Come party at Santa's Workshop, from now until the 24th!

By Source, Fair use, Link

*All members need to read the USER GUIDE, RULES & LEGAL CHARTER before participating in site activity.

*All imagery on the site is open-licensed (wikicommons, for example), owned by persons using them or are clearly sourced w/ credit to author & w/ link-back.

*For any questions please contact Eyvisl or Poh (site admins).

AHF GEMS! *Please let Eyvisl know if you want to put a banner up.

This forum has 234 topics, 711 replies, and was last updated by Eyvisl Yngling.

- Forum
- Topics
- Replies
- Last Post
- AFRICA
  
  Africa is home to a fascinating group of cultures that intrigue us to this day. The Cradle of Humanity,
  
  Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43748
  
  *SEE FORUMS BELOW TO GO EXPLORE EACH REGION, CITY, OR THE TOPICS WITHIN!
  
  Africa’s history is longer than anywhere else on Earth for obvious reasons. Modern humans evolved here and later populated the world. This is a (deliberately) brief summation of pre-history to historic Egypt. *More extensive write-ups will start appearing in the culture/empires below very soon.
  6000 BCE to 8000 BCE the pottery, agriculture & animal domestication appeared in the Middle-East spreading into Africa. This period included the first organized settlements along the Nile including the cultivation of barley & emmer (early grass-family wheat precursors). Larger villages & irrigation appeared along the Nile around this time. What is termed the Amratian culture emerged in this period. In SW Africa, cattle domestication and larger buildings emerged.
  Around 5000 BCE the Sahara started drying out, turning into the massive desert that it is to this day.
  The next culture to appear was the Tasian culture, in Upper Egypt starting around 4500 BCE. The Tasian culture is distinguished by unique pottery & burial practices.
  3500 BCE Narmer united Upper & Lower Egypt, both of which evolved from villages learning how to cultivate land with the life-giving Nile eight or ten thousand years ago.
  SOURCE #1:
  https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/africa-timeline
  SOURCE #2:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Egypt#Prehistoric_Egypt
  MeryetNit will be who to contact if you want to help develop Africa.
  RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - KMT (Egypt) (59, 122)
    
