Multiple Axialities

Discussion

"Co-editors Daniel Hoyer and Jenny Reddish paired some of the world’s leading historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists with members of the Seshat team. Using information on religious beliefs, social norms, and equity collected in the Seshat Databank, the authors find that traditional, archaic forms of rule, characterized by very powerful, unconstrained rulers and toleration for deep-seated social and economic inequalities, receded as societies grew in scale and complexity. In their stead, new forms of cultural systems evolved that fostered cooperation and societal cohesion on larger scales, such as systems favoring formalized law, institutionalized constraints on political authority, and ideals of egalitarianism and universalism.

“The data show that ‘axial’ traits emerged repeatedly,” says co-editor Dan Hoyer. “They did so in many parts of the world and at their own pace, some much earlier than 800 and others much later than 200 BCE. We see increasing social complexity as the driving force.”

Seshat History of the Axial Age offers an overview of “axial” religions, from Zoroastrianism to Confucianism, Buddhism and the Abrahamic faiths, as well as a series of regional histories. The chapters cover Greece and Italy, Israel-Palestine, Iran, India, and China, but also extend the analysis to Turkey, Egypt, Cambodia, Japan, Mali, Peru, the Mississippi Valley, and Hawai‘i. One chapter summarizes developments in largely overlooked small-scale societies in Northern India, Siberia, the Great Lakes region of North America, Papua New Guinea, Borneo, and the Amazon Basin." (https://berestabooks.com/seshat-history-of-the-axial-age/)

More Information

• see the book: Seshat History of the Axial Age