Michael Baizerman Author

This paper finishes Unit III of my unpublished book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East".  The Mongol Empire is on the brink of war with Egypt. Eljigidei, the Mongol military governor in the eastern Mediterranean, is making overtures to Louis IX of France concerning the assistance in the struggle against the mutual enemy. The Muslim warfare on two fronts, against the Mongols and the Latin Christians, leads to the rise of the Mamluks. The Il-khan Hulegu resumes a proposal, suggesting that Louis would stage a naval blockade of Egypt in support of the ground assault of the Mongols. Meanwhile, the Mongol Empire starts to crumble. You may read this paper  https://www.academia.edu/41372103/The_Swan_Song_of_the_Mongol_Thrust as well as other 16 articles uploaded on a popular research site.  I'm going to continue publishing other chapters. The next unit is titled " Mapping Marvels and Monsters: In the Shadow of the Iron Gate". It focuses on the popula...

I decided to upload my fresh research from the third project: the European quest for the maritime route to India in the XVth century. See my site  https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael/Papers The article is titled "How Wide Spans the Ocean Sea".  Herodotus recorded several naval accounts:  however, are they trustworthy and, if positive, to what extent? The Phoenician ship replica attests to the seaworthiness of their vessels rather than to the details of the epic 2700-year-old voyage across Africa. For most intellectuals of the European Middle Ages, the ocean was a dangerous place. Only toward the close of the fifteenth century, some mapmakers endeavored to visualize the 'latitudinal' route connecting the remote West with the Far East. Columbus was a diehard prisoner of his ambition; he could not help manipulating his figures and engaged in wishful thinking to make his dream come true. The research includes two parts: the first one reviews the ...

Dear readers, I added About section to my profile wattpad.com/user/mikebis  My page on this site includes two chapters from "The Enchanting Encounter with the East". These extracts belong to Unit III, where I tell the story of the Mongol invasion of Central Europe 1241-1242 and the diplomatic overtures between Western powers and the Tartars which sprang up in the aftermath of this war.  I also uploaded the paper, The Suspension Bridge Across the Abyss, on my site,  https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael Recently, the editor of a Russian language literary and art magazine from the Far East proposed to publish my article,  How Wide Spans the Ocean Sea. The paper is unpublished yet as I sent it to an Irish magazine and is still waiting for their decision. I began translating it into Russian which will take some time. It might appear in the January issue. I am going to publish the English version at the start of 2010 both on wattpad and on my s...

Image: The Lord Pope Dispatches Delegations of the Dominicans and Franciscans to the Great Khan Courtesy:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Innocent_IV#/media/File:Pope_Innocent_IV_sends_Dominicans_and_Franciscans_out_to_the_Tartars.jpg A new chapter from my book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East" is available  https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/204304532/write/798587690 The chapter titled, The Suspension Bridge Across the Abyss, tells the story of the entangled diplomatic relations between the Apostolic See and the Great Khan of the Mongols in the wake of a disastrous campaign of 1241-1242 against Central Europe.  I am going to upload it to my site in the near future.  

I uploaded a new chapter from my second book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East", on Wattpad. You can view it  https://www.wattpad.com/793622565-the-squall-from-the-east-untitled-part-1 This is an extract from Part III: Unveiling the Alien. The Mongol invasion of Central Europe in 1241-1241  took the western leaders aback. Gruesome and spine-chilling, it sent shock waves all over the continent. A powerful lesson that the Latin authorities would not forget.  I'm going to hang the same extract on my website soon.  Meanwhile, I continue my research on the Muslim domination of the Strait of Gibraltar during the Late Middle Ages.  Very brief this time. Sorry.  

The maiden paper of my third project is ready but it is still unpublished.  I sent it to a magazine that demands articles only from the private archive. Since I am not sure whether the essay uploaded on my website is considered a publication, I decided to give it a chance.  I will certainly continue going public with the other chapters of my second book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East".  I found the entire text of the book, "The Geographical Lore of the Time of the Crusades". Published almost 100 years ago, it presents the data in an encyclopedic manner, which is contrary to my writing style. However, I am checking if I haven't missed any details in my second book.  I haven't started writing a query letter though I looked through the material and will do it in a matter of days. The more difficult task is how to write a book proposal since I have to disclose my marketing abilities. This is a nightmare for me.  Meanwhile, I start...

