warriors of the steppe in movies, music and art

[kemp]

When I saw the gold stag and burial mound I immediately thought of the Scythians, an Iranian people. Considering the influence that the Iranian Scythians and Sarmatians had on Eurasia I am surprised that there are no Iranian speaking nations in eastern Europe in the modern world.

[kemp]

Sept 14, 2021 14:06:10 GMT -5 hun said:

A couple of teaser trailers for the new Turkish series Alpaslan: The Great Selchuk (Alparslan: Büyük Selçuklu) 

Forget about Game of Thrones, give me English subtitles and I'm in for the Alpaslan series. Engaging trailers.

[Deleted]

Sept 15, 2021 9:29:02 GMT -5 kemp said:

When I saw the gold stag and burial mound I immediately thought of the Scythians, an Iranian people. Considering the influence that the Iranian Scythians and Sarmatians had on Eurasia I am surprised that there are no Iranian speaking nations in eastern Europe in the modern world.

Yeah, they're of Scythian (Saka) origin predating the the Altaic (Xiongnu) western expansion into modern Kazakhstan around 2,200 years ago.

I think, language probably worked differently on the steppe in comparison to sedentary civilisations; where different dialects and languages formed over time in settled villages, towns and cities cut off from each other for long periods of time allowing variation in dialect and eventually the birth of new languages.

It probably did not work in quite the same manner on the steppes of Eurasia. With a dominant tribe or dialect/linguistic group forming a lingua-franca of sorts over the other Altaic tribes resulting in a mutually intelligible language over a vast area of the steppe. During an imperialistic phase the dominant language kinda restricted the development of different dialects. This obviously changed over time once tribes settled among sedentary civilisations and were eventually assimilated into the local population. I'd probably say that tribes living in the northern forests and mountainous areas not in constant contact with the imperialistic tribes of the steppe could and did develop variations in dialects that eventually led to new languages. 

I think, probably, the above process, could explain the swift Turkicisation of the Iranic nomadic tribes of Eurasia that seems to have been completed by the 6th century AD apart from the Alanic tribes in Europe. Even the Hunnic/Oguric languages of Eastern Europe almost disappeared shortly after, replaced by the Oguz form of Turkic. Chuvash is the only extant Oguric language today, neighbouring the Tatars, Bashkirs and Uralic peoples along the Volga river in Russia.

[Deleted]

Sept 15, 2021 9:35:55 GMT -5 kemp said:

Sept 14, 2021 14:06:10 GMT -5 hun said:

A couple of teaser trailers for the new Turkish series Alpaslan: The Great Selchuk (Alparslan: Büyük Selçuklu) 

Forget about Game of Thrones, give me English subtitles and I'm in for the Alpaslan series. Engaging trailers.

Yeah, the Turkish trailers look good, but much like the Russian stuff there's something missing in the storytelling and pacing of the tv series/movies.

[kemp]

Sept 15, 2021 15:28:24 GMT -5 hun said:

Sept 15, 2021 9:29:02 GMT -5 kemp said:

When I saw the gold stag and burial mound I immediately thought of the Scythians, an Iranian people. Considering the influence that the Iranian Scythians and Sarmatians had on Eurasia I am surprised that there are no Iranian speaking nations in eastern Europe in the modern world.

Yeah, they're of Scythian (Saka) origin predating the the Altaic (Xiongnu) western expansion into modern Kazakhstan around 2,200 years ago.

I think, language probably worked differently on the steppe in comparison to sedentary civilisations; where different dialects and languages formed over time in settled villages, towns and cities cut off from each other for long periods of time allowing variation in dialect and eventually the birth of new languages.

It probably did not work in quite the same manner on the steppes of Eurasia. With a dominant tribe or dialect/linguistic group forming a lingua-franca of sorts over the other Altaic tribes resulting in a mutually intelligible language over a vast area of the steppe. During an imperialistic phase the dominant language kinda restricted the development of different dialects. This obviously changed over time once tribes settled among sedentary civilisations and were eventually assimilated into the local population. I'd probably say that tribes living in the northern forests and mountainous areas not in constant contact with the imperialistic tribes of the steppe could and did develop variations in dialects that eventually led to new languages. 

