Ancient Cultures

[Falagar]

Got this idea from a discussion that just arose in the Language-thread, which didn't really fit in there. I thought that since we all share a common love for LotR, it is natural that we also share a common love for "the good, brutal ol' days".

What do you think of the ancient cultures, like the romans, huns, vikings, native indians, ancient egyphtians, etc? Which one is to you the most interesting, most intriguing, etc? I'm no great historian (though I plan to be...some day ), so I'm hoping to learn a lot.

Just to start off, I've always been facinated by the Celts. A mystical people, of which we know very little (at least I don't). Is Julius "Julle" Caesar's claim that they were making human sacrifices regarded as a historical fact? How prominent were the Druids in their society?

(Just for the record, this is my first serious thread for ages )

(And I'm sorry if there is already a topic on this; I made a quick search but couldn't find anything)

Edits: Spelling errors, making the thread easier to read and added some comments

[Valandil]

Originally posted by Falagar
Got this idea from a discussion that just arose in the Language-thread. What do you think of the ancient cultures? The one which is the most interesting, most intriguing, etc? I'm no great historian (though I plan to be...some day ), so I'm hoping to learn something interesting.

Just to start off, I've always been facinated by the Celts. A mystic people, of which we know very little (at least I don't). Is Julius "Julle" Caesar's claim that they were making human sacrifices regarded as a historical fact?

(Just for the record, this is my first serious thread for ages )

(And I'm sorry if there is already a topic on this; I made a quick search but couldn't find anything)

Lots of ancient peoples made human sacrifices... one of the drawbacks of 'the good ole days'!

Don't know if this is true, but I read or heard once that the distinction between 1st century BC 'Celts' and 'Germans' was made by Caesar... the difference just involving those places that he intended to conquer (ie - he drew a line and said; "We'll conquer these - they are the 'Celts'... we won't conquer these, at least not yet - they are the 'Germans'"

And of course, those who were considered 'German' shifted through the next several centuries I believe... something to do with a population explosion in 'Gotland' (??) - I think a coastal area (including islands) on the east side of modern-day Denmark?

Anyhow, I'm not an official historian, so I may be off somewhat...

[jerseydevil]

I was always facinated by the Romans and Greeks, but also the Egyptians (was trying to learn hieroglyphics in high school)

[Arien the Maia]

I love the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Celts and basically any other culture that was around at least 1500 years ago

[Linaewen]

Originally posted by Arien the Maia
I love the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Celts and basically any other culture that was around at least 1500 years ago

Same here. Though I have to add the societies of the New World too, namely the Maya, Aztecs and Incas. I love reading the myth of all those different cultures, because it can vary a lot, and reflects the kind of people they were.

*Points at Scandinavians and laughs* Giant guts being turned into the world?

[Elfmaster XK]

I am studying Egyptology and Ancient History at University, so I have lectures in Egyptian language, its history and that of the Romans and Greeks.

Personally my interest lies with the Egyptians. I love their language and their culture and find their beliefs so vastly different from ours that they are just fascinating. One thing I find really cool (and really random) about them is the number of uses they found for mud

I was always facinated by the Romans and Greeks, but also the Egyptians (was trying to learn hieroglyphics in high school)

It's difficult, isn't it. I have an exam on it in four days.

Lin - Did you read that thing about the Incas that said they knew from reading the sky (like astronomy or something) that they would suffer a catastrophe in a certain year, and then Cortez came and killed them all that time so they didn't fight back? Am not sure that sentence was sensical. I need to find the source...

[Nurvingiel]

Originally posted by Valandil
Don't know if this is true, but I read or heard once that the distinction between 1st century BC 'Celts' and 'Germans' was made by Caesar... the difference just involving those places that he intended to conquer (ie - he drew a line and said; "We'll conquer these - they are the 'Celts'... we won't conquer these, at least not yet - they are the 'Germans'"

I don't know if that's true or not, about Caesar, but the Celtic people were actually many different cultures, and were nomadic. They eventually settled in Gaul and Britain (that probably happened over a long period of time, but I'm not sure when.)
As far as I know, the Romans never really conquered what is now Germany. They just made a sort of buffer zone between it and their empire.

Great thread Falagar! *subscribe*

I absolutely love early midieval Britain, and Arthurian legends.

[Arien the Maia]

Originally posted by Linaewen
Same here. Though I have to add the societies of the New World too, namely the Maya, Aztecs and Incas. I love reading the myth of all those different cultures, because it can vary a lot, and reflects the kind of people they were.

*Points at Scandinavians and laughs* Giant guts being turned into the world?

yes, I like the Central american indians too.

I think the most fascinateing thing about these cultures are their religious beliefs. I love mythology!