Courtesy: John Carlton  https://www.quora.com/Why-don%E2%80%99t-modern-civilian-cargo-ships-also-use-sails-in-addition-to-engine-power-to-reduce-fuel-consumption   I am remodeling my old article titled "How Wide Spans the Ocean Sea".  It consists of two parts. The first section covers maritime explorations carried out during the VI and V centuries BCE; it was so vividly described by Herodotus. We refer to the Phoenician expedition which is reported to have circumnavigated Africa, as well as the exploits of Sataspes, Scylax of Caryanda, and Hanno the Navigator.     The other segment collects the views of classical and medieval geographers concerning the prospect of crossing the Atlantic Ocean that was believed to separate Spain (or, in another version, Marocco) from China and Japan.  These scholars discuss such issues as the existence of a landmass in between or an unbroken expanse of the deep blue. Among them, we find Aristotle, Eratosthe...

A new chapter from my second book, 'The Enchanting Encounter with the East", presents the ideas of classical and medieval literati on the existence and character of the fourth part of the world. That was a controversial notion that could bring trouble to its carriers because it bordered with heresy.  The medieval concept of the Antipodes was the brainchild of the classical philosophic discourse about the latitudinal zones. The interaction between the pair of inhabited zones was null and void because these counterpart worlds were separated by impregnable obstacles: the searing Torrid Zone and the unbounded equatorial ocean.  The issue of the extent of the inhabited world was mingled with the reach of the Christian mission since the word of God had to permeate the earth's furthest fringes.   The hypothesis of the Antipodes raised the practical issue of circumnavigation.  The above illustration is called  Burgo de Osma Mappamundi Courtesy...

A chapter from Unit II of my book, The Enchanting Encounter with the East, studies medieval racial theories uttered by outstanding European scholars and endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church.  Image: Healing of the Gadarene Demoniacs https://networks.h-net.org/race-european-middle-ages-image-healing-gadarene-demoniacs I study the applications of the racist ideology which I find amid western intellectuals who flourished across the European Middle Ages. Their views were endorsed by the Church which encouraged the European monarchs to take to the road of expansion. I check the echoes of these opinions in art,  architecture, poetry, and even in contemporary medical treaties.   The only exception to the rule is the statue of St.Moris erected in the Magdeburg Cathedral.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Maurice#/media/File:Saint_Maurice_Magdeburg.jpg The character of a black warrior in the attire of a medieval knight suited Frederick II, the sov...

I downloaded another chapter from the second book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East", on my site  https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael    The extract tells about the location of Jerusalem on the European medieval mind maps.  Jerusalem on the Madaba Map  Courtesy:  http://www.ancientpages.com/2017/06/16/stunning-madaba-map-oldest-known-mosaic-built-of-two-million-stone-cubes/   Throughout the late Middle Ages, Jerusalem functioned as the center of the inhabited world on contemporary 'world maps'. The article discloses various aspects of this spiritual vision which only intensifies after the crusaders' exile from the Holy Land.  Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade. Saewulf and San Severino were the pilgrims who visited the Holy Land in the 12th and 15th centuries. They both shared the vision of Jerusalem as the navel of the world.  Sir John Mandeville is a fictitious author of a 14th-century t...

Pietro Vesconte's Mappa Mundi dating the early XIV century   http://www.myoldmaps.com/late-medieval-maps-1300/228-marino-sanudo-and-pietr/   A chapter from my second book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East" describes the evolution of the mappae mundi, i.e. the 'world maps' of the medieval imagination. These drawings upgrade from simple schemes of Isidore de Seville showing tripartite inhabited earth to more elaborate designs, which incorporate the Ptolemy vision (Hartman Schedel's "The Nuremberg Chronicle") or reflect geographic discoveries ( Heinrich Buntings Cloverleaf Map) or marry with sea charts (Pietro Vesconte). Like an oriental carpet, the brave medieval world of sacred and profane rolls out before your eyes.  As usual, I would appreciate any comments. You can read this chapter on my site  https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael where you can find other papers relating either to my second book or my first one, ...

