DD23: Arabian Rework + more flags
Dev Diary 23: Arabian Rework + more flags
Salvete! Today we'll be talking about a rework to Southern Arabia and tons of new custom flags!
Arabia:
Many changes have been made to the political situation and geography of the Arabia Felix region. Represented as tribal in vanilla, these societies had kingdoms from the 9th century BC, led first by a ‘mukarrib’, a politico-religious leader considered ‘close’ to the gods, and then, from around our period (4th century BC), by a ‘malik’, which is the same as the Arabic word for king today.
Though treated as Arabs in Imperator, the peoples of South Arabia at this time were not Arabs as we know them today, but related Semitic peoples with their own writing system, also dating from the 9th century BC.
In Invictus, the tribes of Saba, Qataba and Hadhramaut will now be kingdoms. Having won its independence from Saba years before, Ma’in had a somewhat different political system heavily influenced by its prosperous merchant class. Ma’in seems to have had a non-hereditary and possible elective monarchy, and the malik ruled in a council representing all Minaean groups. Though it is not a perfect representation, we propose making Ma’in a plutocratic republic, distinguishing its political system from the proper monarchies to the south.
The tribe of Himjar is missing because it is anachronistic. The Himyarites would not overthrow their Qatabanian rulers until 110 BC. Therefore, Himjar’s former land is split between Saba and Qataba, based on the borders established after Qataba and Ma’in broke away from Saba’s domination years before our start date. However, the Himyarite pops still practice their culture, to represent the tribes subject to the independent Qatabanians.
The term ‘Araba Felix’ can mean ‘happy’, ‘blessed’ or ‘fertile’, due both to the highly lucrative incense trade and the natural fertility of the region, which was wetter and greener than it was today and benefited from a complex irrigation network and the Ma’rib Dam. Recognised as a marvel of ancient engineering, the Ma’rib Dam was built to catch monsoon rains no later than the 8th century BC, though other irrigation works may date much further back. The dam held an enormous reservoir of water that could support thousands and thousands of people. As such, the number of pops has been increased in Arabia Felix and three farmland tiles have been created in the vicinity of the Ma’rib Dam. Some of these new pops are citizens to demonstrate the hundreds of years of urbanised and literate tradition in the region. Around 10 proper cities have been built in their historic locations, including Yathill, Mariaba (Ma’rib), Sirwa, Shabwa (called a metropolis by Eratosthenes), Tamna, Karnu (Qarnawu) and Sapphar (Dhafar).
The Ma’rib Dam was of such singular importance to the societies of South Arabia at the time, and particularly Saba, that in the future we hope to create an interactive event chain to repair and maintain the dam so it can continue to provide future prosperity (or cause calamity, if it is allowed to degrade).
In the region of Punt, across the Red Sea, the ancient city of Wikru has been added, next to Axum. Some Minaean but especially Sabean pops can also be found in the Horn of Africa to represent their lingering influence after having played a larger role in the area previously. The cultural connections between the Axum area and South Arabia included the sharing of some of the same deities. To represent this, the Axumite deities Maher and Behar have been added to a greatly expanded Arabian pantheon that now includes Almaqah, ‘Amm, Sayin, Haukim and more. These are not weak gods. Behar, the Axumite god of the sea, has an apotheosis effect creating a large storm off the Bab El-Mandeb Strait.
To the north, the Arabia Petrea (‘rocky Arabia’) region has mostly been left alone, though Ta’if has been absorbed by Thamud and the Qedarite tribes have been made migratory to better reflect their transhumant lifestyles.
Specific cultural inventions have been made for Arabian and Nubian cultures, many of them focused on the rich trade in incense, ivory, cinnamon, black pepper and gum. These culture groups also have access to the Monsoon Navigation invention, which greatly expands naval range in the Indian Ocean and allows players to trade with India, in imitation of ancient practice. The island nation of Tylos also has access to these inventions, as well as a unique one focused on the cotton trade.
(Above, some Arabian commercial inventions)
(Above, some Arabian maritime inventions)
The region’s wealth is further demonstrated by four new modifiers that boost the local economy. The first of these is in Tylos, which was also a centre of the pearl trade. The extra production and trade routes will give players there an extra financial edge. Qana, in Hadramaut, also receives a modifier for incense production, as this was one of the most important sites in the production and distribution chain. The uncolonised island of Soqotra also has a special modifier increasing spice production by two units, for a total of three. This is in recognition of its role as the sole producer of dragon’s blood, a red sap from the Dracaena cinnabari tree that was coveted in the ancient world for its medicinal and dyeing properties. The fourth modifier is located in Gangaras, outside the city of Meroë, and boosts iron production. The Nubians had a highly developed iron industry, as attested by the large piles of slag still found in modern Sudan, and were in fact iron exporters, even though they tended not to wear heavy armour themselves.
