David Chaffetz
@davidchaffetz.bsky.social
Author, « Raiders, Rulers, Traders », « Three Asian Divas », « A Journey through Afghanistan ».
Central Asia- center not periphery
The web is abuzz with the discovery of a steppe city, Semiyarka on Kazakhstan's Irtysh river. As usual, this discovery "revolutionizes our understanding of ancient history". I don't agree.
The web is abuzz with the discovery of a steppe city, Semiyarka on Kazakhstan's Irtysh river. As usual, this discovery "revolutionizes our understanding of ancient history". I don't agree.
November 21, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Central Asia- center not periphery
The web is abuzz with the discovery of a steppe city, Semiyarka on Kazakhstan's Irtysh river. As usual, this discovery "revolutionizes our understanding of ancient history". I don't agree.
The web is abuzz with the discovery of a steppe city, Semiyarka on Kazakhstan's Irtysh river. As usual, this discovery "revolutionizes our understanding of ancient history". I don't agree.
A lovely review of Raiders, Rulers, and Traders in the Irish Field:
"A thrilling, intelligent read that manages to be both educational and genuinely gripping. For anyone who has ever looked into a horse’s eye and glimpsed something ancient and unknowable, Raiderswill strike a deep chord."
"A thrilling, intelligent read that manages to be both educational and genuinely gripping. For anyone who has ever looked into a horse’s eye and glimpsed something ancient and unknowable, Raiderswill strike a deep chord."
November 15, 2025 at 4:54 PM
A lovely review of Raiders, Rulers, and Traders in the Irish Field:
"A thrilling, intelligent read that manages to be both educational and genuinely gripping. For anyone who has ever looked into a horse’s eye and glimpsed something ancient and unknowable, Raiderswill strike a deep chord."
"A thrilling, intelligent read that manages to be both educational and genuinely gripping. For anyone who has ever looked into a horse’s eye and glimpsed something ancient and unknowable, Raiderswill strike a deep chord."
A fun day in Blue Grass country, meeting both history buffs and horse people at the Kentucky Book Fair.
November 3, 2025 at 4:18 PM
A fun day in Blue Grass country, meeting both history buffs and horse people at the Kentucky Book Fair.
Quail Ridge Books in North Hills, Raleigh, carries Raiders. Keep it in mind, Tar Heels, for stocking stuffers
October 31, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Quail Ridge Books in North Hills, Raleigh, carries Raiders. Keep it in mind, Tar Heels, for stocking stuffers
Kazakhstan is creating a new institute "to support national livestock breeding and safeguard Kazakhstan’s rich equestrian heritage". Of the 4.2 million horses, only 40,000 belong to recognised breeds. Is this really a problem?
October 29, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Kazakhstan is creating a new institute "to support national livestock breeding and safeguard Kazakhstan’s rich equestrian heritage". Of the 4.2 million horses, only 40,000 belong to recognised breeds. Is this really a problem?
Learn more about the horse trade as the origin of the Silk Road in the latest issue of the Shanghai Literary Review. Issued first on paper, it will be available on line later.
October 28, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Learn more about the horse trade as the origin of the Silk Road in the latest issue of the Shanghai Literary Review. Issued first on paper, it will be available on line later.
A wonderfully receptive audience at the National Sporting Museum and Library in Middleburg, VA on October 23. The question on the table was, who domesticated whom? People or horses? At the end the jury was out.We also sold out, 50 copies of Raiders, Rulers, and Traders.
Photos (c) Nancy Kleck
Photos (c) Nancy Kleck
October 26, 2025 at 12:29 AM
A wonderfully receptive audience at the National Sporting Museum and Library in Middleburg, VA on October 23. The question on the table was, who domesticated whom? People or horses? At the end the jury was out.We also sold out, 50 copies of Raiders, Rulers, and Traders.
Photos (c) Nancy Kleck
Photos (c) Nancy Kleck
Daunt Books in London carries an eclectic selection of books.
October 22, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Daunt Books in London carries an eclectic selection of books.
Pope Leo XIV recently received as a gift a Polish Arabian horse, Proton. Since the days when the Poles and Ottoman Turks were neighbours, Poles have collected Arabians. They raised these horses on the steppe of Podolia, where once Cossacks and Tatars roamed. Podolian studs enjoyed great repute.
October 21, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Pope Leo XIV recently received as a gift a Polish Arabian horse, Proton. Since the days when the Poles and Ottoman Turks were neighbours, Poles have collected Arabians. They raised these horses on the steppe of Podolia, where once Cossacks and Tatars roamed. Podolian studs enjoyed great repute.
