Pt2 The Talmudic Tales of Alexander the Great’s Adventures in Africa: The Mountains of Darkness, the City of Women, and the Waters of Eden (Tamid 32a-b)
This is the second and final part of a two-part series. The first part is here, the outline can be found there.
Discovery of a Spring Linked to Eden
During his travels, Alexander eats near a spring and notices a fragrant aroma from his salted fish, leading him to suspect the spring originates from the Garden of Eden.1
He attempts to enter the Garden but is denied entry, with the declaration that the gates are for the righteous (quoting Psalms 118:20: “This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter into it” ).
Alexander requests a token and is given a single eyeball (גולגלתא).
כי שקיל ואתי, יתיב אההוא מעיינא, קא אכיל נהמא.
הוו בידיה גלדני דמלחא, בהדי דמחוורי להו – נפל בהו ריחא.
אמר: שמע מינה, האי עינא מגן עדן אתי.
איכא דאמרי: שקל מהנהו מיא, טרא באפיה.
איכא דאמרי: אידלי כוליה עד דמטא לפתחא דגן עדן,
רמא קלא: פתחו לי בבא!
אמרו ליה: ״זה השער לה׳ וגו׳״.
אמר להון: אנא נמי מלכא אנא, מיחשב חשיבנא, הבו לי מידי.
יהבו ליה גולגלתא חדא,
With regard to Alexander, the Gemara relates:
When he took himself and went on his way, he sat at a certain spring and was eating bread.
He had salted fish [guldenei] in his hands, and while he cleansed them of their excessive salt, a particularly pleasant fragrance fell upon them.
Alexander said to himself: I may conclude from this event that this spring comes from the Garden of Eden.
There are those who say: He took from those waters and washed his face.
And there are those who say: He ascended along the length of the entire spring until he reached the entrance of the Garden of Eden.
He raised a loud voice, calling out: Open the gate for me!
The sentry of the Garden of Eden said to him: “This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter into it” (Psalms 118:20). Since you are not righteous, you may not enter.
He said to them: I too am worthy, as I am a king; I am very important. If I will not be admitted, at least give me something from inside.
They gave him one eyeball.
The Insatiable Human Eye
Alexander weighs the eyeball against all his gold and silver, but the riches fail to balance it.
The rabbis (רבנן) explain that the human eye symbolizes insatiable desire, as it never finds satisfaction.
Covering the eye with dirt balances the scale, illustrating that only death ends human greed, as reflected in Proverbs 27:20: “The netherworld (Sheol) and destruction (Abaddon) are never satiated; so the eyes of man are never satiated”.
אתייה תקליה לכוליה דהבא וכספא דידיה בהדיה, לא הוה (מתקליה).
אמר להון לרבנן: מאי האי?
אמרי: גולגלתא דעינא דבישרא ודמא [הוא], דלא קא שבע.
אמר להו: ממאי דהכי הוא?
שקלי קליל עפרא וכסיוה, לאלתר תקלא,
דכתיב: ״שאול ואבדון לא תשבענה וגו׳״.
He brought it and he weighed all the gold and silver that he had against the eyeball, and yet the riches did not balance against the eyeball’s greater weight.
He said to the Sages: What is this? Why does this eyeball outweigh everything?
They said: It is the eyeball of a mortal person of flesh and blood, which is not satisfied ever.
He said to them: From where do you know that this is the reason for the unbalanced scale?
The Sages answered him: Take a small amount of dirt and cover the eye. He did so, and it was immediately balanced by its proper counterweight.
The eye is never satisfied while it can see, as it is written: “The netherworld and destruction are never satiated; so the eyes of man are never satiated” (Proverbs 27:20).
Cosmological Teachings on Gehenna
The Talmud adds a cosmological note from “the school of Eliyahu” (Tanna Devei Eliyahu), stating that Gehenna is either located above the firmament2 or beyond the Mountains of Darkness (mentioned in the earlier part of this sugya, in Part 1).
תנא דבי אליהו:
גיהנם למעלה מן הרקיע,
ויש אומרים: לאחורי הרי חשך.
The Gemara cites a statement related to its earlier account of Alexander’s journey. The school of Eliyahu taught:
Gehenna is above the heavens,
and some say that it is beyond the Mountains of Darkness.
For another talmudic discussion on the earthly entrance to Eden, see my piece “Mapping the Afterlife: The Locations of the Entrances to Gehenna and the Garden of Eden, and the Names of Gehenna (Eruvin 19a)“. And see the discussion later in this sugya on the location of the earthly entrance to Gehenna.