Nonwritten Record List
A viewset for viewing and editing Nonwritten Records.
GET /api/sc/nonwritten-records/?format=api&page=7
{ "count": 339, "next": null, "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/nonwritten-records/?format=api&page=6", "results": [ { "id": 301, "polity": { "id": 600, "name": "ru_romanov_dyn_1", "long_name": "Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty I", "start_year": 1614, "end_year": 1775 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Iconography and Symbolism: Religious and cultural icons, paintings, and symbols often conveyed stories, teachings, and historical events. Churches and religious buildings, for example, were adorned with iconography that told stories from religious texts.§REF§Dara Vandor, “A Brief History of Russian Icons,” Waddingtons.Ca, last modified February 12, 2021, accessed January 13, 2024, https://www.waddingtons.ca/a-brief-history-of-russian-icons/.<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/A9KGIB4S\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: A9KGIB4S</b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 302, "polity": { "id": 571, "name": "ru_romanov_dyn_2", "long_name": "Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty II", "start_year": 1776, "end_year": 1917 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Iconography and Symbolism: Religious and cultural icons, paintings, and symbols often conveyed stories, teachings, and historical events. Churches and religious buildings, for example, were adorned with iconography that told stories from religious texts.§REF§Dara Vandor, “A Brief History of Russian Icons,” Waddingtons.Ca, last modified February 12, 2021, accessed January 13, 2024, https://www.waddingtons.ca/a-brief-history-of-russian-icons/.<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/A9KGIB4S\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: A9KGIB4S</b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 303, "polity": { "id": 780, "name": "bd_chandra_dyn", "long_name": "Chandra Dynasty", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1050 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "Cooper plates bear the circular seal depicting two seated deer throughout the Chandra dynasty. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/K5PPMPG6\">[Harunur_Rashid_Haque 2001]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 304, "polity": { "id": 779, "name": "bd_deva_dyn", "long_name": "Deva Dynasty", "start_year": 1150, "end_year": 1300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "Several Deva copper-plates had a circular seal depicting seated deer. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BSB9HGAR\">[Chowdhury 1965]</a>, <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7ZTPE42T\">[Majumdar 1943]</a> Rashid confirms that this seal was also later used by the Palas and Chandras. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/K5PPMPG6\">[Harunur_Rashid_Haque 2001]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 305, "polity": { "id": 783, "name": "in_gauda_k", "long_name": "Gauda Kingdom", "start_year": 600, "end_year": 625 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "“A seal matrix cut in the rock of the hill-fort of Rohtasgarh records the name of ‘Sri-Mahasamanta Sasanka’ i.e. ‘the illustrious great vassal Sasanka.’” <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7ZTPE42T\">[Majumdar 1943]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 306, "polity": { "id": 250, "name": "cn_qin_emp", "long_name": "Qin Empire", "start_year": -338, "end_year": -207 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 307, "polity": { "id": 426, "name": "cn_southern_song_dyn", "long_name": "Southern Song", "start_year": 1127, "end_year": 1279 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "The literature of the period was \"partly still composed in the oral tradition\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WN3JCFXA\">[Gernet 1962, p. 231]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 308, "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": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 309, "polity": { "id": 506, "name": "gr_macedonian_emp", "long_name": "Macedonian Empire", "start_year": -330, "end_year": -312 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 310, "polity": { "id": 337, "name": "ru_moskva_rurik_dyn", "long_name": "Grand Principality of Moscow, Rurikid Dynasty", "start_year": 1480, "end_year": 1613 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 311, "polity": { "id": 710, "name": "tz_tana", "long_name": "Classic Tana", "start_year": 1000, "end_year": 1498 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "unknown", "comment": "Note the likely oral form of the Kilwa Chronicles which were eventually transcribed in the mid-16th century; however, oral traditions do not fit with our definition of \"nonwritten records\" (i.e. \"Records that are more extensive than mnemonics, but don't utilize script. Example: quipu; seals and stamps\"). \"The historical record relating to Kilwa is one of the richest for the coast. It includes both the indigenous Kilwa Chronicle and a series of mentions by visitors to the region. The Chronicle exists in three versions, roughly similar, the earliest of which was transcribed by João de Barros in 1552 (Chittick 1966). Before (and after) that time, it would have existed as a set of oral traditions, relating to various named sultans and their deeds.