I'd love to. It's on my list of things to do! Egypt as well. When I was a child I lived in Algeria and we toured all around these regions; there are photos of me on a camel outside the Great Pyramids at age 3. Sadly I remember nothing of it.
Both Chris Hagerty (cartographer) and Ryan Browning (artist) drew great inspiration from Near Eastern history.
2097, your setting sounds fun!
If you’re looking for Dinosaur stats, I’m thinking about writing my own Sword & Sorcery Bestiary for ACKS (and maybe also S&W:WB and BFRPG). This will include a good number of dinosaurs as well as Chulhu-type weirds and serpentine stuff.
I do love the dinos 
I put together stats for the dinosaurs listed below for my campaign. I’d happily post them if someone can suggest a decent format for them. They are currently just rows on a spreadsheet, which isn’t ideal for posting to a forum.
Dinosaur, Ankylosaurus (huge)
Dinosaur, Dimetrodon (medium)
Dinosaur, Dromeosaur ('raptor; medium)
Dinosaur, Huge Hadrosaur
Dinosaur, Large Hadrosaur
Dinosaur, Pachycephalosaurus (large)
Dinosaur, Pleisiosaur (huge)
Dinosaur, Pterodactyl, Gargantuan
Dinosaur, Pterodactyl, Huge
Dinosaur, Pterodactyl, Large
Dinosaur, Sauropod (gargantuan)
Dinosaur, Stegosaurus (huge)
Dinosaur, Struthiomimus (medium)
Dinosaur, Triceratops (huge)
Dinosaur, Tyrannosaur (huge)
Dinosaur, Tyrannosaur (gargantuan)
Now that I have a Campaign Map and Basic Demographics for my Barbarian Conqueror King setting, it’s time to determine the basic characteristics of the great monarchs, despots and sorcerer-kings of the setting. Note, however, that since this setting is composed of relatively small islands of civilization - City States - within hostile wilderness, most rulers are rather low-level in comparison to more civilized campaign settings.
Also note that the barbaric lands of Enyom, Queddar and Mala lack high-level rulers; the highest-level characters are typically tribal chiefs or sheiks, and lack the personal power of the civilized rulers of much larger realms. If and when a high-level character will arise from these wild regions, chances are that he or she will unite the tribes under him or her and be a major power to be reckoned with - and, perhaps, a scourge of Civilization.
Harat is ruled by Hardun, sometimes called “King Hardun”, a Lawful level 10 Lizardman Gladiator (AKA Thrassian Gladiator).
Yimara is ruled by King Balrazar, a Neutral level 11 Fighter.
Khishrom is ruled by King Adyan, a Lawful level 10 Fighter.
Irem is ruled by the Merchant-Prince Argum, a Neutral level 10 Venturer.
Zarnas is ruled by the undead Eternal Pharaoh Pilsar IV, a Chaotic level 10 Sakkaran Ruinguard turned into an intelligent undead creature three centuries ago.
The City of the Crescent Sun is ruled by Lizard-Queen Xelana, a Lawful level 10 Lizardman Warrior.
The City of the Sunken Moon is ruled by Lizard-Sorceress Manatxu, a Chaotic level 10 Lizardman Witch-Doctor.
Cibola is ruled by High Priestess Nalana, a Lawful level 12 Lizardman Priest(ess).
In my Barbarian Conqueror King setting, the only playable non-human species are Lizardmen. With strong fighting (and predatory) instincts, a “level 0” Lizardman - anything from a dinosaur herder or coffee farmer to caravan guard or common Lizard-mercenary - fights and saves as a 1HD creature, i.e. as a Level 1 Fighter. Level 0 Lizardmen, however, are not trained in armour use (as they do possess good natural armour), and if they don any kind of armour except for shields (which they can use), they fight and save as Level 0 Humans.
If they gain Level 1, they may normally choose between Lizardman Hunter (the Hunter’s skills grow from a Lizardman’s predatory instincts) and Lizardman warrior (then gain the warrior’s totemic abilities - based on common Lizardman beliefs). To become Gladiators, they must have been specially bred and trained for that from birth; to become Priests Witch Doctors they need to become acolytes or apprentices of the appropriate class.
Young (up to the age of 10-12), old and infirm Lizardmen, on the other hand, are non-combatants, have 1d4 HP and fight and save as Level 0 Humans.
Now on to the languages and naming systems of Barbarian Conqueror King.
Most people in Kanahu speak Kanahi, which replace the “common” language in this setting. It has a written alphabetic system, an innovation which was adopted by the neighbouring lands of Enyom and Queddar and even by the commoners of old Sakkara, as it is far easier to learn and use than the High Sakkaran hieroglyph system. In “metagame” terms, this is similar to Semitic languages, so most place (and person) names should sound Semitic (or at least fitting to the Bronze Age Levant).
