Editing Gog and Magog

{{short description|Pair of individuals, peoples, or lands in the Bible and the Quran}}
{{For-text|the statues in London|[[Gogmagog (giant)|Gogmagog]] and [[Corineus]]|the ancient oak trees|[[Oaks of Albion]]|the hills|[[Gog Magog Hills]]|the album by The Trials of Cato|[[Gog Magog (album)]]|other uses|[[Gog (disambiguation)]] and [[Magog (disambiguation)]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
[[Image:Wauquelin-histoire-bnf-fr9342-fol131v-peuple-de-gog-et-magog.jpg|thumb|The Gog and Magog people being walled off by Alexander's forces.{{right|–[[Jean Wauquelin]]'s ''Book of Alexander''. Bruges, Belgium, 15th century}}|upright=1.35]]
'''Gog and Magog''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|g|ɒ|g|...|ˈ|m|eɪ|g|ɒ|g}}; {{langx|he|גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג|Gōg ū-Māgōg}}) or '''Ya'juj and Ma'juj''' ({{langx|ar|يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ|Yaʾjūj<sup>u</sup> wa-Maʾjūj<sup>u</sup>}}) are a pair of names that appear in the [[Bible]] and the [[Quran|Qur'an]], variously ascribed to individuals, tribes, or lands. In [[Ezekiel 38]], Gog is an individual and Magog is his land.{{sfn|Lust|1999b|pp=373–374}} By the time of the [[New Testament]]'s [[Revelation 20]] ({{Bibleverse|Revelation|20:8|KJV}}), Jewish tradition had come to view Ezekiel's "Gog ''from'' Magog" as "Gog ''and'' Magog".{{r|boring}}

The Gog prophecy is meant to be fulfilled at the approach of what is called the "[[Eschatology|end of days]]", but not necessarily the end of the world. [[Jewish eschatology]] viewed Gog and Magog as enemies to be defeated by the [[Messiah in Judaism|Messiah]], which would usher in the age of the Messiah. One view within [[Christianity]] is more starkly [[Apocalypse|apocalyptic]], making Gog and Magog allies of [[Satan]] against God at the end of the [[Millennialism|millennium]], as described in the [[Book of Revelation]].{{r|mounce}}

A legend was attached to Gog and Magog by the time of the [[Pax Romana|Roman period]], that the [[Gates of Alexander]] were erected by [[Alexander the Great]] to repel the tribe. Romanized Jewish historian [[Josephus]] knew them as the nation descended from Magog the [[Japhetites|Japhetite]], as in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], and explained them to be the [[Scythians]]. In the hands of Early Christian writers they became apocalyptic hordes. Throughout the [[Middle Ages]], they were variously identified as the [[Vikings]], [[Huns]], [[Khazars]], [[Mongols]] or other [[Eurasian nomads|nomads]], or even the [[Ten Lost Tribes]] of [[Israelites|Israel]].

The legend of Gog and Magog and the gates were also interpolated into the [[Alexander Romance]]s. According to one interpretation, "Goth and Magothy" are the kings of the Unclean Nations whom Alexander drove through a mountain pass and prevented from crossing his new wall. Gog and Magog are said to engage in [[human cannibalism]] in the romances and derived literature. They have also been depicted on medieval cosmological maps, or ''[[mappa mundi|mappae mundi]]'', sometimes alongside Alexander's wall.

The conflation of Gog and Magog with the legend of Alexander and the Iron Gates was disseminated throughout the Near East in the early centuries of the Christian and Islamic era.{{sfn|Bietenholz|1994|p=123}} They appear in the [[Quran]] in chapter [[Al-Kahf]] as ''Yajuj'' and ''Majuj'', primitive and immoral tribes that were separated and barriered off by [[Dhu al-Qarnayn]] ("He of the Two Horns") who is mentioned in the Quran as a great righteous ruler and conqueror.{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|pp=57, fn 3}} Some contemporary Muslim historians and geographers regarded the [[Vikings]] as the emergence of Gog and Magog.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b4MjAQAAMAAJ&q=vikings+and+gog+and+magog|title=Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe, A.D. 700–1100|first=P. H.|last=Sawyer|date=April 10, 1982|publisher=Methuen|isbn=9780416741902|via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Names==
{{Eschatology}}
The names are mentioned together in [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] [[Ezekiel 38|chapter 38]], where Gog is an individual and Magog is his land.{{sfn|Lust|1999b|pp=373–374}} The meaning of the name Gog remains uncertain, and in any case, the author of the Ezekiel prophecy seems to attach no particular importance to it.{{sfn|Lust|1999b|pp=373–374}} Efforts have been made to identify him with various individuals, notably [[Gyges of Lydia|Gyges]], a king of [[Lydia]] in the early 7th century BC, but many scholars do not believe he is related to any historical person.{{sfn|Lust|1999b|pp=373–374}}

In [[Genesis 10]] Magog is described as a son of [[Japheth]], and a grandson of [[Noah]], although there is no mention there of a person named Gog. The name Magog itself is of obscure origin. It is often associated with Assyrian ''mat-Gugu'', "Land of Gyges", i.e., Lydia.{{r|gmirkin}} Alternatively, Gog may be derived from Magog rather than the other way around, and "Magog" may be code for [[Babylon]].{{efn|The encryption technique is called ''[[atbash]]''. BBL ("Babylon") when read backwards and displaced by one letter becomes MGG (Magog).}}{{sfn|Lust|1999a|p=536}}{{sfn|Bøe|2001|loc=p. 84, fn. 31}}<ref>{{harvp|Lust|1999a}} and {{harvp|Bøe|2001}} cite Brownlee (1983) "Son of Man Set Your Face: Ezekiel the Refugee Prophet", ''HUCA'' '''54'''.</ref>

The form "Gog and Magog" may have emerged as shorthand for "Gog and/of the land of Magog", based on their usage in the [[Septuagint]], the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.{{sfn|Buitenwerf|2007|p=166}} An example of this combined form in Hebrew (''Gog u-Magog'') has been found, but its context is unclear, being preserved only in a fragment of the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]].{{efn|4Q523 scroll}}{{sfn|Buitenwerf|2007|p=172}} In Revelation, Gog and Magog together are the hostile nations of the world.{{sfn|Bøe|2001|pp=89–90}}{{r|mounce}} Gog the [[Reubenite]]{{sfn|Bøe|2001|p=49}} occurs in [[1 Chronicles]] {{bibleverse-nb|1 Chronicles|5:4|KJV}}, but he has no connection with the Gog of Ezekiel or Magog of Genesis.{{sfn|Bøe|2001|p=1}}

The Biblical "Gog and Magog" possibly gave derivation of the name [[Gogmagog (giant)|Gogmagog]], a legendary British giant.{{efn|The giant mentioned by [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]] in ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' (1136 AD).<!--Simpson & Roud (2000)-->}}<ref>{{citation|last1=Simpson |first1=Jacqueline |last2=Roud |first2=Stephen |author-link1=Jacqueline Simpson |author-link2=Steve Roud |title=Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |at=Gogmagog (or Gog and Magog) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iTcdvd1iRXsC&pg=PT409 |isbn=9780192100191}}</ref> A later corrupted folk rendition in print altered the tradition around Gogmagog and [[Corineus]] with two giants Gog and Magog, with whom the [[Guildhall, London|Guildhall]] statues came to be identified.<ref>{{citation|last=Fairholt |first=Frederick William  |author-link=Frederick William Fairholt |title=Gog and Magog: The Giants in Guildhall; Their Real and Legendary History |publisher=John Camden Hotten |year=1859 |pages=8–11, 130|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8VoQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA8}}</ref>

==Jewish texts==
===Ezekiel===
[[File:Flemish - Ezekiel's Vision of the Sign "Tau" (Ezekiel IX -2-7) - Walters 44616 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Ezekiel's Vision of the Sign "Tau" from Ezekiel IX:2–7. {{right|—[[Mosan art|Mosan]] [[champlevé]] panel, mid-12th century.}}]]
The [[Book of Ezekiel]] records a series of visions received by the prophet [[Ezekiel]], a priest of [[Solomon's Temple]], who was among the captives during the [[Babylonian captivity|Babylonian exile]]. The exile, he tells his fellow captives, is [[God in Judaism|God]]'s punishment on Israel for turning away, but God will restore his people to [[Jerusalem]] when they return to him.{{sfn|Blenkinsopp|1996|p=178}} After this message of reassurance, chapters [[Wikisource:Bible (World English)/Ezekiel#Chapter 38|38–39]], the Gog oracle, tell how Gog of Magog and his hordes will threaten the restored Israel but will be destroyed, after which God will establish a new Temple and dwell with his people for a period of lasting peace (chapters 40–48).{{r|bullock}}

{{blockquote|"Son of man, direct your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince, leader of [[Meshech]] and [[Tubal]], and prophesy concerning him. Say: Thus said the Lord: Behold, I am against you, Gog, the prince, leader of Meshech and Tubal&nbsp;... [[Persia]], [[Cush (Bible)|Cush]] and Put will be with you&nbsp;... also [[Gomer]] with all its troops, and Beth [[Togarmah]] from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you."<!-- passage is dialogue, don't remove quotation marks --><ref>{{Bibleverse|Ezekiel|38|NRSV}} (NRSV)</ref>}}

