Syriac Alexander Legend

For the first time in this text, the motifs of Gates of Alexander, an apocalyptic incursion, and the barbarian tribes of Gog and Magog are fused into a single narrative.

[6] The old consensus, since Theodor Nöldeke, placed the provenance of the Syriac Alexander Legend in north Mesopotamia in around 629–630 CE, shortly after Heraclius defeated the Sasanians.

This prophecy whereby the Huns break through the gates is linked to the invasion of the Sabir people in 515 AD as Syriac texts would use the Seleucid calendrical system which began in 1 October, 312 BCE; by subtracting 311 or 312, a date of 514/5 is arrived at, representing a vaticinium ex eventu.

A second prophecy of an incursion appears for 940 SE, pinpointing to 628/9 AD and corresponds with the invasion of Armenia by the Turkic Khazars (not to be confused with a reference to the Turks which may not occur in this type of literature until the ninth century),[16] although this may have been an interpolation that was made into the text during the reign of Heraclius to update the narrative for a contemporary political situation.

The Pseudo-Methodius, written originally in Syriac, is considered the source of the Gog and Magog tale incorporated into Western versions of the Alexander Romance.

[28][29] The Pseudo-Methodius (7th century[30]) is the first source in the Christian tradition for a new element: two mountains moving together to narrow the corridor, which was then sealed with a gate against Gog and Magog.

[e][35] In the latest and longest Greek version[f] are described the Unclean Nations, which include the Goth and Magoth as their kings, and whose people engage in the habit of eating worms, dogs, human cadavers and fetuses.

[h][38] In the verse Roman d'Alexandre, Branch III, of Lambert le Tort (c. 1170), Gog and Magog ("Gos et Margos", "Got et Margot") were vassals to Porus, king of India, providing an auxiliary force of 400,000 men.

[k][39][40] Branch IV of the poetic cycle tells that the task of guarding Gog and Magog, as well as the rule of Syria and Persia was assigned to Antigonus, one of Alexander's successors.

[43] In turn, Tesei has argued that the narrative differences are minor compared to the coherence between the texts, and that a direct relationship is bolstered by the presence of many elements unique to the Legend in the account of Dhu al-Qarnayn.