"Iranians" From 900 BC to the 4th Century AD

Iron Age Doings 

The Great Movement of Humanity

            This is my first attempt to write a bit about a very great movement of Iron Age people. Much of that movement seems to have been done on horseback and to have continued over a considerable period of time. It is likely to have included much of the of the development and usage of what we know as the Silk Road network of trade. And it probably had much to do with the Bronze Age collapse in the Near East.

            This great movement of humanity mostly from northeast to southwest affected China, India, Russia, Ukraine, the Near East, and Europe, that is much of our world.

            The people who did much of that movement have been called Alani, Alan Scythian, Indo European, Celt, Sarmatian, Massaget, Alan-na, Saka, Irani, variations of these and more.

            These people did a lot of learning and cultural development during their migrations. They brought with them their art, their, knowledge of the use of the horse, and lore of the extraction of iron and its working. We are far from learning all there is to know about them. I do not know what prompted their amazing migration. They did it in part because they could and the did it in very great numbers. I am coming to greater realization of how much they changed our world and us. In fact we seem to be very much a result of  them. Though our numbers were few compared to theirs, they also learned from us. Still our language and most of our very DNA comes from them. Perhaps the most representative among us are  the Iranians! Some of them came to know more of us than we knew of ourselves. They had traveled among, worked among, and lived with a greater variety of us than had anyone. They learned and their iron added to our alchemy

Our First Knowledge

       Our first knowledge of them began soon after their arrival in the steppes just to the north of the Caspian and Black Seas. Do not believe that they came all at once. They came and they continued to come. From the earliest days they were known as travelers on horseback with fine horses and sharp strong metals. They were known as warriors who fought on horseback with effective weapons. They were mostly a good looking people who worked their hard iron beautifully, they lacked the knowledge of the best of us, but they were very many. The people of northern India may have known them before we did.

            Later we learned of their having stopped the southwest movement of the Huns. Their doing so probably save the much of the West from the depredations of these nomadic horsemen. They appeared on our world stage near what is now Kazakhstan and are still a bit mysterious to us. They were warlike horsemen and seem much like cousins of the Scythians or  Alani who stopped them from overwhelming Europe.

Alani        

             In late antiquity the people we may call Alani arrived in what may now be called Spanish Cantabria. Near this time may have begun to be called Iranians. We came to call them Celts. This was a time of a more far reaching Iron Age in the West. Near this time many of them may have been populating northern India. Some historians seem to have reason to call them Sarmato-Alani. These Alani seemed culturally related to the Scythian of about 100 AD.

            By about 200 Ad there were Alans between the Vilga and the don rivers. Persians and Chinese historians spoke of the Alani of this time. These Alani may have been called Celts or Indo Europeans by us. It has been said that they looked like Sarmatians and Scythians.

            Early Romans spoke of Alan and Alani as an ancient nomadic people who occupied the steppe region of the Black Sea. They said that they were warlike and specialized in horse breeding. To others they were much like Celts and Indo-Europeans. They were known as being from the North Caucasus and considered Sarmatians.

Scythian            

            Scythian were of Iranian stock. They migrated westward from central Asia to southern Russia and Ukraine. They became a power in what is now Crimea. They were active in the 8th and 9th century BC until the 4th C, AD. They played and important part on the early Silk Road network and were a connecting influence among Greek, Persian, Indian, and Chinese.

            The Alans sometimes seem to be as mysterious as the Huns. In my early history lessons I seem to have heard more about Huns than I did about Alans. T am told that in earlier times the Alans were called Massaget. Who called them that? By the 3rd century Ad the chinese were calling them, or someone, Alan-na.

            Humans have a lot to learn about humanity. We are now finding that some of us of 10,000 years ago seemed to have been more more advanced than many of us of 7,000 years ago. We also now have some hints of the nature of mankind of 20,000 and 30,000 years ago and are pretty sure that there were people on Earth 200,000 years ago. What were those guys doing? Do the Ukrainians and Iranians know that they came on horseback from central Asia and were soon using horse drawn wheeled vehicles? Do we know that "they is us?"

                                                                                        rcs

Acupuncture: history and scientific observation

 Acupuncture: history notes
 

                Are we too superior in our conceits to recognize the ability we ought to see in others?

