In the Shadow of the Iron Gate

Dear readers,

Happy New Year!

I'm hopeful that the next year will bring you many happy moments that will overshadow all the sad ones.

My reading audience is growing; over 1500 people have visited this blog, which delves into my second project.

I have launched another blog on the Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/mikebisblog
where I will tell a broader history of my writing, starting with my first book, Dawn and Sunset.

You may visit my personal page on the Scriggler https://scriggler.com/Profile/michael_baizerman
where I have uploaded 23 articles that cover my four projects.

As far as my second book, The Enchanting Encounter with the East, I have started working on Unit IV, In the Shadow of the Iron Gate. I would like to explore the image of Alexander's Gate as it took shape in the Latin West.

The draft copy of the unit comprises nine chapters; however, I will probably curtail one or two extracts for the sake of the consistency of reading. I will start by introducing the main characters of my story, Gog and Magog, as they appear in the Bible, mainly Ezekiel and the Revelation. I have already revised this chapter but won't upload it here because it extends to one page only and I rule out publishing the entire chapters in this blog; only lengthy extracts.

Then, I will review the birth of the legend of Alexander's Gate which came into circulation by the end of the first century CE across the Greko-Roman world. The location of the barrier against barbarians had shifted from the Elburz mountain range of northern Iran to the Caucasus. Later, I will show the first fusion of the yarn: Alexander locks the civilized world from the invasion of Gog-Magog. In the end, I will expose the second fusion: Gog-Magog blends with the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.

Sounds exciting? Wish me good luck in the coming year; maybe the end of my book?