texts: Why are women banned from Okinoshima island in Japan?

texts:
Okinoshima, a sacred Japanese island that just got World Heritage listing, is a place where men are expected to walk around naked that is off limits for women.

Why are women not allowed on it?

This article suggests that at least two other places, Mount Omine (Japan) and Sabarimala temple (India), ban women owing to "blood impurity" brought on by menstruation and childbirth. Might the reason for the ban on Okimoshima also be related to "blood impurity"? Might it be related to old Buddhist or Shinto traditions and attitudes towards women? Might it simply be related to the expectation of men to be walking around naked? Something else?

Edit:

What I'm ideally looking for is some kind of answer that suggests which of the prospective explanations - or others - are most likely in light of sourced historical evidence and the specifics of the island. The latter being, once per year purification rituals with all men naked, as opposed to the more usual men allowed and women not that one can find (with varying degrees) in other Shinto sites.

(To answer suggestions in comments that this might not be the correct SE, I'd unfortunately expect not much more than bias on a religious SE, and speculation - however valid in theory writ large, but not necessarily true in the context's situation - on the CogSci SE.)


texts: How did Magnus IV of Sweden come of age at 15?

texts:
According to the Wikipedia article Magnus IV of Sweden

  Magnus was declared to have come of age at 15 in 1331. This caused resistance in Norway, where a statute from 1302 made clear that kings came of age at the age of 20, and a rising by Erling Vidkunsson and other Norwegian nobles ensued. In 1333, the rebels submitted to king Magnus.

Who declared him to come of age and why? Was it his own idea? Why couldn't they wait for 5 more years? Which enemies were they afraid of?


texts: Why is (the best) soot to be taken from glassmakers, according to Diocorides' "Materia Medica"?

texts:
"Fuligio pictoria [soot] that the painters use is taken from the glassmakers, as that is the best." (Diocorides, De Materia Medica 5-182)
http://www.cancerlynx.com/BOOKFIVEWINES.PDF

While glassmaking involves potash, it doesn't seem to include charcoal or soot. Potash is pale in colour. Why would anyone search the best soot at the glassmakers?


texts: How common was gun ownership by Londoners in the early 20th century?

texts:
By Londoners, I mean laypeople in London, England. I was reading about the Tottenham Outrage on Wikipedia which mentions policeman borrowing pistols from bystanders or the public three times, which thus makes gun ownership by Londoners far more common than it is now.

One policeman was able to return fire with a pistol borrowed from a member of the public.
One policeman, PC Nicod, borrowed a pistol from a bystander and made his way through the scrub until he was close enough to fire, but the gun was faulty; he was seen by Helfeld and Lepidus, who fired on him, wounding him in the calf and thigh.[34][35]
PC Charles Eagles borrowed a pistol from a bystander and climbed a ladder at the back of the house.


texts: Who are the 20th century painters on this t-shirt?

texts:
I bought this t-shirt for a friend who is really into arts, but actually I don't know all the painters that are pictured on this shirt.
Clock-wise, I recognize:

René Magritte
Edvard Munch
Salvador Dalí
Wassily Kandinsky ?
Jackson Pollock
?
Piet Mondrian
Gustav Klimt
Roy Lichtenstein
?
Pablo Picasso
(Uomo Vitruviano by Leonardo Da Vinci)

PS: Is this the right stack exchange site for this subject? I couldn't find an art site


texts: What is this document marked "Palestine Bearer Bond"?


texts: Why were businesses operating as trusts at one point, and why did the practice fall out of favor?

texts:
Anti-trust is synonymous with anti-monopoly. We say "anti-trust" because historically trusts were the preferred vehicles for operating monopolies. Why trusts?

I know part of the answer is that there were regulations (laws) on who could own what. I gather these particular laws forbade some types of cross-state ownerships or operations such that to effectively control assets and markets across state lines, an individual or corporation required some legal fiction of non-ownership. Trusts somehow preferentially suited this purpose.

What were the ownership prohibitions exactly? Who's prohibitions were they, state or federal? When did these prohibitions end and how? Why did trusts particularly suit the desired non-ownership function? Why not some other legal entity, e.g., corporation or partnership? What ultimately made trusts an inferior vehicle for commercial enterprise? In other words, why don't some (non-monopolistic) firms continue to organize as trusts?

EDIT: My question is not about anti-competitive practices per se and why they are harmful to an economy. Presumably one could have operated an enterprise via the legal structure of a trust and not been anti-competitive. As it happened, barring anti-competitive legislation, trusts were an excellent vehicle for being anti-competitive and a rational actor under such circumstances would exploit that opportunity. That happened. It was bad. Sure. Putting aside consideration of anti-competitive practices, what were the legal motivations for building conglomerates as trusts? To the extent that I am interested in the anti-competitive nature of trusts, it is merely why is monopolistic behavior the one place where trusts prominently show up as a legal entity for business enterprise?


texts: Why does the Uruk King List say Antiochus I Soter ruled for 22 years?

texts:
Livius.org describes the Uruk King List, translating it and also listing what years those kings are believed to have ruled (from other sources). In the list, it says Antiochus I Soter ruled for 22 years according to the Uruk King List, but he is conventionally known to have ruled only 20 years, from 281-261 BCE.

Why does the Uruk King List say he ruled longer, and why don't we accept that number?


texts: Was the west bank of the Nile farmed in Ancient Egypt?

texts:
This seems like a simple question, but I couldn't find an answer that would have used the detail I was hoping. So, the background: I've been going through Bob Brier's 'The History of Ancient Egypt' and in it, he often mentions that the west bank of the Nile was the realm of the dead, and west in general was a metaphor for the dead.

What Mr Brier hasn't mentioned to this point is how this affected the land on the western half. As the floods of the Nile would have extended to both east and west, did the people farm only the "living" part or also the "deadlands" of the west?

General searches on farming provide the crops they used which are not of interest. This site says that the lands of the dead was:

  For the ancient Egyptians, the west (specifically the desert west of the Nile) was the destination of the dead.

Implying that the western bank would have perhaps been good for farming though doesn't indicate anything for certain.

In Mr Brier's book, he mentions that military action took place on both sides of the river (including defensive organisations):

  Sesostris I (1971–1926 B.C.) was another great king. He built forts in Nubia
  (the Biblical Kush) to control the gold supply. These mud-brick forts were
  very impressive. There was one on each side of the Nile to control trade
  on the river

... and that, in general, the west was a symbol of death:

  The second stage was to make sure the voyage to the west was finished safely. Associated with the setting sun, the west was a symbol of death in Egyptian thinking.

However, the PDF that accompanies the audiobook doesn't add any further information on this.

Hence, I'm unable to come to a definitive conclusion as some evidence speaks in absolutes and the rest is unclear. My question, phrased succinctly, is: did traditional Egyptian beliefs (on death and their afterlife) also lead them to not cultivate the west bank of the Nile?

An additional question, if they did indeed farm the west, would be whether grain / crops from the west was less wanted (cheaper?) for having been frown in lands associated with the dead. I don't imagine we have anything along the lines of evidence required to answer this, but I wanted to throw it out there anyways.


texts: Was mortality higher on French slave ships and if so, why?

texts: I was recently at the African American museum; part of the large history exhibit included a wall of slave-bearing ships with the name, dates, and flag under which the ship sailed. I noticed a pattern: most of the ships killed between 1/4 and 1/3 of the slaves; however, the French ships tended to have a much higher death rate (if I remember correctly, the average was between 1/3 and 1/2). Was this an actual trend, and if so, was there any particular reason for it?


texts: Which of LBJ's fellow representatives were less active than him in the House?

texts:
In the first book of Robert Caro's series on Lyndon Johnson, The Path to Power, he observes that in his time as a member of the House of Representatives, LBJ had introduced only 5 bills of national consequence (only one of which he actively pursued and none of which became law), that he made only 10 speeches in the House until 1948 when tactical considerations for his Senate bid required otherwise, that he barely participated in asking questions and making points of order, and that he was careful also to avoid supporting one side or the other even in private conversation. Caro concludes that:

  During the eleven years that Lyndon Johnson served in the law-making body that is the House of Representatives, few of its 435 members had less to do with the making of its laws than he.

Restricting this to those who served for at least 6 years between 1937 and 1947 (excluding 1948 because Caro attributes LBJ's increased activity then as being necessary to support his Senate bid), which of LBJ's fellow Representatives were less active than him in terms of legislation proposed per year and House participation? Was this inactivity consistent throughout their careers?


texts: The Roman Law of the Twelve Tables on slavery

texts:
I have just been reading the Roman Twelve Tables, and am deeply confused.

In Table VI, it states:

Law VII.

Where anyone demands freedom for another against the claim of servitude, the Prætor shall render judgment in favor of liberty.

If this were adhered to as written, it seems any slave could go to the Praetor and say "Hey, I shouldn't be a slave!" and the Prætor would have to free him.

This was obviously not the case, or there would have been no slaves in Rome, so what is going on?

Any Roman jurists who can help?


texts: How did the Mesopotamian clay tokens known as bulla actually work to maintain authenticity?

texts:
I've read many articles about them using clay tokens to ensure some authenticity of transactions, called Bulla, but I can't find any information about how they actually work.
Can anyone clarify?
It seems to suggest that if Steve buys 5 chickens from Bob, then he can write "Steve Owes Me 5 Chickens" on a piece of stone, and then bake it into a clay ball. Then this can be traded. But who keeps the clay ball? If you have an obligation, you can just throw it away and pretend it never happened. If it's Bob that keeps the token to prove Steve owes him, how does the ball itself prove anything? He could just lie and make his own clay ball with fake instructions inside.
There must be something I am not understanding about the security feature. Some articles suggest that tokens are inside the ball, rather than a contract, which is even more puzzling.

