. He promises to God that he will bring the world into his dominion and gathers an army to Egypt where he enrolls blacksmiths and metalworkers. He then travels to the Fetid Sea but finds it impossible to cross. He finds the "window of heaven" which allows him to travel from the place where the sun sets to the place where the sun rises.
- Second section. Alexander travels from the place of the sunset to sunrise and the section begins when he is in the region of the sunrise, in the Far East. From there, he travels westward to Mesopotamia and the Caucasus. He sets up camp at a mountain but a local delegation of elders meets him to inform him that the region he has encamped at is under the dominion of Tūbarlaq, the Persian emperor. In dialogue with the elders, he asks them about what lies beyond the mountain. They describe to him the barbarian tribe known as the Huns, of whom Gog and Magog are listed as two of the kings. Deciding to seal away these tribes, he uses the help of the blacksmiths and metalworkers he had recruited back in Egypt to construct a wall between two mountains made of iron and bronze. After the construction is complete, Alexander relays a prophecy of two future dates, set at 826 AG and 940 AG, during which the Huns will break through the gate and initiate the apocalypse. A world conflict will arise out of which the Romans will emerge victorious and conquer the entire world.
- Third section. The locals inform Tūbarlaq about where Alexander has set camp. Tūbarlaq summons an army and advances on Alexander; however, by divine intervention, Alexander is informed of Tūbarlaq's approach. Alexander prays to God for victory in spite of his vast numerical disadvantage, as his soldiers number one tenth of Tūbarlaq's. His prayer is granted, and during the battle God plays an active part in defeating the Persians. Tūbarlaq's astrologers prophesy that in the end of the world, Persia will be destroyed and the Romans will conquer. After his victory, Alexander travels to Jerusalem where he prays before God. Finally, he returns to Alexandria.
Themes
Alexander's gate
In the Legend, the Gates of Alexander are an apocalyptic barrier built by Alexander in the Caucasus to keep out the nations of Gog and Magog. This development was inspired by some elements of the historical context of the time, including dread of the northern hordes, a variety of Persian fortifications meant to seal off the movement of steppe nomads, and eschatological thinking and attitudes of the time. At its outset, the Syriac Alexander Legend records Alexander constructing a wall of iron to prevent an invasion of the Huns that would result in the plunder of peoples and countries. Alexander commanded that the gate should be constructed out of iron and bronze, for which he recruited three thousand blacksmiths to work the latter and three thousand other men for the former. However, it was believed that the barbarian tribes would break through during the apocalypse. The dimensions and features of the gate are described in detail, and Alexander was said to have placed an inscription on it which reads "The Huns will come forth and subdue the countries of the Romans and Persians; they will shoot arrows with armagest and will return and enter their country. Moreover, I wrote that the end of eight hundred and twenty six years, the Huns would come forth by the narrow road...". This prophecy whereby the Huns break through the gates is linked to the invasion of the Sabir people in 515 AD as Syriac texts would use the Seleucid calendrical system which began in 1 October, 312 BCE; by subtracting 311 or 312, a date of 514/5 is arrived at, representing a vaticinium ex eventu. A second prophecy of an incursion appears for 940 SE, pinpointing to 628/9 AD and corresponds with the invasion of Armenia by the Turkic Khazars, although this may have been an interpolation that was made into the text during the reign of Heraclius to update the narrative for a contemporary political situation.The description of the Gates of Alexander in the Syriac Alexander Legend influenced most subsequent Syriac literature describing these events.
Alexander's horns
The horns of Alexander are described twice in the Legend. The first is during a prayer by Alexander's:King Alexander bowed, and worshipping said: “Oh God, master of kings and judges, you who raise up kings and dismiss their power, I perceive with my mind that you made me great among all kings, and that you caused horns to grow on my head, so that I may gore with them the kingdoms of the world. Give me the power from the heavens of your sanctity so that I may receive strength greater than the kingdoms of the world, and I will humiliate them and glorify your name forever, oh Lord!The second reference occurs towards the end of the text as God speaks to Alexander and tells him that he gave him two horns to use them as a weapon against other worldly kingdoms:
I made you great among all kings, and I caused horns of iron to grow on your head, so that you may gore with them the kingdoms of the world.The two-horned imagery of the Syriac Alexander Legend draws together elements from the Peshitta of 1 Kings 22:11/2 Chronicles 18:10, Micah 4:13, and the two-horned ram in Daniel 8. In particular, the term used in the Legend for two horns, qrntʾ, is likely to be inspired by the appearance of qrntʾ in the Peshitta of Daniel 8:3.