I've been looking at some of the Norse history lately, and their development as kingdoms. In my understanding, the Norse didn't mint their own coins, but had a market economy (at emporia like Hedeby) established around the trade of both Islamic silver coins and through raw precious metals like hack silver.

It seems as if the development of markets and economy is a major touchstone for state-development. Given the ability of non-minting peoples, like the Vikings, to still establish a recognizable market system, I was wondering if development tended in this direction, or if there were alternative paths other peoples might have taken. Or is my understanding totally wrong?

Side-question: What is the effect of the modern lens of capitalism on historical societies?

I know Persians were accepted as Aryan, but what of the North Indians and Tajiks?

I feel I need to clarify this question first. So, I'm not asking about crazy people - because there's still people today that worry about ghosts and demons and so on. Also, I'm not talking about ascribing bad things to the supernatural with a shrug like "Bobby's soul is now ensnared by Satan, that's why he beats his wife every night."

I'm asking if there was ever a time when they took real precautions against the monsters mentioned in their traditions as if they were real. Would a person ever be more afraid of the monsters lurking in the dark at night than the potential brigands waiting to have their way with him?

Just to stress one final time, I'm not talking about the cultural zeitgeist being more open towards believing in the supernatural. I'm asking if any of this ever entered their daily life in any significant way.

I read an article that stated, "Russian fur-seekers decimated Aleut populations through warfare, disease, and slavery." So my guess is the short answer to my question is, "Not great". But what were the details? What was the extent of Russian settlement? How quickly were the Aleuts decimated? What were the Aleuts like prior to Russian contact? Had they avoided the massive population decline that other tribes faced after the 1600s?

I know next to nothing about this period, and I'd love to hear about what Russian expansion into the Aleutians was like and how it impacted the native Aleut tribespeople.

Wikipedia states that the myth of the Danish king wearing the yellow star to show support for the Danish Jews became popular with novelist Leon Uris' Exodus, however he did not create the myth.

Did it start as a simple rumour (someone saying "I saw the King with the yellow star !") or was it propaganda created by the Danish resistance ? Or by the Danish Jews ? Or the royal family ?

My understanding is that factionalism was the term they used for partisanship at the time. Washington used his farewell address to warn against factions gaining power across multiple branches of government and thus bypassing the separation of powers. Was there any discussion of ways to try and bake in protections against this happening?

In the game Civilisation VI, Ra-kedet (Rhacotis in Greek) is said to be the name of Alexandria before Alexander's conquest of Egypt and is the capital of the Egyptian 'civ'. Yet upon further search I could only find a reference to such a place in the highly fictitious Alexander Romance (I.31 of the Greek and Armenian version). Arrian does not mention it in his account of the foundation of Alexandria (III.1) nor does Curtius (IV.8).

I got linked a Wikipedia page that has no particularly useful citations and there are scattered references to the place among other articles but only one suggest a historical source, the Alexander Romance.

I was wondering if any of the people of AH who know the sources better could help me out here.

Thank you! :)

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Are the later (Second?) Jewish migrations from Arab nations caused by the Arab nations themselves or because Jewish people had a place to call their own, and decided to leave for better prospects?

Are there specialized types they would have favored for these other activities or were bi/triremes generally the favored vessel of the day?

I'm doing some reading on the Later Roman Empire, and was wondering how one fell yet the other stood, and thrived for Nearly a thousand years?

Trying to find some historians views on the significance of these events but am having difficulty, help would be much appreciated.