- Timeline of women in ancient warfare
Warfare through history has mainly been a matter for men, but women have also played a role, often a leading one. The following list of prominent female warrors and their exploits up to about 500 C.E. can only indicate the involvement of women, some of them thrust into positions of leadership by accident of birth or family connection, others by force of circumstance from humble origins.
Warrior women of ancient times
*
1600 BC :Ahhotep I fights theHyskos . She is later buried with military metals symbolizing her valor in battle. [cite book|title=Uppity Women of Ancient Times|author=Leon, Vicki|publisher=Publishers Group West|year=1995|isbn=1-57324-010-9|pages=p.53]
*1200s BC [cite book|title=Mercer Dictionary of the Bible|author=Mills, Watson E.|coauthor=Roger Aubrey Bullard|publisher=Mercer University Press|year=1990|isbn=0865543739|pages=p.779] :Deborah , Judge of Israel, accompaniesBarak on a military campaign inQedesh , according to Judges 4:6‑10. cite book | title=Giving the Sense: Understanding and Using Old Testament Historical Texts| author=Howard, David M. Jr. and Grisanti, Michael A., editors | publisher=Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI | year=2003|isbn=0-8254-2892-0|pages=p.88]
*1200s BC :Jael assassinates Sisera, a retreating general who was the enemy of the Israelites, according to Judges 5:23-27.cite book | title=Mercer Dictionary of the Bible| author=Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard | publisher=Mercer University Press| year=1990|isbn=0865543739|pages=p.779]
* roughly 1200-1000 BC: TheRigveda (RV 1 andRV 10 ) mentions a female warrior namedVishpala , who lost a leg in battle, had an iron prosthesis made, and returned to warfare. [cite web|url=http://www.acpoc.org/library/1976_05_015.asp|title=A Brief Review of the History of Amputations and Prostheses Earl E. Vanderwerker, Jr., M.D. JACPOC 1976 Vol 15, Num 5|language=English|]
*1000s BC :Fu Hao , consort ofWu Ding , king of China, leads 3,000 men into battle.cite book|last=Peterson|first=Barbara Bennett, editor in chief|coauthors=He Hong Fei, Wang Jiu, Han Tie, Zhang Guangyu, Associate editors|title=Notable Women of China: Shang Dynasty to the Early Twentieth Century|publisher=M.E. Sharpe Inc., New York|year= 2000|isbn=0-7656-0504-X |pages=p.13]
*1000s BC :cite book|author=Geoffrey of Monmouth, translated by Lewis Thorpe|title=The History of the Kings of Britain|publisher= London, Penguin Group|year=1966|pages=p.286] According the legendary history of Britain,Queen Gwendolen fights her husbandLocrinus in battle for the throne of Britain. She defeats him and becomes queen. [Geoffrey of Monmouth, p.77]
*700s BC : [Geoffrey of Monmouth, p.286] According the legendary history of Britain,Queen Cordelia (on whom the character in Shakespeare'sKing Lear is based), battles her nephews for control of her kingdom, personally fighting in battle. [Geoffrey of Monmouth]
* Late9th century BC -8th century BC : [Jones, David E., p.114] Reign ofShammuramat ofAssyria . She may have been the inspiration for the legendary warrior queenSemiramis .cite book|last=Gera|first=Deborah|title=Warrior Women: The Anonymous Tractatus De Mulieribus|publisher= E.J. Brill, Leiden, the Netherlands |year=1997 |isbn=9004106650|pages=p.69]
*740 BC : Approximate time of the reign ofZabibe , an Arabian queen who led armies.cite book | title=The Encyclopedia of Amazons | author=Salmonson, Jessica Amanda | publisher=Paragon House | year=1991 |isbn=1-55778-420-5|pages=p.276]
*720 BC : Approximate time of the reign ofSamsi , an Arabian queen who was possibly the successor of Zabibe. [Salmonson, p.229] She revolted againstTiglath Pileser II .cite book | title= An Archaic Dictionary: Biographical, Historical, and Mythological, from the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Etruscan Monuments and Papyri
author=Cooper, W.R.| publisher=Samuel Bagster and Sons, 15 Pater Noster Row, London| year=1876 |isbn=|pages=p.484]
