Ancient History Archives – THE PAGE TURNS

April 28, 2026April 28, 2026

Y is for Yemen

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not. And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
(I Kings 10 v.1-13)

Yemeni/Saban woman holding a sheaf of wheat. Tombstone carving. Wikimedia

She came up out of the desert, perfumed and oiled with the spices of her land, draped in pearls and precious gems, carried by a dozen muscular men who put her down gently as a feather. Although she bowed to grant him his due, in his kingdom, he took her hand and bowed his head in return, as she was also a great ruler, not just of a fine city but also of the whole of the legendary Saba to the south, spanning desert, water, and vast fields. They say the gardens flourished there, behind great walls with strange carvings that spoke of the reign of even older, mightier kings, of plagues, and of uprisings crushed like the flower of their incense trees.

Fast Facts

Named for: Arabic, either yamn, “blessed” or ymn, “to the right of Mecca.
Capital: Sanaa
Long/Lat: 15.2 N/44.1 E, 8900 miles or 19 hours east of Castro Valley
Population: 32.7 million or 48 CVs
Size: 176,000 sq mi or 1000 CVs
Avg temp in April: 79 F/26 C
Median household income: $12-15,000
Ethnicity: 93% Arab/2% Somali
Main industries: Oil, sorghum, qat. The region is too unstable to harvest much frankincense or myrrh, though Yemen remains a key source.

Yemen is another “only” country in Arabia–the only “Y”–just as Oman and Qatar were the only “O” and “Q.” Is there something about this place that gives rise to unique names, or is it just the language?

April 25, 2026April 25, 2026

V is for Vatican City

Fast Facts:

Named for: Vagitanus or the vagiti, the cry of a baby (Etruscan, maybe)
Capital: The Pope’s house at One Pope Lane
Long/Lat: 41.5 N/12.2 E, 6200 miles or 12 hours east of Castro Valley
Population: 882 and not a single cardinal more or less. 1% of CV.
Size: 0.19 sq mi, 1% of CV.
Avg temp in April: 70 F/20 C, very pleasant
Median household income: $20,000? but stats not published. Free room and board.
Ethnicity: Not published, but likely more diverse than expected. Only one religion, though.
Main industries: Proselytizing. Plus the merch!

Vatican City was originally a swamp. It’s located on the less breezy side of the Tiber, near Rome’s original arch enemy, the Etruscans. It was named either for a baby’s cry or for auspices drawn by the way birds fly or the way a liver appeared, which was (ironically) a significant part of Roman religious practices. Still, it was a marsh, dismal and ominous. Like the Bayou–popes were born on the bayou (with apologies to CCR).

Unlike some of these other countries, you probably have heard of it because it’s a Jeopardy question. What’s the smallest country in the world? Vatican City is also a true enclave, a country entirely contained within another country, along with San Marino and Lesotho and almost Eswatini (remember letter E?) It should not seem so strange for Vatican City to be its own country, considering that Rome itself used to be a “country,” not to mention an “empire” that would span more than 40 countries today if it still existed.

Vatican City is wholly inside Rome, which is wholly inside Italy, which is wholly on top of Earth, which … well, keep going and, according to theology, you get to God. Graphic by ImSevan.

April 23, 2026April 23, 2026

T is for Tajikistan

The seven “stans” with Tajikistan highlighted. Generated from Mapchart.

Fast Facts:

Named for: Persian: تاجیک, romanized: tājīk, the Tayy tribe, whose first member may have been named “he who plastered the well”
Capital: Dushanbe
Long/Lat: 38.30 N/68.5 E , 7100 miles or 13 hours east of Castro Valley
Population: 10.8 million or 164 CVs
Size: 55,300 sq mi,or 3100 CVs
Avg temp in April: 68 F/ 20 F
Median income: $1,100 annually
Ethnicity: 86% Tajiks, 11% Uzbeks
Main industries: Aluminum, cotton, immigrant remittances (workers in other countries sending $$ home)

Like many of you, I have always been confused with the “-stans,” the seven Central Asian countries whose suffix means “land.” Everyone jokes about being unable to tell them apart–well, “everyone” who doesn’t live anywhere near there. I am sure that Tajikistanis would look at the USA and laugh at us creating Colorado and Wyoming. Squares? Americans have no imaginations! Why does Florida look like a man’s–

In the ongoing A-Z spirit of educating ourselves, I decided to make “T” Tajikistan, even though it’s not an especially small country. It’s 94th in size, which is in the middle of the list; it’s in the middle of the -stans, and the middle of Asia, the middle of what was once Persia, the middle of the Silk Road. It is in the middle.