[MR] Egyptian A&S entry, SCA boundaries (was Re: Egyptian Personas in the SCA)

[Stefan li Rous]

~Roh said:
<<< For those who have been following this thread...academically or  
out of
curiosity for Egyptian culture... please check out my A&S display I
plan to submit at War of the Wings. I strive to encourage those who
are willing to research and put themselves out there knowing they will
be judged. I wont say it's [not] easy but I hope that I can set an
example... grey area of SCA timeline or not...that others will feel
the courage to follow. >>>

We've already corresponded on this subject via email, but I wanted to  
publicly say good luck on your entry and to encourage you to submit  
your A&S documentation for inclusion in the Florilegium. Or if you  
prefer, write it up as one or more articles and submit it that way. As  
you're learning, there isn't much material out there on Roman or  
medieval Egypt. And this is a way to increase it, and to disseminate  
the knowledge across the Known World.

My standard policy is to accept updates at any time, so you don't have  
to wait until it's "perfect" and you can improve it as you learn more.

As far as the SCA timeline, yes there are a number of grey areas. It  
is because regions and time periods generally do not have easily  
defined boundaries. So just when the SCA starts, and even when it  
ends, and what regions it covers and doesn't cover is likely to vary  
from SCA kingdom to SCA kingdom and from person to person. Again,  
because it is difficult to set a sharply defined boundary. While you  
certainly have the right to push your opinion on what is and is not  
period, try to keep in mind that one of the key concepts of the SCA is  
courtesy and it is much more important than authenticity. If it was  
the reverse, we would be a reenactment group, when we aren't.

Why 1600? Why not 1602 when Queen Elizabeth died? Of course if you are  
doing French or Serbian history, the death of Queen Elizabeth doesn't  
mean much. The "end of the Middle Ages"? When exactly was the end of  
the Middle Ages. It may have ended in Italy in the 14th Century on the  
otherhand you could say it didn't end in Russia until the 18th Century.

A lot of A&S competitions will allow documentation published after  
1600 to be used. Just because the author, or someone else published in  
then, doesn't mean the author didn't write it down originally much  
earlier, before 1600. You have to consider how fast something was  
changing, knowing that somethings might have changed abruptly in 1610,  
but many things didn't.

Actually this whole concept of "period" is fallacious. You really have  
to ask period for where? Just because the Elizabethans were were  
fighting with rapiers and drinking distilled beverages, doesn't mean  
that these items are "period" for a Norman in England in 1125. Or just  
because coffee is period for an Egyptian in 1500 doesn't mean it was  
period for an Englishman. (Coffee didn't show up in England until 1650).

Stefan

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****