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{
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},
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"tag": "IFR",
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"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "\"One potentially fruitful approach, given the scant sources, is to understand the Mycenaeans as part of a common Late Bronze Age culture of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East, which emphasized gift-exchange, reciprocity, and diplomatic guest friendship. The Amarna Letters (1–5), for example, speak of the “brotherhood” of kings and mention diplomatic marriage and gift exchange (Westbrook 2000). The Treaty of Kadesh between Egypt and the Hittites (1258 BCE) includes curses and divine punishment for either “brother” who breaks it. Since the Mycenaeans were part of these Late Bronze Age interactions, they may have shared in such beliefs (Blackwell 2021).\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DIRZ999P\">[Larson_et_al 2024, p. 20]</a>",
"description": null
},
{
"id": 310,
"polity": {
"id": 63,
"name": "gr_crete_mono_palace",
"long_name": "Monopalatial Crete",
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},
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"year_to": null,
"tag": "IFR",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "\"One potentially fruitful approach, given the scant sources, is to understand the Mycenaeans as part of a common Late Bronze Age culture of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East, which emphasized gift-exchange, reciprocity, and diplomatic guest friendship. The Amarna Letters (1–5), for example, speak of the “brotherhood” of kings and mention diplomatic marriage and gift exchange (Westbrook 2000). The Treaty of Kadesh between Egypt and the Hittites (1258 BCE) includes curses and divine punishment for either “brother” who breaks it. Since the Mycenaeans were part of these Late Bronze Age interactions, they may have shared in such beliefs (Blackwell 2021).\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DIRZ999P\">[Larson_et_al 2024, p. 20]</a>",
"description": null
},
{
"id": 311,
"polity": {
"id": 65,
"name": "gr_crete_post_palace_2",
"long_name": "Final Postpalatial Crete",
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},
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"year_to": null,
"tag": "IFR",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "\"One potentially fruitful approach, given the scant sources, is to understand the Mycenaeans as part of a common Late Bronze Age culture of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East, which emphasized gift-exchange, reciprocity, and diplomatic guest friendship. The Amarna Letters (1–5), for example, speak of the “brotherhood” of kings and mention diplomatic marriage and gift exchange (Westbrook 2000). The Treaty of Kadesh between Egypt and the Hittites (1258 BCE) includes curses and divine punishment for either “brother” who breaks it. Since the Mycenaeans were part of these Late Bronze Age interactions, they may have shared in such beliefs (Blackwell 2021).\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DIRZ999P\">[Larson_et_al 2024, p. 20]</a>",
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},
{
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"id": 62,
"name": "gr_crete_new_palace",
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"end_year": -1450
},
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"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
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{
"id": 313,
"polity": {
"id": 61,
"name": "gr_crete_old_palace",
"long_name": "Old Palace Crete",
"start_year": -1900,
"end_year": -1700
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "unknown",
"comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT",
"description": null
},
{
"id": 314,
"polity": {
"id": 443,
"name": "mn_mongol_late",
"long_name": "Late Mongols",
"start_year": 1368,
"end_year": 1690
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "\"merit making and avoidance of bad karma continued to be highly salient in most Mahayana societies\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/76FKAHS3\">[Stanford_et_al 2024, p. 113]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 316,
"polity": {
"id": 267,
"name": "mn_mongol_emp",
"long_name": "Mongol Empire",
"start_year": 1206,
"end_year": 1270
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“As the Mongol victories expanded the territories under their control, they required both advisors and administrators experienced in matters of rule. For this they enlisted the services of individuals native to or familiar with the cultures of the conquered regions. Often, especially in Central and Western Asia, this meant relying on Muslims, but Christians, Buddhists and others were not excluded from positions of influence. Muslim merchants, valued for their financial acumen, were appointed as fiscal advisors and tax collectors.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/X7FRVGSJ\">[Foltz_Jianyi 1999, p. 45]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 317,
