Ancient History
In which I finally review Adrienne Mayor’s The Amazons
Over the last year and a bit, I’ve mentioned Adrienne’s Mayor’s The Amazons more than once here on the Margins, always with a quick note to the effect that a) it’s excellent and b) I really need to review it. (1) In some ways a review here is superfluous. A lot of you may have…
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Oracle Bones
Historical texts sometimes take surprising forms. The earliest Chinese written records for instance are the “oracle bones” that were used in used in the art of “scapulimancy”, or bone divination, in Shang dynasty China (ca. 1600 -1046 BCE). The language used on the oracle bones was rediscovered in 1899 by a Chinese scholar named Wang,…
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In Which I Consider the Smithsonian Channel’s Epic Warrior Women
Last night My Own True Love, Ms. Whiskey-Cat and I settled in to watch the first episode of the Smithsonian Channel’s new series, Epic Warrior Women. The episode, titled “Amazons,” dealt with the women warriors of Scythia–an ancient culture of nomadic horsemen (and women) from the Central Asian steppes and the earliest known women warriors.…
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