Internal evidence indicates that the Gog oracle was composed substantially later than the chapters around it.{{efn|Composed between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC<!--Tooman (2011), p. 271-->}}{{sfn|Tooman|2011|p=271}} Of Gog's allies, Meshech and Tubal were 7th-century BC kingdoms in central [[Anatolia]] north of Israel, Persia towards the east, Cush (Ethiopia) and Put (Libya) to the south; Gomer is the [[Cimmerians]], a nomadic people north of the Black Sea, and Beth Togarmah was on the border of Tubal.{{sfn|Block|1998|pp=72–73, 439–440}} The confederation thus represents a multinational alliance surrounding Israel.{{r|hays-duvall-pate}} "Why the prophet's gaze should have focused on these particular nations is unclear", comments Biblical scholar [[Daniel I. Block]], but their remoteness and reputation for violence and mystery possibly "made Gog and his confederates perfect symbols of the archetypal enemy, rising against God and his people".{{sfn|Block|1998|p=436}} One explanation is that the Gog alliance, a blend of the "[[Generations of Noah|Table of Nations]]" in Genesis 10 and [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]]'s trading partners in Ezekiel 27, with Persia added, was cast in the role of end-time enemies of Israel by means of Isaiah 66:19, which is another text of eschatological foretelling.{{sfn|Tooman|2011|pp=147–148}}

Although the prophecy refers to Gog as an enemy in some future, it is not clear if the confrontation is meant to occur in a final "[[Eschatology|end of days]]" since the Hebrew term ''aḥarit ha-yamim'' ({{langx|he|אחרית הימים}}) may merely mean "latter days", and is open to interpretation. Twentieth-century scholars have used the term to denote the [[Eschatology|eschaton]] in a malleable sense, not necessarily meaning final days, or tied to the Apocalypse.<!--p.94-->{{efn|Tooman's view is that the "latter days" means "the end of history-as-we-know-it and the initiation of a new historical age".<!--Tooman, p.96-->}}{{sfn|Tooman|2011|pp=94–97}} Still, the Utopia of chapters 40–48 can be spoken of in the parlance of "true [[eschatology|eschatological]] character, given that it is a product of "cosmic conflict" described in the immediately preceding Gog chapters.{{r|petersen}}

The Septuagint reads "Gog" instead of "Agag" in Numbers 24:7.

[[File:Toulouse ms 815-049v-Gog&Magog.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Gog and Magog besiege the City of Saints. Their depiction with the hooked noses noted by [[Paul Meyer (philologist)|Paul Meyer]].<ref name="meyer-apocalypse">{{citation|last=Meyer |first=Paul |title=Version anglo-normande en vers de l'Apocalypse |journal=Romania |year=1896 |volume=25  |issue=98 |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k16033k/f186.item.zoom |pages=176 (plate), and 246, p. 257 note 2 |doi=10.3406/roma.1896.5446 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><br />{{right|—Old French ''Apocalypse'' in verse, <!--Bibliothèque municipale de-->Toulouse MS. 815, fol. 49v}}]]
[[File:Apokalipsis trekhtolkoviy (1909) 64 - O Goze i Magoze.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|Devil, Gog and Magog attack the Holy City (from a 17th-century Russian manuscript)]]
Over the next few centuries Jewish tradition changed Ezekiel's Gog ''from'' Magog into Gog ''and'' Magog.{{r|boring}} The process, and the shifting geography of Gog and Magog, can be traced through the literature of the period. The 3rd book of the [[Sibylline Oracles]], for example, which originated in Egyptian Judaism in the middle of the 2nd century BC,{{r|wardle}} changes Ezekiel's "Gog from Magog" to "Gog and Magog", links their fate with up to eleven other nations, and places them "in the midst of [[Aethiopia]]n rivers"; this seems a strange location, but ancient geography did sometimes place Ethiopia next to Persia or even India.{{sfn|Bøe|2001|pp=142–144}} The passage has a highly uncertain text, with manuscripts varying in their groupings of the letters of the Greek text into words, leading to different readings; one group of manuscripts ("group Y") links them with the "[[Moesia|Marsians]] and [[Dacia]]ns", in eastern Europe, amongst others.{{sfn|Bøe|2001|pp=145–146}}

The [[Book of Jubilees]], from about the same time, makes three references to either Gog or Magog: in the first, Magog is a descendant of Noah, as in Genesis 10; in the second, Gog is a region next to Japheth's borders; and in the third, a portion of Japheth's land is assigned to Magog.{{sfn|Bøe|2001|p=153}} The 1st-century {{lang|la|[[Pseudo-Philo|Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum]]}}, which retells Biblical history from Adam to Saul, is notable for listing and naming seven of Magog's sons, and mentions his "thousands" of descendants.{{sfn|Bøe|2001|pp=186–189}} The [[Samaritan Torah]] and the [[Septuagint]] (a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible made during the last few centuries of the pre-Christian era) occasionally introduce the name of Gog where the Hebrew original has something else, or use Magog where the Hebrew has Gog, indicating that the names were interchangeable.{{sfn|Lust|1999a|pp=536–537}}

===Midrashic writings===
The anti-Roman [[Bar Kokhba revolt]] in the 2nd century AD looked to a human leader as the promised [[messiah]], but after its failure Jews began to conceive of the messianic age in supernatural terms: first would come a forerunner, the [[Messiah ben Joseph]], who would defeat Israel's enemies, identified as Gog and Magog, to prepare the way for the [[Jewish messianism|Messiah ben David]];{{Refn|group=lower-alpha|The coming of the Messiah ben David "is contemporary with or just after that of Messiah ben Joseph" (van der Woude (1974), p. 527).{{sfn|Bøe|2001|p=201}}}} then the dead would rise, divine judgement would be handed out, and the righteous would be rewarded.{{r|shengold-jewish-encyclopedia}}{{sfn|Bøe|2001|pp=201–204}}

The [[aggadah]], homiletic and non-legalistic exegetical texts in the [[classical rabbinic literature]] of [[Judaism]], treat Gog and Magog as two names for the same nation who will come against Israel in the final war.{{sfn|Skolnik|Berenbaum|2007|p=684}} The rabbis associated no specific nation or territory with them beyond a location to the north of Israel,<ref>[[Mikraot Gedolot]] HaMeor p. 400</ref> but the great Jewish scholar [[Rashi]] identified the Christians as their allies and said God would thwart their plan to kill all Israel.{{r|grossman}}

===Commentary on Torah portion "Nasso"===
The "Fruit of the Righteous" or "Pri Tzaddik" on the weekly portion Nasso, connects Gog uMagog with '''[[Amalek]]'''. In this work from [[Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin]] it can be read in chapter 15:2:<blockquote>"And after all of this, there still will be war of Gog uMagog upon the [[Messiah ben Joseph|Messiah son of Yoseph]], for Gog uMagog is the seed of Amalek, and Amalek corresponds always to the opposite of the sanctity of Israel, deeply...".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rabinowitz |first=Zadok HaKohen |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Peri_Tzadik%2C_Nasso.15.2?vhe=Pri_Tzaddik,_Lublin,_1901&lang=en&with=all&lang2=en |title=Pri Tzaddik}}</ref></blockquote>Similarly, in the Tanakh, book of Judges 5:14 (JPS 1985) it can be read: <blockquote>"From Ephraim came they whose roots are in Amalek".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Judges 5:14 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Judges.5.14?ven=Tanakh:_The_Holy_Scriptures,_published_by_JPS&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en |access-date=2024-11-08 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref></blockquote>

==Christian texts==

=== Revelation ===
Chapters 19:11–21:8 of the [[Book of Revelation]], dating from the end of the 1st century AD,{{r|stuckenbruck}} tell how [[Satan]] is to be imprisoned for a thousand years, and how, on his release, he will rally "the nations in the four corners of the Earth, Gog and Magog", to a final battle with Christ and his saints:{{r|mounce}}

<blockquote>When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the Earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.<ref>{{Bibleverse | Revelation | 20:7–10 | NIV}} (NIV)</ref></blockquote>

=== Alexander Romance ===
The ''[[Alexander Romance]]'' of Pseudo-Callisthenes describes gates constructed by [[Alexander the Great]] between two mountains called the "Breasts of the North" ({{langx|el|Μαζοί Βορρά}}). The mountains are initially 18 feet apart and the pass is rather wide, but Alexander's prayers to [[God]] causes the mountains to draw nearer, thus narrowing the pass. There he builds the Caspian Gates out of bronze, coating them with fast-sticking oil. The gates enclosed twenty-two nations and their monarchs, including Gog and Magog (therein called "Goth and Magoth"). The geographic location of these mountains is rather vague, described as a 50-day march away northwards after Alexander put to flight his Belsyrian enemies (the [[Bebryces|Bebrykes]],{{sfn|Anderson|1932|p=35}} of [[Bithynia]] in modern-day North [[Turkey]]).{{sfn|Stoneman|1991|pp=185–187}}

Christian texts following in the tradition of the Alexander Romance, such as the [[Syriac Alexander Legend]] (late 7th century) and the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius (7th century) would continue to identify Gog and Magog as among those barbarian groups encapsulated behind Alexander's walls, but they would also combine this with the apocalyptic motif of Revelation and assert that the end of the world would also involve the barbarian groups penetrating through the wall and bringing about the apocalypse.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Häberl |first=Charles |title=Gog and Magog: contributions toward a world history of an apocalyptic motif |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=9783110720150 |editor-last=Tamer |editor-first=Georges |series=Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - tension, transmission, transformation |location=Berlin Boston |pages=259–260 |chapter=The Enclosed Nations of Mandaean Lore |editor-last2=Mein |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-last3=Greisiger |editor-first3=Lutz}}</ref>

