Eshermekites

Eshermekites, an ancient people who were the known inhabitants of the city of Eshermek and the surrounding area thousands of years ago.

Some of the Eshermekites migrated throughout the known world trading and blending into different ethnic and religious groups throughout the millennia.

Their decline is currently unknown to many scholars who have some theories about the Eshermekite diaspora that are traced to modern peoples in Africa, Eurasia, Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East.

History
Many Eshermekites became displaced during the Classical Period to the Dark Ages and migrated to different parts of the known world.

Migration to the New World
Over the years many historians argued that the Eshermekites became associated with the pre-Columbian contact between the Native American tribes and the Eshermekite settlers.

There is evidence of Eshermitic writing found in Canada and the United States and mostly in New England that dated back to their diaspora.

This theory was proposed by the anthropologists at the Eastbury University who were studying the Eshermek Tablets and also their culture.

Evidence of Eshermekites in Asia
The Eshermekites migrated throughout Asia reaching as far as China and India. Some of the architecture of the region had similarities between the traditional geometric Eshermitic designs and also the decorations found in ancient Eshermek.

Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Persian Empire was the largest in the ancient world extending from Anatolia and Egypt across western Asia to northern India and Central Asia. Its formation began in 550 B.C., when King Astyages of Media, who dominated much of Iran and eastern Anatolia (Turkey), was defeated by his southern neighbor Cyrus II (“the Great”), king of Persia (r. 559–530 B.C.) by this the Eshermekites were gone and the city was deserted at this point except for a few settlers. However, the Persians looked at the records and wrote about the former inhabitants that once thrived there. Soon people from the East started to migrate to the Persian Empire and settled there. The records stated that they spoke a strange language that was not known to other peoples including the Persians who adopted some words in their language from these people.

China
In China evidence of Eshermitic inscriptions and tablets were found in the ruins of ancient cities. The Han Dynasty came in 206 B.C. and lasted about 220 A.D. in this period the Eshermekite settlers, became merchants, officials, and diplomats. After the end of the Han Dynasty, the Eshermekite population decreased and were forced to migrate to Central Asia where they adopted a new culture and also language.

India
While the Eshermekite settlers settled in Central Asia the 100,000 migrated throughout the Indian Subcontinent during the 9th century A.D. and began to mix with the native population of the Deccan Plateau. Many Eshermekites became Buddhist converts to the faith and also practiced Hinduism.

They were mistakenly called Parsis, a member of the larger of the two Zoroastrian communities of the Indian subcontinent.

This was because some of them practiced Zoroastrianism and migrated to the subcontinent at the same time.

Persia
The Safavids were a native Iranian dynasty from Azerbaijan that ruled from 1501 to 1736, established Shi'a Islam as Iran's official religion, and united its provinces under single Iranian sovereignty in the early modern period. In 1509 the Eshermekites settlers came to the capital of Tabriz and became merchants and dignitaries. This time they were called the Tabriz Merchants and spoke a dialect of Persian.

Modern Descendants
Today the fate of the Eshermekites has been a long disputed debate throughout the discovery of their ancient city.

The numerous regions of Eshermekite were settled by them in the past, and also they were once thought to be related to the Canaanites and Midianites from the Holy Land.

After 1919 a few ethnic groups claim to be descendants of the inhabitants of ancient Eshermek and these claims went as far as Central Asia.

The Turkic people claimed to be descendants of these ancient peoples however it was dismissed by anthropologists.

This started a series of questions about whether or not the Eshermekites ever reached as far as Siberia and North America.

There was some evidence of the Eshermekites settling in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula near the Red Sea mixing with the native peoples.

Culture
The Eshermekites were agricultural and industrial people who did mostly farming and raising cattle and also dealt in trade and investment from the neighboring people.

However new evidence of Eshermek being a center for trade and learning dates back to the year 9,000 B.C. and became a major destination for scholars and philosophers.

The city of Eshermek was ruled by magistrates and also priests who carried out their power on the people.

Clothing
Eshermekite clothing consisted of tunics, dresses, cloaks, and robes often made of different materials from grasses to wool and sometimes the traders gave foreign textiles to the merchants of the city.

A common citizen usually wore wool clothes with a belt made of leather or a sash that was red or purple and oftentimes the men wore loincloths and the women wore gowns made of wool or feathers.

