"If You Are Not the King You Will Be Eventually ": Eastern and Western Prophecies Concerning the Rise of Emperors
This article compares three literary-historical texts—two from the Jewish world and one from Mongolia—that record prophecies given to military commanders asserting that they will become the rulers of great empires and civilizations. In his The Jewish War, Josephus tells us that he prophesied that Ve...
| Veröffentlicht in: | Religions |
|---|---|
| 1. VerfasserIn: | |
| Medienart: | Elektronisch Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Verfügbarkeit prüfen: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Lade...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Veröffentlicht: |
MDPI
[2020]
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| In: |
Religions
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| weitere Schlagwörter: | B
Vespasian
B Josephus B comparative phenomenology B Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai B Genghis Khan B great civilizations B Prophecy |
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Vermutlich kostenfreier Zugang Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Zusammenfassung: | This article compares three literary-historical texts—two from the Jewish world and one from Mongolia—that record prophecies given to military commanders asserting that they will become the rulers of great empires and civilizations. In his The Jewish War, Josephus tells us that he prophesied that Vespasian would become emperor, an act that appears to have saved his life. A rabbinic tradition, related in several versions, similarly recounts that R. Johanan b. Zakkai prophesied that Vespasian would rise to power—he, too, thus being granted his freedom and the opportunity to rebuild his life and community in Yavneh. I compare Josephus and R. Johanan's prophecies in the light of The Secret History of the Mongols. A chronicle describing the life of Temüjin, the founder of the Mongol Empire who gained fame as Genghis Khan (1162-1227), this tells how Temüjin, the young commander, was predicted to unite all the Mongol tribes and rule over a vast empire. The article analyzes the three prophecies, which occur in diverse genres, in the light of their historical background, hereby demonstrating the way in which written sources can serve anthropological phenomenological research and shed new light on ancient Jewish texts. |
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| ISSN: | 2077-1444 |
| Enthält: | Enthalten in: Religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3390/rel11010004 |