==Islamic texts==
[[Image:Iranischer Meister 001.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|Iskandar (Alexander) builds a wall to seal Yajuj and Majuj; here aided by [[Div (Persian mythology)|dīvs]] (demons). [[Persian miniature]] from a ''[[Falnama]]'', 16th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbl.ie/cbl_image_gallery/search/detail.aspx?imageId=1473&ImageNumber=D0006377&page=0 |title=Iskandar Oversees the Building of the Wall |work=image gallery |author=Chester Beatty Library |access-date=2016-08-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis|type=Ph. D|last=Amín |first=Haila Manteghí |title=La Leyenda de Alejandro segn el Šāhnāme de Ferdowsī. La transmisión desde la versión griega hast ala versión persa |publisher=Universidad de Alicante |year=2014 |url=https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/41360/1/tesis_manteghi_amin.pdf |at=p.&nbsp;196 and Images 14, 15}}</ref>]]
Two chapters of the [[Quran|Qur'an]], [[Al-Kahf|''Al Kahf'']] (Chapter 18) and ''[[Al-Anbiya]]'' (Chapter 21), discuss Gog and Magog. In the Qur'an, Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog) are suppressed by [[Dhu al-Qarnayn]] ({{Langx|ar|ذو القرنين|lit=the two-horned one}}).{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|pp=57, fn 3}} Dhul-Qarnayn, having journeyed to the ends of the world, meets "a people who scarcely understood a word" who seek his help in building a barrier that will separate them from the people of Ya'juj and Ma'juj who "do great mischief on earth". He agrees to build it for them, but warns that when the time comes (Last Age), God will remove the barrier.<!--{{sfn|Hughes|1895|p=148}}-->{{r|dict-islam}}
[[File:Muhammad ibn Muhammad Shakir Ruzmah-'i Nathani - The Monster of Gog and Magog - Walters W659190B - Full Page.jpg|thumb|The Monster of Gog and Magog, by [[Zakariya al-Qazwini|al-Qazwini]] (1203–1283).]]
[[File:Emperor Theophilos Chronicle of John Skylitzes.jpg|thumb|A Byzantine ruler protected by two [[Vikings]], often compared with Gog and Magog]]

The early Muslim traditions were summarised by [[Zakariya al-Qazwini]] (d. 1283) in two popular works called the Cosmography and the Geography. Gog and Magog, he says, live near to the sea that encircles the Earth and can be counted only by God; this sea is claimed to be the [[Caspian Sea|Caspian sea]], [[Black Sea|Black sea]] or [[Sea of Azov|the Sea of Azov]]. They are human, but only half the height of a normal man, with claws instead of nails, and a hairy tail and huge hairy ears which they use as mattress and cover for sleeping.{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|pp=65–68}} They dig into their wall each day until they almost break through. They break for the night saying, "Tomorrow we will finish", but each night God restores it. Then one day, as they stop digging for the night, one will say, "Tomorrow we will finish, God Willing", and in the morning, it is not restored as with every night. When they do break through, they will be so numerous that, "Their vanguard is in [[Syria (region)|Syria]] and their rear in [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]]".{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|p=74}}

=== Location of the wall ===
The wall dividing them from civilized peoples was normally placed towards today's [[Armenia]] and [[Azerbaijan]], but in the year 842 the [[Caliph]] [[Al-Wathiq]] had a dream in which he saw that it had been breached, and sent an official named Sallam to investigate (this may be related to [[Epic of Ergenekon|Ergenekon]]).{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|pp=xvii–xviii, 82}} Sallam returned a little over two years later and reported that he had seen the wall and also the tower where Dhul Qarnayn had left his building equipment, and all was still intact.{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|pp=xvii–xviii, 244}} It is not entirely clear what Sallam saw, but he may have reached [[Derbent]] in the Caucasus or the [[Jade Gate]] and the westernmost customs point on the border of China.{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|pp=xvii–xviii}} Somewhat later the 14th-century traveller [[Ibn Battuta]] reported that the wall was sixty days' travel from the city of [[Quanzhou|Zeitun]], which is on the coast of China; the translator notes that Ibn Battuta has confused the [[Great Wall of China]] with that built by [[Dhul-Qarnayn]].{{r|gibb-beckingham}}

=== Identifications ===
[[File:Quran Surah Al Kahf.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Surah Al Kahf Story of Gog and Magog]]
Various nations and peoples in history were identified as Ya'juj and Ma'juj. At one point, it was the Turks, who threatened [[Baghdad]] and northern Iran;{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|pp=82–84}} later, when the Mongols destroyed Baghdad in 1258, it was they who were Gog and Magog.{{sfn|Filiu|2011|p=30}} Others regarded the [[Vikings]] and their descendants as Gog and Magog, since the unknown group from [[Scandinavia]] had made their sudden and considerable entry into the [[history of Europe]].<ref name="auto"/> Viking travelers and colonists were seen at many points in history as violent raiders. Many historical documents suggest that their conquests of other territories was retaliation in response to the encroachment upon tribal lands by [[Christian mission]]aries, and perhaps by the [[Saxon Wars]] prosecuted by [[Charlemagne]] and his kin to the south.<ref name="Rudolf Simek 2005, p. 24–25">Simek, Rudolf (2005) "the emergence of the viking age: circumstances and conditions", "The vikings first Europeans VIII&nbsp;– XI century&nbsp;– the new discoveries of archaeology", other, pp. 24–25</ref><ref name="Bruno Dumézil 2005">Bruno Dumézil, master of Conference at Paris X–Nanterre, Normalien, aggregated history, author of conversion and freedom in the barbarian kingdoms. 5th&nbsp;– 8th centuries (Fayard, 2005)</ref><ref name="annals R.20">"Franques Royal Annals" cited in Sawyer, Peter (2001) ''The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings''. {{ISBN|0-19-285434-8}}. p. 20</ref><ref name="Decaux 1981 pp. 184">Decaux, Alain and Castelot, André (1981) ''Dictionnaire d'histoire de France''. Perrin. {{ISBN|2-7242-3080-9}}. pp. 184–85</ref><ref name="Boyer, R. 2008 p. 96">Boyer, R. (2008) ''Les Vikings: histoire, mythes, dictionnaire''. R. Laffont. {{ISBN|978-2-221-10631-0}}. p. 96</ref> Researches of professors and philosophers such as [[Muhammad Iqbal|Allama Muhammad Iqbal]], [[Abul A'la Maududi|Syeed Abul Ala Mawdudi]], who played important roles in British and South Asian politics, and American academic [[Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi]] and Caribbean eschatologist [[Imran N. Hosein]], compare the languages, behaviors and sexual activities of the tribes of Gog and Magog with those of Vikings.<ref name="Lund">Lund, Niels "The Danish Empire and the End of the Viking Age", in Sawyer, ''History of the Vikings'', pp. 167–181.</ref><ref>[http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/TheAnglo-Saxonkings/Sweyn.aspx The Royal Household, "Sweyn"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129012256/http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/TheAnglo-Saxonkings/Sweyn.aspx |date=29 November 2014 }}, ''The official Website of The British Monarchy'', 15 March 2015, accessed 15 March 2015</ref><ref name="Lawson">Lawson, M K (2004). "Cnut: England's Viking King 1016–35". The History Press Ltd, 2005, {{ISBN|978-0582059702}}.</ref><ref>[http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/TheAnglo-Saxonkings/CanutetheGreat.aspx The Royal Household, "Canute The Great"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129012257/http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/TheAnglo-Saxonkings/CanutetheGreat.aspx |date=29 November 2014 }}, ''The official Website of The British Monarchy'', 15 March 2015, accessed 15 March 2015</ref><ref name="Badsey et al.">Badsey, S. Nicolle, D, Turnbull, S (1999). "The Timechart of Military History". Worth Press Ltd, 2000, {{ISBN|1-903025-00-1}}.</ref>

Some scholars further attempt to relate Yajuj and Majuj to the Lake of Tiberias, currently known as the [[Sea of Galilee]], the [[Earth]]'s lowest freshwater lake, and the Dead Sea.<ref>[[Sahih Muslim]], 2937, The Book of Tribulations and Portents of the Last Hour</ref> Historian and exegete [[Ibn Kathir]] mentioned similar theories in his book ''[[Al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya]]'' and mentions "Gog and Magog are two groups of Turks, descended from Yafith (Japheth), the father of the Turks, one of the sons of Noah".<ref>(Shahadat-ul-Qur’an, Ruhani Khazain, Volume 6, Pages 361–362</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://ghayb.com/tag/gog-and-magog/ | title=Gog and magog Archives }}</ref>

=== In Indomalayan tradition ===
In [[Malaysia]]n-[[Indonesia]]n tradition, stories about Gog and Magog were introduced by way of translation from [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]]-era [[Arabic]] texts by religious authorities. They increasingly became prominent during the 16th century, a period of heightened political rivalry and conflict. For example, a text known as the ''Hikayat Ya’juj wa-Ma’juj'' was read by some Malay warriors fighting against the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]]. Similarly, a poem originating in early 19th century [[Surakarta]], a city located on the Indonesian island of [[Java]], goes as far as to subvert Quranic teaching in order to use the story of Gog and Magog to vilify colonists from the [[Dutch colonial empire]]. Another text was the ''Hikayat Raja Iskandar'' ("Story of King Alexander"). This version argued, contrary to other traditions where both Gog and Magog variously descend from Adam, Noah, or Jesus, that Gog descended from the semen Adam produced while he dreamt of intercourse with Eve, and that Magog descended from the menstrual blood of Eve. Alexander ("Iskandar") is taught this story by the prophet [[Khidr]]. Nūr ad-Dīn ar-Ranīrī (d. 1658), a Gujariti scholar, depicted Gog and Magog as infidel tribes that eat dogs, descendants of Noah, and originally from Turkey.<ref>{{Citation |last=Daneshgar |first=Majid |title=Gog and Magog |chapter=Gog and Magog in Malay-Indonesian Islamic Exegetical Works |date=2023-12-31 |pages=597–616 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110720235-022/html |access-date=2024-03-09 |publisher=De Gruyter |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783110720235-022 |isbn=978-3-11-072023-5|chapter-url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== In Sunni and Shia sources ===
According to a tradition in Shia sources, Yajooj and Majooj are not from the Children of Adam (the human race). Al-Kafi, one of their primary collections of ahadith although by a non-Shia chain, states that it has been narrated from [[Ibn Abbas]] that when he asked [[Ali]] about the "creatures", he responded by saying God has created "1,200 species on the land, 1,200 species in the sea, 70 species from the Children of Adam and the people are the Children of Adam except for the Yajooj and Majooj".<ref name="Kulayni">{{cite book |last1=al-Kulayni |first1=Muhammad ibn Ya‘qūb |title=Al-Kafi |date=2015 |publisher=Islamic Seminary Incorporated |isbn=9780991430864 |edition=Volume 8}}</ref> Al-Majlisi, an influential Shia scholar, quotes another tradition linking them to Chinese, Slavs, and Turkic people, and saying they are from the children of Adam, then saying that it is stronger than the former tradition and takes priority.<ref>[http://shiaonlinelibrary.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A8/1437_%D8%A8%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A-%D8%AC-%D9%A6/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9_316 Bihār al-Anwār, v06, p314].</ref>