"polity": {
"id": 442,
"name": "mn_mongol_early",
"long_name": "Early Mongols",
"start_year": 1000,
"end_year": 1206
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "Tengrism appears to have included moralizing beliefs. \"Erleg Khan, ruler of the lower world, is responsible for the disposition of the suns, and determines when and where it reincarnates. If a soul was extremely evil during its life on earth he may send it to Ela Guren, a part of the lower world where souls are extinguished forever.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/S4CBUW7I\">[Odigan_Stewart 1997]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 318,
"polity": {
"id": 48,
"name": "id_medang_k",
"long_name": "Medang Kingdom",
"start_year": 732,
"end_year": 1019
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“Rulers were devotees of both Hindu deities and Buddhism of the Mahayana variety.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WVEHV2M9\">[Miksic_Ooi 2004, p. 863]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 319,
"polity": {
"id": 50,
"name": "id_majapahit_k",
"long_name": "Majapahit Kingdom",
"start_year": 1292,
"end_year": 1518
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "\"The kingdom was the island’s last influential Hindu-Buddhist state, and was thus the last in a long line of Indie principalities which, over a thousand-year period, had propagated peculiarly Southeast Asian variants of Sivaism and Buddhism on the island.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BJ7UGKVR\">[Hefner 1990, p. 6]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
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"polity": {
"id": 282,
"name": "kg_western_turk_khaganate",
"long_name": "Western Turk Khaganate",
"start_year": 582,
"end_year": 630
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "IFR",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "Tengrism appears to have included moralizing beliefs. \"Erleg Khan, ruler of the lower world, is responsible for the disposition of the suns, and determines when and where it reincarnates. If a soul was extremely evil during its life on earth he may send it to Ela Guren, a part of the lower world where souls are extinguished forever.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/S4CBUW7I\">[Odigan_Stewart 1997]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 321,
"polity": {
"id": 468,
"name": "uz_sogdiana_city_states",
"long_name": "Sogdiana - City-States Period",
"start_year": 604,
"end_year": 711
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "\"Sogd did not have an organized state religion, although the majority of its population adhered to Mazdeism and Zurvanism [a sect of Zoroastrianism/Mazdeism], which included some Hellenistic and Indian Buddhist influences.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/V8KA2GID\">[Zhivkov 2015, p. 225]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 322,
"polity": {
"id": 623,
"name": "zi_toutswe",
"long_name": "Toutswe",
"start_year": 700,
"end_year": 1250
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "SSP",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "unknown",
"comment": null,
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 323,
"polity": {
"id": 440,
"name": "mn_turk_khaganate_2",
"long_name": "Second Turk Khaganate",
"start_year": 682,
"end_year": 744
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "IFR",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "Tengrism appears to have included moralizing beliefs. \"Erleg Khan, ruler of the lower world, is responsible for the disposition of the suns, and determines when and where it reincarnates. If a soul was extremely evil during its life on earth he may send it to Ela Guren, a part of the lower world where souls are extinguished forever.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/S4CBUW7I\">[Odigan_Stewart 1997]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 324,
"polity": {
"id": 283,
"name": "mn_turk_khaganate_1",
"long_name": "Eastern Turk Khaganate",
"start_year": 583,
"end_year": 630
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "IFR",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "Tengrism appears to have included moralizing beliefs. \"Erleg Khan, ruler of the lower world, is responsible for the disposition of the suns, and determines when and where it reincarnates. If a soul was extremely evil during its life on earth he may send it to Ela Guren, a part of the lower world where souls are extinguished forever.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/S4CBUW7I\">[Odigan_Stewart 1997]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 325,
"polity": {
"id": 260,
"name": "cn_sui_dyn",
"long_name": "Sui Dynasty",
"start_year": 581,
"end_year": 618
