Michael Baizerman Author

  Image: A Typical Notice https://www.juliemeek.com.au/lost-and-found/ The next chapter of my second manuscript is titled "The Lost and Found Tribes". It belongs to Unit IV:  Mapping Marvels and Monsters: In the Shadow of the Iron Gate, and focuses on the legend of the Ten Lost Tribes.    The demise of ancient Israel and the mass deportation of its population set the background of the legend about the Ten Lost Tribes. The Samaritan community has been estranged from Judaism, although many believed that one day the vanished people would rise from the dead. Medieval Jewish philosophy places the refugees in the far-off land beyond reach and makes them a consolidated community governed by the Jewish Law and under the sway of a Jewish prince. This congregation is poised for the coming of the Messiah to lead it to the Promised Land.   The article is available at the Academia site:  https://www.academia.edu/69800164/The_Lost_and_Found_Tribes  As usual, it is...

 I continue to collect the material for my new project, " The Fright and Thrill of Navigation:  Seafaring in the Medieval and the Renaissance Mediterranean".  Chapter 1 will introduce the topic: I will refer to the two brands of the Mediterranean watercraft, the galley and the round ship; I will speak about their designations, as a warship and as a cargo vessel; I will outline the compromise between speed, cargo capacity and seaworthiness.  I will explain how the galley construction had an impact on its performance at oars and the sail. I will point out that coastal shipping was not the only pattern available for sailing ships, especially if they were sturdy and gigantic. I will name additional types of craft including horse transports that played   a crucial role in military operations on land. I will recognize that sailing in winter and at night were deliberate options for sea captains despite the obvious dangers. I will show how the need for stopovers for ref...

  As I have promised, I returned to the publication of my second project, " The Enchanting Encounter with the East:  Breaking the Ice between the Latin West and the Far." I stopped updating the chapters of my second book in summer 2019 when the Academia site introduced a new outlet, Discussions. This feature exposes articles to a large audience of about 1K people, who might be interested. An additional benefit is a chance to get a response.  I had to take a bite since I felt that I could enhance the readership. I redirected most of my previous articles to Discussions: 14 chapters of my book. Each time I was determined to re-edit the text and offer the readers the most up-to-date version. Then, I uploaded the four chapters of my third project. Now, I returned to complete the circle.  The current paper is titled "Alexander versus Gog-Magog". Here is the abstract:   The paper explores the blending of the Biblical myth of Gog and Magog with the Hellenistic legend of...