ISSUE 1 - 2022 / HERITAGEDAILY.COM
THE STAR WARS
WARFARE OF THE ANCIENT MAYA
Invasion of Britain
MAGAZINE
THE REAL ASSASSIN’S CREED
ANI
THE ABANDONED MEDIEVAL CITY
AND THE NIZARI ISMAILIS STATE
THE LOST TOWN of Dunwich
GERMANIA HITLER’S
MEGACITY
THE VIKINGS OF THE FALL OF THE GREENLAND KNIGHTS TEMPLAR The story of the 10th century explorers in search of new lands
What happened to one of the most secretive fighting forces of all time
THE LEGIO IX HISPANA The Lost Roman Legion
34
The siege Of Masada The Siege of Masada was one of the final chapters during the First Jewish-Roman War, resulting in the Romans encircling and storming the mountain fortress of Masada held by Sicarrii rebels.
Feelin’ our content?
You should check us out at www.heritagedaily.com
CONTENTS
In this issue
22 THE JADE BURIAL SUITS
14 The Star Wars The “Star Wars” were periods of intense conflict between rival Maya polities or city states.
... more 3
CONTENTS
42
In this issue
12
The Real Dracula Examine the evidence behind Stoker’s Dracula
28 Caesar’s Invasion of Britain The Roman conquest of Britain commenced in the year AD 43, but the Romans led two expeditionary campaigns almost a century earlier in 55 BC and 54 BC under the command of Gaius Julius Caesar.
The Gladiatrix The female equivalent of the Roman Gladiator
Contents 06
The Real Assassin’s Creed
30
The Vikings of Greenland
52
12
Julius Caesar’s invasion of Britain
32
54
14
The Star Wars
How Chariot Racing Teams Saved Constantinople from the Huns
Cahuachi - The Ceremonial Centre of the Nazca Orongo - The Birdman-Cult Centre Built on a Volcano
16
Matthew Hopkins - The Real Witch-Hunter
34
The Siege of Masada
56
35
18
The Fall of the Knights Templar
The St. Brice’s Day Viking Massacre
The Inca Cave Temple of the Moon
56
Aksum
36
58
The Roman Villa of Tiberius
22
The Jade Burial Suits
62
21
The Annulment of Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon at Dunstable Priory
The Roman Penises Carved into Hadrian’s Wall
40
22
Legio IX Hispana - The Lost Roman Legion
The Limes Arabicus - The Desert Frontier of the Roman Empire
Who Were the Sea People?
History of Mead
Yasuke - The African Samurai
Krampus the Demon Devil of Christmas
61
24
42
62
25
The Mystery of Greek Fire
42
The Real Dracula
April 22nd 1778 - The Day America Invaded England
26
46
The Lost Town of Dunwich
64
The Sacred Band of Thebes - The Elite Military Unit of Same Sex Lovers
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus – The Last King of Rome
48
Sarmizegetusa Regia - The Mountain Capital of the Dacians
66
The Great Heathen Army
68
Germania - Hitler’s Megacity
28 4
The Gladiatrix
50
Ani - The Abandoned Medieval City
EDITORIAL
Welcome to the Heritage Magazine HE Heritage Magazine is part of HeritageDaily LTD, an independent publishing platform, reporting on the latest scientific discoveries, research and travel news from across the world.
T
Heritagedaily LTD was first launched in 2011 by Managing Editor Markus Milligan, growing in size to become one of the largest dedicated media outlets with a focus on heritage, archaeology, anthropology and palaeoanthropology. www.heritagedaily.com
Enjoy reading! Managing Editor
CONTACT US
SOCIAL CHANNELS
General contact: info@heritagedaily.com
Join the HeritageDaily social community:
Submit an article: editor@heritagedaily.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/archaeologynews Twitter: www.twitter.com/heritagedaily Instagram: www.instagram.com/archaeologynews TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@heritagedaily
MANAGING EDITOR: MARKUS MILLIGAN
DESIGN: CHRIS WHITE THORNBERRY 5
6
Image Credit : Dmytro Vietrov
The Real Assassins Creed HE word “Assassin” is a term that was used to describe a fedayeen group within the Nizari Ismailis State, that formed when followers of Nizarism split within an Ismailism branch of Shia Islam.
T
The true origins of the name have been debated for centuries among historians, with one such theory believing that “assassin” has roots in “hashshāshīn” - meaning hashish smokers or users.
