Questions tagged [sources]
For questions regarding primary and secondary evidence that allows us to draw conclusions about historical happenings. Use this tag for requests for analysis of specific sources. More general questions on how historians study sources should be tagged with historiography.
109 questions
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Did the king of Mari, Zimri-Lim, and Hammurabi have male lovers?
While I was researching accounts of homosexuality in Mesopotamian cultures, I came across this particular article: Homosexuality in the Ancient Near East, beyond Egypt by Bruce L. Gerig.
In this ...
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How fair were non-state allocations of common rights?
I need to compare allocation of rights deriving from formal governance to allocation of rights through informal/community based decision making.
I'm seeking a specific reference, (see below), but if ...
MCW♦
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What is the source for Cixi dreaming on the train?
There is a persistent narrative that Cixi (Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty) dreamt badly on her first train voyage and therefore banished trains to a place far from Beijing. This was made a film ...
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Is this story of John Wesley, a horse, and a bridge true?
I recently heard a story about John Wesley giving way to a stubborn man while on a narrow bridge: in short, Wesley was riding his horse on a bridge, while a man who was known to be a critic of Wesley ...
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Is this a photo of a historical reinactment of an 1868 treaty signing?
I've stumbled up this image in the National Archives describing the 1868 treaty between the Navajo and United States, which was signed when the Navajo were released from Bosque Redondo.
https://...
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Who claimed Alexander had a hairy heart?
From Avellaneda's Continuation of Don Quixote, chapter 6, p. 34 (circa 1614, translated by Yardley 1784 apparently after the French of Le Sage 1705 but it all seems very confusing). Don Quixote says:
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Did the Dutch eat their Prime Minister?
According to this article an angry—one might add hungry—Dutch mob feasted on the mutilated remains of their ‘Grand Pensionary’ (i.e. Prime Minister) De Witt and his brother:
There are accounts of some ...
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Did the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV. (1795 - 1861) ever write: "Das Volk ist mir zum Kotzen" = "The people makes me sick"?
Where does the Prussian king write "Das Volk ist mir zum Kotzen" = "The people makes me sick," as claimed in 6:26 in Die Revolution von 1848 I musstewissen Geschichte?
The video ...
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Is there a standard authority on the textual history of the authors of antiquity?
Given a book coming to us from ancient Greece/Rome (no reason to necessarily limit just to those two, if there's a wider answer), is there a standard way for me to find out how the text came down to ...
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What is the original provenance of Lincoln's "of the people, by the people, for the people" and why is Wikipedia so confused?
I was curious about the provenance of Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address proclamation regarding government "of the people, by the people, for the people", so I looked it up on ...
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Where can I find Japanese oil production figures through WWII?
I am searching for scientific or statistical sources for data on petroleum production in Japan from 1920 till 1945. I had found some statistics in League of Nations Statistical Bulletins, but there is ...
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When did Albertus Magnus write 'On Animals'?
When is it most likely that Albertus Magnus finished writing On Animals ?
I can't seem to find any guesses more accurate than "within his lifetime"
user50230
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How do we know when Nero was born?
If I go onto Wikipedia, I can see an answer of when he was born. But I can't really follow the sources. How do historians know when Nero was born?
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How reliable is Herodotus' report on Babylonian sacred harlotry?
I'm looking for confirmation regarding Herodotus' report on sacred harlotry in Babylon:
The foulest Babylonian custom is that which compels every woman of the
land to sit in the temple of Aphrodite ...
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Where was gunpowder invented/ discovered?
There are many people on the internet claiming that India discovered/ invented gunpowder for eg, many of these claims quote Dr. Gustav Oppart (acs.org, and see below). Wikipedia says that gunpowder ...
