Yes, 90’s checks out. Do you remember what it was?
Hardly. It does certainly imply a King David, who was apparently kinda important. But the “Unified Israel” and the bible stories about him are all legend. Look, there are legends about good old geo Washington, but he was certainly real. As you go back in time, and the written records get more sparse- the books of the OT (Samuel) that talk about David were apparently written after that time. the legendary parts get more and more and the facts get less and less. There is also the Mesha Stele which MAY mention David. Also the Bubastite Portal may mention David.
King Omri was mentioned quite a few times in ancient histories.
The earliest named author in the world is a woman, Enheduanna (fl. ca. 2300 BC).
Get to know Enheduanna.
Thag Simmons.
The earliest known troubador was literally the Duke of Aquitaine.
Well, I did quote @Aspidistra directly after where she said that king was more like a mayor with an army. And by that I implied, perhaps a bit flippantly, that calling David king, i.e. with the connotation of the word king from about the past 1200-1500 years, is a stretch. Chieftain might be a better word.
OT
After all - and I know this is well before the time of David - the LORD was with them and they took the hills, but could not take the valley, because of the chariots of iron (Judges 1:19). That certainly implies that the Kingdom of Judea/City state of Jerusalem was not very powerful. Legend then has it that the same David was the mighty warrior that conquered all of Samaria/Israel to a unified kingdom. And as you yourself says: myth.
Black Adder seemed to indicate Francis Drake was a huge celebrity.
Was that based on something?
He was certainly adopted by the Victorians as a legendary hero, and I would guess his part in the defeat of the Armada was celebrated not just at the time or in the high imperialist era.
Was it this book?
I’m a little shocked by wiki’s claim that the author is a White nationalist. Especially considering how he ranked Muhammad above Jesus. I read it about ten years ago, and I don’t remember any White nationalist vibe.
Not Francis Drake, but Walter Raleigh.
I’m not sure. The rankings look close, but I swear it went:
- Mohammad
- Jesus of Nazareth
- Paul the Apostle
Me too and it was definitely that book. There have apparently been a few revisions and I think we saw an earlier one.
Enheduanna was the earliest of them all.
Might have been later if this was 1992. I saw it around 1996-1999. I see a copy from 2000 online, but it has the same order.
It’s possible I am just remembering the order wrong.
Yes, later. I saw it no earlier than 1993. Although the odds of both of us being wrong are pretty remote.
Yes, the version I read was apparently a revision. It had the top three as @Mahaloth remembers.
IIRC it also listed Cai Lun, the 2nd-century Chinese inventor of paper, as more influential than Johannes Gutenberg. The reason being that movable type would not have been nearly as big an advance over woodblock printing if paper had not existed.
I do see Buddha listed in the other version and Confucious as well, both important/influential people. I assume they really existed.
I believe Bach was somewhat of a celebrity in his local area. However, it was for his incredible organ playing skills, not his compositions. I believe the story, which I don’t know is true or not, the church he played at had to make a rule for people not to get up and leave once his organ playing was done at the start of service.
The late Thag Simmons.
The Venerable Bede 673–735 AD
Assume I have just given away my course of studies.