... the world had ever seen on the field. But 600 years later, when Sparta fell, it could only put 3000 into battle. With Kucha, Khotan, Urumchi, et al, they were all desert oases, and the land would only support a limited population. And then hordes of Mongols show up, and it was all over. They regularly exported girls to the whorehouses, tea houses, and harems of the...

... fit soldiers the world had ever seen on the field. But 600 years later, when Sparta fell, it could only put 3000 into battle. With Kucha, Khotan, Urumchi, et al, they were all desert oases, and the land would only support a limited population. And then hordes of Mongols show up, and it was all over. They regularly exported girls to the whorehouses, tea houses, and harems of the ...

... Chines and Brits have a project to put 100,000 scans of Tocharian texts and artifacts online. I look forward to reading about it. Thing is, the Tocharians were Aryans who settled in the Taklamakhan oases of what is now NW China. Their DNA is still found among the Slavs. They spoke, and *wrote* a centum Indo-European language, and for hundreds of years had an active translation business ...

... Indo-European language. And eventually, as EW Barber shows in "The Mummioes of Urumchi" some of them show up in what is now NW China. 4000 years ago, at the desert oases of the Taklamakhan. Douglas Adams, "Tocharian Historical Phonology and Morphology" notes that they have a centum language, when *every* other Indo-European language East of the Birch/Beech line (from the ...

... the early Indo-European language. And eventually, as EW Barber shows in "The Mummioes of Urumchi" some of them show up in what is now NW China. 4000 years ago, at the desert oases of the Taklamakhan. Douglas Adams, "Tocharian Historical Phonology and Morphology" notes that they have a centum language, when *every* other Indo-European language East of the Birch/Beech line (from the Ural ...

... plan, but promised to give the Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street areas a makeover in time for the 2012 Olympics. The new plan will deliver wider shopper-friendly pavements, ‘oases’ for al fresco dining and cutting edge lighting. Westminster City Council, together with Transport for London, the Mayor’s office and New West End Company, aim to redesign the streets and cut traffic to...

... first great transnational free market known as the Silk Road. The Silk Road was actually several routes that were in economic competition with each other, with independent city states at various oases and cross points. Naturally, the merchant class was literate to handle invoice and shipping orders; so just as naturlaly, they collected religious documents. The pre-eminent city, just west ...

...border with Oman at Hatta. The Western Hajar chain has an arid, jagged and shattered landscape, whose mountains rise to about 1,300 meters in some places. Dubai has no natural river bodies or oases; however, Dubai does have a natural inlet, Dubai Creek, which has been dredged to make it deep enough for large vessels to pass through. Dubai also has multiple gorges and waterholes which dot the...

... and arrive in China with it, the cart, the wheel, bronze, and another language 4000 years ago. And all along the way, from China to the Black Sea and the Dneipr to Danube river basins. oases were found, trading towns were built along rivers, and ports built on the Caspian and Black seas. It was a mercantile, not military empire. By the 7th Century, Kucha was well known as the translation ...

...have the skeletons; but here the permafrost preserved the bodies, grave goods, and their wardrobes. Moreover, they didnt just stay on the Steppes, but some kept going East, and ended up in the Taklamakan oases of what is now NW China. And in this case, we have a *Literate* culture in business on the Silk Road. And here, we have the dry desert conditions that preserved their documents. and...