Very cool if true. Of course some Asian goods made it to Rome, so the reverse is not too unplausible.
http://news.yahoo.com/roman-jeweller...163550978.html
Roman jewelry found in 5th Century Japanese tomb
Very cool if true. Of course some Asian goods made it to Rome, so the reverse is not too unplausible.
http://news.yahoo.com/roman-jeweller...163550978.html
In those simple times there was a great wonder and mystery in life. Man walked in fear and solemnity, with Heaven very close above his head, and Hell below his very feet. God's visible hand was everywhere, in the rainbow and the comet, in the thunder and the wind. The Devil too raged openly upon the earth; he skulked behind the hedge-rows in the gloaming; he laughed loudly in the night-time; he clawed the dying sinner, pounced on the unbaptized babe, and twisted the limbs of the epileptic. A foul fiend slunk ever by a man's side and whispered villainies in his ear, while above him there hovered an angel of grace . . .
Arthur Conan Doyle
Re: Roman jewelry found in 5th Century Japanese tomb
I confess that my knowledge of Roman Jewelry is quite limited, but I recall that besides the Silk Road there is a theory that after the Partians defeated Crassus' Legions the captured prisoners were sent to China as soldiers based on roughly contemporous reports of "mercenary" units in China.Originally Posted by Brandy Blue
Although the transfer would have been indirect it's not impossible by any stretch - especially if the goods passed accross Asia over a generation or so, going through different owners.
"If it wears trousers generally I don't pay attention."
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Re: Roman jewelry found in 5th Century Japanese tomb
I think I heard somewhere about those Roman mercs in China too. I don't know if the evidence is good or not.
In those simple times there was a great wonder and mystery in life. Man walked in fear and solemnity, with Heaven very close above his head, and Hell below his very feet. God's visible hand was everywhere, in the rainbow and the comet, in the thunder and the wind. The Devil too raged openly upon the earth; he skulked behind the hedge-rows in the gloaming; he laughed loudly in the night-time; he clawed the dying sinner, pounced on the unbaptized babe, and twisted the limbs of the epileptic. A foul fiend slunk ever by a man's side and whispered villainies in his ear, while above him there hovered an angel of grace . . .
Arthur Conan Doyle
Re: Roman jewelry found in 5th Century Japanese tomb
An easier explanation is that Rome traded regularly with the Indian Sub Continent by land and sea. India traded with China and so on. For a time Rome was also trading directly with China via the silk road.
It is not too surprising that something made its way to Japan.
Education: that which reveals to the wise,
and conceals from the stupid,
the vast limits of their knowledge.
Mark Twain
Re: Roman jewelry found in 5th Century Japanese tomb
The tomb is 5th century but I bet the jewelery is not, given a long enough time scale you could get any amount of stuff traded all over the place.
They slew him with poison afaid to meet him with the steel
a gallant son of eireann was Owen Roe o'Neill.
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Re: Roman jewelry found in 5th Century Japanese tomb
Well I think it confirms what I always thought : people travelled more and farther than we think.
Even more awesome is the theory made by some well known scientists, archeologists, explorers... that some of the early egyptians elite knew that there was another continent out there (america), and that they had long time established contact with the empires out there (the ancestors of the mayan...). But knowledge was lost during the long centuries of massive (really massive) political turmoil in egypt, which lead to some regression in the egyptian advancement (you can't really study when the library is on fire and troops are trying to kill you).
Even if the egyptians were not well known navigators, I don't think it's impossible. I mean, I herd of a guy that crossed the atlantic with juste a raft (and survived). And Columbus boat wasn't impressive either.
So this theory could make some sense, and it could also explain some of the striking similarities between the mayan and the egyptians.
Re: Roman jewelry found in 5th Century Japanese tomb
There's pretty much nothing but conjecture and wishful thinking to suggest pre-Columbian contact between the Egyptians and the Americas. Given how loudly they trumpeted their other efforts at exploration, it seems unlikely that contact across the Atlantic wouldn't have been recorded. There's no evidence of the other goods you'd expect to be traded going either way.
There are some nice parallels in things like the pyramids, but it's most likely convergent evolution - there are only so many ways to build monumental structures like those with the level of technology available.
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Re: Roman jewelry found in 5th Century Japanese tomb
Very interesting. That extends the reach of Roman trade even further than previously assumed, I imagine. No captured legionaries needed -- just Indian Ocean monsoon trade.
I don't think any self-respecting scientist worth his salt would make such an outlandish claim. People who appear in Ancient Aliens or Ancient X-Files maybe, but not actual academics.
The whole idea is based on Western prejudice -- them injuns just weren't capable of buildin' no pyramids. Utter nonsense, of course.
Last edited by The Wizard; 07-13-2012 at 16:32.
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Re: Roman jewelry found in 5th Century Japanese tomb
Even then they only appear similar on the surface; Mayan pyramids and hieroglyphic writing are really different in form and function from Egyptian pyramids and writing.
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