    *PLEASE MAKE SURE TO SEE THE LIVELY & INFORMATIVE TOPICS BELOW THE LISTED FORUMS!
    Timeline of Ancient Egypt
    The below dating system has been very useful, and Egyptologists by this system, have been able to add chronological dates to the Egyptian dynasties. So, tracing the course of Egyptian civilization, based on the King Lists and other historical documents, also with the aid of relics & artefacts, both Historians & Egyptologists agreed upon & organised the following major periods of Ancient Egypt.
    Early Dynastic Period 3150 - 2686BCE.
    The Old Kingdom 2686 - 2181BCE.
    The First Intermediate Period 2181 - 2040BCE.
    The Middle Kingdom 2040 -1782BCE.
    The Second Intermediate Period 1782 - 1570BCE.
    The New Kingdom. 1570 - 1070BCE.
    The Third Intermediate Period 1070 - 525BCE.
    The Late Period 525 - 332BCE.
    Reference used : Nathalie Beax-Grimal & Salima Ikram.
    The Pre-Dynastic Egypt.
    The Pre-Dynastic period dates from approximately 5500 - 3100BCE and ends with the unification of Greater Egypt, during this period Egypt was divided into two very distinctive cultures, of Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt.
    Archaeologically speaking, cemetery sites are located primarily in Upper Egypt and the living settlement site were in Lower Egypt, close to the irrigation of the Nile. For many years, archaeologists thought the cultures of Upper & Lower Egypt were completely separate from the Later Egyptian Cultures.
    Victorian archaeologists just assumed, incorrectly, that the pre-Dynastic cultures were completely foreign cultures to the Lands of The Nile, and a culture created by an Asiatic invasion. More recent research now shows a slow progression from these contrasting cultural elements to a better-known Egyptian civilization.
    The cultures of both areas are very different from the more traditional culture that most people associate with ancient Egypt, however, several commonalities that continued through the Graeco-Roman period appear in the art of these earliest Egyptian cultures including :
    Smiting Depictions, or images in which the Egyptian King is hitting the enemies of the Nile, the Goddess Hathor with images of her cattle and livestock agricultural cult, The Red Crown of Lower Egypt, which symbolizes the Royal Power of the Kings, in this region, the earliest depiction of the Red Crown of Lower Egypt is dated at 3500BCE approximately because of the numerous ceramic potsherds found around the Red symbol of authority.
    Reference used : Charlotte Booth & Edda Bresciani.
    Uniting The Land of Egypt.
    The Egyptian civilization, as it is known today, started during the reign of Narmer 3100BCE, at the start King Narmer's reign, Egypt was divided into locally governed regions, this complicated system made Narmer instrumental in unifying these regions and to be governed at one central location with the king chairing all debates.
    Historians are uncertain whether the unification of Egypt was achieved by peaceful means, by small skirmishes or a major battle, the unification is recorded on the Narmer Palette, which is a ceremonial slate, that was discovered at Hierakonopolis. The Palette includes the earliest battle scene from ancient Egypt, as well as a number of images that continued to be used for the next 3,000 years.
    The images include, the king hitting an enemy over the head with the Royal Mace, the king wearing the crown of Upper & Lower Egypt and the king depicted as a ferocious Egyptian bull trampling the enemies of the Nile.
    The symbolism of the Palette reinforces the idea that the king was the undisputed head of the single state of Egypt. The imagery is the beginning of the kingship ideology prescribing that Egypt should never again be divided. From this point on, all kings & pharaohs tried to maintain this ideal and all strived to rule a united Egypt.
    Reference used : Charlotte Booth & Orly Gold-Wasser.
    @beric
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - KUSH* (1, 0)
    There are more pyramids here than in KMT (Egypt)!! The relationship between Kush & KMT is fascinating. Let's explore (& write together) about this!
    
    Wikicommons imagery.
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - PUNT (1, 0)
    Scholars still argue whether Somalia or Eritrea are the location of Punt, likely areas of both as it seems currently by what has been revealed in research. It is known that the Egyptians were trading with Punt as early as the 4th or 5th Dynasties (of unified Egypt), possibly as early as 2600 BCE - 2400 BCE, if not earlier.
    The earliest known references to the land of Punt was by the ancient Egyptians, describing it as Te Netjer ("The Land of The Gods") also known as "Land of Plenty" (I do not know what that is in ancient Egyptian). Among other things, Punt was known for spices and herbs, “terraces of Myrrh”, for example. Punt was recorded as trading in aromatic gum, gold, ebony, ivory, leopard skins, live apes, ebony, wild animals, animal skins, elephant tusks, ivory, spices, precious woods, cosmetics, incense and frankincense and myrrh trees.
    The most famous mention of Punt in early history was the expedition in -1493 BCE- by Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt having been told by the God Amun-Ra to find the route to Punt which had been lost. She is said to have return with live trees, the first mention in history (that I know of) of transporting foreign trees (flora in general).
    
    Image source (as w/ all other images on this site except for various personal imagery) are from wikicommons/wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Punt#/media/File:King_and_Queen_of_Punts_and_Attendants.png
    Please read the Ancient History Encyclopedia article about Punt!
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
- 62
- 122
- Reply To: KMT Discussion Thread
  
  Eyvisl Yngling
- AMERICAS
  
  The most recent continent that Humanity populated, The ancient cultures of The Americas are as unique as all others and beautifully diverse.
  
