[gothic-l] Re: Sarmatians and Goths in Poland

[dirk at SMRA.CO.UK]

--- In gothic-l at y..., Xoxana at w... wrote:
>      It is easy to look at the modern people of Iran and Afghanistan 
and
> assume that the ancient Iranians were a swarthy people.  This is not
> true. It is a little known fact that at one time Iranians occupied 
huge
> tracts of Central Asia, southern Russia, and the Ukraine. The 
Iranians
> who invaded Iran set up a caste system based on color, just as the
> Aryans did in India. Only the one in Persia didn't last long. The
> Iranians did not originate in Iran.  The legends of the ancient 
Persians
> said that they originated in a land where winters lasted 10 months 
and
> where darkness lasted for months in the winter.  Archaeologists have
> traced the Indo-Aryans to the Andronovo Culture of Kazakhstan and
> Russia. Their physical type was northern European. The Chinese came 
into
> contact with an Iranian people they called the Yueh-Jï and described
> them as being white with green eyes and red hair. Later, they 
invaded
> India, where they were known as the Kushans, Ephthalites, or White 
Huns.
> Ancient sources describe the Alans, or Sarmatians, as being
> yellow-haired.
> The Ossetes of the Caucausus are descendants of the Alans, although 
most
> of them look like other people of the region today.
> Stalin is believed to have been an Ossete.  


Hello,

well, it is no secret that Stalin was a Georgian, his real name was 
Iosef Wissarionovitch Shchugashvilli, which is - if you ask the people 
of the area - a far cry from being an Ossete. 

Also, I spend some time in the Caucasus and did not encounter any fair 
haired and tall people, except for Russians of course who make up a 
large part of the population. 

I guess that is all relative. For a black-haired Greek a 
dark-brown-haired Sarmatian was perhaps already fair-haired. Overall, 
it doesn't really matter what hair colour who had. The obsession with 
blond warriors apparently emerged in the late 19th century Europe and 
formed a basis for nazism. It apparently goes back to Tacitus' 
description of the old Germans. Interestingly, before this 
Germanic-revival, fair-haired men were thought of as 'little sissies'.


cheers
Dirk








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