Settlement In A Defensive Position List
A viewset for viewing and editing Settlements in a Defensive Position.
GET /api/wf/settlement-in-defensive-positions/
{ "count": 361, "next": "https://seshatdata.com/api/wf/settlement-in-defensive-positions/?page=2", "previous": null, "results": [ { "id": 113, "year_from": -2700, "year_to": -1701, "description": " Regarding the granitic hills of Northern Karnataka: \"Although, from below, their stony landscapes make the hills appear rather inhospitable, those who make the effort to climb them are often rewarded with the discovery of surprisingly sizeable and protected plateaux that are invisible from the lower reaches. It is here, on the hill-top plateaux, that we find the most substantial evidence for Neolithic habitation [...] [The inhabitants] almost certainly benefited from the commanding views these sites provided over very large stretches of terrain\" §REF§N. Boivin, Landscape and Cosmology in the South Indian Neolithic: New Perspectives on the Deccan Ashmounds (2004), in Cambridge Archaeological Journal 14:2, pp. 235-257§REF§. NOTE, however, that the author does not explicitly say that these settlements were built in these locations for defensive purposes.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "settlements_in_a_defensive_position", "settlements_in_a_defensive_position": "absent", "polity": { "id": 85, "name": "InDecNL", "start_year": -2700, "end_year": -1200, "long_name": "Deccan - Neolithic", "new_name": "in_deccan_nl", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The South Indian Neolithic lasted from about 3000 to 1200 BCE. Here we are particularly interested in the northern part of the modern-day Indian state of Karnataka, where Neolithic communities appear to have been small, egalitarian, and reliant on pastoralism (mostly cattle), agriculture (mostly millet and pulses), and hunting and gathering. The prevalence of cattle motifs in rock art, as well as the number of ashmounds (large mounds of burned cattle dung) dotting the landscape, point to the symbolic importance of cattle in South Indian Neolithic ideology as a whole. §REF§ (Johansen 2014, 62-65) Johansen, Peter. 2014. “The Politics of Spatial Renovation: Reconfiguring Ritual Practices in Iron Age and Early Historic South India.” Journal of Social Archaeology 14 (1): 59-86. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/M4E9T7IR\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/M4E9T7IR</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The presence of only minor variations in house size, design and content, as well as in mortuary practices, suggests an egalitarian society during this period. §REF§ (Johansen 2014, 63) Johansen, Peter. 2014. “The Politics of Spatial Renovation: Reconfiguring Ritual Practices in Iron Age and Early Historic South India.” Journal of Social Archaeology 14 (1): 59-86. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/M4E9T7IR\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/M4E9T7IR</a>. §REF§ No population estimates are provided by the literature.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 15, "name": "Deccan", "subregion": "Central India", "longitude": "76.625407000000", "latitude": "15.386856000000", "capital_city": "Kampli", "nga_code": "DEC", "fao_country": "India", "world_region": "South Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 36, "name": "Central India", "subregions_list": "Deccan, etc", "mac_region": { "id": 9, "name": "South Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 114, "year_from": -1700, "year_to": -1200, "description": " Regarding the granitic hills of Northern Karnataka: \"Although, from below, their stony landscapes make the hills appear rather inhospitable, those who make the effort to climb them are often rewarded with the discovery of surprisingly sizeable and protected plateaux that are invisible from the lower reaches. It is here, on the hill-top plateaux, that we find the most substantial evidence for Neolithic habitation [...] [The inhabitants] almost certainly benefited from the commanding views these sites provided over very large stretches of terrain\" §REF§N. Boivin, Landscape and Cosmology in the South Indian Neolithic: New Perspectives on the Deccan Ashmounds (2004), in Cambridge Archaeological Journal 14:2, pp. 235-257§REF§. NOTE, however, that the author does not explicitly say that these settlements were built in these locations for defensive purposes.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "settlements_in_a_defensive_position", "settlements_in_a_defensive_position": "unknown", "polity": { "id": 85, "name": "InDecNL", "start_year": -2700, "end_year": -1200, "long_name": "Deccan - Neolithic", "new_name": "in_deccan_nl", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The South Indian Neolithic lasted from about 3000 to 1200 BCE. Here we are particularly interested in the northern part of the modern-day Indian state of Karnataka, where Neolithic communities appear to have been small, egalitarian, and reliant on pastoralism (mostly cattle), agriculture (mostly millet and pulses), and hunting and gathering. The prevalence of cattle motifs in rock art, as well as the number of ashmounds (large mounds of burned cattle dung) dotting the landscape, point to the symbolic importance of cattle in South Indian Neolithic ideology as a whole. §REF§ (Johansen 2014, 62-65) Johansen, Peter. 2014. “The Politics of Spatial Renovation: Reconfiguring Ritual Practices in Iron Age and Early Historic South India.” Journal of Social Archaeology 14 (1): 59-86. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/M4E9T7IR\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/M4E9T7IR</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The presence of only minor variations in house size, design and content, as well as in mortuary practices, suggests an egalitarian society during this period. §REF§ (Johansen 2014, 63) Johansen, Peter. 2014. “The Politics of Spatial Renovation: Reconfiguring Ritual Practices in Iron Age and Early Historic South India.” Journal of Social Archaeology 14 (1): 59-86. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/M4E9T7IR\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/M4E9T7IR</a>. §REF§ No population estimates are provided by the literature.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 15, "name": "Deccan", "subregion": "Central India", "longitude": "76.625407000000", "latitude": "15.386856000000", "capital_city": "Kampli", "nga_code": "DEC", "fao_country": "India", "world_region": "South Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 36, "name": "Central India", "subregions_list": "Deccan, etc", "mac_region": { "id": 9, "name": "South Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 273, "year_from": 200, "year_to": 399, "description": " \"Other sites with Qotakalli pottery are found in the Sacred Valley, as well as in its larger side valleys. The sites in the main valley tend to be quite small and are usually located 200 to 300 meters above the valley floor, in areas with natural defense that are close to small streams.\" §REF§(Covey 2006, 66)§REF§ For Covey, Qotakalli designates the period after c.400 CE. §REF§(Covey 2006, 59)§REF§ <span style=\"color:blue\">AD: coded as inferred present in the period 200-400 CE. Despite the lack of archaeological confirmation, the presence of settlements in a defensive position can be inferred from the continuity between 200-400 and 400-500CE, which are considered the same period by Bauer. </span>", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "settlements_in_a_defensive_position", "settlements_in_a_defensive_position": "present", "polity": { "id": 78, "name": "PeCuzE1", "start_year": 200, "end_year": 499, "long_name": "Cuzco - Early Intermediate I", "new_name": "pe_cuzco_2", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Early Intermediate Period of Andean history lasted from 400 BCE to 550 CE, §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 12) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ and is known for the emergence of regional forms of political organization, such as the Moche in northern Peru (100-800 CE) and the Nazca in the Rio Grande de Nazca and Ica regions (100 BC-800 CE). In the Cuzco Valley, this period saw the development of numerous chiefdoms of varying sizes. §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 54) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ One of these polities is known as Qotakalli (200-500 CE), §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 47) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ and may have controlled an area of up to 1000 square kilometres. §REF§ (Covey 2006, 59) Alan R. Covey. 