               

             I write here in hope that we may more enjoy the fruits of acupuncture. The French and Russians began to enjoy those fruits of the acupuncture part of Chinese Health Care many years ago. Our AMA has not pointed us to a legal road to making acupuncture an active part of our health care system. It  that seems finding and setting up that road is up us, we the people. 

               

                 The people of some countries have struggled a bit with deciding how to regulate acupuncture, bur most have allowed it legal practice. Russian elites have demanded it. Chinese demand that extensive education and careful oversight of the the practice be established and maintained. European countries have demanded that all acupuncturists be medical doctors as well. Some of them have neglected the supervision of its teaching.

 

                Some knowledge of the history of acupuncture may prove of help to to us. Allow me to pass on some of that history which have begun to learn.

 

                A medical school was established in China during the Tang dynasty before 900 AD. Its name, translated to English can be, the Imperial Institute of Physicians. The college trained 350 students at a time in herbal medicine and surgery. Herbal medicine seems to have been the more important part of the instruction. Surgery was mainly limited to fractures, skin diseases, and wounds.

 

                Tang emperors also organized the nation's doctors into the grand Medical Service. It will be great when we can organize our healthcare to include the best of the kinds available in other countries. The development of organized healthcare in China began at least as early as 600 AD. Certainly we ought to be able to improve and extend our healthcare in the near future.

 

                 Chinese health care was regulated and delivery improved beginning in about 700 AD. Prospective doctors underwent rigorous examinations. Future doctors were examined on their familiarity with the principles of acupuncture and its diagnosis and techniques, also on the best written works. 

 

                Chinese controlled the quality of their health care then and now. There were and are laws prohibiting the practice of healthcare and cure without licenses.

 

                According to surviving healthcare books and documents from as far back as the Tang, a variety of maladies were treated. their practice dealt with tuberculosis, goiter, rickets, beriberi, dropsy, Cholera, dysentery, measles, smallpox, and leprosy.

            As we begin to use our choice of the very best European and Asiatic healthcare, we can learn from and adopt some of their methods of  control and safety. There  is much of value we can learn if we would. We can learn to benefit from acupuncture as have the French, and Russians, and others. Our healthcare professionals have much to teach others.

            Let's get back to the Tang dynasty way of dealing with acupuncture. On the second day of their examinations was a demonstration of one's effectiveness of dealing with the needles of acupuncture. A great deal more of Chinese history is becoming available these days and the Chinese share share much of their modern healthcare understanding, knowledge, and techniques. We can learn from them and help them to learn from us.

 

                In 1027 AD the sung dynasty emperor, Je Tsug ordered Wang Wei, a noted acupuncturist and sculpture to cast two hollow figures with the acupuncture points points marked by their names and small holes. The figures were covered with wax and filled with water. These figures were used to train and test students. Similar figures are used by students and teachers and students today, Since the Sung dynasty only about a dozen points have been changed, added, or deleted. I understands that a total of about 365 points are used today. For the interested person there is much historic and present day information available online.

 

                During the reign of Chaing Kai-shek, western medicine was extolled and acupuncture was repressed and schools closed. Still, the Chinese people looked to their traditional medicine. Thousands were killed by quacks and the untrained in the use of traditional medicine. Many came to doubt their ''medicine."

                When the communist consolidated power acupuncturists began to use the needles where they were most likely to be used correctly, on themselves. A graduate from their schools may have pricked himself ten thousand times refining his skills and touch until teachers and testers were sure of his ability. There remained much to be learned of diagnosis.  

 

                Now, acupuncture has been modernized by Chinese doctors also trained in western medicine. Acupuncture is used extensively. Electronic needles are used, and their use has moved into most modern Chinese medicine. 

 

                In 1893 Sir Henry Head, a British nerve specialist, noticed that some patients suffering from diseased gallbladders and kidneys felt pain in parts of the body far from from the stricken organs. The pain was external, on the surface of the skin, and a specific disease always resulted in pain from the same place. Think of the diagnostic possibilities, Some wise doctors have been trained in "Head Zones."

