Tuesday, January 30, 2018

The Sultanate of Women

Alternately argued as the reason for the decline of, or the reason for the longevity of the Ottoman Empire, the Sultanate of Women was a 130 year period in which the Ottoman Empire was ruled by the Valide Sultan--or the Sultan's mother--either in place of or alongside the Sultan. It started with the marriage of Suleiman the Magnificent to Hurrem Sultan, whom we have discussed before, and ended with the death of Turhan Sultan in 1683.¹ This century was filled with sultans who were children or mentally incapacitated, and marked the shift from the Empire's expansion to its settling into a period of peace and prosperity.

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Turhan Hatice Sultan, the most powerful of the
Valide Sultan's
The was, largely in part, due to the women of the Harem who did the actual ruling. Harem's are often painted as dens of lust and depravity, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. The harem was where the women of the Sultanate lived, including the Sultan's wives, concubines, mother, and sisters. It was also a place of assassinations, political machinations, and governing. Any foreign entity looking to treat with the Ottomans needed to go through the Harem first, and the Sultanas wielded tremendous influence. If you think that the women of the Ottoman Empire were delicate, repressed flowers, veiled and shut off from power, hold on to your hats--you're in for quite a ride.

The Valide Sultan exercised such great power in part because of the Islamic belief in the importance and power of mothers. The Prophet Mohammed's statement that 'Heaven lies under the feet of mothers' was taken very seriously, and as such the Sultan frequently put his mother in charge of the harem. It was the Valide who oversaw the running of an enormous household, and picked the women who would be going to her son's bed. She managed the thousands of people who worked in the palace, and ensured the safety, security, and tranquility of the palace.

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Mihrimah Sultan, the second Valide Sultan of the Sultanate
of Women
The Valide wasn't confined to the domestic sphere, however. It was the Valide Sultan who negotiated with foreign ambassadors, and mediated between the sultan and religious leaders. The Valide served as regent in times of need, and she frequently counseled with the Pashas. She reached out to, and maintained relationships with foreign leaders. It was said of Hurrem, and the Sultana's after her, that if you wanted to gain an audience with the sultan, you had to go through his Valide.


It wasn't just religious belief that handed these women such power. A Valide Sultan could be weak and pushed aside the same as a Sultan. The Valide's who held power, and the Valide's of the Reign of Women were skilled politicians and stateswomen, capable of running a vast empire.

As mentioned, the Sultanate of Women started with the marriage of Hurrem Sultan to Suleiman the Magnificent in 1531. Hurrem was Suleiman's Haseki Sultan--or official wife--not the Valide Sultan, and was the only Sultana to exercised great power as Haseki.² Hurrem kicked off the Reign of Women by being one of the first Sultana's to maintain diplomatic and personal relationships with foreign monarchs. In addition to maintaining diplomatic relations, she was also known for her building and public work projects--another large part of being Valide Sultan. Hurrem was Suleiman's closest adviser, and he frequently deferred to her in matters of state.

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Ottoman Empire map
Hurrem, unfortunately, never lived to be Valide Sultan, as she predeceased Suleiman. She was 'replaced' (as much as any beloved wife can be replaced) in Suleiman's confidences by their daughter Mihrimah. Mihrimah is another noted sultana from the era. She rode with Suleiman on his campaigns--touring and conquering. Like her mother, Mihrimah maintained diplomatic relationships with foreign monarchs, and because of her travels she was well known by even common people in foreign countries. When Suleiman died her brother, Selim II, installed her as Valide Sultan, making Mihrimah the first of the great Valide Sultans.

 There were eight women who ruled during the Sultanate of Women, and we'll undoubtedly discuss each of them in their own 'Damn, Girl' post, but for the sake of brevity we'll only mention the most notable following Mihrimah here.

Nurbanu Sultan, wife of Selim II, Mihrimah's brother, was noted for her wisdom and intelligence. Like Hurrem, she was Selim's adviser during his life (though not as close an adviser as Mihrimah.). She was Selim's favorite wife, and it was understood that her son Murad--later Murad III--would become sultan. At the time of Selim's death Murad was away from Istanbul, leaving him vulnerable to a coup. She hid Selim's corpse in an icebox in the harem for twelve days, and didn't tell anyone he had died until Murad had arrived in the capital. Following her son's investiture, Nurbanu continued to more or less rule the empire through, and sometimes in spite of her son.

