askhistorians

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Cleopatra is commonly depicted in art with an ornamental usekh collar. But were usekh collars actually worn during Ptolemaic Egypt? NSFW	1379
Did the leaders of the Confederacy foresee slavery lasting indefinitely? Did they have any long-term plans for the future of the Confederacy?	1268
When Utah abolished polygamy, what happened to polygamous households? Did they de facto continue or were there suddenly numerous single mothers?	1151
[META] It was India week, but the bulk of the India questions went unanswered. Why? Even if there's no interest in the West in Indian history, India has a huge population of English speakers. Is academic history not a popular subject in India?	474
Why does Slav identity seem to be a thing? Where does it come from? Other similarly broad linguistic groupings don't seem to have such a strong common identity.	401
Was a Chinese Dynasty's losing the Mandate of Heaven always something discussed in retrospective or would contemporary scholars or enemies of the gov't claim that the ruling dynasty had lost the Mandate of Heaven?	262
How do kings get recorded in folklore as good kings? And are there any examples of kings (or other leaders) whose folk memory as good kings are in contrast with historians' opinions?	249
What's the origin of angels in the Abrahamic religions? Did they exist in related Semitic polytheism? Are they imported/co-opted gods? Were there ever any cults or off-shoots that worshiped them?	239
There a couple of figures in Iroquois history that are described as prophets such as the Great Peacemaker and Handsome Lake. Were these figures comparable to the prophets of the Abrahamic religions in their connection to the divine? And did any other native peoples have prophets?	205
The Qu'ran seems to assume the reader/listener is familiar with the stories of the Old Testament. How familiar would pagan Arabs have been with these stories, and how would they have heard them?	182

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