2006. <i>How the Incas Built Their Heartland: State Formation and the Innovation of Imperial Strategies in the Sacred Valley, Peru</i>. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. §REF§ <br>The period also saw a change in settlement patterns. Wimpillay no longer dominated the valley, as several new large sites grew in the west of the basin, with a possible large settlement under the modern city of Cusco. §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 52) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ New settlements grew along the lower valley slopes below 3500 metres above sea level, which archaeologist Brian Bauer interprets as evidence for population growth and a possible shift in the valley's economy towards maize production. §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 53) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ <br>In the Lucre Basin further to the east, the Chanapata culture still flourished in the form of small farming villages until 600 CE: Chanapata ceramics were found in the lowest strata during excavations at the site of Choquepukio. §REF§ (McEwan 2006, 88) Gordon F. McEwan. 2006. 'Inca State Origins: Collapse and Regeneration in the Southern Peruvian Andes', in <i>After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies</i>, edited by Glenn M. Schwartz and John J. Nichols, 85-98. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. §REF§ These polities may have centred around the sites of Choquepukio and Mama Qolda. §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 52) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ Furthermore, the presence of Pucara ceramics and early Tiwanaku-related wares indicate possible contacts between the Cuzco Valley polities and the Titicaca cultural sphere, perhaps through trade, but not through political assimilation. §REF§ (McEwan 2006, 88) Gordon F. McEwan. 2006. 'Inca State Origins: Collapse and Regeneration in the Southern Peruvian Andes', in <i>After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies</i>, edited by Glenn M. Schwartz and John J. Nichols, 85-98. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 143) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Although the population of the region during this period is currently impossible to determine, it is worth mentioning that 16 Qotakalli sites with an area of between 1 and 5 hectares have been surveyed, as well as 35 sites between 0.25 and 1 hectares, §REF§ (Covey 2006, 60) Alan R. Covey. 2006. <i>How the Incas Built Their Heartland: State Formation and the Innovation of Imperial Strategies in the Sacred Valley, Peru</i>. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. §REF§ suggesting a possible two-tiered settlement pattern. §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 51) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ The density of sites near modern Cuzco may indicate various groups of elite households interacting with each other within the Qotakalli chiefdom. §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 52) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 30, "name": "Cuzco", "subregion": "Andes", "longitude": "-72.067772000000", "latitude": "-13.477380000000", "capital_city": "Cuzco", "nga_code": "PE", "fao_country": "Peru", "world_region": "South America" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 32, "name": "Andes", "subregions_list": "From Ecuador to Chile", "mac_region": { "id": 6, "name": "South America and Caribbean" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 274, "year_from": 400, "year_to": 500, "description": " \"Other sites with Qotakalli pottery are found in the Sacred Valley, as well as in its larger side valleys. The sites in the main valley tend to be quite small and are usually located 200 to 300 meters above the valley floor, in areas with natural defense that are close to small streams.\" §REF§(Covey 2006, 66)§REF§ For Covey, Qotakalli designates the period after c.400 CE. §REF§(Covey 2006, 59)§REF§ <span style=\"color:blue\">AD: coded as inferred present in the period 200-400 CE. Despite the lack of archaeological confirmation, the presence of settlements in a defensive position can be inferred from the continuity between 200-400 and 400-500CE, which are considered the same period by Bauer. </span>", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "settlements_in_a_defensive_position", "settlements_in_a_defensive_position": "present", "polity": { "id": 78, "name": "PeCuzE1", "start_year": 200, "end_year": 499, "long_name": "Cuzco - Early Intermediate I", "new_name": "pe_cuzco_2", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Early Intermediate Period of Andean history lasted from 400 BCE to 550 CE, §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 12) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ and is known for the emergence of regional forms of political organization, such as the Moche in northern Peru (100-800 CE) and the Nazca in the Rio Grande de Nazca and Ica regions (100 BC-800 CE). In the Cuzco Valley, this period saw the development of numerous chiefdoms of varying sizes. §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 54) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ One of these polities is known as Qotakalli (200-500 CE), §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 47) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ and may have controlled an area of up to 1000 square kilometres. §REF§ (Covey 2006, 59) Alan R. Covey. 2006. <i>How the Incas Built Their Heartland: State Formation and the Innovation of Imperial Strategies in the Sacred Valley, Peru</i>. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. §REF§ <br>The period also saw a change in settlement patterns. Wimpillay no longer dominated the valley, as several new large sites grew in the west of the basin, with a possible large settlement under the modern city of Cusco. §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 52) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ New settlements grew along the lower valley slopes below 3500 metres above sea level, which archaeologist Brian Bauer interprets as evidence for population growth and a possible shift in the valley's economy towards maize production. §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 53) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ <br>In the Lucre Basin further to the east, the Chanapata culture still flourished in the form of small farming villages until 600 CE: Chanapata ceramics were found in the lowest strata during excavations at the site of Choquepukio. §REF§ (McEwan 2006, 88) Gordon F. McEwan. 2006. 'Inca State Origins: Collapse and Regeneration in the Southern Peruvian Andes', in <i>After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies</i>, edited by Glenn M. Schwartz and John J. Nichols, 85-98. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. §REF§ These polities may have centred around the sites of Choquepukio and Mama Qolda. §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 52) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ Furthermore, the presence of Pucara ceramics and early Tiwanaku-related wares indicate possible contacts between the Cuzco Valley polities and the Titicaca cultural sphere, perhaps through trade, but not through political assimilation. §REF§ (McEwan 2006, 88) Gordon F. McEwan. 2006. 'Inca State Origins: Collapse and Regeneration in the Southern Peruvian Andes', in <i>After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies</i>, edited by Glenn M. Schwartz and John J. Nichols, 85-98. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 143) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Although the population of the region during this period is currently impossible to determine, it is worth mentioning that 16 Qotakalli sites with an area of between 1 and 5 hectares have been surveyed, as well as 35 sites between 0.25 and 1 hectares, §REF§ (Covey 2006, 60) Alan R. Covey. 2006. <i>How the Incas Built Their Heartland: State Formation and the Innovation of Imperial Strategies in the Sacred Valley, Peru</i>. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. §REF§ suggesting a possible two-tiered settlement pattern. §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 51) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ The density of sites near modern Cuzco may indicate various groups of elite households interacting with each other within the Qotakalli chiefdom. §REF§ (Bauer 2004, 52) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. <i>Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca</i>. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 30, "name": "Cuzco", "subregion": "Andes", "longitude": "-72.067772000000", "latitude": "-13.477380000000", "capital_city": "Cuzco", "nga_code": "PE", "fao_country": "Peru", "world_region": "South America" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 32, "name": "Andes", "subregions_list": "From Ecuador to Chile", "mac_region": { "id": 6, "name": "South America and Caribbean" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 30, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "settlements_in_a_defensive_position", "settlements_in_a_defensive_position": "present", "polity": { "id": 268, "name": "CnYuan*", "start_year": 1271, "end_year": 1368, "long_name": "Great Yuan", "new_name": "cn_yuan_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "After a series of military campaigns, Kublai Khan, leader of the large and powerful Mongolian empire, took control of China and established a new Mongolian dynasty based in the territory of the former Jin empire. This polity, ruling from China, was to be known as the Yuan Dynasty, and lasted from 1271 CE until its eventual demise in 1368. §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 603) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. <i>Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire</i>. New York: Facts on File. §REF§ <br>The Yuan Dynasty was a continuation of the Mongolian Empire. However, Genghis Khan's empire had by this time fractured into rival Khanates, including the Chagatai Khanate, the Ilkhanate, and the Golden Horde. Although the Yuan Emperor was the nominal overlord of these regions, the Khanates were effectively independent. §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 603) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. <i>Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire</i>. New York: Facts on File. §REF§ The Yuan's core territory covered North China, Manchuria, and the Inner Mongolian steppe, §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 603) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. <i>Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire</i>. New York: Facts on File. §REF§ but military campaigns saw it expand over most of China, Tibet and into Korea. §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 604) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. <i>Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire</i>. New York: Facts on File. §REF§ However, their attempt to conquer Japan was thwarted by a typhoon. §REF§ (Morgan 2007, 107) David Morgan. 2007. <i>The Mongols</i>. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ Eventually, internal dissensions between the various <i>ordos</i> (political units) and local rebellions dissolved the fabric of the empire and led to its disaggregation. §REF§ (Franke and Twitchett 1994, 26) Herbert Franke and Denis Crispin Twitchett. 1994. 'Introduction', in <i>The Cambridge History of China, Vol 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368</i>, edited by Herbert Franke and Denis C. Twitchett, 414-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Yuan Empire was a sociopolitical blend of Chinese and Mongolian features. At the top of the administrative, religious and military hierarchy sat the emperor, ruling under the traditional Chinese 'Mandate of Heaven'. §REF§ Connie Cook, Seshat North China Workshop, 2016. §REF§ Kublai Khan was the embodiment of a strong central authority, but the balance he created was only maintained for about 30 years after his death before emperors started to lose internal and external control over the Yuan dominion. §REF§ (Buell 2003, 62) Paul D. Buell. 2003. <i>Historical Dictionary of the Mongol World Empire</i>. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. §REF§ Administratively, the empire was modelled on its Jin predecessor, and ruled through a variety of entities such as the Secretariat, the Military Affairs Bureau, and the Censorate. §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 606) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. <i>Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire</i>. New York: Facts on File. §REF§ However, it also retained Mongolian institutions, such as the <i>keshig</i> (imperial guard) and the <i>ordos</i>, which corresponded to the palace-tents, household and staff of various princes and lords. §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 606) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. <i>Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire</i>. New York: Facts on File. §REF§ These <i>ordos</i> acted as separate vassal states under nominal imperial control. §REF§ (Franke and Twitchett 1994, 26) Herbert Franke and Denis Crispin Twitchett. 1994. 'Introduction', in <i>The Cambridge History of China, Vol 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368</i>, edited by Herbert Franke and Denis C. Twitchett, 414-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ In terms of territorial administration, the Yuan Dynasty comprised 12 provinces. §REF§ (Buell 2003, 60) Paul D. Buell. 2003. <i>Historical Dictionary of the Mongol World Empire</i>. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. §REF§ In total, the population of Yuan China may have been between 60 §REF§ (Mote 1994, 618) Frederick W. Mote. 1994. 'Chinese Society under Mongol Rule, 1215-1368', in <i>The Cambridge History of China, Vol 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368</i>, edited by Herbert Franke and Denis C. Twitchett, 616-64. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ and 85 million. §REF§ 《中國人口史》（第三卷）遼宋金元時期.第390頁.吳松弟.復旦大學出版社.2000年12月出版.《中國人口史》共六卷，由葛劍雄教授主編. §REF§ <br>Communications across the vast empire were facilitated by an elaborate postal system, described in detail by Marco Polo. There were 1,400 relay stations located every 25 to 50 kilometres along the main axes of communication, and messengers could cover up to 400 kilometres a day to relay urgent news. §REF§ (Rossabi 1994, 450) Morris Rossabi. 1994. 'The Reign of Khubilai Khan', in <i>The Cambridge History of China, Vol 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368</i>, edited by Herbert Franke and Denis C. Twitchett, 414-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Resources could be controlled by the state thanks to the use of paper currency, issued in proportion to silver reserves, and a commercial tax on the government-sponsored <i>ortoq</i> merchant class. §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 606) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. <i>Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire</i>. New York: Facts on File. §REF§ Another significant source of wealth was the salt monopoly, which had reached 80 percent of the government's income by 1320. §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 606) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. <i>Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire</i>. New York: Facts on File. §REF§ <br>Kublai oversaw the construction of a new capital, known as Dadu to the Chinese, Khanbalik to the Turks and Daidu to the Mongols, on the site of modern Beijing. §REF§ (Rossabi 1994, 454) Morris Rossabi. 1994. 'The Reign of Khubilai Khan', in <i>The Cambridge History of China, Vol 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368</i>, edited by Herbert Franke and Denis C. Twitchett, 414-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ At its height, Dadu may have had 600,000 inhabitants. §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 123) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. <i>Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire</i>. New York: Facts on File. §REF§ The location of this city in the vicinity of the northern frontier enabled Kublai to retain control over the Mongolian homeland. §REF§ (Rossabi 1994, 454) Morris Rossabi. 1994. 