Thanks for the explanation.
Sounds good to me too. One must wonder what may happen if Auraria becomes home to a significant immigrant population.......
Lands of Red and Gold
- Thread starter Jared
- Start date
- Status
Sounds good to me too. One must wonder what may happen if Auraria becomes home to a significant immigrant population.......
Sounds good to me too. One must wonder what may happen if Auraria becomes home to a significant immigrant population.......
But is it likely to?
After all, Australia as a whole has never been the most benevolent of habitats, and intercontinental immigration has largely, historically, come from Europe. Most people living there probably wouldn't be particularly interested in going to Aururia, what with it not being the almost monolithically British place it was IOTL. The UK probably won't exactly be depositing the same amount of prisoners either, so whence would one get said immigrants at all?
Kaiphranos
Donor
This seems like one of the areas where Jared will have to decide what the net demographic effect of Aururian plagues + Aururian crops will be...
Well, it's currently, with flash-forwards generously sprinkled about, mainly the middle of the 17th century. Here we are in the early 21st. That's over three and a half centuries for developments.
Developments such as
1) someone from Europe colonizes parts or all of Aururia. After all it's called "Lands of Red and Gold," isn't it? I hope not, though we've already seen the entering wedges of European hegemony in places. My impression of these Aururians is, they are tough customers. Not just brawlers or brave fighters; they are shrewd. It must be hell in a lawsuit when your opponent's lawyer is an Aururian... I think they'll resist, and they'll be hard to swallow, and they'll turn colonial domination around to make it as much their deal as their nominal conquerors. But still, it might happen, if not to the whole continent in one hegemonic swallow, than to parts. So, in that case, there's some immigrants right there. Some will come in fancying themselves the new bosses; others as servants of these lordly types.
2) in the case where parts of Aururia remain nominally or even clearly independent, in several centuries, parts of Aururia might get to be important in their own right, important enough to be courted as alliance partners on the stages of global politics. Some of those alliances will be with parties that lose battles; the upshot would be, exiles on the losing side of some foreign faction fight who have been defeated and needed to flee will be looking for new homes, and from time to time their Aururian allies will freely or grudgingly offer such a refuge.
So no, not the overwhelming legions of colonists from some hegemonic country that displaced and diluted the native population down to practically nothing of OTL. But there will probably be some sort of resident foreign population; if some major Aururian state is on the losing side of something as big as say the OTL 1848 revolts, a lot of refugees from that set of mostly aborted or soon coopted rebellions wound up in the USA OTL. For them to go all the way to Aururia, when Aururia isn't "opened" to settlement the way the mid-19th century US was, I think it has to be more than a distant spot on the globe; some positive iink would have to draw these refugees.
Developments such as
1) someone from Europe colonizes parts or all of Aururia. After all it's called "Lands of Red and Gold," isn't it?
I hope not, though we've already seen the entering wedges of European hegemony in places. My impression of these Aururians is, they are tough customers. Not just brawlers or brave fighters; they are shrewd. It must be hell in a lawsuit when your opponent's lawyer is an Aururian... I think they'll resist, and they'll be hard to swallow, and they'll turn colonial domination around to make it as much their deal as their nominal conquerors. But still, it might happen, if not to the whole continent in one hegemonic swallow, than to parts. So, in that case, there's some immigrants right there. Some will come in fancying themselves the new bosses; others as servants of these lordly types.2) in the case where parts of Aururia remain nominally or even clearly independent, in several centuries, parts of Aururia might get to be important in their own right, important enough to be courted as alliance partners on the stages of global politics. Some of those alliances will be with parties that lose battles; the upshot would be, exiles on the losing side of some foreign faction fight who have been defeated and needed to flee will be looking for new homes, and from time to time their Aururian allies will freely or grudgingly offer such a refuge.
So no, not the overwhelming legions of colonists from some hegemonic country that displaced and diluted the native population down to practically nothing of OTL. But there will probably be some sort of resident foreign population; if some major Aururian state is on the losing side of something as big as say the OTL 1848 revolts, a lot of refugees from that set of mostly aborted or soon coopted rebellions wound up in the USA OTL. For them to go all the way to Aururia, when Aururia isn't "opened" to settlement the way the mid-19th century US was, I think it has to be more than a distant spot on the globe; some positive iink would have to draw these refugees.
Sounds good to me too. One must wonder what may happen if Auraria becomes home to a significant immigrant population.......
