Interesting indeed.
He tells about the legend of how Alexander prayed to the gods to make two mountains move closer together. This happened, which allowed him to seal the pass with a gate. He coated this gate with aforementioned substance. One commenter interprets it as asbestos, but somehow that seems unlikely to me, it behaves more like a mythical substance that makes the gate inpervious to damage. He also covers the mountains in thorny bushes.
The reason why he wanted to block this passage is that behind it lived barbaric peoples (Gog and Magog are mentioned) who eat human flesh, drink animal blood and eat their dead instead of burying them. The location of these peoples is in the Northeast. Like this, Alexander is credited with saving the civilized world.
Not sure what or where this gate was, but it is called the Kaspic gate. I remember seeing an old map where the northeastern peoples were called androphagoi, man eaters. Too bad I don't remember which map, it may have been posted here.
The origin of this myth is uncertain, but the author deduces that it must be older than his sources. Among those sources are Islamic ones, who link it to the fulfilment of a prophecy, but the origin is older than Islam.
Great find, guys.
I'll translate the most interesting parts more completely.
He tells about the legend of how Alexander prayed to the gods to make two mountains move closer together. This happened, which allowed him to seal the pass with a gate. He coated this gate with aforementioned substance. One commenter interprets it as asbestos, but somehow that seems unlikely to me, it behaves more like a mythical substance that makes the gate inpervious to damage. He also covers the mountains in thorny bushes.
The reason why he wanted to block this passage is that behind it lived barbaric peoples (Gog and Magog are mentioned) who eat human flesh, drink animal blood and eat their dead instead of burying them. The location of these peoples is in the Northeast. Like this, Alexander is credited with saving the civilized world.
Not sure what or where this gate was, but it is called the Kaspic gate. I remember seeing an old map where the northeastern peoples were called androphagoi, man eaters. Too bad I don't remember which map, it may have been posted here.
The origin of this myth is uncertain, but the author deduces that it must be older than his sources. Among those sources are Islamic ones, who link it to the fulfilment of a prophecy, but the origin is older than Islam.
Great find, guys.
I'll translate the most interesting parts more completely.
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