akritas
06-08-2007, 12:04 PM
A CHRISTIAN LEGEND CONCERNING ALEXANDER
An exploit of Alexander the son of Philip the Macedonian, [showing] how he went forth to the ends of the world, and made a gate of iron 2, and shut it in the face of the north wind that the Hûnâyê [Huns]3 might not come forth to spoil the countries: from the manuscripts in the house of the archives of the kings of Alexandria.
In the second year, or the seventh, of the reign of Alexander, he set his crown upon his head and arranged himself in his royal apparel, and sent and called those who wore his royal
1 A metrical version of this legend by Jacob of Serugh has been printed by Knös in his Chresthmathia Syriaca, pp.66-107.
2 This gate was probably made at the Pass of Derbend. See Yule, The Book of Ser Marco Polo, Vol. I p.51 sqq. and also his notes on Alexander's wall near the Caspian.
3 . The name Huns is a collective one applied to several nomad Scythian tribes who appear to have belonged to the Mongolian family. The original seat of the Hiong-no. or Huns, appear to have been in the provinces of Shensi and Shansi in the north-west of China and their power remained unbroken until the year 93 B.C. It was to protect China from the inroads of this barbaric race that the famous wall of China was built about two centuries and a half before our era. See D'Obsson, Histoire des Mongels, t. 1, p.2. Their early history has been written by de Guignes, Histoire des Huns, ii. pp. 1-124. For native Syriac explanations of the name Huns see Payne Smith, Thes. Syr. Col. 994. See also Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap. xxvi, Wright, Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite, p.9 (Syr. text); Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser end Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden, p.72; Karl P. Neumann, Die Völker des Südischen Russlands, pp.23-30.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
145
crowns 1, the generals, and Priskos and.....2 and all his forces; and he questioned them and said, "Hear, all ye officers of my palace." They said to him, "Speak, O wise king, king of the Greeks, and whatsoever thou commandest us shall come to pass. He said to thorn: "This thought has arisen in my mind, and I am wondering what is the extent of the earth, and how high the heavens are, and how many are the countries of my fellow kings, and upon what the heavens are fixed; whether perchance thick clouds and winds support them, or whether pillars of fire rise up from the interior of the earth and bear the heavens so that they move not for anything, or whether they depend on the beck of God and fall not. Now this I desire to go and see, upon what the heavens rest, and what surrounds all creation." The nobles answered and said to the king, "Bid us to speak," and he commanded them, and they spake and said to him, "As to the thing, my lord, which thy majesty (or thy greatness') desires to go and see, namely, upon what the heaveans rest, and what surrounds the earth, the terrible seas which surround the world will not give thee a passage 3; because there are eleven bright seas, on which the ships of men sail, and beyond these there is about ten miles of dry land, and beyond these ten miles there is the foetid sea, Okeyanos (the Ocean), which surrounds all creation. Men are not able to come near to his foetid sea, neither can ships sail thereon, and no bird is able to fly over it, for if a bird should attempt to fly over it, it is caught and falls and is suffocated therein 4. Its waters are like poison and if men swim therein, they die at once; and the leaves of the trees which are by its side are shriveled up by the smell of these waters as though fire licked them." So the nobles spake to king Alexander; but he said to them," Have ye
1 Literally knotted, tied, bound.
2 These words seem to be corrupt looks like an alteration of Perdiccas (which we met with above), but we should hardly expect a single proper name in this place. As for the word means nothing in Syriac but whips.