Edit: Also found this
http://viking.som.yale.edu/will/finciv/chapter1.htm

Denise Schmandt-Besserat may have discovered the origins of writing on the surfaces of the clay bullae, but the mystery remains -- why did the ancient accountants of Uruk use a cumbersome bullae system for their records? Indeed bullae remained in use even after the full development of written script. The answer lies in the fact that they were more than accounting tools -- they were actual contracts.
Everything we think of as a financial instrument today is, in fact, a contract. A government bond, for instance, is a contract between the government and the bond-holder to guarantee a series of payments in the future. A share of stock is a contract between the shareholder and the corporation that guarantees participation in the profits of the firm, and a right to vote on management. Although contracts existed before the invention of writing, and even before the invention of bullae, the hollow clay balls and their tokens appear to be the earliest archaeological evidence of contracts. Each bulla found in the Inanna temple complex meant that someone -- and we don't know who, made a promise to give some commodities: jars of honey, sheep, cattle -- perhaps even days of work, to the temple. The writing on the outside of the bulla allowed the contracting parties to refer to the amount owed over the term of the contract, but the tokens inside, kept by the lender as evidence of the agreement, tangibly symbolized the obligation. This interpretation may explain other curious features of the bullae as well. Some of the envelopes are covered entirely in the impressions of cylinder seals -- the Mesopotamian equivalents of signatures. These undoubtedly represent a personal mark indicating the promise of the owing party. Bullae that are entirely covered in seal impressions seem to suggest that the owing party was concerned that the bulla holder might break open a small part of the bulla and insert some additional tokens.
We cannot really call the bullae the first financial instruments, because we do not know who the contracting parties were. We do not know whether the obligation is a return of a loan, or simply a tax or tribute to the temple. The bullae do not specify time (or at least Denise Schmandt-Besserat has not decoded the symbols for time) and they do not specify interest rates. All we know for sure is that they formalized commitments of future payments. The bullae were contracts that bridged a period of time -- from the moment when one party entered into an obligation, to the moment when the obligation was discharged.

But it's still unclear to me exactly what the tokens are for inside the bulla, if the bulla represents some kind of contract.


texts: Why did Fall Blau start at Voronezh instead of further south?

texts:
The main objectives of Fall Blau, the German 1942 summer offensive, were the Volga River, to cut off Soviet oil supplies from further south, and the Caucasus oil fields themselves, for German use.

Given the above facts, the logical "jumping off" point would be Rostov on the Don. This would avoid most of the Don Bend, at least the parts further north and east, using only the southern part of the bend as the anchor of the German left flank, and possibly avoiding a weak "right flank" which might be protected by the southern-facing force. From there, one thrust could move south and east toward the oil fields, of the Caucasus, as it did, while a second, protective thrust could head due east to Kotelnikov, 70 miles southwest of Stalingrad, headed eventually for either that city, or Astrakhan, to the southeast.

Yet the offensive began with a thrust toward Voronezh, about 300 miles north of Rostov (as the crow flies), on June 28, 1942, almost a month before the main attack on Rostov. The distance is equivalent to the distance between Grozny and Baku, and slightly more than the distance between Rostov and Grozny.

With the Voronezh thrust, the Germans lost a month of time, and spread themselves over the (vulnerable) Don bend.

So why did they do this instead of making Rostov the northern end of the thrust?


texts: How were political factions in the late Roman republic different from political parties today?

texts:
I've read that in the 1st century BCE, Rome came to be dominated by a dispute between two political factions: the Optimates, representing the traditionalist patrician families, who wanted to lock down aristocratic privileges, and the Populares, the plebeians and urban poor, who wanted to advance land reform and redistribution.

But I keep coming across this almost obligatory warning, though for the life of me I can't remember a source to quote it from. It goes something like this: The Optimates and the Populares are not like modern political parties, meaning both that they are not conservatives and progressives, but also that their outlook and organization is just fundamentally different.

That sounds credible, but though I can hazard some guesses as to what historians mean when they say that, I've yet to see these distinctions elaborated on. So my question is, in what specific ways were Roman political factions most strikingly different from the party politics of our own time?


texts:
Was there prevalent drug abuse in the Holy Land at the time Jesus lived? If so, what drug would that be?

By "abuse" I mean use of large quantities of the drug over time which may have had mind altering effects.


texts: What is the historical accuracy of the film Valkyrie?

texts: How historically accurate are films made about Nazi Germany? Since they are made after WW2, are they inherently biased towards the Allies?  Taking the movie Valkyrie for example,  how historically accurate are these types of films.


texts: Why did the Turks adopt the Latin alphabet after WWI?

texts:
The Turks used to write their language using the Arabic alphabet. After WWI, when Mustafa Kemal revolutionized the country, he imposed the usage of Latin alphabet. Also the new writing system seems to have been particularly inspired from German, rather than any other language using the Latin alphabet.

Why is that? I understand Mustafa Kemal needed to revolutionize, westernize and modernize the country. However, nobody else in the region used the Latin alphabet, and I do not see how making 100% of the population suddenly illiterate, as well as making old books completely unreadable, was supposed to help modernize the country.

Also why inspire the writing from German specifically, right after the WWI alliance with Germany failed?


texts: What happened to the other European residents in Khartoum in 1885?

texts: Some sources mention Gordon running into the Austrian consulate to save himself from the Mahdi, which implies that there were other Europeans in Khartoum during the siege. What happened to them?


texts:
Some years ago I was given something that I believe is called, in Japanese, a jubako. It's a multi-layered box and on the inside of the lid it features this crest:

When searching for information on it, I came across similar questions here so I'm wondering if anyone knows more about the crest (I have only been able to find the family name) or might be able to direct me to a resource that might have information about it, or even about the jubako?


texts: Is the Disme or the Flowing Hair Dollar the considered the first official U.S coin?

texts: The disme was first minted in 1792 but later turned in to dime with that being said the flowing hair dollar was first minted in 1794 which its size and weight were based on the Spanish dollar, vs the disme witch is one-tenth the silver weight and value of a dollar.


texts: What evidence do we have to claim the Ancient Romans kept African grey parrots as pets?

texts:
The book Birds: Myth, Lore and Legend by Rachel Warren Chadd and Marianne Taylor states:

  [...] The Ancient Romans, who kept both Rose-ringed Parakeets and African Greys (Psittacus erithacus), ..., were also fascinated by the birds. "The parrot salutes emperors and pronounces what words she heareth" reported Pliny the Elder.

I found that Pliny himself described a bird that "seems" the rose-ringed (or ring-necked) parakeet (Psittacula krameri). What about the African grey?

I couldn't find as easily the evidence for this claim - which, by the way, is not isolated. The Italian Wikipedia page says:

  ...the African greys have been kept as pets for more than 4000 years. Egyptian hieroglyphics clearly show domestic parrots. Ancient Greeks also kept them as pets, a tradition resumed by the Romans.

Do we have reasonable evidence?


texts: How secure was Germany's last foothold in the Caucasus in 1943?

texts:
In January, 1943, after the collapse of Fall Blau and just before the fall of Stalingrad, Germany withdrew most of Army Group A from the Caucasus. But they left a rearguard consisting of the Seventeenth Army, some 400,000 men at the Kuban bridgehead at the Taman peninsula on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. The Russians captured the main supply route through Rostov, so this bridgehead was supplied through a secondary route around the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, and specifically along the land bridge across the Kerch Strait next to the Crimean peninsula.
How secure was this southern supply route up to the fall of 1943 when it was abandoned? Did 400,000 men represent the maximum that could be supplied this way or could the Germans have renewed their southern attack in the Caucasus in the summer of 1943 by sending reinforcements there instead of to Kursk?
Clarification: After the defeat at Stalingrad, the Wehrmacht was basically  "secure" nowhere in the Soviet Union. So the question really means, was how much less secure in the far south than elsewhere?


texts: Why did the US Navy and Marine Corps use satanic symbolism in WW2?

texts:
When you look at certain names and symbols used by the U.S. Navy (USN) and the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) during WW2, you could see they are heavily loaded with satanic symbols. You have the F6F Hellcat and the SB2C Helldiver, but it doesn't stop there. Some of the squadrons have really weird names like VF-191 Satan's Kittens, VMA-241 Sons of Satan, VMF-251 Lucifer's Messengers, etc, with accompanying insignia.
Now, I know that unit names and symbols supposed to frighten the enemy and inspire its own troops. I don't think that Japanese cared too much, but the U.S. was largely Christian country at that time. What would explain such controversial occult names that would raise few eyebrows even today and did someone object to that kind of naming?


texts: How did early farmer societies "know" about protein contents of peas and lentils?

texts:
According to Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel (pp 125-126), the domestication of local grains (e.g. wheat, barley) and pulses (e.g. peas, lentils) lauched food production (farming) societies in many areas. Grain crops have the advantage of being fast-growning, high in carbohydrates and high yield per area cultivated. Their low protein is made up by pulses which are often >25% protein (e.g. soybeans has ~38%). This makes these two types a good combination. The author proceeded to list many parallel combination of grains (or cereals) and pulses in many early farming communities:

My question is, given their lack of knowledge about biochemistry, how did these societies learn about the advantage of pulses' protein contents and the importance of balanced carbohydrate-protein diet? Or did they unconsciously do it, for example were there some evolutionary/selection process that caused people who consumed balanced diet to survive and produce more offstring? If so, what made this combination invariably "win" in many areas?


texts: Would Plutarch be considered a historian by modern standards?

texts:
I've been reading his "Parallel Lives" and it's clear part of the goal is to tell how some fundamental characters lived, so people can know their stories, but the other part is to set and reinforce a moral standard of roman days. Discipline, self-devotion, humbleness, courage and so on.
It's like he's trying to update Homer and Hesiod myths, but backed by tought research (considering their standards).

What impressed me is that I've been watching documentaries (from the 80's or 90's probably) about those days and they don't differ much from Plutarch's books.

So, can we consider him a historian in the present time?


texts:
I was reading the question What was the hippie movement? Why did it decline? when I noticed this comment by Oldcat:

  There is even a story of Julius Caesar wearing a long fringe sleeved tunic to piss off the older Senators

What is the source of the story? Do we have any reason to believe that Caesar intended to piss off his elders, or that his elders were indeed pissed off?


texts: Are images of the original tablets for the Epic of Gilgamesh available online?

texts:
It seems the Epic of Gilgamesh isn't available online in in Akkadian, that is, in Cuneiform script.