I think, probably, the above process, could explain the swift Turkicisation of the Iranic nomadic tribes of Eurasia that seems to have been completed by the 6th century AD apart from the Alanic tribes in Europe. Even the Hunnic/Oguric languages of Eastern Europe almost disappeared shortly after, replaced by the Oguz form of Turkic. Chuvash is the only extant Oguric language today, neighbouring the Tatars, Bashkirs and Uralic peoples along the Volga river in Russia.

You bring up a relevant point about the Turkic influences on the Iranian peoples, that is, the gradual disappearance of the Iranian linguistic groups and subsequent replacement with Turkic, and to a strong degree, with Slavic and Baltic peoples. 

That's the other part of the equation though, considering the early Turkic influences on European and western Asian civilisations by way of the nomadic tribes you would think that the Turkic linguistic families would have a stronger representation themselves west of the Black Sea, but the same restrictions that you noted with the Steppe dwelling Iranians would have had a similar development with the Altaic side of things.

Of course we have the Hungarian, Estonian and Finnish languages which are broadly related to the Altaic branch, and there are the Altaic speaking Turks of Anatolia and the European Balkans. 

[Deleted]

A teaser trailer for a new fantasy movie from the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in Russia. Thankfully we have English subs for the trailer.


Legends of Olonkho Land

SYNOPSIS
A long, long time ago, in far, far Yakutia, courageous warriors go to the Lower World to save the beautiful Aikuo. What obstacles will our heroes face? Who is true –humans or demons? This time, things may turn out differently from the ancient legends. Anything is possible, because the boundless North is as unpredictable and mysterious as it is cold and harsh.

Сast: Daiyyna Borisova Prokopiy Danilov Baybal Kolesov
Tuguldur Munkhbayar Baljinnyam Ariunkhishig Dmitry Alekseev
Spartak Larionov Pavel Chenyanov Vyacheslav Lavernov Gavril Menkyarov etc.


FILM CREW
Producer Marianna Siegen
Director Ayta Timofeeva
Scriptwriter Prokopiy Burtsev
Composer Lidia Kalendareva
Director of photography– Ekaterina Orlovskaya
Art director Ekaterina Shaposhnikova
Sound Produser Sergey Ivanov
Orchestrator/ music mixing Alin Cristian Oprea
Costume designers Nadejda Doktorova Ekaterina Shaposhnikova, Sardana Fedotova, Amgalena Notara Liliana Ermolaeva
Make-up artists Dmitry Mestnikov Nurguyana Filippova
VFX supervisor Nikolay Toodeeman etc.

[kemp]

I could not help, but google image the location of Yakutia.

[Deleted]

Oct 6, 2021 9:02:45 GMT -5 kemp said:

I could not help, but google image the location of Yakutia.

Yeah they are an interesting people. 

They could be the descendants of the Üch Kurıkan (3 Kurıkan) dating back to at least the 7th century during the Türk Empire in Mongolia,  to complicate matters further the Yakuts call themselves Sakha Uriankhai. The great Mongol general Sübētei Baghatur was of Uriankhai origin.

[kemp]

Oct 6, 2021 10:21:34 GMT -5 @Deleted said:

Oct 6, 2021 9:02:45 GMT -5 kemp said:

I could not help, but google image the location of Yakutia.
Yeah they are an interesting people. 

They could be the descendants of the Üch Kurıkan (3 Kurıkan) dating back to at least the 7th century during the Türk Empire in Mongolia,  to complicate matters further the Yakuts call themselves Sakha Uriankhai. The great Mongol general Sübētei Baghatur was of Uriankhai origin.

So one of the greatest generals in history was possibly of the same origin as the Yakuts. I read that the land that he won was more than the land one by Alexander the Great, impressive successes in Eurasia.

Consider the Roman Empire at its height in red and compare it with the Mongol expansion at its peak.

[Deleted]

Here's another upcoming Turkish Historical series, set during the Türk (aka Göktürks) era around the 7th or 8th century starring Ebru Şahin as Ak Kiz (kinda translates as the White Maiden). I dunno this kinda looks weird with Turkish actors that look nothing like what the Türks did in Mongolia and Central Asia around 1,200 years ago, maybe it shoulda been a Turkish/Kazakh or Mongolian collaboration? Anyways, here's the trailer with English subs.



Destan (Legend) Trailer

[kemp]

Perhaps you are right, as far as the looks of Mongols and eastern Turks are concerned, but you have to admit that the beautiful Ebru Sahin looks fantastic in the role, you can see the presence, even in the short trailer.