Sunni sources, including those in [[Sahih Al-Bukhari]] and [[Sahih Muslim]], indicate that they are from the Children of Adam, and this is the belief of the overwhelming majority of Islamic scholars.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Story of Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog) form The Quran – Link To Islam |url=https://www.linktoislam.net/islamic-articles/article.aspx?id=40 |website=www.linktoislam.net}}</ref>  The "Abbasid orthodoxy" believed the [[Ilkhanate]] Mongol invaders who laid [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|siege to and then sacked Baghdad]], were Gog and Magog.{{sfn|Filiu|2011|p=54}} According to [[Sahih Muslim]], prophet Muhammad said:
{{blockquote|Then a people whom God had protected from him (dajjal) would come to Isa, son of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Maryam]], and he would wipe their faces and would inform them of their ranks in Paradise and it would be under such conditions that God would reveal to Isa (alaihis salam) these words: I have brought forth from amongst My servants such people against whom none would be able to fight; you take these people safely to Tur, and then God would send Gog and Magog and they would swarm down from every slope. The first of them would pass the lake of Tiberias and drink out of it. And when the last of them would pass, he would say: There was once water there.}}

==Alexander the Great==
{{See also|Gates of Alexander}}
<!--[[File:Derbent wall.jpg|thumb|upright|The Caspian Gates in Derbent, Russia, often identified with the Gates of Alexander]]-->
[[File:Abraham Cresques Atlas de cartes-GogiMagog-crop.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|Land of "Gog i Magog", its king mounted on a horse, followed by a procession (''lower half''); Alexander's Gate, showing Alexander, Antichrist, and mechanical trumpeters (''upper left'').{{sfn|Westrem|1998|pp=61–62}}{{sfn|Massing|1991|pages=31, 32 n60}}{{r|siebold-catalan}}{{right|—''[[Catalan Atlas]]'' (1375), Paris, [[Bibliothèque Nationale]].}}]]
The 1st-century Jewish historian [[Josephus]] equated Magog with the [[Scythians]] in ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'', but he never mentioned Gog.<ref name="Barry" /> In [[The Jewish War|another work]], Josephus recounts that the [[Alans]] (whom he calls a Scythian tribe) were given passage by the [[Hyrcania]]n king, a warder of an [[Gates of Alexander|iron gate]] built by Alexander.{{efn|1=Josephus, ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0146%3Abook%3D1%3Awhiston%20chapter%3D6%3Awhiston%20section%3D1 1.123] and [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0146%3Abook%3D18%3Awhiston+chapter%3D4%3Awhiston+section%3D4 18.97]; ''[[The Jewish War]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D7%3Awhiston%20chapter%3D7%3Awhiston%20section%3D4 7.244–51]}}<ref name="Barry">*{{Cite journal| doi = 10.2307/2846760| issn = 0038-7134| volume = 8| issue = 2| pages = 264–270| last1 = Barry| first1 = Phillips| last2 = Anderson| first2 = A. R.| title = Review of Alexander's Gate, Gog and Magog, and the Inclosed Nations| journal = Speculum| date = 1933| url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/2846760| jstor = 2846760| url-access = subscription}}</ref> By the time of Josephus, Alexander was already a Jewish folk hero.<ref name="Barry" /> However, the earliest fusion of Alexander's gate and the apocalyptic nations of Gog and Magog is a product of late antiquity, in what is known as the ''[[Syriac Legend of Alexander]]''.{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|p=17|loc="The episode of Alexander's building a wall against Gog and Magog, however, is not found in the oldest Greek, Latin, Armenian and Syriac versions of the ''Romance''. Though the Alexander Romance was decisive for the spreading of the new and supernatural image of Alexander the king in East and West, the barrier episode has not its origin in this text. The fusion of the motif of Alexander's barrier with the Biblical tradition of the apocalyptic peoples Gog and Magog appears in fact for the first time in the so called ''Syriac Alexander Legend''. This text is a short appendix attached to the Syriac manuscripts of the ''Alexander Romance''."}}

===Precursor texts in Syriac===

In the Syriac ''Alexander Legend'' dating to 629–630, Gog ({{langx|syr|ܓܘܓ|}}, gwg) and Magog ({{langx|syr|ܡܓܘܓ}}ܵ, mgwg) appear as kings of [[Huns|Hunnish]] nations.{{efn|Also called ''Christian Legend concerning Alexander'', ed. tr. by E. A. Wallis Budge. It has a long full-title, which in shorthand reads "An exploit of Alexander.. how.. he made a gate of iron, and shut it [against] the Huns".}}{{sfn|Budge|1889|loc='''II''', p. 150}} Written by a Christian based in Mesopotamia, the ''Legend'' is considered the first work to connect the Gates with the idea that Gog and Magog are destined to play a role in the apocalypse.{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|p=17}} The legend claims that Alexander carved prophecies on the face of the Gate, marking a date for when these Huns, consisting of 24 nations, will breach the Gate and subjugate the greater part of the world.{{efn|The first invasion, prophesied to occur 826 years after Alexander predicted, has been worked out to fall on 1 October 514; the second invasion on A.D. 629 ({{Harvnb|Boyle|1979|p=124}}).}}{{sfn|Budge|1889|loc='''II''', pp. 153–54}}{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|pp=17–21}}

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.{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|p=30}}{{sfn|Stoneman|1991|p=29}} The earlier-dated Syriac ''Alexander Legend'' contains a somewhat different treatment of the Gog and Magog material, which passed into the lost Arabic version,{{sfn|Boyle|1979|p=123}} or the Ethiopic and later Oriental versions of the Alexander romance.{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|p=32}}{{efn|The Ethiopic version derives from the lost Arabic version ({{harvnb|Boyle|1979|p=133}}).}}

The ''Pseudo-Methodius'' (7th century<ref>{{cite book|last=Griffith|first=Sidney Harrison|title=The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque: Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jn-tiP0b-PYC&pg=PA34|year=2008|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=9780691130156|page=34}}</ref>) 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. This idea is also in the Quran {{nowrap|(609–632 CE<ref>{{cite book |title=Chronology of Prophetic Events |author=Fazlur Rehman Shaikh |date=2001 |page=50 |publisher=Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd.}}</ref><ref name=LivRlgP338>''Living Religions: An Encyclopaedia of the World's Faiths'', Mary Pat Fisher, 1997, page 338, I.B. Tauris Publishers.</ref>),}} and found its way in the Western Alexander Romance.{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|p=21}}

===Alexander Romances===
This Gog and Magog legend is not found in earlier versions of the [[Alexander Romance]] of Pseudo-Callisthenes, whose oldest manuscript dates to the 3rd century,{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The oldest manuscript is recension α. The material is not found in the oldest Greek, Latin, Armenian, and Syriac versions.{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|pp=17, 21}}}} but an [[Interpolation (manuscripts)|interpolation]] into recensions around the 8th century.{{efn|Recension ε}}{{sfn|Stoneman |1991|pages=28–32}} In the latest and longest Greek version{{efn|Recension γ}} 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 [[cadaver]]s and fetuses.{{sfn|Stoneman|1991|pp=185–187}} They were allied to Belsyrians ([[Bebryces|Bebrykes]],{{sfn|Anderson|1932|p=35}} of [[Bithynia]] in modern-day North [[Turkey]]), and sealed beyond the "Breasts of the North"<!--Μαζοί Βορρά{{sfn|Anderson|1932|p=37}}-->, a pair of mountains fifty days' march away towards the north.{{efn|Alexander's prayer caused the mountains to move nearer, making the pass narrower, facilitating his building his gate. This is the aforementioned element first seen in pseudo-Methodius.}}{{sfn|Stoneman|1991|pp=185–187}}

Gog and Magog appear in somewhat later Old French versions of the romance.{{efn|Gog and Magog being absent in the ''[[Alexandreis]]'' (1080) of [[Walter of Châtillon]].}}{{sfn|Westrem|1998|p=57}} In the verse ''[[Roman d'Alexandre]]'', Branch III, of {{ill|Lambert le Tort|fr|Lambert le Tort}} (c. 1170), Gog and Magog ("Gos et Margos", "Got et Margot") were vassals to [[Porus the Elder|Porus]], king of India, providing an auxiliary force of 400,000 men.{{efn|Note the change in loyalties. According to the Greek version, Gog and Magog served the Belsyrians, whom Alexander fought them ''after'' completing his campaign against Porus.}} Routed by Alexander, they escaped through a [[Defile (geography)|defile]] in the mountains of [[Tus, Iran|Tus]] (or Turs),{{efn|"Tus" in Iran, near the Caspian south shore, known as [[Susia]] to the Greeks, is a city in the itinerary of the historical Alexander. Meyer does not make this identification, and suspects a corruption of ''mons Caspius'' etc.}} and were sealed by the wall erected there, to last until the advent of the Antichrist.{{efn|Branch III, [[laisse]]s 124–128.}}{{sfn|Armstrong|1937|loc=VI, p. 41}}<!--{{sfn|Fritze|1998|p=130}}-->{{sfn|Meyer|1886|loc=summary of §11 (Michel ed., pp. 295–313), pp. 169–170; appendix II on Gog and Magog episode, pp. 386–389; on third branch, pp. 213, 214}} 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 I Monophthalmus|Antigonus]], one of Alexander's successors.{{sfn|Meyer|1886|p=207}}