            

            German doctors soon began to use their knowledge of "Head Zones" to deaden areas of the skin to relieve pain in internal organs. Does that remind you of anything in particular?

 

                Some American doctors add to this practice by injecting these surface areas with chemical Anesthesia to get the same result. American doctors were amazed to find that their injections in Head Zones not only relieved pain, but in many cases cure diseases. Head Zones have been too largely forgotten, but there is still a bit of ongoing work being done in the U.S. and elsewhere. 

 

            By the way, the areas of the skin Dr. Head linked with the gallbladder and kidneys are the same ones acupuncturists use today and the same ones they have used for many hundreds of years.

 

                I believe that we can benefit from careful training of good acupuncture practitioners in the U.S. I believe we would benefit even more by good appropriate oversight of those practitioners and of all physicians and health practitioners. For developing appropriate training of acupuncturists in the U.S. we could increase exchange of healthcare practitioners between China and America.

 

                Check RCS Posts for health related posts.

            Thank you for reading

 

 

                                                                    RCS 

Toward an Exploration of Baltic History

 The Baltic Sea and People Too

                        Balts were anciently influenced by cultures call Scythian, Slav, and Celt. I am no longer sure of the nature of a Celt. It is probably say that a celt is Indo-European. You may not be very sure of the nature of a Scythian. We seem to have some learning to do. For now, let's put it off until later. Balts were also influenced by amber and the amber trade.They were probably influenced by everything else in their time and place. That certainly includes their geography.

Their Geography

                    The Baltic Sea is and has been an important feature on the face of Earth and on the course of our history; how could it not influence the people around it and on it. I am just getting oriented to it; let me pass on the little I am learning. A map can help. I believe that I have included one somewhere on this blog.

                    The Baltic Sea opens on the Atlantic Ocean and is in the northwestern part of Europe, It has a complex geography, history, and present. Here I hope to begin a look at its early history and prehistory. However, it seems best to begin with a bit of geography. It has been called a brackish inland sea the geological history of which is difficult to clarify.

                    At the risk of muddying the waters I will say that the Baltic Sea could be called the Baltic Lake. Its opening to the Atlantic is not large and it has several rivers flowing into it, including the Oder, Vistula, Neman, Daugava and the Neva. Snow melt, rain, smaller rivers and streams add to the fresh water of great lake Balt. So, it is much like a great sweet water lake made brackish by an opening to the Atlantic.

                    Still, it has been called a sea marginal to the Atlantic ocean. That Sea drains into the Atlantic through the Danish Straights by way of the little Kattagat sea. This Baltic Sea includes the Gulf of Bothnia, the Bay of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga, and the bay of Gdansk.

                    In the Baltic Sea is the little Kattagat sea. Kattagat refers to an area of rather shallow sea bounded by the Jutland peninsula in the west, the Danish Straights and the Baltic Sea to the south, and the shores of Sweden to the east.

                    More names and places then one can easily remember. Expect to see them more here and to hear them in your future.

The Gulf of Bothnia

                    The word "bothnia" seems to have once referred to lowland shores. The Gulf of Bothnia still has some lowland shores. However, that land has continued to rise since its release from its Ice Age burden of ice. We are looking a lands and waters in what is considered the far north. So, the waters of the Gulf still freeze over in winter.

                    I could benefit from more research in the histories of Sweden and Finland to find much of the history of this Gulf. Here is a tiny taste of that history. Ottar an early Viking adventurer may have referred to the Gulf as the Kven Sea. A Danish navigator may have referred to it as as the Mare gotticus in the 15th century. Bothnia Bay may be called a northern landward extension of the gulf of Bothnia.

The Gulf of Finland 

                    This gulf is the eastern branch of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland on north and Estonia on the south, and on to Saint Petersburg, Russia, Where the River Neva flows into it. Other major cities on the Gulf are Helsinki and Tallinn. Wikipedia reminded me of this.

                    In the early post Ice Age the Gulf of Finland was preceded by the Littoriana  Sea. hat sea stood as 30 feet above present sea level. By some 4,000 years ago that sea receded to near present levels.

