There are even more mysteries that surround the origin of the Silk Road network. Nobody could clearly explain one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century - so called Tarim mummies. The number of mummies were found deep in China, they date from 1800 BC to AD 200. And all found corpses exhibit Caucasoid physical type. Many of discovered mummies were found in amazingly great condition. They have their hair physically intact, ranging in color from blond to red to deep brown, and generally long, curly and braided. And what is even more amazing - their costumes indicate a common origin with Indo-European neolithic clothing techniques.

Another mystery that supports the theories of early human contacts between East and West were several discoveries of Chinese silk remnants. These remnants have been found in Ancient Egypt from 1070 BC and later.

I mentioned in the previous entry ancient Scythians. It seems that they brought from the West and introduced in China the most valuable metal of all - gold. This probably happened around eight century BC. It seems that the impact was deep because Chinese jade carvers began to use gold to make imitation Scythian designs of the steppes. They easily adopted the Scythian style animal art like descriptions of animals locked in combat. Scientists also found in China imitations of Scythian rectangular belt plaques made of gold and bronze with alternate versions in jade and steatite.

But that was not all. Exactly at the same time historians learned about the existence of another autonomous routes of the Silk Road network. This subnetwork was called Persian Royal Road and extended to almost two thousand miles. Its origin was dated to the fifth century BC. This road was maintained and protected by the ancient Persian rulers and it even had postal stations and relays at regular intervals!

Royal couriers had at their disposal fresh horse and riders at each relay. They could carry messages the entire distance in nine days, though normal travelers covered the same distance within three months. Persian Royal Road subnetwork included the routes to India and Central Asia. In fact, Persian rulers encouraged regular contact between India, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean. Even in the Biblical Book of Esther, there are accounts of dispatches being sent to provinces as far out as India.

Everybody heard about famous Silk Road - a series of trade routes that were vital to cultural interaction connecting East and West Asia. Silk Road linked traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads from China to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time. Overall, the serious of routes extended over five thousand miles on land and sea.

Historians are really puzzled and still can not establish for sure, how the Silk Road network began. Originally, the historians point of view was that the Silk Road was initiated by Chinese Han Dynasty around 114 BC. As the years rolled by, new evidence was discovered which pointed out that Silk Road existed centuries earlier before that date. For example, it turned out that ancient Scythians, nomads who Hungarian plain to China participated in Assyrian invasion on Egypt in 7 century BC. Their distinctive arrowheads were found even in the south of Egypt. Scientists also learned that ancient Scythians encouraged long distance travel of merchants as a source of income through the enforced payment of tariffs. So, they, obviously, played an important role in the development of the Silk Road.

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That is why the kingdom of France went to Philip, son of Charles of Valois, who was the closest male heir and grandson of Philip III. The new Philip VI got the ironic nickname Fortunate. It was due to the fact, that without the sudden deaths of three Capet kings he would not have a single chance to become the ruler of France. But, since his father was the brother of the late Philip the Fair, he was therefore a nephew of Philip IV and the cousin of Louis X, Philip V and Charles IV.

Edward III was furious that his claim to the throne was rejected. He tried all kinds of diplomacy, intrigues and negotiations to achieve his goal, but everything failed. The only remaining solutions for him remained the use of force. These were the key events that led to the bloody Hundred Years War between England and France.

The Capet dynasty was one of the longest ruling families in Europe. So, when Philip IV, the Fair, died, there was no trouble on the horizon either. After all, Philip had three grown up sons Louis, Philip and Charles, who were supposed to continue the Capet dynasty for many years in future. Philip the Fair also had a daughter Isabella married to the king of England Edward II.

But everything went awry after all three sons died one after another, after ruling for a very short period of time. What was even worse: neither of these French kings was able to provide a single surviving male heir to the throne.

Still, it seemed that the dynasty would not end. The strongest claim to the throne belonged to Isabella’s son, king of England Edward III. However, the French interpretation of medieval Salic law only recognized the male line. French nobility demanded the throne be passed through the male descendants of late Charles of Valois. It was also evident, that no Frenchman would accept an English King as his ruler.

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Soon Spartans accused Themistocles of treasonable intrigues with Persia. Subsequently he was proclaimed a traitor in Athens and all his property was confiscated.

