Hi Ariel,
Ummm.... steady state industrial complex? The Mongols? They had the largest contiguous empire in world history. Steady state? I'd say
expansionist.
Otherwise, I agree with you. Somewhere along the line, I'd gotten the idea that the "scimitar" shape was something the Steppe nomads worked out and passed to surrounding peoples, not the other way around. Ditto with the compound bow and stirrup. They seem pretty advanced to me.
F