The quest for Anchiton

[Anton]

The next Syrian source that Anderson explores is the so-called "Discourse" or "Homily" formerly attributed to Jacob of Sarug, who was another renowned Syrian Christian author. Presently this attribution is considered to be wrong, as the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. by Ciancaglini suggests. She does not provide detailed explanation why it is so, but I guess that is because the Discourse is considered to be based on the Christian Legend, and given the latter's dating to 7th century and the fact that Jacob of Sarug died in 521, he could not have been the author. There is another possibility though, that the Discourse does not derive directly from the Christian Legend, but rather they derive from the same common source. As Anderson notes, this possibility was suggested by Bousset. This way or the other, the Discourse and the Christian Legend have the general plot in common indeed.

This Discourse is a poem of ~700 lines, and an English translation is available in the same book by Budge (page 163 onwards). The gate is the central motif here as well, which is accented by its presence in the title. The gate is made against "Agog and Magog" explicitly. The poet depicts Alexander, who gathers ships for his journey, as a provident manager (lines 85-86):

King Alexander made ready iron and brass a great quantity
And in his wisdom he filled the ships therewith.

When the poem comes to Alexander's asking about the nations, the nations are no more called "Huns", but are called "peoples of the house of Japhet and of the house of Magog" (215), "the family of Agog and the family of Magog" (243).

Beginning from line 340, the bard describes the building of the gate:

Then he courageously took pains and made the door
Against Agog and the family of Magog and bound them

Again, the gate is fortified with iron and brass. This time not just 6000, but 12000 workmen (from Egypt) are employed, and thresholds and bolts and posts are cunningly implemented. The construction took six months, after which

Ambassadors went forth into the countries and lands and proclaimed
The great work of the terrible door which the king had made (382-383)

This "door of all doors" motif is new, as compared to the Christian Legend.

After the construction, Alexander suggests to burn incense "for a sweet smell to the Lord" (391). Then Alexander has a vision wherein the Lord advises him through an angel (429 ff):

This great gate which thou hast made in this land
Shall be closed until the end of times cometh.
Jeremiah also prophesied concerning it and the earth had heard,
The gate of the north shall be opened on the day of the end of the world,
And on that day shall the evil go forth on the wicked

That will occur on the "seven thousandth year".

Then shall Antichrist rise upon the whole earth,
Through that gate shall go forth and come that rebel (654-655)

"The identification of Gog and Magog" with the hosts of the Antichrist is already in progress", - notes Anderson.

Yet another Syrian source is the brief life of Alexander previously attributed to Dionysius of Tell-Mahre (9th century), the Swedish translation of which was made by Hedenskog in 1868. I was not able to find the English version to check what the gate was constructed of. Anderson does not comment upon that, but says that the gate is given no eschatological significance in this story.

[To be continued]