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.
Quotations from The Impossible Takes Longer:
“A fanatic is the one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”
Winston S. Churchill
Nobel Prize for Literature
“My ambition is to live to see all of physics reduced to a formula so elegant and simple that it will fit easily on the front of a T-shirt.”
Leon Lederman
Nobel Prize for Physics
“Let us not then speak ill of our generation, it is not any unhappier than its predecessors. Let us not speak well of it either. Let us not speak of it at all.”
Samuel Beckett
Nobel Prize for Literature
“Instead of telling girls to cover their hair, we should teach them to use their heads.”
Shirin Ebadi
Nobel Prize for Peace
Manuscript available
Formula for Genius
What Nobel Prize Winners Tell Us About Success
Since its inception in 1901, the Nobel Prize has been the hallmark of genius. The laureates are sought after for their views on the state of the world, international affairs, the meaning of life, love, and, above all, success. A few have even offered practical advice on how to win the Nobel Prize.
David Pratt, who reads widely in several languages in the arts and sciences, has been studying Nobel laureates for decades. In Formula For Genius, he probes their life experiences for clues that predict their success.
In climbing the ladder of achievement and wisdom, many Nobel winners had to overcome huge obstacles thrown up by professional, personal, or political adversity.
Pratt’s narrative sparkles with nuggets of biography and threaded with delightful descriptions of their prize-winning work, all informed by historical context. Wise and often funny, Pratt’s account of these fascinating people makes you think that you too may one day grasp the brass ring.
David Pratt has been collecting quotations since his youth. His book, The Impossible Takes Longer: The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said by Nobel Prize Laureates was enthusiastically received in the US and published in five additional countries to date.
Pratt, Professor Emeritus, Queen’s University, Canada, was educated at Oxford, Harvard, and Toronto. He has published five books, including two books of education. He lives Stratford, Ontario, Canada.