3 See Knös, Chrestomathia Syr., p.69.
4 Compare the description of the Asphaltites Lacus by Tacitus (Hist. v.6) immenso ambitu, specie maris, sapore corruptior, gravitate oderis accolis pestsfer, neque vento inpellitur neque pisces aut suetas aquis volecres petitur.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
146
gone on your own feet and seen that the sea is thus?" They made answer to him: Yea, O wise king. This very thing of which thy majesty has thought occurred to us also, and we went to see upon what the heavens rest, but the fetid sea would not give us a passage." Alexander said to them: "I do not account you as liars; but although ye went and the sea did not give you a passage to cross, yet I too will go and see all the ends of the heavens. If there be a king whose lands are more than mine I will take his lands and slay him, even if it be one of the quarters from whence the spoilers come forth." Then all the officers of his palace accepted what Alexander said te them and straightway the trumpets sounded in Alexandria, and the troops were numbered that went forth with him, three hundred and twenty thousand men. And king Alexander bowed himself and did reverence, saying, "O God, Lord of kings and judges, thou who settest up kings and destroyest their power, I know my mind that thou hast exalted me above all kings, and thou hast made me horns upon my head 1, wherewith I might thrust down the kingdoms of the world; give me power from thy holy heavens that I may receive strength greater than [that of] the kingdoms of the world and that I may humble them, and I will magnify thy name, O Lord, for ever, and thy memorial shall be from everlasting to everlasting, and I will write the name of God in the charter of my kingdom, that there may he for Thee a memorial always. And if the Messiah, who is the Son of God comes in my days, I and my troops will worship Him. And if He does not come in my days, when I have gone and conquered kings and seized their lands, I will carry this throne, which is a seat of silver upon which I sit, and will place it in Jerusalem that, when the Messiah comes from heaven, He may sit upon my kingly throne, for His kingdom lasts for ever. And hundred pounds of gold shall be before the Messiah
1 "Possessor of two horns" is a well-known name of Alexander. In the Ethiopic version Alexander is always referred to as . "tho two horned." See Spiegel, Die Alexander Sage, p.57; Kor'an, Surah 18 Some say that the "two horned" mentioned in the Koran is Alexander; while others say that a contemporary of Abraham is meant, who was king of Persia, and others that he was a king of Yemen. For a discussion on this point ses Z.D.M.G., VI. S. 506; VII; ss. 442-450; IX. ss. 214-223.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
147
present when He comes; and whether I die in one of the [other] regions of the world, or here in Alexandria, my royal crown shall be taken and hung upon that seat which I have given to the Messiah; and the crown of every king who dies in Alexandria shall he taken and hung upon that silver seat which I give to the Messiah."
And they went forth and came to mount Sinai 1, and encamped there and rested. And they put ships to sea 2 and crossed over to Mesren, that is to say, Egypt. And scouts went up and looked [to see] if the seas and their waves were visible or not. And the chiefs of the hosts answered and said, "King Alexander, the host is unable to march without smiths. Give orders that they may go with us from Egypt, for there are no smiths upon all the face of the earth like unto those of Egypt." So Alexander called Sarnakos 3(?) the king of Egypt and said to him, "Give me seven thousand 4 smiths, workers in brass and iron, to go with me; and when I come from the countries whither I am going, if they wish [to return] hither, I will send them, and if they wish [to stay in] one of the countries under my sovereign rule, I will grant it them, and they shall not give bate to the king, but they shall give...... to us." And Sarnakos the king of Egypt chose seven thousand men, workers brass and iron, and gave them to Alexander, nail they ate bread with one another.
And they put ships to sea and sailed on the sea four months 5 and twelve days, and they arrived at the dry land beyond the eleven bright seas. And Alexander and his troops encamped, and he sent and called to him the governor who was in the camp, and said to him, "Are there any men here guilty of death?" They said to him, "We have thirty and seven men bends who are guilty of death." And the king said to the governor, "Bring hither those evil doers." And they brought
1 Knös, p.104,1.1.
2 Knös, Chrestomathia Syr., p.70.
3 This nams is spelt in Knös, Chrestomathia Syr., p.71.
4 Twelve thousand, ibid. p.71,
5 According to Jacob of Serugh Alexander made his way towards India where he landed after four months. See Knös, p.71, II. 16, 17.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
148
them, and the king commanded them and said, "Go ye to the shore of the fetid sea, and hammer in stakes that ships may be tied thereto, and prepare everything needful for a force about to cross the sea." And the men went, and came to the shore of the sea. Now Alexander thought within himself, "If it be tree as they say, that everyone who comes near the fetid sea dies, it is better that these who are guilty of death should die" and when they had gone, and had arrived at the shore of the sea, they died instantly. And Alexander and his troops were looking at them when they died, for he and his nobles had ridden to see what would happen to them, and they saw that they died the moment that they reached the sea. And king Alexander was afraid and retired, and he knew that it was impossible for them to cross over to the place where were the ends of the heavens. So the whole camp mounted, and Alexander and his troops went up between the fetid sea and the bright sea to the place where the son enters the window of heaven; for the sun is the servant of the Lord, and neither by night nor by day does he cease from his travelling. The place of his rising is over the sea, and the people who dwell there, when he is about to rise, flee away and hide themselves in the sea, that they be not burnt by his rays; and he passes through the midst of the heavens to the place where he enters the window of heaven; and wherever he passes there are terrible mountains, and those who dwell there have caves hollowed out in the rocks, and as soon as they see the sun passing [over them], men and birds flee away from before him and hide in the caves for rocks are rent by his blazing heat and fall down, and whether they he men or beasts, as seen as the stones touch them they are consumed. And when the sen enters the window of heaven, he straightway bows down and makes obeisance before God his Greater; and he travels and descends the whole night through the heavens, until at length he finds himself where he rises.