[[Image:Thomas-de-Kent-Bnf-fr24364-fol60v_-_gog-et-magog-mangent-gents.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Gog and Magog consuming humans.<br />{{right|—[[Thomas de Kent]]'s ''Roman de toute chevalerie'', Paris manuscript, 14th century}}]]
Gog and Magog also appear in [[Thomas de Kent]]'s ''Roman de toute chevalerie'' (c. 1180), where they are portrayed as cave-dwellers who consume human flesh. A condensed account occurs in a derivative work, the Middle English ''[[King Alisaunder]]'' (vv. 5938–6287).{{sfn|Anderson|1932|p=88}}{{r|harf-lancner}}{{r|akbari}} In the 13th-century French ''[[Roman d'Alexandre en prose]]'', Alexander has an encounter with cannibals who have taken over the role of Gog and Magog.{{r|warren}} This is a case of imperfect transmission, since the ''prose Alexander'''s source, the Latin work by Archpriest [[Leo of Naples]] known as ''Historia de Preliis'', does mention "Gogh et Macgogh", at least in some manuscripts.{{sfn|Michael|1982|p=133}}

The Gog and Magog are not only human flesh-eaters, but illustrated as men "a notably beaked nose" in examples such as the "[[Sawley map]]", an important example of ''[[mappa mundi]]''.{{sfnp|Westrem|1998|p=61}} Gog and Magog caricaturised as figures with hooked noses on a miniature depicting their attack of the Holy City, found in a manuscript of the ''Apocalypse'' in Anglo-Norman.{{efn|Toulouse manuscript 815, folio 49v.<!--Meyer ed., plate-->}}<ref name="meyer-apocalypse"/>

==Identifications==

=== Barbarian and nomadic identifications ===
Throughout [[Classical antiquity|classical]] and [[late antiquity]], Christian and Jewish writers identified Gog and Magog with a wide diversity of groups:

* '''Romans'''. This identification was made by [[Eusebius]].{{sfn|Lust|1999b|p=375}}
* '''Goths'''. Gog and Magog were connected to the [[Goths]] by [[Ambrose]] (d. 397) and [[Jordanes]] (d. 555). The latter believed that the Goths, Scythians, and [[Amazons]] were all the same.{{sfn|Bietenholz|1994|p=125}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The idea that Gog and Magog were connected with the Goths was longstanding; in the mid-16th century, Archbishop of Uppsala [[Johannes Magnus]] traced the royal family of [[Sweden]] back to Magog son of Japheth, via Suenno, progenitor of the Swedes, and Gog, ancestor of the Goths).{{r|derry}}}} The Goths also represent Gog and Magog in the ε and γ recensions of the [[Alexander Romance]], where the term "Gog and Magog" forms a portmanteau with "Goth" to form "Goth and Magoth".<ref name=":1" />
* '''Scythians'''. The Scythian identification was made by [[Josephus]], [[Jerome]] (d. 420), [[Jordanes]],{{sfn|Bietenholz|1994|p=125}} [[Theodore of Mopsuestia]], [[Theodoret|Theodoret of Cyrrhus]], [[Isidore of Seville]], [[Joannes Zonaras|John Zonaras]], and [[Otto of Freising]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Alemany |first=Agusti |title=Gog and Magog: contributions toward a world history of an apocalyptic motif |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=9783110720150 |editor-last=Tamer |editor-first=Georges |series=Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - tension, transmission, transformation |location=Berlin Boston |pages=38–40 |chapter=Beyond the Wall: Eurasian Steppe Nomads in the Gog and Magog Motif |editor-last2=Mein |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-last3=Greisiger |editor-first3=Lutz}}</ref>
* '''Sarmatians and Alans'''. This identification was made in [[Josephus]] (for whom the Scythians were a subgroup of the Alans), [[Pseudo-Hegesippus]], and the [[Chronicon Paschale]].<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Alemany |first=Agusti |title=Gog and Magog: contributions toward a world history of an apocalyptic motif |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=9783110720150 |editor-last=Tamer |editor-first=Georges |series=Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - tension, transmission, transformation |location=Berlin Boston |pages=40 |chapter=Beyond the Wall: Eurasian Steppe Nomads in the Gog and Magog Motif |editor-last2=Mein |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-last3=Greisiger |editor-first3=Lutz}}</ref>
* '''Huns'''. The [[Byzantine]] writer [[Procopius]] said it was the Huns Alexander had locked out,{{sfn|Bietenholz|1994|pp=125–126}} and in the [[Syriac Alexander Legend]] the kingdom of the Huns is also used to represent Gog and Magog.<ref name=":1" /> This identification can also be found in [[Andreas of Caesarea]], as well as multiple Syriac and Greek texts which followed the identification found in the Syriac Alexander Legend over the course of the seventh century and beyond: the [[Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem]], the [[Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius]], the ''Vita Alexandri'', and [[Michael the Syrian]].<ref name=":15">{{Cite book |last=Alemany |first=Agusti |title=Gog and Magog: contributions toward a world history of an apocalyptic motif |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=9783110720150 |editor-last=Tamer |editor-first=Georges |series=Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - tension, transmission, transformation |location=Berlin Boston |pages=40–42 |chapter=Beyond the Wall: Eurasian Steppe Nomads in the Gog and Magog Motif |editor-last2=Mein |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-last3=Greisiger |editor-first3=Lutz}}</ref>
* '''Haphthalites'''. This identification was made by [[Movses Kaghankatvatsi]].<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=Alemany |first=Agusti |title=Gog and Magog: contributions toward a world history of an apocalyptic motif |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=9783110720150 |editor-last=Tamer |editor-first=Georges |series=Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - tension, transmission, transformation |location=Berlin Boston |pages=42 |chapter=Beyond the Wall: Eurasian Steppe Nomads in the Gog and Magog Motif |editor-last2=Mein |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-last3=Greisiger |editor-first3=Lutz}}</ref>
* '''Avars and Magyars'''. This identification was made by [[Isidore of Seville]], [[Theodore Synkellos]], the ''Anonymi Bele regis notarii Gesta Hungarorum'', and the ''Chronicon Pictum''.<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Alemany |first=Agusti |title=Gog and Magog: contributions toward a world history of an apocalyptic motif |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=9783110720150 |editor-last=Tamer |editor-first=Georges |series=Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - tension, transmission, transformation |location=Berlin Boston |pages=43–44 |chapter=Beyond the Wall: Eurasian Steppe Nomads in the Gog and Magog Motif |editor-last2=Mein |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-last3=Greisiger |editor-first3=Lutz}}</ref>
* '''Turks'''. In Islamic tradition, the following authors identified Gog and Magog as the Turks: [[Abu Hurayra]], [[al-Dahhak ibn Muzahim]], [[Al-Baydawi]], Al-Qazwini, and [[Al-Majlisi]].<ref name=":17">{{Cite book |last=Alemany |first=Agusti |title=Gog and Magog: contributions toward a world history of an apocalyptic motif |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=9783110720150 |editor-last=Tamer |editor-first=Georges |series=Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - tension, transmission, transformation |location=Berlin Boston |pages=44–45 |chapter=Beyond the Wall: Eurasian Steppe Nomads in the Gog and Magog Motif |editor-last2=Mein |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-last3=Greisiger |editor-first3=Lutz}}</ref>
* '''Khazars'''. This identification was made by [[Aethicus Ister]], [[Iovane Sabanisje]], [[Christian of Stavelot]], [[Ahmad ibn Fadlan]], and the ''[[Hadith Dhulqarnayn]]''.<ref name=":18">{{Cite book |last=Alemany |first=Agusti |title=Gog and Magog: contributions toward a world history of an apocalyptic motif |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=9783110720150 |editor-last=Tamer |editor-first=Georges |series=Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - tension, transmission, transformation |location=Berlin Boston |pages=45–46 |chapter=Beyond the Wall: Eurasian Steppe Nomads in the Gog and Magog Motif |editor-last2=Mein |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-last3=Greisiger |editor-first3=Lutz}}</ref>
* '''Mongols and Tartars'''. This identification was made by the ''[[Historia de Preliis]]'', [[Richer of Senones]], [[Matthew Paris]], [[Marco Polo]], [[Hayton of Corycus]], [[Riccoldo da Monte di Croce]], and the ''Continuation of Barhebraeus''.<ref name=":19">{{Cite book |last=Alemany |first=Agusti |title=Gog and Magog: contributions toward a world history of an apocalyptic motif |date=2023 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=9783110720150 |editor-last=Tamer |editor-first=Georges |series=Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - tension, transmission, transformation |location=Berlin Boston |pages=50–51 |chapter=Beyond the Wall: Eurasian Steppe Nomads in the Gog and Magog Motif |editor-last2=Mein |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-last3=Greisiger |editor-first3=Lutz}}</ref> 
* '''Other'''. A Western monk named Fredegar seems to have Gog and Magog in mind in his description of savage hordes from beyond Alexander's gates who had assisted the Byzantine emperor [[Heraclius]] (610–641) against the Muslim [[Saracens]].{{sfn|Bietenholz|1994|pp=125–126}}

