As part of my bioethics course I have been tasked with leading a class debate on the rights of children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). During the discussion we realized that due to the prevelance of alcohol in (at least by our conclusions) western society, especially the middle ages, surely more of the population should be affected by ancestors of this disease.

My question is, when did it become common knowledge OR cultural taboo to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy? (Western society or otherwise)

Searching reveals just one post mentioning the Desert Fathers. I'm surprised they've never been asked about, as what I've read indicates they contributed significantly to early Christianity. However, the article I read really only says that they did, and doesn't mention in what ways.

I don't see them mentioned much anywhere, really, and I think it's strange that they aren't mentioned more if they're supposedly such significant contributors to the religion. So, what can you tell me about this?

I am not speaking of the war so much. Rather, I'm asking more from an ideological standpoint.

A few days ago TCM aired "Lawrence of Arabia", and although I didn't make it through the entire film (it was late) I couldn't help but wonder when the region's leaders realized they were sitting on vast amounts of oil reserves. How did that discovery change the identity and culture of the people in that region, if at all?

In other words, exactly how and why are video games a useful source for the historian today? Almost all (good) video games now have some kind of historical component or reflect on a concept that has also occupied historians of various eras and themes, but could anybody help me clarify my thoughts a bit and suggest more precisely why video games could be both a useful and a unique source?

Are there any resources detailing the rules for cuneiform ligature generation?

I'm watching Lawrence of Arabia for the first time and just heard about these early street lights 51 minutes in. I can't begin to imagine what that city looked like. I paused the film to ask this question.

Does anyone know of any visual interpretations of what that city (or others like it) might have looked like at night? Sketches...paintings....films?

Considering that treaties made between countries and kings were so important in the Medieval age, how did those kings approve these type of documents? I know that many of them were illiterate. Per example, in my country (Portugal), the first king to learn how to write and read only came in the late XIII century (Denis of Portugal). However, Portugal was independent since 1143 and by that time, many treaties and other legal documents had to be written and approved. So, how did the kings approve them? If they couldn't write, they couldn't sign them. Did they just tell someone to record their approval?

Both Ireland and Israel engaged in a conscious effort to revive a language that had not been spoken as a first language in a long time. Why is it that Israel's succeeded, resulting in modern Hebrew being spoken as a first language by millions of Israelis, and Irish did not, save for a few small pockets in the rural countryside?

Looking back in all of history Spain was quite the empire, up there with France and Great Britain. Now whenever I look at modern things like the UN security council for example, or just military power and WW1/2, Spain is largely irrelevant.

What happened? I do know of when their entire fleet was raped by England back in the day, but that seems more like one incident not a reason for full-on decline. Would really appreciate some interesting education on the matter here.

Edit: Whoops, meant 20th century, not 19th.

I understand that before the Marian reforms each citizen soldier was expected to provide his own arms and armour. However, after Rome addopted a full time, professional armed force how did it go about manufacturing the masses of equipment needed?

Who made this equipment and who paid them? Was prodction of military equipment handled by the state, or contracted out to private blacksmiths, ect? How was standardisation and quality control handled?

Thanks in advance.