*6th century BC -4th century BC : Women are buried with both jewelry and weapons on theKazakhstan -Russia border at roughly this time. [citeweb|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/may232006/snt1325262006522.asp|title= When death makes them warriors by Kalpish Ratna, Deccan Herald,May 23 ,2006 ]
*530 BC :cite book|title=The Histories|author=Herodotus, translated by Robin Waterfield|publisher=Oxford University Press, Oxford|year=1998|isbn=0-19-212609-1|pages=xlvii] According toHerodotus , queenTomyris of theMassagetae fights and defeatsCyrus the Great .cite book|title=The History of Herodotus|author=Herodotus, English Translation by G.C. Macaulay|publisher=Macmillan, London, and NY|year=1890|pages= Book I: Clio, verses 210-214]
*510 BC : Greek poetTelesilla defends the city ofArgos by rallying women with war songs. [Leon, p.164]
*506 BC cite book | title=Women's Life in Greece and Rome: A Source Book in Translation | author=Fant, M.B., and Lefkowitz, M.R.|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland|year=2005|isbn=0-8018-8310-5|pages=p.131]Cloelia , a Roman girl who was given as a hostage to the Etruscans, escapes her captors and leads several other girls to safety.cite book | title= Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
author=Smith, William, LLD., ed. | publisher=Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. | year=1867 |isbn=|pages=volume 1, p.214]
*5th century BC : TheLady of Yue trains the soldiers of the army ofKing Goujian of Yue . [cite web|url=http://www.colorq.org/Articles/article.aspx?d=asianwomen&x=nanlin|title=The Maiden of the Southern Forest - master swordswoman and military trainer from Colorq.org|accessmonthday=February 20|accessyear=2007]
*5th century BC cite book|title=A History of Greek Literature:from Homer to the Hellenistic Period|author=Dihle, Albert|publisher=Routledge, London|year=1994|isbn=0-415-08620-5|pages=p.158]Herodotus describes theAmazons . [Herodotus, Book 4: Melpomene, verses 110-117]
*480 BC :Artemisia I of Caria , Queen ofHalicarnassus , participates in theBattle of Salamis . [Leon, p. 118-119]
*480 BC : Greek diverHydna and her father sabotage enemy ships before a critical battle, thus causing the Greeks to win. [Leon, p. 164]
*460 BC -370 BC :cite book|title=World Almanac Library of the Middle Ages:Plague and Medicine in the Middle Ages|author=Macdonald, Fiona|pages=p.18] Approximate lifetime ofHippocrates . He writes ofSauromatae Scythian women fighting battles.cite book|title=The Genuine Works of Hippocrates|author=Hippocrates, English translation by Charles Darwin Adams|publisher=New York, Dover|year=1868|pages=p.37]
*403 BC -221 BC :cite book|author=Sun Tzu, |title=The Art of War|publisher=Cloud Hands Inc. |year=2003|pages=introduction|isbn=0-9742013-2-4]Warring States period of China. A story bySun Tzu , who lived at this time, describes how Ho Lu, King of Wu, tested his skill by ordering him to train an army of 180 women.cite book|author=Sun Tzu, introduction by Ralph D. Sawyer (translator)|title=The Art of War|publisher=Westview Press, Boulder Colorado|year=1994|pages=p.296|isbn=80301-2877]
*4th century BC :Amage , aSarmatian queen, attacks aScythian prince who was making incursions onto her protecterates. She rides to Scythia with 120 warriors, and kills his guards, his friends, his family, and ultimately kills the prince himself in a duel. [Jones, David E., p.126] [Salmonson, p.7]
*4th century BC :Cynane , a half-sister toAlexander the Great , accompanies her father on a military campaign, and kills an Illyrian leader namedCaeria in hand-to-hand combat. [Leon, p. 182-183]
*4th century BC :Pythagorean philosopherTimycha is captured by Sicilian soldiers during a fight. She and her husband are the only survivors. When questioned by the Sicilian tyrant, she bit off her tongue and spat it at his feet in a gesture of defiance. [Leon, p. 165]