Keep in mind that during the paleaolitic era, there may have been as many as 3,000,000 equids in Europe and 5,000 humans. No wonder the equine herds appeared to our ancestors like a food pantry. That explains why horses are the most common remains found in ancient camp sites.
October 5, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Keep in mind that during the paleaolitic era, there may have been as many as 3,000,000 equids in Europe and 5,000 humans. No wonder the equine herds appeared to our ancestors like a food pantry. That explains why horses are the most common remains found in ancient camp sites.
Humans' fascination with horses long precedes riding. They are the most popular subject in parietal art, 30,000 yea Sacrificial horses have been found in human burials as early as 5000 BCE. That's 2,000 to 3,000 years before domestication and ridiing. What did horses signify to the ancients?
September 28, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Humans' fascination with horses long precedes riding. They are the most popular subject in parietal art, 30,000 yea Sacrificial horses have been found in human burials as early as 5000 BCE. That's 2,000 to 3,000 years before domestication and ridiing. What did horses signify to the ancients?
Chatgpt reminds me of a rogue employee. As in the off-line world, sometimes you work for the rogue employee and not the other way around.
September 26, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Chatgpt reminds me of a rogue employee. As in the off-line world, sometimes you work for the rogue employee and not the other way around.
"new research revolutionizes our understanding of horses": Horse proteins found ancient cooking pots in Sicily. Really? Native horses abounded in Europe until around the 2nd millennium BCE. Why would bronze age fette di cavallo surprise anyone?
#equinehistory #ancienteurope
#equinehistory #ancienteurope
September 22, 2025 at 11:50 PM
"new research revolutionizes our understanding of horses": Horse proteins found ancient cooking pots in Sicily. Really? Native horses abounded in Europe until around the 2nd millennium BCE. Why would bronze age fette di cavallo surprise anyone?
#equinehistory #ancienteurope
#equinehistory #ancienteurope
All candidates for mayor of NYC agree on banning horse drawn carriages. Andrew Cuomo says "free the horses". As though people can afford to raise and feed work horses that cannot work. Since the Central Park now bans cars, it is safer than ever. The political class is just out of touch.
September 21, 2025 at 5:27 PM
All candidates for mayor of NYC agree on banning horse drawn carriages. Andrew Cuomo says "free the horses". As though people can afford to raise and feed work horses that cannot work. Since the Central Park now bans cars, it is safer than ever. The political class is just out of touch.
We almost didn't have horses. Imagine that. Without the horse, the history of Eurasia would have resembled that of sub-Saharan Africa, or Meso-America, with empires, yes, but not as we know them.
September 20, 2025 at 7:20 PM
We almost didn't have horses. Imagine that. Without the horse, the history of Eurasia would have resembled that of sub-Saharan Africa, or Meso-America, with empires, yes, but not as we know them.
Friends in Washington, DC or in Virginia, take note. I am going to talk about the horse, how we changed them and how they changed us. This thought-provoking theme builds on my book, Raiders, Rulers and traders.
www.nationalsporting.org/.../event_de...
www.nationalsporting.org/.../event_de...
September 18, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Friends in Washington, DC or in Virginia, take note. I am going to talk about the horse, how we changed them and how they changed us. This thought-provoking theme builds on my book, Raiders, Rulers and traders.
www.nationalsporting.org/.../event_de...
www.nationalsporting.org/.../event_de...
The horse came to China from the west. The ancient Chinese word for horse "mra" (reconstructed form) recalls English "mare", and ancient Germanic/Celtic "marko". But why is our word female? As with "cow" we often name domesticates for the female. (source, Victor Mair, Language Log).
#equinehistory
#equinehistory
September 13, 2025 at 8:43 AM
The horse came to China from the west. The ancient Chinese word for horse "mra" (reconstructed form) recalls English "mare", and ancient Germanic/Celtic "marko". But why is our word female? As with "cow" we often name domesticates for the female. (source, Victor Mair, Language Log).
#equinehistory
#equinehistory
What happened to "L'Ami", the horse ridden by Alexander I of Russia during his triumphant entry into Paris in 1814? This, and many other unexpected horse stories, came up during my coffee with Jean-Louis Gouraud, one of Europe's greatest gurus on horses and horsemanship.