And the rate of technological progress, and the effects of Aururian interaction with Asia - the Nangu are already trading actively with Java and Japan, and technologically they are capable of reaching any port in East Asia as far as Port Arthur / Lüshunkou, although they wouldn't be anywhere near as good at naval warfare - and various other things.
This is a situation where there's a lot of factors at play, and I haven't worked out all of the details yet, by any means. But I can mention a few general trends:
In northern Europe, Aururian crops provide only a relatively minor demographic boost except in certain specialised areas - Denmark and post-*Potato Famine Ireland being two already mentioned - because things like potatoes and other crops give a higher yield per acre. On the other hand, Aururian plagues - both diseases initially, and Marnitja as an ongoing problem - reduce population growth rates.
Wildcard developments could still come into play - for instance, with the *Thirty Years' War, some parts of the Holy Roman Empire are less depopulated than in OTL, while others (e.g. Bohemia) are more depopulated. Some technological cross-fertilisation may also have an effect, including the effects of Aururian medicine and the concept of peer review. On the whole, though, contact is probably a net drag on northern Europe for a century at least, probably two or more.
Southern Europe, however, still has the population drag of the Aururian plagues, but the effect of Aururian crops is a significant increase in the carrying capacity of the region. At some point this will lead to a larger population than OTL, and depending on other social and political factors, may also lead to significant emigration from some southern European countries.
Of course, there's plenty of other targets for any such emigration apart from Aururia.
Developments such as
1) someone from Europe colonizes parts or all of Aururia. After all it's called "Lands of Red and Gold," isn't it?
Indeed, although it's far from obvious what form of European hegemony that will lead to. The obvious extremes are what happened to the Americas - wholescale political conquest and in many cases population replacements - versus what happened to East Asia - economic influence more than anything else.
The gold and spices of Aururia are massive drawcards for European interest in the place. On the other hand, the logistics of invasion are much harder than that of crossing the Atlantic in OTL, and the population are both technologically superior to those regions, and somewhat more resistant to Old World diseases (due both to local conditions and the sheer travel time). So on the whole, I'd expect the outcome to be closer to the East Asian model, although obviously the disease factors still need to be considered.
The level of political sophistication varies enormously around the continent. So, more subtly, does the systems of political organisation and their vulnerability to outside disruption.
On the one extreme you have the Atjuntja, whose political sophistication is somewhat lower, and whose economic structure - centrally managed control of trade and resources - is rather vulnerable to disruption by as simple a fact as European seaborne transportation. The Yadji are somewhat more politically sophisticated, but also have a rather centralised system of political control and planning - managed by the ruling Yadji family and their control of the priestly bureaucracy.
On the other extreme, you have the kingdom of Tjibarr, who while they are technologically inferior to thee Old World, have a long history of effective diplomacy, an almost instinctive grasp of the balance of power, an economy and political climate which encourages long-term planning, and a cultural tendency for argumentation and disputation. Taken together, these mean that anyone who shakes hands with a Gunnagal would be well-advised to count their fingers afterwards. And they have the geographical good fortune of being located in a position which makes it much harder for Europeans to project power into their heartland.
The Nangu, while economically and demographically vulnerable - there's only about sixty or seventy thousand of them, all told - have a very strong commercial focus and political nous which leaves them very receptive to European technologies and other innovations.
The Kiyungu and the Kurnawal fall somewhere in between those extremes.
There's no doubt that there will be plenty of individual Europeans who will find reasons to settle in Aururia. The question which is more difficult to answer is whether those migrants will be numerous enough to have a major demographic effect on the continent. Which depends both on the incentives for mass migration from Europe, and the demographic and political balance inside Aururia which will dictate how easily Europeans can settle there.
In OTL, IIRC, there were only really two European powers where a major proportion of the population emigrated overseas as part of colonial empire-building: Britain (including Ireland for these purposes) and Portugal. Spain had some overseas emigres, but as a proportion of the population it was much lower. France generally didn't send many of its population overseas, nor did the Dutch, much (especially the VOC).
ATL Spain may have more of a push for emigration than it had in OTL - thanks to Aururian crops - but I'd expect that to matter more in Latin America than in Aururia. Britain and Portugal will have much the same push for emigration, although whether that will end up in Aururia is much less likely.