I uploaded a new chapter on my site  https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael This is an extract from Unit I of the book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East".  I would appreciate any comments about both the content and the style.  I began looking for a literary agent to represent my book before a publisher. I will have to write a query letter.  Meanwhile, I was offered to deliver a lecture about the origin of early Israel before the audience of the scientific club in Tel Aviv. It will be my first public appearance which will take place on August 28. Wish me good luck!  In this lecture, I am going to analyze the text of Merneptah Stele, the battle reliefs from the Karnak Temple, and the results of the archeological excavations in the central hill country of Judea and Samaria. The material is based on my old paper with numerous additions. 

Hopefully, you are perfectly aware of it. However, back in time scholars would come up with educative guesses about the Earth's circumference. This is the story of various evaluations. I made an effort to convert ancient measures into modern ones to show you the margin of deviation. To do this, I blend all the known samples of these measures into a 'consensus value', which is the average meaning. I refer to the stadium, Arab mile, and Roman mile. I mention Eratosthenes, Posidonius, Pierre d'Ailly, Ahmad Al-Farghani, and Christopher Columbus.  You can read this story here  https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael This is the second chapter of my book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East". You can also view chapter 1: What If the Earth is the Sphere. My website gets attention from people around the world with more than 250 hits. I intend to continue uploading other parts of my second book. Meanwhile, I decided to review my first ...

My website is growing.  https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael/Papers In addition to previous publications, I uploaded three new chapters: 1) By Wheel and Wind: a focus on overland and water transportation in Ancient Mesopotamia. One of the scientists got interested in this article and we had a discussion 2) What if the Earth is the Sphere? This is chapter 1 of my second book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East". The publishing house refused to accept it because it might not interest their readers so I will have to find another publisher. The article proves that most educated public in the Middle Ages recognized the theory of the spherical earth and envisaged it in different images.  3) The Reappraisal of Civilization. This is an introduction to my first book, "Dawn and Sunset: A Tale of the Oldest Cities in the Near East". (together with previously downloaded The Tower of Babel.) I give my definition of civilization and outline a for...

Coordinators from Academia.com, a site that I use extensively in my quests, offered me to launch my website under their auspices. It is called  https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael I decided to upload most of my articles published on other sites. I started with the extracts from my first book, "Dawn and Sunset: A Tale of the Oldest Cities in the Near East". Up to now, I have transmitted four chapters: The Divine Round Dance: The Sumerian Astronomical Calendar.  This is a chapter from Unit IV, Beyond the Threshold of Rain Agriculture; it  explains the importance of the introduction of the calendar in the complex society, who was in charge to keep the records, and what impact on state affairs it produced.  https://www.academia.edu/39608575/The_Divine_Round_Dance_The_Sumerian_Astronomical_Calendar   The Birth of Proto-writing. This is a chapter from Unit III, The Marvels of the Sumerian Script; it looks  into the origins of cuneiform, ...

Defeated Canaanite warriors from the painted limestone relief at Thebes Courtesy:  https://www.archaeology.org/issues/262-1707/features/5627-jaffa-egypt-canaan-colony   After completing my second book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East", I returned for a while to the old plan and started to browse evidence concerning Early Israel in hope to find material for a short article.  In the course of my recent quest, I haven't put my finger on a particular plot but I realized that the origins of Israel are hidden much deeper than their first emergence on Merneptah Stela. I believe that the People of the Book made up an offshoot of the robust tree of the West Semites and their culture sprang up from the common Canaanite background. I was born in Moscow but my heart has driven me to the Land of Canaan. That happened years after I had repatriated to Israel, raised a family, and embarked on an ungrateful career of a high-school teacher.  My fascinat...