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "\"By the time the Sui dynasty was founded, Daoism had matured into a powerful, organized religion, wielding significant influence at court. But the truly ecumenical religion at that time was its rival, Buddhism. All sectors of the population came under its spell. Large numbers of Buddhist monasteries were set up and Buddhist imagery— statues, paintings, and murals— dominated religious iconography. A vast corpus of Buddhist literature was written and multitudes of believers left their families behind to join the clergy.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/C73MNB3S\">[Xiong 2006, p. 152]</a> \"merit making and avoidance of bad karma continued to be highly salient in most Mahayana societies\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/76FKAHS3\">[Stanford_et_al 2024, p. 113]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 326,
"polity": {
"id": 288,
"name": "mn_khitan_1",
"long_name": "Khitan I",
"start_year": 907,
"end_year": 1125
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "\"[A]lthough the Liao court tended to develop Confucianism in order to create a pool of literati as candidates for imperial bureaucrats (Zhang Reference Zhang, Zhang, Huang and Yu2006), the Khitan elites usually sided with Buddhism.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N778IHRD\">[Lin 2011, p. 238]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 327,
"polity": {
"id": 261,
"name": "cn_tang_dyn_1",
"long_name": "Tang Dynasty I",
"start_year": 617,
"end_year": 763
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“Although Daoism was officially the highest religion of Tang China, Buddhism remained the most popular and influential faith. Along with Daoism, Buddhism also became a fundamental part of the political order and the economy, sponsored and regulated by the state. Fully established within Chinese society, Tang Buddhism became truly sinicized through the separation of China from Central Asia and India, which made China its own Buddhist heartland, and through the emergence within China itself of new, indigenous Buddhist intellectual and ritual traditions. To begin at the highest level, Buddhism was a spiritual arm of the state. Its primary instruments were the imperial monasteries established in each prefecture of the empire and the palace chapels established by the ruling family within imperial precincts. The imperial monasteries were inhabited by the intellectual elite of the monastic order and supported by funds from the imperial treasury.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/P9RSHZKQ\">[Lewis 2009, pp. 214-215]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 328,
"polity": {
"id": 266,
"name": "cn_later_great_jin",
"long_name": "Jin Dynasty",
"start_year": 1115,
"end_year": 1234
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "\"In the imperial family, not a few of the empresses and consorts were pious Buddhists, and the mother of Shih-tsung even became a nun in her later years. In his younger years Shih-tsung himself was attracted by Buddhism but later became somewhat detached, although he continued to favor monasteries and monks. The same is true for Changtsung.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2QG2628P\">[Twitchett_Franke_Franke 1994, p. 313]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 329,
"polity": {
"id": 268,
"name": "cn_yuan_dyn",
"long_name": "Great Yuan",
"start_year": 1271,
"end_year": 1368
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“Tibetan Buddhism was adopted as the official religion of the Yuan state.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WC9C68D3\">[Jing 2004, p. 213]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 330,
"polity": {
"id": 264,
"name": "cn_tang_dyn_2",
"long_name": "Tang Dynasty II",
"start_year": 763,
"end_year": 907
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“Although Daoism was officially the highest religion of Tang China, Buddhism remained the most popular and influential faith. Along with Daoism, Buddhism also became a fundamental part of the political order and the economy, sponsored and regulated by the state. Fully established within Chinese society, Tang Buddhism became truly sinicized through the separation of China from Central Asia and India, which made China its own Buddhist heartland, and through the emergence within China itself of new, indigenous Buddhist intellectual and ritual traditions. To begin at the highest level, Buddhism was a spiritual arm of the state. Its primary instruments were the imperial monasteries established in each prefecture of the empire and the palace chapels established by the ruling family within imperial precincts. The imperial monasteries were inhabited by the intellectual elite of the monastic order and supported by funds from the imperial treasury.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/P9RSHZKQ\">[Lewis 2009, pp. 214-215]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 331,
"polity": {
"id": 269,
"name": "cn_ming_dyn",