[Deleted]

Oct 20, 2021 16:14:35 GMT -5 kemp said:

Perhaps you are right, as far as the looks of Mongols and eastern Turks are concerned, but you have to admit that the beautiful Ebru Sahin looks fantastic in the role, you can see the presence, even in the short trailer.

Yeah, I'm sure Ebru Şahin will do just fine as Ak-Kiz. 

[Deleted]

Here's another trailer for a movie by the Art Doydu studio from the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in Russia:

[Deleted]

Bronze Age Tarim mummies aren't who scientists thought they were
By Tom Metcalfe


One of the Tarim mummies buried at the Xiaohe cemetery. New research shows they were descended from indigenous people and not from Indo-European migrants to the region, as previously thought. (Image credit: Wenying Li, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
 

The mysterious Tarim mummies of China's western Xinjiang region are relics of a unique Bronze Age culture descended from Indigenous people, and not a remote branch of early Indo-Europeans, according to new genetic research.

The new study upends more than a century of assumptions about the origins of the prehistoric people of the Tarim Basin whose naturally preserved human remains, desiccated by the desert, suggested to many archaeologists that they were descended from Indo-Europeans who had migrated to the region from somewhere farther west before about 2000 B.C.

But the latest research shows that instead, they were a genetically isolated group seemingly unrelated to any neighboring peoples.

"They've been so enigmatic," said study co-author Christina Warinner, an anthropologist at Harvard University in Massachusetts and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany. "Ever since they were found almost by accident, they have raised so many questions, because so many aspects of them are either unique, puzzling or contradictory."

The latest discoveries present almost as many new questions as they answer about the Tarim people, Warinner told Live Science.

"It turns out, some of the leading ideas were incorrect, and so now we've got to start looking in a completely different direction," she said.


The new genetic study of the people buried at the Xiaohe cemetery indicates they were descended from indigenous people and not Indo-European migrants into the region, as was long theorized. (Image credit: Wenying Li, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)

Source:
www.livescience.com/tarim-mummies-origins-uncovered

[Deleted]

Bronze Age Tarim mummies aren't who scientists thought they were, Part 2


The region around the Xiaohe cemetery is now a desert but it was a lush riverbank when the Tarim people lived there about 4000 years ago. (Image credit: Wenying Li, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)

Desert mummies

European explorers found the first Tarim mummies in the deserts of what's now western China in the early 20th century. Recent research has focused on the mummies from the Xiaohe tomb complex on the eastern edge of the Taklamakan Desert.

The naturally mummified remains, desiccated by the desert, were thought by some anthropologists to have non-Asian facial features, and some seemed to have red or fair hair. They were also dressed in clothes of wool, felt and leather that were unusual for the region.

The Tarim culture was also distinctive. The people often buried their dead in boat-shaped wooden coffins and marked the burials with upright poles and grave markers shaped like oars. Some people were buried with pieces of cheese around their necks — possibly as food for an afterlife.


The ancient burials at the Xiaohe cemetery were often marked with upright poles. This boat-shaped coffin was covered in a cattle hide and marked with an upright structure that seems to represent an oar. (Image credit: Wenying Li, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)

These details suggested to some archaeologists that the Tarim people didn't originate in the region but rather were descendants of Indo-European people who had migrated there from somewhere else — perhaps southern Siberia or the mountains of Central Asia. Some scientists speculated that the Tarim people spoke an early form of Tocharian, an extinct Indo-European language spoken in the northern part of the region after A.D. 400.


The Xiaohe cemetery was discovered by a local hunter in the early 20th century. More than 300 people were buried there in the Bronze Age but many of the tombs were looted by grave robbers before it was found. (Image credit: Wenying Li, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
The new genetic study of the people buried at the Xiaohe cemetery indicates they were descended from indigenous people and not Indo-European migrants into the region, as was long theorized.

But the new study indicates that those assumptions were incorrect. DNA extracted from the teeth of 13 of the oldest mummies buried at Xiaohe about 4,000 years ago shows that there was no genetic mixing with neighboring people, said co-author Choongwon Jeong, a population geneticist at Seoul National University in South Korea.

Instead, it now seems the Tarim people descended entirely from Ancient North Eurasians (ANE), a once-widespread Pleistocene population that had mostly disappeared about 10,000 years ago, after the end of the last ice age.

ANE genetics now survive only fractionally in the genomes of some present-day populations, particularly among Indigenous people in Siberia and the Americas, the researchers wrote.