A Parthian noblewoman This is a story from the Parthian Empire, but the earliest written version that we still have is by the Islamic poet Gorgani, about 1050 AD: King Mobad of Marv saw the beautiful [...]
Mordecai is leading Esther (on the horse) to talk to the Persian king. A fresco from the world's oldest preserved synagogue at Dura-Europos in Syria (244 AD) Who was Esther? [...]
Native American creation myths - A cross-legged man from Spiro Mound (modern Oklahoma), 900-1450 AD Where did Native people come from? Each group of people in North America had their own [...]
Cherokee statues from Etowah (now northern Georgia) Cherokee is part of a group of Iroquois languages. Before the Spanish conquered the Cherokee, the Cherokee people didn't use writing. But they told many [...]
Kriemhild goes to marry Etzel of the Huns (1400s AD) - Kriemhild's Revenge Part II: Kriemhild's Revenge Well, naturally that wasn't the end of the story. A woman like Kriemhild [...]
Prince Siegfried kills the dragon Fafnir -Door of the Christian church of Hylestad in Norway (1200s AD) What is the Niebelungenleid? The Niebelungenlied, or the Story of the Niebelungs, was [...]
Monk writing a book, seated on a wyvern (North Germany, ca. 1150 AD now in Metropolitan Museum, NYC) The earliest stories of German and Scandinavian literature probably come from even [...]
Genghis Khan The oldest book written in Mongolian is a biography of Genghis Khan, who created the Mongol Empire. Nobody knows who wrote the Secret History, but whoever it was, [...]
Uighur princesses (Bezelik Cave) Possibly some time in the Middle Ages, Kyrgyz people began telling the story of Manas, his son Semetei, and his grandson Seitek. In the first part [...]
In this story, Koca Yusuf was a poor man who worked in the horse stables of the powerful Bey of Bolu. One day, Koca Yusuf saw a young filly (a girl horse). [...]
