The Mysterious Fall of the Desert Kingdoms
Universidad de Calavagro
Although today the deserts seem to be nothing more than a continentwide wasteland with a few primitive tribes being all its population, recent discoveries indicate that three or four hundred years ago the situation was very different. More and more expeditions and explorers delve into the expanse of Gran Desierto, providing us with multitudinous details, artefacts and observations. And by now we have collected ample evidence, pointing to the fact that, indeed, the deserts once were home to advanced societies.
Excerpt from the travel journal of Naveskuro Mendana, Adelantado:
We had reached the top of another giant dune, and could not hold the gasp of wonder, prompted by what we saw on the other side. Having gotten used to the usual sight of the tents of the nomads, we had not expected to behold vast city ruins, covering the land as far as the eye could see. From where we stood, we discerned fortified walls and towers, houses of several storeys in height, tall statues and large buildings, worthy of being either temples or palaces of rulers.
It is our conclusion that two mighty kingdoms existed in the desert continent, Arabia in the West and Judea in the East. Judging by the scope of their cities and sophistication of their craftsmanship, they had attained great progress in the arts and sciences. They had devised ways to support large populaces in the harsh conditions; their undeground waterworks, aimed to provide a steady supply of fresh water, is nothing short of genius. And yet, these kingdoms lie in ruins, their halls are dusty and silent, their shrines are abandoned.
But what was the reason for this titanic downfall, which happened, apparently, almost simultaneously across the entire continent and over a very short period of time? The general hypothesis is that there was a combination of factors at play, though there is an ongoing debate as to the exact influence of individual elements.
It is assumed that Arabian and Judean cities suffered an invasion by an outside force. Even though the state of their extant fortifications is more than satisfactory, especially considering the decades of disuse, there are numerous breaches in the defensive walls, which must have required immense force to make. It has been suggested that earthquakes could be blaimed for this damage, but in that case there should be visible destruction in other walls and buildings, whereas nothing of the sort has been found.
But if there had been an invasion and battles, they left no trace. Nothing indicates that any noticeable fights or even skirmishes occured within the cities limits or in their vicinity. No old weaponry or particularly large quantity of human bones have been discovered in the streets, squares or near supposedly military buildings. On the contrary, most of the human remains were located at the dwelling houses, as if people had calmly waited for their death, or it had struck them suddenly.
A pestilence has also been considered as a possible source of Arabia's and Judea's ruination, but again, if we look for any signs in this regard, we encounter nothing conclusive. The writings and images we have acquired and studied do not mention anything resembling a plague.
Could there have been a natural phenomenon, a catastrophic shift in temperatures or seasons that rendered human survival impossible? Once more, the analysis of the obtained records gives no clues (at least as far as our current understanding goes). At any rate, there are still functioning wells and undeground channels, thus the absence of the indispensable water seems to have been unlikely.
There is a conjecture that the current inhabitants of the deserts are, in fact, the descendants of the Arabian and Judean nations, therefore they might possess folk tales, legends or even written history about the kingdoms of the past. However, all accounts that have been gathered from the nomads so far do not allude to any connection between them and the fallen civilizations. Moreover, the majority of the nomads' tales exhibits a rather antagonistic sentiment towards the ruined cities and their former denizens. The city people are invariably depicted as villains worshipping "desert demons" or "moon spirits". Even more intriguing is a story, which, with slight variations, has been recited by three different tribes.
Excerpt from the travel journal of Naveskuro Mendana, Adelantado:
The story tells of a great hero from a distant land, the chief of his tribe, who crossed the ocean with all of his people on the giant pirogue he had built out of six largest trees in the world. The land of this tribe had suffered many floods, during which "water monsters" multiplied profusely and beset the tribe's village. And so the chief, who had heard ancient legends of another land, decided that his people should travel there.
After reaching the "hot sand country", the hero encountered "villages of stone", belonging to the "tribes of shamans", who "commanded the earth and sky spirits". Fearing that his people might be caught by the shamans, the hero took his warriors and broke through the "stone bushes" and slew great many shamans, scaring the rest of them, who begged for their lives and named the hero their chief.
I find it curious that I have heard a very similar tale before, from another tribe's story-teller. That version was different in that that the hero was a shaman themselves, who fought "strangers with cold-thorn-sticks growing out of their hands".
If this epics truly recount the actual events, I find it hard to believe that such developed kingdoms could have been vanquished by these primitive peoples, whose metalwork is a crude mimic of their alleged enemies'. Far more likely that Arabia and Judea had been greatly weakened by something else before, or that these yarns are simply full of embellishments.
Perhaps we will never be able to solve the mystery of Judea and Arabia completely, but our search will continue nevertheless, and even now, owing to the tremendous efforts of our academics and explorers, we can envision many pages of the desert kingdoms' history.