And Alexander looked towards the west, and he found a mountain was Musas 1" and [the troops] descended it and came out upon Mount Klaudia,
1(Knös, p.72) "Masis, a high mountain."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
l49
and ate bread there. Then they went down to the source of the Euphrates, and they found that it came forth from a cave; and they came to Haluras 1, where the Tigris goes forth like the stream which turns a mill, and they ate bread in Haleras. And they departed from thence and went to the river Kallath 2; and they ascended the mountain which is called Ramath, where there is a watch-tower. And Alexander and his troops stood upon the top of the mountain and saw the four quarters of the heavens And Alexander said, "Let us go forth by the way to the north"; and they came to the confines of the north, and entered Armenia and Adarbaijan and Inner Armenia. And they crossed over the country of Turnagios, and Beth-Pardia, and Beth-Tekil, and Beth-Drubil, and Beth-Katarmen, and Beth-Gebul, and Beth-Zamrat. Alexander passed through all these places; and he went and passed mount Musas and entered a plain which is Bahi-Lebta, and he went and encamped by the gate of the great mountain. Now there was a road across it by which great merchants entered the inner countries, and by it did Alexander encamp. And he sent heralds of peace on horseback, and they rode about and proclaimed through the whole country: "The king of the Greeks is come to this country, neither slaying, nor burning, nor destroying; let every man dwell in peace. Let three hundred men advanced in years be chosen, and let them enter my presence, says king Alexander, that I may learn what I require, and let every man dwell in peace." When the people of the country heard what the heralds of peace were proclaiming, they were not afraid, and they chose three hundred aged 3 men, who went into Alexander's presence as soon as he had encamped in the country; and he himself commanded the people not to flee before him. And when the aged men, natives of that land, had come into his presence, he asked them, "Who are ye? and to whom do ye give tribute? and what king rules in this land?" The old men answered and said to the king, "This land belongs to Tubarlak the king of the Persians 4, who is of the race of the
1 Knös, p.79, 1.6.
2 See Wright, Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite, p.57.
3 Knös, Chrestomathia, p.73.
4 Tabarliki is called by Jacob of Serugh "Great King of the territory of the Persians and of the Amoraye" Knös, p.79, 1.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An exploit of Alexander the son of Philip the Macedonian, [showing] how he went forth to the ends of the world, and made a gate of iron 2, and shut it in the face of the north wind that the Hûnâyê [Huns]3 might not come forth to spoil the countries: from the manuscripts in the house of the archives of the kings of Alexandria.
In the second year, or the seventh, of the reign of Alexander, he set his crown upon his head and arranged himself in his royal apparel, and sent and called those who wore his royal
1 A metrical version of this legend by Jacob of Serugh has been printed by Knös in his Chresthmathia Syriaca, pp.66-107.
2 This gate was probably made at the Pass of Derbend. See Yule, The Book of Ser Marco Polo, Vol. I p.51 sqq. and also his notes on Alexander's wall near the Caspian.
3 . The name Huns is a collective one applied to several nomad Scythian tribes who appear to have belonged to the Mongolian family. The original seat of the Hiong-no. or Huns, appear to have been in the provinces of Shensi and Shansi in the north-west of China and their power remained unbroken until the year 93 B.C. It was to protect China from the inroads of this barbaric race that the famous wall of China was built about two centuries and a half before our era. See D'Obsson, Histoire des Mongels, t. 1, p.2. Their early history has been written by de Guignes, Histoire des Huns, ii. pp. 1-124. For native Syriac explanations of the name Huns see Payne Smith, Thes. Syr. Col. 994. See also Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap. xxvi, Wright, Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite, p.9 (Syr. text); Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser end Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden, p.72; Karl P. Neumann, Die Völker des Südischen Russlands, pp.23-30.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
145
crowns 1, the generals, and Priskos and.....2 and all his forces; and he questioned them and said, "Hear, all ye officers of my palace." They said to him, "Speak, O wise king, king of the Greeks, and whatsoever thou commandest us shall come to pass. He said to thorn: "This thought has arisen in my mind, and I am wondering what is the extent of the earth, and how high the heavens are, and how many are the countries of my fellow kings, and upon what the heavens are fixed; whether perchance thick clouds and winds support them, or whether pillars of fire rise up from the interior of the earth and bear the heavens so that they move not for anything, or whether they depend on the beck of God and fall not. Now this I desire to go and see, upon what the heavens rest, and what surrounds all creation." The nobles answered and said to the king, "Bid us to speak," and he commanded them, and they spake and said to him, "As to the thing, my lord, which thy majesty (or thy greatness') desires to go and see, namely, upon what the heaveans rest, and what surrounds the earth, the terrible seas which surround the world will not give thee a passage 3; because there are eleven bright seas, on which the ships of men sail, and beyond these there is about ten miles of dry land, and beyond these ten miles there is the foetid sea, Okeyanos (the Ocean), which surrounds all creation. Men are not able to come near to his foetid sea, neither can ships sail thereon, and no bird is able to fly over it, for if a bird should attempt to fly over it, it is caught and falls and is suffocated therein 4. Its waters are like poison and if men swim therein, they die at once; and the leaves of the trees which are by its side are shriveled up by the smell of these waters as though fire licked them." So the nobles spake to king Alexander; but he said to them," Have ye