"long_name": "Great Ming",
"start_year": 1368,
"end_year": 1644
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“Nevertheless, South China saw a proliferation of private academies in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Much of this learning was centered upon the Neo-Confucian scholarship that emerged in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, with a focus on individual moral autonomy that was based upon scholarly pursuit and ritual practice. However, this Neo-Confucian conservatism was tempered by a range of eclectic interests throughout much of elite society, and among those recruited into the early Ming court were specialists in Buddhism, Daoism, medicine and art, as well as practical men with skills and experience in law, warfare and governance.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9RC9JSM7\">[Xiong_Hammond 2019, p. 254]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 332,
"polity": {
"id": 2,
"name": "cn_qing_dyn_2",
"long_name": "Late Qing",
"start_year": 1796,
"end_year": 1912
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“As in previous periods of late imperial China, Confucianism (sometimes identified as Ruxue 儒學 or the Learning of the Scholars) was the dominant philosophy in Qing times.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9RC9JSM7\">[Xiong_Hammond 2019, p. 319]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 333,
"polity": {
"id": 1,
"name": "cn_qing_dyn_1",
"long_name": "Early Qing",
"start_year": 1644,
"end_year": 1796
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“As in previous periods of late imperial China, Confucianism (sometimes identified as Ruxue 儒學 or the Learning of the Scholars) was the dominant philosophy in Qing times.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9RC9JSM7\">[Xiong_Hammond 2019, p. 319]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 334,
"polity": {
"id": 251,
"name": "cn_western_han_dyn",
"long_name": "Western Han Empire",
"start_year": -202,
"end_year": 9
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“Tian never evolved into a fully moralizing supernatural force/agent. According to conflicting interpretations, Tian could either punish transgressions directly or leave enforcement to human agents, and punishment could be either individual-focused or collective. Furthermore, all these [moralizing supernatural enforcement] aspects are most relevant at the level of the state and elites.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/59DP8DST\">[Levine_et_al 2025, p. 261]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 335,
"polity": {
"id": 253,
"name": "cn_eastern_han_dyn",
"long_name": "Eastern Han Empire",
"start_year": 25,
"end_year": 220
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“Tian never evolved into a fully moralizing supernatural force/agent. According to conflicting interpretations, Tian could either punish transgressions directly or leave enforcement to human agents, and punishment could be either individual-focused or collective. Furthermore, all these [moralizing supernatural enforcement] aspects are most relevant at the level of the state and elites.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/59DP8DST\">[Levine_et_al 2025, p. 261]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 337,
"polity": {
"id": 425,
"name": "cn_northern_song_dyn",
"long_name": "Northern Song",
"start_year": 960,
"end_year": 1127
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“Under the Northern Song, Daoism continued to receive imperial support. The Song emperors in general viewed their mandate as a reflection of a larger Daoist dispensation, with legitimacy partly based on Daoist revelations at Louguan. The ideal of Great Peace ( taiping ) also formed the basis of Emperor Taizong’s (r. 976 – 997) consolidation of the empire. A number of Northern Song emperors also initiated and supported the compilation of Daoist textual collections. Moreover, Emperor Huizong (r. 1100 – 1126) recognized two Daoist sacred sites in southern China: Maoshan, associated with Shangqing Daoism, and Longhu shan (Dragon - Tiger Mountain), associated with the Celestial Masters, whose school was now known as Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Daoism.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/48S3JN8N\">[Komjathy_Nadeau 2012, pp. 182-183]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 338,
"polity": {
"id": 245,
"name": "cn_jin_spring_and_autumn",
"long_name": "Jin",
"start_year": -780,
"end_year": -404
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "SSP",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "unknown",
"comment": "“It seems that there was no one clear interpretation of Tian among the intellectual elite, and it is unclear how much impact these philosophies had on different Warring States rulers.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/59DP8DST\">[Levine_et_al 2025, p. 253]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 339,
"polity": {
"id": 889,