  Mangas Cochise will be who to contact if you want to be involved in helping develop The Americas.
  RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - ARCTIC (1, 1)
    Sure, it's cold up here but that's what FFF ("fur, friends & fires) are for! Coming soon. Contact @mangascochise if you want to be involved in the write-up.
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - CARIBBEAN (1, 0)
    The Taíno and the Ciboney, and other pre-European denizens of the Caribbean.
    Coming soon! Contact @mangascochise if you want to be involved in the write-up.
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - MESO AMERICA (9, 9)
    Home of the Olmec*, Maya, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, Mixtec, and Aztec cultures, Meso-America is a remarkable place in ancient history!
    Coming soon! Contact @mangascochise if you want to be involved in the write-up.
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - NORTH AMERICA (5, 1)
    For the study and discussions of the pre-European cultures of North America. These lands have a long long story to tell. Lets write this together. Coming soon. Contact @mangascochise if you want to be involved in the write-up.
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - SOUTH AMERICA (4, 0)
    There is no way to explore the beautiful complexity of these lands. Lets -at least- try to explore & write this together.
    Coming soon! Contact @mangascochise if you want to be involved in the write-up.
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
- 22
- 13
- Reply To: Arctic Discussion
  
  Eyvisl Yngling
- EUROPE
  
  Welcome to Europe!
  Europe 4,500BCE
  The transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic way of life was a turning point in humankind's social & economic development comparable in importance to the industrial and scientific revolutions of the nineteenth & twentieth centuries.
  The contrast between a temporary Mesolithic camp and a village of Neolithic farmers is certainly striking enough to justify the term 'Neolithic revolution', but just as modern technology makes its most dramatic appearance in countries with low technology, so the Neolithic was at its most 'revolutionary' when, in its fully developed form, it spread beyond the Near-Eastern area where it had evolved into Mesolithic Europe, Africa & Asia.
  The innovations of the Neolithic are many, the cultivation of wheat & barley, the domestication of goats, sheep, pigs & cattle, the used of fired pottery and polished stone tools, opposed to the Mesolithic chipped flints. The pre-pottery early period of Neolithic times, archaeologists found their settlements were largely in fertile crescents, that could be easily irrigated, always close to a water supply.
  The 'incipient agriculture region' of where Turkey is today, archaeologists discovered a walled hamlet covering some ten acres whose inhabitants planted corn and kept domesticated goats. Apart from the fortification, which implies a level of social organisation, the diggers of this excavation called it 'the missing link' which falls easily into place within the Near Eastern evolutionary sequence.
  Reference used : Ancient Europe : by Colin McEvedy
  By the 6th millennium the fully evolved Neolithic had spread from the fertile crescents across Anatolia to the Balkans, at the same time of evolution, the original Neolithic communities of the Near East passed into the cultural phase known as Chalcolithic meaning 'copper but still stone-using' - although some archaeologists prefer the expression of 'The Bronze Age'.
  However, in the Chalcolithic period, the metal copper dominated the early metal-working technology of the Near East, adding tin to the copper to produce Bronze, a harder and stronger metal, the site of Belovode on the Mountain of Rudnik in Serbia has the oldest securely-dated evidence of copper-smelting, from 5,000BCE.
  Three major cultural zones the entered The Copper Age before any other community, are Halafian, of Syria, & Northern Mesopotamia, the Ghassulian of Palestine & the Hacilar, of Anatolia. Copper working remained confined to the Near East for 2,000 years after its discovery and during most of this period of the 6th & 5th millennia, - the line marking the limit of the Neolithic techniques seems to have been quite static.
  By 4,000BCE there were two breakthroughs, one from Palestine to Egypt and the North African Coast, and another from the Lower Danube region across Central Europe. In the case of Lower Danube, the reason for their sudden rapid progress is easy to discern, - they cleared their fields by burning the cover off the virgin lands and tilled these new clearances, that gave them several seasons of high yield.
  The people of the Lower Danube, though they were Neolithic, were far more mobile than other Mesolithic populations of the Baltic & Iberian coastlines, that were sufficiently supplied with a diet of shellfish.
  The 'Ertebolle' peoples of today's Denmark and various other Mesolithic groups on the Eastern Borders of the New Neolithic zones learnt from the people of the Lower Danube, to make pottery and how to polish the stone tools, but kept the food-gathering traditions rather than turning their hands to farming methods.
  Reference used : Colin McEvedy
  @beric wrote this BTW
  Eyvisl Yngling will be who to contact if you want to help develop Europe.
  RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - CENTRAL EUROPE (4, 30)
    