There is a transliterated version, but I can't connect it to the tablet (not sure if that's the right tablet, but it seems to be one of them) via the glyphs.

There also seem to be versions where the text is read aloud in the original language, but I don't know what their source is.

So my question is, where can I find the original tablets (preferably high high-resolution images of them) online, perhaps on a university or museum website? I'm not sure if they are all in one place or if you'd have to look for each one individually at different places. If they are in different places, then I'm wondering where you can find any one of them in high-resolution.

If they don't exist, or in addition, having images of the texts similar to this would work great as well. Seeing something like this would also be nice.


texts:
According to U-Like C.B.S.E CCE Sample Papers with Solutions and Model Test Papers for Revision in SOCIAL SCIENCE, the Sahara desert resulted from overgrazing by herbivores.  This happened because the Romans captured the lions.  As there were no predators, the herbivores increased in number resulted in overgrazing and the desert was created.

Is this an accurate description of how the Sahara dried up, or is there a better (more current) explanation?


texts: Is Josephus account of destruction of Temple considered reliable?

texts: I'm currently finishing up "The Jewish War" by Josephus. Josephus describes the lengths that Romans went to preserve the temple. On the one hand, I know Romans had rather a synthetic approach to religion (Thor is just Jupiter so the cult of Thor is just the cult of Jupiter). On the other hand, Josephus might have some ulterior motives for making the rebels being unreasonable and Romans being force for reason given his role in events and intended audience. Is the description considered reliable?


texts: Why were so many currently successful football (soccer) teams founded around the year 1900?

texts: e.g. Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, Bayern München.


texts: Why did the British leave Kohima and Imphal "lightly" defended in 1944?

texts:
In 1942, the answer would have been, "because Britain didn't have enough troops." They were then weak "everywhere" along the line.

But by early 1944, after two years of the Burma Campaign, Britain and its allies (America and China) had an overall superiority of troops and equipment on the Burma front. Why, then, did Britain allow Japan to have a local superiority in the middle of the line while the main British forces were concentrated further south, opposite Arakan, Burma, and American and Chinese forces at the north end of the line, aiming for Southwest China.

Was General Slim employing a "Cannae" like strategy of luring in the Japanese into a trap in the center, and then closing in on the flanks? Elements of this actually occurred during the campaign.
Did the British somehow underestimate local Japanese strength in the center of the line, despite their overall superiority?
Did the British, for "imperial" reasons give greater priority to recovering Burma than to protecting India and the "Over the Hump" air link to China further north?


texts: Can you tell me if my Father, a Lt Colonel, was paid during WW2?

texts: Can you tell me if my Father, a Lt Colonel, was paid during active service in the Middle East and Europe, and if so how much and was the pay given to his spouse in England or direct to the officer ?


texts: What is the difference between a culture and a civilization?

texts:
This is my first question on this site. So, I just hope I would be helped here.

As used by historians, what is the difference between a 'civilization' and a 'culture'?

I used Google to find some logical answers but couldn't find anything satisfactory.


texts: Did the USSR use trotskyism as a bogeyman in the post Stalin period?

texts:
In Stalin's time the USSR used Trotskyist as a byword for subversion, sabotage, and all things nasty.

In his 'secret speech', Khrushchev continued to condemn Trotskyist ideas, but depicted Stalin's policies as an overreaction. Did the USSR continue to use Trotsky and Trotskyism in their propaganda, or did they decide it was best just to forget about him?


texts: Which ancient cults would cut out the hearts of live animals and offer them as sacrifices? The Mishnah (Avodah Zarah 2:3) mentions a concept called עורות לבובין which Maimonides and other commentators explain refers to the pagan practice of making an incision in live animals and removing their hearts for ritual purposes. Do we have any documentation as to which ancient cults were engaged in this practice?


texts: Have there been ruthless rulers who held on to power despite being blinded?

texts:
Louis the Blind (c. 880 – 928) was blinded in 905, continued to rule Provence for over twenty years, but his cousin Hugh, Count of Arles, was the dominant figure in the territory.

John the Blind (1296 – 1346) is known for having died while fighting in the Battle of Crécy at age 50, after having been blind for a decade. But his death was essentially an honor suicide.

I'm looking for examples of ruthless leaders who managed to hold on to power  until they died of natural causes, despite the fact that they lost the sense of sight, and who committed, ordered or allowed to happen – even after being blinded – any of the following:

mass murder or genocide
assassinations
the execution of innocent civilians (e.g. burning witches at the stake)
war crimes ("take no prisoners" strategy, mass murder of prisoners of war)


texts: Did Hitler have an end goal during the "appeasement" phase, or was he just picking a fight?

texts:
Do we have any indication what Hitler's plans would have been had the Allies continued to appease him?  If the invasion of Poland had been allowed, do we know what he would have done next?  Some planning document or minutes from a meeting, perhaps, where they discussed what their next steps might be?

It seems pretty clear from his rhetoric and later actions that Hitler was, to some degree, picking a fight.  That is, he wanted to go to war, if not against the world then at least against certain enemies like Russia so he could get his much-discussed "breathing room."

But was that the only purpose of the remilitarization of the Rhineland, the Anschluss, the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the invasion of Poland, etc?  To get as much as he could before the bullets inevitably started flying?  Or was there an end goal, some ultimate phase that he was aiming for, in lieu of (or in advance of) outright war?


texts: Why did the population of Descartes, France increase by so much in the 1960's?

texts: The population of Descartes in central France increased by upwards of 150% from 1962 to 1968 after a general negative trend over the preceding seventy years. Why was this? All I can find is that the town changed its name from "La Haye-Descartes" to simply "Descartes" in 1967. I'd assume it has some relation to the population growth, probably a result of a small town of ~1,700 being flooded with ~2,600 new residents.


texts: "Ridiculous" military haircut in Spanish California

texts:
According to the reminiscences of José Maria Amador, as translated by Gregorio Mora-Torres in "Californio Voices", around 1820 recruits at the Monterey Presidio received an unusual haircut:

  After being enlisted, the recruits were given a toupee [tupé] and a valcarra. The toupee was when the entire front half of the head was shaved, leaving only the valcarra on the sides. The valcarra would drop on the sides of the face and would serve as sideburns [patilla]. The hair behind the head [coleta] was braided into a pigtail [entrenzado]. This haircut was so ridiculous that no one would voluntarily accept it. Those who suffered this shearing were forced to have it. This ridiculous invention was the work of Governor Solá and Captain de la Guerra.

Can any Spanish tradition, such as a priestly tonsure, explain the valcarra haircut? Does any other source corroborate this story? Was the valcarra ever illustrated?


texts: When and where was salt as valuable as gold?

texts: I have often heard that gold and salt were sometimes considered of equal value. When and where did that occur?


texts: When was the earliest recorded battle with the usage of gunpowder as an offensive weapon?

texts: When was the earliest recorded battle (on script) with the usage of gunpowder (in any form) as an offensive weapon?


texts:
I was watching a clip of the American flag being raised in Havana for the embassy re-opening since closing in 1961. There were some retired Marines there who were there when the flag was taken down. One of them had a hat with something about Calcutta in 1961 on his hat.

What happened in Calcutta that he would have this on his hat? I don't see anything about a US military base in Calcutta nor any battles.


texts: How have the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki affected Japanese culture and language?

texts: Even though there have been events that resulted in more deaths, I believe the timing of the two attacks and the novelty of the a-bomb must have created a deep scar in the collective memory of the Japanese. I have read that the Japanese monster movies, large impersonal monsters versus western monsters like werewolves and vampires, were a response to the bombings. Perhaps other things can be traced to Hiroshima and Nagasaki?


texts: Is this costume plate from Theatrum Orbis Terrarum correctly colored?

texts:
I have been spending some time lately going through some old atlases online, and noticed some discrepancies between some images coloration. We have noted on another question that the individual responsible for coloring a work is not necessarily the same professional who originally inked it, and this seems to be another illustration of that problem.

When looking into the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum,originally printed on 20 May 1570 (a useful version which even allows zooming and clips can be found at the Library of Congress site), I noticed some discrepancies when researching online to investigate the other issues. I discovered some auxiliary plates (not appearing in the LOC version linked above) also credited to Abraham Ortelius, showing costumes and heraldry from the time.

But two versions I find are quite dissimilar:

The first, found in Wikipedia, but then sourced to (and hi-res version) here. This source claims a publication date of 1606.

The second, from a German Wikipedia entry, seems to show better attention to detail, but shows a completely different set of colors. This image is credited there to  Antonie Wierix, though virtually identical to the image published by Ortelius. At LangLangC's prompting to solve this issue, I found an explanation on a page at raremaps.com, stating:

  Finely engraved image depicting a group of the Electors of the Holy Roman Empire, originally engraved by master engraver Antonie Wierix, for Gerard De Jode in 1593, and later re-issued by Ortelius....This engraving was published from 1593 for the first time in the atlas
  by Gerard de Jode. The plate was later acquired by Vrients and was
  then from 1603 onwards included in Ortelius's 'Theatrum' and the
  'Parergon'.

Granted, some variation in regional costume is expected, but some of the depicted figures would be wearing what I would call 'robes of office', and these should be 'known'. The heraldry, on the other hand, is quite rigidly defined as to the colors or tinctures used in a coat of arms, and variation is definitely wrong.

I just found an older (1493?), but quite similar image here. A nice online version of these plates can be found on pages 412 and 413 of the Nuremberg Chronicle from the Cambridge Digital Library (and of course the colors there are different as well). This may have been the original reference drawn from by the original engraver Antonie Wierix in 1606, and later published by Ortelius.

My question is, through historical information describing robes or costumes of   the depicted individuals,  or through the examination of the heraldry displayed, can we determine which image is more correct (if either).  Or are these color changes unimportant...