"name": "cn_qi_spring_autumn",
"long_name": "Qi - Spring and Autumn",
"start_year": -770,
"end_year": -489
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "SSP",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "unknown",
"comment": "“It seems that there was no one clear interpretation of Tian among the intellectual elite, and it is unclear how much impact these philosophies had on different Warring States rulers.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/59DP8DST\">[Levine_et_al 2025, p. 253]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 340,
"polity": {
"id": 890,
"name": "cn_qi_warring_states",
"long_name": "Qi - Warring States",
"start_year": -488,
"end_year": -222
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "SSP",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "unknown",
"comment": "“It seems that there was no one clear interpretation of Tian among the intellectual elite, and it is unclear how much impact these philosophies had on different Warring States rulers.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/59DP8DST\">[Levine_et_al 2025, p. 253]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 341,
"polity": {
"id": 423,
"name": "cn_eastern_zhou_warring_states",
"long_name": "Eastern Zhou",
"start_year": -475,
"end_year": -256
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "SSP",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "unknown",
"comment": "“It seems that there was no one clear interpretation of Tian among the intellectual elite, and it is unclear how much impact these philosophies had on different Warring States rulers.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/59DP8DST\">[Levine_et_al 2025, p. 253]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 342,
"polity": {
"id": 424,
"name": "cn_wei_dyn_warring_states",
"long_name": "Early Wei Dynasty",
"start_year": -445,
"end_year": -225
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "SSP",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "unknown",
"comment": "“It seems that there was no one clear interpretation of Tian among the intellectual elite, and it is unclear how much impact these philosophies had on different Warring States rulers.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/59DP8DST\">[Levine_et_al 2025, p. 253]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 343,
"polity": {
"id": 250,
"name": "cn_qin_emp",
"long_name": "Qin Empire",
"start_year": -338,
"end_year": -207
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "SSP",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "unknown",
"comment": "“It seems that there was no one clear interpretation of Tian among the intellectual elite, and it is unclear how much impact these philosophies had on different Warring States rulers.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/59DP8DST\">[Levine_et_al 2025, p. 253]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 344,
"polity": {
"id": 465,
"name": "uz_khwarasm_1",
"long_name": "Ancient Khwarazm",
"start_year": -1000,
"end_year": -521
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "IFR",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "Although there is no direct evidence of belief in [moralistic supernatural enforcement] being present or absent in Sogdiana until the emergence of Zoroastrianism, it is more likely that it was absent in all preceding polities because comparison between two well-documented religious traditions that likely derived from it (Vedic Hinduism and Zoroastrianism) allows for partial reconstruction of the Indo-Iranian religion, which was likely prevalent in this region at this time. This comparison suggests that the god Mithra (one of many in the pantheon) may have been believed to reward honesty and reciprocity and punish those who transgressed against either. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9HR9GKMX\">[Thieme 1960, pp. 307-309]</a>, <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T4GZD9KV\">[Gnoli_Yarshater 2004]</a>, <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9AVQEENP\">[Gnoli_Lubin_Jones 2005]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 345,
"polity": {
"id": 466,
"name": "uz_koktepe_2",
"long_name": "Koktepe II",
"start_year": -750,
"end_year": -550
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "IFR",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "Although there is no direct evidence of belief in [moralistic supernatural enforcement] being present or absent in Sogdiana until the emergence of Zoroastrianism, it is more likely that it was absent in all preceding polities because comparison between two well-documented religious traditions that likely derived from it (Vedic Hinduism and Zoroastrianism) allows for partial reconstruction of the Indo-Iranian religion, which was likely prevalent in this region at this time. This comparison suggests that the god Mithra (one of many in the pantheon) may have been believed to reward honesty and reciprocity and punish those who transgressed against either. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9HR9GKMX\">[Thieme 1960, pp. 307-309]</a>, <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T4GZD9KV\">[Gnoli_Yarshater 2004]</a>, <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9AVQEENP\">[Gnoli_Lubin_Jones 2005]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 346,