ORIGINS The Nizari Ismailis State was founded by Hassan-I Sabbah. Hassan was born around AD 1050 into a family of Twelver Shī‘ah in the city of Qom, Iran. Early in life, Hassan developed a keen interest in metaphysical matters and academia, studying palmistry, languages, philosophy, astronomy and mathematics.
The first known use of the term “hashshāshīn” has been traced back to AD 1122, when the Fatimid caliph al-Āmir used it to mean a derogatory reference for the Syrian branch of the Nizaris Ismailis.
Much of Hassan’s life is speculated or written by third party sources, but the biographer Rashid-al-Din Hamadani records Hassan’s arrival in Egypt to study as a missionary on the 30th of August in AD 1078.
The spread of the term was further facilitated through encounters with European Crusaders, whose historians and chroniclers further disseminated it across Europe, telling lurid stories about a warlike sect hidden away in remote mountain fortresses.
Hassan toured extensively throughout Persia, debating with religious leaders his teachings and views on religious doctrine.
7
His travels reached as far as the shores of the Caspian Sea and the mountains of Alborz in the Rudbar region, where he searched for a base from which to guide his mission. Around AD 1090, Hassan and his followers took the castle of Alamut using an elaborate strategy of infiltration to fool the garrison. With an established foothold in the region, he extended his influence by conquering strongholds across Rudbar and constructed new fortresses at strategic points for defence and trade. The rapid expansion of his territory didn’t go unnoticed and Alamut was soon raided by the larger forces of the nearest Saljuq amir, marking the initiation of an endless series of Saljuq-Isma‘ili military clashes.
8
In less than two years since the capture of Alamut, Hasan and his followers had seized several towns across the region of Quhistan – building the foundation for an independent territorial Nizari state for the Persian Isma‘ilis in the midst of the Saljuq sultanate, for which Hasan would be the ruling Imam. THE STRATEGY OF ASSASSINATION In AD 1092, the Saljug launched several major expeditions against the Isma‘ilis in both Rudbar and Quhistan. These skirmishes came to a sudden halt with the assassination of the Saljug Vizier, Nizam al-Mulk, by a Nizari fighter disguised as a Sufi mystic, followed by the death of Sultan Malik-Shah only weeks later.
This disorder allowed Hassan to consolidate his power and seize the strategic fortress of Lamasar (Lanbasar) to the west of Alamut and the stronghold of Girdkuh near Damgan. Hassan designed a strategy to decentralise the political and military power of the Saljuq sultanate. He established a network of agents or fedā īs, who would infiltrate the households of prominent enemy figures and assassinate them. This strategy of killings soon became identified with the Nizari Isma‘ilis, marking them in history as a feared elite group of assassins.
Alamut Castle - Image Credit : Morteza Safataj
various assassination attempts and shifting alliances with Salah al-Din (Saladin), the Crusaders, and other regional powers to safeguard the independence of his community.
AN AFFILIATED CREED From the 12th century AD, Hassan began to send his own da‘i into Syria to propagate the teachings of the Nizari da‘wa. However, it would take almost half a century before a Syrian affiliated branch would gain a foothold in the region and establish themselves under the leadership of Hassan’s subordinate, Rashid ad-Din Sinan. Rashid was able to enjoy considerable independence from the Persian Nizari. Writings even attribute him with a semidivine status usually given to the Nizari Ismaili Imam and was known as the “Old Man of the Mountain”. Rashid would play a prominent role in the regional politics of the time, orchestrating
The most notable assassination by the Syrian order was of Conrad of Monferrat days before he was to be crowned King of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in AD 1192. During the mid-12th century, the Syrian affiliated branch captured several fortresses in the Nusayriyah Mountain range but were later annexed by the Mamluk sultan Baibars. From then on, the Syrian affiliated Ismailis maintained limited autonomy over those former strongholds as vassals to the Mamluks.
The current Nizari Ismaili Imam Ala alDin Muhammad joined with the Abbasid caliph and appealed to the European monarchs of England and France to coalesce in a Christian-Muslim Alliance, but the request for an alliance was ultimately declined. The first Mongol attack on the Nizari Ismailis came in April AD 1253, when many of the Quhistani fortresses were lost to the Christian Mongol general Ket-Buqa. The Mongols eventually reached the founding stronghold of Alamut in AD 1256, changing hands over the next two decades until the Nizari Ismaili resistance was finally crushed.
THE MONGOL INVASION During the reign of the Mongol warlord Güyük Khan (AD 1206 – 1248), the Mongols plan for expansion required the conquest of the Islamic States to reach Western Asia. At this time, the Nizari Ismaili state was one such significant barrier, fortified with over fifty strongholds that could slow the Mongol advance. 9