Religious Level List
A viewset for viewing and editing Religious Levels.
GET /api/sc/religious-levels/?format=api&page=7
{ "count": 446, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/religious-levels/?format=api&page=8", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/religious-levels/?format=api&page=6", "results": [ { "id": 302, "polity": { "id": 527, "name": "mx_monte_alban_2", "long_name": "Monte Alban II", "start_year": -100, "end_year": 200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": null, "religious_level_to": null, "comment": null, "description": " levels. Temples were constructed at the primary and secondary centres of the valley, with potential public buildings also at tertiary centres which may have had a religious function. The primary and secondary temples followed a standard plan, suggesting religious uniformity between these centres.§REF§Flannery, K. V. and J. Marcus (1983). \"The Cloud People.\" New York, p82§REF§" }, { "id": 303, "polity": { "id": 512, "name": "eg_naqada_2", "long_name": "Naqada II", "start_year": -3550, "end_year": -3300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": null, "religious_level_to": null, "comment": null, "description": " The introduction of professional priesthood occurred during the New Kingdom§REF§Doxey, D. M. 2001. \"Priesthood\". [in:] Redford, D. B. [ed.]. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 3. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pg: 77.§REF§.<br>" }, { "id": 304, "polity": { "id": 62, "name": "gr_crete_new_palace", "long_name": "New Palace Crete", "start_year": -1700, "end_year": -1450 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": null, "religious_level_to": null, "comment": null, "description": " levels. Male and female figures depicted in various iconographic media were often identified as priests and priestesses.§REF§See the discussion in Marinatos, N. 1993. <i>Minoan Religion. Ritual, Image, and Symbol</i>, Columbia, 127-46.§REF§ The frequency of such depictions during the New Palace period has been interpreted as \" a need for a more pronounced identity arose as a result of the greater consolidation of the ruling class.\" §REF§Marinatos, N. 1993. <i>Minoan Religion. Ritual, Image, and Symbol</i>, Columbia, 127.§REF§ The sacerdotal figures were dressed with sumptuary adorned robes and dresses, have special hairstyles and hold insignia of their authority (curved axes, double-axes, stone maces, and ritual objects). They were also often accompanied by certain symbolic images: animal heads (scarified victims), winged creatures, and animals attacker/predators. All evidence points to a division between priest and priestess: priest were associated with hunting and perhaps in the daily administration while priestess to pouring of libations, processions, bringing offerings and performing dances. The most important ritual performed by priestesses was the impersonation of the goddess. According Marinatos \"Minoan priesthood was a permeant profession and not a stage in the \"career\" of the nobility\". and \"I would think that the priesthood in palatial Crete formed a strong corporation from the ranks of which the priest-king and the goddess impersonator were chosen.\" §REF§See the discussion in Marinatos, N. 1993. <i>Minoan Religion. Ritual, Image, and Symbol</i>, Columbia, 145-46.§REF§ It should be noted, however, that because of the absence of sound information all these are speculations." }, { "id": 305, "polity": { "id": 24, "name": "us_woodland_3", "long_name": "Cahokia - Late Woodland I", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 450 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": null, "religious_level_to": null, "comment": null, "description": " levels.<br>Shaman-like religious leaders.<br>" }, { "id": 306, "polity": { "id": 528, "name": "mx_monte_alban_3_a", "long_name": "Monte Alban III", "start_year": 200, "end_year": 500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": null, "religious_level_to": null, "comment": null, "description": " levels. Temples were constructed at the primary and secondary centres of the valley, with potential public buildings also at tertiary centres which may have had a religious function. The primary and secondary temples followed a standard plan, suggesting religious uniformity between these centres.§REF§Flannery, K. V. and J. Marcus (1983). \"The Cloud People.\" New York, p82§REF§ For examples:<br>1. Head of the official cult, Monte Alban temple<br>2. Priest officiating from a secondary temple(3. Local priest officiating from a tertiary temple)<br>However, there is no evidence that any existing religious hierarchy so closely matched settlement hierarchy." }, { "id": 307, "polity": { "id": 454, "name": "fr_la_tene_b2_c1", "long_name": "La Tene B2-C1", "start_year": -325, "end_year": -175 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": null, "religious_level_to": null, "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 308, "polity": { "id": 570, "name": "es_spanish_emp_2", "long_name": "Spanish Empire II", "start_year": 1716, "end_year": 1814 }, "year_from": 1716, "year_to": 1814, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 9, "religious_level_to": 9, "comment": null, "description": ": 1. Pope\r\n:: 2. Cardinal\r\n::: 3. Archbishops\r\n:::: 4. Bishops\r\n::::: 5. Priests\r\n:::::: 6. Abbots\r\n::::::: 7. Monks\r\n:::::::: 8. Friars\r\n::::::::: 9. Nuns\r\n:::::::::: 10. Missionaries\r\n\r\n“In Solorzano’s argument, it was crucial that, among many other ceremonies, the viceroys continued to exercise the right to be received under a canopy when they first arrived in their dominions. Bishops and archbishop should also meet them on the steps in front of cathedrals and churches.”<ref>(Eissa-Barroso 2017: 42) Eissa-Barroso, Francisco A. 2017. The Spanish Monarchy and the Creation of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–1739). Leiden: Brill. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XNET89MW</ref> “‘Building bridges, making roads’ is a ‘pious work’ as good as any other, commented Ponz at the end of the Old Regime, as he gave reference after reference to bishops setting up workshops, distributing spindles, wool and flax to the poor. He cited with approval the letter of the archbishop of Toledo to the priests of his diocese in 1779, urging them to take an interest in the material welfare of their parishioners. His great friend Jovellanos, in his treatise of 1795 on economic reform, doubted whether the church needed so many friars (or chantry priests) as in the Middle Ages.”<ref>(Casey 2002: 248) Casey, James. 2002. Early Modern Spain: A Social History. New York: Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2SNTRSWT</ref> “This state of affairs, however, did not last long. Slowly, but surely, Alberoni gained the confidence of the new queen and, through her, that of the king. By the end of 1716, the abbot, soon to be cardinal, had succeeded in replacing Giudice as the leading figure of a new government.”<ref>(Eissa-Barroso 2017: 114) Eissa-Barroso, Francisco A. 2017. The Spanish Monarchy and the Creation of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–1739). Leiden: Brill. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XNET89MW</ref> “Clearly, the church was on the defensive during the Bourbon eighteenth century, but the extent of its decline should not be exaggerated. Efforts to reduce the sheer number of clergy got nowhere, so that in 1788 Spain had 68,000 monks, 33,000 nuns, and 88,000 secular clergy, or a total of about 200,000 ecclesiastics in a population of 10,000,000, representing a percent¬ age two or three times of that in France, for example.”<ref>(Bergamini 1974: 92) Bergamini, John D. 1974. The Spanish Bourbons: The History of a Tenacious Dynasty. New York: G. P Putnam’s Sons. https://archive.org/details/spanishbourbons00john. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5A2HNKTF</ref>" }, { "id": 309, "polity": { "id": 612, "name": "ni_nok_1", "long_name": "Middle and Late Nok", "start_year": -1500, "end_year": -901 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 0, "religious_level_to": 0, "comment": null, "description": "levels. Inferred from the following quote. \"As demonstrated by the uniformity of their material culture and their presumed belief system, most prominently reflected by the terracotta sculptures, external contacts within their culture must have existed. However, such a larger social network apparently was not organised and maintained in a way as to infer social inequality, social hierarchies or other signs of internal demarcation traceable by available archaeological data. None of the numerous excavations brought to light architectural remains of specified buildings or the spatial organisation of housing areas that might have been occupied by high-ranking members of the community. Further, among the admittedly few features interpreted as graves there is no evidence of any heterogeneity pointing to a difference between burials of elite members or commoners. Nowhere, an accumulation of valuable objects neither of iron nor any other materials signifying inequality in terms of property or prosperity was found.\" §REF§(Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 252) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.