"polity": {
"id": 463,
"name": "kz_andronovo",
"long_name": "Andronovo",
"start_year": -1800,
"end_year": -1200
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "IFR",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "Although there is no direct evidence of belief in [moralistic supernatural enforcement] being present or absent in Sogdiana until the emergence of Zoroastrianism, it is more likely that it was absent in all preceding polities because comparison between two well-documented religious traditions that likely derived from it (Vedic Hinduism and Zoroastrianism) allows for partial reconstruction of the Indo-Iranian religion, which was likely prevalent in this region at this time. This comparison suggests that the god Mithra (one of many in the pantheon) may have been believed to reward honesty and reciprocity and punish those who transgressed against either. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9HR9GKMX\">[Thieme 1960, pp. 307-309]</a>, <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T4GZD9KV\">[Gnoli_Yarshater 2004]</a>, <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9AVQEENP\">[Gnoli_Lubin_Jones 2005]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 347,
"polity": {
"id": 464,
"name": "uz_koktepe_1",
"long_name": "Koktepe I",
"start_year": -1400,
"end_year": -1000
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "IFR",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "Although there is no direct evidence of belief in [moralistic supernatural enforcement] being present or absent in Sogdiana until the emergence of Zoroastrianism, it is more likely that it was absent in all preceding polities because comparison between two well-documented religious traditions that likely derived from it (Vedic Hinduism and Zoroastrianism) allows for partial reconstruction of the Indo-Iranian religion, which was likely prevalent in this region at this time. This comparison suggests that the god Mithra (one of many in the pantheon) may have been believed to reward honesty and reciprocity and punish those who transgressed against either. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9HR9GKMX\">[Thieme 1960, pp. 307-309]</a>, <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T4GZD9KV\">[Gnoli_Yarshater 2004]</a>, <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9AVQEENP\">[Gnoli_Lubin_Jones 2005]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 348,
"polity": {
"id": 129,
"name": "af_hephthalite_emp",
"long_name": "Hephthalite Empire",
"start_year": 408,
"end_year": 561
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "SSP",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "unknown",
"comment": "“We have no evidence of the specific content of these religious beliefs but it is quite possible that they belonged to the Iranian (or Indo-Iranian) group.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7MTFU42T\">[Litvinsky_et_al 1996, p. 147]</a> However, sources on Indo-Iranian beliefes tend to privilege much earlier time periods.",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 349,
"polity": {
"id": 354,
"name": "ye_himyar_2",
"long_name": "Himyar II",
"start_year": 378,
"end_year": 525
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "IFR",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "A single known inscription (MB 2002 I-28) describes an instance of divine punishment that may be interpreted as moralistic. The transgression had been selling food to neighbouring communities during bad harvest years, and selling enslaved people from one’s own community to other communities. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/F54SC2DB\">[Multhoff_et_al 2008]</a>, <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IR3ESBXZ\">[Maraqten 2006]</a> Inscriptions note claim that landlords and tenants worshipped the same patron deity. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/W94UAFFP\">[Hoyland 2001, pp. 140-141]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 350,
"polity": {
"id": 70,
"name": "it_roman_principate",
"long_name": "Roman Empire - Principate",
"start_year": -31,
"end_year": 284
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“In summary, during the Principate, gods were “harnessed” for the enforcement of contracts, as in earlier times, and prosocial religious ideas spread further among the literate elites.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/6N4XAUD7\">[Larson_et_al 2024, pp. 52-53]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 351,
"polity": {
"id": 71,
"name": "tr_roman_dominate",
"long_name": "Roman Empire - Dominate",
"start_year": 285,
"end_year": 394