As a bitter irony, Themistocles could only find shelter at his enemy whom he fought for so many years. Artaxerxes I, successor of Xerxes I, offered him asylum and took Themistocles under his protection. Artaxerxes even made Themistocles a governor of the province of Magnesia in Asia Minor. He probably was well received in Magnesia and showed his talents there too, because Magnesians worshiped Themistocles as a god.

From what we know, Themistocles died of illness in Magnesia , when he was sixty five. He was probably a broken-hearted man, because there were persistent rumors that his death was not of natural causes but that he committed suicide by taking poison.

If you watched a move about 300 brave Spartans, you know that king Leonidas was one of the most important figures in Greco-Persian wars. But there was also another equally or even more important statesman whose name is is rarely mentioned due to certain reasons that need to be explained.

I am talking about famous Themistocles from Athens. It was him who persuaded Athenians to build a powerful fleet and it is thanks to him that Greek ships defeated the much larger Persian navy and forced king Xerxes I of Persia to retreat. The naval battle of Salamis took place in 480 BC and was the turning point of the campaign, leading to eventual Persian defeat.

After the war Themistocles showed himself as a brilliant statesman again and again by making his native Athens the finest trade place in Greece. But then his life took a really tragic turn. He was accused by his fellowmen of arrogance and taking bribes. That led to the exile of Themistocles from Athens to Argos. Yet, his troubles did not end there.

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Pharaohs in ancient Egypt had three crowns: red, white and blue. Red and white eventually became a double crown symbolizing united kingdoms of Lower and Upper Egypt. During military campaigns, especially battles, pharaoh wore the blue crown. All of these crowns typically were adorned by a uraeus - stylized, upright form of an Egyptian spitting cobra, used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity, and divine authority.

For the last two hundred years archaeologists discovered a lot about ancient Egypt. But never, not even once, any pharaohs crown was found. We only know about them from various depictions and portraits of Egyptian rulers.

It is quite mysterious that in spite of so many searches no crown was discovered in tombs either. Of course, many tombs were robbed by grave diggers. Yet, Tutankhamun’s tomb, discovered intact. It contained many regal items but not a crown. Crowns were assumed to have magical properties. So it is possible that there were items a dead pharaoh could not take with him and therefore all crowns had to be passed along to his living successor.

Fifty five hundred of these warriors were sent by emperor Marcus Aurelius to guard Roman settlements in Britain against attacks by the Celts. In our times the archaeological evidence related to presence of this Sarmatian force was discovered in Britain. Sarmatians even built there their own retirement villages!

Around these times specialists observe the first appearance of Celtic dragon image, which highly likely came from Sarmatian sources. The most curious fact is that in the religion of the Sarmatians, the altar represented a sword embedded in a stone. As we remember from Arthurian legends, famous Excalibur was that kind of the sword. Excalibur could only be drawn from the stone by Arthur, the rightful king. In some versions of the legend the sword is not even called Excalibur but with another name - Sword in the Stone.

This establishes an interesting and valid possibility between the Arthurian legends and the Sarmatians. There is also another interesting coincidence. Arthur’s father was called Uther Pendragon, which, basically, means “Dragon’s head” and refers to the dragon head symbol on a shield. The evidence suggests that the Sarmatians with their armor created a military caste that survived several centuries and provided the leadership in the early feudal era.

Archaeological search still continues. So, there will be more discoveries that may establish Sarmatian presence and their influence on Celtic Britain.

What similarities can the system of knighthood in England share with nomadic tribes that lived on the vast steppes of what is now Russia and the Ukraine? How can any link between them be possible?

There is a theory that knighthood was brought to Britain by Sarmatians, an Iranian language speaking people who displaced the Scythians. Sarmatians tribes migrated from Central Asia to the Ural Mountains around fifth century B.C. and eventually settled in most of southern European Russia, Ukraine, and the eastern Balkans. In fact, their realm was even wider. At some point it extended from China in the east and the Roman empire in the west.

Among other things Sarmatians adopted the dragon motif. They were skillful horse riders and archers, they were also famous for using heavily armored cavalry in their battles. They wore dragon emblems on their shields and armor.

A first big clash between Sarmatians and Romans took place in the third century AD. There was a big battle between them near the mouth of the Danube River on the Black Sea. Romans overcome the Sarmatians but were very impressed with their fighting prowess. That is why, one of the terms of the peace agreement with Sarmatians, included the following condition advanced by Romans. They demanded six thousand Sarmatians warriors and their horses join the Roman army.

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