|
The Descendants
of Alexander the Great of Macedon - The arguments and evidence that
today's Macedonians are descendants of the ancient Macedonians
by Historian
Alexander Donski of Macedonia
FIRST BOOK IN
ENGLISH PRESENTING SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE ABOUT THE RELATIONS BETWEEN
PRESENT DAY AND ANCIENT MACEDONIANS
We
would like to inform you that the book entitled "THE DESCENDANTS OF
ALEXANDER THE GREAT OF MACEDON" with subtitle: "The arguments and
evidence that today's Macedonians are descendants of the ancient
Macedonians (part one - folklore elements)" by the Macedonian
historian Aleksandar Donski has just been released. Reviewers of the
book are D-r Trpko Bicevski (director of the National Institute of
Folklore "Marko Cepenkov" from Skopje) and Dr. Michael Seraphinoff,
Professor of humanities and Ph.D. Slavic languages and literature).
Publisher of the book is Macedonian Literary Association "Grigor
Prlichev" - Sydney
The book brings little publicized scientific data regarding the
ethno-cultural heritage of the ancient Macedonians in today's
Macedonian nation. Through this book the audience from the English
speaking world, for the first time will have an opportunity to learn
that today's Macedonians are the same people with the famous ancient
Macedonians of Alexander and Philip the Great. The text is specially
adapted for the English-speaking audience (including descriptions of
Macedonian terminology unfamiliar to them etc.). The book includes
an extensive introductory section covering the whole of the
Macedonian history to familiarize the western audience with the
country and the people.
For the first time in a single publication the book offers a larger
collection of unbeatable scientific evidence of the
ancient-Macedonian ethno-cultural heritage in today's Macedonian
nation and as a bottom line it demonstrates that the ancient
Macedonians are ascendants of today's Macedonian nation. The book
offers information that:
- Today's Macedonians anthropologically differ from the ancient
Slavs. It is well known that the Byzantine historian Procopius (who
was their contemporary and had personally came upon them) clearly
described the ancient Slavs as tall people and having a strong
stature. Procopius also wrote that they were all and one blond and
that there weren't any with a different colour of the hair. It is
obvious that the majority of the Macedonians today have different
anthropological features.
-There are also clear Byzantine documents according to which in the
VIII century Tzar Justinian II moved out a large number of Slavs
from Macedonia, but this information was not discussed in Macedonian
historiography.
-It should be noted that the Slavs were not "people from the other
side of the Carpathians" (as we were thought until recently), but
descendants of the Veneti, ancient people with grand culture. Veneti
were even referenced by Homer, and were later also referenced by
Herodotus as people from the Balkans. This fact has been long
recognized by the world science and from recently has been included
in the history textbooks in Republic of Macedonia.
-In the Macedonian folklore there are large number of songs, poems,
tales, legends and narratives with an ancient-Macedonian contents
registered as early as the 16th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The
contents and details in some of these works are in astonishing
agreement with the historical events.
-In one folklore song about Alexander The Great of Macedon recorded
in the 19th century, mosquitoes (malaria) have clearly been
identified as the reason for Alexander's death even though it has
been scientifically proven that mosquitoes carry the malaria disease
only in the early 20th century!
-In the 19th century Miladinov brothers recorded a narrative about
the founding of the town of Voden, which is in complete agreement
with the historical description by the ancient historian Justin
despite the fact that his work has not yet been translated and
published in Macedonian.
-There are numerous folk creative works in the Macedonian folklore
dedicated to some of the ancient-Macedonian rulers. There are also
certain folklore elements (especially in the tales) that without
doubt have their roots in ancient Macedonia. Some of those elements
are: the motif of the lion (lions in fact lived in Macedonia in the
ancient period and that is the reason why the lion has been widely
appears in the Macedonian tales as well as in the heraldry); the
tsar with a horn (in a tale about Alexander of Macedon recorded by
Tsepenkov); the lynx; the philosopher; the motif of the three
brothers (taken from the Herodotus' story about the founding of the
Macedonian State); the belief that the crow brings bad fortune and
the eagle brings victory etc. All this is explained and argumented
in the book.
-On the other hand, in the Macedonian folklore and people's
collective memory one can not find even a single memory of our
alleged "life on the other side of the Carpathians". Furthermore,
the ethnonim "Slavs" had not been mentioned at all, not even in a
single Macedonian folk lore!
-There are a large number of customs, rituals, ceremonies and
popular beliefs that remained from the ancient Macedonians among
Macedonians in the 19th and 20th centuries. For example, Herodotus
wrote that at the festivities in ancient Macedonia the men sat
separate from the women. This custom has also been registered by the
recorders of Macedonian folk creative work in the 19th and 20th
centuries, and it is still practiced today. We have the custom of
breaking a loaf of bread during the marriage ceremonies that has
also remained from the ancient Macedonians. This custom was
mentioned by the biographer of Alexander the Great of Macedon
Quintus Curtius Rufus. Consideration of the men's waistband from the
folk apparel as a symbol of manhood is another custom that remained
from the ancient Macedonians (this was recorded by Aristotle and the
same custom was recorded in Macedonia in the 19th century).
Bestowing a ring to the heir before one's death is a custom that was
practiced by the ancient Macedonians and is still practiced today,
as it is the case with cutting the hair in moments of great sorrow.
Even the ancient Macedonian custom of electing the king (carried out
by army assembly and election by acclamation) endured among the
Macedonians from the 19th century as a custom of selecting the
village leader. Ancient-Macedonian elements are also present in the
celebrations of the following holidays: Lazara, Gurgovden, Rusa
Sreda and Prochka. Ancient-Macedonian elements are present in
Macedonian customs for calling rain. The belief in the magical power
of the snake also came down from the ancient Macedonians, as well as
a number of burial customs and so on. All this is elaborated in
detail in the book through comparative review of citations from
ancient authors and the recorders of Macedonian folk creative works
from 19th and 20th centuries.
You can order this
book through the Canadian Macedonian Historical Society at:
http://www.macedonianhistory.ca/html/books.html
Copyright © 2001-2013
historyofmacedonia.org
All
rights reserved
Terms of Service
Contact:
feedback@historyofmacedonia.org
| |
|
|