§REF§" }, { "id": 310, "polity": { "id": 613, "name": "bf_west_burkina_faso_yellow_5", "long_name": "West Burkina Faso Yellow I", "start_year": 100, "end_year": 500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 0, "religious_level_to": 0, "comment": null, "description": "levels. The following reconstruction of small communities consisting of extended families based in autonomous homesteads suggests minimal social diffrentiation. ”For the first 400 years of the settlement's history, Kirikongo was a single economically generalized social group (Figure 6). The occupants were self-sufficient farmers who cultivated grains and herded livestock, smelted and forged iron, opportunistically hunted, lived in puddled earthen structures with pounded clay floors, and fished in the seasonal drainages. [...] Since Kirikongo did not grow (at least not significantly) for over 400 years, it is likely that extra-community fissioning continually occurred to contribute to regional population growth, and it is also likely that Kirikongo itself was the result of budding from a previous homestead. However, with the small scale of settlement, the inhabitants of individual homesteads must have interacted with a wider community for social and demographic reasons. [...] It may be that generalized single-kin homesteads like Kirikongo were the societal model for a post-LSA expansion of farming peoples along the Nakambe (White Volta) and Mouhoun (Black Volta) River basins. A homestead settlement pattern would fit well with the transitional nature of early sedentary life, where societies are shifting from generalized reciprocity to more restricted and formalized group membership, and single-kin communities like Kirikongo's house (Mound 4) would be roughly the size of a band.”§REF§(Dueppen 2012: 27, 32)§REF§" }, { "id": 311, "polity": { "id": 615, "name": "ni_nok_2", "long_name": "Middle and Late Nok", "start_year": -900, "end_year": 0 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 0, "religious_level_to": 0, "comment": null, "description": "levels. Inferred from the following quote. \"As demonstrated by the uniformity of their material culture and their presumed belief system, most prominently reflected by the terracotta sculptures, external contacts within their culture must have existed. However, such a larger social network apparently was not organised and maintained in a way as to infer social inequality, social hierarchies or other signs of internal demarcation traceable by available archaeological data. None of the numerous excavations brought to light architectural remains of specified buildings or the spatial organisation of housing areas that might have been occupied by high-ranking members of the community. Further, among the admittedly few features interpreted as graves there is no evidence of any heterogeneity pointing to a difference between burials of elite members or commoners. Nowhere, an accumulation of valuable objects neither of iron nor any other materials signifying inequality in terms of property or prosperity was found.\" §REF§(Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 252) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.§REF§" }, { "id": 312, "polity": { "id": 617, "name": "bf_west_burkina_faso_red_2", "long_name": "West Burkina Faso Red II and III", "start_year": 1100, "end_year": 1400 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 1, "religious_level_to": 2, "comment": null, "description": "levels. The following quote suggests at least one level. \"The political power formerly residing at Mound 4 during Red I and Early Red II was largely disseminated within the community; however, their role as village founders who maintain the community's relations with the local and ancestral divinities, as well as their symbolic position as the external face of the village community, remained unchanged and was simply detached from the iron cult.\"§REF§(Dueppen 2012: 30)§REF§" }, { "id": 313, "polity": { "id": 618, "name": "bf_west_burkina_faso_red_4", "long_name": "West Burkina Faso Red IV", "start_year": 1401, "end_year": 1500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 1, "religious_level_to": 2, "comment": null, "description": "levels. The following quote suggests at least one level. \"The political power formerly residing at Mound 4 during Red I and Early Red II was largely disseminated within the community; however, their role as village founders who maintain the community's relations with the local and ancestral divinities, as well as their symbolic position as the external face of the village community, remained unchanged and was simply detached from the iron cult.\"§REF§(Dueppen 2012: 30)§REF§" }, { "id": 314, "polity": { "id": 619, "name": "bf_west_burkina_faso_red_1", "long_name": "West Burkina Faso Red I", "start_year": 701, "end_year": 1100 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 1, "religious_level_to": 2, "comment": null, "description": "levels. The following suggests at least one level of religious hierarchy. \"At Kirikongo, increasing centralization is associated with a gradual co-option of iron metallurgy. Iron metallurgy as an avenue to inequality would provide an alternative spiritual power, derived from profound excavation and transformation in the realm of divinities (the earth). It is this power that today makes smiths held in high esteem and occasionally feared. The spiritual power of the Bwa smith is separate from the political process, but at Kirikongo the emergence of smith-elites at Mound 4 marks the possible combination of multiple spiritually derived sources of power, from those based upon their role as village founder (over nature and ancestry), to a new cult (iron) that may have been manipulated owing to its mysterious nature. In short, between Yellow II and Red I, the inhabitants of Mound 4 likely employed their ancestral priority to assume control of the village territory, then co-opted another source of authority using the spiritual power of iron.\"§REF§(Dueppen 2012: 30)§REF§" }, { "id": 315, "polity": { "id": 622, "name": "bf_west_burkina_faso_yellow_6", "long_name": "West Burkina Faso Yellow II", "start_year": 501, "end_year": 700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": null, "religious_level_to": null, "comment": null, "description": "levels. The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. \"During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor.\"§REF§(Dueppen 2012: 28)§REF§" }, { "id": 316, "polity": { "id": 624, "name": "zi_great_zimbabwe", "long_name": "Great Zimbabwe", "start_year": 1270, "end_year": 1550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 5, "religious_level_to": 5, "comment": null, "description": "levels. (1) Mambo/Ishe/Changamire, ‘paramount chief’; (2) Mambo/Ishe/Sadunhu, ‘lesser chiefs’; (3) Sadunhu, ‘leader of a group of villages’; (4) Samusha, ‘village head’; (5) Saimba, ‘head of a homestead.’ If the religious system of Great Zimbabwe was similar to the system of the Karanga in later times, as is expected, then the religious levels would mirror the social hierarchy as listed above and described by Chirikure, since it is one of the duties of social leaders to act in a religious capacity. “The Karanga chief serves as both political and religious leader…. His power was believed to derive from the link between the land and his ancestral spirits…, thereby making the chief’s ancestors of vital importance to the entire population…When a chief died, power passed to his male heir. The chief then became an important ancestor who had joined the rank [sic] of spirits offering guardianship and aid to the people…. As is the case among the Karanga today, recognition and propitiation of ancestor spirits at Great Zimbabwe seem to have been a central part of the belief system…. Karanga oral tradition suggests that the Mwari cult began at Great Zimbabwe.” §REF§ (Steadman 2009, 264-266) Sharon R. Steadman, The Archaeology of Religion: Cultures and Their Beliefs in Worldwide Context (London: Routledge, 2009). Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4R4GHNJ/collection §REF§ “In general, imba (plural: dzimba) under the leadership of the saimba, was the smallest and lowest level social unit. A collection of dzimba formed misha (singular: musha) under samusha (village head). A group of misha formed dunhu (plural: matunhu) under sadunhu…. A group of matunhu formed a state (nyika) under a chief (ishe/mambo/changamire)…. Each level performed administrative, economic, religious, and political roles consistent with rank.” §REF§ (Chirikure 2021, 267) Shadreck Chirikure, Great Zimbabwe: Reclaiming a ‘Confiscated’ Past (Routledge, 2021). Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MWWKAGSJ/collection §REF§." }, { "id": 317, "polity": { "id": 657, "name": "ni_formative_yoruba", "long_name": "Late Formative Yoruba", "start_year": 650, "end_year": 1049 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 2, "religious_level_to": 3, "comment": null, "description": "levels. (1) Oba; (2) lesser house leaders; (3) lesser priests (inferred). This based on the following two quotes: (1) \"These oba [rulers], however, did not only manage people and economic resources, especially land and labor. They also managed the temples, shrines, and festivals dedicated to their Houses’ deities and ancestors. Likewise, they managed conflicts, especially at the interhousehold and inter-House levels.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 51-52)§REF§ (\") \"The Ìjùgbè mega-House, for example, comprised Ìjùgbè—the alpha House—and four minor Houses: Eranyiba, Igbogbe, Ipa, and Ita-Asin, each with its own leader, who was also its chief priest.”