=== Eurasian steppes ===
As one nomadic people followed another on the Eurasian steppes, so the identification of Gog and Magog shifted. In the 9th and 10th centuries these kingdoms were identified by some with the lands of the [[Khazars]], a Turkic people whose leaders had converted to Judaism and whose empire dominated Central Asia–the 9th-century monk [[Christian of Stavelot]] referred to Gazari, said of the Khazars that they were "living in the lands of Gog and Magog" and noted that they were "circumcised and observing all [the laws of] Judaism".{{sfn|Brook|2006|pp=7–8, 96}}{{sfn|Westrem|1998|p=65}} Arab traveler ibn Fadlan also reported of this belief, writing around 921 he recorded that "Khazars are part of the Gog and Magog".{{sfn|Brook|2006|p=8}}

After the Khazars came the [[Mongols]], seen as a mysterious and invincible horde from the east who destroyed Muslim empires and kingdoms in the early 13th century; kings and popes took them for the legendary [[Prester John]], marching to save Christians from the Muslim [[Saracens]], but when they entered Poland and Hungary and annihilated Christian armies a terrified Europe concluded that they were "Magogoli", the offspring of Gog and Magog, released from the prison Alexander had constructed for them and heralding [[Armageddon]].{{sfn|Marshall|1993|pp=12, 120–122, 144}}

[[Europeans in Medieval China]] reported findings from their travels to the [[Mongol Empire]]. Some accounts and maps began to place the "Caspian Mountains", and Gog and Magog, just outside the [[Great Wall of China]]. The ''[[Tartar Relation]]'', an obscure account of [[Giovanni da Pian del Carpine|Friar Carpini]]'s 1240s journey to Mongolia, is unique in alleging that these Caspian Mountains in Mongolia, "where the Jews called Gog and Magog by their fellow countrymen are said to have been shut in by Alexander", were moreover purported by the Tartars to be magnetic, causing all iron equipment and weapons to fly off toward the mountains on approach.{{r|painter}} In 1251, the French friar [[André de Longjumeau]] informed his king that the Mongols originated from a desert further east, and an apocalyptic Gog and Magog ("Got and Margoth") people dwelled further beyond, confined by the mountains.{{sfn|William of Rubruck|Rockhill (tr.)|1900|pp=xxi, fn 2}} In the map of [[Muhammad al-Idrisi|Sharif Idrisi]], the land of Gog and Magog is drawn in the northeast corner (beyond Northeast Asia) and enclosed.<ref>Gow, Andrew. "Gog and Magog on Mappaemundi and early printed world maps: Orientalizing ethnography in the apocalyptic tradition." Journal of Early Modern History 2, no. 1 (1998): 61–88.</ref> Some medieval European world maps also show the location of the lands of Gog and Magog in the far northeast of Asia (and the northeast corner of the world).<ref>Van Duzer, Chet. "The Legends on the Yale Martellus Map." In Henricus Martellus's World Map at Yale (c. 1491), pp. 44–117. Springer, Cham, 2019.</ref>

In fact, Gog and Magog were held by the Mongol to be their ancestors, at least by some segment of the population. As traveler and Friar [[Riccoldo da Monte di Croce]] put it in c. 1291, "They say themselves that they are descended from Gog and Magog: and on this account they are called ''Mogoli'', as if from a corruption of ''Magogoli''".{{sfn|Boyle|1979|p=126}}{{Sfn|Marco Polo|Yule (tr.)|1875|pp=285, fn 5}}{{sfn|Westrem|1998|pp=66–67}} [[Marco Polo]], traveling when the initial terror had subsided, places Gog and Magog among the [[Tartars]] in [[Hohhot|Tenduc]], but then claims that the names Gog and Magog are translations of the place-names Ung and Mungul, inhabited by the Ung and Mongols respectively.{{Sfn|Marco Polo|Yule (tr.)|1875|pp=276–286}}{{r|strickland}}

<!--Even if Gog and Magog were considered ancestors, this location of Gog and Magog seems too far east.-->An explanation offered by Orientalist [[Henry Yule]] was that Marco Polo was only referring to the "Rampart of Gog and Magog", a name for the Great Wall of China.{{sfn|Marco Polo|Yule (tr.)|1875|pp=283, fn 5}} Friar André's placement of Gog and Magog far east of Mongolia has been similarly explained.{{sfn|William of Rubruck|Rockhill (tr.)|1900|pp=xxi, fn 2}}

===The confined Jews===
[[File:Mapa de Borgia XV.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The [[Borgia map]], copper-engraved world map ({{circa|1430}}). Gog and Magog (identified as confined Jews) are shown on the left, representing the far east.{{sfn|Gow|1998|pp=77–78}}]]
Some time around the 12th century, the [[Ten Lost Tribes]] of Israel came to be identified with Gog and Magog;{{sfn|Gow|1995|pp=23–24}} possibly the first to do so was [[Petrus Comestor]] in ''Historica Scholastica'' (c. 1169–1173),{{sfn|Gow|1995|p=42}}{{sfn|Boyle|1979|p=124}} and he was indeed a far greater influence than others before him, although the idea had been anticipated by the aforementioned Christian of Stavelot, who noted that the Khazhars, to be identified with Gog and Magog, was one of [[Seven chieftains of the Magyars|seven tribes of the Hungarians]] and had converted to Judaism.{{sfn|Brook|2006|pp=7–8, 96}}{{sfn|Westrem|1998|p=65}}

While the confounding Gog and Magog as confined Jews was becoming commonplace, some, like Riccoldo or [[Vincent de Beauvais]] remained skeptics, and distinguished the Lost Tribes from Gog and Magog.{{sfn|Boyle|1979|p=126}}{{sfn|Bietenholz|1994|p=134}}{{sfn|Gow|1995|pp=56–57}} As noted, Riccoldo had reported a Mongol folk-tradition that they were descended from Gog and Magog. He also addressed many minds (Westerners or otherwise{{sfn|Westrem|1998|p=66}}) being credulous of the notion that Mongols might be Captive Jews, but after weighing the pros and cons, he concluded this was an open question.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Riccoldo observed that the Mongol script resembled Chaldean ([[Syriac language|Syriac]],{{Sfn|Marco Polo|Yule (tr.)|1875|pp=58, fn 3}} a form of [[Aramaic]]), and in fact it does derive from Aramaic.{{sfn|Boyle|1979|p=125, note 19}} However, he saw that Mongols bore no physical resemblance to Jews and were ignorant of Jewish laws.}}{{sfn|Westrem|1998|pp=66–67}}{{Sfn|Marco Polo|Yule (tr.)|1875|pp=58, fn 3}}

The Flemish Franciscan friar [[William of Rubruck]], who was first-hand witness to Alexander's [[Fortifications of Derbent|supposed wall]] in [[Derbent]] on the shores of the Caspian Sea in 1254,{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Rubruck refers Derbent as the "Iron Gate", this also being the meaning of the Turkish name (Demir kapi) for the town.{{Sfn|William of Rubruck|Rockhill (tr.)|1900|pp=xlvi, 262 note 1}} Rubruck may have been the only medieval Westerner to claim to have seen it.{{sfn|Westrem|1998|p=66}}}} identified the people the walls were meant to fend off only vaguely as "wild tribes" or "desert nomads",{{efn|Also "barbarous nations", "savage tribes".}}{{sfn|William of Rubruck|Rockhill (tr.)|1900|pp=xlvi, 100, 120, 122, 130, 262–263 and fn}} but one researcher made the inference Rubruck must have meant Jews,{{efn|Based on Rubruck stating elsewhere "There are other enclosures in which there are Jews"}} and that he was speaking in the context of "Gog and Magog".{{efn|Since [[Roger Bacon]], having been informed by Rubruck, urged the study of geography to discover where the [[Antichrist]] and Gog and Magog might be found.}}{{sfn|Westrem|1998|p=66}} Confined Jews were later to be referred to as "[[Red Jews]]" (''die roten Juden'') in German-speaking areas; a term first used in a [[Holy Grail]] epic dating to the 1270s, in which Gog and Magog were two mountains enclosing these people.{{efn|[[Albrecht von Scharfenberg]], ''Der jüngere Titurel''. It belongs in the [[Arthurian cycle]].}}{{sfn|Gow|1995|pp=70–71}}

The author of the ''[[John Mandeville|Travels of Sir John Mandeville]]'', a 14th-century best-seller, said he had found these Jews in Central Asia where as Gog and Magog they had been imprisoned by Alexander, plotting to escape and join with the Jews of Europe to destroy Christians.{{sfn|Westrem|1998|pp=68–69}}

In the [[Borgia map]], a copper-engraved world map probably produced in [[Southern Germany]] {{circa|1430}}, the most eastern part contains two fortified regions depicting Gog and Magog, with the following Latin inscriptions:{{sfn|Gow|1998|pp=77–78}}

*{{lang|la|Provincia gog, in qua fuerunt iudei inclusi tempore artaxersis regis persarum.}}
:The province of Gog, in which the Jews were confined during the time of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians.
*{{lang|la|Magog in istis duabus sunt gentes magni et gigantes pleni omnium malorum morum. Quos iudeos artaxersex collexit de omnibus partibus persarum.}}
:Magog – in these two are large people and giants who are full of all kinds of bad behaviors. These Jews were collected by Artaxerxes from all parts of Persia.