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - EASTERN EUROPE (2, 1)
    We have a surprise for you in Eastern Europe. Keep your socks pulled up, it'll get deep.
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - NORTHERN EUROPE (22, 57)
    
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - THE WESTERN ISLES (59, 236)
    
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
- 89
- 326
- Reply To: Flowers Of The Underworld
  
  Dervla Erin
- MEDITERRA*
  
  What does "Mediterranean" even mean? "(The) Middle (of the) Earth".
  The cultures that emerged along the shores of the Mediterranean are powerfully influential & inspirational to this day. As to whether we should even make this "World" we thought about it, a lot.
  Instead of only putting the shores of The Mediterranean Sea into The Levant, Southern Europe & Northern Africa is that this is where Africa, Asia & Europe intersect. The story of the cultures that rounded The Mediterranean & Aegean Seas is... has become a very powerful & singular element in world history.
  What we are hoping for is that despite any potential (or existent) redundancy between Mediterra, The Levant, Africa & Europe, that two different aspects of the history of the Mediterranean Sea will emerge with as many writers involved as are existent in either of the various "Worlds" that are affected by these decisions. I -for one- can't wait to see how this unfolds!
  *Mediterra needs a Write-up folks. Are you interested in writing it?
  Talk to Ipskakt if you want to help develop Mesopotamia.
  RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - ANATOLIA (TURKEY)* (2, 3)
    The Turks are largely responsible for our government, sciences, et cetera.
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - HELLAS (GREECE) (4, 12)
    The Democratic Greek Civilization :
    Greece, called Achaea in very ancient times, was always a story of city-states dotted about the mainland and the various islands across the Aegean Sea. The first phrase of Greek civilisation is called 'The Minoan Period', after Minos, the mythical king of the Island of Crete, who lived at Knossos.
    The Minoan civilisation started around 3,000BCE and lasted until 1,400BCE, when a natural disaster seriously damaged the port and settlement. Meanwhile Greece itself, had constructed famous strongholds of Mycenae & Tiryns.
    On the North-West coast of modern day Turkey where Ilium or Troy had been constructed, somewhere around this time-line the Minoan civilization had totally collapsed, the famous and well recorded Trojan War was taking place, but no-one really knows how much the Trojan War was a myth or reality.
    All Greek historians really know is Homer's poems of 800BCE, 'The Iliad' & 'The Odyssey', had already been composed. They set the pace of Greek literature, while the uniqueness of Greek art was being developed at this time also.
    During this time period , the Greek city-states of Athens & Sparta were being developed into stronghold fortresses. By the fifth century BCE, Athens had reached its climax with the development of a sophisticated democracy and a fresh political theory in the Age of Pericles.
    Greek colonies were now dotted around the Mediterranean, including Southern Italy & the Island of Sicily, but the Greek city-states were forever in-fighting, Athens & Sparta brought each other to a virtual ruin in The Peloponesian War.
    Thus a weakened Greece was easy prey, first for Philip II, of Macedonia, 357-338BCE, and then for the Romans in 146BCE. But Greek art, culture, literature and sport remained immensely popular in the days of the Roman Empire. Today the Greeks are still heralded as the fathers of modern democracy and civilisation.
    Reference used : Athildas Coel & Guy de la Bedoyere
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - ROME (18, 45)
    Omnium Rerum Principia Parva Sunt.
    (transl. "The Beginnings Of All Things Are Small.")
    The history of Rome is long and complex, a village that became the Eternal City, is quite an ancient accomplishment, and planting the seed of her Western civilization, a monarchy becoming a Republic reflected through the hist of Europe.
    Italy had to be conquered first, before Rome turns its attention to greater Europe, parts of Africa, and then the Near & Middle East, spreading its culture & Literacy over the Mediterranean, also commerce with minted coinage.
    All these countries incorporated into a Empire that had around a quarter of the world's population under its governance, packed with immigrating young men, the Romans needed female inhabitants to rectify the imbalance, kidnapping the Sabine womenfolk that sparked off a war that ended with a truce as both Roman & Sabine joined forces.
    Right from the start Rome had an organised military, regiments of 3,000 infantry and 300 cavalry were called legions and their foundation was ascribed to Romulus himself.
    Almost the only source on this period of Roman history is Titus Livius or Livy (59BCE-17AD). Some 200 years after the conquest of Italy, Livy had composed 142 books on Rome's early history, but only 54 survive to this day.
    The last, Tarquin the Proud, was deposed in 509BCE in a revolt lead by Lucius Junius Brutus, the founder of the Roman Republic. Elected Consuls would now rule Rome.
    Reference Used : Historia Romanorum.
    Mirum Est Quanta Sit Roma!
    (transl: "It is amazing how big Rome is!")
    My apologies if this sounds like a child's guide to Rome, but I am the son of simple rustic folk and I have never been in a settlement constructed of stone that is so vast ! Rome is located near to the west coast of Italy, the village that grew into the first city and then into an Empire, and the center of power for 1,000 years.
    Many major roads led into the City of Rome, the Latin name for a road was Via, as in the Via Appia, the Via Aurelia, the Via Cassia & the Via Salaria, I was amazed to see inside the City the streets were paved, clean and free of dust.
    I marveled at the ingenuity of the water aqueducts, bringing fresh water into the City, and some citizens seem to have running water in their houses, and there's public fountains and baths dotted around the City. I am use to soap and bathing in the river !
    There's a statue of a wolf suckling two boys, a citizen told me it depicts Romulus & Remus, must be their gods, it certainly not flat like my native Ychen, I counted seven hills, the Aventine, the Caelian, the Capitoline, the Esquiline, the Palatine, the Quirinal and lastly the Viminal Hill, a citizen told me at the statue of the mother wolf that one of the boys founded the City of Rome on the Palatine Hill, but she didn't say which one.
    At the center of their public life is the Roman Forum, this rectangular plaza is surrounded by public buildings, temples to their gods and basilicas where trade & commerce take place.
    Many important buildings were around the Roman Forum :
    The Regia : Where the Roman kings lived, now the offices of the Roman spiritual men.
    The Comitium : The center of politics & judicial activities.
    The Temple of Caesar : Honoring Julius after his death.
    The Temple of Saturn : The God of Agriculture.
    The Tabularium : The Place of Records
    The Orator's Rostra :
    Senate Curia : Where The Elected Senators Meet
    The Arch of Septimius Severus : Rome's Triumphal Arch.
    Reference used : Historia Romanorum.
    @beric_debenkah
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
- 25
- 61
- Reply To: Greece Discussions
  
