In the summer of 701 BC, the powerful Assyrian army laid siege to Jerusalem, threatening the Hebrew kingdom with destruction. Had Jerusalem perished, so too would Hebrew society itself. Rabbinical Judaism and its two offshoots -- Christianity and Islam -- could never have arisen.

But suddenly, the invaders fled, leaving the City of David intact. Why? The Assyrian retreat has been one of history’s most enduring mysteries. Now, in this ground-breaking account, award-winning writer Henry Aubin proves beyond doubt that Jerusalem was saved by the army of the Kushite pharaoh of Egypt, made up largely of Black Africans known as Nubians, from what is now Sudan. Led by the great general Taharqa, who would go on to become a pharaoh himself, this African army seldom figures in modern biblical scholarship -- the result, Aubin argues, of a racist campaign over the last two centuries to erase the Kushite contribution to Israel’s survival. “Thoroughly convincing … I am a convert.” — William H. McNeill, winner of the National Book Award and author of Plagues and Peoples

“Aubin successfully achieves his primary goal: he provides the most convincing explanation of what caused the Assyrians to retreat from Jerusalem. In the course of doing this, he has unmasked the unconscious racism that has mangled [our] understanding of Egypt for more than a century.... His insights are of astonishing breadth, originality and importance.”
— Bruce G. Trigger, McGill University, author of A History of Archeological Thought

“A special circle in Paradise is reserved for writers such as Henry Aubin: those able to deal with really big ideas or occasions, and to do so convincingly in tight, readable, unpretentious language.” -- Donald Akenson, The Globe and Mail

“Aubin writes about complex matters of history, archaeology, and biblical exegesis with a light hand, and his book offers an eminently plausible interpretation of one of history’s great turning points.”-- Kirkus Reviews