In 701 B.C. the Assyrian empire was in its ascendancy. It had already vanquished the kingdom of Israel to the north including the capital at Samaria. It then prepared an assault on Judah and its capital at Jerusalem.
But in one of those significant events that changes the course of world history, Assyria was repelled. Jerusalem was saved until 586 B.C. when the Babylonians sacked the city, forcing its leadership class into exile.
Henry Aubin, in a major feat of scholarship, determines that Jerusalem was aided by a Kushite army from Africa which had marched northeast from the Nile valley. While the Bible attributes the Assyrian retreat to an angel and secular commentators cite pestilence, Aubin, in a meticulously documented work, demonstrates that an alliance with the African nation of Kush bolstered Jerusalem’s defences.
Kush, also known as Nubia, was located in what is now southern Egypt and northern Sudan. A monarchy that existed for more than 1000 years, from 900 B.C. to A.D. 350, Kushites held sway over Egypt from 712 B.C. to about 660 B.C. Of Egypt’s 31 dynasties, this, the 25th Dynasty, is the only one that all scholars agree, was black.
The commander of the Kushite expeditionary force was Taharqa (or as the Bible calls him Tirhakah). This Kushite prince, who had his own interests in halting Assyrian expansion, likely caught the aggressors by surprise as they prepared their siege of Jerusalem.
Aubin offers a thrilling military history and a stirring political analysis of the ancient world. He also sees the event as influential over the centuries.
The Kushite rescue of the Hebrew kingdom of Judah enabled the fragile, war-ravaged state to endure, to nurse itself back to economic and demographic health, and allowed the Hebrew religion, Yahwism, to evolve within the next several centuries into Judaism. Thus emerged the monotheistic trunk supporting Christianity and Islam.
Aileen Burford-Mason, author of the acclaimed bestseller, Eat Well Age Better, (Dundurn Press, Canada) is an immunologist, cell biologist and an orthomolecular nutritionist – a specialized field of nutrition that uses diet and vitamins, minerals and amino acids and other substances naturally present in the body to treat and prevent disease. She graduated from University College, Dublin and received a Ph.D. in immunology in the UK. She is former director of a cancer research laboratory at Toronto General Hospital, and Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Currently she teaches a continuing medical education course on the use of diet and nutritional supplements in clinical practice across Canada.
Learn more at:
www.aileenburfordmason.ca
Patrick Crean Books HarperCollins Canada 2018
Klett-Cotta Germany 2018
Yuan Liou Taiwan 2019
Prakash Books India 2019
The Healthy Brain
Better brains at any age with diet and supplements
This book will change the way you think about food, nutrition, and how to feed the brain for optimum efficiency. In short, it will change your life.
Aileen Burford-Mason, who earned a Ph.D. in immunology, writes with exquisite clarity about advances in the science of the brain and its nutritional needs. “The brain,” she says, “is a complex, hard-working organ and it needs ten times the nutrition of any other organ. Most people are under-performing because their brains are under-nourished.”
The brain issues she discusses include ADD, depression, brain trauma, concussion and of course, the big one–dementia. “Worldwide, dementia now affects 36 million people and these numbers will skyrocket as populations age. However, scientists now admit that dementia is not an inevitable part of the aging process. It’s a lifestyle disease, and poor nutrition and lack of exercise are the major risk factors.”
The Healthy Brain outlines a life-long program that begins with pregnancy, childhood and adolescence, and moves through our working years and old age. In The Healthy Brain, she suggests dietary changes and appropriate supplements for optimal brainpower at any age.
Smart, informative, reassuring and clear, you will want to keep this book close and discuss its suggestions for diet, exercise and supplements with your doctor.
