Recent comments in /f/history

StekenDeluxe t1_jbdohue wrote

Reply to Humans Started Riding Horses 5,000 Years Ago, New Evidence Suggests by Magister_Xehanort

Hmmmmm.

The earliest written evidence seems to suggest that horse-riding was, for the longest time, considered a bit of a reckless, foolhardy "circus act" - something wild and dangerous, fit for clowns, fools and daredevils.

We have letters from one Mesopotamian lord to another, scolding him for riding on horseback - basically saying "cut it out dude, don't be a fucking clown - and next time, drive a chariot like a proper gentleman."

In the Iliad, too, horse-riding is described as a dangerous activity one does in front of a paying crowd - all the Homeric heroes go into battle either on chariots or on foot (and often first on chariot and then on foot).

In the Vedas, too, the only instance of horse-riding I know of seems to have a comic, ribald (and perhaps even mocking?) tone - the Maruts are described as "spreading their legs like women" in order to mount their horses. In all other descriptions of their heavenly rides to and fro, they drive in chariots, as do practically all other Vedic gods.

All of which makes me wonder if perhaps this skeleton might have been that of an acrobat or a clown of some sort, rather than a shepherd, a warrior or a lord?

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Thibaudborny t1_jbdl7g9 wrote

Reply to comment by justacouchpotato1414 in Weekly History Questions Thread. by AutoModerator

Geography. Turkic tribes were converted by the Persian part of the islamic world. In terms of culture and civilization, the Persian world endured in the bosom of the Arab conquests, somewhat comparable to how Rome conquered the Hellenistic world & absorbed its culture. Consider that prior to being absorbed into the islamic world, the Turkic groups lived in tribal (semi)nomadic societies that had little to offer in terms of civilization in light of running an empire. All of this, from higher culture to administrative trappings, the Turkic groups learned from the Persian world. As the Seljuqs burst out from behind the Oxus and into the islamic world, they took that all the way to the gates of Jerusalem & into Anatolia.

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