Indeed, though previously treated somewhat as a rural extension of Egypt, this region had its own way of fighting that was different from the armies of the Mediterranean. As mentioned, the Nubians wore little armour and specialised in archery to the point that the Egyptians called their homeland Ta-Seti, the Land of the Bow. Ancient Arabians preferred the sword to the spear and tended to fight with light or leather armour, but nothing heavier than that. The Afro-Arabian traditions therefore focus on light units, like light infantry and expert archers, along with three mobile units: light cavalry, camels and horse archers. Nubian nobles were known to loose arrows from horseback and hundreds of ancient composite bows have been found in present-day Sudan alongside the longbows that a foot archer would have used. A few steppe horse tiles have been placed in Nubia and Arabia Felix to make it possible to maintain horse archers in local armies. Though the horses of the area were different from the breeds of the Pontic Steppe, the evidence points to a significant amount of mounted archery and the composite bow was arguably more important to its practice than the specific breed of horse.
The Afro-Arabian military traditions also have a strong naval aspect, as one might expect, and their punch comes in the form of the African elephant, which was used by Meroë’s Kandake Amanirenas to repel a Roman invasion at the end of our period and whose ivory was preferred in Indian markets, being considered tougher and whiter than Indian ivory. Some historians ask whether the large elephant-themed royal complex at Musawwir al-Sufra was used as an elephant training camp, particularly its Great Enclosure. Though war elephants were quite unlikely to have been used to the same extent as in India, they still deserve a place in the new Afro-Military traditions and are much more appropriate than heavy infantry, much less the phalanx, for example.
Flags:
Hello all, I'm RetconCrisis and I'm currently working on making unique flags for countries based on their coinage/art and other cultural aspects.
First off, the vanilla flag for Sparta (right) has been replaced with a more vibrant flag (left).
Several other flags have also been added in Italy, which include Nuceria, Lucania, Elea, Bruttia, Croton, Tarentum, and Sabinia.
Even more flags have been added in Greece. On the island of Crete, the countries of Ierapetra, Knossos and Gortyna have new flags, while the Nesiotic League in the Aegean Sea also has one based on coinage from Delos. Near mainland Greece, other countries with new flags include Megara, Aetolia, Delphi, Argos, Boeotia, Thebes, Messenia and Akarnania.
Some other countries with new flags include Colchis in the Caucasus, Dardania in Illyria, Ibasim in the western Mediterranean, and Iol and the Garamantes in north Africa.
Salvete! Today we'll be talking about a rework to Southern Arabia and tons of new custom flags!
Arabia:
Many changes have been made to the political situation and geography of the Arabia Felix region. Represented as tribal in vanilla, these societies had kingdoms from the 9th century BC, led first by a ‘mukarrib’, a politico-religious leader considered ‘close’ to the gods, and then, from around our period (4th century BC), by a ‘malik’, which is the same as the Arabic word for king today.
Though treated as Arabs in Imperator, the peoples of South Arabia at this time were not Arabs as we know them today, but related Semitic peoples with their own writing system, also dating from the 9th century BC.
In Invictus, the tribes of Saba, Qataba and Hadhramaut will now be kingdoms. Having won its independence from Saba years before, Ma’in had a somewhat different political system heavily influenced by its prosperous merchant class. Ma’in seems to have had a non-hereditary and possible elective monarchy, and the malik ruled in a council representing all Minaean groups. Though it is not a perfect representation, we propose making Ma’in a plutocratic republic, distinguishing its political system from the proper monarchies to the south.
The tribe of Himjar is missing because it is anachronistic. The Himyarites would not overthrow their Qatabanian rulers until 110 BC. Therefore, Himjar’s former land is split between Saba and Qataba, based on the borders established after Qataba and Ma’in broke away from Saba’s domination years before our start date. However, the Himyarite pops still practice their culture, to represent the tribes subject to the independent Qatabanians.
The term ‘Araba Felix’ can mean ‘happy’, ‘blessed’ or ‘fertile’, due both to the highly lucrative incense trade and the natural fertility of the region, which was wetter and greener than it was today and benefited from a complex irrigation network and the Ma’rib Dam. Recognised as a marvel of ancient engineering, the Ma’rib Dam was built to catch monsoon rains no later than the 8th century BC, though other irrigation works may date much further back. The dam held an enormous reservoir of water that could support thousands and thousands of people. As such, the number of pops has been increased in Arabia Felix and three farmland tiles have been created in the vicinity of the Ma’rib Dam. Some of these new pops are citizens to demonstrate the hundreds of years of urbanised and literate tradition in the region. Around 10 proper cities have been built in their historic locations, including Yathill, Mariaba (Ma’rib), Sirwa, Shabwa (called a metropolis by Eratosthenes), Tamna, Karnu (Qarnawu) and Sapphar (Dhafar).
