Meshekhite Nation
A northern kingdom; cf. Ezekiel 38:2, 27:13; Psalms 120:5. Most Talmudic sources identify Meshekh with Mysia (see Targum Yonathan; Targum on 1 Chronicles 1:5; Yerushalmi, Megillah 1:9; Yoma 10a; Buber on Pesikta Zutratha 26a). This was the land to the west of Bithynia, along the Dardanelles (Hellespont) and Marmara Sea (cf. Yov'loth 9:12; Herodotus 7:42,74). They might possibly be associated with Mycenae, an ancient city in Greece. Josephus, however, associates Meshekh with Cappadocia, whose capital is Mazaka, in what is now central Turkey (see Herodotus 1:72). It is very close to Galatia (see Gomer). Another possibility would be to identify Meshekh with the Massagatae, an ancient people who lived in Russia to the east of the Aral Sea (cf. Herodotus 1:201). It was these people who drove the Scythians into Cimeria (Ibid. 4:11). It is also possible to identify Meshekh with the Moschians mentioned in ancient sources (Herodotus 7:78). The name may be related to the Muskeva River, and hence to Moscow. Indeed, there are sources that say the Meshekh was the forerunner of the Slavs (Kesseth HaSofer). Meshkhetians were persecuted ruthlessly by Stalin.
The Archangel of the Meshekhite nation will be with the armies of the four corners of the world in the final battle at the end of the world.
