Good story, but the writing is annoyingly tough to follow.
Silk Helped the Armies of Genghis Khan Conquer Asia
11–20 of 69 posts
Re: Silk Helped the Armies of Genghis Khan Conquer Asia
#12This was really hard to read. Some component of silk provided some sort of health benefit.
1) Silk is woven finely enough that it's surprisingly resistant to arrows.
2) A chemical compound in silk called sericin is naturally antibiotic and acts as a wound coagulant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sericin
Re: Silk Helped the Armies of Genghis Khan Conquer Asia
#13I thought it was all because of a genetic mutation that allowed them to digest milk... https://annemontgomerywriter.com/2022/02/11/the-power-of-mil....
Re: Silk Helped the Armies of Genghis Khan Conquer Asia
#14The story starts with Genghis Khan's plunder of Merv and the mass murder that was ordered by him. It mentions the artisans who were kept alive. Then it swerves to the plunder of Merv by the Oghuz, continues in the next paragraph, and then returns to Genghis Khan by announcing his death.
Again, it returns to the artisans,but mid-paragraph (as is typical in that article), switches to battles again, and returns yet again to silk and artisans. At last, it connects the battles and the silk together.
This is probably why it appears very hard to read. Especially, the mid-paragraph context switches continuing to the subsequent paragraph.
Nevertheless , a fascinating read.
Re: Silk Helped the Armies of Genghis Khan Conquer Asia
#15I thought it was all because of a genetic mutation that allowed them to digest milk... https://annemontgomerywriter.com/2022/02/11/the-power-of-mil... .
The article you linked to is highly unscientific and inaccurate.
Lactose tolerance emerged 5,000 years ago in Europe. It wasn't brought to Europe via Mongols.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/07/dairy-la...
Re: Silk Helped the Armies of Genghis Khan Conquer Asia
#16Wars were exponentially more brutal the further back you went
IDK, WW1 sounds like a pretty bad time. Fighting the modern US would be also be some sort of bizarre existential dread, knowing that every move you make is probably tracked and you have a decent chance of being killed with absolutely no warning.
Fighting the modern US would be also be some sort of bizarre existential dread, knowing that every move you make is probably tracked and you have a decent chance of being killed with absolutely no warning.
Legends of the Galactic Heroes did a great job exploring that theme.
Re: Silk Helped the Armies of Genghis Khan Conquer Asia
#17I thought it was all because of a genetic mutation that allowed them to digest milk... https://annemontgomerywriter.com/2022/02/11/the-power-of-mil... .
Guess what, there wasn't a single reason and it was a multitude of reasons and whoever tells you they found the main contributing factor is more likely to just want more attention than they'd get with a more mild version like "this contributed to it".
Re: Silk Helped the Armies of Genghis Khan Conquer Asia
#18Re: Silk Helped the Armies of Genghis Khan Conquer Asia
#19The story starts with Genghis Khan's plunder of Merv and the mass murder that was ordered by him. It mentions the artisans who were kept alive. Then it swerves to the plunder of Merv by the Oghuz, continues in the next paragraph, and then returns to Genghis Khan by announcing his death. Again, it returns to the artisans,but mid-paragraph (as is typical in that article), switches to battles again, and returns yet agai…
I was reading up on Wootz steel:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wootz_steel
And found that Merv was a big producer of it.
I had not heard of the city of Merv, seemingly at one point it had ranked as the second largest in the world, and became more fascinated.
Although now just ruins, it has inspired a board game:
Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road (2020)
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/306040/merv-the-heart-of...
“Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road is a tense economic game charting the rise and fall of the greatest city in the world.
In Merv, players are vying to amass power and wealth in the prosperous heart of the Silk Road. Through careful court intrigue, timely donations to the grand mosque, and favorable trade deals, players attempt to redirect as much of that prosperity as possible into their own pockets.
Meanwhile, beyond the city walls Mongol hordes approach. If you help construct the city walls, you give up on precious opportunities to build up your own stature, but leave it unprotected and you will burn with the city. Every decision is weighty and the consequences of each misstep are dire. Will you rise to prominence or fade into oblivion?”
Edit: expanded details of board game reference.
Re: Silk Helped the Armies of Genghis Khan Conquer Asia
#20Ooh i thought it was because the mongols were experts of maneuver warfare.