    

Archaeology:

                    Archaeologist have found that the lands along the Gulf of Finland began to be settled in about 9,000 BC. To me writing about archaeology is much like writing a history. So, we do seem to be moving in the right direction. That is we are moving a bit beyond geography and more toward history. Onward. As early as 1905 AD eleven neolithic settlements had been found along the Gulf. Early culture of about that time include: Finnic, Esti/Chud, Votes, Izhorians,, and Korela. There is much to learn about each of them.

                    Later. from about 700 AD: through 900 AD East Slavs, Ilman Slavas, and Krivichs had settled along the Neva river and the Gulf of Finland. They practiced agriculture and animal husbandry and so, marked a change in culture.

Between about 700 AD and 1,200 AD, the River Neva and the Gulf were part of the waterway from, say, Scandinavia to the Byzantine Empire. I consider that last sentence to be a historic fact until I find strong evidence to the contrary. This was much the development of and the final flourishing of the "Viking Age." That is a leadership position in what became Russia and lead to attacks on the Byzantine Empire. Of course Norsemen were viking elsewhere as well.

                    After about 850 AD historic information from this arena becomes more abundant.  About that time The Gulf was controlled by Russians(Russian-Vikings) we might say. They maintained this control until 1219 when the Danes took control. Around this time the city of Reval was established on what has been called the area of Tallinn. There is plenty to learn about this are with plenty of interesting details. The historical record is increasingly complete from about 750 AD.

Gulf of Riga:

                    The Gulf of Riga lies between modern Latvia and Estonia on, of course, the Baltic sea. I hope to learn more of this gulf area through the histories and archaeology of the histories of Latvia and Estonia. You can help me with this by using the "comments" just below this essay. An investigation of the early days of the cities of Riga, Parnu, Jumala, and Kuressaare could help.

Bay of Gdansk:

                    The Bay of Gdansk has a lot of history which may include my Prussian, Polish, and German ancestors. The Vistula river flows into theBay. Some consider the Bay as extending to Russian Kaliningrad and the coast of Lithuania. I hope to learn of the happenings and doings in this area from the earliest times until Rome moved its first amber.

Kursenieski:

                        There be Kursenieski on the Bay! They have been their long. They call their language Curonian. Some linguists have seen it as related to Latvian. They have been called Prussian Latvians. Who are these people? Who were they? They lived on a well visited sea coast near the outlet of a well navigated river; so have been subjected to much social and cultural activity and change. I suspect that they were an important prehistoric people. Can you tell us more about them. I hope to live long enough to post more about them here.

    

Kattagat Sea:     

                    Let me Travel back toward where the Baltic Sea meets the Atlantic ocean. That is near to the "little" Kattagat sea. The name Kattagat may be of Swedish origin. I seem to remember having head of an ancient queen Kattagat who may have been a Swede. This Sea certainly is a Scandinavian area. 

Jutland:     

                    The Jutlandic peninsula juts into the Kattagat and is part of Jutland. The Peninsula and perhaps all of Jutland Called Cimbric or the Cimbric Peninsula and is now part of Denmark. Jutes and Cimbri have lived there.

        

                    Jutes have been named among powerful Germanic invaders of England. Was this naming a Roman idea? It seems that there may be some confusion over this naming. But there seems to be good reason the peninsula is called Jute. It was an area of Jute movement and trade before, during, and after the Roman Empire. If you believe me wrong, please tell me about it. Anyway there the Jutland Peninsula is at the Kattaga Sea.

Cimbrian:

                     Wait a minute! We have a varied lot of people to learn about and the Cimbri are one of them and they seem to have been on the Jutland Peninsula before the the Jutes. Many have thought that the Cimbri were what we have called Gauls Celts. Anyway I believe that this peninsula was once called the Cimbrian peninsula. We have more to learn. We need more archaeological and historical evidence.

                    We humans do seem to get around a lot and it seems that includes the Cimbri. I am finding that for a very long time there was a mostly seasonal migration from part of the Baltic Sea area and from part of Britain as least as far as the Iberian peninsula. So, there was probably movement from peninsula to peninsula, Cimbric to Iberian and back. It sounds right, but I a feeling some amazement. 

                    I also find that there was even a Cimbrian military expedition against 1st century Rome! Who are these Cimbri? Who were they. Could they have been visitors to Ireland as early as the early Bronze Age? 