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Selim II
Kosem Sultan was Valide Sultan for 62 years, and saw the reign of six different sultans, and was the regent for three of them. Her eldest son--Murad IV--and her grandson--Mehemed IV--were both too young to rule when they came to the throne, and her second son--Ibrahim--was mentally ill. As regent, Kosem oversaw all matters of the empire, and attended cabinet meetings from behind a screen. She assisted in the installation and removal of sultans (she had her son Ibrahim deposed and executed), and helped clear out the corruption of the palace.

Kosem's daughter-in-law, Turhan Hatice Sultan, was the last of the great Valide Sultans. After Kosem's death in 1651, she served as regent for Mehemed IV. Turhan was, by far, the most powerful of the Valide Sultans. Not only did she listen to cabinet meetings from behind a screen like Kosem, but she also spoke from behind the screen, taking an active part in cabinet meetings. After her son reached the age of majority she continued to co-rule the empire with her son's consent. She was instrumental in modifying the government structure of the Ottoman Empire, which gave the Grand Vizier more power.

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Kosem Sultan
Following Turhan's death the power of the Valide Sultan began to die out. The increasing of the power of the Grand Vizier was in part responsible for this, but the larger part was the fact that the sultan following Mehemed--Suleiman II--didn't want to share power.

These women rose to prominence because of the weakness of the Sultan's at the time. Following Suleiman the Magnificent, the sultans became increasingly incompetent until the situation came to a head with Ibrahim. Rather than allowing the empire to crumble, the Valide Sultans took control of the empire, and saved the empire's collective turkey bacon. The 130 years that marked the Sultanate of Women were years that saw great prosperity and political stability for the Ottoman Empire. This was largely in part because of the remarkable women who ruled.




¹Given that the Ottoman Empire would survive for a little more than 200 years after the death of the last great Sultana, I think that the 'women-ruined-the-ottoman-empire' theory is easy to disprove.
²The Haseki Sultan held much less power, despite being the sultan's wife. It was only through becoming the mother of a sultan that a women could hold such power. Hurrem Sultan, and her daughter Mihrimah are notable exceptions.


Sources
The Woman Who Oversaw 3 Generations of the Ottoman Empire
Sultanate of Women
Ottoman Royalty's Most Powerful Woman: Kosem Sultan
Sultanate of Women: Various Dimensions of the Ottoman Harem
Harem and Ottoman Women
Kosem Sultan
Nurbanu Sultan
Turhan Hatice Sultan
Mihrimah Sultan

Monday, January 29, 2018

The Time Pepsi (Briefly) Had a Navy

For a few days in 1989 the Pepsi Corporation was the owner of the world's 6th largest navy.

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Russian Pepsi logo.
Yes, you read that correctly. Pepsi, the makers of sugary sodas, had a naval fleet consisting of seventeen submarines, a cruiser, a destroyer, and a frigate. Finally, at the height of the 'Cola Wars' , they had the means to destroy their rival, Coco-Cola--at sea anyways. Thankfully, they didn't resort to battle, and instead opted to sell their fleet to a Swedish scrap yard.

Pepsi came by their small navy while doing business with the USSR. Pepsi, the first American consumer brand to be sold in the Soviet Union, was renegotiating its trade deal with the Kremlin. The original deal, made in 1974, had allowed Pepsi to open up 24 plants in Moscow, and paid the Pepsi Corporation in Stolichnaya Vodka. This payment in vodka was to circumvent the fact that the ruble could not be converted into US Dollars. At the time, this was an excellent deal for Pepsi, but by the time 1989 came around vodka wasn't quite as lucrative as it had once been, and Pepsi required additional payment to continue their business in Russia.

For the Soviets, millions of jobs were at stake. The Pepsi Corporation employed some 1.5 million Russians in their factory, and was the largest foreign corporation operating in the USSR. In order to save the deal, they decided to make up the difference in ships--essentially giving Pepsi their ships for a measly $150,000 apiece.

Pepsi, as mentioned, sold their fleet to Swedish scrappers, but not before the Pepsi CEO, informed President George Bush that the Pepsi Corporation was disarming Russia faster than he was.


