The International Prester John Project: How A Global Legend Was Created Across Six CenturiesMain MenuOrientation to ProjectPath One: 1122-1235Path Two: 1236-1310 ADPath Three : 1311-1460 ADPath Four : 1461-1520 ADPath Five: 1521-1699 ADPath Six: 1700-1800 ADChristopher Taylor // christopher.eric.taylor@gmail.com946e2cf6115688379f338b70e5b6f6c039f8ba6f Global Middle Ages
New Jerusalem
12016-03-31T09:46:15-07:00Christopher Taylor // christopher.eric.taylor@gmail.com946e2cf6115688379f338b70e5b6f6c039f8ba6f52811plain2016-03-31T09:46:15-07:00Christopher Taylor // christopher.eric.taylor@gmail.com946e2cf6115688379f338b70e5b6f6c039f8ba6f
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12016-03-26T20:11:48-07:0012,0003plain2016-03-31T09:47:14-07:00This passage presents one of several moments in the Letter where Christian symbolism and Islamic lore coincide. This magical mirror, which derives from Persian sources, recalls the Islamic terrestrial Paradise. In what seems more than a coincidence, this magical mirror resting atop such a large structure is guarded by 12,000 soldiers both day and night—the same number as the number of angels that guard the top of the ladder leading into the Afterworld in stories of Muhammad’s Ascension.
The number 12,000 also has significance in Christian numerology, most significantly as the number of stadia of the Holy City (length, width and height) of the New Jerusalem. (Rev 21,16). The number also signifies the number of people who will be saved from each of the twelve tribes of Jews (Rev 7:3-8). While this number has clear significance in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition, the description of 12,000 bodies situated at a great height recalls the Islamic use of the number more directly than it does either Christian or Jewish uses of the number.