The Ma’rib Dam was of such singular importance to the societies of South Arabia at the time, and particularly Saba, that in the future we hope to create an interactive event chain to repair and maintain the dam so it can continue to provide future prosperity (or cause calamity, if it is allowed to degrade).
In the region of Punt, across the Red Sea, the ancient city of Wikru has been added, next to Axum. Some Minaean but especially Sabean pops can also be found in the Horn of Africa to represent their lingering influence after having played a larger role in the area previously. The cultural connections between the Axum area and South Arabia included the sharing of some of the same deities. To represent this, the Axumite deities Maher and Behar have been added to a greatly expanded Arabian pantheon that now includes Almaqah, ‘Amm, Sayin, Haukim and more. These are not weak gods. Behar, the Axumite god of the sea, has an apotheosis effect creating a large storm off the Bab El-Mandeb Strait.
To the north, the Arabia Petrea (‘rocky Arabia’) region has mostly been left alone, though Ta’if has been absorbed by Thamud and the Qedarite tribes have been made migratory to better reflect their transhumant lifestyles.
Specific cultural inventions have been made for Arabian and Nubian cultures, many of them focused on the rich trade in incense, ivory, cinnamon, black pepper and gum. These culture groups also have access to the Monsoon Navigation invention, which greatly expands naval range in the Indian Ocean and allows players to trade with India, in imitation of ancient practice. The island nation of Tylos also has access to these inventions, as well as a unique one focused on the cotton trade.
(Above, some Arabian commercial inventions)
(Above, some Arabian maritime inventions)
The region’s wealth is further demonstrated by four new modifiers that boost the local economy. The first of these is in Tylos, which was also a centre of the pearl trade. The extra production and trade routes will give players there an extra financial edge. Qana, in Hadramaut, also receives a modifier for incense production, as this was one of the most important sites in the production and distribution chain. The uncolonised island of Soqotra also has a special modifier increasing spice production by two units, for a total of three. This is in recognition of its role as the sole producer of dragon’s blood, a red sap from the Dracaena cinnabari tree that was coveted in the ancient world for its medicinal and dyeing properties. The fourth modifier is located in Gangaras, outside the city of Meroë, and boosts iron production. The Nubians had a highly developed iron industry, as attested by the large piles of slag still found in modern Sudan, and were in fact iron exporters, even though they tended not to wear heavy armour themselves.
Indeed, though previously treated somewhat as a rural extension of Egypt, this region had its own way of fighting that was different from the armies of the Mediterranean. As mentioned, the Nubians wore little armour and specialised in archery to the point that the Egyptians called their homeland Ta-Seti, the Land of the Bow. Ancient Arabians preferred the sword to the spear and tended to fight with light or leather armour, but nothing heavier than that. The Afro-Arabian traditions therefore focus on light units, like light infantry and expert archers, along with three mobile units: light cavalry, camels and horse archers. Nubian nobles were known to loose arrows from horseback and hundreds of ancient composite bows have been found in present-day Sudan alongside the longbows that a foot archer would have used. A few steppe horse tiles have been placed in Nubia and Arabia Felix to make it possible to maintain horse archers in local armies. Though the horses of the area were different from the breeds of the Pontic Steppe, the evidence points to a significant amount of mounted archery and the composite bow was arguably more important to its practice than the specific breed of horse.
The Afro-Arabian military traditions also have a strong naval aspect, as one might expect, and their punch comes in the form of the African elephant, which was used by Meroë’s Kandake Amanirenas to repel a Roman invasion at the end of our period and whose ivory was preferred in Indian markets, being considered tougher and whiter than Indian ivory. Some historians ask whether the large elephant-themed royal complex at Musawwir al-Sufra was used as an elephant training camp, particularly its Great Enclosure. Though war elephants were quite unlikely to have been used to the same extent as in India, they still deserve a place in the new Afro-Military traditions and are much more appropriate than heavy infantry, much less the phalanx, for example.
Flags:
Hello all, I'm RetconCrisis and I'm currently working on making unique flags for countries based on their coinage/art and other cultural aspects.
First off, the vanilla flag for Sparta (right) has been replaced with a more vibrant flag (left).
Several other flags have also been added in Italy, which include Nuceria, Lucania, Elea, Bruttia, Croton, Tarentum, and Sabinia.
Some other countries with new flags include Colchis in the Caucasus, Dardania in Illyria, Ibasim in the western Mediterranean, and Iol and the Garamantes in north Africa.
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