Of course, a lot of Europeans from other nations emigrated into what were relatively empty lands - Germans, Italians and others into the USA, Italians and others into Argentina, and so on - but this was mostly because those lands were relatively unpopulated (thanks to Old World diseases), rather than being a particular push from a colonial power to establish much in the way of migration.
If Aururia is relatively more populated than it was in OTL - which of course it will be - then it will be seen as far less welcoming than OTL Australia was, even in conditions where Britain and others are sending more migrants.
In OTL, the pre-contact population is highly argued, but it declined by perhaps 90% between 1788 and 1900-1920, and only started to recover thereafter. The surviving Aboriginal population was, of course, largely swamped by British and later emigration.
ITTL, Aururia has a pre-contact population of something over 10 million. The demographic losses, while catastrophic, won't be as bad as in OTL in percentage terms.
This is for two reasons. Firstly, the presence of native epidemics means that there is somewhat stronger adaptive immune systems (for reasons I've outlined previously). Secondly, the earlier contact while navigational technology is lower means that Old World epidemics will arrive more slowly, over the course of more generations, and there will be less of a "one-two punch" like what happened in the OTL Americas (and to a lesser degree OTL Australia) where major epidemics like smallpox and measles hit right after each other, leading to even worse population losses because of an already-weakened population.
The net effect will be that the Aururian population is still very badly hit, but will decline over a slower period to something like 3-3.5 million, and then start to recover. This will still leave a relatively-inhabited continent, which will be much less open to mass European migration.
Could well be, particularly if there ever is a global war of the equivalent of WW1 or WW2. Of course, part of those migrations may also mean Aururians displaced from their own homeland and setling elsewhere.
Mass migrations are certainly much less likely to target Aururia, yes. Other factors may still attract an immigrant population - gold, spices, refugees, and so on are obvious possibilities - but those would have to be rather large migrations to make the native Aururians a minority on their own continent.
mojojojo
Gone Fishin'
Have the Plirite made any converts in these areas? Also, what do Christian.Muslim and Buddhist faithful think of the Plirite religion?
Not many, yet, if any, although it's not for lack of trying. Contact has been rather short-term so far - the Islanders basically arrive long enough to trade, then go home.
Depends very much on what region and religion you're talking about.
Dutch Christians mostly ignore it, so far, being content with their own faith but not so inclined to try to convert others. Catholics (not that many have come into contact with Plirites yet) are more unwelcoming, to say the least. Javan Muslims are sometimes bemused, but more often offended by attempts to convert them.
Buddhists, on the other hand, have had all sorts of conversations with Plirite priests...
I have given some thought to writing a series of "Answers for Werringi" (or something similar) which would involve a conversation with a Buddhist monk or two. I can't say I'm versed enough in Buddhism to write such a post, though.
Other than that, more generally, East Asian Buddhism (and East Asia more generally) seems to be more compatible with people holding multiple faiths. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism in China, Shintoism and Buddhism in Japan, etc. Not that this means that those regions are always welcoming - see Catholicism in Japan, for instance, or some periods in Chinese history - but overall, they would be less hostile to Plirism than Islamic or Christian nations.
Or just a suggestion we're a chatty group.
Most of the Buddhists I know would probably fit that description.
You are a Plirite?
If so, that would make at least 3...
Lands of Red and Gold #56: What Becomes Of Memory
Lands of Red and Gold #56: What Becomes Of Memory
Lands of Red and Gold #56: What Becomes Of Memory
Lands of Red and Gold has been on hiatus for a while, and the bad news is that it will mostly remain that way for a few more weeks. I'm getting married in a few days, and for some strange reason I think that should take precedence. I'll probably check in briefly over the next couple of days, and after that I'll be offline until after the honeymoon.
The good news is that, in line with the recent suggestion for having shorter but more frequent updates, I do have a series of short posts ready to go. I'll start posting them when I get back, and hopefully that means that I'll be able to keep up fortnightly LoRaG posts after that.
As something of a teaser, here’s the first part of what happens when William Baffin meets Aururia’s premier glass-makers...
* * *
“Yesterday is today’s memory. Tomorrow is today’s dream.”
- Daluming proverb
* * *
First touch of the morning. Eastward the horizon glows crimson and amber as the sky begins its slow transformation from black of the night to blue of the day.
Golden is the light, shining from the first rising of the sun’s disc, reflecting from the fragments of cloud wafting above. Golden too is the water, shining around the Intrepid as if the vessel floats on an ocean of endless wealth.
