The Lost Tribe of Antiquity
An explorer named Abel Cookman had finished his adventure and discovered a lost ancient tribe which he called ‘Antiquity’. He felt amazed by the language of this tribe, and so he made a lot of notes about this lost civilization. Unfortunately, he died, but he left the notes for an investigation of this mysterious tribe. This essay will discuss the geography and location, family, political, economic and trade and culture of Antiquity.

Geography and location
In the notes, Abel mentioned three dominant geographical terms, designating ‘undulating hills’, ‘dry river bed’, ‘expansive sand dunes’. However, there were no words for ‘snow’ and ‘ice’. What’s more, ‘no terms for fish, pork or veal.’ It suggests that the tribe might have been located in the desert. There are lots of sand dunes in the desert and they might be unable to see the end of the desert. In addition, he mentioned that there were no words for ‘ocean’, but several for fresh water were ‘spring’, ‘oasis’ and ‘water hole’. They didn’t have ‘ocean’ in their language. So, it is likely that they had never seen the ocean. The word ‘water diviner’ stood for praise, therefore it is possible this person would be respected by the people of the tribe as they could find water. Also, palm trees appeared in the notes. Palm trees usually live in a desert and they are important plants and fruits in sub-tropical and arid regions. What’s more, ‘camel’, ‘rat’, ‘goat’, ‘heat’ and ‘dryness’ appeared in the notes. Camels also usually live in a desert and there is no doubt that the desert is dry and extremely hot in the day time. So, the evidence suggests that the tribe was located in a desert which had a sub-tropical desert climate. The camel might have been their transportation and they might have eaten fruit called ‘dates’ from the palm trees. ‘No words for building and settlement, but several words for shelter’ suggest that the living conditions could have been hard because it would be difficult to find water in the desert. Thus, the people had to keep moving their shelters to find water.

Social organization [Family]
‘Naïve Gift’, ‘blessed being’ and ‘little stargazer’ were words for children and ‘to plant a fig tree’ stands for sex. Thus this suggests that the people in the tribe might have wanted a lot of children. They might have thought that when their children grew up they could help their parents work and protect the tribe. ‘Seven terms to describe the stages of life up to puberty, only one term to describe adulthood, and four for old age’. Also, praise translated as ‘old wise one’. It is possible that the old men were guides when the people needed to make a big decision and were respected by people in this tribe. In the language of this tribe, ‘wife and mother’ stood for women, and ‘leader and father’ stood for men. Perhaps the men controlled their families and led their tribe. Praise translated as ‘fruitful vessel’, and the people might think the tasks of the women were to give birth to a lot of children, do the domestic work and not be allowed to join in political activities. From this evidence, it may be a patriarchal society.
Social organization [political]
It could be guessed this was a patriarchal society tribe from the previous notes, but also ‘plural’ and ‘masculine’ stood for leader. This evidence suggests that more than one man led this tribe. According to the notes, there were ‘twenty words for types of oral communication, and only one word for scroll.’ It was likely that most of people in this tribe could not write. If the tribe was in the desert, paper would be extremely valuable to them. Therefore, they might use scrolls to record some important things like their law, their history or their own language. To Abel’s surprise, there was no word for war but many meaning ‘skirmish’, ‘raid’, ‘avenge’, ‘pillage’ and ‘reclaim’. Perhaps their weapons were made up of the sharpen bones of animals and because of a limited population, they couldn’t start the war. ‘Avenge’ meant to kill someone with honour and take back what has been taken from you. The ‘swift revenger’ and ‘orator’ meant praise. It was likely that a great speaker would encourage people were going to avenge. After that, the people could be a ‘swift revenger’ who avenged very fast. ‘Two terms to describe race which are ‘our people who belong’ and ‘the outsiders’. On one hand, it could be inferred that that the people of this tribe were peaceful and they would not start a battle easily unless other tribes violated the tribe's territorial integrity and sovereignty. On the other hand, it also could be suggested that they might not be willing to let the people who were in the other tribe join in their tribe.

Economics and trade
In the notes, there were no words for money but words translated as ‘market place’, ‘trade’, ‘barter’ and ‘exchange’. Therefore it can be inferred that the tribe was in the desert. It would be hard to find the paper for making money. However the people might exchange goods to get what they wanted. It can be suggested that they exchanged their goods with their friends or neighbours in the outdoor market place. Also, ‘smart trader’ was a word for praise. It could be inferred that they had a competition which people could exchange their goods quickly and create a new method to attract the people to buy their goods.

Culture
‘Blessed being’ and ‘little stargazer’ also appeared in the notes. It was possible that the people of this tribe had their own religious beliefs and they might have predicted the future through the stars. There were ten words for entertainment and nine words for musician and dancer in their language. It is possible that they used their mouths to create the music and used the simple action to create their dance. That was where original music and dance cause from. Their entertainments might be very simple but they made people happy.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the evidence suggests that it was a patriarchal tribe which was located in the desert. The main transportations were walking and camels. It might have been very hot and had lack of water so that the people in this tribe might have never seen the ocean or eaten fish, pork or veal. It is also possible that they couldn’t eat the pork because of their religious brief like Muslim. The people might think that the tasks of the women were to give birth to a lot of children, do the domestic work and unable to join in the political activities. Perhaps the men had power to control their families and the tribe especially the old men. The people might have used oral communication frequently so that most of them didn’t know how to write. It is possible that few people could write and record the history of the tribe in the extremely valuable scrolls. They were peaceful and would not start the battle easily unless other tribes violated their territorial integrity and sovereignty. The trade of this tribe was not flourishing possibly. And the people bartered in an outdoor market place. They had entertainment which might be singing or dancing. So, we may know the characteristic of this lost tribe from these evidence and conclusion.
(1240 words)