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.
Awards:
2004 Killam Prize for Social Sciences
FINDING OUR WAY:
Rethinking Ethnocultural Relations in Canada
Many people today believe that ethnocultural politics in Canada are spiralling out of control, with ever more groups in society making ever greater demands. Finding Our Way offers a more balanced view. Will Kymlicka argues that the difficulties involved in accommodating ethnocultural diversity are not insurmountable, and that Canadians have an impressive range of experience and resources on which to draw in addressing them. A crucial part of his argument is the distinction between the ethnic groups formed by immigration and the ‘nations within’ constituted by the Québécois and Aboriginal peoples, whose existence pre-dates that of the Canadian state. With respect to immigrant groups, he maintains that the ‘multicultural’ model of integration adopted by the federal government in 1971 has worked much better that is commonly thought, and can be adapted to new circumstances. The challenges of accommodating the self-government demands of national minorities are admittedly greater. Yet here too Kymlicka argues that we have lost confidence in our ability to work out fair and mutually beneficial solutions to ethnocultural conflicts, Finding Our Way makes an invaluable contribution to two critical national debates.