Sources
The Day Pepsi Became a Great Military Power
Pepsi Had Its Own Soviet War Fleet
Soviets Buy American
Pepsi Will Be Bartered For Ships and Vodka in Deal With the Soviets

Monday, January 15, 2018

Sheepview 360-How Camera Laden Sheep Put the Faroe Islands on the Map

Literally meaning 'Island of the Sheep', the Faroe Islands are the stunning Nordic paradise you've never heard of. Nominally part of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Faroe Islands are located between Iceland and Norway. They're a small nation with less than 50,000 people, and there's almost twice as many sheep as people. The Faroes are a lovely, tucked away, almost completely unknown chain of islands in the North Atlantic.

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Ms. Andreassen with her sheep.
Google, on the other hand, is everywhere. Google has pictures of your house, your street, your dog (possibly). They make the operating system for your cellphones¹, the operating system for your laptops, they provide the program for your calendar, your mapping technology, even for a simple internet search. Hell, I'm using Google software to write and publish this post. Google is everywhere; you cannot escape Google.

Unless you lived on the Faroe Islands, that is. Until late 2017 Google had never taken pictures of the island, possessing only sattelite images of the landmass from above. Almost everywhere else on earth has Google Streetview--a program that allows users to see different cities and countries at ground level-- except the Faroe Islands. In an effort to boost tourism, the Faroe Island Tourism Board decided that they wanted Google to bring streetview to their islands.

Given that the Faroe Islands have been left off maps before, this is entirely understandable. The Faroes are a tiny 'blink-and-you'll-miss-it' country in the middle of the Atlantic. They aren't as popular as neighboring Iceland, but a large portion of their economy relies on tourism. Having Street View would help make the Faroes a more appealing place for tourists, and so the Faroe Islands decided to get Google's attention.

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The Faroe Islands
Now, admittedly, tiny rocks in the middle of the Atlantic aren't usually Google's top priority.² It isn't cheap to do the photography for Street View, and the roads in the Faroe Islands are not for the faint of heart, so Faroe Tourism Board member, Durita Dahl Andreassen, decided that she would make use of the Island's resources. Enlisting (or pressganging, depending on the situation) the help of the island's epynomous sheep, she fitted several sheep with harnesses that could hold a 360 degree camera, and set the sheep off into the wild.

Now, ancient laws of the Faroe Islands dictate that sheep are allowed to go wherever the hell they want on the islands. This, combined with the fact that they can leave roads and get to normally inaccessible places made them ideal camera operators. The footage they shot was sent directly to Andreassen's phone, and she uploaded it to Google Maps. She dubbed the project 'Sheepview 360', and with the help of the Faroe Islands Tourism Board, created a website and released several YouTube videos to get Google's attention. They encouraged locals to use the hashtag #visitfaroeislands and #wewantstreetview, and before long they caught Google's attention.

While a clever idea, sheep aren't exactly the most reliable of cinematographers. They spend a lot of time in the same place, and they don't quite understand the need for care with fragile technology. However, Sheepview hit its intended mark. Hotel reservations are up 10% from last year, and there has been a marked increase in tourism.

If you're interested in watching the Sheepview videos, you can find them all here.



¹Iphone owning readers, you've been acknowledged, now hush.
²Tristan da Cunha STILL doesn't have Street View, and I am extremely salty about this. Sure, it's the most remote island in the world, but that's no excuse. Get on it Google.


Sources
Sheep with a 360 View
How Sheep With Cameras Got Some Tiny Islands on Google Street View

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Punt, the Mythical Land of Where?

Though there is archaeological evidence that people have been to Punt, there is no actual archaeological evidence of Punt itself. No structures, tombs, or definitively 'Puntite' artifacts have been found. Everything we know about the Land of Punt comes from the Ancient Egyptians who traded with them.

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A Puntite chieftain and his wife.
Most of what we know about the land of Punt comes from the mortuary temple of the Egyptian pharaoh, Hatsheput. Hatsheput, who is noted for having led Egypt into an era of wealth and prosperity, launched the largest recorded expedition into Punt. She was so proud of this expedition that she had it recorded on the walls of the temple dedicated to her. The brightly colored carvings depict a lush land, with beehive shaped houses set on stilts. It depicts Egyptians bringing back live trees, as well as animal skins and gold. The roots of the depicted trees can been seen around her temple.