*4th century BC :cite book|author=Sun Tzu, translation, introduction, and commentary by Minford, John|title=The Art of War|publisher=Penguin Group, New York|year=2002|pages=p.xlii|isbn=0-670-03156-9] Chinese statesmanShang Yang writesThe Book of Lord Shang . In it, he recommends dividing the members of an army into three categories; strong men, strong women, and the weak and old of both sexes. He recommended that the strong men serve as the first line of defence, that the strong women defend the forts and build traps, and the weak and elderly of both sexes control the supply chain. He also recommends that these three groups do not intermingle, on the basis that doing so would be detrimental to morale.cite book|title=The Book of Lord Shang:A Classic of the Chinese School of Law|author=Yang Shang, English Translation by Jan Julius Lodewijk Duyvendak |publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.|year=2002|pages=p.250-252|isbn=1584772417]
*4th century BC :Roxana is captured during a battle byAlexander the Great . She eventually marries him. [Salmonson, p.224]
*334 BC :Ada of Caria allies with Alexander the Great and personally handles a siege to reclaim her throne. [Salmonson, p. 1]
*333 BC :Battle of Issus .Stateira II and her family are captured byAlexander the Great , whom she eventually marries. cite book|title=Who's Who In the Age of Alexander the Great|author=Heckel, Waldemar|publisher=Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, MA |year=2006|pages=p.256|isbn=ISBN-13:978-1-4051-1210-9, ISBN-10:1-4051-1210-7]
*332 BC [Salmonson, p.49] : According toPseudo-Callisthenes cite book | title=The History of Alexander the Great | author=Pseudo-Callisthenes |translator=Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge| publisher=Cambridge University Press| year=1889 |pages=p.124] Nubian queen Candace intimidatesAlexander the Great with her armies, causing him to withdraw from Old Ethiopia, instead heading to Egypt. [Salmonson, p.49] However, Pseudo-Callisthenes is not considered a reliable source by scholars, and it is possible that the entire event is fiction. cite book | title=Greek Fiction: The Greek Novel in Context | author=Morgan, J.R. and Stoneman, Richard|publisher=Routledge| year=1994| isbn=0415085071|pages=p.117-118] More reliable historical accounts indicate that Alexander never attacked Nubia, and never attempted to move further south than the oasis of Siwa inEgypt . [cite book |title=The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam |last=Gutenberg |first=David M. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2003 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location= |isbn= |pages=64 ]
*330 BC :Alexander the Great burns downPersepolis , reportedly at the urging ofThaïs , ahetaera who accompanied him on campaigns. [Leon, p.137]
*320s BC cite book|title=The Early History of India from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest: including the invasion of Alexander the Great|author=Smith, Vincent Arthur|publisher=Clarendon Press, Oxford|year=1904|pages=p.46-48]Cleophis surrenders toAlexander the Great when he sieges her city.cite book|title= Alexander the Great: Historical Texts in Translation|author=Yardley, J.C., Heckel, Waldemar|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Malden, MA.|year=2004|pages=p.206|isbn=ISBN-0-631-22820-9, ISBN-0-631-22821-7]
*318 BC :Eurydice III of Macedon fightsPolyperchon andOlympias .cite book|title=Ancient history:exhibiting the rise, progress, decline and fall of the states and nations of antiquity |author=Robinson, John|publisher=London|year=1821|pages=p.291|isbn=]
*315 BC -308 BC : Cratespolis commands an army of mercenaries and forces cities to submit to her. [Leon, p. 180]
* Late4th century BC -Early3rd century BC :Amastris , wife ofDionysius of Heraclea , conquers four settlements and unites them into a new city-state, named for herself. [Salmonson, p.8]
* Early3rd Century BC : Legendary EmpressJingu of Japan may have led an invasion against Korea at this time. However, the story is regarded as fictional by most scholars.cite book|title=India and Japan |author=Thakur, Upendra|publisher=Shaki Malik, Abhinav Publications, New Delhi, India|year=1992|pages=p.8|isbn=81-7017-289-6]