(Note that if this error can actually be somehow attributed to Ortelius, it may provide some insight into this question)


texts: WWI[?] Shell casing Identification, Brass Centrefire 47.R. MA.I.1 6-16. (?) Grenade symbol

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Can anybody offer any information on this shell.  led to believe its WW1.

It is a Brass Centrefire.  The base is marked 47.R. at 12 o'clock.  From 8 o'clock through 3 o'clock it is marked:

8 through 5: MA.I.1 6-16.
4: Unknown symbol, a makers mark?
3: Grenade symbol

Thanks in advance.


texts: How did gold come to symbolize lower ranks than silver in the United States Air Force?

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In the United States Air Force, including the Air Reserve Component (Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard), gold represents the lower form of a rank.

A gold bar ranks below a silver bar. A gold leaf ranks below a silver leaf.

It seems to me that the military takes its symbols very seriously and thus I'm wondering what the rationale is for this, given that in the civilian world gold generally symbolizes the best form of something (or at least better than silver).

NOTE: I've only been focused on the Air Force, however I just noticed this applied to all of the US military.


texts: Schism of 1054 - what were the positions of Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch?

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Q1
Given that the validity of the Western legates' act is doubtful since Pope Leo had died and Cerularius' excommunication only applied to individuals, why was the schism allowed to continue to the mutual detriment of the church especially the papal given that the New World had not been 'discovered' a millennium ago the pope would have lost supremacy over a very large population in Christendom?
Q2
Another point I'm not sure on is that of the four original patriarchies Rome, Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch did the schism applies to the three see's as well as the fifth patriarchy of Constantinople?
Q3
What were the positions of Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch?
Did Alexandria and Antioch see's still exist?
If so why would the excommunication apply to Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch too?


texts: Why was the British army so short of rifles after Dunkirk?

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After the battle of Dunkirk, the U.S. shipped something like 500,000 rifles to Britain. This compares to about 400,000 Allied troops at the port (counting captured French), 338,226 actually rescued, perhaps 250,000 of which were British. So the total number of shipped U.S. rifles was a multiple of the number of British troops.

To what extent did the Allied troops bring back rifles and small arms (as opposed to heavy equipment)? Were almost all weapons sacrificed to save the men? Or was it not possible for most men to carry a rifle over their head while boarding ship?

More to the point, why were 500,000 American rifles needed/wanted to resupply 250,000 British soldiers? Was it the case that each man at Dunkirk was supplied with (and lost) "multiple" weapons, so that even if many men brought back "one,"the 500,000 American rifles would have re-equipped no more, and possibly less than 250,000 men? Or was it that Britain was so short of weapons that they would have been "stuck" even without the debacle at Dunkirk?


texts: Who were the "international statesmen" Hitler referenced in his last will as having started the war?

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Having reread Hitler's last will, I was astonished by the complete lack of self-awareness or perhaps some very early onset of Alzheimer's, for example, when he writes that

  It is untrue that I or anyone else in Germany wanted the war in 1939. It was desired and instigated exclusively by those international statesmen who were either of Jewish descent or worked for Jewish interests. I have made too many offers for the control and limitation of armaments, which posterity will not for all time be able to disregard for the responsibility for the outbreak of this war to be laid on me. I have further never wished that after the first fatal world war a second against England, or even against America, should break out. Centuries will pass away, but out of the ruins of our towns and monuments the hatred against those finally responsible whom we have to thank for everything, International Jewry and its helpers, will grow.

or how about this paragraph

  Three days before the outbreak of the German-Polish war I again proposed to the British ambassador in Berlin a solution to the German-Polish problem - similar to that in the case of the Saar district, under international control. This offer also cannot be denied. It was only rejected because the leading circles in English politics wanted the war, partly on account of the business hoped for and partly under influence of propaganda organized by International Jewry.

Not a word about the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact or how did war with USA start, etc.

But my question here is about the 2nd sentence, specifically do we know who were in Hitler's mind the "international statesmen who were either of Jewish descent or worked for Jewish interests", did he ever name and list them explicitly somewhere and if yes did the list change over the years?


texts: Late 17th century colonial Anglican pastor

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I am preparing to play an Anglican pastor/priest at a live-action role-playing game. The (pretend) location: an English colonial outpost in the Caribbean. The (pretend) time period: circa 1695. And the game, of course, is about pirates.

I am a real-life Anglican in Ireland, but I am having trouble finding information specific to the time/situation.

First and foremost: what would such a person wear? Something flowing, resembling a Catholic priest? Something more resembling a modern suit - then what's the critical difference, so my costume can look authentic, not modern?

Also: what kind of beliefs, "churchmanship", would he be likely to espouse? Latitudinarianism, an early doctrine of tolerance, already existed in Anglicanism, but would it be normal for a rank-and0file pastor/priest to hold to it?

And, by the way, would he and those around him refer to his position as "priest" or "pastor" or "minister" or something else?

I was somewhat unsure whether to ask here or on the Christianity Stackexchange but decided to try here :) Plesae do tell me if I should ot there instead.

Thanks!


texts: What is the year of Ethelred the Unready's Laws of London?

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I refer to De Institutis Lundonie (Laws of London) by Ethelred the Unready (or Æthelred II) (Google Books).

According to Britannia and Jerome Arkenberg, it is of the year 978.

According to this book, Liebermann dates it to "A.D. 991x1002".

Perhaps there is more recent scholarship but I can't find any. What "should" the correct year be? Please cite references and reasoning.


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Not sure this is an appropriate question, but I'll try it anyway.

Many Government or quasi-legal roles have traditionally attracted the honorific  of "Mr" before them - Mr Speaker, Mr President, Mr Chairman. Since  women began filling such roles, they have been addressed, not as Mrs, but as Madam - Speaker, Chairman, etc. This seems to suggest that Mrs (Miss, Ms) is seen as somehow less respectful than "Mr", and I am wondering how this came about.


texts: Why was Germany not as successful as other Europeans in establishing overseas colonies?

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French, British, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch.. they all had vast outreach across the globe on multiple continents.

Why did Germans not have this much outreach?


texts: Does anyone know what this is from and who had this?


texts:
I am looking for elaboration for the following passage, which I found in Wikipedia:

"In 1968 and 1969 alone, the INCORA issued more than 60,000 land titles to farmers and workers. Despite this, Matsetela (2000) stated that the process was then halted and the situation began to reverse itself, as the subsequent violent actions of drug lords, paramilitaries, guerrillas and opportunistic large landowners severely contributed to a renewed concentration of land and to the displacement of small landowners".

In particular, I am looking for more details about the process by which concentration of land has occured in Columbia.

I searched in Google scholar, both by the name "Matsetela" and by subject, but found no relevant results.


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Macau was a Portuguese Colony right next door to Hong Kong. Why didn't Japan invade it during WW2?

Japan did invade Hong Kong, and they did invade Portuguese Timor too. Yet I am not even sure if Japan ever declared war on Portugal.

Other colonies they invaded were French Indochina, British Burma, American Phillipines, Dutch Indonesia. I may have missed some, but Macau is very obviously standing out here.

The Japanese were ostensibly very anti-colonial and proselytized their Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, and Macau is a very obvious colony right in range of them.

Wikipedia has this to say about it:

  In August 1943, Japanese troops seized the British steamer Sian in Macau and killed about 20 guards. The next month they demanded the installation of Japanese "advisors" under the threat of overt military occupation. The result was that a virtual Japanese protectorate was created over Macau.

I don't know if that counts as an invasion, but I'm inclined to think not. It sounds similar to the situation in Vietnam where first Japan stationed troops there with Vichy French consent, which I have never heard described as an invasion. (Later, Japan moved in a much larger force without permission, and this has been described as invasion.) In any case, what did these "advisors" do or enforce in Macau, if anything? Did these "advisors" see any combat?


texts: I have looked all over online and cannot find this specific coin. Can anyone help?  We believe they are of Antoninus Pius, but I can’t identify anything on the back, although I believe the winged figure maybe representing Victory? In the pictures they look kind of bronze, but it actually seems to be more of a copper color underneath.


texts: Why was Hiroshima selected to be the city in Japan on which the first atom bomb was dropped?

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What were the reasons that the U.S. government selected Hiroshima to be the city in Japan on which the first atomic bomb was dropped, other than the obvious reason that Hiroshima was a large, important port of Japan?

What I mean is, what set Hiroshima, and, later, Nagasaki, apart from other important Japanese cities, making these two cities those selected for the atom bomb?

Could the reason have something to do with the city's location (near the coast in southern Japan); their industries; or some other factor, such as, perhaps, the location of important government offices there?

Although I did extensive research on this subject, the only reason I found for this was that, on the morning scheduled for the bombing, Hiroshima had no cloud cover, letting the bomber Enola Gay aim the bomb carefully. However, this is a short-term reason, and I'm looking for longer-term reasons.


texts: The Russian-American Company in Valparaíso

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The Russian-American Company bought a lot of grain in Spanish and Mexican California. In 1829 or 1830, not enough was available, and the ship Baikal under captain Etholén continued south to Chile. Kirill Khlebnikov was aboard, probably as supercargo. According to Winston Sarafian, some company employees deserted in Valparaíso.

What news or impressions did the Russians make?


texts: Why has Witold Pilecki not been included in the Righteous Among the Nations?

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Witold Pilecki was a Polish resistance fighter who volunteered to enter the Auschwitz I concentration camp. From there, he organised a resistance movement and gathered intelligence on the atrocities that occured in the camp. He summarized his findings in what came later to be known as “Witold's Report”, which was the first comprehensive report of the death camp obtained by the Allies.

I wonder why Mr. Pilecki has not been included in the Righteous Among the Nations? Finding out he has not been included came as a surprise to me, especially considering the fact that Poland has the highest amount of people that are included of all nations.


texts:
The Wikipedia entry about Aisha says:

  Aisha's importance to revitalizing the Arab tradition and leadership among the Arab women highlights her magnitude within Islam.[63] Aisha became involved in the politics of early Islam and the first three caliphate reigns: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthman. During a time in Islam when women were not expected, or wanted, to contribute outside the household, Aisha delivered public speeches, became directly involved in war and even battles, and helped both men and women to understand the practices of Muhammad.[32][additional citation needed]

The citation about Aisha delivering public speeches [32] refer to this book (page 51). I searched for "aisha speech" in the book but that didn't show any results.

