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.
Praise for Dreaming in a Digital World
“This book was enjoyable and had a lot going for it. It felt modern and yet dated at the same time, showing the vast distance between the period when computers were new, and huge, and a 486 was top of the line and today, when we take this all for granted and expect the power from our smart phones that used to exist only in a computer that took up a whole floor of an office building.â€
– The Indextrious Reader Blog
“Once I began I couldn’t put it down! A fast paced story of romance, computers, deceit and office politics. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has been a female working with computers in an office environment during the 80′s! I could see glimpses of myself, past bosses and co-workers in this book.†– Bonnie Small
“Delightful, funny, deep — Dreaming in a Digital World is filled with unique insights, wisdom, humour, and passion of a surprising sort. How deeply should one become involved with one’s computer system? What happens when the “unconscious†decides to take over one’s life via the “unsocial networking†site of our dreams? All in all a delicious and fascinating adventure that leaves the reader wiser about many things.†– Barbara Lambert
Dreaming in a Digital World
Now an original ebook
Click here: http://tinyurl.com/2g8vn9s
The adorable and witty Genevieve Varley greets the 1980s with a freshly minted Ph.D in computer science. To her joy, she has landed a job as a computer programmer in a mid-size west coast city. No geek, she has ambitions for both a career and love.
The modules of her life – parents, lovers, mentors, girlfriends – make for a delightful romp that recalls the explosive era when computers were in their adolescence and the women’s movement was ripening—but not fast enough.
Virginal in the ways of office politics, Gen is shocked that her boss has taken credit for her work. She learns that her boyfriend Darryl has been leading a secret life. And Cupid’s arrow has pierced Gen’s heart when she falls for a married co-worker whom she has passed on the career ladder. It is a sad, funny, poignant affair, which reduces Gen to spying on his wife and family.
Aiding Gen is her best friend, the Lovely Linda, a secretary at the company who is wise in office machinations and in the ways of men. A senior woman at the company is a cautionary role model, but in a surprise ending turns out to be as much fairy godmother as mentor. With encouragement from these allies, Gen pursues combining artificial intelligence with human emotions, of uniting rationality with feeling – in life and work.
Blanche Howard is the author of four novels, including The Manipulator, which won the Canadian Booksellers’ Award, Penelope’s Way, and A Celibate Season which she co-wrote with Carol Shields. Her book A Memoir of Friendship: The Letters Between Blanche Howard and Carol Shields (Penguin Canada) was released in 2007 to wide acclaim. She lives in Vancouver.
