The Alexander Romance and the Wall of the Djinn #GogAndMagog

This is a 16th century Persian miniature of a team of djinn helping a man called the Two-Horned One build one of history's most famous walls. In it, both human and djinn, mortal beings composed of smoke and fire, are represented as working together in this construction. This is an unusual portrayal as both species are quite often viewed as enemies of each other, or at least a danger to each other. So what threat could be so dangerous that two entirely different species of sentient life would be forced to work together in order to keep it at bay? Some say that threat was a nation of ferociously savage humans now lost to time. Others say that they were a race of bloodthirsty demons or powerful anomalous humans, but many believe that this race still exists today and go by the name of the apocalyptic entities Yajuj and Majuj, otherwise known as Gog and Magog. This is the Hexachannel and welcome to this collaboration with the mysterious Middle East. A socio-political tool to separate and demonize a race of people or means to protect the Middle East from actual supernatural demons. In 1999, a team of archaeologists began exploring what is ominously known as the Red Snake, remnants of a giant wall located in the Golestan province sandwiched in between the Alborz mountains and the Caspian sea. With a length of at least 195 kilometers, historians say that this wall, also known as the Great Wall of Gorgon and the Caspian Gates, was built or at least augmented by the 3rd century Sasanians of Persia to protect their empire from the Hephthalites, a fierce central Asian power. The Sasanian empire was absolutely huge, encompassing Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. In 2004, using radiocarbon dating, archaeologists announced that they believe that a part of the wall dated back to at least the 4th century, where the Persian king Khusrau is believed to have developed much of the wall. Other historians state that it is entirely possible that he built this on an already existing structure built at least a century earlier by no other than Alexander the Great. If we are to assume that Alexander's wall is the Red Snake, that would mean that for 1,000 years until the extension of the Great Wall of China under the Ming dynasty, the Red Snake was the longest wall in the world. Alexander the Great was an ancient Macedonian ruler and one of history's greatest military minds. By the time of his death at the young age of 32, he was a king of an empire that stretched from modern day Greece to Pakistan. Often associated with the wall in the semi-fictional biographical book, The Alexander Romance, it says that he built a wall to save the Middle East and the world from an army of cannibalistic warriors. According to the historian Boyle in 1977, this Alexander Romance was sometimes referred to as Pseudo-Chalisthenes, from which two Latin versions emanated in the 5th and 10th century. Within this book, which is a semi-autobiographical account of Alexander's life that seems more fantastical than historical, Alexander encounters a plethora of fantastical creatures, including giant insects, fairies, and a variety of different monsters and demons that challenge him on his journeys across the Middle East and Asia. The incident that gave impotence to the latest version of the Alexander Romance was the identification of the wall or gate which Alexander built in a mountain pass to lock out what he would term the barbarian tribes. During the course of time, this barbarian tribe became known as Gog and Magog or Yajuj and Majuj. The identities of Yajuj and Majuj has always been a mystery but has always been associated with a wall or great barrier and that their return will herald the beginning of the apocalypse. In the biblical book of Revelation, it tells how Satan will be imprisoned for a thousand years and how on his release he will rally the nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to a final battle with Christ and his saints. Islam has a similar narrative stating that the end of the world would be preceded by the release of Yajuj and Majuj whose destruction by God in a single night would usher in the day of resurrection. But what exactly are they? Some say they are a supernatural force while others say they were or are a political force, an army or nation capable of dominating the world. More abstractly, others interpret them as merely analogues for human tendencies, making them purely an ideological concept and not physical. Whatever they are, they were fearsome enough for Alexander to not only build a wall to protect the ancient middle east from them but also, according to some traditions, employ the help of the jinn to aid in its construction. But more about the jinn later. This question of race and human lineage has always been a key element in identifying who Yajuj and Majuj are. Some historians note that in the bible's genealogy Magog was a grandson of Noah through his son Yafith and from him were descended the people of central Asia who later moved into Europe and were the ancestors of modern day Europeans and also related to modern day Russians, Persians, North Indians, Turks, Mongols. Within this context they play into a narrative fuelled by a xenophobic ideological fear of the other. Yosef bin Matinyahu, a historian from the first century, states that Alexander's wall, also known as the iron gates, were designed to be a barrier against the Scythians, a