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Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part One: Difference between revisions
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Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part One (view source)
Revision as of 21:31, 14 March 2016
, 14 March 2016→A close similarity with the Syriac legend about Alexander the Great
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====A close similarity with the Syriac legend about Alexander the Great==== | ====A close similarity with the Syriac legend about Alexander the Great==== | ||
It has been known since 1890 thanks to Theodore Nöldeke that there is a very close similarity between the account in the Qur’an of [[Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance|Dhu’l Qarnayn and the Alexander Legend]]. This was written in Syriac, probably around 630 CE, but incorporates older traditions such as that of the iron gate built by Alexander dating to at least the time of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the 1<sup>st</sup> century CE<ref>Van Bladel 2007b op. cit. p.181 (See Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book VII, Chapter VII, Verse 4)</ref> and journeys to the rising and setting place of the sun from the Epic of Gilgamesh.<ref>See Epic of Gilgamesh, [http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab9.htm Tablet IX] and [http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab1.htm Tablet I] (Van Bladel 2007b op. cit. p.176 & p.197, note 6)</ref> | It has been known since 1890 thanks to Theodore Nöldeke that there is a very close similarity between the account in the Qur’an of [[Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance|Dhu’l Qarnayn and the Alexander Legend]]. This was written in Syriac, probably around 630 CE, but incorporates older traditions such as that of the iron gate built by Alexander to enclose Magog dating to at least the time of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the 1<sup>st</sup> century CE<ref>Van Bladel 2007b op. cit. p.181 (See Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book VII, Chapter VII, Verse 4)</ref> and journeys to the rising and setting place of the sun from the Epic of Gilgamesh.<ref>See Epic of Gilgamesh, [http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab9.htm Tablet IX] and [http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab1.htm Tablet I] (Van Bladel 2007b op. cit. p.176 & p.197, note 6)</ref> | ||
It is part of a larger collection of legends about Alexander the Great known as the Alexander Romance. The Alexander Legend begins with Alexander expressing his desire to explore the ends of the Earth. It then has Alexander saying that God has given him horns on his head and he asks for power over other kingdoms. After collecting seven thousand iron and brass workers from Egypt, he goes to the fetid sea at the end of the Earth. He makes some evildoers go to the shore of the fetid sea, and they die. He and his men go to the window of heaven into which the sun sets between the fetid sea and a bright sea (although it does not say that the sun actually sets into this sea). The place where the sun rises is over the sea and the people who live there must flee from it and hide in the sea. The story then describes how Alexander<ref>Alexander, ''not the sun, as was incorrectly translated'' by A. W. Budge according to Van Bladel (Van Bladel 2007b op. cit. p. 198, note 12)</ref> prostrates before God and travels through the heavens at night to the place where the sun rises. He then visits some mountains and the sources of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Next it has Alexander coming to some people who tell him about the Huns within the Northern mountains (Gog, Magog and other kings are listed). He offers to build an iron and brass gate to close up the breach between the mountains, does so and prophesises that God will destroy the gate at the end of the world and the Huns will go forth through it. Next there is a battle with the Persians and their allies after they were told of his gate. It then ends with Alexander worshiping in Jerusalem and his death in Alexandria.<ref>A. W. Budge (trans.), “A Christian Legend Concerning Alexander” in ''The History Of Alexander The Great Being The Syriac Version Of The Pseudo-Callisthenes'', pp. 144-158, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1889 (''[http://www.answering-islam.org/Books/Budge/alexander.htm translation quoted in full]'')</ref> | It is part of a larger collection of legends about Alexander the Great known as the Alexander Romance. The Alexander Legend begins with Alexander expressing his desire to explore the ends of the Earth. It then has Alexander saying that God has given him horns on his head and he asks for power over other kingdoms. After collecting seven thousand iron and brass workers from Egypt, he goes to the fetid sea at the end of the Earth. He makes some evildoers go to the shore of the fetid sea, and they die. He and his men go to the window of heaven into which the sun sets between the fetid sea and a bright sea (although it does not say that the sun actually sets into this sea). The place where the sun rises is over the sea and the people who live there must flee from it and hide in the sea. The story then describes how Alexander<ref>Alexander, ''not the sun, as was incorrectly translated'' by A. W. Budge according to Van Bladel (Van Bladel 2007b op. cit. p. 198, note 12)</ref> prostrates before God and travels through the heavens at night to the place where the sun rises. He then visits some mountains and the sources of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Next it has Alexander coming to some people who tell him about the Huns within the Northern mountains (Gog, Magog and other kings are listed). He offers to build an iron and brass gate to close up the breach between the mountains, does so and prophesises that God will destroy the gate at the end of the world and the Huns will go forth through it. Next there is a battle with the Persians and their allies after they were told of his gate. It then ends with Alexander worshiping in Jerusalem and his death in Alexandria.<ref>A. W. Budge (trans.), “A Christian Legend Concerning Alexander” in ''The History Of Alexander The Great Being The Syriac Version Of The Pseudo-Callisthenes'', pp. 144-158, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1889 (''[http://www.answering-islam.org/Books/Budge/alexander.htm translation quoted in full]'')</ref> | ||