If one thinks that we live in a time of turmoil they would probably be right, but if they would compare it to ancient times, they would see that things were even worse then. It is true that if you live in certain parts of the world today, you may not agree with this statement, but I am talking about the world as a whole and the situation that exists today. There are actually large parts of the world that are not at war today, but of course there are also large parts that are. In ancient times every stranger was a threat and almost every city had to be able to defend itself. I guess that is obvious since most of them had walls around them for defense.

Sometimes some of these ancient cities and ancient ruins yield objects that give us more of an insight into they way the people had to live. Hamoukar was an ancient settlement in Syria. Today nothing much is going on around that area, but the site is very old. In 3,500 B.C. the settlement was a hot bed of fighting. One of the reasons was probably the fact that it was very near the border with Iraq. It was an independent city that was destroyed during a battle where even it's wall were knocked down and fires gutted the entire area. Here is the part I found that I thought was interesting. When Archeologists were digging, they found a room where twelve bullets, of the kind that were used in sling shots, were still lined up along the edge of a basin used to create and repair pottery and also to create seals to make sure food in pots wasn't tampered with. Over 1,000 of these clay bullets were found in the area. Apparently some, if not all, of the defenders were using sling shots to try and ward off the fierce invaders that destroyed the city. This was truly a moment in time. This city was one of the earliest in the area. Think of it, you have angry raiders attacking your city and you are trying to fight them off with sling shots. I am glad I wasn't in that position.

View Of Where Troy Was Located
Photo Source: NASA

When we talk of battles in ancient times, many of us are somewhat familiar with the fact that the Romans conquered Gaul, or what is known today as France. It is believed that the conquest was complete about 2,000 years ago. Sometimes things turn up that have an effect on our view of history, this is one of those times. A large mass grave was found in France that not only contained people, but horses were buried with them. Dating the grave shows a date of about 1,700 years ago. No grave of this type was ever found in France that dated back to the Roman period, although they were found in later periods. Now it is believed that this area may have been able to hold out against the Romans for maybe 300 years and were finally crushed by them and everyone was killed and put into a mass grave, even the animals. If this is true, this must have been some fight. So far 40 people and 100 horses have been detected. One has to wonder why so many horses were killed, since they were a valuable commodity in ancient times. The grave was found only 50 miles from Paris and it is believed that more bodies may be found there as Archeologists continue digging. There was a cult, that was said to exist at the time, known as the cult of Epona. She was said to be the goddess of horses and warriors, could this have anything to do with the find? Some have though that maybe the horses were used as food for the Romans, but this is wrong since Romans did not eat horses.

One thing that I find interesting is the mound on the Marathon plain. In 490 B.C. the Athenians fought the Persians. A mound was constructed over the cremated remains of about 192 Athenian soldiers who died during the battle This was one battle in a war that lasted from 490 B.C. to 449 B.C. In the Battle of Marathon the Persians had an army that was about 3 times the size of the Athenians. The Athenians had sought the help of the Spartans, but they didn't send soldiers in time so the Athenians had to go it alone except for an additional 1,000 Plataeans who came to help. Despite their lesser numbers they were able to encircle the Persians and defeat them. This was the first time that Greeks had won a battle in the Greek Persian war. This has been told many times, but just in case some of you haven't heard it, I will state it again. The word marathon that is used in the famous foot race comes from the dubious fact that a messenger was sent to Athens to announce the victory over the Persians and he ran the entire 25 miles and died from exhaustion after giving his message. Some say the distance was 26 miles. After analyzing historical records some scientists now say that the battle took place in August instead of the previous, universally accepted, September. This would make the messenger dying story more plausible since temperatures in the area can hit 102 degrees in that month.

Janus Figure In Ireland
Photo Source: http://pdphoto.org/PictureDetail.php?mat=pdef&pg=5982 Photo in Public Domain

When we examine ancient Ireland we find a curious fact. There are hardly any buildings before the 6th century A.D. in that country. Since this is not the case in most other ancient countries, it makes one wonder why? The answer is pretty simple, most buildings in that country were made of wood and just couldn't last. Wood was the most abundant material available. Could it be that nothing existed before that time? No, this can't be true because we have found graves there that clearly date back at least 3,500 B.C. Actually the burial chambers were rather elaborate. Oh they were nothing like the Egyptian ones or some of the more exotic races, but considering how there were a lack of structures dating back this far, they were surprisingly more complex than just a simple hole in the ground. They used a grave that has been named a court grave. It had a long chamber with smaller areas for remains and a large open space at the end of the chamber. On top of the chamber was a tapering stone mound. There was also a type of grave known as a Portal tomb. Stones would be stood up and a large stone would be used as the face stone and another as the roof. A mound of dirt would cover everything except the face stone. There were several other types of graves and tombs found. It seems the ancient people of Ireland were a lot more sophisticated than there ruined buildings, or lack of, would indicate. Ancient times must have been chaotic since many settlements were found to have had walls around them for protection. Archeologists have discovered that the typical ancient Irish warrior had only a very small shield, usually made of wood, They had helmets but scientists are still arguing today if they contained any metal. There were chariots and it seems that the horses may have been covered with metal plates for protection. That's great isn't it, the horses were protected better than the soldiers? If you were just a grunt or ordinary soldier you carried a spear, if you were important or an aristocrat you had a sword, a short one. Swords became heavier after the Vikings invaded.

One thing that is not spoken about much is the fact that Egypt had become a tourist location for ancient Greeks and later ancient Romans along with Greece. They loved to tour the country side and see the great monuments. One of their most seen sites was the singing statue at Thebes. An earthquake had moved the statues slightly and caused one to make a sound every daybreak. I am not quite sure if it was caused by the wind, or the sun heating it's exterior, but it attracted a lot of tourists. Unfortunately it was repaired by a later ruler, Septimius Severus who had a crack filled it. The statue was of Momnon the hero who had been killed by Achilles. Usually Roman emperors wouldn't travel to Egypt but Hadrian couldn't resist. He went there in 130 A.D. and went for a tour of the empire. In the 4th century Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire.