Did You Know? ~ The Mysterious Tarim Mummies

I’m sure our readers have gathered by now that historical mysteries fascinate me. Tonight’s topic is one that I’ve been reading about for several years--the mysterious Tarim mummies.

The first of these mummies were discovered by Wang Ginghua in 1978. Over time, more were discovered in four different sites in the Tarim Basin area, and more than one hundred of them have been uncovered so far. Finding mummies isn’t that astonishing, but finding mummies that were blond haired and long nosed in this area is amazing.

In 1993, Victor Mayer, a college professor, collected DNA from the mummies and verified that the bodies were all of European genetic stock. That’s what makes these mummies so mysterious. Some of them date back to roughly 4,000 years ago, a time when it was thought that there were no westerners in that area. But ancient Chinese texts from as early as the first millennium BC mention the Bai, Yeuzhi, and Tocharians, which are groups of far-east dwelling Caucasian people. However, none of the texts reveal how or why these people ended up there.

The Tarim mummies were not purposefully mummified like the Egyptian dead. Instead, the hot climate and rocky soil helped to keep the deceased bodies preserved.

One of the mummies, the Yingpan Man, was six feet six inches tall and wore a red tunic with gold embroidery. He also wore a gold foil burial mask. This burial garb is more western influence than eastern. In addition to well preserved clothing, there is evidence that the people had some medical knowledge. One of the mummies showed evidence of a surgical wound on its neck that had been sutured.

Since the discovery of these Caucasian-featured mummies, scientists have been trying to find links between them and the modern citizens of the area. Several links have been discovered, but it’s difficult to make them public because of the political unrest in the area. However, many people believe the Tarim mummies represent the first Caucasians to settle in the area. And if this is fact, it means that western man settled there roughly one thousand years before scientists had previously thought.

If you're interested in reading more, here are some links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/world/asia/19mummy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/mystery-tarim-mummies/14841?image=2

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Choices by Author Sandra Robbins

Sometimes I wonder if I was born with a book in my hand. I’m sure my mother would have told me if that had been the case because she was also an avid reader and fostered her love for the written word in me. By the time I was in college, I was reading across a broad spectrum and finding out I loved many different genres. My favorites were mystery/suspense and historical romance. So when I decided to follow my dream and enter the world of writing, I found I couldn’t choose which genre to write. I decided to pursue both, and I’ve discovered it was the right choice for me. 

In the last two months I’ve had two historical romances to release. One is Mountain Homecoming, the second in my Smoky Mountain Dreams Series, and A Lady’s Choice, a release in Summerside’s new American Tapestries line.  

In my latest book, A Lady’s Choice, the heroine Sarah Whittaker has to decide which path she should travel. Should she marry the man she loves or follow her dream of helping win women the right to vote? Her journey takes her from a small, rural Tennessee community to Washington, DC where she joins suffragists at the White House gates. The Silent Sentinels as they are called because they refuse to answer the insults hurled at them by the crowds are arrested for blocking sidewalk traffic and sentenced to Occaquan Workhouse. Behind prison walls, they suffer all kinds of abuse as they refuse to waver in their commitment. 

Although Sarah Whittaker is a fictional character, the events described in the book are historically accurate and depict what many women suffered to give their daughters, granddaughters, and generations to come the right to vote. Those women made a choice to stand against injustice, and women today have the privilege of casting their votes. 

Because of what they endured, the suffrage movement became one of the hottest political issues of the day, and by the summer of 1920 thirty-five states of the needed thirty-six had ratified the 19^th amendment which would give women the right to vote. Of those states yet to vote, Tennessee seemed the only one where victory might be achieved. However, the Tennessee House of Representatives was evenly divided on the issue. 

When the roll call began, supporters in attendance realized something unexpected had happened. Harry Burn, who had staunchly supported the defeat of the amendment, had voted aye, and the motion passed by one vote. When reporters asked Harry why he changed his vote, he said his mother had written him and told him to vote for ratification. He ended by saying a boy should always do what his mother said. He made the right choice. 

Writing A Lady’s Choice, the fictional story of one young woman’s journey in the suffrage movement, has made me more thankful for my right to vote. It’s also made me proud to be a Tennessean where the last battle was fought and very thankful for a mother who urged her son to do what was right. 

It is my prayer that we will never take that right for granted and that we will impress upon our daughters to make their choices known by voting on election day. 

Sandra Robbins, former teacher and principal, is an award winning multi-published author of Christian fiction who lives with her husband in Tennessee. Angel of the Cove, her first book in the Harvest House Publishers historical romance series Smoky Mountain Dreams, released in August, 2012, and was recently named the 2013 winner in the Single Title Inspirational Category of the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. In April 2013 Summerside released A Lady’s Choice which chronicles the plight of suffragists who picketed the White House to gain the vote for women. 

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May I Borrow From Your Book? ~ Pieces of Me

About this Feature: Writing letters to characters and/or authors is nothing new, but here's the twist: these letters will be all about borrowing, in keeping with our blog title. They can be funny or serious, sweet or sassy, short or more in-depth. My hope is that the letters will be entertaining or inspiring to read and will show appreciation to authors - and to the Lord for giving us creativity! (You can click the button and then scroll down to read previously posted letters.)

If you'd like to submit a letter of your own to be posted here, feel free to e-mail me at amberstokes@corban.edu.

Today's letter is for Ian from Pieces of Me by Eisley Jacobs:

Dear Ian,

Everyone loves a good mystery, right? And you, Ian, enter Braidan's story as a mystery. (Of course, so does everyone else...including Braidan.) You're sweet and a bit of a flirt. But you're also tenacious, determined to discover truth and cling to it, as well as stand your ground for what is right. I admire that.

Of course, you sometimes have limited knowledge on which to move forward, and you aren't without a desire for affection and acknowledgment. (After all, you are human...right?) 

But I would love to borrow a handful of your drive for truth, as well as a pinch of your courage mixed with your compassion. With my work and my hobbies (editing and book reviewing and the like), it can be hard sometimes to balance honesty with encouragement. I want to motivate people to strive for truth - to not be satisfied with false impressions and hazy ideals. And yet, you and I both know that sometimes we are the ones most in need of accepting hard truths. 

At this busy time, I'll borrow however much of your tenacity you might be willing to share. 

Keep on motivating others and fighting and caring - you've got a lot to share with others besides me. And keep hold of that air of mystery around you. I think it's rather appealing. *wink*

~Amber

You can purchase Pieces of Me now on Amazon.com!

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Sunday Devotional: Do Not Fret

A storm system sweeps across the southeast, spawning tornadoes and lashing the landscape with wind, rain, and hail.

Elsewhere, wars brew. Politicians bicker. Children starve or are exploited for the pleasure of others.

So much going on in the world at the moment. So much in people’s personal lives. I’m overwhelmed just contemplating the prayer needs of those closest to me.

But if I had not believed I would see Your good in the land of living ... if I didn’t know that God is perfectly good, perfectly wise, perfectly in charge ... ­ I would have lost heart.

We are not the ones in charge of this world, nor are we required to be. That alone provides some relief—knowing I’m not responsible for the success of my little circle of influence. I’m responsible for praying, for trusting, for expending the effort in the work God gives me, but not for the outcome. Yet sometimes life spins out of control, and the state of affairs across the face of this earth seems to be particularly crazy recently. It’s unsettling at the least.

And yet, it isn’t anything new. During times of great political and social upheaval, people have always been sure the end of the world is imminent.

Never more so than now, though, I’m sure.

And where is God, while the world falls apart? When injustice and horror are pandemic, yet people entertain themselves with the obscene and frivolous?

He knows. He sees. And He takes note of each detail.

Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
² For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.

³ Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

⁷ Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.

⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.
¹⁰ For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

¹² The wicked plots against the just,
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
¹³ The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that his day is coming.
¹⁴ The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.
¹⁵ Their sword shall enter their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶ A little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches of many wicked.
¹⁷ For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
But the Lord upholds the righteous.

¹⁸ The Lord knows the days of the upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
¹⁹ They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
²⁰ But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.

(Psalm 37, NKJV)

(Psalm 27:13, above, is my paraphrase)

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Winners!!

Happy Saturday, BB fans! Thanks to everyone who participated in our "puzzling" Friday giveaway! Keep all those facebook and Twitter notifications, coming!

This week's winners are:

Beth Britta - An Unholy Communion by Donna Fletcher Crow.

and

Lisa Nelson - Roses Have Thorns by Sandra Byrd

Congratulations, ladies! Thank you all so much for stopping by The Borrowed Book!

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Weekly Drawing

It's Fun Friday at The Borrowed Book!

To enter:

Leave the time it took you to complete the puzzle in the comments section as well as your email address for notifying you if you've won. Winners will be drawn from ALL of the times, so the person with the fastest time may not be the actual winner, but by leaving your time, you double your chances.

Want another entry? Tweet your puzzle time and mention The Borrowed Book, get another entry. RETWEET our Tweet, get two entries!

Post your puzzle time on BB's Facebook wall and...you guessed it...get another entry!

Post it on your OWN Facebook wall and you could get as many as FIVE entries.

It's all a way to spread the word about the great giveaways on BB. So c'mon! Help us spread the word, and have a little fun at the same time. :-)

This week's puzzle feature is brought to you by Donna Fletcher Crow, and her newest release, An Unholy Communion.

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Weekly Drawing

It's Fun Friday at The Borrowed Book! (PLEASE NOTE: This week's puzzle feature is available for US residents only)

To enter:

Leave the time it took you to complete the puzzle in the comments section as well as your email address for notifying you if you've won. Winners will be drawn from ALL of the times, so the person with the fastest time may not be the actual winner, but by leaving your time, you double your chances.

Want another entry? Tweet your puzzle time and mention The Borrowed Book, get another entry. RETWEET our Tweet, get two entries!

Post your puzzle time on BB's Facebook wall and...you guessed it...get another entry!

Post it on your OWN Facebook wall and you could get as many as FIVE entries.

It's all a way to spread the word about the great giveaways on BB. So c'mon! Help us spread the word, and have a little fun at the same time. :-)

This week's puzzle feature is brought to you by Sandra Byrd and her newest release, Roses Have Thorns.

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