William Baffin stands at the bow. He watches the land, not the sea. Waves and clouds he has seen many times before, even those with the hue of gold. He cares more for what he may see on the shore of what he calls the Land of Gold.
He is about to be rewarded for his attention.
Westward the shore waits, stretching out in an endless line as the Intrepid passes north, darkness of sand taking on hues golden and white as the first shards of light touch it. Beyond the beach, the shore is merely hints and shadows, glimpses of trees and hills that await the full rising of the sun to be brought into light.
Northward the Intrepid sails, while Baffin keeps vigil. The shore draws closer to the vessel, not from the direction of the ship, but because here the land extends further east. Baffin turns back for a moment, and sees the helmsman is alert and in place at the stern. No further words are needed, so he returns his gaze to the nearing shore.
Or so he tries.
Light shines brilliantly at him, a triangular constellation. A thousand individual flashes, perfectly positioned to reflect the dawning sun back at him in golden splendour. Dazzling, blinding, a myriad of starlets reaching an apex far higher than the masts of the Intrepid.
He lowers his gaze rather than lose his sight.
Baffin snaps orders to bring the ship nearer the shore, and then heave to in preparation for dropping the anchor. More cautiously this time, he raises a hand to shade his eyes and look back at the shore.
Golden light shines back at him still, but the passage of the ship has been far enough that he can take in the spectacle. A thousand mirrors give back the sun’s touch in silent testament. Housed in a fitting edifice, a pyramid of some pale stone that itself takes on the same lustrous golden hue in the morning light.
And so William Baffin, already the first European captain to visit the shores of eastern Aururia, becomes the first Raw Man to gaze upon the largest single monument built in the Third World.
Glass, he quickly realises. The thousand lights must be glass. Nothing else could be found or made in enough abundance to shine like that. Set in a pyramid built in several steps. Ten levels, he counts.
A pyramid. Is this Land of Gold truly not so isolated after all? Did some band of the ancient Egyptians land here ages ago, and built this monument to their arrival?
Impatience grips him. He must find out more about this pyramid. The order to sail close and lower the boats has already been given, so he can do naught but look longer upon this shining construction, and around it for any sign of the people who built it.
He sees a few trees and fields on the shore, but if there is any large town nearby, it must be to the north. An island takes shape just off the coast to the north; it will probably create a sheltered harbour beyond. For now, though, he sees nothing of the makers; he must find what he can from the pyramid itself.
Slower than he likes, the Intrepid anchors near the shore. Baffin is in the first boat, taking a place at oar nearest the bow of the smaller vessel. Eagerness runs through him, enough that he mistimes his oar strokes; he keeps rowing faster than the others.
When the boat runs into the shallows, Baffin leaps out and runs toward the pyramid. Leave others to pull that boat ashore. He hurries to something much more important.
The approach of the boats has brought him nearest to the southern face of the pyramid. Easier to investigate here anyway; the eastern face is still swathed in dawnlight.
The pyramid rises up above him. Up close, he realises just how tall it stands. The first step-level is far above him, well over twenty feet, perhaps thirty.
Now, though, he sees what makes the shining lights. Niches have been set at regular intervals into the top of each step. A sheet of clear – or almost-clear – glass has been set in each one. It is those mirrors, positioned to reflect the light, which so dazzled him on his first glimpse. If the glass niches hold anything, he cannot see it from down here.
Only after a few moments of gazing up in frustration does he look around and realise that there is a way to climb up. A staircase has been cut into the first level of the pyramid, about a third of the way along the southern face. The stairs are very steep, but he runs up them quickly anyhow.
A glass-covered niche is set at the top of each side of the staircase. Looking into them is not easy; the staircase is set deep enough into the first level that he cannot see into them during the climb. Baffin gets onto the first level of the pyramid, lies down on the ground, and carefully pushes his head over the edge for an upside down look into the first niche.
A skull stares back at him.
Surely not!
Baffin rises to his knees and crawls across to look into the next niche.
Another skull grins back at him.
Baffin pulls himself to his feet, feeling numb inside. He runs his gaze across the immense length of the first level, with the regular glass niches, then finds his eyes drawn inexorably upward. To where nine more levels of the pyramid still tower above him, every one of them filled with skull-niches.
Baffin sinks back to his knees, his mouth open but incapable of shaping words, and he cannot tear his eyes away from the monument rising above him.
