I came across this article written by Gill Suttle shared in the Team Teke Talk UK blog (TTT8 Part 5: Articles). It shares excerpts of Herodotus’ descriptions of the ancient Scythian horsemen who were “were probably the first people to breed the world’s first big, strong warhorses, forebears of today’s Akhal-Teke and other Turkoman strains”. Gill literarily paints snapshots of some of their traditional beliefs and practices.
Gill Suttle has written a number of fascinating reviews of Scythian and ancient steppe cultures. Titles include “Black Sands and Celestial Horses: Tracks Over Turkestan”, “Steppe by Steppe: A Slow Journey Through Mongolia”, and “Between the Desert and the Deep Blue Sea: A Syrian Journey”. Currently printed and available here through Scimitar Press: https://scimitarpress.co.uk/books/
Team Talk Teke Blog:
https://team-teke.co.uk/team-teke-talk/
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Thank you so much for reposting it here since I missed it so far.
If someone were to make a film of it - think of 8 shiny Cremellos pulling the cart that is mentioned in the blog. And tension may arise when some Amazon hero is jumping on the cart that no human is ever to be in to rescue humankind, (or - you know - with whatever nowadays fantasy films come up in a plot.) And - there are plenty of dramatic developments to draw from - being the fate of the concubine that needs to be strangled or all the other human sacrifices or by sacrificing 50 of the most beautiful horses!
Being an avid watcher of fantasy film, I think there is space for new plots. And I hope that there were not many of these horrible ways of burials in the Scythian history.
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Absolutely!! I dream of seeing Tekes on the silver screen. I have been in conversations with a couple producers over the last few years about scripts for a film or series. As you can imagine it is involved. But I’m hopeful I or someone can inspire it to happen!