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "More generally, contemporary written sources describing instances of [moralistic supernatural enforcement] suggest that those who were able to produce and consume such sources largely embraced these beliefs, though there is also evidence that, from the Late Republic onward, a portion of the elite could be described as skeptical or agnostic.",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 352,
"polity": {
"id": 183,
"name": "it_roman_rep_2",
"long_name": "Middle Roman Republic",
"start_year": -264,
"end_year": -133
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“Reflecting the more traditional views likely shared by commoners as well as aristocrats, the poetry of the equestrian Catullus alluded to normative beliefs that perjury and breaches of fides were punishable by the gods and that the gods assist those whose behavior reflects pietas (Carmina 30; 64.135; 76.1–6, 19–20).” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/6N4XAUD7\">[Larson_et_al 2024, p. 48]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 353,
"polity": {
"id": 184,
"name": "it_roman_rep_3",
"long_name": "Late Roman Republic",
"start_year": -133,
"end_year": -31
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“Reflecting the more traditional views likely shared by commoners as well as aristocrats, the poetry of the equestrian Catullus alluded to normative beliefs that perjury and breaches of fides were punishable by the gods and that the gods assist those whose behavior reflects pietas (Carmina 30; 64.135; 76.1–6, 19–20).” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/6N4XAUD7\">[Larson_et_al 2024, p. 48]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 354,
"polity": {
"id": 182,
"name": "it_roman_rep_1",
"long_name": "Early Roman Republic",
"start_year": -509,
"end_year": -264
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“The Twelve Tables (c. 450 BCE) constitute the earliest written evidence of [moralistic supernatural enforcement] in the early Republic. […] In Table 8.21, it is decreed that a patron who defrauds a client shall be sacer. Here, sacer means “accursed,” such that an individual’s life is forfeited to the gods. The offense is the breaking of fides, an informal “good faith” agreement or a binding contract made within a formal relationship of reciprocity. Similarly, the early Roman leges regiae (laws attributed to the kings) declared that the lives of sons who abused their parents and daughters-in-law who mistreated a parent-in-law were forfeited to their parents’ gods (Festus 1889: 290, s.v. plorare). A similar judgment was made regarding persons who defrauded neighbors by moving boundary stones; their lives were forfeited to Jupiter Terminalis, the god of property lines (Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 2.74.3). Certain breaches of fides and pietas (faith and duty) threatened social order and made one incur the penalty of becoming sacer (Ter Beek 2012: 27–8), because the gods who watched over the Roman state were offended and these deeds required expiation. In practical terms, a person who became sacer lost all protections of the law; he or she could be killed with impunity or otherwise mistreated. No particular individual was tasked with the punishment, and the exact means was left to the gods (Ter Beek 2012: 29), so this form of [moralistic supernatural enforcement] was not certain.” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/6N4XAUD7\">[Larson_et_al 2024, pp. 44-45]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 355,
"polity": {
"id": 108,
"name": "ir_seleucid_emp",
"long_name": "Seleucid Empire",
"start_year": -312,
"end_year": -63
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "The main religions present in this polity at this time (Greek religion, Zoroastrianism, and Mesopotamian religions) all featured belief in supernatural enforcement.",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 356,
"polity": {
"id": 350,
"name": "af_greco_bactrian_k",
"long_name": "Greco-Bactrian Kingdom",
"start_year": -256,
"end_year": -125
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "The Greco-Bactrians came to incorporate multiple highly moralizing religions in the official ideology, including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QE37R7HS\">[Mairs_Eidinov_Kindt 2015]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 357,
"polity": {
"id": 169,
"name": "tr_lysimachus_k",
"long_name": "Lysimachus Kingdom",
"start_year": -323,
"end_year": -281