* Early3rd Century BC : [cite book|title=The World's Parliament of Religions |author=Barrows, John Henry|publisher= The Parliament Publishing Company |year=1893|pages=p.603|isbn=]Huang Guigu acts as a military official underQin Shi Huang . She leads military campaigns against the people of northern China. [cite web|url=http://www.colorq.org/Articles/article.aspx?d=asianwomen&x=huangguigu|title=Huang Guigu - veteran of the northern campaigns from Colorq.org|accessmonthday=February 20|accessyear=2007]
*3rd Century BC :Berenice I of Egypt fights in battle alongsidePtolemy I . [Salmonson, p. 33]
*3rd Century BC : Spartan princessArachidamia acts as captain of a group of female soldiers who foughtPyrrhus during his siege ofLacedaemon . [Salmonson, p. 17]
*3rd Century BC : Earliest graves of women warriors found near theSea of Azov are buried at this time. [cite web|url=http://www.archaeology.org/9701/abstracts/sarmatians.html|title=Warrior Women of Eurasia, by Jeannine Davis Kimball, Archaeology, Volume 50, number 1, January/February 1997]
*3rd Century BC : QueenBerenice II participates in battle and kills several of her enemies. [Salmonson, p. 33]
*3rd Century BC :Laodice I fightsPtolemy III Euergetes . [Salmonson, p.150]
*3rd century BC :Queen Teuta ofIllyria begins piracy against Rome. She eventually fights against Rome when they try to stop the piracy. [Leon, p. 181]
*296 BC :Leontium , anEpicurean philosopher, obtains beans for her fellow Epicureans during a siege of Athens by Demetrius the City-Taker in which many Athenians starved to death. [Leon, p.164]
*280 BC :Chelidonis , a Spartan princess, captains female Spartans on the wall of Sparta during a siege. She fought with a rope tied around her neck so that she would not be taken alive. [Salmonson, p.55]
*279 BC During theGallic Invasion of Greece a large Gallic force entered Aetolia. Women and the elderly joined in its defense. [http://www.livius.org/di-dn/diadochi/diadochi_t12.html Pausanias Guide for Greece]
*271 BC : A group of Gothic women who were captured by Romans while fighting dressed as men are paraded through Rome wearing signs that say "Amazons".cite book | title=Islands of Women and Amazons:Representations and Realities|author=Weinbaum, Batya | publisher=University of Texas Press | year=1999 |isbn=0-292-79126-7| pages=p.59]
*217 BC :Arsinoe III of Egypt accompaniesPtolemy IV at theBattle of Raphia . When the battle goes poorly, she appears before the troops and exhorts them to fight to defend their families. She also promises each two minas of gold if they won the battle. Ptolemy's forces win.cite book | title=Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament| author=Meyers, Carol, general editor.|coauthors=Craven, Tony and Kraemer, Ross S., Associate editors.| publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company, New York| year=2000|isbn=0-395-70936-9|pages=p.397]
*205 BC :Sophonisba , aCarthaginian , commits suicide rather than be handed over to the Romans as a prisoner of war. [Leon, p. 80-81]
*2nd century BC : Queen Stratonice tricksDocimus into leaving his stronghold, causing him to be captured by her forces. [Smith, William, Vol.1, p.1057]
*186 BC :Chiomara , aGaul princess, is captured in a battle between Rome and Gaul. She is raped by a centurion, whom she later ordered killed and beheaded by her companions. She then delivered his head to her husband.cite book | title=A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography: Consisting of Sketches of All Women | author=Adams, Henry Gardiner | publisher=Groombridge | year=1857 | pages=p.183]
*170 BC :Meroitic queenCandace Shenakdahkete rulesEthiopia . A wall painting on a chapel inMeroe depicts her wearing a helmet and spearing her enemies. [Salmonson, p.50]
*2nd century BC :Hypsicratea , concubine ofMithridates VI of Pontus , fights in battles beside him. [Salmonson, p. 122]
*2nd century BC : QueenRhodogune ofParthia is informed of a rebellion while preparing for her bath. She vowed not to brush her hair until the rebellion was ended, and directed a long war and won it without breaking her vow. [Salmonson, p. 222]
