One Hour of Obscure Ancient Mysteries
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History is riddled with ancient mysteries and fascinating emerging academic theories. Today, we spend over an hour diving deep into four of my favorite conundrums currently puzzling historians and enthusiasts alike.
Timecodes:
0:00 - Disappearance of Zannanza
12:00 - "PseudoTheodosius" An Imperial Impersonator?
33:24 - "Population Y": Austronesian Ancestry in South America
53:41 - "Red Sirius": A Star That May Have Changed Color
Sources:
Zannanza Affair -
This topic primarily relied on Eric Cline's '1177: The Year Civilization Collapsed", a work where the historian examines the bronze age collapse with a macro lens and dedicates a brief chapter to this mysterious affair. Cline's work largely relies on the 'The Deeds of Suppiluliuma' tablet, excavated from Hattusa and currently in the custody of the Turkish Department of Antiquities.
https://www.amazon.com/1177-B-C-Civilization-Collapsed-Turning/dp/0691168385
PseudoTheodosius-
Primary sources come from Adrian Goldsworthy's 'Rome and Persia: A 700 Year Rivalry", which itself examines the struggle between the two empires in a macro context but dives deep into their late antiquity conflicts and thus spends some time discussing the Imperial claiment.
https://www.amazon.com/Rome-Persia-Seven-Hundred-Rivalry/dp/154161996X
James Howard Johnston's 'The Last Great War of Antiquity' focuses entirely on this conflict and speaks to the fate of Theodosius in much greater detail.
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Great-War-Antiquity/dp/019883019X
Population Y -
Original paper by Pontus Skogland, et al: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14895
Razib Khan's substack post exploring the population Y question:
https://www.razibkhan.com/p/brazil-a-melting-pot-genetic-present
While Amazon and substack links have been provided to make the material more accessible and support the actual experts, I have no affiliation with any of the cited sources nor receive any financial compensation for purchases made.