According to John's comment, "the reference appears to be wrong."

Are there any historical accounts of Aisha (the wife of Muhammad) giving public speeches?


texts: Could homo erectus have migrated to North America?

texts: I was reading about Virginia McIntyre's claim of finding 200,000 year old artifacts at Hueyatlaco. There's also the Calico early man site with artifacts around 250,000 years old. Is it possible that H. erectus migrated across a land bridge before the last ice age? Skeletons found in Java and China indicate that H. erectus traveled long distances so it seems plausible.


texts: What were the differences between the Sieges of Constantinople in 678, 717, and 1453, inc. Greek Fire?

texts: Constantinople repelled the sieges of 678 and 717 with Greek fire. What were the differences between the Byzantine army/navy in 678/717 versus 1453, and how did the Arab army/navy differ from the Ottoman army/navy?


texts: Is Sumer considered by historians as a part of Western Civilization?

texts: Well is it?It seems to me that a continuing cultural thread runs from Mesopotamia passing through Europe and finally arriving in North America.Or Greece and Rome are a breaking point with "Oriental" cultures?


texts:
I wonder how long were the typical scholar books at the time of Aristote, Pythagoras and others. This is quite a large time frame but I mean roughtly "in ancient times".

Basically my question is : were the publications in these times similar to books as we know them today or were they more like the 4-6 pages scholar papers that we know today ?

I think this question is important since it could provide us important insight on the way they approached and transfered knowledge.


texts: How did the education system in Colonial North America work?

texts: I read that Hamilton changed his birth date from 1755 to 1757 to look better for attending King's College. Also, many other Founding Fathers attended colleges at 15 or even younger. What education pathways did people take in Colonial North America and what pathways were available?


texts: What were the names of the spy rings besides Culper during the Revolutionary War?

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I want to know the names of spy rings beyond the Culper spy ring, that operated during the American Revolutionary War.  Beyond just the name, it would be helpful to know where the spies operated as well (if such information is available). Providing outside sources is a big plus, but not necessary.

The names I am looking for are specific the names of the rings of spies, not the individual spies.  I have seen this information on a website before but I cannot locate it again.


texts: What did the Baltic Fleet do in Reval in 1904 and when was it there?

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I noticed, in @Schwern's answer that the 1904-1905 journey of the Baltic Fleet is cited as having started in (modern Tallinn). This doesn't make much sense as to the best of my knowledge Reval/Tallinn never was a big base for the Baltic Fleet. I found corroborating evidence to say that the fleet was there for a month but without the dates. I also found a suggestion that the purpose of the stay at Reval was an imperial inspection by Nicholas II—I don't have any reason to doubt this source.
Therefore, the question I phrase here is going to be slightly longer than the topic title allows: What, if any, purposes other than the imperial inspection did the Baltic Fleet have for being in Reval (i.e. were there ships stationed in Reval that would join the fleet, did they have to bring on sailors)? When was the fleet in/by Reval?

The second Russian squadron of the Pacific fleet, under the command in chief of Vice-Admiral Aide-de-Camp General Rojdestvensky, anchored on the 7th (20th) October, 1904, off Cape Skagen, with the purpose of coaling before continuing its voyage to the Par East.
It appears, from the depositions made, that, from the time of the departure of the squadron from the roads of Réval, Admiral Rojdestvensky had had extreme precautions taken by the vessels placed under his orders, in order that they might be fully prepared to meet a night attack by torpedo boats, either at sea or at anchor.
—International Commissions of Enquiry, 'Incident in the North Sea'

This refers to the ships departing from the 'roads of Reval' which makes sense as a general area (Reval not being the station of the ships).

... the departure (from Libau and Reval on 15 October 1904) of the Baltic force...
First, the original force that sailed from Reval and Libau on 15–16 October 1904 numbered some forty-two warships and auxiliaries. ...
—Willmott, 'The Last Century of Sea Power, Volume 1'

Meanwhile, Shiba, on whom I relied in my own answer in the other topic, only mentions Reval in this context:

The hills above the harbor at Liepaja were already dusted with snow. Rozhestvensky was already aboard the Suvorov, which he had boarded in Kronstadt. The day after leaving Kronstadt, the ship entered the port at Reval, which the Russians had once pillaged, and anchored there for a while. After a short time (about a month), the tsar came to inspect the fleet, visiting each ship in turn. ...
The Baltic Fleet departed Liepaja on October 15, setting out on its long, long voyage. First to leave at nine o’clock in the morning and puffing enormous clouds of black smoke was the cruiser Almaz. On the dock, a military band played while a crowd of spectators cheered. The Suvorov began to move out at noon.
—Shiba, 'Clouds Above the Hill, Vol. 2'

Which leads me to conclude that the ships had been stationed in Kronstadt (probably the four new Borodino-class battleships) and Liebau (Liepaja), and that Reval (Tallinn) was only used for an imperial inspection (even if they had to wait for it for a month). The Emperor's visit in Reval makes sense as the Emperor used it for other inspections and visits, including a meeting with Kaiser Wilhelm on July 24, 1902.
Given Shiba's account still mentions the Suvorov as departing Liepaja on October 15, the events in Reval must have taken place previously. I would date these at the very latest to October 14 (but probably before) to give time for the Suvorov to make it to Liepaja, a distance of approx 250 nautical miles (which at the Borodino-class's cruising speed of 10kn would take 25 hours):


texts: Evidence of Aztecs using Quetzal feathers as commodity money?

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I found some webpages on the internet stating that on Aztecs barter-based economy, the remainder of value between two goods (if any) was settled with, among others, Quetzal feathers.

Is there any evidence/documentation to support such statements? I do not have access to published books at the moment.

The webpage is: http://www7.uc.cl/sw_educ/historia/conquista/parte1/html/h53.html
(in spanish)


texts: Why didn't the US choose to demolish Tokyo with an atom bomb?

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Tokyo was Japan's capital. Why didn't the US choose Tokyo to demolish with Atom Bomb?

Bonus Question: What factors decided to bring Hiroshima and Nagasaki on table?


texts: What were the ethnic backgrounds of the slaves in Ancient Greece?

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When studying Ancient Greek history, one can often come across the historical fact that slavery did exist in the Greek world 2000 plus years ago. There were the Helots in Ancient Sparta and of course the Athenians had their own version of slavery. I was under the impression that slaves in Ancient Greece were typically of Greek ethnic origin, that is to say, Greek aristocrats owning Greek slaves (perhaps from the same city-state or another Greek city-state).

However, I also remember hearing about other ethnic groups who may have been slaves in the Ancient Greek world, such as the Thracians, Illyrians, Dacians (the Ancient Balkan peoples) as well as the Celts (it should be noted that the Celts also migrated into the Balkan region, as well as Anatolia/present-day Central Turkey).


texts: Why were the Europeans technologically advanced compared to the Native Americans?

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First off, if this question has been asked elsewhere, I apologize. A search turned up nothing but this, which does not have the answer I seek.

I'm curious as to why when Europeans started coming over to North America, they had guns, ships, plus all manner of then-modern innovations, while the Native Americans had bows and arrows. Why didn't the Americas experience the same level of technological innovation that Europe did? What prevented the Native peoples from developing their own equivalents of the gun, for example?

What prevented Native Americans from being on par technologically with the Europeans when they reached North America?

The only time period I'm really defining is from the days of Columbus through the Western expansion. Consistently throughout that time period, Native Americans used primitive technology or 'borrowed' from the Europeans, while the Europeans - for the 300-ish years in question - continued to invent new technology to add to their already superior collection. What stopped the Native Americans from doing this?


texts: Has any US President served in a government position with a foreign nation before or after their presidency?

texts:
Has a person elected to the US Presidency ever held a government position in a nation besides the United States?

I think any government-related role would be an interesting answer.  I think the focus here is the role acts as a representative of the country, or to officially influence sovereign matters.

I do not think the role must have been voted by the people of that nation.


texts: Can we meaningfully compare the poverty levels in the USSR to those in the USA at the same time and to those in the USA today?

texts: I was told (by people who had lived there) that the USSR had homeless people but I would guess that the levels of homelessness were much lower and in general there were far fewer desperate people due to free health care and perhaps free food and shelter for those who needed it. Is that correct?


texts: Is there an online archive with letters written by people in the past?

texts: Is there an online (preferably free) archive with letters written by people in the past? (other written material which reflects the era from the point of view of someone who lives in it will also be acceptable)


texts: What happens to interned military personnel if war is declared post-internment?

texts:
Here is a real-world example during World War I. The German ship SMS Geier sails to neutral port in Hawaii in 1914, territory of the United States. Since the USA and Germany are not at war, the ship is interned. Presumably the crew are interned as well. Then, three years later in 1917, the United States declares war on Germany. What is the legal status of those original sailors?

Do they automatically become prisoners-of-war? Is there another legal mechanism in-place for this?

Assume that both warring parties are signatories to the Geneva Conventions, and follow them; as well as any other major international treaties and agreements that relate to diplomacy and war.


texts: When did private fighting become a capital offense in Japan?

texts:
In "Might Makes Right: Just war and just warfare in early medieval Japan", Karl Friday mentions that bushi (warriors) who violated decrees banning fighting were exiled or imprisoned under pre-Edo shogunates. I was surprised to see that Tokugawa shoguns chose execution.

Did this abruptly change with the rise of Tokugawa power or are there pre Tokugawa precedents for execution as the punishment for those participating in public/private violence?