                    Some say that there were Belgians of Cimbrian origin. Romans may have called them Germans, but then they called nearly everyone of the area German. We are not very clear about who Celts were other than that they were almost certainly what we have called Indo-Europeans. However that may be, a people who seemed much like Cimbri, but whom some called Celts joined Carthaginians to resist Rome. I wish you could help me to learn more.

                    OK it seems about time to publish this. I intend to gather more information. Might I get some from you. Remember this blog and its associated blogs were designed to have some interactivity. 

                    Please do try to help to correct the errors or misapprehensions I make. Try using the "comments" app below.

                    Thank you for reading.

                                                                                Richard  S

 

Baltic Sea: People, Geography, and Prehistory

    The People, The Land, and the Sea

 Toward an Exploration of Baltic pre-History

 A bit of geography. 

                    The Baltic Sea has been a tremendously important feature on the face of the Earth and on the course of our history. It has been called a brackish  inland sea the geological history of which is unclear. The surrounding territory has been said to have been populated Scythian and Slave and an indefinite people called Celts. Their cultures are said to have been influenced by their geography a lot of human migration, and by Amber. I am about to write just a bit about the geography of the area. I haven't chosen a map, but you may find any map of the Sea which includes some of the surroundings land could be useful and even interesting to you as we begin to explore the area.

                    This inland sea is marginal to the Atlantic Ocean at its northeast margin. It might be said to face west. This Baltic Sea drains into the Atlantic  through the Danish Straights by way of the Kattegat, Great belt and the Little Belt. The Sea includes geographic features such as the Gulf of Bothnia, the Bay of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, the gulf of Riga and the Bay of Gdansk.

                    Kattegat is a area of shallow sea bounded by the the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish straights and the Baltic sea to the south, and the shore of Sweden to the east. Bothnia seems to have begun as an adjective referring to lowland shores. Even so, the Gulf of Bothnia is not shallow, but the land beneath it is rising from the release of its Ice Age burden of ice. It can still freeze over in the winter.

                    If you are dizzy from all the geographic references, take a look at the maps above. No need to worry as we go on our geographic orientation will improve. Take a breath there are more such references to come, but now with admixture of history and pre-history.

                    I still have more to learn geography to learn of the Bothnia Gulf, the gulf of Finland. If you know anything relating to the gulf of Bothnia, please tell us about it. I am fairly sure that it is important in the stories and histories of both Finland and Sweden.  A 15th century navigator may have referred to it as he Mare Gotticus. Ottar, a Viking age adventurer, in the 9th century may have referred to it as the Kven Sea.

 

                    Bothnia Bay may be though of as a northern extension of the gulf of Bothnia. Both Bay and Gulf still freeze over in the winter. 

Finland

                    The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost branch of the the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland on the north, Estonia on the south, and to Saint Petersburg, Russia in the east where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities on the present day gulf are Helsinki and Tallinn.

                    I am checking facts in Wikipedia here, but you can be fairly sure that errors are mine. Please note and/or correct them in the "comments" app below. You can make comments about content there too. 

                    In the post Ice Age of Finland the Gulf was preceded by the Littorina Sea. the level, of that sea was about 30 feet above present sea level. By some 4,000 years ago the Littorina sea had receded. 

Prehistory People                    

                    Archaeologist have found the lands along the Gulf of Finland began to be settled by about 9,000 BC, just after the last Ice Age. Coming back toward our days, as early as 1905, eleven Neolithic settlements had been found along the this gulf. Those settler have been referred to as survivors. Early culture on the lands around this gulf include: Finnic, Eesti, Votes/Chud, Izorians, and Korela.

                    We have begun to consider people! prehistoric people!

                    We have a lot to learn about people and little time to do it. There is considerable evidence that between about 700 AD to about 900 AD, East Slavs, Ilman Slavs, and Krivichs lived along the Neva river and the Gulf of Finland. The people of these cultures practiced agriculture and animal husbandry. Between about 700 Ad and 1,200 AD the river Neva and the Gulf of Finland were an import part of the inland water way between Scandinavia and the Byzantine empire. From early times Norsemen practiced viking on these waterways.