* * *
Thoughts?
Lands of Red and Gold #56: What Becomes Of Memory
Lands of Red and Gold has been on hiatus for a while, and the bad news is that it will mostly remain that way for a few more weeks. I'm getting married in a few days, and for some strange reason I think that should take precedence. I'll probably check in briefly over the next couple of days, and after that I'll be offline until after the honeymoon.
The good news is that, in line with the recent suggestion for having shorter but more frequent updates, I do have a series of short posts ready to go. I'll start posting them when I get back, and hopefully that means that I'll be able to keep up fortnightly LoRaG posts after that.
As something of a teaser, here’s the first part of what happens when William Baffin meets Aururia’s premier glass-makers...
* * *
“Yesterday is today’s memory. Tomorrow is today’s dream.”
- Daluming proverb
* * *
First touch of the morning. Eastward the horizon glows crimson and amber as the sky begins its slow transformation from black of the night to blue of the day.
Golden is the light, shining from the first rising of the sun’s disc, reflecting from the fragments of cloud wafting above. Golden too is the water, shining around the Intrepid as if the vessel floats on an ocean of endless wealth.
William Baffin stands at the bow. He watches the land, not the sea. Waves and clouds he has seen many times before, even those with the hue of gold. He cares more for what he may see on the shore of what he calls the Land of Gold.
He is about to be rewarded for his attention.
Westward the shore waits, stretching out in an endless line as the Intrepid passes north, darkness of sand taking on hues golden and white as the first shards of light touch it. Beyond the beach, the shore is merely hints and shadows, glimpses of trees and hills that await the full rising of the sun to be brought into light.
Northward the Intrepid sails, while Baffin keeps vigil. The shore draws closer to the vessel, not from the direction of the ship, but because here the land extends further east. Baffin turns back for a moment, and sees the helmsman is alert and in place at the stern. No further words are needed, so he returns his gaze to the nearing shore.
Or so he tries.
Light shines brilliantly at him, a triangular constellation. A thousand individual flashes, perfectly positioned to reflect the dawning sun back at him in golden splendour. Dazzling, blinding, a myriad of starlets reaching an apex far higher than the masts of the Intrepid.
He lowers his gaze rather than lose his sight.
Baffin snaps orders to bring the ship nearer the shore, and then heave to in preparation for dropping the anchor. More cautiously this time, he raises a hand to shade his eyes and look back at the shore.
Golden light shines back at him still, but the passage of the ship has been far enough that he can take in the spectacle. A thousand mirrors give back the sun’s touch in silent testament. Housed in a fitting edifice, a pyramid of some pale stone that itself takes on the same lustrous golden hue in the morning light.
And so William Baffin, already the first European captain to visit the shores of eastern Aururia, becomes the first Raw Man to gaze upon the largest single monument built in the Third World.
Glass, he quickly realises. The thousand lights must be glass. Nothing else could be found or made in enough abundance to shine like that. Set in a pyramid built in several steps. Ten levels, he counts.
A pyramid. Is this Land of Gold truly not so isolated after all? Did some band of the ancient Egyptians land here ages ago, and built this monument to their arrival?
Impatience grips him. He must find out more about this pyramid. The order to sail close and lower the boats has already been given, so he can do naught but look longer upon this shining construction, and around it for any sign of the people who built it.
He sees a few trees and fields on the shore, but if there is any large town nearby, it must be to the north. An island takes shape just off the coast to the north; it will probably create a sheltered harbour beyond. For now, though, he sees nothing of the makers; he must find what he can from the pyramid itself.
Slower than he likes, the Intrepid anchors near the shore. Baffin is in the first boat, taking a place at oar nearest the bow of the smaller vessel. Eagerness runs through him, enough that he mistimes his oar strokes; he keeps rowing faster than the others.
When the boat runs into the shallows, Baffin leaps out and runs toward the pyramid. Leave others to pull that boat ashore. He hurries to something much more important.
The approach of the boats has brought him nearest to the southern face of the pyramid. Easier to investigate here anyway; the eastern face is still swathed in dawnlight.
The pyramid rises up above him. Up close, he realises just how tall it stands. The first step-level is far above him, well over twenty feet, perhaps thirty.
Now, though, he sees what makes the shining lights. Niches have been set at regular intervals into the top of each step. A sheet of clear – or almost-clear – glass has been set in each one. It is those mirrors, positioned to reflect the light, which so dazzled him on his first glimpse. If the glass niches hold anything, he cannot see it from down here.