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by Falagar

Just to start off, I've always been facinated by the Celts. A mystical people, of which we know very little (at least I don't). Is Julius "Julle" Caesar's claim that they were making human sacrifices regarded as a historical fact? How prominent were the Druids in their society?

well Nurvingiel just stole my thunder there a bit but keep in mind that what the romans called the "celts" were a collection of various peoples ranging from old Ireland to greece. So there really was no one celtic ideology per se. But what weve come to call celtic does have some connection in culture and art at least. i have some celtic artifact reproductions and countless books on celtic folk lore. Even a beautiful reproduction of the celtic masterpiece The Book of Kells. I find their artistry spellbinding. I think anyone who likes Tolkien would love many of the ancient celtic tales as well. Check out books like The Book of Conquests and The Silver Arm if you are into Tolkien-like tales of heroism weaved together with some astounding artistry and drawings. And real source tales like The Mabinogion, the Tain Bo Cuailnge, and others. You can tell Tolkien was familiar with these types of stories when you read them. Anyway I want to put a Megalith in my yard. Wouldn’t that be cool?

[Shadowfax]

What a great thread. I don't have much time right now, but I'll say I'm fascinated with the Anglo-Saxons (ancient Britons) and Vikings.

[Valandil]

Originally posted by Shadowfax
What a great thread. I don't have much time right now, but I'll say I'm fascinated with the Anglo-Saxons (ancient Britons) and Vikings.

Hmmm - part of your first one is my area of especial interest!!! Only - the Britons were actually the Romanized Celts - and the Anglo-Saxons were the invading barbarians from the mainland (mostly what is now the west coast of Denmark - and on down into Belgium and the Netherlands - kind of precursors to the Vikings!). The historical roots of the Arthurian legends are from this time (long before the fanciful trappings were added in centuries to come). Whoever 'King Arthur' is based on was likely a Romano-British king or warrior from the late 400's / early 500's. He seems to have stemmed the tide in his lifetime - but over the next couple hundred years, the Anglo-Saxons pretty much made 'Angle-land' their own.

[BeardofPants]

I did archaeology and ancient history at uni, so I'm very much interested in ancient cultures, though generally, my interests lie much further back in time than the so-called rise of civilization. Having said that, I did study egyptology, and the language during my undergraduate study. Unlike other languages, in which I was abysmal at, I did find it easier to pick up the hieroglyphs. But I lost interest unfortunately, so I haven't looked at any texts in a while... think the last one I transliterated and translated was The Shipwrecked Sailor!

[Hemel]

My passion is the 'Celts' - or, rather more accurately, the Iron Age peoples, especially those in Britain. I'm a heathen though - the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians leave me totally cold, and I'm partisan enough still to be annoyed at the Roman entry into Britain

For tales - funnily enough one of the things that interested me recently was the film 'Last Samurai'. I could see parallels between the Iron Age Brits and the Samurai .....

And megaliths in the garden? Ah, someone has promised to build me a construction one day ...

[The Gaffer]

Not a lot is known for certain about the pre-Roman Celts. Unfortunately, they didn't write much of anything and very little archaeological evidence survives. Also, you've got to remember that the Romans wrote much of what we do "know" about them, and it's probably biased.

There are some interesting Tolkien parallels in the Tuatha de Danann, who supposedly ruled Ireland around 1800 BC (I think they sound a lot like the Elves). Although I've read that JRRT himself professed to loathe Celtic mythos, I can't help but think that he's borrowed from this story. Here are some links:

Brief account of Tuatha de Danann
More detailed stories Note especially the TdD fleeing to a mythical hideaway in the west (Tir nan Og)
There's a great book, called Faeries, illustrated by the same artist who designed much of the LOTR films (Alan Lee), which has lots of these kinds of stories.

One of the things I love about living in this part of England is that this kind of stuff is all around you. A few miles away there's White Horse Hill, where you can admire the stunning 3,000 year-old horse and walk along a path which has been in continuous use for over 5,000 years (The Ridgeway) which end in Avebury, the famous village in a stone circle.
Uffington white horse
Avebury

[Ruinel]

Gaffer, nice stories.

[Elfmaster XK]

Originally posted by BeardofPants
Having said that, I did study egyptology, and the language during my undergraduate study. Unlike other languages, in which I was abysmal at, I did find it easier to pick up the hieroglyphs. But I lost interest unfortunately, so I haven't looked at any texts in a while... think the last one I transliterated and translated was The Shipwrecked Sailor!

So can you read hieratic then?

[Falagar]

I visited the national historic museum here in Oslo when they had an exhibition of egyptian mummies (was sometime during the summer, I believe). It wasn't very big, but interesting enough...

By the way they are making a movie, Troy, based on the greek myths. http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/troy/ (guess who's starring.

[Grey_Wolf]

Since I'm interested in sailing I've expanded on the subject to include ancient sailing nations. Am waiting for a book called Ships and seamanship in the ancient days and another called The Story of Sail.

[Grey_Wolf]

Am also going to look for books about ancient warriors.

[brownjenkins]

i've spent a lot of time reading about different mythologies and religions... the common ones, as well as the less-known, like sumerian, hindu and samoan

some of these links are broken... but this site has writings and links covering almost all of the world's myths

myths