                    From 850 AD when the Gulf was held by Russians and to 1229 when the Danes took control we begin to have much historic information available. during this period the city of Reval was established on what has become the area of Tallinn. There is a lot to find about this Baltic area.  Historic finds of the times after about 750 become more abundant. 

                    Tell me of your interests in the area and I will try to publish about them. Search History With RCS and it is possible you will find that I have already published something of interest.

Gulf of Riga

                    The gulf of Riga lies between Latvia and Estonia. We can learn more of this Gulf through a study of the histories and pre-histories of these two countries. A look at the histories of the cities of Riga, Parnu, Jumala, and Kuressaare could help too. If you would like me to publish a work of yours on these cities or counties tell me so and maybe we can work something out. I could live long enough to learn enough about their earliest days to write something, but probably won't.

            

Bay of Gdansk

                    Just now the Bay of Gdansk is taking my interest. It's history may include some of the histories of my Prussian , Polish and German ancestors. The  Vistula river flows into it. Some consider the Bay as widening to include Russia Kaliningrad and the coast of Lithuania. 

                    There be Kursenieki on this bay. They have been there long.. They call their language Curonian. Some see the language as related to Latvian. They have been called Prussian Latvians. They are a mystery to which their language may be a clue. They are certainly not a geographically isolated people. They are on a well visited sea coast and near the mouth of a long navigated river and so have seen much trade and commerce.

Geography

                    I am including a lot of geography in this little essay. As geography does affect culture, I am introducing the Baltic Sea ant its surroundings as a backdrop and the grounding for the people who have lived there. I also want you to know a local for the people and places I speak of.

Denmark and Jutes

                    Let me take you back to where Baltic waters meet the Atlantic waters near Denmark. Kattegat, the name of the little sea area near the Baltic entrance to the Atlantic, may be of Swedish origin, so we are near Sweden too. I seem to remember a queen Kattegat, This sea is certainly a place to be Scandinavian. The Jutlandic Peninsula juts out here. It is part of Jutland. Long ago this same peninsula was called the Cimbric or Cimbrian peninsula. Now it is part of Denmark; Jutes a and Cimbri used to live there.

                    Jutes have been named among powerful Germanic invaders of England. I might call them Scandinavians, or something else, but I have a lot to learn. It does seem that others have some confusion about the area, but there is a reason the peninsula is called Jute. There was much trade and commerce in the area before and after the Roman Empire. Anyway there that peninsula is, at the Kattegat Sea not very far from Denmark.

Cimbrian, Cimbri

                    Wait a minute, the Cimbri, an ancient people were also said to have lived on this peninsula. We humans do get around and it has been said that which  gets around goes around. What we have called the Jute peninsula has been called the Cimbrian peninsula. The Cimbri have been thought to be Gaulish or Celtic. Celtic to me has come to be much like German was to the Romans. Romans called everyone to the far west of them German. I of have yet to see good archaeological evidence or historical documentation of who the earlier inhabitants of the peninsula were.

                    It does seem that there is evidence of there being a long period of annual migrations from the Baltic area and England and Ireland to the Iberian peninsula and back with the seasons. That stirs the pot. It sounds right and amazing at the same time. There was even a  Cimbrian military expedition against 1st century Rome. Who were those Cimbrians? Could they have been some early Norsemen doing some large scale viking?

                    Some say that there were Belgians of Cimbrian origin, but I see no evidence for them being called Germans other than the Romans calling almost every one in the area German.

                    Did Cimbrians reach Ireland? How can we recognize or identify Cimbrians? I am not certain  what Celts were, but people whom seem a bit like Cimbrians, but were called Irish Celts, Joined Phoenicians to resist Rome.

                    Scythian has been called Cimerian. Are Cimerians, Cimbrians? I believe that Cimbrian were trading people and Scythians were great traders from before their Hellenization. Who can help me to get any of this straightened out?

                   The End. The end of this essay. I hope to learn more and to write more on these topics before I die. Please use the "comments'' section below to participate in the learning or writing. Blogs are useful for their interactivity.

                    On this same blog site check these posts:

                               

           

                   Thank you for reading.

                                                                                 rcs