The Persian king Artaxerxes (either [[Artaxerxes I]] or [[Artaxerxes II]], appearing in the [[Book of Ezra]] 7) was commonly confused in medieval Europe with the Neo-Assyrian ruler [[Shalmaneser V]], who according to [[Books of Kings|2 Kings]] 17 drove the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel into exile.{{sfn|Gow|1998|pp=77–78}}

=== Kievan Rus ===
The twelfth-century chronicle ''Primary Chronicle'' posited that the people of [[Kievan Rus']] were descendants of the biblical Japheth, son of Noah, and of the tribe of Magog.<ref name=":0">{{Harvtxt|Marsh|2011|p=254}}.</ref> According to political scientist Christopher Marsh, "the implications" of being descendants of the tribe of Magog, depicted as being thrown out of heaven in the biblical Revelation of John, "apparently didn't matter to those drawing" the connection who believed that "[a]ncestors were found in the Bible, and that was enough", allegedly making the Rus' a chosen people of the Christian God.<ref name=":0" />

==Modern apocalypticism==
In the early 19th century, some [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] [[rabbi]]s identified the [[French invasion of Russia]] under [[Napoleon]] as "The War of Gog and Magog".{{sfn|Wessels|2013|p=205}} But as the century progressed, apocalyptic expectations receded as the populace in Europe began to adopt an increasingly secular worldview.{{sfn|Kyle|2012|pp=34–35}} This has not been the case in the United States, where a 2002 poll indicated that 59% of Americans believed the events predicted in the Book of Revelation would come to pass.{{sfn|Filiu|2011|p=196}} During the [[Cold War]] the idea that [[Soviet Union|Soviet Russia]] had the role of Gog gained popularity, since Ezekiel's words describing him as "prince of Meshek" – ''rosh meshek'' in Hebrew – sounded suspiciously like Russia and Moscow.{{sfn|Blenkinsopp|1996|p=178}} [[Ronald Reagan]] also took up the idea.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boyer |first=Paul|title=When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern Culture |publisher=Belknap Press |year=1992 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FyTeW7vQ8K4C&pg=PR1|isbn=9780674028616 |page=162}}</ref>

Some post-Cold War [[millennialist]]s still identify Gog with Russia, but they now tend to stress its allies among Islamic nations, especially [[Iran]].{{sfn|Kyle|2012|p=171}} For the most fervent, the countdown to [[Armageddon]] began with the [[Aliyah|return of the Jews to Israel]], followed quickly by further signs pointing to the nearness of the final battle – nuclear weapons, [[European integration]], the [[Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem]] in the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967, and America's wars in [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan]] and the [[Persian Gulf]].{{sfn|Kyle|2012|p=4}}

In the Islamic apocalyptic tradition, the end of the world would be preceded by the release of Gog and Magog, whose destruction by God in a single night would usher in the Day of Resurrection.{{sfn|Cook|2005|pp=8, 10}} Reinterpretation did not generally continue after Classical times, but the needs of the modern world have produced a new body of apocalyptic literature in which Gog and Magog are identified as Communist Russia and China.{{sfn|Cook|2005|pp=12, 47, 206}} One problem these writers have had to confront is the barrier holding Gog and Magog back, which is not to be found in the modern world: the answer varies, some writers saying that Gog and Magog were the Mongols and that the wall is now gone, others that both the wall and Gog and Magog are invisible.{{sfn|Cook|2005|pp=205–206}}

==See also==
{{commons category}}
* [[Gog (film)|''Gog'' (film)]]
* [[Alexander the Great in the Quran]]
* [[Cyrus the Great in the Quran]]
* [[Eschatology]]
* [[Hag and Mag]] in Mandaeism
* [[Koka and Vikoka]] in Hinduism
* [[Magog (Bible)|Magog]]
* [[Sasanian defense lines]]

==Explanatory notes==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=akbari>{{citation|last=Akbari |first=Suzanne Conklin |title=Idols in the East: European Representations of Islam and the Orient, 1100–1450 |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TIudRds1yyMC&pg=PA104 |isbn=9780801464973|page=104}}</ref>

<ref name=boring>{{Cite book |last=Boring |first=Eugene M |title=Revelation |publisher=[[Westminster John Knox]] |year=1989 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVRIOJVkg7cC&pg=PP4|isbn=9780664237752 |page=209}}</ref>

<ref name="dict-islam">
{{Cite book |last=Hughes |first=Patrick Thomas |title=Dictionary of Islam |publisher=Asian Educational Services |place=New Delhi |year=1895 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O84eYLVHvB0C|isbn=9788120606722 |orig-year=1885}}</ref>

<ref name=bullock>{{Cite book |last=Bullock |first=C. Hassell |title=An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books |place=Chicago |publisher=[[Moody Press]] |year=1986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KabKHP4qZMIC&pg=PA301|isbn=9781575674360 |page=301}}</ref>

<ref name=derry>
{{Cite book |last=Derry |first=T.K |title=A History of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |year=1979 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eDh5z2_K_S0C&pg=PA129|isbn=9780816637997 |page=129 (fn)}}</ref>

<ref name="gibb-beckingham">{{Cite book |last1=Gibb |first1=H.A.R. |last2=Beckingham |first2=C.F. |title=The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, A.D. 1325–1354 (Vol. IV) |publisher=[[Hakluyt Society]] |year=1994|isbn=9780904180374 |pages=896, fn 30}}</ref>

<ref name=gmirkin>{{Cite book |last=Gmirkin |first=Russell |title=Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus: Hellenistic Histories and the Date of the Pentateuch |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CKuoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA147|isbn=9780567134394 |page=148}}</ref>

<ref name="harf-lancner">{{citation|last=Harf-Lancner |first=Laurence |title=From Alexander to Marco Polo, from Text to Image: The Marvels of India |editor-last1=Maddox |editor-first1=Donald |editor-last2=Sturm-Maddox |editor-first2=Sara |work=Medieval French Alexander |publisher=[[SUNY Press]] |year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TUqQbemlo80C&pg=PA238 |isbn=9780791488324|page=238}}</ref>

<ref name=grossman>{{Cite book |last=Grossman |first=Avraham |author-link=Avraham Grossman|chapter=The Commentary of Rashi on Isaiah and the Jewish-Christian Debate |editor1-last=Wolfson |editor1-first=Elliot R. |editor2-last=Schiffman |editor2-first=Lawrence H. |editor3-last=Engel |editor3-first=David |title=Studies in Medieval Jewish Intellectual and Social History |publisher=Brill |year=2012 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVMzAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA54|isbn=9789004222366 |page=54}}</ref>

<ref name="hays-duvall-pate">{{Cite book |last1=Hays |first1=J. Daniel|last2=Duvall |first2=J. Scott|last3=Pate |first3=C. Marvin|title=Dictionary of Biblical Prophecy and End Times |publisher=Zondervan|year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xvFZDcJSgdMC&pg=PT294|isbn=9780310571049 |page=no pagination}}</ref>

<ref name=mounce>{{Cite book |last=Mounce |first=Robert H |title=The Book of Revelation |publisher=[[Eerdmans]] |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=06VR1JzzLNsC&pg=PP4|isbn=9780802825377}}</ref>

<ref name=painter>{{citation|editor-last=Painter |editor-first=George D. Painter |title=The Tartar Relation |publisher=Yale University |year=1965 |pages=64–65}}</ref>

<ref name=petersen>{{Cite book |last=Petersen |first=David L. |author-link=David L. Petersen |title=The prophetic literature: an introduction |publisher=[[John Knox Press]] |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z9zLXRhNl9MC&pg=PA158|isbn=9780664254537 |page=158}}</ref>

<ref name="shengold-jewish-encyclopedia">{{Cite book |last1=Schreiber |first1=Mordecai |last2=Schiff |first2=Alvin I. |last3=Klenicki |first3=Leon |chapter=Messianism |editor1-last=Schreiber |editor1-first=Mordecai |editor2-last=Schiff |editor2-first=Alvin I. |editor3-last=Klenicki |editor3-first=Leon |title=The Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia |place=Rockville, Maryland |publisher=Schreiber Publishing |year=2003 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DK5K72JymAEC&pg=PA180|isbn=9781887563772 |page=180}}</ref>

<ref name="siebold-catalan">{{cite web|url=http://www.myoldmaps.com/late-medieval-maps-1300/235-catalan-atlas/ |title=The Catalan Atlas (#235) |work=My Old Maps |last=Siebold |first=Jim |year=2015 |access-date=2016-08-12}}<!--See attached pdf or [http://cartographic-images.net/Cartographic_Images/235_Catalan_Atlas.html Cartographic Images] at old site--></ref>

<ref name=strickland>{{Cite book |last=Strickland|first=Deborah Higgs|chapter=Text, Image and Contradiction in the Devisement du monde|editor1-last=Akbari |editor1-first=Suzanne Conklin |editor2-last=Iannucci |editor2-first=Amilcare |title=Marco Polo and the Encounter of East and West |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2008 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRsc5fa0SRYC&pg=PA38|isbn=9780802099280 |page=38}}</ref>

<ref name=stuckenbruck>{{Cite book|last1=Stuckenbruck |first1=Loren T. |chapter=Revelation |editor1-last=Dunn |editor1-first=James D. G. |editor2-last=Rogerson |editor2-first=John William |title=Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible |publisher=Eerdmans |year=2003 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA1536|isbn=9780802837110 |pages=1535–36}}
</ref>

<ref name=wardle>{{Cite book |last=Wardle |first=Timothy|title=The Jerusalem Temple and Early Christian Identity |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iY5_yJsa8bsC&pg=PA89|isbn=9783161505683 |page=89}}</ref>–8