'The Reign of Khubilai Khan', in <i>The Cambridge History of China, Vol 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368</i>, edited by Herbert Franke and Denis C. Twitchett, 414-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Its architecture and design embodied the syncretism of Mongolian and Chinese influences: it featured two inner walls and an imperial city, but also had avenues wide enough for nine horsemen to gallop abreast, and Mongolian yurts flourished in its parks. §REF§ (Rossabi 1994, 454) Morris Rossabi. 1994. 'The Reign of Khubilai Khan', in <i>The Cambridge History of China, Vol 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368</i>, edited by Herbert Franke and Denis C. Twitchett, 414-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The court was cosmopolitan and although Kublai followed Tantric Buddhism, he also had Confucian advisors §REF§ Vesna Wallace 2017, personal communication. §REF§ and welcomed foreigners such as the Polo family. The Yuan were patrons of education through state schools and temples; state organizations sponsored the study of Confucianism, astronomy, historiography and medicine. §REF§ (Atwood 2004, 606) Christopher P. Atwood. 2004. <i>Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire</i>. New York: Facts on File. §REF§ <br>Yuan China encompassed a territory that fluctuated between roughly 11 and 24 million square kilometres, supporting a population of between 60 and 85 million people. §REF§ 《元史‧卷五八‧志第十‧地理一》，記載：「十三年，平宋，全有版圖。二十七年，又籍之，得戶一千一百八十四萬八百有奇。於是南北之戶總書於策者，一千三百一十九萬六千二百有六，口五千八百八十三萬四千七百一十有一，而山澤溪洞之民不與焉。」 §REF§ §REF§ 《中國人口史》（第三卷）遼宋金元時期.第390頁.吳松弟.復旦大學出版社.2000年12月出版.《中國人口史》共六卷，由葛劍雄教授主編。 §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-04T16:00:20.553956Z", "home_nga": { "id": 20, "name": "Middle Yellow River Valley", "subregion": "North China", "longitude": "112.517587000000", "latitude": "34.701825000000", "capital_city": "Luoyang", "nga_code": "CN", "fao_country": "China", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 58, "name": "North China", "subregions_list": "North China without Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 35, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "settlements_in_a_defensive_position", "settlements_in_a_defensive_position": "present", "polity": { "id": 367, "name": "EgAyyub", "start_year": 1171, "end_year": 1250, "long_name": "Ayyubid Sultanate", "new_name": "eg_ayyubid_sultanate", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Ayyubid Sultanate was established in Egypt by Saladin (Ṣalāḥ-al-dīn), a member of the Kurdish Ayyubid family who had risen to prominence in Syria in the service of a local ruling dynasty, the Zangids. §REF§ (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. 'Ayyubids', <i>Encyclopӕdia Iranica</i> III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids</a> (accessed 24 February 2017). §REF§ In 1168-69 CE, the Zangid prince Nur al-Din placed Saladin's uncle, Shirkuh, in command of a military expedition to Egypt (at that time under Fatimid rule) to take control of the country and expel the invading Frankish Crusaders. §REF§ (Lev 2010, 218) Yaacov Lev. 2010. 'The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)', in <i>The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries</i>, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 290) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Saladin accompanied him and was appointed vizier of Egypt by the Fatimid caliph when Shirkuh died in 1169. §REF§ (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. 'Ayyubids', <i>Encyclopӕdia Iranica</i> III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids</a> (accessed 24 February 2017). §REF§ <br>Saladin, however, did not have the local dynasty's interests at heart. He immediately set about undermining its power and the Ismaili (Shi'a) Islam professed by its elite in favour of a new Sunni order, in theory loyal to the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. §REF§ (Lev 2010, 210-11) Yaacov Lev. 2010. 'The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)', in <i>The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries</i>, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ We begin our Ayyubid Sultanate polity in 1171, when the last Fatimid caliph, Al-Adid, died and Saladin progressed from vizier to sultan in Egypt. §REF§ (Lev 2010, 210) Yaacov Lev. 2010. 'The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)', in <i>The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries</i>, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ He nevertheless suppressed his ambitions until his old Zangid overlord Nur al-Din died in 1174, after which he launched a successful campaign of military expansion into the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia, as well as a brief 'holy war' on the Crusader states along the Levantine coast. §REF§ (Lyons and Jackson 1982, 201) Malcolm Cameron Lyons and D. E. P. Jackson. 1982. <i>Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. 'Ayyubids', <i>Encyclopӕdia Iranica</i> III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids</a> (accessed 25 February 2017). §REF§ <br>A succession crisis followed Saladin's death in 1193, and a devastating famine in 1200 reduced parts of the population to cannibalism. §REF§ (Lev 2010, 226) Yaacov Lev. 2010. 'The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)', in <i>The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries</i>, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ However, Saladin's brother, al-'Adil, declared himself sultan in 1200 and managed to impose some degree of internal stability on the empire, §REF§ (Humphreys 1977, 125-26) R. Stephen Humphreys. 1977. <i>From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193‒1260</i>. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. §REF§ which was split into the kingdoms of Egypt, Damascus, Aleppo and Mosul. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 291) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The reign of al-'Adil's son, al-Kamil, from 1218 to 1238 CE, was also a relatively stable and prosperous period in Egypt, §REF§ (Werthmuller 2010, 48) Kurt J. Werthmuller. 2010. <i>Coptic Identity and Ayyubid Politics in Egypt, 1218‒1250</i>. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. §REF§ although he faced opposition from Ayyubid princes in Syria and Palestine. §REF§ (Hamblin 2005, 753) William J. Hamblin. 2005. 'Egypt: Ayyubid Dynasty, 1169-1250', in <i>Encyclopedia of African History, volume 1: A-G</i>, edited by Kevin Shillington, 752-54. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. §REF§ <br>As-Salih Ayyub, the sultan who came to power in 1240 CE, §REF§ (Keenan 1999, 287) James G. Keenan. 1999. 'Fayyum Agriculture at the End of the Ayyubid Era: Nabulsi's <i>Survey'.</i> <i>Proceedings of the British Academy</i> 96: 287-99. §REF§ attempted to enhance his power at the expense of other Ayyubid princely lines by purchasing many more Turkish Mamluks (high-ranking slave soldiers) than his predecessors. §REF§ (Levanoni 1990, 124) Amalia Levanoni. 1990. 'The Mamluks' Ascent to Power in Egypt'. <i>Studia Islamica</i> 72: 121-44. §REF§ They served him as a military and governmental elite. §REF§ (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. 'Ayyubids', <i>Encyclopӕdia Iranica</i> III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids</a> (accessed 25 February 2017). §REF§ §REF§ (Levanoni 1990, 124) Amalia Levanoni. 1990. 'The Mamluks' Ascent to Power in Egypt'. <i>Studia Islamica</i> 72: 121-44. §REF§ The Mamluks' increasingly powerful position proved to be the downfall of the Ayyubid Sultanate when, after Salih-Ayyub's death in 1249, one faction (the Bahriyya Mamluks) assassinated his son Turanshah and seized the throne. §REF§ (Levanoni 1990, 137) Amalia Levanoni. 1990. 'The Mamluks' Ascent to Power in Egypt'. <i>Studia Islamica</i> 72: 121-44. §REF§ The Ayyubid dynasty hung onto power in Syria until 1260, when the Mamluks defeated the invading Mongols at 'Ayn Jalut and gained popular recognition of their right to rule as 'saviours of Islam'. §REF§ (Northrup 1998, 248) Linda S. Northrup. 1998. 'The Baḥrī Mamlūk Sultanate, 1250‒1390', in <i>The Cambridge History of Egypt, Vol. 1: Islamic Egypt, 640‒1517</i>, edited by Carl F. Petry, 242-89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ However, we end our Ayyubid period with the assassination of Turanshah, the last Ayyubid sultan of Egypt.