The people of Enyom speak the Enyomi tongue, which is closely related to Kanahi; anyone who knows Kanahi can understand simple sentences said in Enyomi on a proficiency roll of 11+ (Intelligence bonus applies) and the other way around. Enyomi uses the Kanahi alphabet. In “metagame” terms, Enyomi names should also be vaguely Mesopotamic.
The humans of Quedar speak Quedari, which is more distantly related to Kanahi and Enyomi and uses the Kanahi alphabet. anyone who knows Kanahi or Enyomi can understand simple sentences said in Quedari on a proficiency roll of 18+ (Intelligence bonus applies) and the other way around. In “metagame” terms, Quedari names should sound vaguely Arabic.
The Gecko-Men of Queddar speak their own language, which sounds like a combination of chirps and clicks. It uses a strange variant of the Sakkaran hieroglyphs for its religious texts, and a variant of the Kanahi alphabet for secular writings.
Sakkara has two languages - High Sakkaran and Low Sakkaran. High Sakkaran is the language of priests, royalty and sorcerers, and many sorcerers in other Human lands use this as well. It uses very complex hieroglyphs, which are difficult to master. Low Sakkaran is spoken by most Sakkaran commoners, and uses the Kanahi alphabet. In “metagame” terms, names in both tongues should sound vaguely Egyptian.
The Lizardmen of Punt, as well as its small Human population, use three languages - the Red Tongue (spoken by priestesses), Green Tongue (used by most Lizardmen) and Blue Tongue (spoken by sorcerers). All three share the same hieroglyph system. In “metagame” terms, Lizardmen names should sound vaguely Mesoamerican.
The Men and Lizardmen of Mala speak Malan, a language distantly related to the Green Tongue. This language has no written equivalent, though the few literate Malans speak and write in the Green Tongue of their neighbours.
There are two more languages in this setting: Serpentine, which was once used by the Serpentmen and now rare (uses pictographs); and Chaos-Tongue, which is used by various Beastmen & cultists (has no written equivalent).
This is probably redundant, and I really didn’t read every post fully, but I would definitely consider the following sources.
The Isle of Dread. The Kopru even have the Cthuloid appearance, and much can be made of that in your cosmology.
An excellent series of Dungeon Magazine articles circa 3E D&D, set around creating a new prehistoric setting. There are Elves and such in this setting, but you can easily concentrate on the velociraptor druids and such. In particular, there are no spells for creating or purifying food and water, since survival is a major aspect of the setting.
Speaking of survival, the 4E Dark Sun setting is another harsh setting with some potentially quasi-prehistoric aspects.
“Thrills and Chills,” an old article from Dragon #68. It’s really an ice age article, but it has some pointers, like Dwarves being the only race to work metal, and visions of cave halflings dancing in your head.
Primal Codex. Well worth the price if you can still find it.
Thanks for the recommendations. the Kopru will definitely fit in.
Here is a list of the Chaotic/Chthonic Gods with all their names across cultures:
http://spacecockroach.blogspot.co.il/2013/07/gods-of-chaos.html
This campaign sounding sounds really great! We obviously drew from many of the same inspirations, although I think Auran Empire is set about 1,000 years after your own favored time frame.
Many thanks!
I think that growing up in what used to be Canaan (3,000 or so years ago) and studying the Old Testament (in its original Hebrew*) at school had a profound impact on my Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age preferences…
Unpointed Hebrew makes my eyes cross.
(As a theology major, I took both Greek and Hebrew, but can’t read either of them fluently now)
While me and my ex-fiancée have separated and gone each in his or her own way (in a friendly manner; things didn’t work out for us as a couple BUT we still see each other as good friends; she is now in London starting a Master’s Degree in Genetics in a few weeks), I am still interested in this setting.
Furthermore, people in my regular (D&D 3.5E) gaming group have expressed interest in playing ACKS once we finish our current campaign (in a few months), and in this setting. So I have to work on it more seriously now.
Here is a blog-post about time and the calendar in this world:
http://spacecockroach.blogspot.co.il/2013/10/calendar-and-time-in-barbarian.html
Slightly updated map:
http://spacecockroach.blogspot.co.il/2013/10/slightly-updated-barbarian-conqueror.html
Here is the Lizardman Gladiator class for this campaign - a modified version of the Thrassian Gladiator using my latest Lizardman racial template:
http://spacecockroach.blogspot.co.il/2013/10/acks-lizardman-gladiator.html
Here is my Lizardman Hunter class:
http://spacecockroach.blogspot.co.il/2013/10/updated-lizardman-hunter.html