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1.5 KiB
inclusion
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Temporal Dating Conventions for Ancient History
BCE Tag Syntax
Factbase supports BCE dates in temporal tags. Always use them — never leave BCE dates untagged.
Supported formats:
@t[=331 BCE]— exact event (Battle of Gaugamela)@t[~280 BCE]— approximate/state (Pharos Lighthouse built)@t[305 BCE..30 BCE]— date range (Ptolemaic Egypt)@t[..612 BCE]— ended at date (fall of Nineveh)@t[911 BCE..]— started, ongoing from that point
Use ~ prefix for approximate dates common in ancient history. Most pre-classical dates are approximate.
Dates as Source Validation
In ancient history, dates ARE the scholarship. A date like "~2334 BCE" for Sargon of Akkad encodes decades of archaeological and textual debate. Temporal tags serve double duty:
- Factbase temporal tracking — enabling
as_ofandduringqueries - Source accountability — every tagged date must have a footnote citing who established that chronology
When answering temporal review questions, always:
- Add the
@t[...]tag with BCE syntax - Confirm the source footnote covers the dating (not just the event)
- Note if the date is contested (e.g., Egyptian chronology has high/middle/low variants)
Ranges vs Exact Dates
- Reigns, periods, dynasties → use ranges:
@t[336 BCE..323 BCE] - Battles, founding events → use exact:
@t[=331 BCE] - Approximate dates → use tilde:
@t[~2560 BCE] - Unknown dates → use
@t[?]and note why in the review answer