If you go to the past, you can face a completely different world, completely different from our ideas
Thanks to countless books, movies, and the average crappy TV show, we have a pretty stable image of the ancient world in our heads. Togs, feasts, gladiatorial fights …
Everything is pretty standard. But if you go to the past, you can face a completely different world, absolutely different from our ideas. And everything that is shown to us on blue screens can be very far from the truth.
Let's start with the period when dinosaurs and brontosaurs were found on earth. They have been known since 1903, when Otniel Marsh was unable to identify the bones of a previously discovered Apatosaurus. Thanks to this mistake (and also to Steven Spielberg), a whole generation of dinosaur fans are in awe of the word brontosaurus and fascinated by a dinosaur that never existed.
At least, it did not exist until April 2015, when scientists decided that the Brontosaurus did once walk the planet. In a 300-page report, scientists from the New University of Lisbon analyzed more than 81 different lizard bones in Norway and concluded that parts of the brontosaurus skeleton could be distinguished as a distinct species.
Although it looks a lot like the Apatosaurus, it has a slightly narrower and taller neck. This difference was enough for scientists to distinguish three distinct species within the genus Brontosaurus.
They even noted that many of the Apatosaur remains on display in museums (including the American Museum of Natural History) need to be re-examined and possibly reclassified and recognized as a different species.
Let's move on to later times - when the Neanderthals lived. It is believed that they did not shine with their intelligence. Moreover, the word "Neanderthal" for us is a synonym for the word "idiot", a reminder that before a person became the main arbiter of destinies on the planet, he first had to exterminate his more stupid ancestors.
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And the image of a Neanderthal is a classic image of the Ice Age. But these ideas are not entirely accurate. There is evidence that our distant ancestors were as smart as we are.
In 2014, researchers found that Neanderthals in Northern Europe hunted mammoths and bison in deep gorges.
Such a logistically complex operation required extensive cooperation between the participants and the ability to plan. They also found a lot of evidence that the tools of the Neanderthals were quite sophisticated and they were all created using bones, stones and homemade glue.
There are also signs of Neanderthal culture. Archaeologists have found adornments and body painting pigments that may have been needed for complex rituals. There is even a cave in Gibraltar that has preserved examples of Neanderthal art.
There are also many misconceptions associated with later times. It is believed that there were many slaves from Judea in Ancient Egypt. One of the most famous and early biblical stories, the legend of the Exodus, will help us to understand that this is not so.
After several centuries of slavery, the Jews finally managed to escape with the help of 10 Egyptian executions. And although only a few today consider this story to be true, it is logical to assume that it still has some grounds. If you travel back 4000 years, we will see many Jews wandering in the Sinai Desert. Right?
But the archaeological evidence suggests otherwise. The researchers found no evidence that 600,000 Jewish families spent many years in the desert.
And if we consider that there are traces of the presence in a particular area of even very small groups of nomads, then such a complete absence of even the slightest signs makes us think. There is also no evidence that at some point there was a large influx of migrants in Israel.
The Egyptian state meticulously keeps all records of all events in history, including migration. If such a number of slaves, which made up more than a quarter of the country's population, had left at one point, this would certainly have been mentioned in the annals. After all, this would mean both a shortage of labor and economic collapse. But no, no such records were found.
By the way, in ancient Egypt, slaves were treated much better than in most cultures of the world. Many of them were simply debt slaves who sold themselves to pay off their debts, and they had a fixed expiration date. Under certain circumstances, they lived even better than free peasants. And this does not correspond to the cruel tyrants of Egypt described in the Bible.
There are also many misconceptions about the ancient Romans. They say, along with a penchant for cruelty, they are known for their love of festivities and gluttony to nausea. We present the Roman festivals with mountains of food and rivers of wine.
In fact, the Roman state in many ways hindered its citizens in obtaining pleasure. Throughout the history of the empire, dozens of laws were enacted to limit the amount of money that individuals could spend on entertainment.
In 81 BC. Lucius Cornelius Sulla passed a law that severely restricts spending on fun pastime. Several years later, another law was introduced, dictating the number and types of dishes that could be on the tables. Other acts could limit everything: from the maximum amount of expenses for a banquet to prohibitions for people to eat in other people's houses.
And since these laws were not always enforced, and the punishments for violations could be very cruel. Under Julius Caesar, soldiers broke up banquets and strictly monitored public spending in the markets. Only after Nero were these laws abolished and citizens could satisfy their appetites.