#equinehistory,
#equinehistory,
September 12, 2025 at 1:36 PM
What happened to "L'Ami", the horse ridden by Alexander I of Russia during his triumphant entry into Paris in 1814? This, and many other unexpected horse stories, came up during my coffee with Jean-Louis Gouraud, one of Europe's greatest gurus on horses and horsemanship.
#equinehistory,
#equinehistory,
Breeders spent centuries seeking desirable characteristics in their livestock, be it speed for horses or milk volume for cows. Recently discoveries show that a single genetic modification can provide these outcomes. CRISPR can be used to engineer gene in the foetus. This has big implications.
September 8, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Breeders spent centuries seeking desirable characteristics in their livestock, be it speed for horses or milk volume for cows. Recently discoveries show that a single genetic modification can provide these outcomes. CRISPR can be used to engineer gene in the foetus. This has big implications.
A processional orchestra with a chariot as well as a mounted dragon, Mathura, Jain stupa, 1st century BCE, New Delhi.
September 6, 2025 at 3:20 PM
A processional orchestra with a chariot as well as a mounted dragon, Mathura, Jain stupa, 1st century BCE, New Delhi.
The earliest act of selective breeding -- identifying calm horses. Maybe if you have been thrown from a horse you wonder if we ever managed to do this. But then try riding a zebra. Scientists identify the FPM1 gene as the critical, first step towards domestication. #equinehistory, #genetics
September 2, 2025 at 7:40 AM
The earliest act of selective breeding -- identifying calm horses. Maybe if you have been thrown from a horse you wonder if we ever managed to do this. But then try riding a zebra. Scientists identify the FPM1 gene as the critical, first step towards domestication. #equinehistory, #genetics
Not only did scientist find the gene responsible for for rideability, but now genetic-engineers are using CRISPR to insert speed genes in Argentine polo ponies. They will sell for 800,000 USD? My college poney, retired from professional competition was blind in one eye.
#equinehistory, #polo
#equinehistory, #polo
August 31, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Not only did scientist find the gene responsible for for rideability, but now genetic-engineers are using CRISPR to insert speed genes in Argentine polo ponies. They will sell for 800,000 USD? My college poney, retired from professional competition was blind in one eye.
#equinehistory, #polo
#equinehistory, #polo
Mannerheim's Kirghiz guide, whom he calls his jiggit, sits proudly in the saddle, in front of a yurt. The word is yiğit in modern Turkish, and means "brave". In Tolstoy's Hadji Murat the eponymous hero has an escort of jiggits. He looks like he would look after you on the steppes.
#steppehistory
#steppehistory
August 30, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Mannerheim's Kirghiz guide, whom he calls his jiggit, sits proudly in the saddle, in front of a yurt. The word is yiğit in modern Turkish, and means "brave". In Tolstoy's Hadji Murat the eponymous hero has an escort of jiggits. He looks like he would look after you on the steppes.
#steppehistory
#steppehistory
Scientists isolated the gene that made horses rideable. It's rare that a single gene is responsible for a complex adaptation: the GSDMC gene made stronger backs and legs, and better coordination. Selective breeding increased the frequency of this gene from 1% to 100% with 200 years.
#equinehistory
#equinehistory
August 29, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Scientists isolated the gene that made horses rideable. It's rare that a single gene is responsible for a complex adaptation: the GSDMC gene made stronger backs and legs, and better coordination. Selective breeding increased the frequency of this gene from 1% to 100% with 200 years.
#equinehistory
#equinehistory
#alimatalieva in AzerNews:
Kazakhstan is home to a rich archaeological heritage, often overlooked in mainstream narratives... Discoveries like this contribute to a growing body of evidence that Central Asia was not a peripheral zone, but a dynamic cultural crossroads ..
#steppehistory, #kurgan
Kazakhstan is home to a rich archaeological heritage, often overlooked in mainstream narratives... Discoveries like this contribute to a growing body of evidence that Central Asia was not a peripheral zone, but a dynamic cultural crossroads ..
#steppehistory, #kurgan
August 28, 2025 at 7:38 AM
#alimatalieva in AzerNews:
Kazakhstan is home to a rich archaeological heritage, often overlooked in mainstream narratives... Discoveries like this contribute to a growing body of evidence that Central Asia was not a peripheral zone, but a dynamic cultural crossroads ..
#steppehistory, #kurgan
Kazakhstan is home to a rich archaeological heritage, often overlooked in mainstream narratives... Discoveries like this contribute to a growing body of evidence that Central Asia was not a peripheral zone, but a dynamic cultural crossroads ..
#steppehistory, #kurgan