1 Literally knotted, tied, bound.
2 These words seem to be corrupt looks like an alteration of Perdiccas (which we met with above), but we should hardly expect a single proper name in this place. As for the word means nothing in Syriac but whips.
3 See Knös, Chrestomathia Syr., p.69.
4 Compare the description of the Asphaltites Lacus by Tacitus (Hist. v.6) immenso ambitu, specie maris, sapore corruptior, gravitate oderis accolis pestsfer, neque vento inpellitur neque pisces aut suetas aquis volecres petitur.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
146
gone on your own feet and seen that the sea is thus?" They made answer to him: Yea, O wise king. This very thing of which thy majesty has thought occurred to us also, and we went to see upon what the heavens rest, but the fetid sea would not give us a passage." Alexander said to them: "I do not account you as liars; but although ye went and the sea did not give you a passage to cross, yet I too will go and see all the ends of the heavens. If there be a king whose lands are more than mine I will take his lands and slay him, even if it be one of the quarters from whence the spoilers come forth." Then all the officers of his palace accepted what Alexander said te them and straightway the trumpets sounded in Alexandria, and the troops were numbered that went forth with him, three hundred and twenty thousand men. And king Alexander bowed himself and did reverence, saying, "O God, Lord of kings and judges, thou who settest up kings and destroyest their power, I know my mind that thou hast exalted me above all kings, and thou hast made me horns upon my head 1, wherewith I might thrust down the kingdoms of the world; give me power from thy holy heavens that I may receive strength greater than [that of] the kingdoms of the world and that I may humble them, and I will magnify thy name, O Lord, for ever, and thy memorial shall be from everlasting to everlasting, and I will write the name of God in the charter of my kingdom, that there may he for Thee a memorial always. And if the Messiah, who is the Son of God comes in my days, I and my troops will worship Him. And if He does not come in my days, when I have gone and conquered kings and seized their lands, I will carry this throne, which is a seat of silver upon which I sit, and will place it in Jerusalem that, when the Messiah comes from heaven, He may sit upon my kingly throne, for His kingdom lasts for ever. And hundred pounds of gold shall be before the Messiah
1 "Possessor of two horns" is a well-known name of Alexander. In the Ethiopic version Alexander is always referred to as . "tho two horned." See Spiegel, Die Alexander Sage, p.57; Kor'an, Surah 18 Some say that the "two horned" mentioned in the Koran is Alexander; while others say that a contemporary of Abraham is meant, who was king of Persia, and others that he was a king of Yemen. For a discussion on this point ses Z.D.M.G., VI. S. 506; VII; ss. 442-450; IX. ss. 214-223.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
147
present when He comes; and whether I die in one of the [other] regions of the world, or here in Alexandria, my royal crown shall be taken and hung upon that seat which I have given to the Messiah; and the crown of every king who dies in Alexandria shall he taken and hung upon that silver seat which I give to the Messiah."
And they went forth and came to mount Sinai 1, and encamped there and rested. And they put ships to sea 2 and crossed over to Mesren, that is to say, Egypt. And scouts went up and looked [to see] if the seas and their waves were visible or not. And the chiefs of the hosts answered and said, "King Alexander, the host is unable to march without smiths. Give orders that they may go with us from Egypt, for there are no smiths upon all the face of the earth like unto those of Egypt." So Alexander called Sarnakos 3(?) the king of Egypt and said to him, "Give me seven thousand 4 smiths, workers in brass and iron, to go with me; and when I come from the countries whither I am going, if they wish [to return] hither, I will send them, and if they wish [to stay in] one of the countries under my sovereign rule, I will grant it them, and they shall not give bate to the king, but they shall give...... to us." And Sarnakos the king of Egypt chose seven thousand men, workers brass and iron, and gave them to Alexander, nail they ate bread with one another.
