The Super Summary of World History - Alan Dale Daniel [297]
[16] Tigris and Euphrates—Tigris being the upper river (T = top). The irrigation systems lasted until the Mongols murdered everyone in the area about AD 1200, then they silted up never to be repaired. (See the Mongols in the Dark Ages section)
[17] p. 21, Bauer, The History of the Ancient World, 2007, WW Norton & Co
[18] One exception may be the Philistines who are spoken of in the Bible and whom the Israelites engaged in constant warfare.
[19] P. 276 et seq, Bauer, The History of the Ancient World, 2007, WW Norton. Ms Bauer calls them “Sea Peoples”. The problem with a migration is the people in a mass migration normally settle down in the conquered areas. No settlement took place after the Sea Peoples came through.
[20] The Urnfield culture cremated their dead and placed the ashes into urns. These urns (clay) were buried in cemeteries (fields); thus, the Urnfield culture. (urn in a field? Now do you get it? Come on, wake up! Swill down some coffee.) The Penguin Atlas of World History, Vol 1, p18.
[21] p. 106-107, Bauer, The History of the Ancient World, WW Norton publisher
[22] See: China for a more complete discussion of Buddhism.
[23] Normally, I will use the term “god” for “the gods” or “gods” interchangeably. So when reading the word god, understand that it means gods or the gods as well, because most societies in the ancient world were polytheist Poly = many, thus many gods. Pantheist were also about. Pan = all; thus a god in everything, including the person.
[24] In Egypt the Pharaoh was considered a god on earth, plus he was backed by a powerful priesthood.
[25] As shown by godless Communist governments that have destroyed well over 94 million lives in their short history (The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, by Stephan Courtois, 1999).
[26] OK, this is somewhat overstated since the raid was designed to kick Athens sideways and then leave. It was a punishment raid to teach the Greek snobs a lesson to stay out of Persian affairs; instead, it made them even more confident. We must still consider the idea that a successful raid may have encouraged the Persians to continue the conquest, one cannot know. In addition, other historians give an entirely different account of the battle (See p. 72, With Arrow, Sword and Spear . . . Bradford, 2001, Fall River Press). All these millennia later, it is tough to know exactly how it happened.
[27] So, naturally, we try to measure it even though we were not there. The general consensus is Xerxes fielded about 250,000 to 300,000 men, a truly vast army for 480 BC.
[28] They had united during the first invasion by Darius, but the Athenians won the victory before the Spartans, or other city states, could arrive. The Spartans were also consulting soothsayers about the timing of battle (they always did), and they did what these magicians ordered.
[29] The trireme was the principle warship of the ancient world at this time, being made up of three decks of rowers and a metal ram to the front which would sink or heavily damage ships when it was driven into their sides. The crew was about two hundred.
[30] Alcibiades was not there for the defeat in Sicily. Athens wanted him back to stand trial for desecrating the gods. He fled to Sparta and gave them good advice about how to defeat Athens. Then, after being caught with the wife of a Spartan King, he fled to Persia, and gave them good advice about how to defeat the Greeks. After all of this, he returned to Athens where he was again given a command (!!), and suffered an immediate defeat. He fled again to Persia, eventually being killed in Persian Phrygia after Lysander (a Spartan) asked that he be killed. Guess the Persians owed Lysander a favor. This fellow Alcibiades was the mother of all traitors. How dumb were the Athenians to take him back? Sounds like Eva Peron in Argentina(oops, we don’t cover that. You’ll have to look it up elsewhere—Wikipedia maybe).
[31] Father of Alexander the Great
[32] Not every opponent was smashed. The Gauls (Celts) sacked and burned Rome around 390 BC. Rome had been engaged