(Friday's writing can be found in the anthology The Ethics of War in Asian Civilizations, ed. Torkel Brekke. The cited section appears on page 174.)


texts: Youngest age for the militia in the middle ages

texts: I know it probably differed from village to village, town to town, city to city, but what was the standard bare minimum age for anyone to join the local militia or receive any sort of combat/survival training back in the middle ages? You know, besides something high class like squire training. I'm talking among the commoners.


texts: Who bought Persian rugs from the silk road?

texts: I have to do a project on the silk road. One of the things traded would have been Persian rugs. But who would have imported these rugs, where and why was there a demand for these rugs?


texts: What is the history of this coin? By Mandate of Heaven) Emperor of the Great Qin", Nurhaci - 1616-1626

texts: I want to know the complete history of this coin.


texts: Saints of the last two centuries whose existence is in doubt

texts:
Saint Peter the Aleut, or Chukagnak, was supposed to have been a man from Kodiak forced to labor for the Russian-American Company and brought to California. According to his colleague Kyglaia, in 1815, Chukagnak was tortured to death by a Spanish mission priest because he refused to become a Catholic. He is venerated as a saint by at least some parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The story has been endlessly disputed.

Are there more recent saints (i.e. since 1815) of established religions whose very existence is in doubt?


texts: What kind of wood was the standard decking for Aircraft Carriers in World War 2?

texts: I know that both Japan and the United States used wooden decks on their WWII Aircraft Carriers. Was there a specific, "ideal" standard type of wood that was utilized by either country? If so, what kind of wood was deemed the best for the job?


texts: Why the laws re the burial of slaves in the Twelve Tables?

texts:
In the Roman Twelve Tables, Table X states:-

Law X.
The body of no dead slave shall be anointed; nor shall any drinking take place at his funeral, nor a banquet of any kind be instituted in his honor.

Was there any particular reason for this, and why was it considered important enough to be included in the Twelve Tables?


texts:
When was the last instance of a unit of cavalry charging? I know that the Polish forces had units of cavalry during World War II and those were used against Nazi units but was there any later than that?

Edited notes: Got my original facts wrong. Polish cavalry did not charge tanks but did charge units of Nazi troops at Krojanty. That charge was successful but the battle was lost.  However, cavalry charges were used during the war but not as the popular myth has it. Source: guardian, historynet and wikipedia.


texts: The eastern practice of yoga has become quite prevalent in recent years.  I imagine that when the Titanic sailed, it was quite rare and exotic.  However, England had (shall we say) strong interrelations with India leading up to  the early 20th century, so there was certainly some yoga in practice in England.  The Titanic was sailing for 4+ days, so if there were any regular practitioners they probably would have used the opportunity.  The question really is:  among the  2,224 passengers and crew, what is the likelihood that one or more of them practiced yoga regularly?


texts: How did the Boston Tea Party protest affect the British?

texts:
"The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor".
Two simple questions:

How did the colonists "get the British" by this behavior? It wasn't like the tea was owned by the crown.
Why did they choose to ruin and dump such valuable tea, why didn't they just steal it for themselves?


texts: Did Rothschild say this famous quote? If yes, what did he mean by it?

texts:
"Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes it's laws" — Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild

This prominent international banker is commonly quoted this. First, did he actually say it? Second, what was its context (when and where was he and what other things did he say shortly before or after this) if we know? Finally, seeing as how this is likely his most notable quote, did he ever reflect on it at a later time shedding some light on it?


texts:
What is the extent of current knowledge on the physical structure of the city of Mohenjo Daro?

Have all possible roads and buildings (possibly in 3D) been reconstructed? Do we completely know the usages of the structures? Is there any current research going on in this direction? What were the modes of lighting the streets? How was the city life? What kind of grains did they store in the granary?


texts: Did Henry VIII's conversion from Catholicism set the stage for the readmission of Jews to England?

texts: I realize that 150 years passed between this conversion and Jews being invited back to England but I wonder if, as in Spain, it would not have happened for many years even after that? I also realize that there was antisemitism in Protestant countries, too, but it seems like, as in the case of Holland, there was more tolerance of religious minorities and in particular Jews there.


texts: Is Nazi brutality particularly well known in the US because of the US's Jewish population?

texts:
Related question: Why, in the US, is Japanese brutality ignored compared with the Nazi brutality in WW2?

Occasionally I come across people saying that the US's Jewish population has played a role in Nazi Germany's brutality being well known in the US compared to other historical events. This sounds plausible, but it also sounds reminiscent of claims that "the Jews" control the media.

Is Nazi Germany brutality particularly well known in the US, partially or fully, because of the US's Jewish population?

Note: Holocaust deniers need not answer or comment.


texts: I cannot find anywhere that has a phonetic definition of the numbers.


texts: In the 13th century, Mongol hordes invaded most of the known world and Genghis Khan's nobles had strong legacies to rule in China, Iran and Central Asia in the the following centuries. What about the Mongol soldiers and common people in the areas? Were they assimilated or dissolved in any sense or do the descendants of Mongols still live in areas other than Mongol proper?


texts: I am trying to estimate the total budget of the Nuremberg War Criminal trial. Any help with reference, please?


texts: What did Native Americans know, or speculate, about the Old world?

texts:
When Columbus "discovered" the New World, the Old World had little to no knowledge of it. What little was known was perhaps Greenland, and - based on accurate knowledge of the size of the world - a vast expanse of unknown between Europe and East Asia, which was assumed to be empty ocean until Columbus proved otherwise, setting off the Age of Discovery and the associated mania with finding unknown lands, some of which proved true (Australia, Antarctica).

At this time, what did the New World know of, or speculate about the Old World? They were reasonably advanced, for example the Mayans were very good at Astronomy, and so may have known the size of the world. If so, they would have realised they occupied a narrow strip of land surrounded by a vast, unknown expanse. Did they know this, and if so what did they speculate would be there?


texts: When & what are the first recorded peacetime uses of soldiers?

texts:
Today, military personnel are often used as a labour force to fulfil various peaceful functions, given that most soldiers aren't preoccupied with fighting wars in the most peaceful period of human history. A prime example is the use of soldiers for humanitarian reasons, such as the execution of aid relief missions or as rescuers in disasters & crisis.

When and what is the first known recorded use of soldiers in all of history for peaceful purposes? These soldiers should be on active duty, the activities they are involved in should not have any relation to warfare whatsoever, and use of weapons technology should not be involved unless it is for a non-combat functionality (eg. dynamite). The soldiers should also be directly ordered to execute this peaceful action rather than being a side effect of some other order.

To clarify the eligibility criteria set above, here's a few examples of what kind of scenarios do not qualify under the above criteria:

Soldiers retiring home after campaign season to farm and harvest, and returning to fight only in the next campaign season. They aren't on active duty while farming - we tend to call them farmers rather than soldiers during the harvest.
Construction of Roman settlements around long-term garrisons. Those settlements originally exist to provide comfortable homes for soldiers stationed there to defend the region against potential invaders (and retired soldiers who stay). The construction of the town happened because of potential warfare - it probably wouldn't have happened if there's no war or soldiers in the world. It is also a side effect: soldiers were generally not ordered to build a town, they were only ordered to build a fort around which the town sprung up.
Armed peacekeepers. They are there to fulfil a military role.


texts: What type of people were most likely to be suspected of witchcraft in Salem?

texts:
One of the theories out there for the cause of the Witch Trial is that  economic jealousy motivates the poor to accuse the rich. This seems very contradictory  to what is said in books on The Witch trials. For example, here is quote from The Crucible spoken by Marry Warren, one of the accusers, on Sarah Good, who was a suspected witch:

  Mary Warren, like one awakened to a marvelous secret in-sight: So many time, Mr. Proctor, she come to this very door, beggin’ bread and a cup of cider - and mark this: whenever I turned her away empty, she mumbled.

Obviously, Sarah Good is pretty poor. And this is the case for most of the accused.

So does the theory still stand?


texts: Has more than 1/3 of Congress ever opposed a war?

texts: Basically all the bills to start a war had 90-99% congressional support from what I've seen on Wikipedia. I just wonder if there was any war that 30% or more of Congress opposed starting. I am only asking about the start of the war not its continuation. Wars always have overwhelming support but then wind down. Also exclude cases like Vietnam where there was no congress at all.


texts:
What, if anything, did Hitler think of the Canadian government's treatment of the Native Americans?

Asking because the TVTropes "Final Solution" page said (now removed):

  While the Holocaust may be the Trope Namer, the term "Final Solution" was also used in the Canadian government's attempts to eradicate/assimilate the Native population in the 19th and early 20th century. The term comes from a letter said to have been written by Indian Affairs Superintendent Duncan Campbell Scott in 1910. Hitler was a fan of the program, designed to wipe out the entire "Indian problem" by means of cultural annihilation through the residential school system. Some other means included experiments in malnourishing Native children, and eugenics, that is, sterilizing Aboriginal and Metis women.


texts: Right before D-Day, how were naval mines cleared secretly?

texts:
Wikipedia says

  Minesweepers began clearing channels for the invasion fleet shortly after midnight and finished just after dawn without encountering the enemy.

It also shows this map:

This seems like a lot of mines to clear. I'm wondering how the allies were able to do this all through the night without the Germans noticing.


texts: Could the Circus Maximus audience distract the racers?

texts: I have been trying to research about the spectators of Circus Maximus.  I know there were different colored factions. But my question is; "Were spectators able to throw items at racers to hit them or distract them and make them try and fall off their chariot?"


texts: Have there been any joint US-Russia/Soviet military engagements post WW II?

texts:
Reportedly, now both the USA and Russia are engaged in military combat against Islamic State in Syria.  Although contexts are different and it remains debatable exactly whom Russia are targeting, the targeted enemy of Islamic State appears to be in common.

Since the conclusion of World War II, have there been any military conflicts where the USA and Russia/Soviet Union were fighting the same enemy?


texts: Was the US Navy larger in 1917, and if so, why?

texts:
Following the recent discussion in the third US Presidental Debate about the size of the Navy, there actually seemed to be a good discussion buried in there.