  Eyvisl Yngling
- THE LEVANT
  
  A VERY BRIEF INTRO TO THE LEVANT
  Known as The Cradle of Civilization, The Fertile Crescent, The Levant is a fascinating region to explore!
  The Levant is (generally) thought to refer to the lands "...west of the Zagros mountains, south of the Taurus Mountains and north of the Sinai peninsula" & is roughly where Israel, Lebanon, part of Syria, and western Jordan are today.
  "...the kingdoms of Israel, Ammon, Moab, Judah, Edom, and Aram; and the Phoenician and Philistine states. Important cities include Jerusalem, Jericho, Petra, Beersheba, Rabbath-Ammon, Ashkelon, Tyre, and Damascus."
  Source #1: Thought Co. - Maps of The Levant
  *PLEASE EXPLORE THE FORUMS & TOPICS BELOW WHICH WILL GO INTO MORE DEPTH ABOUT EACH NATION, STATE OR CULTURES WITHIN.
  Please contact Ipskakt if you want to help develop Levant.
  RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - MESOPOTAMIA (8, 31)
    
    Mesopotamia is a very historical region of Western Asia situated within the River Tigris & the River Euphrates, in the Northern Part is the historical Fertile Crescent. The Sumerians & Akkadians, including Assyrians & the Babylonians, dominated Mesopotamia.
    From the very beginning of written records, 3,100BCE, to the fall of Babylon in 539BCE, when the ancient settlement was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. In 332BCE, Babylon fell to the Greeks & Macedonians lead by Alexander the Great, after the warrior's death, it became part of the Greek Seleucid Empire.
    In the 7th century BCE, the Persian & Medes kingdoms fell under the domination of the Assyria Empire, based in Northern Mesopotamia, under King Cyaxares, the Medes & Persians entered into an alliance with the Babylonian ruler Nabopolassar, as well as the fellow Scythians & Cimmerians, the coalition together attacked the Assyrian Empire.
    The civil war ravaged the Assyrian Empire between 616 - 605BCE, thus freeing their respective people from the yoke of domination.
    Phoenicia, from the ancient Greek, was a ancient Semitic-speaking Mediterranean civilisation that originated in the Levant, specifically the Lebanon, which in those days included Northern Israel & Southern Syria.
    Its colonies later reached to the Western Mediterranean, such as Cadiz, in today's Spain and the most notable Carthage in North Africa. The Phoenician civilisation spread across the Mediterranean between 1,500 - 300BCE.
    Reference used : Hacob Serkis & Beric Ychen.
    "Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. It has been identified as having "inspired some of the most important developments in human history, including the invention of the wheel, the planting of the first cereal crops and the development of cursive script, mathematics, astronomy and agriculture."
    "The Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. It fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and after his death, it became part of the Greek Seleucid Empire."
    Source #1: Wikipedia - Mesopotamia
    Source #2:***
    Source #3:***
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - PERSIS (PERSIA) (2, 0)
    
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - PHOENICIA (2, 0)
    
    The Phoenicians & The Carthaginians Civilizations.
    Phoenicia was where the coast of Lebanon & Syria are today, at the Eastern end of the Mediterranean . The Phoenicians were brilliant sea-farers, which incidentally the Romans never were, and one story is that they might have sailed around the North Coast of Africa.
    Major traders, the Phoenicians shipped their products of cloth, dye and timber, everywhere they could and set up coastal colonies all around the Mediterranean, including Spain, Malta and Sicily. The most important settlement was Carthage, which became Rome's most deadly maritime rival.
    Founded by the ninth century BCE, in what is modern day Tunisia on the North Coast of Africa, Carthage's wealth and influence spread North to Sicily & the Italian mainland, providing Rome with its biggest threat of means of expansion.
    It took three Punic Wars to wipe out the opposition of Carthage, which was finally destroyed by the Romans in 146BCE, leaving the way open for Rome to take total control of the Mediterranean.
    Reference used : Athildas Coel & Guy de la Bedoyere.
    
    By Kordas, based on Alvaro's work - This map, CC BY 3.0, Link
    @beric
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
- 13
- 37
- Reply To: Levant Discussions
  
  Ziyi
- THE ORIENT*
  
  Welcome to The Orient!
  *The Orient needs a Write-up folks. Are you interested in writing it?
  Ziyi will be who you contact if you want to help develop The Orient or have any questions.
  RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - CHINA* (5, 3)
    