And they put ships to sea and sailed on the sea four months 5 and twelve days, and they arrived at the dry land beyond the eleven bright seas. And Alexander and his troops encamped, and he sent and called to him the governor who was in the camp, and said to him, "Are there any men here guilty of death?" They said to him, "We have thirty and seven men bends who are guilty of death." And the king said to the governor, "Bring hither those evil doers." And they brought
1 Knös, p.104,1.1.
2 Knös, Chrestomathia Syr., p.70.
3 This nams is spelt in Knös, Chrestomathia Syr., p.71.
4 Twelve thousand, ibid. p.71,
5 According to Jacob of Serugh Alexander made his way towards India where he landed after four months. See Knös, p.71, II. 16, 17.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
148
them, and the king commanded them and said, "Go ye to the shore of the fetid sea, and hammer in stakes that ships may be tied thereto, and prepare everything needful for a force about to cross the sea." And the men went, and came to the shore of the sea. Now Alexander thought within himself, "If it be tree as they say, that everyone who comes near the fetid sea dies, it is better that these who are guilty of death should die" and when they had gone, and had arrived at the shore of the sea, they died instantly. And Alexander and his troops were looking at them when they died, for he and his nobles had ridden to see what would happen to them, and they saw that they died the moment that they reached the sea. And king Alexander was afraid and retired, and he knew that it was impossible for them to cross over to the place where were the ends of the heavens. So the whole camp mounted, and Alexander and his troops went up between the fetid sea and the bright sea to the place where the son enters the window of heaven; for the sun is the servant of the Lord, and neither by night nor by day does he cease from his travelling. The place of his rising is over the sea, and the people who dwell there, when he is about to rise, flee away and hide themselves in the sea, that they be not burnt by his rays; and he passes through the midst of the heavens to the place where he enters the window of heaven; and wherever he passes there are terrible mountains, and those who dwell there have caves hollowed out in the rocks, and as soon as they see the sun passing [over them], men and birds flee away from before him and hide in the caves for rocks are rent by his blazing heat and fall down, and whether they he men or beasts, as seen as the stones touch them they are consumed. And when the sen enters the window of heaven, he straightway bows down and makes obeisance before God his Greater; and he travels and descends the whole night through the heavens, until at length he finds himself where he rises.
And Alexander looked towards the west, and he found a mountain was Musas 1" and [the troops] descended it and came out upon Mount Klaudia,
1(Knös, p.72) "Masis, a high mountain."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
l49
and ate bread there. Then they went down to the source of the Euphrates, and they found that it came forth from a cave; and they came to Haluras 1, where the Tigris goes forth like the stream which turns a mill, and they ate bread in Haleras. And they departed from thence and went to the river Kallath 2; and they ascended the mountain which is called Ramath, where there is a watch-tower. And Alexander and his troops stood upon the top of the mountain and saw the four quarters of the heavens And Alexander said, "Let us go forth by the way to the north"; and they came to the confines of the north, and entered Armenia and Adarbaijan and Inner Armenia. And they crossed over the country of Turnagios, and Beth-Pardia, and Beth-Tekil, and Beth-Drubil, and Beth-Katarmen, and Beth-Gebul, and Beth-Zamrat. Alexander passed through all these places; and he went and passed mount Musas and entered a plain which is Bahi-Lebta, and he went and encamped by the gate of the great mountain. Now there was a road across it by which great merchants entered the inner countries, and by it did Alexander encamp. And he sent heralds of peace on horseback, and they rode about and proclaimed through the whole country: "The king of the Greeks is come to this country, neither slaying, nor burning, nor destroying; let every man dwell in peace. Let three hundred men advanced in years be chosen, and let them enter my presence, says king Alexander, that I may learn what I require, and let every man dwell in peace." When the people of the country heard what the heralds of peace were proclaiming, they were not afraid, and they chose three hundred aged 3 men, who went into Alexander's presence as soon as he had encamped in the country; and he himself commanded the people not to flee before him. And when the aged men, natives of that land, had come into his presence, he asked them, "Who are ye? and to whom do ye give tribute? and what king rules in this land?" The old men answered and said to the king, "This land belongs to Tubarlak the king of the Persians 4, who is of the race of the
1 Knös, p.79, 1.6.
2 See Wright, Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite, p.57.
3 Knös, Chrestomathia, p.73.
4 Tabarliki is called by Jacob of Serugh "Great King of the territory of the Persians and of the Amoraye" Knös, p.79, 1.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------