Another misconception associated with Ancient Rome concerns the fact that only Christianity was persecuted in this empire. This misconception was promoted by one of the myths about the founding of Christianity - we are talking about the first martyrs persecuted by the Romans.
Preferring to die but not abandon their God, the unnamed sacrifices set an example for future Christians. And yet there is a part of the story that is not covered in the textbooks.
Christians were no more persecuted than representatives of other religions. Just as Nero mortally hated Christians, other rulers hated other cults. In 186 BC.
The Senate passed a law banning the cult of Bacchus, a new religion based on the veneration of Dionysus. Just as later, Christians, the followers of the cult of Bacchus were slandered, portrayed as heretics and enemies of the state. They were severely oppressed. They were tortured and killed.
And they weren't the only ones. Later, the Druids and the Jews were persecuted … There was even a period when the persecution of Christians stopped for a while - instead of them followers of other cults became victims. So Christians were not unique people who were persecuted, they were one of many who fell under the cruelty of the Romans.
There are many misconceptions about Stonehenge. It is believed that the ancient stone circle in the heart of rural England was located in a desolate place, surrounded by an aura of mystery and mystery.
But this is most likely not the case. Probably, once upon a time, Stonehenge was surrounded by a large, bustling city. In 2014, a group of scientists completed the largest study of this mystery.
In addition to giant stones preserved at a distance of 3 km, traces of chapels, burial mounds, and other ritual shrines scattered around were found.
There are even traces of nearby settlements, where quite a lot of residents probably lived. So it can be assumed that ancient Stonehenge was a very lively place that was constantly evolving.
And another misconception about the UK. It is believed that black citizens appeared there only in the last century. However, this is not the case: they have lived there for at least 1800 years.
In 2010, researchers found evidence that Roman York was home to people of North African descent. One of them was the "lady with iron bracelets." She was buried with a lot of jewelry, which allows her to be attributed to the upper class, and not to be considered an ordinary traveler or slave.
But even the "iron lady" pales in comparison to the most famous African inhabitant of ancient York. In 208 A. D. the Roman emperor of Libyan descent Septimius Sever settled there and ruled empires from there for three years, until his death.
But with the fall of Rome, the country's multinational history did not end. There is evidence that small communities of dark-skinned people have permanently lived in Great Britain since the 12th century. At least some of the remains have been attributed to the period leading up to the arrival of William the Conqueror (1066 AD).
In 1501, Catherine of Aragon formed her retinue of Muslims, Jews, immigrants from North Africa, who settled in Great Britain. So multinationality is a phenomenon characteristic of this country throughout its history.
Now let's go to the East. It is believed that the Great Silk Road is just a huge trade route, a symbol of ancient trade. It is a network of trade routes stretching from modern Italy to Indonesia. The name alone brings to mind the images of lonely traders, overcoming the hardships of the difficult journey to reach the remote corners of the world.
In fact, the Silk Road was much more than an ordinary trade route. Along with merchants, you could meet monks, artists, refugees, spies there.
The Silk Road gave our distant ancestors not only silk. In a world without newspapers, television and the Internet, he was a means of communication between different nations. People passing through it brought news, gossip and even fashion. He even served to spread religious beliefs. The spread of Buddhism as the main religion in Asia was mainly due to the monks traveling along this tract, preaching their faith to all the travelers they meet.
Refugees were equally important. Although the Silk Road is rarely described as a path for people fleeing oppression, there were still many.
And it was this stream that brought culture, science, technology. The Great Silk Road may be exactly the way it is written about in textbooks, but merchants were only a small part of it.
There are many misconceptions associated with human sacrifice. Thinking about it, we imagine the bloodthirsty Aztecs or Mayans who shed their blood for the sun to rise. But human sacrifice was common in yet another culture: Ancient China.
The ancient Chinese were extremely cruel. In 2007, archaeologists unearthed a mass grave filled with the bodies of 47 sacrificed people so that they could continue to serve their master in the afterlife. Early letters from the Shang era contain information on 37 different types of sacrifices.
If in Greece and Rome this practice was completed a very long time ago, then in China people were sacrificed until recently.
Even during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the spouses of the emperor went to the afterlife together with the deceased ruler. Chinese society killed people for religious purposes even during the Mayflower voyage.
Based on materials from the site fresher.ru
O. BULANOVA