    An amazing amalgamation & unification of many ethnic & cultural distinctions, China has thousands of years of writing, complex society, philosophy & religion.
    For an amazing history of China, please read this from
    Ancient History Encyclopedia's article about Ancient China
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - INDIA* (2, 0)
    This is a massive & complex history for us to explore! Let's do this.
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - JAPAN* (2, 2)
    Welcome to The Land of The Rising Sun.
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - LAOS* (1, 1)
    *Author credit to: Natenapa (will create an acct. very soon)
    The earliest signs of human habitation in Laos is in the Stone Age. Artifacts have been found extending into northeast Thailand, and on the Plain of Jars. The society built around the Plain of Jars existed circa 500 BC. Huge stone mortuary urns are found throughout the site, the "jars" as modern discoverers came to call them. It is hypothesized that these people were Austroasiatic, and that they were the ancestors of the Khamu, which remain an important ethnic group in Laos today.
    In the fourth and fifth centuries AD, Chinese people of the Yunnan region moved into the Laotian lands. There was also commerce and and other connections with India starting circa the eighth century, which culminated in the people adopting Buddhism as their religious path. Starting in the early 11th century, Laos belonged to the Khmer Angkor empire, and the Lao people displaced and dominated the region. Laotians originated in neighboring Thailand.
    During the time of Mongol expansion (13th - early 14th centuries), Laos was affected. The Mongols probably allied with the Khmer Angkor kingdom.
    However, the Khmer Angkor kingdom collapsed before mid-century, and a home-grown kingdom, the Lan Xang, was formed by 1349. Fa Ngoun (reigned 1353–1373) was the first king. The Lan Xang empire occupied somewhat larger geography than does Laos today. The boundaries of today's Laos have only been in place since 1907. The region we think of as Laos only includes a fraction of those who have, through history, considered themselves Laotian (Lao). From the 14th century until 1907, the boundaries of Laos extended into current-day northeastern Thailand.
    Lan Xang survived for three centuries. On various occasions it was invaded by, or at war with, neighboring Thailand/Siam, Burma (Myanmar), Khmer (future Cambodia), and Vietnam. During its period of largest expansion, the 17th century, Lan Xang controlled Laos itself, and portions of Yunnan, China, south Burma, the Vietnamese and Khmer plateaus, and much of northeast Thailand.
    In 1707, Lan Xang split into two kingdoms: Vientiane, with a capital city of the same name, covered southern Laos. Luang Phabang was the kingdom of northern Laos. The split, plus the dissentions which had caused the rift of an empire, weakened these people, and the end was in sight.
    External invasions were repulsed until the 18th century, when internal politics created a situation where Thailand took advantage, and control, of the former Lan Xang empire. In the 1870's, Laos was absorbed into French Indochina. Laos remained under French control until 1953, with a brief WWII occupation under Japan.
    In the year 1953, King Sisavang Vong managed to acquire full independence for Laos. This was challenged by nationalist forces, commonly known as the Pathet Lao, who formed an alliance with the Viet Cong of Vietnam. Their goal was to expell any remaining French. The nation also had conflicts with China to the north. Currently, Laos is being run by the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party.
    References:
    Laos History and Laos Culture: http://www.iexplore.com/dmap/Laos/History
    History from FactMonster: http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0859186.html
    Laos Travel Guide: http://www.visit-mekong.com/laos/