\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 53)§REF§ The idea of a \"chief priest\" implies the existence of a lesser priest or ritual assistant." }, { "id": 318, "polity": { "id": 659, "name": "ni_allada_k", "long_name": "Allada", "start_year": 1100, "end_year": 1724 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 3, "religious_level_to": 3, "comment": null, "description": "1) King (Ajahutonon); 2) High Priest; 3) Priests/spirit mediums. “The French in 1670 likewise believed that the king was at heart a Christian, but prevented from professing the religion openly by fear of the power of the \"High Priest\", whom they regarded as the most powerful person in the kingdom after the monarch.” §REF§Law, Robin. “Religion, Trade and Politics on the ‘Slave Coast’: Roman Catholic Missions in Allada and Whydah in the Seventeenth Century.” Journal of Religion in Africa, vol. 21, no. 1, 1991, pp. 42–77: 70. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/C4ZBEWMH/collection§REF§ “According to recent tradition, prior to the Dahomian conquest in the 1720s the kings of Allada, in their capacity as Ajahutonon or priests of the dynastic ancestor Ajahuto, had the function of performing installation rituals for the kings of neighbouring dynasties which derived from Allada, including those of Dahomey itself (Lombard, 1966: 52).” §REF§Law, Robin. “Ideologies of Royal Power: The Dissolution and Reconstruction of Political Authority on the ‘Slave Coast’, 1680-1750.” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, vol. 57, no. 3, 1987, pp. 321–44: 327. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/VJPWCBM6/collection§REF§ “Moreover, as the missionaries to Allada themselves noted, they were willing to describe themselves as \"vodonu\" – a term used locally for priest or spirit medium.” §REF§Thornton, J. K. (1988). On the Trail of Voodoo: African Christianity in Africa and the Americas. The Americas, 44(3), 261–278: 267. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/JZQ46GB8/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 319, "polity": { "id": 661, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_2", "long_name": "Ilú-ọba Ọ̀yọ́", "start_year": 1601, "end_year": 1835 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 6, "religious_level_to": 6, "comment": null, "description": "levels. 1) Oluwo (head of the Ogoni), 2) Ogboni, 3) Iya Kere (senior palace Sango priestess), 4) Mogba (Sango cult officials), 5) Elegun (Sango possession priests), 6) other priestly roles (eg linked to Ogun rather than Sango). There may have been several more layers. Many priestly roles also served administrative purposes. “Outsiders without any natal claim to the throne, the ayaba – wives of the reigning king and his predecessors – were entrusted somewhat more safely with administrative functions and prerogatives. They served as the heads of empire-wide priesthoods, as royal advisors, as intermediaries between the king and subject chiefs, and as provincial representatives of the palace. Some of the ayaba were “wives” of the apotheosized king Sango as well (Alaafin Adeyẹmi III, personal communication, 17 October 1988; see also Morton-Williams 1964a:255) Other wifelike palace delegates, known as ilari, served as diplomatic observers, toll collectors, messengers, cavaliers, royal guards, and priests (Biobaku 1952:40).” §REF§Matory, J. L. (2005). Sex and the Empire That Is No More: Gender and the Politics of Metaphor in Oyo Yoruba Religion. Berghahn Books: 9. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/C6VWWF8Q/collection§REF§ “The ilari palace deputies were prepared by Sango cult officials (mogba), much after the manner of possession priests and priestesses (elegun), whose defining characteristic is the periodic displacement of their personal will. […] In order to invest them with the royal will, the senior palace priestess of Sango – the Iya Kere – initiated ilari in her palace apartment. Their heads were shaved, incised, and planted with powerful substances.” §REF§Matory, J. L. (2005). Sex and the Empire That Is No More: Gender and the Politics of Metaphor in Oyo Yoruba Religion. Berghahn Books: 10–11. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/C6VWWF8Q/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 320, "polity": { "id": 662, "name": "ni_whydah_k", "long_name": "Whydah", "start_year": 1671, "end_year": 1727 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 3, "religious_level_to": 3, "comment": null, "description": "1) King (Ahosu); 2) Aplogan (in charge of all cults); 3) Dangbe priesthood. It is likely there were further, finer, gradations of seniority in the priesthood and cults, but there are no clear descriptions available in the literature. “Understanding of the distribution of political power in Whydah also requires consideration of the sphere of religion, which both legitimated and circumscribed the actions of the ruling elite. The most important national cult in Whydah was that of the god Dangbe (incarnated in the royal python), which was celebrated by annual public processions to the principal Dangbe shrine. Dangbe was primarily concerned with regulation of the weather and of agricultural fertility, but was also invoked for political purposes, \"on all occasions relating to their government.\" Some European accounts imply that the worship of Dangbe was controlled by the king, the head of the cult being an official of the royal palace. It appears, however, that the Dangbe priesthood had rather more autonomy vis-a-vis the king than this suggests, since other evidence shows that King Agbangla in the 1690s expressed resentment at the scale of offerings which he was obliged to make to the cult and sought to reduce the expense which they involved. There was also a publicly celebrated cult of the deceased kings of the royal dynasty, with annual processions to offer sacrifices at their tombs. These did not, however, attain the elaboration of the comparable \"Annual Customs\" of the kingdom of Dahomey later, where these rather than the worship of any of the gods constituted the principal national religious ceremony. The \"Annual Customs\" in Whydah are mentioned only in a single contemporary account, and were clearly of much less political significance than the cult of the snake god Dangbe.” §REF§Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 209. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection§REF§ “The most important of the Whydah chiefs had the titles of Gogan and Aplogan, which were also those of the highest-ranking officials in the later kingdom of Porto-Novo. In Porto-Novo the Gogan was the head of the royal lineage (and as such, conducted the ceremony of the king's own installation) and the Aplogan had general charge of the community's religious cults, and these may well also have been the functions of their namesakes in Whydah. In addition to their specific individual functions, the more important chiefs also served as hereditary governors of the component villages of the Whydah kingdom: the Gogan and the Aplogan, for example, served as governors respectively of the important settlements of Paon and Gome, both in the north of the kingdom.” §REF§Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 207–208. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 321, "polity": { "id": 663, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_1", "long_name": "Oyo", "start_year": 1300, "end_year": 1535 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": null, "religious_level_to": null, "comment": null, "description": "levels. \"Contexts that could shed light on the dynamics of social structure and hierarchies in the metropolis, such as the royal burial site of Oyo monarchs and the residences of the elite population, have not been investigated. The mapping of the palace structures has not been followed by systematic excavations (Soper, 1992); and questions of the economy, military system, and ideology of the empire have not been addressed archaeologically, although their general patterns are known from historical studies (e.g, Johnson, 1921; Law, 1977).\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2005: 151-152)§REF§ Regarding this period, however, one of the historical studies mentioned in this quote also notes: \"Of the earliestperiod of Oyo history, before the sixteenth century, very little is known.\"§REF§(Law 1977: 33)§REF§ Law does not then go on to provide specific information directly relevant to this variable." }, { "id": 322, "polity": { "id": 664, "name": "ni_proto_yoruboid", "long_name": "Proto-Yoruboid", "start_year": -300, "end_year": 300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 1, "religious_level_to": 1, "comment": null, "description": "levels. The following quotes suggests the existence of at least one level of priesthood among the Proto-Yoruboid. \"However, the Creator God was a distant figure in the everyday religious lives of the proto-Yoruboid and other proto-Benue- Kwa groups. The focus of worship was on the territorial deities presiding over the hills, valleys, drainages, and other landscape features as well as on the ancestors—the deceased heads, priests, and priestesses of houses, families, villages, and communities. The ancestors were incorporated into the pantheon and called upon to intercede with the greater and more distant Creator God and the territorial deities during the daily devotions, seasonal festivals, and times of crisis.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 38-39)§REF§" }, { "id": 323, "polity": { "id": 665, "name": "ni_aro", "long_name": "Aro", "start_year": 1690, "end_year": 1902 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 3, "religious_level_to": 3, "comment": null, "description": "levels. 