Only after a few moments of gazing up in frustration does he look around and realise that there is a way to climb up. A staircase has been cut into the first level of the pyramid, about a third of the way along the southern face. The stairs are very steep, but he runs up them quickly anyhow.
A glass-covered niche is set at the top of each side of the staircase. Looking into them is not easy; the staircase is set deep enough into the first level that he cannot see into them during the climb. Baffin gets onto the first level of the pyramid, lies down on the ground, and carefully pushes his head over the edge for an upside down look into the first niche.
A skull stares back at him.
Surely not!
Baffin rises to his knees and crawls across to look into the next niche.
Another skull grins back at him.
Baffin pulls himself to his feet, feeling numb inside. He runs his gaze across the immense length of the first level, with the regular glass niches, then finds his eyes drawn inexorably upward. To where nine more levels of the pyramid still tower above him, every one of them filled with skull-niches.
Baffin sinks back to his knees, his mouth open but incapable of shaping words, and he cannot tear his eyes away from the monument rising above him.
* * *
Thoughts?
Congratulations, Jared!
Also congratulations to Baffin, though he may not be particularly happy about what he found, at the moment. It is one of the creepier ways to decorate a spare pyramid.
Also congratulations to Baffin, though he may not be particularly happy about what he found, at the moment. It is one of the creepier ways to decorate a spare pyramid.
I wonder how much Baffin would associate pyramids with Egypt. There wasn't a lot of talk about the Pyramids--none I can recall--in the Bible, and that would be a European of this period's main association with Egypt. To be sure there are always travelers, and Egypt is both right next to Palestine and itself an associated "Holy Land" to Christian pilgrims.
But meanwhile, there are the Mesoamericans to think of too. I imagine the Aururian pyramid more resembles an Aztec or Mayan step-pyramid than an Egyptian smooth one, and lurid tales by the Conquistadors might stick in the contemporary European mind more than traveler's tales about Egypt.
To be sure, if Baffin is thinking "Egyptian pyramid!" and then sees the skulls, he'll switch over to "Aztec pyramid" and it will give him mental whiplash! So it's funnier if he's thinking Egyptian at first.
But I just don't know how much Egypt was a factor in European consciousness in the Early Modern period, before Napoleon's expedition there, whereas the American versions will be more recently on their minds, especially for world explorer types like Baffin.
But meanwhile, there are the Mesoamericans to think of too. I imagine the Aururian pyramid more resembles an Aztec or Mayan step-pyramid than an Egyptian smooth one, and lurid tales by the Conquistadors might stick in the contemporary European mind more than traveler's tales about Egypt.
To be sure, if Baffin is thinking "Egyptian pyramid!" and then sees the skulls, he'll switch over to "Aztec pyramid" and it will give him mental whiplash!
So it's funnier if he's thinking Egyptian at first.But I just don't know how much Egypt was a factor in European consciousness in the Early Modern period, before Napoleon's expedition there, whereas the American versions will be more recently on their minds, especially for world explorer types like Baffin.
Kaiphranos
Donor
Congratulations on the forthcoming nuptials!
And it's always nice to have an update, too. I look forward to finding out what happens when Baffin meets the builders...
And it's always nice to have an update, too. I look forward to finding out what happens when Baffin meets the builders...
I wonder how much Baffin would associate pyramids with Egypt. There wasn't a lot of talk about the Pyramids--none I can recall--in the Bible, and that would be a European of this period's main association with Egypt. To be sure there are always travelers, and Egypt is both right next to Palestine and itself an associated "Holy Land" to Christian pilgrims.
But meanwhile, there are the Mesoamericans to think of too. I imagine the Aururian pyramid more resembles an Aztec or Mayan step-pyramid than an Egyptian smooth one, and lurid tales by the Conquistadors might stick in the contemporary European mind more than traveler's tales about Egypt.
To be sure, if Baffin is thinking "Egyptian pyramid!" and then sees the skulls, he'll switch over to "Aztec pyramid" and it will give him mental whiplash!
But I just don't know how much Egypt was a factor in European consciousness in the Early Modern period, before Napoleon's expedition there, whereas the American versions will be more recently on their minds, especially for world explorer types like Baffin.
There was interest, fo sure. Athanasius Kircher tried to decipher hieroglyphs around this time, for example.
- Status