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - MONGOLIA (2, 0)
    The transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic way of life was a turning point in humankind's social & economic development comparable in importance to the industrial and scientific revolutions of the nineteenth & twentieth centuries.
    The contrast between a temporary Mesolithic camp and a village of Neolithic farmers is certainly striking enough to justify the term 'Neolithic revolution', but just as modern technology makes its most dramatic appearance in countries with low technology, so the Neolithic was at its most 'revolutionary' when, in its fully developed form, it spread beyond the Near-Eastern area where it had evolved into Mesolithic Europe, Africa & Asia.
    The innovations of the Neolithic are many, the cultivation of wheat & barley, the domestication of goats, sheep, pigs & cattle, the used of fired pottery and polished stone tools, opposed to the Mesolithic chipped flints. The pre-pottery early period of Neolithic times, archaeologists found their settlements were largely in fertile crescents, that could be easily irrigated, always close to a water supply.
    The 'incipient agriculture region' of where Turkey is today, archaeologists discovered a walled hamlet covering some ten acres whose inhabitants planted corn and kept domesticated goats. Apart from the fortification, which implies a level of social organisation, the diggers of this excavation called it 'the missing link' which falls easily into place within the Near Eastern evolutionary sequence.
    Reference used : Ancient Europe : by Colin McEvedy.
    By the 6th millennium the fully evolved Neolithic had spread from the fertile crescents across Anatolia to the Balkans, at the same time of evolution, the original Neolithic communities of the Near East passed into the cultural phase known as Chalcolithic meaning 'copper but still stone-using' - although some archaeologists prefer the expression of 'The Bronze Age'.
    However, in the Chalcolithic period, the metal copper dominated the early metal-working technology of the Near East, adding tin to the copper to produce Bronze, a harder and stronger metal, the site of Belovode on the Mountain of Rudnik in Serbia has the oldest securely-dated evidence of copper-smelting, from 5,000BCE.
    Three major cultural zones the entered The Copper Age before any other community, are Halafian, of Syria, & Northern Mesopotamia, the Ghassulian of Palestine & the Hacilar, of Anatolia. Copper working remained confined to the Near East for 2,000 years after its discovery and during most of this period of the 6th & 5th millennia, - the line marking the limit of the Neolithic techniques seems to have been quite static.
    By 4,000BCE there were two breakthroughs, one from Palestine to Egypt and the North African Coast, and another from the Lower Danube region across Central Europe. In the case of Lower Danube, the reason for their sudden rapid progress is easy to discern, - they cleared their fields by burning the cover off the virgin lands and tilled these new clearances, that gave them several seasons of high yield.
    The people of the Lower Danube, though they were Neolithic, were far more mobile than other Mesolithic populations of the Baltic & Iberian coastlines, that were sufficiently supplied with a diet of shellfish.
    The 'Ertebolle' peoples of today's Denmark and various other Mesolithic groups on the Eastern Borders of the New Neolithic zones learnt from the people of the Lower Danube, to make pottery and how to polish the stone tools, but kept the food-gathering traditions rather than turning their hands to farming methods.
    Reference used : Colin McEvedy.
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
  - MUEANG (Thailand)* (1, 1)
    TEXT/IMAGERY
    RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
- 14
- 8
- Reply To: Henan Discussions
  