Punt was very important to the Egyptians economically, and the two countries were close trade partners. As opposed to the deserts of Egypt, Punt was lush and brimming with life. They provided Egypt with incense trees, wood, and animal skins, while the Egyptians brought them jewelry, metal, and tools.

While Punt was certainly a wealthy land, trade wasn't the only reason the Egyptians were so intrigued about it. For the Egyptians, Punt was the land of their gods. Hathor, the goddess Hatsheput claimed as a mother, lived there, as did Ra. Many of the symbolic objects used in Egyptian religious practices came from Punt, and the Ancient Egyptians viewed Punt as their ancestral homeland.

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Egyptian soldiers on the expedition to Punt
The civilizations of Punt and Egypt flourished alongside each other for centuries, yet to this day the location of Punt has been 'lost'. While archaeologists have, and still are, plundering the sands of Egypt for answers about the past, archaeologists and scholars alike are still scratching their heads about Punt. As mentioned above, no structures or artifacts that are distinctively 'Puntite' in nature have been found, so no exact location can be pinned down, but thanks to Egyptian records, artwork, and writing, there are several working theories as to where Punt is.

The oldest (and least credible) theory is that Punt was located on the west coast of the Arabian Peninsula to the Northeast of Egypt. Put forward in 1850, this theory was based purely on the aromatic trees and gums that the Egyptians brought back from the land of Punt. Frankincense, one of the most recognizable trees brought from Punt, grows almost exclusively in the Southern Arabian Peninsula (modern Oman and Yemen), and around the Horn of Africa (modern Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, into Ethiopia).

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Puntite house surrounded by trees.
However, further reexamination of the reliefs on Hatsheput's temple disproved this theory. The reliefs depicted elephants, rhinoceroses, and giraffes--none of which are indigenous to Arabia. They are, however, indigenous to the Horn of Africa.

Coincidentally (or not!), Frankincense and myrrh trees are also indigenous to the horn. Additionally, the methods of transportation described by the Egyptians make sense for traveling to the Horn of Africa. The reliefs on Hatsheput's temple depict the Egyptians sailing in boats. The fish depicted below the boats can be positively identified as species which still live in the Red Sea. The Egyptians most likely sailed down the Red Sea, hugging the coast until they reached Punt. Additionally, they could have sailed down the Nile, dissembled their ships, and walked over land to Punt, returning the way they came or via the Red Sea.

From the Horn of Africa there are two major contenders for the location of the Land of Punt--the state of Puntland in Somalia, and a region in East Sudan/North Ethiopia.

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Egyptian soldiers loading the boat for the expedition to
Punt. Note the fish under the boat.
The largest evidence in favor of Somalia is the linguistic and cultural similarities between current Somali society and Ancient Egyptian society. Somali shares several words with the same language spoken by the Ancient Egyptians, and historically they Somalis called their region 'Bunn', which the Egyptians could easily have translated as 'Pwenet', which has been translated to Punt. In addition, traditional Somali dances are very similar to the dances depicted in Ancient Egyptian reliefs.

In the favor of Sudan/Ethiopia is descriptions from the Greek traders who made it there as well. Greek writing about expeditions to Punt include descriptions of what is most likely today's Lake Tana, as well as Lake Awsa and the Island of Dak. There are several other descriptions that match geographical features in Ethiopia and Sudan. Add in the fact that there are large regions of incense tree (frankincense and myrrh) producing lands in these regions, it seems just as likely that Punt could be in the region that is now East Sudan and North Ethiopia.

Unfortunately, despite strong evidence for many of these places, there is no definitive archaeological proof of any of them, and it seems likely that the same scholarly argument started in the 1800s will continue for a while more. Personally, I'm dying of curiosity, so if you're an archaeologist, please move finding Punt to the top of your 'to-do' list.


Sources
Punt
Somalia: the Ancient Lost Kingdom of Punt is Finally Found
Will We Ever Discover the Elusive Land of Punt?
Where is Punt?
Punt, Historical Region, Africa