Wede:i
From Almeopedia
- For the language, see Wede:i language
The Wede:i were an ancient people related genetically and linguistically to the Mei and to the De:iju, the primitive inhabitants of Čeiy. They dominated Xengiman in ancient times, established the first human states, the first legal code, and the first human writing system on Almea. The Wede:i used a base-6 number system
The Wede:i were perhaps the most advanced people of their time but were eventually conquered by the Eastern tribes; however the invasion produced mixed civilizations and languages while refugees formed the Jei Union. In present times, pure Wede:i elements exist only in Pronel, Do:ju and Jeor.
Modern descendents of the Wede:i language are still spoken in Cuoli and parts of Belšai.
Etymology:: we:+de:i ‘mighty people’, Ax. Wedeï; X. edisu ‘Wede:i-man’; Old Skourene murand ‘preceders’.
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The first kingdoms and states
The Wede:i were the first humans to develop agriculture. By -4000 agricultural villages lined the Xengi, and soon there appeared domesticated animals, fired pottery, and boats. Population density greatly increased, and villages grew into towns and (by about -2000) city-states.
The first human kingdom-level state was Yenine, which united the Xengi delta around -1550. Epic records assign this feat to the king of the city of Tewor, Akba:un.
The establishment of the second kingdom of Na:nyanok around -1450 is also attributed to an epic king, Bo:ndola:i, lord of Śima:i.
The third Wede:i kngdom, Saiśi, emerged on the upper Xengi river by -1200; it is noted for its system of electing kings and ceremonially killing them after two years.
The early Wede:i kings and nobles are described as continually offering feasts and distributions of wealth to their relatives and supporters. Only later they learnt, that obedience can be achieved more effectively by using force.
The height of Yenine
Yenine conquered Saiśi in -650 (under the paźiwa Begoŋitera) and Na:nyanok in -625 (under his son, Nanuŋitera). It was a well-organized state; its capital, Bi:dau on the Xengi delta, was the first large city on Almea, full of bureaucrats, engineers and priests. Nanuŋitera is also known for the promulgation of the first legal code (-610), called the Canons of Respect.
The invention of writing
The Wede:i invented writing, starting at about the time of the first kingdoms. Their script was logographic, and in its early stages almost improvisational, but the glyphs were slowly standardized. At first only symbols for content words were written-- no grammatical endings or particles. The symbols were mostly pictographs and ideograms; once enough of these had been settled upon, they could be borrowed as phonograms for words for which no symbol was readily apparent. (For instance the logograph for kur "ram" was also used for ku:ru "give".) In the earliest stages they seem to have been written on stone using chalk (or any other brittle substance that left a mark).
The scripts used in the three Wede:i kingdoms had diverged, and Nanuŋitera directed scholars to produce a unified script for use by all. The result was the Old Syllabary, actually a mixed system, consisting of 655 syllabic signs and 440 logographs representing particular words.
The Ezičimi conquest
In the south, the Eastern Inbamumakei tribe conquered Yenine (-325). The invaders, who called themselves the Ezičimi, were careful to retain the administrative, economic, and priestly machinery of the Wede:i state, merely replacing the top men. The Inbamumakei empire was thus a small overlay of Eastern barbarians shakily dominating a mass of more civilized Wede:i.
Beyond the Ezičimi grasp, for now, were the delta, which was too big; it had as many inhabitants as the remainder of the Xengi valley) and Saiśi (too far). The Ezičimi managed to conquer the delta in about -250, but the Wede:i reclaimed control of the middle Xengi. However, once the Ezičimi mastered the chariot, they were able to conquer all of the Xengi valley.
The Wede:i nobility, fleeing the Ezičimi, founded new estates along the Jei; the peasantry was partly refugees from the delta and partly native Wede:i from the river valley, and these estates eventually formed the Jei Union in 250 ZE.
Modern remnants
Wede:i languages gradually disappeared after the conquest except in Jeor, Pronel and Do:ju. The invaders' language developed into Axunašin, not without being deeply modified by Wede:i, which provided the basis for the Axunašin writing system. The Wede:i polytheistic religion was also adopted by the invaders, becoming Mešaism.
The language of Jeor, an offshoot of Wede:i, survived well into classical times. Jeor was finally conquered by the Gurdagor starting in 1950, and by the Xurnese c. 2600. It was replaced by Xurnese over the next few centuries, but survived among the local intellectuals as a badge of difference; indeed, the official language of independent Tásuc Tag is Jeori. The other modern representative of the family is Cuolese, spoken in Cuoli, to the northeast of Xurno, and Dowe, spoken in one canton of Belšai.
| Author: Stilgar |
