John of Montecorvino

 I have received good news from Academia. After over two months' delay, I finally got access to Discussion. The confirmation coincided with presenting my last chapter, John of Montecorvino, to the public. https://www.academia.edu/96931204/John_of_Montecorvino

The paper has triggered replies and enjoyed more than 150 views. I am on the way to realizing my potential in Academia, which will stand around 10 K views. I still have two more chapters for Discussion. I noticed some readers come across my previous papers, from the second to the first book. It is very encouraging. I am beginning to form a community of readers, primarily academics. I wish I also had more readers from the general public since this is my target audience. 

My zoom lecture in the historical-philosophic club about Alexander against Gog-Magog: Part 2 was  successful. I received many compliments and questions. Some listeners wished they had been present at the previous lecture, and I invited them to participate in my next one. I still need to prepare it . All the lectures are recorded by the Institute of Integration and appear on their site. 

I started developing my third project with the working title "The Fright and Thrill of Navigation: Seafaring in the Medieval and the Renaissance Mediterranean." 

I assessed my introduction and changed the title to Prelude: A Tale of Two Watercraft Brands. I took out two items about technology and diet: they will appear in later chapters. There are three topics now: The Galley, The Round Ship, and Comparison and Contrast. I will also attach the Reappraisal. When I finish, I will offer this paper to maritime magazines. 

I began writing chapter 1: Early War Galleys. It will cover 16 items. I described the sections about dimensions, design, and seaworthiness. I am preparing a list of primary sources and want to check my writing against them. 

The Lost and Found Tribes

A Typical Notice 

https://www.juliemeek.com.au/lost-and-found/ 

A new chapter, The Lost and Found Tribes, seems to bypass my narrative about the Alexander Gates. However, it introduces the issue of the Ten Lost Tribes as it emerges both in history and in Biblical and post-Biblical Jewish thought. 

The Lost Tribes occupy an integral part of the Alexander legend and I thought it was important to explain how this topic had emerged before interweaving it with the medieval story. 

Chapter 6 of Unit IV entitled "In the Shadow of the Iron Gates" develops the following threads:

the collapse of Samaria and the rise of Jerusalem, the vision of the Biblical prophets about the return of the deportees, Mount Gerizim vs. Mount Zion, and the Emergence of the Ten Tribes. 

Besides helping the understanding of the peculiar twist of the medieval legend, this extract contributes to my understanding of the history of ancient Israel. You can view my previous approaches to this field: 

"The Generation of Exodus"

https://scriggler.com/DetailPost/Opinion/26251  

"Mesha the Dibonite Recovers His Voice"

https://scriggler.com/DetailPost/Opinion/27980 

I intend to use these materials in preparation for Book Four if I live that long. 

I think that the turbulent times of the Assyrian and Babylonian periods led to the emergence of the legend of the Ten Tribes. In actual history, most of the Israelites continued to reside in their land and eventually evolved into the Samaritans whose male lineages have been retained until this day. Their daughters, if they married the foreigners, would cease belonging to the "holy seed". 

Meanwhile, my narrative will turn to the medieval development of the Alexander legend where the Ten Tribes enclosed by the Iron Gates will oppose the civilized world, being enlisted in the host of the Antichrist.