<ref name=warren>{{citation|last=Warren |first=Michelle R. |title=Take the World by Prose: Modes of Possession in the ''Roman d'Alexandre'' |editor-last1=Maddox |editor-first1=Donald  |editor-last2=Sturm-Maddox |editor-first2=Sara |work=Medieval French Alexander |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TUqQbemlo80C&pg=PA149|isbn=9780791488324 |pages=149, fn 17}}</ref>
}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{Refbegin}}
;Monographs
* {{Cite book|last=Anderson |first=Andrew Runni |title=Alexander's Gate, Gog and Magog: And the Inclosed Nations |publisher=[[Mediaeval Academy of America]] |year=1932 |isbn=9780910956079 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sVUbAAAAYAAJ}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bøe |first=Sverre |title=Gog and Magog: Ezekiel 38–39 as Pre-text for Revelation 19,17–21 and 20,7–10 |publisher=[[Mohr Siebeck]] |year=2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vettpBoVOX4C&pg=PA76|isbn=9783161475207}}
* {{Cite book |last=Buitenwerf |first=Rieuwerd |chapter=The Gog and Magog Tradition in Revelation 20:8 |editor1-last=de Jonge |editor1-first=H. J. |editor2-last=Tromp |editor2-first=Johannes| title=The Book of Ezekiel and its Influence |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |year=2007 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DAyzzK7COmoC&pg=PA165|isbn=9780754655831}}
* {{cite book |last=Marsh |first=Christopher |year=2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xlLFUegIBQC&pg=PA254 |title=Religion and the State in Russia and China: Suppression, Survival, and Revival |publisher=A&C Black|isbn=9781441112477}}
* {{cite book|last=Michael |first=Ian |chapter=Typological Problems in Medieval Alexander Literature: The Enclosure of Gog and Magog |title=The Medieval Alexander Legend and Romance Epic: Essays in Honour of David J.A. Ross |publisher=Kraus International Publication |year=1982 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWrYAAAAMAAJ |pages=131–147|isbn=9780527626006| editor-last=Isoz |editor-first=Claire |edition=2nd |editor-last2=Olak |editor-first2=Lucie |editor-last3=Noble |editor-first3=Peter }}
* {{Cite book |last=Tooman |first=William A.|title=Gog of Magog: Reuse of Scripture and Compositional Technique in Ezekiel 38–39 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |year=2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3FXL_m4ursC&pg=PA271|isbn=9783161508578}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Van Donzel |first1=Emeri J. |last2=Schmidt |first2=Andrea Barbara |title=Gog and Magog in Early Eastern Christian and Islamic Sources: Sallam's Quest for Alexander's Wall |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PtxOXRlPMA0C|isbn=978-9004174160}}
* {{Cite book |last=Westrem |first=Scott D. |title=Against Gog and Magog |editor1-last=Tomasch |editor1-first=Sylvia|editor2-last=Sealy|editor2-first=Gilles|series=Text and Territory: Geographical Imagination in the European Middle Ages |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdEywwxcQ0wC&pg=PA54|isbn=0812216350 }}

;Encyclopedias
* {{Cite dictionary |last=Lust|first=J.|title=Magog|editor1-last=Van der Toorn |editor1-first=Karel |editor2-last=Becking |editor2-first=Bob |editor3-last=Van der Horst |editor3-first=Pieter |series=Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible |publisher=Brill |year=1999a |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&pg=PA536 |isbn=9780802824912}}
* {{Cite dictionary |last=Lust|first=J.|title=Gog|editor1-last=Van der Toorn |editor1-first=Karel |editor2-last=Becking |editor2-first=Bob |editor3-last=Van der Horst |editor3-first=Pieter |series=Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible |publisher=Brill |year=1999b |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&pg=PA374 |isbn=9780802824912}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Skolnik |first1=Fred |last2=Berenbaum |first2=Michael |title=Encyclopaedia Judaica |volume=7 |publisher=Granite Hill Publishers |year=2007 |page=684|isbn=9780028659350}}<!--dead link url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLxYAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA684--><!--seems to be e-book publisher, 2nd edition appeared from Macmillan-->

;Biblical studies
* {{Cite book |last=Blenkinsopp |first=Joseph |title=A History of Prophecy in Israel |publisher=[[Westminster John Knox]] |year=1996 |edition=revised and enlarged |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6P9YEd9lXeAC|isbn=9780664256395}}
* {{Cite book |last = Block |first = Daniel I. |author-link=Daniel I. Block |title = The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 25-48 |publisher = [[Eerdmans]] |year = 1998 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uYemhagtCpgC&pg=PA478|isbn = 9780802825360}}

;Literary
* {{Cite book|last=Armstrong |first=Edward C. |title=The Medieval French Roman d'Alexandre |volume=VI |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1937 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1PELAAAAIAAJ}}<!--Reprint (1976), Series=Elliott Monographs  (vol. 42) https://books.google.com/books?id=5J8cAQAAMAAJ -->
* {{Cite book|last=Bietenholz |first=Peter G. |title=Historia and Fabula: Myths and Legends in Historical Thought from Antiquity to the Modern Age |publisher=Brill |year=1994 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFjXaCAWoOUC&pg=PA127 |isbn= 9004100636}}
* {{Citation |last=Boyle |first=John Andrew |author-link=John Andrew Boyle|title=Alexander and the Mongols |journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=111 |number=2|year=1979 |pages=123–136 |jstor=25211053|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00135555 |s2cid=164166534 }}
* {{Cite book|editor-last=Budge |editor-first=Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis |editor-link=E. A. Wallis Budge |chapter=A Christian Legend concerning Alexander |title=The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version |volume=II |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1889 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XBxjAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA144 |pages=144–158}}
* {{Cite book|last=Meyer |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Meyer (philologist) |title=Alexandre le Grand dans la littérature française du moyen âge |publisher=F. Vieweg |year=1886 |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandrelegran02meyegoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/alexandrelegran02meyegoog/page/n212 170]}}
*{{cite book|editor-last=Stoneman |editor-first=Richard (tr.) |title=The Greek Alexander Romance |publisher=Penguin |year=1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZmqYv_dSwMC&pg=PA185|isbn=9780141907116}}

;Geography and ethnography
* {{Cite book |last=Brook |first=Kevin A |title=The Jews of Khazaria |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hEuIveNl9kcC&pg=PA192|isbn=9781442203020 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Gow |first=Andrew Colin |author-link=Andrew Gow |title=The Red Jews: Antisemitism in an Apocalyptic Age, 1200–1600 |publisher=Brill |year=1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yp5O_rPI7nsC|isbn=9004102558 }}
* {{Cite journal|last1=Gow|first1=Andrew Colin|author1-link=Andrew Gow|year=1998|title=Gog and Magog On Mappaemundi and Early Printed World Maps: Orientalizing Ethnography in the Apocalyptic Tradition|journal=Journal of Early Modern History|volume=2|issue=1|pages=61–88|doi=10.1163/157006598X00090}}
* {{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=Robert |title=Storm from the East: from Genghis Khan to Khubilai Khan|publisher=University of California Press |year=1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YQleM5Yc0VAC&pg=PA6|isbn=9780520083004 |pages=6–12, 120–122, 144}}
* {{Citation|last=Massing |first=Michel |title=Observations and Beliefs: The World of the Catalan Atlas |editor-last=Levenson |editor-first=Jay A. |work=Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration |publisher=Yale University Press|year=1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wMK-Ba0-RG4C&pg=PA32|pages=31, 32 n60|isbn=0300051670 }}
*{{citation|ref={{SfnRef|Marco Polo|Yule (tr.)|1875}}|last=Polo |first=Marco |author-link=Marco Polo |others=Translated and edited by Henry Yule |chapter=Ch. 59: Concerning the Province of Tenduc, and the Descendants of Prester John |title=The Book of Sir Marco Polo, the Venetian |edition=2nd, revised | volume=1 |publisher=J. Murray |year=1875 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yBoRAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA275 |pages=276–286}} ({{wikisource-inline|Chapter 59|single=true|link=[[s:The Travels of Marco Polo/Book 1/Chapter 59]]}})
*{{Cite book|ref={{SfnRef|William of Rubruck|Rockhill (tr.)|1900}} |author=William of Rubruck |author-link=William of Rubruck |editor-last=Rockhill |editor-first=William Woodville |editor-link=William Woodville Rockhill |title=The Journey of William of Rubruck to the Eastern Parts of the World, 1253–55 |publisher=Hakluyt Society |year=1900 |url=https://archive.org/details/journeywilliamr00ruysgoog |pages=xlvi, 100, 120, 122, 130, 262–263 and fn}}

;Modern apocalyptic thought
* {{Cite book |last=Cook |first=David |title=Contemporary Muslim Apocalyptic Literature |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uCtQhsrnwWQC|isbn=9780815630586}}
* {{Cite book |last=Filiu |first=Jean-Pierre|title=Apocalypse in Islam |publisher=University of California Press |year=2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Jq_n2vOUwgC&pg=PA30|isbn=9780520264311}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Kyle |first1=Richard G. |title=Apocalyptic Fever: End-Time Prophecies in Modern America |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p1dJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA35 |isbn=9781621894100}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wessels |first=Anton |title=The Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur'an: Three Books, Two Cities, One Tale|publisher=Eerdmans |year=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQ75AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA193 |isbn=9780802869081}}
{{Refend}}

{{Sons of Noah}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Doomsday}}

[[Category:Gog and Magog| ]]
[[Category:Groups of Quranic people]]
[[Category:Biblical phrases]]
[[Category:Book of Ezekiel]]
[[Category:Book of Revelation]]
[[Category:Mythological duos]]
[[Category:Islamic mythology]]
[[Category:Japheth]]
[[Category:Jewish eschatology]]
[[Category:Jewish messianism]]
[[Category:Kabbalistic words and phrases]]
[[Category:Monarchs in the Hebrew Bible]]
[[Category:Book of Jubilees]]