How does the US Navy compare to its counterpart in the early 20th Century? Are the numbers of ships and personnel really that much smaller now? If so, is this cheifly a reflection of a change in the technology and role of Naval warfare in the last 100 years, cheifly a lessening of the USA's ability to project military power in the world, or a combination?


texts: What is the proper term for the "year 0"?

texts: Is there a proper term for the origin on the timeline from which we count years? For example, we often have years in BC/AD or BCE/CE - what is this point of change from one to the other called. Origin, axis, omphalos, or what?


texts: How professional and well equipped were US Civil War soldiers?

texts:
Essentially, what the question says - did the war cause Americans to become better at war than the Eurasian powers (Germany, France, England, Russia, Japan, whatever, I am just making up a list) at the time?

Or was there little progress made in weapons, overall technology, and tactics during the period?


texts:
Japan's most famous geisha are from Kyoto, Japan's former capital and still a major cultural capital of Japan. But I've also heard of onsen geisha, far away from the big cities, who are at the bottom of the pecking order of geisha.

Do such geisha still exist nowadays? Wikipedia's article on geisha mention that the number of geisha overall have declined dramatically, and I suspect the lower-grade geisha might be more likely to disappear.

Wikipedia has an article on onsen geisha, with a description of their status post World War 2, but it's rather brief and doesn't feel authoritative.

I'm making the assumption that there's such a thing as "onsen geisha". Is this a valid assumption, or is "onsen geisha" just a pejorative title that no-one would use about themselves?


texts: What was Poland's involvement in the Vietnam War?

texts:
So far I've found a few stories about Poland's involvement in the Vietnam War:

historycy.org (in Polish)
Operation Marigold
Multinational UN peacekeeping force
International Commission of Control and Supervision
"The Yankee Air Polack" Donald Kutyna
Stefan Kubiak - Ho Chi Toan

Maybe you know any others?


texts: Does Historiography have a usual technical term for historical writing which makes factual claims without giving references for them?

texts:
Question. Does Historiography use a standard technical term for the following (commonly encountered) 'mode' of historical writing?

The author, towards the beginning of the work, tells the reader a rather sketchy list of 'sources' that allegedly were the basis for the main text, maybe even without precise references, and then blissfully sets about weaving the narrative, without ever (or: hardly ever) giving any precise reference for the more contentious/dubious factual claims in the text.

Remark.

I am not  a professional historian. I am more-or-less aware of the fact that it is a much-discussed topic, since antiquity, whether a historian should be a narrator shaping the subject matter, possibly with some distortions/guesses/gullibility-for-the-usual-possibly-apocryphal-stories, or should rather painstakingly stick to what can be substantiated by primary sources and always either abstain from making a claim or give a reference.  And of course I am aware that with the second mode of writing, one is much slower, and sometimes cannot say much at all. This question is not asking for a normative discussion of this old debate, rather only for whether there are recognizable technical terms for these modes of historical writing.


texts: Which method of telephone calls was more popular: station-to-station or person-to-person?

texts:
My question is related to this question I asked earlier on the cost of a telephone call in the 1920s in the United States of America.

Now, I am interested in the whole period from 1920 until 1960 and I would like to know which way of calling was more popular at the time: Station-to-station calling or person-to-person calling?

As I understand, calling station-to-station was cheaper, but one ran into the risk of being charged for a call where the call would have been picked up by someone other than the desired person. Person-to-person calls, on the other hand, were operator assisted and made sure that the dialing person was not charged unless the call reached the desired person at the other end.

In a very informal source, I have read that person-to-person calls were more popular when calls overall where more expensive (and the people not used to the technology). This would make sense because people would not want to risk paying an expensive sum for a call picked up by the wrong person.

I appreciate any anecdotal evidence (if you have experienced this personally at some time) and any sources or statistics that can make me credibly identify which method was more common in any of the decades between 1920 and 1960 (or even later).


texts: What is the oldest road tunnel in the world?

texts:
At the Furlo Pass in the Apennines, the Via Flaminia passes through a tunnel built in 76 - 77 AD during the time of Emperor Vespasian, replacing an earlier tunnel.

The tunnel built during the time of Vespasian. Attrib: By AlMare (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

This earlier, smaller (first) tunnel is "apparently of the 3rd century BC" according to the Wikipedia articles on Tunnels and the Via Flaminia, with the former article stating this is "one of the first road tunnels" (my highlighting). The article on the Furlo Pass states this smaller tunnel dates "from Etruscan times", as does the article on the Apennine Mountains

Did the Etruscans really build a tunnel here and, if so, is it the first known road tunnel built?

If not, what is the earliest known road tunnel built under or through a natural formation (i.e. not under or through a man-made construction)?

EDIT

In his answer, Alex makes the valid point that it is not exactly clear what a road is. There are various definitions depending on what source one looks at.

Merriam-Webster has "an open way for vehicles, persons, and
animals"
Oxford offers "A wide way leading from one place to another,
especially one with a specially prepared surface which vehicles can
use" (Collins and Cambridge have similar definitions).
Wikipedia: "A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places that has been paved or otherwise improved to allow
travel by foot or some form of conveyance".

For the purposes of this (historical) question, any of the aforementioned definitions are acceptable. However, I would exclude tunnels built for mining.


texts: How to travel from Koblenz (Germany) to Paris (France) in May 1805?

texts:
I'm trying to fill in some blanks in my family history.
In May 1805 an ancestor of mine traveled from Koblenz (Germany) to Paris (France).
He left most likely on May 16 or 17, maybe a few days later.
He embezzled a large amount (approx $200.000 in today's money) on the morning of May 16. He knew he had at least a week before it would be discovered and I assume he probably wanted to create some distance fairly quickly.
He was accompanied by his accomplice and girlfriend, a French woman.
My ancestor was a good horseman, but the woman most likely was not. They probably traveled by stage coach or just purchased a coach or wagon and horses.
They would have avoided the Moselle river and river valley at all costs as my ancestor was well known along the river all the way south to the city of Trier.
(I presume that up the Moselle to Metz or Thionville and then west to Paris via Reims would be the logical route otherwise.)
I know from family records that end of January 1806 my ancestor was in Paris, had lost all his money and his girlfriend (or she took of with the money) and he had to enlist (maybe forced by a press gang) in Napoleons army.
There is no record of when exactly he arrived in Paris, but it was at least 2-3 months before that.
To complicate matters the French Grande Armee was that summer on the move, redeploying from the Atlantic coast to southern Germany because of the "War of the 3rd Coalition". But my ancestor was probably early enough to have avoided that troop movement altogether. According to my sources the Grande Armee reached the Moselle around September. My ancestor should have been clear of the area already by that time.
What route could they have traveled? How long would it have taken?
(West of Reims would river-travel on the Marne have been a possibility?)


texts: How dependent were the Germans on horse transport in their invasion of the Soviet Union?

texts:
The Germans were very sophisticated in "combined" operations, that is, in using airpower and tanks to attack behind the Soviet lines. That's what gave them the advantage in the early part of the war.

Ultimately, their mobile advantages could only be fully exploited by infantry And here, the Germans had far fewer advantages. For instance, during the 1944 counterattack of Operation Bagration, the Soviets enjoyed U.S. "Lend Lease" trucks to take maximum advantage of their breakthroughs. But apparently, the Germans had far fewer trucks, or other motorized transport, and relied on, yes, horses. As a result, during the early days of the war, large numbers of Soviet troops escaped from "pockets" because the Germans could not close the gaps between fast-moving armor and slow moving infantry.

Likewise, the Germans had major supply problems. There were trunk rail lines through the Soviet Union to only parts the front, and from what I understand, "lateral" communications were quite poor. These gaps were largely filled by horse transport, with the Germans being "glad" to capture U.S. Lend Lease trucks because their own were inferior in quality and quantity.

So how dependent were the Germans on horse transport? (My understanding was that the Germans were actually quite "primitive" in this regard compared to the Americans, British, and (later) Soviet armies which is one reason why they lost the war.) And given constraints on fuel and manufacturing capacities, did the Germans have any choice but to be so highly dependent on horses?


texts: What was so technologically advanced about the snorkel?

texts: Whenever you read about submarine history one of the biggest advancements is the German snorkel during World War II. All I can find out about it is it's a tube with a valve on it. Why didn't The U.S.A. or the U.K. think of putting a tube on their submarine?


texts: Are the Egyptians the only ones to have carved the dead's biography on the coffin?

texts:
I know that Egyptians did it. (See Hornedjitef's coffin)

It is very interesting to me that they carved a biography on the coffin that was to be buried - not to mention that it was the inner coffin, so no one would see it.

Are there other cultures that have or had this kind of burial custom?

Have historians identified some possible reasons?


texts: What is the source of "the three most useless things in the world are the Great Wall, pyramids, and the Yamato"?

texts:
I watched 'Naval Legends: Yamato' yesterday, and it included a phrase that was attributed to the crew of the ship: "The world's three most useless things are the Chinese Great Wall, Egyptian pyramids, and the Japanese Yamato." What is the original source for this?
I started searching and noted various repetitions of quotation:

A NYT article from 1995 attributing it to "the crew";
This website attributing it to "the Japanese Navy";
Another web attribution to "the crew";
This website quotes Vladimir Kofman attributing it to "military experts of the Imperial Japanese Navy".

Admittedly, "crew", "military experts of the Navy", and "the Navy" aren't mutually exclusive, but none of these refer to any original Japanese sources.
Meanwhile, looking into what the Yamato meant in Imperial Japan, it would be contradictory of the crew to suggest the ship that was the representation of their state was useless though this doesn't make it impossible. Similarly, it would be very harsh criticism coming from an IJN "military expert", especially given how much emphasis was given to psychological warfare and propaganda by the Kempeitai and Tokkeitai, so this sounds a bit unlikely but again it isn't impossible.
Thanks to @kimchilover, I found this mention as well which is more helpful but again without a direct source. However, this is a lot more plausible (which is that the source of this was a single Japanese officer and is related specifically to naval aviation vs battleships):

A famous story is told of a brawl in the Yamato's wardroom triggered by a casual remark made by a young officer—most likely a proponent of air power—to the effect that there were three totally useless big things in the world: namely, Egyptian Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, and the Battleship Yamato.
—'Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute - Volume 105 - Page 86'


texts: Have Moscow and Beijing ever been cities under the same rule?

texts:
Have Moscow and Beijing ever been cities under the rule of the same empire? It should have been Mongol Empire, I suppose.