Image: The Map of Canaan According to the Bible https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan#/media/File:Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg After finish my second book, The Enchanting Encounter with the East, I needed to take a break, approximately from mid-May to the end of June. That was the finish of the school year, so I had plenty of time on my hands. My idea was to pick up a momentous episode from the history of early Israel. This is the topic of my fourth book.  I found so much data that it would take months, if not years, to process it. However, I became aware of what this future volume would be about.  I support the idea that early Israel was part and parcel of Canaan, a narrow land bridge stretched between Western Asia and Egypt. Surrounded by stony deserts, it belonged to the occidental leg of the Fertile Crescent. Splashed by the great wine-dark sea, this land occupied a chunk of the eastern Mediterranean.  This spatial corridor, craved by quite a few grea...

Image: The Fair Death of Prester John in a Mounting Battle Against Chinggis Khan  http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=46452 The following chapter ushers in a new metamorphose of Prester John's character. A powerful potentate functions as an underdog in his fight against the Mongols. The new episode is connected to the all-out war in the eastern steppes, in the course of which Chinggis Khan managed to unite 'felt-walled' nomads into an invincible army. Here goes an extract: “A clever fighter is one who not only wins but excels in winning with ease.” (-Sun Tzu)        The steppe is a swath of grasslands extending east and west for thousands of unbroken miles between Manchuria and Hungary. The poor soil unable to sustain peasants toiling in their allotments suffers from the scorching sun in mid-summer and freezing cold in mid-winter.       The Mongols were a mixed blend of pa...

I have crossed a Rubicon meaning that my second book is complete.  It includes 29 chapters, to say nothing about summing-ups at the end of each of its 6 units.  The manuscript comprises over 90 K words,  hundreds of notes, and more than 30 images. 'The Enchanting Encounter with the East" tells a story of inter-cultural relations between Latin West and the Far East related from the European point of view. The scenario occurred in the Late Middle Ages when the actual dialog between the two opposite ends of the 'human planet' had become possible due to the opportunities of the Pax Mongolica. However, many European literati were still holding outdated views on the world beyond Islam and were fed by false rumors about the latest developments on the eastern rim of the known world. These legends are passed through generations until they eventually recede, giving up to the outlook based on personal experience of travelers and distinction between the sacred and the p...

Image: The Crusaders' maritime charge against the Tower of Damietta, Egypt The main enemy of a string of Crusader kingdoms spread along the coast of Palestine was the Mamluk Sultanate based in Egypt. The Fifth Crusade was spearheaded against the hostile power in hope to wrest control of the Holy Land.     The stalemate stirred unjustified hopes for the global assault against the Muslim world. King David, Prester John's successor, was destined to play one of the leading roles in this campaign. The following extract describes the confused ambiance prevaling among the Crusaders who pinned their hopes on a non-existent savior:  " After yielding Jerusalem to Salah ad-Din, better known in the West as Saladin, in the wake of the battle of Hattin, the Latin dominion in the Outremer was reduced to a narrow coastal strip stretching from Jaffa to Antioch. The costly enterprise was in constant jeopardy of extinction. Full of determination to turn the tide in the ...

Image: Manuel I Komnenos Courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_I_Komnenos The following chapter investigates why the original Letter of Prester John gained so much popularity across the Latin Christendom. The extract belongs to Unit V of my ongoing book, The Enchanting Encounter with the East.  I'm currently working on Unit VI, the last section which will include five chapters: a general introduction about medieval journeys to the Far East and Inner Asia, John of Plano Carpini, William of Rubruck, John of Montecorvino and the bottom line.  Sorry for the long interruption in my updates. Here's a new extract:  Twenty years later, long after the dust of the Second Crusade disaster settled, a bizarre missive was circulating with lightning speed all over the Latin West. Directed to the leading European royal houses, it somehow skipped the most important of all: the Curia Romana. This letter of introduction was penned by the paramount emperor of ...