01-05-2016, 09:24 AM
Well, this thread has already provided some excellent reading.
d) origin of the "heavenly horse," aka the Akhal teke.
Wasn't the Akhal-Teke thought to be from Nisaean bloodlines?
"In front of the king went first a thousand horsemen, picked men of the Persian nation - then spearmen a thousand, likewise chosen troops, with their spearheads pointing towards the ground - next ten of the sacred horses called Nisaean, all daintily caparisoned. (Now these horses are called Nisaean, because they come from the Nisaean plain, a vast flat in Media, producing horses of unusual size.)" Herodotus, Histories.
This was the first Western source that mentions the Nisaean mid 5thC BC.
The Chinese called them 'Tien Ma' which equates to Heavenly Horse (I think).
d) origin of the "heavenly horse," aka the Akhal teke.
Wasn't the Akhal-Teke thought to be from Nisaean bloodlines?
"In front of the king went first a thousand horsemen, picked men of the Persian nation - then spearmen a thousand, likewise chosen troops, with their spearheads pointing towards the ground - next ten of the sacred horses called Nisaean, all daintily caparisoned. (Now these horses are called Nisaean, because they come from the Nisaean plain, a vast flat in Media, producing horses of unusual size.)" Herodotus, Histories.
This was the first Western source that mentions the Nisaean mid 5thC BC.
The Chinese called them 'Tien Ma' which equates to Heavenly Horse (I think).
Rodger Williams