1) High priest at Ibini Ukpabi, 2) other high priests, 3) local/itinerant priests/priest-doctors/herbalists. “Let us note that in the Igbo traditional setting, the oracle held executive, legislative, and judicial powers.” §REF§Innocent, Rev. (2020). A Critical Study on the Ibini Ukpabi (Arochukwu Long Juju) Oracle and its Implications on the International Relations During the 20th Century. London Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, 20(10): 6. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZXZGZSM3/collection§REF§ “The Arochukwu kingdom was an economical, political and a (sic) oracular center as it was home of the powerful long juju oracle, the Aro king Eze Aro, and highest priest.” §REF§Nwaezeigwe, D. N. T. (2013). THE ARO AND THE CONCEPT OF ARO-OKIGBO: FACTS AND FALACIES OF A HISTRIONIC IGBO HEGEMONY. 15, 12: 6.https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/TU5APW74/collection§REF§ “Neither Akuma nor his Akpa followers objected when the Igbo priest-doctor, Nachi, took over and through his son, Okenachi, created an hereditary chieftaincy in Arochukwu.” §REF§Nwauwa, A. O. (1995). The Evolution of the Aro Confederacy in Southeastern Nigeria, 1690–1720. A Theoretical Synthesis of State Formation Process in Africa. Anthropos, 90(4/6), 353–364: 356. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/G4DWA3GQ/collection §REF§ “It is noteworthy that the priest of Ala (Eze Ala) lived a mystical life, surrounding himself with elaborate taboos. According to scholars who have studied these taboos in detail, the Ezeala in the Ngwa area for example, was forbidden to eat some animals said to be unholy, including carnivorous animals, rabbits and snakes. Moreover, to ensure that his humanity was not be betrayed, the Ezeala was not allowed to eat in the presence of common people or sleep outside his temple. Similarly, he was forbidden to cut his hair in public or drink palm wine with non-titled men. It was also a taboo for the Ezeala to see corpses, cross the Imo River, and greet anybody in the morning of the four-day Igbo market week before presiding over the communal propitiation ceremony of Ala (Allen 1933)” §REF§ Oriji, J. N. (2009). Transformations in Igbo Cosmology during Slavery: A Study of the Geneses of Place-Names, Totems & Taboos. Cahiers d’Études Africaines, 49(196), 953–967; 955. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/KEADDRZW/collection§REF§ “Nonetheless, it is necessary to point out that the establishment of the Aro trade network contributed to immense changes in Igbo cosmology. Chuku, the high God of the Igbo pantheon, is believed to live in heaven and was worshipped through the intermediary of other gods. In fact, before slavery, it is likely that many Igbo communities did not have any shrines of the high God. But when the Aro began to expand their trade network in the hinterland, they claimed to be agents of Chukwu, and helped to establish his shrines (Ihu Chukwu) in many communities. The Aro increased their popularity through these claims, since Chukwu was said to be the author of all blessings including fertility, good health and prosperity. Individuals who could not afford to travel to Arochukwu to consult the oracle would be obliged to offer sacrifices to Chukwu in their local shrines. In addition to the local priests of Chuku, the Aro propagated the Ekpe/Okonko society in Southern Igboland, using its leading members and multi-title holders as an arm of their trade network” §REF§ Oriji, J. N. (2009). Transformations in Igbo Cosmology during Slavery: A Study of the Geneses of Place-Names, Totems & Taboos. Cahiers d’Études Africaines, 49(196), 953–967; 958. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/KEADDRZW/collection§REF§ “While specific data on Amikwo dibia are lacking, it was customary for Igbo priest-doctors to segregate into ranked spheres of responsibility, with herbal knowledge at the lower echelons of the profession and more serious physical and psychosomatic healing powers confined to well-trained specialists who might also be endowed with divinatory powers. Amikwo's dibia may have corresponded with the latter category (Green 1947: 53ff; Uchendu 1965: 81-2; Dike 1975: 10” §REF§Neaher, N. C. (1979). Awka Who Travel: Itinerant Metalsmiths of Southern Nigeria. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 49(4), 352–366; 354 https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/W8VVXIMI/collection§REF§ “Studies show that the Igbo has been in the concept of worshipping Ani (the earth goddess) but has never at any time seen Ani as the supreme deity and the Aro came up to assume leadership. The reason for this sudden importance of Aro is not unconnected to the existence of Ibini Ukpabi (British long juju) which must have existed from unidentified ancient period as a natural creation. Ibini Ukpabi known as and called Chukwu okike Abiama (God the creator of wonders) was said to be found in a cave and, strategically residing by a waterfall in one of Aro villages. The site created some amount of mysterious interpretations and awe around the oracle of Ibini Ukpabi. Aro gradually earned the suffix Chukwu and started being known as and called Arochukwu, almost making Aro Okigbo and other praise name less prominent. Why this became possible is simple to understand. Ndi Igbo from all walks of life went to Aro to consult “God” and simply explained that they went to Aro-Chukwu.” §REF§Innocent, Rev. (2020). A Critical Study on the Ibini Ukpabi (Arochukwu Long Juju) Oracle and its Implications on the International Relations During the 20th Century. London Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, 20(10): 6. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZXZGZSM3/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 324, "polity": { "id": 666, "name": "ni_sokoto_cal", "long_name": "Sokoto Caliphate", "start_year": 1804, "end_year": 1904 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 4, "religious_level_to": 4, "comment": null, "description": "1) Caliph (amir al-muminin, Commander of the Faithful); 2) Limamai (imams); 3) Islamic scholars; 4) Mallams (teachers of Islam). “SOKOTO. The capital of Sokoto State, with a population of approximately 500,000. It is historically significant for the Hausa and Fulani as the seat of the great Sokoto Caliphate between 1804 and 1903. Today, it is the home of the University of Sokoto, the sultan’s palace, and the Shehu Mosque. Of interest to historians are the Centre for Islamic Studies in Sokoto and the Waziri Junaidu History and Culture Bureau, which house manuscripts from Islamic scholars in Nigeria dating back to at least the 17th century.” §REF§Falola, Toyin, and Ann Genova. Historical Dictionary of Nigeria. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2009: 331. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SJAIVKDW/collection§REF§ “The Caliphate was to be led by the Caliph as the amir al-muminin (Commander of the Faithful), assisted by his wazirai (advisers), alkalai (judges), a muhtasib (the officer charged upholding morals), the sa'i (in charge of the markets), the wali al-shurta (police chief), limamai, and military commanders.” §REF§Chafe, Kabiru Sulaiman. “Challenges to the Hegemony of the Sokoto Caliphate: A Preliminary Examination.” Paideuma, vol. 40, 1994, pp. 99–109: 101. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZANHCUFH/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 325, "polity": { "id": 667, "name": "ni_igala_k", "long_name": "Igala", "start_year": 1600, "end_year": 1900 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 3, "religious_level_to": 3, "comment": null, "description": "levels. 1) Attah Igala (Sacred King/deity); 2) Atebo (Chief Priest); 3) Attama (shrine priests). “Of particular interest however is the fact, of which no explanation was forthcoming, that a modified form of the early morning rite is carried out by the Atebo (Chief Priest), who appeals to the ancestral spirits on behalf of the Ata-regnant. This official, to whom further reference will be made, is a person of great importance, and his office has acquired some of the element of divinity attaching to that of the Ata himself. Ape, the first to be accorded this title, was a priest in the household of Ayagba when the latter founded the Idah dynasty, and the office, which like most others is hereditary, passes in turn between the three branches of the family. Some indication of the status of the Atebo may be gained from the fact that he alone is excused obeisance to the Ata and addresses him standing up; it may however be less a question of status than of the fact that in his office and person he is representative of the religious aspect of the kingship, and contact with the earth by obeisance would mean a dissipation of dynamism. It is observed also that he is never without a cows-tail fly whisk in his hand which he \" points \" at the Ata when addressing him and, further, it is said that the Ata will allow the Atebo to scold him without remonstrance.” §REF§Clifford, Miles, and Richmond Palmer. “A Nigerian Chiefdom.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 66, 1936, pp. 393–435: 418. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/TF7MM698/collection§REF§ “Successive chapters deal with sacred precincts, family and household religion, and village religion. The distinction between family and village religious systems is crucial to the latter part of the study, as the Igala were able to capitalize on it to enforce their control. The former deals predominantly with the arua or ancestor spirits, while the latter deals with the alusi, which are non-human spirit beings. The third part of the book (\"Control and Adaptation\") concerns the use of religious values and institutions in social control under the Igala colonial system and the resulting religious and social changes in Igbo life. From the Igala point of view, of course, social control was the crucial question. This they astutely achieved by replacing traditional Igbo shrine priests concerned with the alusi cults with Igala priests called attama. In this way, they seized control of the super- natural forces that had to do with any issues transcending one family or clan, for instance matters involving different clans in a village or village group. Since the Igala priests controlled the alusi, these became increasingly unpredictable and dangerous to the Igbo, and the Igbo were at the mercy of the Igala priests in all their relations with the alusi. From the Igbo perspective, the goal was to maintain identity and to maximize Igbo power. The strategy they used was complex. In the religious sphere, they emphasized (apparently more than in pre-conquest days) the cult of the arua, the ancestor spirits, who were by definition Igbo and whose worship enhanced the status of the Igbo headmen and elders. Parallel efforts to emphasize the worship of the High God and of the Earth Goddess, and to bring to prominence various Igbo and other non-Igala medicine shrines are judged by Shelton to have failed. In the social sphere, in the presence of a good deal of intermarriage, Igbo attempted to maintain their numerical strength by emphasizing, in the case of the children of Igala fathers and Igbo mothers, allegiance to the mother's clan. This was, it will be evident, consistent with Igala tradition but in conflict with Igbo tradition. The Igala, who were interested in preserving the attama inheritance in pure Igala clans, pragmatically accepted the identification as Igbo of many mixed children.” §REF§Taber, Charles R. “Review of The Igbo-Igala Borderland: Religion and Social Control in Indigenous African Colonialism.” American Anthropologist, vol. 75, no. 6, 1973, 1876–77: 1876. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/M65F6WG9/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 326, "polity": { "id": 668, "name": "ni_nri_k", "long_name": "Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì", "start_year": 1043, "end_year": 1911 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 3, "religious_level_to": 3, "comment": null, "description": "levels. 1) Eze Nri (priest-king), 2) Ezeana (chief priest), 3) Ofo-carrying Nri priests. “Probably the more enduring contacts and interactions between the two predated the rise of Bini to imperial greatness, going back to those quieter days when Nri priests moved from one corner of the globe to the other (eluwa dum) spreading the gospel that they came down from the sky and that Chukwu had empowered them to crown kings, make yam medicine, remove nso, control the agricultural calendar and make peace in return for giving yam and other food crops to all peoples.” §REF§Afigbo, A. E. (1996). The Anthropology and Historiography of Central-South Nigeria before and since Igbo-Ukwu. History in Africa, 23, 1–15: 11. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GHMXKX6X/collection§REF§ “The Eze Nri (priest-kings of Nri) claim for themselves a status equivalent to that of the spirits. Every reigning Eze Nri is embued with the spirit of Eri, his first ancestor, who was sent down by Chukwu from heaven to organize the world. Eri dried up the water which covered the earth and thus organized the physical world. By sacrificing his son and daughter, he obtained yams and cocoyams, the main food and cash crop of the Igbo, thus introducing agriculture and agricultural rituals. He introduced ichi scarification, and the ozo chiefly-title system, thus reorganizing social life. Finally, he organized economic life by introducing the four Igbo market days.” §REF§Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1985). Ritual Dirt and Purification Rites among the Igbo. Journal of Religion in Africa, 15(1), 3–24: 7. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SFADDVVX/collection§REF§ “The powers received by Eri from Chukwu include the ritual powers to control the worship of Ala who controls agriculture, Ife-jioku the yam deity, and Eke, Oye, Afor, and Nkwo, deities of the four Igbo market days of the same name. He has the ritual powers to establish, cleanse, and abrogate prohibitions connected with their cult. As symbols of his authority, Eri received from Chukwu the ofo (ritual staff) and the otonsi (ritual spear) used for the rites of establishing or cleansing alu (pollutions). Ofo-carrying Nri priests still visit or settle among different Igbo communities to provide pollution cleansing services. In Nri town itself, the cleansing rites are performed by the Ezeana, in the presence of Eze Nri who as a spirit never offers sacrifices.” §REF§Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1985). Ritual Dirt and Purification Rites among the Igbo. Journal of Religion in Africa, 15(1), 3–24: 7-8. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SFADDVVX/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 327, "polity": { "id": 670, "name": "ni_bornu_emp", "long_name": "Kanem-Borno", "start_year": 1380, "end_year": 1893 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 3, "religious_level_to": 4, "comment": null, "description": "levels. 1) Chief Imam; 2) Mainin kenandi (Islamic advisor to the mai; this may be the same as the chief Imam role); 3) Imams (inferred present from reference to a chief Imam); 4) Village headman/teacher (alim/calim). “The warlike exploits of this Mai Idris Katagarmabe were recorded by his chief Imam, Sheikh Masfarma or Masbarma, in a work still known as the Tarikh Masbarma, a work on which the writer of this history, the Imam ibn Fartua, obviously drew for information concerning events which took place prior to the time which was within the memory of himself or people still alive in his day.” §REF§Fartua, Ahmed Ibn. History of the First Twelve Years of the Reign of Mai Idris Alooma of Bornu (1571–1583). CRC Press, 2019: 3. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/HSU9ZCRC/collection§REF§ “Ordinarily, a mallemti settlement would consist of the mahram grantee, his extended family, and a number of people not directly associated with the calim or his activities, but who may have been originally living in the area or have taken up residence in the mallemti after its establishment. The calim took the dual responsibilities of a village head-man and a teacher. As the village headman, he settled disputes between contending parties be they from his immediate circle or from other residents of the mallemti. As the principal teacher, he imparted knowledge and counselled troubled souls, and depending upon the 'efficacy of his prayers' would, in his capacity as a spiritual counsellor, command a large following in the whole district.” §REF§Bobboyi, Hamidu. “RELATIONS OF THE BORNO ʿULAMĀʾ WITH THE SAYFAWA RULERS: THE ROLE OF THE MAḤRAMS.” Sudanic Africa, vol. 4, 1993, pp. 175–204: 200. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/JE5VQ8NI/collection§REF§ “Even though it is difficult to generalize the nature of political power for more than 1000 years of history, some features seem to have been present throughout the history of Bornu. The royal family was at the heart of the political system meaning that the head of the Sayfawa family was also the mai. […] However, political power was not solely in the hands of the ruling family as members of the council were also in charge of political affairs. It appears that there were around twelve members in this council and that apart from the descendants of the close advisors of the first Sayfawas, their office was not hereditary. It would be difficult to attribute a specific role to each of the members of the council over the centuries but some office-holders seem to exert the same roles. For example, the mainin kenandi was the Islamic advisor of the mai whereas the kaigama was in charge of the armies of Kanem-Bornu.” §REF§Hiribarren, V. (2016). Kanem-Bornu Empire. In N. Dalziel & J. M. MacKenzie (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Empire (pp. 1–6). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.: 4. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/KNHK5ANQ/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 328, "polity": { "id": 671, "name": "ni_dahomey_k", "long_name": "Foys", "start_year": 1715, "end_year": 1894 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 3, "religious_level_to": 4, "comment": null, "description": "levels. 1) King, as head of the royal ancestor cult, 2) high priests, 3) local priests and 4) shrine priests. It’s unclear to me whether the local and shrine priests were of different status levels, so there may only be three. “The most important shrines were attended by priests, who dwelled near by. One of the highest-ranking priests, the Agasun-no, called Dahomey's Archbishop of Canterbury by Burton, had his \"country palace\" along the royal road.” §REF§Alpern, S. B. (1999). Dahomey’s Royal Road. History in Africa, 26, 11–24: 19. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/J4ZASAV6/collection§REF§ “Subsequent secular travelers grumbled at delays along the road due to the emergence of priests from shrines to say prayers and solicit alms, or simply to the presence of barriers marking religious sites.” §REF§Alpern, S. B. (1999). Dahomey’s Royal Road. History in Africa, 26, 11–24: 22. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/J4ZASAV6/collection§REF§ “In Dahomey, however, national cults were closely supervised by the king. The priests of these cults - which were of great importance and influence in the country - were his loyal subordinates. Royal agents supervised their activities constantly. The king was also high-priest in a state religion. With the political elaboration of the kingdom the cults associated with the royal dynasty quickly assumed primacy over others. Unlike the chiefs of some West African societies, the king was never enstooled by an indigenous ‘chief of the earth’, a representative of the original inhabitants, but by the priest of the royal ancestor cult. Besides this, no religious ritual, however domestic or private in nature, could be performed before the annual celebration in honour of the royal ancestors.” §REF§ Lombard, J. (1976). The Kingdom of Dahomey. In West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (Repr, pp. 70–92). Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press: 79–80. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/T6WTVSHZ/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 329, "polity": { "id": 672, "name": "ni_benin_emp", "long_name": "Benin Empire", "start_year": 1140, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 5, "religious_level_to": 5, "comment": null, "description": "levels. 1) Oba, 2) Eghaevbo n'Ore, 3) priest of Okhuahie, 4) Ihogbe, 5) Odionwere. However, religion and state were very closely linked, so it’s likely there were many more levels not captured in the scholarship. It’s also unclear how strict and set this hierarchy was. “The Iwebo palace association is in charge of the regalia and belongings of the king. Many craft guilds are affiliated with this society and throughout Benin's history they have worked primarily for the king. They have been allowed to execute commissions for other clients only with his approval. Benin's bronze casters, ivory carvers, weavers, costume makers, and leather workers are some of the guilds controlled by the Iwebo. Leopard hunters (Fig. 13), royal drummers, hornblowers, executioners, astrologers, and high priests accorded with important ritual functions also belong to this palace association. The second palace society of the Iweguae is responsible for personal duties for the king. It comprises all the personal attendants to the Oba, such as his sword bearers and guards, but also diviners, healers, priests caring for his ancestor shrines, and other ritual specialists.” §REF§Plankensteiner, B. (2007). Benin: Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria. African Arts, 40(4), 74–87: 83. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7AR425BC/collection§REF§ “The senior Igele only went to war in major conflict, leaving minor raids to the younger men. Above them come in some groups a rank called Igbama which are \"Junior Elders.\" ... These are the heads of families, seniors in the small divisions of the village, who have in some cases performed a promotion ceremony to free themselves from the obligations of communal labour, but who are not yet admitted to the full clan council. Finally come the Edion, the Elders, the grave and reverend seniors of the village, the repositories of customs, the village tribunal of justice, at the head of who is the Odionwere or senior Elder.... In most groups he is the administrative as well as religious head of the village.” §REF§Sargent, R. A. (1986). From A Redistribution to an Imperial Social Formation: Benin c.1293-1536. Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines, 20(3), 402–427: 403. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/AUEZSTBR/collection§REF§ “The Eghaevbo n'Ore, which seems to have replaced the Uzama Nihinron as the most effective check on the Oba's political power, was created by Ewuare, before the coming of the Europeans. Since the senior members of the Eghaevbo n'Ore transacted \"most of the day-to-day administration of the kingdom\", these men were probably the \"fetish priests\" or the \"ju-ju men\" which so impressed European visitors from the time of Pereira to that of Gallwey. In other words, both human sacrifices and \"fetish priests\" existed in Benin prior to the beginnings of the European slave trade, and prior to the great military victories of Ozolua and Esigie” §REF§Graham, J. D. (1965). The Slave Trade, Depopulation and Human Sacrifice in Benin History: The General Approach. Cahiers d’Études Africaines, 5(18), 317–334: 327. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/4AS9CVZH/collection§REF§ Just outside Benin City: “Idunbhun-Ihogbe, for example, contained one section of the Ihogbe, priests of the past kings and of the living Oba’s Head. In the same area were located the villages of six of the Seven Uzama (Uzama n’Ihinrɔn), hereditary nobles and ‘kingmakers’. The seventh Uzama was the Oba’s eldest son and heir, the Edaikɛn, whose court was at Uselu, just outside the second wall to the north-west. In fact, as we shall see, no Edaikɛn was installed during the nineteenth century. Uselu also housed the court of the Oba’s mother, who ranked with the Town Chiefs rather than the Uzama. // “The hereditary Uzama and the two groups of Eghaɛbho, whose titles were non-hereditary, constituted three great orders of chieftancy which, between them, were responsible for the continuity and government of the state.” §REF§Bradbury, R. E. (1967). The Kingdom of Benin. In West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (Repr, pp. 1–35). Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press: 12. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z8DJIKP8/collection§REF§ Nineteenth century: “The use of magical protection, albeit pre-scientific in Benin world view, was considered part of the preparations for war. Its psychological potency for the warriors explains why they had to seek the services of ‘traditional doctors’ before any campaign. The priest of Okhuahie was responsible for the state army. The Ewaise, a guild of ‘traditional doctors’ who controlled the shrine of Osun-okuo (war medicine) also played a prominent role.” §REF§Osadolor, O. B. (2001). The Military System of Benin Kingdom, c.1440–1897. University of Hamburg, Germany: 201. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4RZF5H5/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 330, "polity": { "id": 673, "name": "ni_wukari_fed", "long_name": "Wukari Federation", "start_year": 1820, "end_year": 1899 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 3, "religious_level_to": 3, "comment": null, "description": "1) Aku-Uka, 2) Chief priests of cults (eg Ku-Puje Acio and assistant served as chief priest of Puje), 3) Council of subordinate priests. “The people had to get to the Aku-Uka through the Abo-Acio. That is to say that he was the representative of the people in their relations with the king, who was the representative of the gods. He was the king’s principal adviser, and had access to the king at any time. He reported matters of importance to the king on daily basis. He disposed of all judicial cases which did not require the king’s personal investigation. And when religious rites were due, the priests approached the Abo-Acio, who obtained the royal consent, together with the sacrificial gifts which the king was required to provide, and attended the rites which he reported back to the Aku. In short, the Abo-Acio was the very figure which the people had relationship with in terms of the political arrangement of the Jukun people. This explains the level of significance attached to the office of the Abo-Acio, in consonance with the sacred nature of the Aku-Uka, who was considered a semi god and should not be seen by ordinary people. […] Taking cognizance of the theocratic system of the administration, the priests constituted another important group of administrators within the Jukun political system. The Ku-Puje Acio with his assistant served as the Chief Priest of Puje, an important cult among the wapa Jukun. There was the Kenjo cult, the Yaku cult, the Achu-Nyande etc. Each of these cults had specific set of functions which they performed. For instance, the Achu-Nyande served a judicial function in the sense that, being a cult of lightning, rites were performed in cases of theft and was believed that lightning would strike the culprit.” §REF§Zhema, S. (2017). A History of the Social and Political Organization of the Jukun of Wukari Division, c.1596–1960 [Benue State University]: 125–128. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U667CC36/collection§REF§ “Amongst the Ichen both temporal and spiritual affairs were in the hands of a Chief-priest assisted by a Council of Subordinate Priests. The Chief-priest suffered from severe limitations as a leader owing to the taboos to which he must subject. In some instances, the Chief-priests were not allowed to cross a stream, a taboo which // “fairly effectively confined them. The Chief-priest of Ndessin was not allowed to let any water touch his body except that which is actually falling in the form of rain. In this regard, it is evident that the political life of the Ichen people were regulated through the various cults, such as Achu Nyande, Gura. These cults were common amongst the other Jukun communities. This, in a way, established that religion played an important role in maintaining the primacy of the Aku’s position over the other Jukun communities. In this connection, the ensuing socio-politcal structures became similar to that which existed in Wukari.” §REF§Zhema, S. (2017). A History of the Social and Political Organization of the Jukun of Wukari Division, c.1596–1960 [Benue State University]: 128–129. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U667CC36/collection§REF§ “The potential coercive use of his ritual powers by the king was considerably restricted by the existence of many other priestly offices and by the innumerable taboos which regulated his ritual behaviour. With regard to the former, the priests of the many cults were not deputies of the king, and their ritual authority and consequential prestige did not derive from him. This is illustrated by the injunctions which forbade the king to be present at the performance of rites other than those held in his own palace, and which forbade the king to meet certain priests face to face. His was the ultimate responsibility, however, for ensuring that appropriate rites were carried out at the customary times, and for directing the priests to co-operate on contingent occasions which required special rites. In this capacity the Aku was a high priest with a somewhat remote supervision of numerous ritual specialists. The distribution of ritual authority in the society together with the elaborate taboos of his office were the categorical checks on the king's ritual power, which was thus in practice no more absolute than his political power.” §REF§ Young, M. W. (1966). The Divine Kingship of the Jukun: A Re-Evaluation of Some Theories. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 36(2), 135–153: 146. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NTI9GQMF/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 331, "polity": { "id": 687, "name": "Early Niynginya", "long_name": "Kingdom of Nyinginya", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 3, "religious_level_to": 3, "comment": null, "description": "levels.1. King \"In his activity as a ritualist he consecrated objects or actions and in doing so conferred some imana on them. He was then himself neither divine nor sacred, but a priest and at times he became momentarily sacred.\"§REF§(Vansina 2004: 83) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.§REF§ :2. Leaders of the ritualists ::3. Lesser ritualists :::The terms \"leaders of the ritualists\" and \"main ritualists\" in the following quotes implies at least two levels, with \"ritualist leaders\" or \"main ritualists\" at the top and lesser ritualists at the bottom. \"The main ritualists also still held territories that were totally free. [...] All these ritualist lands were exempt from royal authority in return for the ritual obligations owed by their chiefs.\"§REF§(Vansina 2004: 64-65) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.§REF§ \"The leaders of the ritualists were practically always on the spot at the court and formed a compact group that exercised great influence over the king through their control of the divinations that preceded every important activity and their control of the rituals of kingship itself.\"§REF§(Vansina 2004: 85) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 332, "polity": { "id": 569, "name": "mx_mexico_1", "long_name": "Early United Mexican States", "start_year": 1810, "end_year": 1920 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 7, "religious_level_to": 7, "comment": null, "description": "“The Secular, or Parochial Clergy, shared in all the disadvantages under which their Creole countrymen were condemned to labour, by the jealous policy of the Mother country. They were excluded from the higher degrees of Churrfi preferment, and left to fulfil the laborious duties of parish priests, while the Bishoprics, the Deaneries, and the Chapters of the different Cathedrals, were filled by old Spaniards, many of whom never saw the country, in which they were destined to hold so conspicuous a station, until they were sent out to enter at once upon its richest benefices.”§REF§(Ward 1827: 238) Ward, Henry George. 1900. Mexico in 1827. London : H. Colburn. http://archive.org/details/mexicoin04wardgoog. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IY7FJEM7§REF§ “The Secular Clergy was composed of about five thousand Priests {Clerigos); the Regulars, wearing the habits of different Orders, of nearly an equal number, of whom two thousand five hundred (including lay-brothers) resided in the convents of the Capital alone. There were only nine bishops, including the Primate, the See of Chiapa not being then considered as annexed to Mexico.”§REF§(Ward 1827: 245) Ward, Henry George. 1900. Mexico in 1827. London : H. Colburn. http://archive.org/details/mexicoin04wardgoog. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IY7FJEM7§REF§ : 1. Pope :: 2. Cardinals ::: 3. Archbishops :::: 4. Bishops ::::: 5. Priests :::::: 6. Regulars ::::::: 7. Deans " }, { "id": 333, "polity": { "id": 579, "name": "gb_england_plantagenet", "long_name": "Plantagenet England", "start_year": 1154, "end_year": 1485 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 7, "religious_level_to": 7, "comment": null, "description": " levels. §REF§(Prestwich 2005: 69-72) Prestwich, Michael. 2005. Plantagenet England 1225-1360. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XTBKFDCI§REF§: 1. The King :: 2. Archbishops ::: 3. Bishops :::: 4. Archdeacon :::: 5. Priest ::::: 6. Chaplain :::::: 7. Ecclesiastical officials " }, { "id": 334, "polity": { "id": 568, "name": "cz_bohemian_k_2", "long_name": "Kingdom of Bohemia - Luxembourgian and Jagiellonian Dynasty", "start_year": 1310, "end_year": 1526 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 6, "religious_level_to": 6, "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 335, "polity": { "id": 305, "name": "it_lombard_k", "long_name": "Lombard Kingdom", "start_year": 568, "end_year": 774 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 4, "religious_level_to": 4, "comment": null, "description": "_Catholicism_ : 1. Pope :: 2. Cardinals ::: 3. Archbisops :::: 4. Bishops " }, { "id": 336, "polity": { "id": 302, "name": "gb_tudor_stuart", "long_name": "England Tudor-Stuart", "start_year": 1486, "end_year": 1689 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 4, "religious_level_to": 7, "comment": null, "description": " levels. §REF§(Prestwich 2005: 69-72) Prestwich, Michael. 2005. Plantagenet England 1225-1360. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XTBKFDCI§REF§§REF§(Bucholz et al 2013: 30) Bucholz, Robert, Newton Key, and R.O. Bucholz. 2013. Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=1166775. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XQGJH96U§REF§The Roman Catholic Church had two hierarchies, one for secular clergy and the other for regulated clergy: Secular Clergy: : 1. Pope :: 2. Archbishops ::: 3. Bishops :::: 4. Priests Regulated Clergy: : 1. Pope :: 2. Masters of Orders ::: 3. Abbotts and Prioresses :::: 4. Monks, Nuns, Canons, Friars The Church of England, from its creation during Henry VIII’s reign had a different structure, with the King as the head of the church: : 1. The King :: 2. Archbishops ::: 3. Bishops :::: 4. Archdeacon :::: 5. Priest ::::: 6. Chaplain :::::: 7. Ecclesiastical officials " }, { "id": 337, "polity": { "id": 606, "name": "gb_anglo_saxon_2", "long_name": "Anglo-Saxon England II", "start_year": 927, "end_year": 1065 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 5, "religious_level_to": 5, "comment": null, "description": " levels.Church and royalty were closely linked. While the church benefitted economically and through grants of land from the crown, kings were able to keep their authority over their increasingly large territories through religious ministers who solidified the social hierarchy through Christianity. §REF§(Wright 2015: 27-28) Wright, Duncan W. ‘Early Medieval Settlement and Social Power: The Middle Anglo-Saxon “Home Farm”’, Medieval Archaeology 59, no. 1 (1 January 2015): 24–46, https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2015.1119395. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/H4A8AR5P§REF§ : 1. Archbishop : Archbishops of the highest rank, who have management over other bishops across their territories.§REF§(Yorke 1990: 21) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN§REF§ :: 2. Bishop:: A bishop has control over an area called a diocese. By 689 CE there were fourteen bishoprics established across the English kingdoms.§REF§Roberts et al 2014: 26§REF§§REF§(Wright 2015: 30) Wright, Duncan W. ‘Early Medieval Settlement and Social Power: The Middle Anglo-Saxon “Home Farm”’, Medieval Archaeology 59, no. 1 (1 January 2015): 24–46, https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2015.1119395. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/H4A8AR5P§REF§ ::: 3. Priest :::: 4. Minister:::: Ministers were located in villages across England. §REF§(Wright 2015: 30-32) Wright, Duncan W. ‘Early Medieval Settlement and Social Power: The Middle Anglo-Saxon “Home Farm”’, Medieval Archaeology 59, no. 1 (1 January 2015): 24–46, https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2015.1119395. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/H4A8AR5P§REF§ ::::: 5. Monks " }, { "id": 338, "polity": { "id": 567, "name": "at_habsburg_2", "long_name": "Austria - Habsburg Dynasty II", "start_year": 1649, "end_year": 1918 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 6, "religious_level_to": 6, "comment": null, "description": " levels. §REF§‘Austria-Hungary’. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/47VQW2IL.§REF§§REF§(Judson 2016: 334) Judson, Pieter M. 2016. The Habsburg Empire: A New History. Cambridge, USA; London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BN5TQZBW.