*138 BC The Roman Sextus Junius Brutus found that inLusitania the women were "fighting and perishing in company with the men with such bravery that they uttered no cry even in the midst of slaughter". And that theBracari women were "bearing arms with the men, who fought never turning, never showing their backs, or uttering a cry." [ [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0230;query=chapter%3D%2320;layout=;loc=Hisp.%2011.61 Appian, The Foreign Wars (ed. Horace White).The wars in Spain. Chapter XII] ]
*102 BC : A battle between Romans and Celts atAque Sextiae takes place.Plutarch describes it: "the fight had been no less fierce with the women than with the men themselves... the women charged with swords and axes and fell upon their opponents uttering a hideous outcry." [Jones, David E.,p.52]
*101 BC : General Marius of the Romans fights theCimbrians . Cimbrian women would follow the men in battle, shooting arrows from mobile "wagon castles", and occasionally leave the wagon castles to fight with swords. Marius reports that when the battle went poorly for the men, the women emerged from their wagon castles with swords and threatened their own men if they did not continue to fight. After reinforcements arrived for the Romans, the men were killed, but the women continued to fight. When the Cimbrian women saw that defeat was imminent, they killed their children and themselves. [Jones, David E., p.148-149]
*1st century BC :Nubian queenAmanishabheto reigns. A depiction of her from a pylon tower in a chapel shows her striking the shoulders of prisoners with her lance. [cite book|title=Nubian Pharaohs and Meroitic Kings:The Kingdom of Kush|author=Harkless, Nancy Desiree|publisher=Authorhouse, Bloomington, Indiana|year=2006|pages=p.147-148|isbn=1-4259-4496-5]
*48 BC :Arsinoe IV of Egypt fightsCleopatra VII . [cite book | title=The Reign of Cleopatra |author=Burstein, Stanley Mayer| publisher=Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut|year=2004|pages=p.76|isbn=0-313-32527-8]
*42 BC :Fulvia , wife ofMark Antony , organized an uprising againstAugustus . [Leon, p. 202]
*31 BC :Cleopatra VII of Egypt combines her naval forces with that ofMark Antony to fight Octavian. She is defeated. [cite book | title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece | author=Wilson, Nigel|publisher= Routledge, Taylor and Frances Group, New York.|year=2006|pages=p.172|isbn=0-415-97334-1]
*1st century : A woman is entombed with a sword inTabriz ,Iran . The tomb is rediscovered in 2004. [cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6661426/|title=Woman warrior found in Iranian tomb, Gender determined by DNA testing, archaeologist says from MSBC.com,December 6 ,2004 ]
*1st century :Agrippina the elder accompaniesGermanicus to war. [Salmonson, p.4]
*1st century Cartimandua , queen of theBrigantes , allies with the Roman Empire and battles other Britons. [Salmonson, p.50]
*1st century :Agrippina the Younger , wife of EmperorClaudius , commands Roman legions in Britain. The defeated Celtic captives bowed before her throne and ignored that of the emperor. [Salmonson, p.4-5]
*1st century : [cite book | title=The Histories| author=Tacitus, Cornelius, translated by W.H. Fyfe, revised and edited by D.S. Levene|publisher= Oxford University Press Inc., New York|year=1997|pages=p.vii|isbn=0-19-283958-6]Tacitus writes thatTriaria , wife ofLucius Vitellius the younger , was accused of having armed herself with a sword, and behaving with arrogance and cruelty while atTarracina , a captured city. [Tacitus, p.164]
*9 :Thusnelda elopes withArminius , triggering Arminius to begin an insurrection against her father when he accuses him of carrying her off. [cite book |title=The World's Great Events In Five Volumes: A History of the World from Modern to Ancient Times B.C. 4004 to A.D. 1903, Volume 1 | author=Singleton, Eshter|publisher=New York, P.F. Collier and Son |year=1903|pages=p.443-444]
*14 -18 : Chinese womanLu Mu leads a rebellion againstWang Mang . [cite web|url=http://www.colorq.org/Articles/article.aspx?d=asianwomen&x=lumu|title=Lu Mu - mother of a revolution from Colorq.org|accessmonthday=February 21|accessyear=2007]