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/496ERM55\">[Wynne-Jones_Wynne-Jones_LaViolette 2017]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 312, "polity": { "id": 535, "name": "ug_bunyoro_k_2", "long_name": "Bito Dynasty", "start_year": 1700, "end_year": 1894 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "uncoded", "comment": "Note that the region is known for its extensive oral histories, but that these do not meet our codebook definition for this variable (\"Records that are more extensive than mnemonics, but don't utilize script. Example: quipu; seals and stamps\").", "description": null }, { "id": 313, "polity": { "id": 534, "name": "ug_bunyoro_k_1", "long_name": "Cwezi Dynasty", "start_year": 1450, "end_year": 1699 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "uncoded", "comment": "Note that the region is known for its extensive oral histories, but that these do not meet our codebook definition for this variable (\"Records that are more extensive than mnemonics, but don't utilize script. Example: quipu; seals and stamps\").", "description": null }, { "id": 314, "polity": { "id": 791, "name": "bd_khadga_dyn", "long_name": "Khadga Dynasty", "start_year": 650, "end_year": 700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "The Khadga copper-plate found at Mainamati included a seal of a \"couchant humped bull on a full-blown lotus\". The emblem's design and style is the same as other seals found on Khadga records. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/K5PPMPG6\">[Harunur_Rashid_Haque 2001, pp. 93-224]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 315, "polity": { "id": 223, "name": "ma_almoravid_dyn", "long_name": "Almoravids", "start_year": 1035, "end_year": 1150 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 316, "polity": { "id": 284, "name": "hu_avar_khaganate", "long_name": "Avar Khaganate", "start_year": 586, "end_year": 822 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "\"the early steppe peoples would not have been a promising vehicle for the diffusion of complicated, textually based knowledge; according to the Northern Wei dynastic history, the Rouran were illiterates whose leaders at first kept records of their troop numbers by piling up sheep turds as counters but eventually graduated to scratching simple marks onto pieces of wood. Not surprisingly, there is no evidence of the transmission of Chinese military theories and texts to the West by way of the Avars, other steppe nomads, Silk Road caravans, or any other channel prior to the activities of the Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7JJTRCWG\">[Graff 2016, p. 146]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 317, "polity": { "id": 277, "name": "kz_chionite", "long_name": "Chionites", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 388 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "uncoded", "comment": "\"the early steppe peoples would not have been a promising vehicle for the diffusion of complicated, textually based knowledge; according to the Northern Wei dynastic history, the Rouran were illiterates whose leaders at first kept records of their troop numbers by piling up sheep turds as counters but eventually graduated to scratching simple marks onto pieces of wood. Not surprisingly, there is no evidence of the transmission of Chinese military theories and texts to the West by way of the Avars, other steppe nomads, Silk Road caravans, or any other channel prior to the activities of the Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7JJTRCWG\">[Graff 2016, p. 146]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 318, "polity": { "id": 246, "name": "cn_chu_dyn_spring_autumn", "long_name": "Chu Kingdom - Spring and Autumn Period", "start_year": -740, "end_year": -489 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "Oral, pictures etc.", "description": null }, { "id": 319, "polity": { "id": 249, "name": "cn_chu_k_warring_states", "long_name": "Chu Kingdom - Warring States Period", "start_year": -488, "end_year": -223 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 320, "polity": { "id": 533, "name": "ug_early_nyoro", "long_name": "Early Nyoro", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1449 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "uncoded", "comment": "Note that the region is known for its extensive oral histories, but that these do not meet our codebook definition for this variable (\"Records that are more extensive than mnemonics, but don't utilize script. Example: quipu; seals and stamps\").", "description": null }, { "id": 321, "polity": { "id": 429, "name": "mr_wagadu_1", "long_name": "Early Wagadu Empire", "start_year": 250, "end_year": 700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "uncoded", "comment": "\"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TNTPK7C6\">[Bovill 1995, p. 51]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 322, "polity": { "id": 369, "name": "ir_jayarid_khanate", "long_name": "Jayarid Khanate", "start_year": 1336, "end_year": 1393 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 323, "polity": { "id": 326, "name": "it_sicily_k_2", "long_name": "Kingdom of Sicily - Hohenstaufen and Angevin dynasties", "start_year": 1194, "end_year": 1281 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 324, "polity": { "id": 345, "name": "ir_median_emp", "long_name": "Median Persian Empire", "start_year": -715, "end_year": -550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": null, "description": "§REF§Diakonoff, I.M. 1985. Media. In Gershevitch, I. (ed.) The Cambridge History of Iran. Volume 2 The Median and Achaemenian Periods. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. p.139.§REF§ §REF§Dandamaev, M. A. and Lukonin, V.G. 1989. The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.273§REF§" }, { "id": 325, "polity": { "id": 530, "name": "mx_monte_alban_5_a", "long_name": "Monte Alban V Early Postclassic", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1099 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "unknown", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 326, "polity": { "id": 531, "name": "mx_monte_alban_5_b", "long_name": "Monte Alban V Late Postclassic", "start_year": 1101, "end_year": 1520 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "unknown", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 327, "polity": { "id": 542, "name": "tr_ottoman_emp_4_copy", "long_name": "Yemen - Ottoman period", "start_year": 1873, "end_year": 1920 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": null, "description": "'The most widespread and traditional cultural outlet is oral, in the form of proverbs, popular stories, and poetry; poems that deal with timeless themes such as love and death as well as with Yemeni history, biography, and Islamic themes and traditions are particularly prevalent.' §REF§<a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.britannica.com/place/Yemen/Government-and-society#toc273063\">http://www.britannica.com/place/Yemen/Government-and-society#toc273063</a>§REF§ Men engaged in competitive poetry duels: 'Despite the imposition of modernity, Yemenis remain proud of their architectural and oral-poetry traditions. Houses and mosques found in different regions of the country reflect unique stylistic and functional variations. Highlanders construct multistoried buildings from smooth, layered mud, mud brick, or cut stone. Dwellings in San\\??\\a are particularly impressive with their decorative colored-glass windows. In the rural highlands, houses constructed atop terraced embankments were fortresses against enemy tribes. In cities along the coastal plain, the former elegance of houses and mosques can be seen in their elaborate doors and facades. Rural towns in the Tihama usually include a walled compound that contains mud and thatched-roof huts identical to those found in Africa, on the other side of the Red Sea. The interiors of Tihama houses may be highly ornamented. Buildings constructed of cinder blocks are routinely replacing the huts. Competitive poetry duels performed at weddings by men of tribal status are highly valued. In the past, celebrations for circumcision (required of all Muslim males) were particularly elaborate, but now government officials discourage postinfancy circumcisions, thereby undermining the importance of ceremonial specialists.' §REF§Walters, Delores M.: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Yemenis§REF§" }, { "id": 328, "polity": { "id": 237, "name": "ml_songhai_1", "long_name": "Songhai Empire", "start_year": 1376, "end_year": 1493 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 329, "polity": { "id": 586, "name": "gb_england_norman", "long_name": "Norman England", "start_year": 1066, "end_year": 1153 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "Seals were widely used in Norman England to authenticate documents. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/JLVS5BKW\">[Chibnall 1996]</a>", "description": "" }, { "id": 330, "polity": { "id": 798, "name": "de_east_francia", "long_name": "East Francia", "start_year": 842, "end_year": 919 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "Royal Seals: Kings used seals as symbols of legitimacy.<br>\r\nEcclesiastical Seals: Monastic institutions and bishops also used seals to validate documents <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7SHDPVIS\">[Reuter 1991]</a>", "description": "" }, { "id": 331, "polity": { "id": 177, "name": "tr_ottoman_emp_4", "long_name": "Ottoman Empire IV", "start_year": 1839, "end_year": 1922 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "Seals: The use of official seals (e.g., the Sultan's tuğra, a calligraphic emblem) was widespread. The tuğra was a combination of calligraphic art and a symbolic signature, but it functioned as a nonwritten identifier rather than a script-based record. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/M26QR6CH\">[Finkel 2007]</a>", "description": "" }, { "id": 332, "polity": { "id": 21, "name": "us_hawaii_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Hawaii - Post-Kamehameha Period", "start_year": 1820, "end_year": 1898 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "present", "comment": "Petroglyphs: Carvings in stone (ki‘i pōhaku) found across the islands. These symbols often depicted human figures, animals, or abstract shapes. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QT8DN5BS\">[Daws 1997]</a>", "description": "" }, { "id": 333, "polity": { "id": 85, "name": "in_deccan_nl", "long_name": "Deccan - Neolithic", "start_year": -2700, "end_year": -1200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "uncoded", "comment": "unknown", "description": null }, { "id": 334, "polity": { "id": 422, "name": "cn_erligang", "long_name": "Erligang", "start_year": -1650, "end_year": -1250 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "uncoded", "comment": "Society complex enough to have had non-written records. In the case of oral traditions, these are not preserved in archaeology.", "description": null }, { "id": 335, "polity": { "id": 466, "name": "uz_koktepe_2", "long_name": "Koktepe II", "start_year": -750, "end_year": -550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "uncoded", "comment": "JR: could possibly be present if seals and/or sealings have been recovered from Koktepe. I have not seen these mentioned, but suggest asking an expert to confirm they were absent.", "description": null }, { "id": 336, "polity": { "id": 532, "name": "mx_monte_alban_5", "long_name": "Monte Alban V", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1520 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "uncoded", "comment": "unknown", "description": null }, { "id": 337, "polity": { "id": 523, "name": "mx_san_jose", "long_name": "Oaxaca - San Jose", "start_year": -1150, "end_year": -700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "uncoded", "comment": "unknown.", "description": null }, { "id": 338, "polity": { "id": 541, "name": "ye_qasimid_dyn", "long_name": "Yemen - Qasimid Dynasty", "start_year": 1637, "end_year": 1805 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "uncoded", "comment": "Poetry was important even in the modern period: 'The most widespread and traditional cultural outlet is oral, in the form of proverbs, popular stories, and poetry; poems that deal with timeless themes such as love and death as well as with Yemeni history, biography, and Islamic themes and traditions are particularly prevalent.' <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/RMZUSMFG\">[Burrowes_Wenner 2020]</a> Men engaged in competitive poetry duels: 'Despite the imposition of modernity, Yemenis remain proud of their architectural and oral-poetry traditions. Houses and mosques found in different regions of the country reflect unique stylistic and functional variations. Highlanders construct multistoried buildings from smooth, layered mud, mud brick, or cut stone. Dwellings in San\\??\\a are particularly impressive with their decorative colored-glass windows. In the rural highlands, houses constructed atop terraced embankments were fortresses against enemy tribes. In cities along the coastal plain, the former elegance of houses and mosques can be seen in their elaborate doors and facades. Rural towns in the Tihama usually include a walled compound that contains mud and thatched-roof huts identical to those found in Africa, on the other side of the Red Sea. The interiors of Tihama houses may be highly ornamented. Buildings constructed of cinder blocks are routinely replacing the huts. Competitive poetry duels performed at weddings by men of tribal status are highly valued. In the past, celebrations for circumcision (required of all Muslim males) were particularly elaborate, but now government officials discourage postinfancy circumcisions, thereby undermining the importance of ceremonial specialists.' <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/6KEQJQHU\">[Walters 2003]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 339, "polity": { "id": 267, "name": "mn_mongol_emp", "long_name": "Mongol Empire", "start_year": 1206, "end_year": 1270 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "UND", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Nonwritten_record", "nonwritten_record": "uncoded", "comment": "It is important to note that “Mongolian was not a written language before the time of Chingiz Khan”. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/Z8MHVTRR\">[Morgan 2007, p. 6]</a> The only substantial Mongolian written sources is The Secret History a chronology of the Mongols down to 1240 CE; alongside a few fragments this makes for a small corpus. We do know that there was also the Altan Debter ]the ‘Golden Book’] - an official history kept at the royal court, and a taboo document which no non-Mongol could read. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/Z8MHVTRR\">[Morgan 2007, p. 6]</a> If the Mongolians had a central state archive it does not survive. The majority of written sources are in fact Chinese and Persian, including those produced by administrators after they had been incorporated into the Mongolian Empire. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/Z8MHVTRR\">[Morgan 2007, p. 7]</a> Much of what is coded below reflects on the continuation of mathematics and astronomy had some aspects of measurement systems particularity relating to mathematics and astronomy under the Mongols, and the commissioning of The Secret History.", "description": null } ] }