From our brochure..

"Strabo (63 BC – 21 AD), who visited all countries in the Near East meant that the Partians has the best horses in the world.
The Partian horse was known for its beauty, speed and stamina. The ancient authors said “Nisa omnes eqous flavos habet” Nissa (the capital of the Partian empire) has only golden colored horses.

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) during his campaign in Central Asia encountered the golden horses as well, in the stories about his adventure one can read “in the Eastern parts of Alexandria (todays Turkmenistan)”....there are horses of a perfect breed, they are fierce, fast and enduring, their colors are white, the colors of the rainbow and the colors of the sunrise” "

Here is a photo by Todd of the entrance to the former breeding grounds of the best horses in the world.

1. Heather Mahoney02/15/2007 08:35:42

Jessica, Leonid and Laurence,
Thanks so much for the history lesson. I really have such a passion for history and find it fascinating. Your info is much appreciated. I made a point of asking my very elderly Sicilian grandmother about the Caltanissetta - Nissa connection. According to her, native Nisseni (from Sicily) claim that the very ancient city of what is now called Caltanissetta had some manner of association with the ancient Nissa we have been speaking of hear (especially around the time of the famed treaty). She did not know how unfortunately, but Sicily has belonged to the Greeks, the Spartans, the Romans, the Moors, the Spaniards, etc. so no telling. Thanks again for the insight.

2. Heather02/15/2007 12:54:55

A-HA! I think I have found it, and will share briefly, just for the sake of knowledge...
An ancient fort in Sicily was captured by the Saracens in 829AD from the Carthaginians, who renamed it Qalat al Nissa which means "Fort of Women" in Arabic. That name was phonetically Italianized to "Caltanissetta" in 1086 when it was captured by the Normans. The connection to the AT's Nissa, is that Caltanissetta was later ruled (1500-1700's)) by the de Sayd's of the deposed Ottoman heir, Sultan Mehmed III's son, Djem, who fled to Sicily after being beaten out for the throne by his younger brother Osman, and he officially called the city "Nissa" for many years. I love history. Anyhow, thanks for tolerating my tangent!
Heather

3. Jessica02/16/2007 10:57:41

Heather, thanks for the history update, maybe we can conclude that like every road leads to Rome, every good horse trace back to the Tekes!

4. Laurence Bougault02/16/2007 13:03:10
Homepage: http://www.cheval-akhal-teke.com

Do you know why they call it "Fort of women"? i still searching correct informations about that amazon legend in Turkmenistan. A friend of mine said that it was till know a tribe in Turkmenistan were women have the reputation to be like men. If you love history, you could maybe find something about it...
Laura

5. Heather 02/19/2007 09:35:46

Laura,
Sorry it took me a bit to respond. As for your first question, no I don't know where Qalat al Nissa came from, but I know the previous name was Castra Nicia after a Cartheginian general, so maybe they were just keeping the same "sound"??? Who knows.

As for the Turkish female tribe, all I've found so far is this interesting website refered to me by a Turkish travel guide and historian: http://www.allaboutturkey.com/amazon.htm. It has some very interesting information that I think is relevant to your search. I'll dig around though and see if I find anything else. If you want to send me your email, I can forward any info to that address.
Hope that helps,
Heather

6. Chris02/21/2007 08:52:07

Secrets of the Dead, a PBS special on 'Amazon Warrior Women' follows the quixotic journey of two researchers to find evidence supporting their theories. Interesting! Not sure how authentic, but "published" and "broadcast" you know!

7. Jessica02/21/2007 09:48:02

Chris, welcome to the blog. I noticed that you also commented on another for me very interesting topic, I will create a new thread on that subject later.
Greek historians like Herodotos claimed that the Scythians and Parthians allowed women to participate in war, the women who did, amputated their right breast in order to be as good mounted archers as the men, from there stems the myth about the amazons, in Turkmenistan there are statues of women missing their right breast from that period of time.
I guess all of us women riding Tekes are more amazons that women riding other breeds of horses with our without the right breast.

8. Heather02/21/2007 10:31:00

I have heard that legend before, and always wondered about it... I've done archery my whole life, and never notice a breast in the way! Of course, I've also never tried to hit a target from a moving Teke!

Laura - this also occured to me in relation to your topic, and I'm only aware as I come from a very celtic family on my father's side. The Gaulish Celts, which Herodotus and Julius Caesar wrote extensively about, had a long tradition of women participating in battle. There are numerous historians that have described the Celtic "empire" as stretching into Turkey and beyond at its pinnacle, which has been evidenced by many archaeological studies. They were a tribal and partially nomadic society, much like the Turks, so the similarities are not surprising. Pliny the Elder wrote that the Sarmatian confederacy (associated with the Amazon women) stretched up to the Danube, which is the heart of the Gaulish Germanic tribes and their female warriors. So no matter who influenced whom, there is likely a cultural connection between these two groups that would be interesting to explore.

Now if there was an excuse to change the thread towards the literary connections between the two, you could all contribute to my graduate research proposal!

9. Carolyn Willekes02/25/2007 19:45:44

Hi there, I am a PhD student in Classics at the University of Calgary. I just finished a Master's degree on the Greek Warhorse and its training, my PhD is about the nomadic horse cultures of the Near East and Central Asia. I am particularly interested in the horses of antiquity: ancient breeds etc. The Teke obviously plays into this. In Scythian art I have noticed a type of horse that seems to share distinct features with the Teke, also the famous bronze horse from Artemision, now in Athens, strikes me as being a bit Tekey. I would really appreciate any info you might be able to offer about the history of the Teke- books etc I can look up.
In the last year I have begun practicing mounted archery as part of my research and women can definitely shoot from horseback!

10. Blanca02/26/2007 11:42:57

Hi Carolyn

Welcome to the blog!

As far as I'm aware, the scarce literature on the subject is in Russian.

In Englishm you might find bits and pieces scattered in different websites. A good one, by the way is L. Firouz's: www.turanianhorse.com

One of the persons I know myself more knowledgeable on tekes and their history is A. Klimuk.

Maybe the others can better inform you...

11. Jessica02/26/2007 15:48:27

Whenever you feel like trying mounted archery from the original war horse of Central Asia you are welcome to try one of our famous steeds! Your research is so interesting, were can I find your work on the Greek warhorse?
I will start a new thread with a list of literature I can recommend for you to get started with. I was actually contacted today by an author who soon will release a very interesting book very close to your subject, more about this later when I know the publishing date of the book.

12. Carolyn02/26/2007 18:25:16

Hi,

Thanks so much for your assistance. The list of literature looks to be useful, I will add anything that I come across in my research. Please do let me know about this new book, there is not nearly enough written on the subject so new contributions are always exciting (as long as it isn't the same topic as my dissertation!)
My Master's thesis has not been published yet, though I am hoping to get sections of it out soon. I could probably send you an electronic copy (pdf) if you are interested.
I would love to try archery from a Teke. It is a dream of mine to own one of these wonderful horses some day (or more than one!) I was completely taken with them when I first came across the breed in my research a few years ago.