group of ancient tribes of nomadic warriors who originally lived in what is now southern Siberia. According to this historian, among the Jews they were known as the Magogites, the descendants of Magog. In the Alexander Romance it states that the gates were built between two mountain ranges that were literally pulled closer together by God after Alexander prayed for a way to gain a strategic advantage over Yajuj and Majuj. There he builds the Caspian gates out of bronze, coating them with a fast-sticking oil. These gates enclose 22 nations and their monarchs, including Yajuj and Majuj. According to this account, the geographic location of these mountains is rather vague, but is consistent with other accounts, both archaeological and arguably fictional, as being in the vicinity of modern-day Turkey and Armenia, the Caspian Sea, Iran and Russia. Within some Christian texts, the gates of Alexander were established between two mountains to prevent the armies of Yajuj and Majuj from ravaging the region. Like what is written in the Alexander Romance, there is a story of Alexander praying to help strengthen his position against the two, resulting in entire mountain ranges being pulled together so he can make an iron wall between them. Within Arabic and Islamic tradition, it is believed that Alexander the Great went by the name Dhul Qarnayn. In the Holy Quran in Surah 18, Dhul Qarnayn literally translates as the two-horned one. He comes across people in a valley with whom he can barely communicate, but you beg him to protect them from the Yajuj and Majuj, who are spoiling the lands. Dhul Qarnayn builds an iron wall that will keep out Yajuj and Majuj until the end of days. Since hardly anything of the red snake or iron wall has survived to the modern day, the Egyptian writer and blogger Lamia al-Qawili notes that the wall may literally be an anomalous structure of an unprecedented scale, designed to shield creatures that are themselves anomalous in nature, keeping them hidden from the rest of the world for thousands of years. To back up her argument that Yajuj and Majuj are supernatural creatures different from anything that has been described before, al-Qawili states, it has been narrated from Ibn Abbas that when he asked Ali about the creatures, he responded by saying, God has created 1,200 species on the land, 1,200 species in the sea, 70 species from the children of Adam, and the people are the children of Adam, except for the Yajuj and Majuj. Does that suggest that they are not human? She goes on to state that when examining the roots of the anglicized names, Gog means fiery essence, and Magog could mean those transformed into Gog. The Arabic roots for the name Gog is only associated with the uncontrollable spread of fiery matter, noting that the only creatures we know from the Quran that they are made of fire is in fact Iblis, Satan, and his clan of followers from the jinn, the most evil of which hate humans. If this is indeed the case, that Yajuj and Majuj are a form of powerful jinn, this would neatly take us back to our Persian miniature presented in the intro of this episode, providing us with an explanation for why Alexander the Great would employ the assistance of other jinn in their efforts to build a structure that is essentially supernatural. A less popular theory suggests that Yajuj and Majuj are a form of Nephilim giant, and perhaps the most powerful type. The Nephilim are a Judeo-Christian concept, being ancient giants who were the offspring of According to apocryphal texts, these abominations once roamed the earth before being destroyed by an ancient cataclysmic event many interpret as being the Great Flood. In most recent times, a relatively new theory has been rising since the millennial period is that these creatures are actually alive and well, and are in the process of re-emerging across the planet from a status of deep sleep, with the governments of the world aware of this and actively engaging with them in a secret war to keep their existence hidden and their threat neutralized. The idea that Yajuj and Majuj are giants partly originates from earlier traditions that describe them as being as tall as cedars. In this tradition, they will appear in large numbers in the northeast of the ancient world as portents of the end, then proceed south towards Israel, drinking up the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers or the Sea of Galilee. When there are no more human targets left, Yajuj and Majuj will shoot at the sky, hoping to destroy heaven. This has led to the speculation that this tribe is a technologically advanced species, which coincides with another popular theory that the Nephilim are alien in origin. This would mean the return of Yajuj and Majuj would technically be a form of alien invasion. Ultimately, the theories concerning Yajuj and Majuj are vast and wide, changing depending on the era and the perspective of those who read about them. The mixing of historical facts, such as the constructs of the Red Snake and the conquest by Alexander the Great, and the Quranic and Biblical texts that go some way to confirm established historical understandings, to the pulp fantastical nature of texts like the Alexander Romance, it is clear that the mysteries that make up the legacies of these characters will continue to be a mystery. Thanks to the mysterious Middle East, who we have teamed up with as Hexer, to bring this episode to light. 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