Closest real-world matches for Yrth cultures?

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

If Yrth was completely governed by rational cause and effect it should have. There are very significant examples of cases where this did not happen (languages for one).

In 4e Yrth Anglish has no default to Modern English (p. 33)

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Or curved swords for Islamics. Those came into the Islamic world mostly after the Banestorm.

Where does GURPS Banestorm say that anyone uses sabres? I do not see it on p. 124 or 132. In general, GURPS books avoid details about low-tech weapons, and the art is not supposed to be technical.

In my Yrth, gunpowder just would not work because the principles of alchemy are not the principles of chemistry, and Yrth has gotten very few visitors from Earth in the past few hundred years. Since it is smaller and has fewer resources than "all of Earth", it never had an industrial revolution.