One of my primary procrastination habits is watching history documentaries. Obviously they tend to be a bit superficial, but you can still learn stuff to follow up. Recently I have been watching Sam Willis’s BBC4 series, The Silk Road, which aired the final episode last night. My guess is that a lot of it is based on the similarly named book by Peter Frankopan, which Guy Gavriel Kay enthusiastically recommended in my recent interview with him, but that’s £30 and long enough to justify the price tag so I don’t think I’ll be reading it any time soon.
So what did I learn from last night? Well for starters I got to see part of the underground irrigation system that Glenda Larke used to great effect in designing the world of The Watergivers. History and epic fantasy truly are joined at the hip.
I also discovered that the distinctive teardrop shape in Paisley fabric designs is Persian in origin and may symbolize the sacred flame of Zoroastrianism.
And finally I learned that the practice of covering walls with mass-produced, pre-patterned ceramic tiles was first developed by Baha’ ad-Din al-`Amili, architect of the Shah Mosque in Isfahan. Yet another great invention that Islamic civilization has given the world.
I have read the book , and its a dense, interesting history with a point of view. I enjoyed it highly.
You are absolutely right about the origins of the Watergiver’s water supply — it comes from this region.
I was led to it after flying over, I think, Iran and noticing — from 30,000′ — strange straight lines of what appeared to be holes leading to tiny villages in very dry country. I was fascinated and spent the rest of the flight thinking about what they could be. I decided that it had to be something about water. (The “holes” were actually inspection shafts for the water tunnels.) I did some research, and then, well — what fantasy novelist could resist developing that idea into a story?
I remember your blog post about it.