Road. Stoneman, Richard. ), Josephus has him building an iron gate southeast of the Caspian Sea in a passage between two mountains. The influential early-ninth-century Persian astronomer, geographer, and mathematician al-Khwārizmī placed Alexander’s wall in northwestern China. A millennium later, a story existed, with learned support, that Alexander the Great built a … pp. Wake up! Travel China Vacation. Alexander the Great was an ancient Greek leader who conquered much of western Eurasia and northern Africa. It popularized the story of Alexander the Great walling off Gog and Magog.[6]. 16 12 0. Interdisciplinary Studies of the ‘Other’ in Literature & Internet Texts. Adding more pieces to the puzzle.. After they defeat her, they examine her clothes and weapons and find they’re like nothing they’ve seen. Somewhere in Asia, there was a mighty wall, usually built by Alexander the Great, that held back the terrifying hordes of Gog and Magog. In these sources, the story includes Alexander praying for two mountains to move together to close off the unclean nations. Whereas two centuries ago Chinese complained how Manchu Mongol Magog decimated their civilization, now tartarized by Cultural Revolution, they praise Cengiz Khan and bemoan Opium War. That’s what this site provides! The people of Israel have walled and gated cities. Gog and Magog are mentioned in Revelation 20:8; and these, says Bishop Newton, “seem to have been formerly the general name of the northern nations of Europe and Asia, as the Scythians have been since, and the Tartars are at present. The wall he built was against the archaemenid Persians!!!!! Great Wall Of China. Everyone needs content for their RPG campaigns: adventure hooks, puzzles, NPCs, political machinations, combat encounters, and adventure sites. Great Wall is a must for most first China trips. I have only one little remark and that is Alexander is the Macedonian king *( he was no Greek ,he was in war with city states and he concord them ) the city states at that time have no kings and the Greece as a state came long after that (19th.cent. The barrier was constructed with melted iron sheets like red flames. To read more on such perspectives, I recommend that the author, Douglas, consult the book: “Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times”, by Rene Guenon. Research reveals she is from the land of Gog and Magog. Thank you. You can use the wall as an edge on the map beyond which you don’t want your PCs exploring. China Great Wall Great. 2011. 20 8 1. provides an English translation of the text from Ibn Khurradadhbih, and compares other sources. There’s a long-running tradition in the West and in the Middle East of a wall someplace far to the east that holds back the hideous forces of Gog and Magog. The Great Wall of China’s history stretches back more than 2,000 years, to a time before China was even a unified country. An account of Alexander walling off unclean nations exists in the γ recension of the Greek Alexander Romance. All of the Greek city states gave their blessings, young men for the military and finance for the march to Persia. The Arabs call the Chinese wall Sud Yagog et Magog, that is, the mud wall, or rampart of Gog and Magog. Prophesying about 2600 years ago, Ezekiel declared that Gog from Magog will come with many peoples, “out of the remotest parts of the north, … all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army.” Gog from Magog attacks quiet peoples living in unwalled “waste places” and carries off plunder. Dhū’l-Qarnayn (the two-horned one) probably represents Alexander the Great. But it’s better to use the wall as a source of plot hooks. Those story pieces incredibly-credibly fit. Central Asian Survey. There is, of course, the Great Wall of China, which, at thirty feet wide and four thousand miles long, including its many bends and spurs, makes Hadrian’s work a relative miniature. Even Marco Polo puts Gog and Magog north of China, possibly because of the Great Wall the Chinese used to defend against the steppe peoples. Legends about Alexander the Great probably became popular soon after his death in 323 BGC. And so the Greeks stopped fighting and would not obey Alexander anymore : they rejoined with their cousin Royal Persians remnants of Xerxes ‘s household. He end up in China where he became a king. Separately, Ezekiel prophesies that Gog will be the king of the land of Magog and the head of a coalition of nations arrayed against Israel. The conflict between sedentary (“civilized”) and nomadic (“savage”) peoples is the underlying structure of the story of Alexander’s wall. When the conquest of Persia was over, Alexander made Greek the official language but it was actually the Royal Persian language and Greek was a minor dialect of it !