The wealthy women dressed up in ornate gowns and often wore their hair in a bun usually decorated with a comb made of ivory or sometimes gold depending on how wealthy the individual was at the time.

Also, the noblemen wore headbands made of woven golden threads, and sometimes they would wear a round cap with a design that resembled geometric shapes and wavy patterns representing their class and wealth.

Everybody had either sandals or boots that were made of leather and usually were fastened together by straps made of hemp or laces made from twine.

The magistrates wore a long robe made of the finest wool from sheep that was usually dyed and embroidered with different designs and the high priests wore colorful clothing made of the finest cloth and fabrics from other places.

Wearing jewelry was an important part of being a woman because of the symbolism and importance of the freedom to express themselves by wearing different colored rings, necklaces, and bracelets.

Men usually wore brooches made from animal bones and sometimes seashells covered in different carvings and designs that usually were used for ceremonies and rituals.

The peasants wore simple clothes made out of woven grass and camel fur which was a very common practice in that era and oftentimes long coarse robes were also used during the day.

Slaves would wear loincloths and oftentimes had to make their clothes from anything they found and were not allowed to wear anything valuable or else they would face severe punishments from their owners.

Food and Drink
Eshermekites were mostly agricultural and fishing people, they ate what they farmed such as wheat, barley, lentils, beans, garlic, onions, milk, and dairy products.

There is some evidence that they made bread and beer from grains and drank wine on special occasions made out of wild grapes.

They also ate meat, usually from fish, goats, sheep, pigs, and cattle, and sometimes they eat shellfish and octopus they caught off the coast.

Society
Eshermekite society was based on social hierarchy and land ownership that only the wealthy and the elite people maintained and the rest of the peasants lived in small houses made of any material they could find from clay to rock.

The magistrate was the head of everyone in the city that oversaw everything from social to cultural and the high priest was in charge of keeping religious order and sometimes conducted human sacrifices to appease the gods.

There was evidence of slavery and servitude that was practiced by the wealthy and high-ranking officials and landowners who would pay their share for the services sometimes the slaves would be set free and become part of society.

Worship was mandatory and also led to condemnation from the high priest if not carried out every day and if anyone tried to disobey the religious law they were punished by death or exile from the city only with the permission of the magistrate.

Farmers often shared their crops with the magistrate and wealthy landowners to receive the right to expand their fields and own land themselves and this would involve them paying for their freedom.

If their products did not meet the requirements of the magistrate they would become servants or concubines and serve the rest of their life to him until the debt is paid off.

Language
The Eshermekites spoke a language that was phonetically similar to Semitic, with influences from Indo-European, Indic, Anatolian, and Caucasian languages mixed with the dialects of Sumerian, Babylonian, Hittite, and Phoenician languages.

There were traces of Hellenic, Celtic, and Iranian influences in their vocabulary, and also their early writing system resembled hieroglyphs, cuneiform, and later alphabets such as Hebrew and Aramaic.

Linguists have classified their language as an Indo-European and Semitic language mixed and even gave it a language family itself called Eshermitic.

The Eshermek Tablets was written in a form of cursive writing that was found during that time and quite similar to the modern Arabic and Hebrew writing systems.

Many scholars agreed that their language was heavily influenced by native and foreign languages and this gave rise to a theory that some ancient Middle Eastern languages.

There was some evidence of proper names originating from Sanskrit, Dravidian, and South Asian cultures.

It is unclear how they came into contact with other people when they were isolated and never known to have migrated until after the fall of their city and yet they were speaking a language that was mixed and heavily integrated.

Religion
After 9,000 B.C. came the worship of heavenly beings by the Eshermekites that were mentioned in the Eshermek Tablets as all-powerful and destructive who shared knowledge with the people.

The ancient temples of Eshermek depicted their deities as being symmetrical and with many limbs and demons that resembled the plant and animal species of Earth.

Their deities had names resembling those found in the region at the time and through the different eras such as Semitic, Indo-European, and other languages.

Throughout the years after the discovery, there were failed attempts to translate the meanings of these names which also led to lots of confusion among linguists, scholars, and folklorists.

Mythology
The Eshermekites believed in beings who came from the sky and taught them knowledge and understanding of the world.

They kept records about a once-powerful primordial empire that existed before mankind known as the Yagathian Empire that integrated into their mythology shaping their religion and mythology.