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Ayyubids made use of the pre-existing Fatimid bureaucratic system to administer Egypt, §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 246) I. M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ and ruled via a Turkish and Kurdish 'military aristocracy', including some slave (Mamluk) regiments. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 291) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Lev 2010, 210, 213) Yaacov Lev. 2010. 'The Fatimid Caliphate (358‒567 / 969‒1171) and the Ayyūbids in Egypt (567‒648 / 1171‒1250)', in <i>The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2. The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries</i>, edited by Maribel Fierro, 201-36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ This was funded by the distribution of <i>iqta's</i> ‒ rights to tax revenue from estates of land ‒ in exchange for military and administrative services. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 291, 877) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Saladin and his successors also promoted Sunni Islam in the empire by sponsoring law schools (<i>madrasas</i>) to serve as centres for the teaching of Sunni law. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 291, 877) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>The Ayyubid Sultanate was never particularly centralized: it has been described as a 'family confederation', meaning that male members of the ruling dynasty were given principalities across the realm and allowed to govern them with substantial political autonomy. §REF§ (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. 'Ayyubids', <i>Encyclopӕdia Iranica</i> III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids</a> (accessed 25 February 2017). §REF§ Kinship ties determined relationships between different princes, so that, for example, two brothers ruling different regions would have less authority over each other than a father would over his son. §REF§ (Humphreys 1987) R. S. Humphreys. 1987. 'Ayyubids', <i>Encyclopӕdia Iranica</i> III/2, pp. 164-67; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ayyubids</a> (accessed 25 February 2017). §REF§ However, the sultan of Egypt was usually successful in asserting his suzerainty over the other kingdoms. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 291, 877) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>It is difficult to find substantiated estimates for the population of the entire Ayyubid Sultanate, but there were about 2.4 million people in Egypt under Saladin. §REF§ (Dols 1977, 149) M. W. Dols. 1977. <i>The Black Death in the Middle East</i>. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 5, "name": "Upper Egypt", "subregion": "Northeastern Africa", "longitude": "32.714706000000", "latitude": "25.725715000000", "capital_city": "Luxor", "nga_code": "EG", "fao_country": "Egypt", "world_region": "Africa" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 4, "name": "Northeast Africa", "subregions_list": "Egypt and Sudan (the Nile Basin)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 7, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "settlements_in_a_defensive_position", "settlements_in_a_defensive_position": "unknown", "polity": { "id": 467, "name": "AfTochr", "start_year": -129, "end_year": 29, "long_name": "Tocharians", "new_name": "af_tocharian", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The period of Sogdian and Bactrian history between the disintegration of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom in the late 2nd century BCE and the rise of the Kushan Empire in the 1st century CE is poorly understood. The region was politically fragmented and the local settled populations were subjected to nomadic invasions, notably by a group of pastoralists and traders known to us by their Chinese name, Yuezhi. §REF§ (Benjamin 2006) Benjamin, Craig. 2006. \"The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia.\" In Ēran Ud Anērān: Studies Presented to Boris Ilich Marshak on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, edited by Matteo Compareti, Paola Raffeta, and Gianroberto Scarcia, Electronic version. Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX</a>. §REF§ §REF§ (Liu 2001, 264-65) Liu, Xinru. 2001. \"Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies.\" Journal of World History 12 (2): 261-92. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7</a>. §REF§ The Yuezhi are also sometimes referred to as 'Tochari' by scholars who believe they spoke a Tocharian language, part of an extinct Indo-European language group. §REF§ (Benjamin 2006) Benjamin, Craig. 2006. \"The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia.\" In Ēran Ud Anērān: Studies Presented to Boris Ilich Marshak on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, edited by Matteo Compareti, Paola Raffeta, and Gianroberto Scarcia, Electronic version. Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX</a>. §REF§ (Others argue that their original language was eastern Iranic or proto-Turkic.) §REF§ (Hill 2009, 312) Hill, John E. 2009. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. An Annotated Translation of the Chronicle on the \"Western Regions\" from the Hou Hanshu. Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK</a>. §REF§ <br>In the mid-1st millennium BCE and perhaps even earlier, the Yuezhi were living on the steppes to the north of China. §REF§ (Liu 2001, 264-65) Liu, Xinru. 2001. \"Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies.\" Journal of World History 12 (2): 261-92. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7</a>. §REF§ However, after coming into conflict with other nomadic groups, the Xiongnu and Wusun, they migrated towards Sogdiana. §REF§ (Benjamin 2006) Benjamin, Craig. 2006. \"The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia.\" In Ēran Ud Anērān: Studies Presented to Boris Ilich Marshak on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, edited by Matteo Compareti, Paola Raffeta, and Gianroberto Scarcia, Electronic version. Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX</a>. §REF§ By 129 BCE, when the Han Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian visited the Yuezhi court on the Oxus river, they were ruling over a region that included parts of the old Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian kingdom. §REF§ (Liu 2001, 264-65) Liu, Xinru. 2001. \"Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies.\" Journal of World History 12 (2): 261-92. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7</a>. §REF§ <br>In the early 1st century CE, the first Kushan king, Kujula Kadphises, seized power and began ruling over south-eastern Sogdiana, marking the end of our Yuezhi period. §REF§ (Hill 2009, 345) Hill, John E. 2009. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. An Annotated Translation of the Chronicle on the \"Western Regions\" from the Hou Hanshu. Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK</a>. §REF§ Kujula Kadphises was probably a member of one of five Yuezhi factions or subtribes, which he succeeded in unifying through military conquest, §REF§ (Hill 2009, 345) Hill, John E. 2009. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. An Annotated Translation of the Chronicle on the \"Western Regions\" from the Hou Hanshu. Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK</a>. §REF§ but even this is disputed.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Yuezhi in Bactria and Sogdiana seem to have been organized into a federation of five tribes that competed for political supremacy in the new territory. §REF§ (Liu 2001, 272) Liu, Xinru. 2001. \"Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies.\" Journal of World History 12 (2): 261-92. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7</a>. §REF§ There is no written or numismatic evidence of a centralized Yuezhi state with a single paramount ruler before the rise of Kujula Kadphises. §REF§ (Hill 2009, 345) Hill, John E. 2009. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. An Annotated Translation of the Chronicle on the \"Western Regions\" from the Hou Hanshu. Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK</a>. §REF§ Historian Craig Benjamin has characterized Yuezhi control over the sedentary population of northern Bactria and Sogdia as that of a militarily superior ruling dynasty of nomads, 'pastoralist conquerors' whose 'nominal sovereignty' was acknowledged by the locals because they feared violence if they refused to submit. §REF§ (Benjamin 2006) Benjamin, Craig. 