How long has it lasted?


texts: Was the term 'sir' or 'sire' in use in England in the 13th century?

texts:
A supposed ancestor of mine, one 'Sir' Henry Kymbold (born 1280 in Hitcham, Suffolk) appears in a list of direct ancestors.  Would 'sir' have even been in use in this period, or does this reflect wishful thinking on the part of some earlier genealogist.  If it was in use, what would it have indicated?  If a man were addressed as 'sir' would his male offspring necessarily have had some elevated standing?  Would a 'sir' be considered nobility?
Thanks, Ted. Yes I saw the Wikipedia reference yesterday, but since he would've been 17 years old in 1297, thought it was worth a stab in the dark. Hitcham is in the agricultural hinterlands, and I believe subsequent generations were farmers, somewhere in the range of free or bond peasants most likely, hence the question of inheritance of privilege.


texts: What is the difference between galli and metragyrtai?

texts:
I have occasionally heard of the galli, castrated priests of Kybele in Rome.

Now, I noticed that Greek Lexika also refer to another type of said Godess’s priest, namely a metragyrtes (ΜΗΤΡΑΓΥΡΤΗΣ).

Both the Lexika and this source assert they were mendicants (beggars). But I could not find out whether they were castrated, whether they ever coexisted with the galli and to what extent they even belonged to the same cult.


texts: Was the Persian army dependent on cornel wood?

texts:
In the following book I found the passing statement that cornel wood was used by the Persian cavalry for their javelins: Nelson, Richard. Armies of the Greek and Persian Wars 500 to 350 BC, 2015. p30.

Afterwards I found this statement repeated in Pritchett, W. Kendrick. The Greek State at War, Part V. Vol. 7. Univ of California Press, 1974. p57.

Pritchett relies on Xenophon's Hellenica for evidence.

Xen. Hell. 3.4.14

  When they came to a hand-to-hand encounter, all of the Greeks who
  struck anyone broke their spears, while the barbarians, being armed
  with javelins of cornel-wood, speedily killed twelve men and two
  horses. Thereupon the Greeks were turned to flight. But when Agesilaus
  came to the rescue with the hoplites, the barbarians withdrew again
  and one of them was killed.

Translation from Xenophon. Xenophon in Seven Volumes, 1 and 2. Carleton L. Brownson. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA; William Heinemann, Ltd., London. vol. 1:1918; vol. 2: 1921.

According to the distibution map of the cornel wood species at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_mas, cornel exists at the borders of the Achaemenid Empire, close to their Greek enemies that also depended on cornel wood for their weapons.

These territories close to Greece were lost during the 4th century B.C. and the campaigns of Alexander the Great.

I would expect it to be quite hard for the Persian empire to get the wood for their weapons from that point on if they relied heavily on cornel only.

The question: Did the Achaemenid Empire rely heavily on cornel wood for their weaponry, even though it was found at the edges of their empire and thus not very reliable?


texts: Would there have been racially mixed student bodies in schools in communist Bulgaria?

texts:
For example, would a high schooler in Bulgaria in the 80s had the occasion to go to school with Arabs or Africans... either exchange students, immigrants, children of diplomats, etc?

I'm assuming yes and that this is a dumb question, but I have never seen these groups represented as being a part of the society.

....or Persians....

I'm asking because I am writing a ficticious story and trying to determine if my settings/characters ring true or if I should change something...


texts: When did disabilities begin to become recognized?

texts: I know that even to this day disabled individuals are often discriminated against and are treated unfairly. At what point in time, were disabilities first understood at a broad societal level? What cultural changes facilitated this?


texts:
Austria (unlike Prussia) "rebelled" against Napoleon during the War of the Fifth Coalition. After putting down this country (but not Spain, Portugal, and the U.K.), Napoleon allowed the Empire to keep most of its possessions, instead of breaking it up. Austria lost its coastal regions in the later Yugoslavia and Italy, but kept its Hungarian, Czech, and Polish possessions.
Was there a reason he did not break up the Austrian Empire by giving Hungary its independence and adding Austrian Galicia to the Duchy of Warsaw, leaving Austria with only its modern, "core" territory, and maybe the modern Czech Republic? Napoleon did marry Austria's Marie Louise. Was that the "tribute" that Austria paid to maintain its territorial integrity?


texts: How multilingual would Canaanite citizens have been?

texts:
This question concerns the Land of Israel circa 1,500-1,000 BCE.

Different sources mention different languages for this region:

This land was part of the New Kingdom of Egypt, so presumably Middle Egyptian and Late Egyptian would have been spoken (?)
Biblical Hebrew starts at the end of this period but should probably be included. I gather it was probably similar to Ugaritic.
The Armana Letters were in Akkadian.

I am by no means an expert, so I don't expect the above to be complete or accurate :-/

I expect colloqual languages and administrative/diplomatic languages would have been different, so the question I have is: which language(s) would ordinary citizens have spoken?

Would it have been normal to speak more than one language? And would this answer be consistent across the land, or would there be a geographic difference?


texts: Did 9/11 change people's behavior during the playing of the national anthem?

texts:
The Star-Spangled Banner was adopted as the official national anthem of the United States in 1931. Up until June 1942 there were no guidelines given as to how people were to behave during the playing of the anthem. Since then there have been a number of changes to the description of what people should do. For example, men were to remove their hats and women were to place their hand on their heart. Then it changed to instruct both men and women to place their hand on their heart when the flag was on display. Then it was changed again to instruct that your hand should be held over your heart whether or not the flag was displayed, essentially meaning for the entire duration of the anthem. To quote the source I've read (the Wikipedia article on the anthem):

  Because of the changes in law over the years and confusion between instructions for the Pledge of Allegiance versus the National Anthem, throughout most of the 20th century many people simply stood at attention or with their hands folded in front of them during the playing of the Anthem, and when reciting the Pledge they would hold their hand (or hat) over their heart.
  The Star-Spangled Banner: Customs and Federal Law

But it was the very next sentence that I found very interesting:

  After 9/11, the custom of placing the hand over the heart during the playing of the national anthem became nearly universal.

It cites three sources directly after this sentence, however they are supporting references to the entire preceding paragraph. The links take you to legal documents, and none seem to support the change in custom after the 9/11 terrorist attack.

Is there any truth to this claim?

Edit: A commenter has linked a different Wikipedia article where another version of this claim is made:

  According to the United States Code, those present should stand at attention with right hand over heart.[15][16][17] It's noteworthy, this tradition only acquired widespread practice after the year 2001, ...
  US national anthem protests

Again, even here it just gives links to the United States Code as a citation. None of it supports the claim about 9/11 or the year 2001.


texts: Was the N.E.P. of Russia successful in terms of economics?

texts: The Soviet's New Economic Plan was indeed a successful plan in establishing a comparatively strong postwar economy for the Soviet Union, but there were many imperfections: food prices fluctuated tremendously, the gap between the wealth of people increased. Was it a successful plan of Leinin?


texts: When did the Roman Empire fall according to contemporaries?

texts:
The Roman Empire divided itself into two parts, the Eastern Roman Empire headquartered in Constantinople and the Western Roman Empire headquartered in Rome.  The city of Rome itself fell in the year 476 AD.  But the Eastern Roman Empire continued on, with the city of Constantinople falling in the year 1453 AD.

Now modern historians consider 476 to be the “fall of the Roman Empire”, and they have termed the Eastern Roman Empire as it existed in the Dark Ages and Middle Ages as the “Byzantine Empire”.  But my question is, at what point did people at the time think the Roman Empire had actually fallen?  Was it 1453?


texts:
What gift did Saladin send to Richard when he was ill?
This is a question I got asked in m H|W and I didn't find it. Please, can anyone help me?


texts: What is the origin of straight municipal boundary line in NJ?

texts:
If you look at a map of the municipal borders of New Jersey, you see a clear line mid-state running northwest to southeast.  It's about halfway between NYC and Philadelphia. What is the historical origin of this line?

Note that a map of county boundaries won't show this line.
This map was taken from state.nj.us


texts: What was the last religion to become 'extinct'?

texts:
Some ancient religions, like the one of the Romans and the Ancient Greek, used to have a rather large number of followers, but are now 'extinct', i.e. they aren't practiced anymore (though there are some attempts to revive them). Most of the time, followers are converted to another religion (e.g. Christianity) but it could also be that the population is slowly becoming atheistic.

According to the answers to this question, the Ancient Greek religion 'survived' until the 9th century AD, but I think it's likely that there are religions which were practiced until more recent times (but not anymore).


texts: When and why did Girondins split from Jacobins

texts:
So I'm reading through Schama's Citizens and am thoroughly confused. I've gathered that at the beginning there were Feuillants and Jacobins, of whom the majority were followers of Brissot, the Girondins.

Then at some point the Jacobins center around Robespierre and the Girondins are separate?

I know this isn't right.  What's the chronology here and what am I not understanding?


texts: What was the postage from Japan to US in 1945?

texts:
I was wondering how many postage stamps it would require to send a letter from Japan to the US (and vice versa) around 1945, and during the occupation? And perhaps you might know what the stamps looked like and/or cost?
Thank you!


texts: Why did the United Kingdom industrialize first?

texts: What factors made the United Kingdom the first to industrialize? Was it simply the importance and benefit of its position in the global community for trade?


texts: What toilet facilities were available to commoners in the middle ages?

texts:
Whenever I searched for toilets/restrooms/.... in the middle ages I only found sketches or engravings about either clerics (probably curches) or about rooms on the side of the walls of castles.

But never did I find anything about either public toilets or other toilets/restrooms that commoners / peasants used / had available to them in the middle ages.

So my question would be here: Did a commoner have any restroom/toilet facility (public or otherwise) available to him on the countryside (small towns) or large cities?


texts: Were Moses & Abraham historical figures?

texts: History is not my area of specialization. I am curious to know about the historicity of Moses and Abraham from the viewpoint of modern critical scholarship. It would be great if references are provided.