  Ziyi
- Taverns around the World
  
  HERE ARE LINKS TO PLACES TO MEET PEOPLE
  
  ...IN THE AMERICAS
  THE ZAPPING ZAPOTEC BAR, TAVERN & GRILL. - Home of Mangas Cochise
  
  ...IN EUROPE
  THE PEWTER TAP - Home of Beric Debenkah
  THE NORTH STAR INN & BAR - Home of Pohjantahti (a.k.a. Poh)
  BLUEDRAGON INN & TAVERN - Home of Mogh Roith
  STAG & HOUND TAVERN - Home of Cidwym Silures
  RED BOAR INN & TAVERN - Home of Anarane
  YNGLINGHALL - Home of Eyvisl
  
  ...IN MESOPOTAMIA
  THE KASH BOWL - Home of Leah Enkidu
  IPPY'S ROOFTOP BAR, GRILL & HOT TUBS! - Home of Ipskakt
  
  ...IN THE ORIENT
  KAIFENG FLOWER SHOP (The Assassin's Guild) - Home of Ziyi (a.k.a. Nebibit)
  
  *OUR OTHER FAVORITE WRITERS SITE IS
  PANHISTORIA.COM - A MUST SEE for writers!
  RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
- 1
- 0
- Are there any that we missed?
  
  Eyvisl Yngling
- MEMBER RESOURCES & ANNOUNCEMENTS
  It is important for all of you to check in on this frequently!
  RECENT ACTIVITY - MEMBERS - LOG-IN - DONATE
- 8
- 84
- Reply To: Welcomes & Introductions
  
  Pohjantahti

Viewing topic 1 (of 1 total)

- Topic
- Voices
- Replies
- Last Post
- Welcomes & Introductions
  Started by: Mogh Roith in: MEMBER RESOURCES & ANNOUNCEMENTS
- 12
- 38
- Eyvisl Yngling