The Slender Giants of the Wine-Dark Sea (1)

 

I am still undecided about the plan to write a new book. Meanwhile, things are getting into a groove. 

Whether a book in its virtue or a unit in a volume, it will be titled "The Anguish and Thrill of Navigation". I may add a subtitle emphasizing that the topic concerns plying the medieval Mediterranean. I have chosen an epigraph from Eustache Deschamps, a 14th- century French poem. His extract claims that landlubbers, no matter how they are proficient in globetrotting have no idea about the hardships of sea travel. 

The prototype of the project is based on a string of articles written in 2014-2015 for my second manuscript, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East". However, these papers were excluded from the final draft since the book deals with land travels rather than seafaring. A new, extended version of these essays makes them awkward to use in my third project, which focuses on the Age of Discovery. On the other hand, my current project is too significant to cut it short and restrict myself to a few technological notes. 

Chapter 1, The Long Ship versus Round Ship is more or less ready, though it may endure a few minor changes. 

Chapter 2, The Slender Giants of the Wine-Dark Sea is nearly ready. It will comprise four parts: 

• Light galleys
• The Monster Galley
• The Intricacies of the Naval Warfare
• The Shipborne Artillery 

I am currently developing the last section, though I have to decide what to do with a hill of bits and pieces which may become part of the first two chapters. 

Last but not least. I have recently read the article "Mysterious Mound in Syria May Be Oldest War Memorial in the World, Archaeologists Say", 

https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-mysterious-mound-in-syria-may-be-oldest-war-memorial-in-the-world-1.9850752

where the writer advocates that four-wheeled battle cars of the III millennium BCE could turn if a warrior would leap on an extended board, making the carriage stand on its back wheels and enabling the driver to shift the direction of a team of donkeys dragging it. I shared my amazement with a friend, a retired engineer. I was right, the idea sucks. Imagine the force needed in this case, the strenuous effort needed to drive the donkeys in the seconds when part of the "car" will be in the air, the danger to spoil the wheels, and the possibility that the carе will turn over.

I thought that it was a journalist's blunder but then I checked a scientific article, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/their-corpses-will-reach-the-base-of-heaven-a-thirdmillennium-bc-war-memorial-in-northern-mesopotamia/664312804723289D33D9D5CA2E32D1C2

where archeologists subscribe to the same idea. I was stunned! And you?

The Swansong of the Mongol Thrust

 This is the resume of my paper, The Swanson of the Mongol Thrust.

https://www.academia.edu/41372103/The_Swansong_of_the_Mongol_Thrust

The Mongol Empire is on the brink of war with Egypt. Eljigidei, the Mongol military governor in the eastern Mediterranean, is making overtures to Louis IX of France concerning the assistance in the struggle against the mutual enemy. The Muslim warfare on two fronts, against the Mongols and the Latin Christians, leads to the rise of the Mamluks. The Il-khan Hulegu resumes a proposal, suggesting that King Louis would stage a naval blockade of Egypt in support of the ground assault of the Mongols. Meanwhile, the Mongol Empire starts to crumble. The paper ends with an overview of the relations between the Mongols and the Franks. The idea of the combined crusade was buried in the sands of history.

This is the final chapter of Unit III of my manuscript, The Enchanting Encounter with the East". The two previous chapters have been recently reviewed and reedited. You can view them

https://www.academia.edu/40613981/The_Squall_from_the_East

https://www.academia.edu/40815844/The_Suspension_Bridge_across_the_Abyss

I have forwarded most of my previous studies (from the above-mentioned manuscript) to Discussions (at the Academia.edu site). I am receiving very valuable reviews, suggestions, and criticism. What I don't understand is Academia's way of counting my readership. According to my page, my last paper has about 70 views. However, when I counted a list of viewers, the number has to be more than twice that number. Three days ago, I checked the total statistics. The gap was more than 600 views. I have come to the conclusion that the current numbers are misleading and in reality, the list of my readers is approaching 4 K. This is very encouraging and I hope that my potential is even higher. 

My current project about medieval ships is in full swing. I am developing the stuff about shipborne artillery on galleys. I am still not sure whether it would be part of a chapter on galleys or a few paragraphs. The extent of the current chapter is so vast that I begin to think that my project may develop into a separate manuscript. At first, it was designed as Unit II of my third manuscript about the discovery of the maritime route from Western Europe to India. Apart from the abundance of the material, there is much data about types of ships that played no role in the Age of Discovery, for example, galleys, both light and great. The specifics of the technology of seafaring may complicate the story of exploration. 

I began collecting data for my next project about the history of Ancient Israel. What interests me now can be dubbed Canaan in Egypt, i. e. the reference to the Canaanite immigrants to Egypt in archaeological, pictorial, and written sources. From this background, I will try to develop the story about the Hyksos rule in Egypt. 

Big plans! I hope that at least some of them will come true.