Add BCE temporal tags to all documents; add temporal-dating steering doc

religions/ancient-egyptian-religion.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex polytheistic system practiced for over 3,000 years, centered on maintaining *ma'at* (cosmic order) through ritual, temple worship, and funerary practices.
 
 ## Key Facts
-- Period: ~3100 BCE – ~400 CE (suppressed under Christianity)
+- Period: ~3100 BCE – ~400 CE (suppressed under Christianity) @t[3100 BCE..400]
 - Type: Polytheistic with henotheistic tendencies
 - Sacred texts: Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, Book of the Dead
 - Priesthood: Temple-based, pharaoh as chief intermediary with the gods
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex polytheistic system practiced for over 3
 - Mummification: Preservation of the body for the afterlife
 
 ## Atenism
-Pharaoh Akhenaten (~1353–1336 BCE) briefly imposed monotheistic worship of the Aten (sun disk), suppressing other cults. Reversed after his death [^2].
+Pharaoh Akhenaten (~1353–1336 BCE) briefly imposed monotheistic worship of the Aten (sun disk), suppressing other cults. Reversed after his death [^2]. @t[1353 BCE..1336 BCE]
 
 ---
 [^1]: Wilkinson, R. *The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt* (2003)

religions/early-christianity.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Early Christianity emerged in the 1st century CE as a Jewish sect in Roman Judae
 
 ## Key Facts
 - Origin: Roman Judaea, ~30 CE
-- Founder: Jesus of Nazareth (~4 BCE – ~30 CE)
+- Founder: Jesus of Nazareth (~4 BCE – ~30 CE) @t[4 BCE..30]
 - Key figures: Paul of Tarsus, Peter, James
 - Sacred texts: New Testament (written ~50–120 CE)
 - State religion of Rome: 380 CE (Edict of Thessalonica) @t[=380]

religions/greek-religion.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 Ancient Greek religion was a polytheistic system centered on the Olympian gods, practiced through public festivals, sacrifices, oracles, and mystery cults from the Archaic through Hellenistic periods. It had no single founding text, no professional priestly class, and no creed — participation in communal ritual was the defining act of piety. [^3]
 
 ## Key Facts
-- Period: ~800 BCE – ~400 CE (suppressed under Christianity)
+- Period: ~800 BCE – ~400 CE (suppressed under Christianity) @t[800 BCE..400]
 - Type: Polytheistic
 - Sacred sites: Olympia, Delphi, Eleusis, Delos
 - Key texts: Homer's *Iliad* and *Odyssey*, Hesiod's *Theogony*
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ Ancient Greek religion was a polytheistic system centered on the Olympian gods,
 - Animal sacrifice at altars (the central act of public worship; portions burned for the gods, remainder shared by worshippers)
 - Libations: ritual pouring of wine, water, honey, or oil
 - Votive offerings: objects dedicated at sanctuaries in thanks or supplication
-- Panhellenic festivals: Olympic Games (776 BCE–), Pythian Games, Eleusinian Mysteries
+- Panhellenic festivals: Olympic Games (776 BCE–), Pythian Games, Eleusinian Mysteries @t[=776 BCE]
 - Oracle at Delphi: Pythia delivered prophecies from Apollo
 - Mystery cults: Eleusinian Mysteries, Orphic mysteries, Dionysiac rites [^2]
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ Modern scholarship (Sourvinou-Inwood, 1990) frames Greek religion as fundamental
 The sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi was active from at least the 8th century BCE. The Pythia (priestess) entered a trance state to deliver oracles. Ancient sources described intoxicating vapors rising from a chasm; modern geological research (De Boer, Hale et al., 2001) identified intersecting fault lines beneath the temple emitting ethylene and ethane gases from bituminous limestone, providing a plausible physical basis for the Pythia's altered state. [^5]
 
 ## The Eleusinian Mysteries
-The Mysteries at Eleusis, centered on the myth of Persephone's abduction by Hades and her return, promised initiates a blessed afterlife. They predated the Greek Dark Ages (attested from ~1500 BCE) and continued into the 4th century CE. Initiates drank the *kykeon*, a barley-and-mint preparation. Wasson, Hofmann & Ruck (1978) proposed the kykeon contained ergot-derived psychoactive alkaloids; this hypothesis remains debated, with a 2024 *Scientific Reports* study suggesting ergot alkaloids could have been detoxified to produce a milder psychoactive compound. [^2] [^6]
+The Mysteries at Eleusis, centered on the myth of Persephone's abduction by Hades and her return, promised initiates a blessed afterlife. They predated the Greek Dark Ages (attested from ~1500 BCE) and continued into the 4th century CE. Initiates drank the *kykeon*, a barley-and-mint preparation. Wasson, Hofmann & Ruck (1978) proposed the kykeon contained ergot-derived psychoactive alkaloids; this hypothesis remains debated, with a 2024 *Scientific Reports* study suggesting ergot alkaloids could have been detoxified to produce a milder psychoactive compound. [^2] @t[~1500 BCE] [^6]
 
 ---
 [^1]: Burkert, W. *Greek Religion* (Harvard, 1985)

religions/mesopotamian-religion.md

@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@
 # Mesopotamian Religion
 
 ## Overview
-Mesopotamian religion was the polytheistic belief system of Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, and Assyria, practiced from ~4000 BCE until supplanted by Christianity and Islam. It profoundly influenced later Near Eastern religions.
+Mesopotamian religion was the polytheistic belief system of Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, and Assyria, practiced from ~4000 BCE until supplanted by Christianity and Islam. It profoundly influenced later Near Eastern religions. @t[~4000 BCE]
 
 ## Key Facts
-- Period: ~4000 BCE – ~100 CE
+- Period: ~4000 BCE – ~100 CE @t[4000 BCE..100]
 - Type: Polytheistic
 - Sacred sites: Ziggurats in every major city
 - Key texts: *Enuma Elish* (creation epic), *Epic of Gilgamesh*, *Descent of Inanna*

religions/roman-religion.md

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Roman religion was a polytheistic system that evolved from early Italic and Etru
 ## Key Practices
 - Augury: Reading divine will through bird flight, entrails, and omens
 - Vestal Virgins: Six priestesses maintaining the sacred flame of Vesta
-- Imperial cult: Deification of emperors beginning with Julius Caesar (42 BCE)
+- Imperial cult: Deification of emperors beginning with Julius Caesar (42 BCE) @t[=42 BCE]
 - *Religio*: Proper observance of ritual obligations to maintain divine favor [^2]
 
 ## Mystery Cults

religions/zoroastrianism.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions, founded by the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra) in ancient Iran. It was the state religion of the Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sasanian empires.
 
 ## Key Facts
-- Founded by: Zoroaster (Zarathustra), date debated (~1500–1000 BCE or ~600 BCE)
+- Founded by: Zoroaster (Zarathustra), date debated (~1500–1000 BCE or ~600 BCE) @t[~600 BCE]
 - Region of origin: Eastern Iran or Central Asia
 - Sacred text: *Avesta*, including the *Gathas* (hymns attributed to Zoroaster)
 - Supreme deity: Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord")
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions, founded by t
 - Sacred fire as symbol of truth and righteousness [^1]
 
 ## Historical Influence
-- State religion of the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BCE)
+- State religion of the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BCE) @t[550 BCE..330 BCE]
 - Influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (concepts of heaven/hell, angels, final judgment) [^2]
 - Declined after the Arab conquest of Iran (651 CE)
 - Surviving communities: Parsis in India, Zoroastrians in Iran (~100,000–200,000 worldwide)