Archive for the 'Ancient' Category
In early the earliest of Medieval epics, ”Beowulf”, which recently was made into a movie, money meant very little. The old English word for cash was “feoh”. Beowulf was promised treasures for finding and killing Grendel, a dragon. He dives into the monster’s lake, and his first concern was him men. He then asked that they send his property to his family. When Beowulf received his gifts for the feat he performed, the poet remarks “he had no reason to feel shame before warriors.” He had attained the important things to be esteemed by his fellow man–gleaming helmets, bright shields, stacked spears and chainmail. However great all these weapons were, the ultimate status symbol was his sword–which had its own life.
Since the beginning of time, rivalry and the desire for domination have existed in our society. An early Biblical account relates the murder of Abel by his brother, Cain. He likely used his own body or a simple rock as the weapon.
In order to survive prehistoric man developed tools that were initially constructed for killing animals for food and clothing. Crude axes were built of wood and stone. In the end these weapons were used to conquer neighbors and settle disputes. In this simple manner families were conquered and alliances formed.
After many years of small conquests, finally in 2500 B.C. the first organized armies of record appeared in Mesopotamia, which is now modern day Iraq. There were several surviving artifacts of these ancient people. One of the most important and informative was an inscribed pillar known as the Stele of Vultures which depicts an army of men, wiedling spears, axes, daggers and javelins. These ancient weapons were probably constructed of bronze. Also shown on the Stele of Vultures was the early military tank–a two-man chariot pulled by donkeys.
Also surviving these ancient warriors was a finely constructed battle helmet. It was constructed of a gold and silver alloy and such an outstanding piece of armor was probably worn by the ruler.
I have often wondered if there are LARP societies that reenact these ancient historical events. Prehistoric man would obviously be fun in the sun. If reenactors utilized chariots, these could be developed using wagons that are boxed in. If you know of these societies, I would appreciate hearing from you.