2006. \"The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia.\" In Ēran Ud Anērān: Studies Presented to Boris Ilich Marshak on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, edited by Matteo Compareti, Paola Raffeta, and Gianroberto Scarcia, Electronic version. Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX</a>. §REF§ <br>Secure estimates for the combined population of the ruling Yuezhi and the settled population under their control in this period are lacking.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 23, "name": "Sogdiana", "subregion": "Turkestan", "longitude": "66.938170000000", "latitude": "39.631284000000", "capital_city": "Samarkand", "nga_code": "UZ", "fao_country": "Uzbekistan", "world_region": "Central Eurasia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 8, "name": "Afghanistan", "subregions_list": "Afghanistan", "mac_region": { "id": 3, "name": "Central and Northern Eurasia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 46, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "settlements_in_a_defensive_position", "settlements_in_a_defensive_position": "absent", "polity": { "id": 513, "name": "EgNaqa3", "start_year": -3300, "end_year": -3100, "long_name": "Egypt - Dynasty 0", "new_name": "eg_naqada_3", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Naqada is a Predynastic archaeological culture located in Upper Egypt, the strip of land flanking the Nile river south of the Faiyum region and north of the First Cataract. Named after the site where British archaeologist Flinders Petrie uncovered a necropolis of over 3000 graves in the late 19th century, §REF§ (Midant-Reynes 2000, 41) Béatrix Midant-Reynes. 2000. 'The Naqada Period (c. 4000-3200 BC)', in <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt</i>, edited by Ian Shaw, 41-56. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ the Naqada culture is dated from around 3800 to 3100 BCE. §REF§ (Dee et al. 2013, 5) Michael Dee, David Wengrow, Andrew Shortland, Alice Stevenson, Fiona Brock, Linus Girdland Flink and Christopher Bronk Ramsey. 2013. 'An Absolute Chronology for Early Egypt Using Radiocarbon Dating and Bayesian Statistical Modelling'. <i>Proceedings of the Royal Society A</i> 469 (2159). DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2013.0395. §REF§ The Naqada has been subdivided into three periods ‒ the Amratian, Gerzean, and Semainean ‒ as well as, more recently, into Naqada IA-C, IIA-D, and IIIA-D. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 424) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ §REF§ (Dee et al. 2013, 2) Michael Dee, David Wengrow, Andrew Shortland, Alice Stevenson, Fiona Brock, Linus Girdland Flink and Christopher Bronk Ramsey. 2013. 'An Absolute Chronology for Early Egypt Using Radiocarbon Dating and Bayesian Statistical Modelling'. <i>Proceedings of the Royal Society A</i> 469 (2159). DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2013.0395. §REF§ Seshat's 'Naqada 1' (3800-3550 BCE) corresponds to the Naqada IA-IIB phases; Naqada 2 (3550-3300 BCE) to IIC-IID; and Naqada 3 (3300-3100 BCE) to IIIA-IIIB. We end Naqada 3 with the IIIB-C transition, because the First Dynasty of the Egyptian state is considered to begin with the accession of King Aha in Naqada IIIC. §REF§ (Dee et al. 2013, 2) Michael Dee, David Wengrow, Andrew Shortland, Alice Stevenson, Fiona Brock, Linus Girdland Flink and Christopher Bronk Ramsey. 2013. 'An Absolute Chronology for Early Egypt Using Radiocarbon Dating and Bayesian Statistical Modelling'. <i>Proceedings of the Royal Society A</i> 469 (2159). DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2013.0395. §REF§ Naqada III is also sometimes referred to as the Protodynastic period or 'Dynasty 0'.<br>Early Naqada archaeological material is clustered around the key sites of Naqada itself, Abydos, and Hierakonpolis (ancient Nekhen) in the fertile land nestled around the 'Qena bend' of the Nile. §REF§ (Bard 1994, 267) Kathryn A. Bard. 1994. 'The Egyptian Predynastic: A Review of the Evidence'. <i>Journal of Field Archaeology</i> 21 (3): 265-88. §REF§ However, from the late Naqada II onwards, there is an archaeologically visible expansion of the culture both southwards along the Nile and northwards into Lower Egypt (the Delta), eventually reaching as far north as the Levant in Naqada IIIA-B. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 442-43) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ <br><i>Population and Political Organization</i><br>The 4th millennium BCE was a crucial period for Egyptian state formation. Prior to roughly 3800 BCE, Upper Egypt was inhabited by seasonally mobile farmers and herders, constituting an archaeological culture known as the Badarian. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 422, 428-29) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ However, the Naqada periods brought a series of key social transformations to the region, including increasing inequality, a greater commitment to sedentary settlement and cereal farming, the emergence of full-time craft specialists, and, towards the end of the millennium, the invention of writing. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 431-32, 434) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ §REF§ (Hendrickx 2011, 93) Stan Hendrickx. 2011. 'Crafts and Craft Specialization', in <i>Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization</i>, edited by Emily Teeter, 93-98. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. §REF§ §REF§ (Wengrow 2011, 99) David Wengrow. 2011. 'The Invention of Writing in Egypt', in <i>Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization</i>, edited by Emily Teeter, 99-103. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. §REF§ The growth of hierarchical social structures and the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt laid the foundations for the divine kings and complex bureaucracy of the Old Kingdom and beyond.<br>During Naqada I, new forms of political organization appeared ‒ relatively swiftly compared to other prehistoric cultures ‒ in the upper Nile Valley. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 431-32) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ According to the Egyptologist Branislav Anđelković, previously autonomous agricultural villages began to band together to form 'chiefdoms' or 'proto-nomes' between Naqada IA and IB (a 'nome' was an administrative division in the later Egyptian state). §REF§ (Anđelković 2011, 28) Branislav Anđelković. 2011. 'Political Organization of Egypt in the Predynastic Period', in <i>Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization</i>, edited by Emily Teeter, 25-32. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. §REF§ In Naqada IC, even larger political entities ‒ 'nome pre-states' ‒ started to form, centred on Naqada, Abydos and Hierakonpolis. It has been suggested that a 'primitive chiefdom' centred around a 'royal' authority based at Hierakonpolis, had formed by around 3700 BCE. §REF§ (García 2013, 187-88) Juan Carlos Moreno García. 2013. 'Building the Pharaonic State: Territory, Elite, and Power in Ancient Egypt during the Third Millennium BCE', in <i>Experiencing Power, Generating Authority: Cosmos, Politics, and the Ideology of Kingship in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia</i>, edited by Jane A. Hill, Philip Jones, and Antonio J. Morales, 185-217. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. §REF§ Not all researchers agree with this terminology, believing that it creates the impression of an inexorable march towards state formation, and some prefer to stress the fragile and experimental nature of early complex social formations in Upper Egypt. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 422, 427) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ However, the term chiefdom remains in common usage as a label for the new ranked societies of the early 4th millennium. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 422) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ §REF§ (Bard 2017, 2) Kathryn A. Bard. 2017. 'Political Economies of Predynastic Egypt and the Formation of the Early State'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 25: 1-36. §REF§ §REF§ (Koehler 2010, 32) E. Christiana Koehler. 2010. 'Prehistory', in <i>A Companion to Ancient Egypt, Volume 1</i>, edited by Alan B. Lloyd, 25-47. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ In the Naqada II period, 'proto-states' formed, and by the Naqada III we can speak of kings and a centralized government ruling over a unified Upper and Lower Egypt. §REF§ (Anđelković 2011, 29-30) Branislav Anđelković. 2011. 'Political Organization of Egypt in the Predynastic Period', in <i>Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization</i>, edited by Emily Teeter, 25-32. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. §REF§ <br>We lack firm figures for the population of Egypt during the Naqada. At the beginning of the period, most inhabitants of Upper Egypt were living in small villages. §REF§ (Anđelković 2011, 28) Branislav Anđelković. 2011. 'Political Organization of Egypt in the Predynastic Period', in <i>Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization</i>, edited by Emily Teeter, 25-32. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. §REF§ However, as the 4th millennium progressed, archaeologists can discern a process of urbanization and aggregation into larger political units. The largest known settlement, Hierakonpolis, grew into a regional centre of power in the 3800‒3500 BCE period §REF§ (Friedman 2011, 34) Renée Friedman. 2011. 'Hierakonpolis', in <i>Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization</i>, edited by Emily Teeter, 33-44. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. §REF§ and may have reached a population of between 5,000 and 10,000 people in the late Naqada I. §REF§ (Hoffman, Hamroush and Allen 1986, 181) Michael Allen Hoffman, Hany A. Hamroush and Ralph O. Allen. 1986. 'A Model of Urban Development for the Hierakonpolis Region from Predynastic through Old Kingdom Times'. <i>Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt</i> 23: 175-87. §REF§ Other researchers consider this figure 'inflated' §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 436) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ and point to recent evidence from the Abydos region for low population numbers throughout the Predynastic period. §REF§ (Patch 2004, 914) Diana Craig Patch. 2004. 'Settlement Patterns and Cultural Change in the Predynastic Period', in <i>Egypt at Its Origins: Studies in Memory of Barbara Adams</i>, edited by S. Hendrickx, R. F. Friedman, K. M. Ciałowicz and M. Chłodnicki, 905-18. Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters en Departement Oosterse Studies. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 5, "name": "Upper Egypt", "subregion": "Northeastern Africa", "longitude": "32.714706000000", "latitude": "25.725715000000", "capital_city": "Luxor", "nga_code": "EG", "fao_country": "Egypt", "world_region": "Africa" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 4, "name": "Northeast Africa", "subregions_list": "Egypt and Sudan (the Nile Basin)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 22, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "settlements_in_a_defensive_position", "settlements_in_a_defensive_position": "present", "polity": { "id": 243, "name": "CnShang", "start_year": -1250, "end_year": -1045, "long_name": "Late Shang", "new_name": "cn_late_shang_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Late Shang Dynasty (1250-1045 BCE) was an extension of the Erligang culture based in Yinxu, near modern Anyang. The Late Shang were the last 12 kings of the dynasty, beginning with Pan Geng. Unlike in Erligang settlements, pottery, oracle bones and other artefacts showing a fully formed writing system have been found at Late Shang sites. This system included 'pictograms, ideograms, and phonograms'. §REF§ (San 2014, 19) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ The oldest written records uncovered from Shang contexts date back to 1200 BCE. §REF§ (San 2014, 19) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ <br>The civilization at Yinxu is considered to represent the golden age of the Shang Dynasty §REF§ (San 2014, 17) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ and 11 major royal tombs have been uncovered there by archaeologists. §REF§ (San 2014, 17) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ Pottery and bronze and jade work flourished in the Late Shang period. §REF§ (San 2014, 20) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ The Late Shang also had a developed calendar system with 30 days in a month and 12 months (360 days) in a year. §REF§ (Encyclopedia Britannica 2017) “Shang Dynasty.” Encyclopedia Britannica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shang-dynasty\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shang-dynasty</a> Accessed May 29, 2017. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8GNFD4WH\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/8GNFD4WH</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Late Shang were based on the North China Plain. The dynasty's territory stretched north to modern Shandong, south to Hebei, and west to Henan. §REF§ (San 2014, 16) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ The Shang government was a feudal system in which the king and a class of military nobility ruled over the masses, who were mainly farmers. §REF§ (San 2014, 16, 21) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ Shang kings also served as high priests. §REF§ (San 2014, 16) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>) §REF§ The Late Shang were in constant conflict with surrounding settlements and with civilizations from the steppe. §REF§ (San 2014, 21) San, Tan Koon. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TB95WB7F</a>. §REF§ <br>The population of the Late Shang Dynasty was around 5 million in 1045 BCE. §REF§ (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 170-72) McEvedy, Colin, and Richard Jones. 1978. Atlas of World Population History. Penguin. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/6U4QZXCG/q/atlas%20of%20world%20population\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/6U4QZXCG/q/atlas%20of%20world%20population</a>. §REF§ The population of the Yinxu settlement in Anyang is unknown.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-04T15:29:41.622565Z", "home_nga": { "id": 20, "name": "Middle Yellow River Valley", "subregion": "North China", "longitude": "112.517587000000", "latitude": "34.701825000000", "capital_city": "Luoyang", "nga_code": "CN", "fao_country": "China", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 58, "name": "North China", "subregions_list": "North China without Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 45, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": null, "name": "settlements_in_a_defensive_position", "settlements_in_a_defensive_position": "unknown", "polity": { "id": 512, "name": "EgNaqa2", "start_year": -3550, "end_year": -3300, "long_name": "Naqada II", "new_name": "eg_naqada_2", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Naqada is a Predynastic archaeological culture located in Upper Egypt, the strip of land flanking the Nile river south of the Faiyum region and north of the First Cataract. Named after the site where British archaeologist Flinders Petrie uncovered a necropolis of over 3000 graves in the late 19th century, §REF§ (Midant-Reynes 2000, 41) Béatrix Midant-Reynes. 2000. 'The Naqada Period (c. 4000-3200 BC)', in <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt</i>, edited by Ian Shaw, 41-56. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ the Naqada culture is dated from around 3800 to 3100 BCE. §REF§ (Dee et al. 2013, 5) Michael Dee, David Wengrow, Andrew Shortland, Alice Stevenson, Fiona Brock, Linus Girdland Flink and Christopher Bronk Ramsey. 2013. 'An Absolute Chronology for Early Egypt Using Radiocarbon Dating and Bayesian Statistical Modelling'. <i>Proceedings of the Royal Society A</i> 469 (2159). DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2013.0395. §REF§ The Naqada has been subdivided into three periods ‒ the Amratian, Gerzean, and Semainean ‒ as well as, more recently, into Naqada IA-C, IIA-D, and IIIA-D. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 424) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ §REF§ (Dee et al. 2013, 2) Michael Dee, David Wengrow, Andrew Shortland, Alice Stevenson, Fiona Brock, Linus Girdland Flink and Christopher Bronk Ramsey. 2013. 