*21 : Debate erupts as to whether or not Roman governors' wives should be with their husbands in the providences.Caecina Serverus said that they should not because they "paraded among the soldiers" and that "a woman had presided at the exercises of the cohorts and the manoeuvres of the legions".cite book | title=Women in Roman Britain| author=Jones, Lindsay Allason| publisher=British Museum Publications|isbn=0-7141-1392-1]
*40 -43 : TheTrung Sisters andPhung Thi Chinh fight against the Chinese in Vietnam. [Jones, David E., p.32]
*60 -61 :Boudica , a Celtic chieftain in Britain, leads an uprising against the occupying Roman forces.cite book |title=Who's Who in the Roman World| author=Hazel, John |publisher=Routledge, London, UK.|year=2001|isbn=0-415-22410-1] The Romans attempted to raise the morale of their troops by informing them that her army contained more women than men. [Salmonson, p.39]
*63 :Tacitus writes in hisAnnals that women of rank entered the gladitorial arena. [Salmonson, p.100]
*69 -70 : SeeressVeleda of theBructeri tribe wields a great deal of influence in theBatavian rebellion . [cite web | url = http://www.livius.org/va-vh/veleda/veleda.html | title = Veleda | accessmonthday =December 2 | accessyear = 2006 | last = Lendering | first = Jona | authorlink = Jona Lendering | work = Livius]
*2nd century :Polyaenus describes Queen Tania ofDardania , who took the throne after her husband's death and personally went into battle, riding on a chariot. [Salmonson, p.243]
*100 :Juvenal records a female gladiator named Eppia who left her husband and children to pursue an affair with a fellow gladiator. [Salmonson, p.82]
*195 :Julia Domna accompanies her husband, EmperorSeptimius Severus , in his campaigns in Mesopotamia.cite book |title=The Reign of the Emperor L. Septimius Severus, from the Evidence of the Inscriptions| author=Murphy, Gerard James|publisher=University of Pennsylvania|year=1945|pages=p.23|isbn=]
*3rd century :Zenobia , the queen ofPalmyra , leads a revolt in the East against the Roman Empire. [Leon, p.138-139]
*248 :Trieu Thi Trinh fights the Chinese in Vietnam. Her army contained several thousand men and women. [Jones, David E., p.32]
*3rd century : Two women warriors from theDanube region in Europe serve in a Roman military unit and are buried in Britain. [cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1411715,00.html|title= Women warriors from Amazon fought for Britain's Roman army By Lewis Smith, Times Online,December 22 ,2004 ]
*4th century :Li Xiu takes her father's place as military commander for the Emperor of China and defeats a rebellion. [cite web|url=http://www.colorq.org/Articles/article.aspx?d=asianwomen&x=lixiu|title=Li Xiu - defender of Ningzhou from Colorq.org|language=English|accessmonthday=February 20|accessyear=2007]
*375 : Queen Mavia battles the Romans. [Salmonson, p. 85]
*378 : Roman EmpressAlbia Dominica organizes her people in defense against the invading Goths after her husband had died in battle. [cite web
last = Banchich
first = Thomas
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Domnica Augusta, Wife of the Emperor Valens
language=English
work =
publisher = Canisius College
date = 11-3-97
url = http://www.roman-emperors.org/domnica.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 5-10-07 ]
*450 : AMoche woman is buried with two ceremonial war clubs and 28 spear throwers. The grave is rediscovered in 2006, and is the first known grave of a Moche woman to contain weapons. [cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/17/world/americas/17mummy.html?ex=1305518400en=ddd14d20b9b8b6c5ei=5088partner=rssnytemc=rss|title=A Peruvian Woman of A.D. 450 Seems to Have Had Two Careers by John Noble Wilford, New York Times,May 17 ,2006 |language=English]Gallery
References
See also
*
Timeline of Women in Medieval warfare
*Timeline of women in early modern warfare
*Timeline of women in 19th century warfare
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