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“The Greek concept of dikē (δίκη, justice) overlaps with ma’at but differs from it in key ways. Both were concerned with ensuring proper conduct and maintaining social order, and applied equally to rulers and ruled. However, although Greek gods were sometimes depicted as caring about dikē, they had [...] limited domains of moral concern [...]; they generally had to be persuaded or “harnessed” through oaths and offerings to enforce human morality (Larson 2023).” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ZQ2347BZ\">[Cioni_et_al 2025, p. 82]</a> However, note that Polybius suggests elites did not believe in moralizing supernatural enforcement. “In the fourth century BCE, thinkers increasingly questioned traditional mythopoetic depictions of the gods and their likelihood of intervening in daily life to punish or reward. […] Polybius (c. 200–118 BCE) drew a distinction between the Greeks and Romans of his own day, stating that Greek civic officials had lost their fear of the gods (deisidaimonia) and did not scruple to break their oaths\". <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DIRZ999P\">[Larson_et_al 2024, p. 29]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 358,
"polity": {
"id": 109,
"name": "eg_ptolemaic_k_1",
"long_name": "Ptolemaic Kingdom I",
"start_year": -305,
"end_year": -217
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“The Greek concept of dikē (δίκη, justice) overlaps with ma’at but differs from it in key ways. Both were concerned with ensuring proper conduct and maintaining social order, and applied equally to rulers and ruled. However, although Greek gods were sometimes depicted as caring about dikē, they had more limited domains of moral concern than some Egyptian deities; they generally had to be persuaded or “harnessed” through oaths and offerings to enforce human morality (Larson 2023).” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ZQ2347BZ\">[Cioni_et_al 2025, p. 82]</a> However, note that Polybius suggests elites did not believe in moralizing supernatural enforcement. “In the fourth century BCE, thinkers increasingly questioned traditional mythopoetic depictions of the gods and their likelihood of intervening in daily life to punish or reward. […] Polybius (c. 200–118 BCE) drew a distinction between the Greeks and Romans of his own day, stating that Greek civic officials had lost their fear of the gods (deisidaimonia) and did not scruple to break their oaths\". <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DIRZ999P\">[Larson_et_al 2024, p. 29]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 359,
"polity": {
"id": 207,
"name": "eg_ptolemaic_k_2",
"long_name": "Ptolemaic Kingdom II",
"start_year": -217,
"end_year": -30
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“The Greek concept of dikē (δίκη, justice) overlaps with ma’at but differs from it in key ways. Both were concerned with ensuring proper conduct and maintaining social order, and applied equally to rulers and ruled. However, although Greek gods were sometimes depicted as caring about dikē, they had more limited domains of moral concern than some Egyptian deities; they generally had to be persuaded or “harnessed” through oaths and offerings to enforce human morality (Larson 2023).” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ZQ2347BZ\">[Cioni_et_al 2025, p. 82]</a> However, note that Polybius suggests elites did not believe in moralizing supernatural enforcement. “In the fourth century BCE, thinkers increasingly questioned traditional mythopoetic depictions of the gods and their likelihood of intervening in daily life to punish or reward. […] Polybius (c. 200–118 BCE) drew a distinction between the Greeks and Romans of his own day, stating that Greek civic officials had lost their fear of the gods (deisidaimonia) and did not scruple to break their oaths\". <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DIRZ999P\">[Larson_et_al 2024, p. 29]</a>",
"description": ""
},
{
"id": 360,
"polity": {
"id": 126,
"name": "pk_indo_greek_k",
"long_name": "Indo-Greek Kingdom",
"start_year": -180,
"end_year": -10
},
"year_from": null,
"year_to": null,
"tag": "TRS",
"is_disputed": false,
"is_uncertain": false,
"name": "Moralizing_religion_adopted_by_elites",
"coded_value": "present",
"comment": "“The Greek concept of dikē (δίκη, justice) overlaps with ma’at but differs from it in key ways. Both were concerned with ensuring proper conduct and maintaining social order, and applied equally to rulers and ruled. However, although Greek gods were sometimes depicted as caring about dikē, they had [...] limited domains of moral concern [...]; they generally had to be persuaded or “harnessed” through oaths and offerings to enforce human morality (Larson 2023).” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ZQ2347BZ\">[Cioni_et_al 2025, p. 82]</a> However, note that Polybius suggests elites did not believe in moralizing supernatural enforcement. “In the fourth century BCE, thinkers increasingly questioned traditional mythopoetic depictions of the gods and their likelihood of intervening in daily life to punish or reward. […] Polybius (c. 200–118 BCE) drew a distinction between the Greeks and Romans of his own day, stating that Greek civic officials had lost their fear of the gods (deisidaimonia) and did not scruple to break their oaths\". <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DIRZ999P\">[Larson_et_al 2024, p. 29]</a>",
"description": ""
}
]
}