'An Absolute Chronology for Early Egypt Using Radiocarbon Dating and Bayesian Statistical Modelling'. <i>Proceedings of the Royal Society A</i> 469 (2159). DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2013.0395. §REF§ Seshat's 'Naqada 1' (3800-3550 BCE) corresponds to the Naqada IA-IIB phases; Naqada 2 (3550-3300 BCE) to IIC-IID; and Naqada 3 (3300-3100 BCE) to IIIA-IIIB. We end Naqada 3 with the IIIB-C transition, because the First Dynasty of the Egyptian state is considered to begin with the accession of King Aha in Naqada IIIC. §REF§ (Dee et al. 2013, 2) Michael Dee, David Wengrow, Andrew Shortland, Alice Stevenson, Fiona Brock, Linus Girdland Flink and Christopher Bronk Ramsey. 2013. 'An Absolute Chronology for Early Egypt Using Radiocarbon Dating and Bayesian Statistical Modelling'. <i>Proceedings of the Royal Society A</i> 469 (2159). DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2013.0395. §REF§ Naqada III is also sometimes referred to as the Protodynastic period or 'Dynasty 0'.<br>Early Naqada archaeological material is clustered around the key sites of Naqada itself, Abydos, and Hierakonpolis (ancient Nekhen) in the fertile land nestled around the 'Qena bend' of the Nile. §REF§ (Bard 1994, 267) Kathryn A. Bard. 1994. 'The Egyptian Predynastic: A Review of the Evidence'. <i>Journal of Field Archaeology</i> 21 (3): 265-88. §REF§ However, from the late Naqada II onwards, there is an archaeologically visible expansion of the culture both southwards along the Nile and northwards into Lower Egypt (the Delta), eventually reaching as far north as the Levant in Naqada IIIA-B. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 442-43) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ <br><i>Population and Political Organization</i><br>The 4th millennium BCE was a crucial period for Egyptian state formation. Prior to roughly 3800 BCE, Upper Egypt was inhabited by seasonally mobile farmers and herders, constituting an archaeological culture known as the Badarian. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 422, 428-29) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ However, the Naqada periods brought a series of key social transformations to the region, including increasing inequality, a greater commitment to sedentary settlement and cereal farming, the emergence of full-time craft specialists, and, towards the end of the millennium, the invention of writing. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 431-32, 434) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ §REF§ (Hendrickx 2011, 93) Stan Hendrickx. 2011. 'Crafts and Craft Specialization', in <i>Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization</i>, edited by Emily Teeter, 93-98. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. §REF§ §REF§ (Wengrow 2011, 99) David Wengrow. 2011. 'The Invention of Writing in Egypt', in <i>Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization</i>, edited by Emily Teeter, 99-103. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. §REF§ The growth of hierarchical social structures and the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt laid the foundations for the divine kings and complex bureaucracy of the Old Kingdom and beyond.<br>During Naqada I, new forms of political organization appeared ‒ relatively swiftly compared to other prehistoric cultures ‒ in the upper Nile Valley. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 431-32) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ According to the Egyptologist Branislav Anđelković, previously autonomous agricultural villages began to band together to form 'chiefdoms' or 'proto-nomes' between Naqada IA and IB (a 'nome' was an administrative division in the later Egyptian state). §REF§ (Anđelković 2011, 28) Branislav Anđelković. 2011. 'Political Organization of Egypt in the Predynastic Period', in <i>Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization</i>, edited by Emily Teeter, 25-32. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. §REF§ In Naqada IC, even larger political entities ‒ 'nome pre-states' ‒ started to form, centred on Naqada, Abydos and Hierakonpolis. It has been suggested that a 'primitive chiefdom' centred around a 'royal' authority based at Hierakonpolis, had formed by around 3700 BCE. §REF§ (García 2013, 187-88) Juan Carlos Moreno García. 2013. 'Building the Pharaonic State: Territory, Elite, and Power in Ancient Egypt during the Third Millennium BCE', in <i>Experiencing Power, Generating Authority: Cosmos, Politics, and the Ideology of Kingship in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia</i>, edited by Jane A. Hill, Philip Jones, and Antonio J. Morales, 185-217. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. §REF§ Not all researchers agree with this terminology, believing that it creates the impression of an inexorable march towards state formation, and some prefer to stress the fragile and experimental nature of early complex social formations in Upper Egypt. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 422, 427) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ However, the term chiefdom remains in common usage as a label for the new ranked societies of the early 4th millennium. §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 422) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ §REF§ (Bard 2017, 2) Kathryn A. Bard. 2017. 'Political Economies of Predynastic Egypt and the Formation of the Early State'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 25: 1-36. §REF§ §REF§ (Koehler 2010, 32) E. Christiana Koehler. 2010. 'Prehistory', in <i>A Companion to Ancient Egypt, Volume 1</i>, edited by Alan B. Lloyd, 25-47. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. §REF§ In the Naqada II period, 'proto-states' formed, and by the Naqada III we can speak of kings and a centralized government ruling over a unified Upper and Lower Egypt. §REF§ (Anđelković 2011, 29-30) Branislav Anđelković. 2011. 'Political Organization of Egypt in the Predynastic Period', in <i>Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization</i>, edited by Emily Teeter, 25-32. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. §REF§ <br>We lack firm figures for the population of Egypt during the Naqada. At the beginning of the period, most inhabitants of Upper Egypt were living in small villages. §REF§ (Anđelković 2011, 28) Branislav Anđelković. 2011. 'Political Organization of Egypt in the Predynastic Period', in <i>Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization</i>, edited by Emily Teeter, 25-32. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. §REF§ However, as the 4th millennium progressed, archaeologists can discern a process of urbanization and aggregation into larger political units. The largest known settlement, Hierakonpolis, grew into a regional centre of power in the 3800‒3500 BCE period §REF§ (Friedman 2011, 34) Renée Friedman. 2011. 'Hierakonpolis', in <i>Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization</i>, edited by Emily Teeter, 33-44. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. §REF§ and may have reached a population of between 5,000 and 10,000 people in the late Naqada I. §REF§ (Hoffman, Hamroush and Allen 1986, 181) Michael Allen Hoffman, Hany A. Hamroush and Ralph O. Allen. 1986. 'A Model of Urban Development for the Hierakonpolis Region from Predynastic through Old Kingdom Times'. <i>Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt</i> 23: 175-87. §REF§ Other researchers consider this figure 'inflated' §REF§ (Stevenson 2016, 436) Alice Stevenson. 2016. 'The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation'. <i>Journal of Archaeological Research</i> 24: 421-68. §REF§ and point to recent evidence from the Abydos region for low population numbers throughout the Predynastic period. §REF§ (Patch 2004, 914) Diana Craig Patch. 2004. 'Settlement Patterns and Cultural Change in the Predynastic Period', in <i>Egypt at Its Origins: Studies in Memory of Barbara Adams</i>, edited by S. Hendrickx, R. F. Friedman, K. M. Ciałowicz and M. Chłodnicki, 905-18. Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters en Departement Oosterse Studies. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 5, "name": "Upper Egypt", "subregion": "Northeastern Africa", "longitude": "32.714706000000", "latitude": "25.725715000000", "capital_city": "Luxor", "nga_code": "EG", "fao_country": "Egypt", "world_region": "Africa" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 4, "name": "Northeast Africa", "subregions_list": "Egypt and Sudan (the Nile Basin)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] } ] }