§REF§: 1. Pope :: 2. Archbishops ::: 3. Prince bishops :::: 4. Bishops ::::: 5. Abbots :::::: 6. Chaplains " }, { "id": 339, "polity": { "id": 561, "name": "us_hohokam_culture", "long_name": "Hohokam Culture", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 1500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 1, "religious_level_to": 1, "comment": null, "description": " levels.It has been postulated – based on differences in burials such as tombs and pit graves - that there was a chief-priesthood, or shamans, who were part of the elite in Hohokam society and were spiritual leaders in each settlement.§REF§McGuire 2018: 20-21, 47-48. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/C9FB2IXT§REF§ " }, { "id": 340, "polity": { "id": 578, "name": "mo_alawi_dyn_1", "long_name": "Alaouite Dynasty I", "start_year": 1631, "end_year": 1727 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 2, "religious_level_to": 2, "comment": null, "description": " levels.“The formation of a black army and the building of the empire were costly. To minimize the costs, Mawlay Isma‘il kept his government simple and made it more palace-centered than Makhzan civil serviceoriented. The palace has always been central to the Makhzan in “traditional” Morocco and, as contemporary Moroccan historian Mohamed El Mansour wrote, “the so-called ‘Makhzan service’ was basically made up of the palace domestic organization, the administrative hierarchy and the army.” According to Windus, the sultan’s administrative staff at the court was made up of five standing officers: ‘the Grand Mufti for Affairs of Religion; the chief Eunuch to take Care of the Seraglio; a Treasurer for his Revenue; the Superintendant of his Buildings and the Basha of Mekness, who is the first Minister, or the supreme Akcayde, of which there are three forts; the first and chief are those who, in the nature of Vice-Roys, are sent to govern the Provinces; to whom, for their greater Honour, is sometimes given the Title of Bashas [. . .]. Another fort are the Generals of his Armies, and Commanders over small Parties of Horse of Foot. The Third fort are Governours of Cities, or Towns, and are either made by the Emperor himself, as are the Alcaydes of Morocco [Marrakesh], Fez, Sally, and other great Cities; or by the Governours of the Provinces, over small Towns and Cities; a fourth fort may be added, which are titular only, and therefore called Alcaydes of their Heads’.”§REF§(El Hamel 2014: 202) El Hamel, Chouki. 2014. Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T9JFH8AS§REF§ : 1. Grand Mufti :: 2. Imams " }, { "id": 341, "polity": { "id": 797, "name": "de_empire_1", "long_name": "Holy Roman Empire - Ottonian-Salian Dynasty", "start_year": 919, "end_year": 1125 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 6, "religious_level_to": 6, "comment": null, "description": "levels.§REF§Wilson 2016: 79-89. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA§REF§§REF§Power 2006: 209. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4V4WE3ZK.§REF§: 1. Pope :: 2. Cardinals ::: 3. Archbishops :::: 4. Bishops ::::: 5. Abbotts /Abbess :::::: 6. Monks / Nuns" }, { "id": 342, "polity": { "id": 565, "name": "at_habsburg_1", "long_name": "Austria - Habsburg Dynasty I", "start_year": 1454, "end_year": 1648 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 5, "religious_level_to": 5, "comment": null, "description": " levels. §REF§(Fichtner 2017: xxi) Fichtner, Paula Sutter. 2003. The Habsburg Monarchy, 1490-1848: Attributes of Empire. Macmillan International Higher Education. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QQ77TV4K§REF§<: 1. Pope :: 2. Archbishops ::: 3. Bishops :::: 4. Abbots ::::: 5. Chaplains " }, { "id": 343, "polity": { "id": 351, "name": "am_artaxiad_dyn", "long_name": "Armenian Kingdom", "start_year": -188, "end_year": 6 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 3, "religious_level_to": 3, "comment": null, "description": "§REF§Payaslian 2007: 16. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/H8NEU6KD§REF§§REF§Hovannisian 2004: 51. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8B4DBDFU§REF§: 1. Krmapet (chief religious leader) :: 2. Kurms (religious leader) ::: 3. Shrine/Temple priests " }, { "id": 344, "polity": { "id": 297, "name": "kz_oirat", "long_name": "Oirats", "start_year": 1368, "end_year": 1630 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 7, "religious_level_to": 7, "comment": null, "description": " levels._Within Buddhist monasteries_§REF§(Dorj 2020: 178-179) Dorj, Lkhagvasuren. 2020. “History and Contemporary Situation of Oirat Buddhist Monasteries in Western Mongolia”. Doctoral Dissertation, Budapest: Eötvös Loránd University. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/AH2RCMNY§REF§ : 1 Khamba :: 2. Tsorj ::: 3. Lowon :::: 4. Da Lama ::::: 5. Gesgüi Lama :::::: 6. Umzad ::::::: 7. Demch " }, { "id": 345, "polity": { "id": 573, "name": "ru_golden_horde", "long_name": "Golden Horde", "start_year": 1240, "end_year": 1440 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 1, "religious_level_to": 1, "comment": null, "description": " levels.With the official conversion to Islam in the fourteenth century came the change of the religious structure in the Golden Horde.§REF§Halperin 1987: 26. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.§REF§ There is no official structure or hierarchy in the religion of Islam. Though there are scholars and preachers (imams). " }, { "id": 346, "polity": { "id": 360, "name": "ir_saffarid_emp", "long_name": "Saffarid Caliphate", "start_year": 861, "end_year": 1003 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 1, "religious_level_to": 1, "comment": null, "description": "Caliph " }, { "id": 347, "polity": { "id": 587, "name": "gb_british_emp_1", "long_name": "British Empire I", "start_year": 1690, "end_year": 1849 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 7, "religious_level_to": 7, "comment": null, "description": " levels. The Anglican church had a hierarchy as follows:§REF§(Bucholz et al 2013: 30) Bucholz, Robert, Newton Key, and R.O. Bucholz. 2013. Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Chicester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=1166775. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XQGJH96U§REF§: 1. The Monarch :: 2. Archbishops ::: 3. Bishops :::: 4. Archdeacon :::: 5. Priest ::::: 6. Chaplain :::::: 7. Ecclesiastical officials " }, { "id": 348, "polity": { "id": 574, "name": "gb_anglo_saxon_1", "long_name": "Anglo-Saxon England I", "start_year": 410, "end_year": 926 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 5, "religious_level_to": 5, "comment": null, "description": " levels.Church and royalty were closely linked. While the church benefitted economically and through grants of land from the crown, kings were able to keep their authority over their increasingly large territories through religious ministers who solidified the social hierarchy through Christianity. §REF§(Wright 2015: 27-28) Wright, Duncan W. ‘Early Medieval Settlement and Social Power: The Middle Anglo-Saxon “Home Farm”’, Medieval Archaeology 59, no. 1 (1 January 2015): 24–46, https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2015.1119395. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/H4A8AR5P§REF§ : 1. Archbishop §REF§(Yorke 1990: 21) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN§REF§ :: 2. Bishop§REF§(Wright 2015: 30) Wright, Duncan W. ‘Early Medieval Settlement and Social Power: The Middle Anglo-Saxon “Home Farm”’, Medieval Archaeology 59, no. 1 (1 January 2015): 24–46, https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2015.1119395. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/H4A8AR5P§REF§ ::: 3. Priest :::: 4. Minister:::: Ministers were located in villages across England. §REF§(Wright 2015: 30-32Wright, Duncan W. ‘Early Medieval Settlement and Social Power: The Middle Anglo-Saxon “Home Farm”’, Medieval Archaeology 59, no. 1 (1 January 2015): 24–46, https://doi.org/10.1080/00766097.2015.1119395. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/H4A8AR5P§REF§ ::::: 5. Monks " }, { "id": 349, "polity": { "id": 566, "name": "fr_france_napoleonic", "long_name": "Napoleonic France", "start_year": 1816, "end_year": 1870 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 6, "religious_level_to": 6, "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 350, "polity": { "id": 572, "name": "at_austro_hungarian_emp", "long_name": "Austro-Hungarian Monarchy", "start_year": 1867, "end_year": 1918 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 6, "religious_level_to": 6, "comment": null, "description": " levels. §REF§‘Austria-Hungary’. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/47VQW2IL.§REF§§REF§Judson 2016: 334. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BN5TQZBW.§REF§: 1. Pope :: 2. Archbishops ::: 3. Prince bishops :::: 4. Bishops ::::: 5. Abbots :::::: 6. Chaplains " }, { "id": 351, "polity": { "id": 786, "name": "gb_british_emp_2", "long_name": "British Empire II", "start_year": 1850, "end_year": 1968 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Religious_level", "religious_level_from": 7, "religious_level_to": 7, "comment": null, "description": " levels. §REF§(Bucholz et al 2013: 30) Bucholz, Robert, Newton Key, and R.O. Bucholz. 2013. Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=1166775. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XQGJH96U§REF§The Church of England, from its creation during Henry VIII’s reign had a different structure, with the monarch as the head of the church: : 1. The Monarch :: 2. Archbishops ::: 3. Bishops :::: 4. Archdeacon :::: 5. Priest ::::: 6. Chaplain :::::: 7. Ecclesiastical officials " } ] }