1) The Abunese care about their hygiene
In Abun, cleaning and washing is considered a sort of ritual, called Irul (which means "cleansing" in Abunese), in which the Abunese must take a warm bath two times per day: the first when he/she got up and the second one before going to sleep.
Usually, When the Abunese are in their private home, they must take off their sandals. Before entering their houses, they take them off and wash their hands and feet in a ceramic bowl called Ton'Hat (meaning "Purifier"). The Ton'Hat is usually made in ceramic or in bronze, while some nobles have a gold version. The bowl is filled with water everytime is used from a faucet located outside the house, and after it's been used, the water needs to be thrown out. Usually, the Ton'Hat is located outside the houses of commoners, while in nobles' palaces it can be found outside their private apartments, since the Abunese nobles take off their sandals only when they are in their apartment. The reason why they must take their sandals off while they're in their house is because private houses are considered to be blessed by the Gods, so the Abunese must walk barefoot in their houses, just like they do in temples.
2) Scribes are highly regarded
The scribes are considered to be gifted people, since they can read and write in their language and sometimes in foreign ones too. Indeed, in Abun there's an high amount of illiterate people, especially in the low-class, because the Abunese schools, called "Houses of Life", are managed by the priests and they're basically private institutions.
In the middle-class there's a small percentage of illiteracy, and very few are the nobles who can't read or write. So, if someone studies to become a scribe, he will be highly respected and his job will be well paid.
3) In Abun there's gender equality
Unlike the Zonizans, the Abunese don't consider women as inferior beings compared to men, but they're considered as a vital part of the society, because without them there wouldn't be new life nor human feelings. Abunese women can have political roles, own properties and can attend to the local people's assemblies and vote like men.
During trials, they have the same rights of men. According to the "Law of the Ancients", there's no distinction between sexes and both men and women have the same rights.
4) Slavery doesn't (technically) exist anymore in Abun
In Abun, slavery has been always a controversial subject. During the 2228 years of existence of the Kingdom, slavery used to be legal in Abun until the year 2104, when king Cheoughtia Seruk Atris abolished it officially, although debt slavery still remained in the Abunese law, despite it was reformed in order to be applied only to war prisoners.
Before its abolishment, people had the right to own one or more slaves, according to their census. The richer the person was, and the more the slaves he could afford. They could be purchased at the slave markets that were held every Sulhat (the Abunese Friday), and were bought in a auction-like transaction. The slaves had to be well fed and treated well by their owners, otherwise they would have the right to leave their household. Some of the rich middle-class families used to have a male and a female slave, in order to let them have a family of their own, while the owner had the right to have sex with the female slave, and the male slave was allowed to do so with the owner's wife. It also was possible to become a slave in case of an unpaid debt: in that case, the slavery would've been a temporary measure, since the debtor would work for the debtee only for the timespan that would allow him to repay his debt, and then he would be freed.
Freeing slaves in Abun just required the permission of the owner and a "contract of freedom" signed both by the slave and its owner, under the supervision of a State Official. Currently, slavery has been officially replaced by servitude, which unlike slavery, is completely voluntary. Servants are paid with a monthly wage in Sids (the Abunese currency) or in nature, and they can have a pension from the state after they retire.
5) The Abunese calendar doesn't have seasons
The Abunese are probably the only civilization that have a week splitted in seven days. Due to their hot climate, they don't have seasons and they only have four months that sign the rhytm of their agriculture. Each month is splitted in 100 days per each, meaning that the Abunese year lasts 400 days. There aren't leap years in the Abunese calendar, nor daylight saving time.
Their week is made by the following days:
Aren (Monday)
Yado (Tuesday)
Angtia (Wednesday)
Ireph (Thursday)
Sulhat (Friday)
Kalash (Saturday)
Netur (Sunday)
The Abunese months are the following:
Hesul-At (the month of the Seed)
Waras-At (the month of the Rest)
Ankdan-At (the month of the Growing)
Rilen-At (the month of the Harvest)
The Abunese write their current date in various ways. Here are some examples:
35 Yado of Hesul-At, 2228 (DoM/DoW/MM YYYY)
2228 35/2/2 (YYYY DoM/DoW/MM)
35/2/2 2228 (DoM/DoW/MM YYYY)
35/2 of Hesul-At, 2228 (DoM/DoW MM/YYYY)
Hesul-At of Yado 35, 2228 (MM/DoW/DoM YYYY)
Legend:
DoM - Day of the Month
DoW - Day of the Week
MM - Month
YYYY - Year
6) The Abunese measure system is very similar to the Earthling metrical one
In Abun they have an advanced technique to measure things. It's called the Ia'Ar system, which is based on the name of the mathematician who invented this measure system, Samegh Awas of the Ia'Ar clan, in year 148, replacing the old measure system made by palms, feet, inches and arms.
The Ia'Ar, the main scale to measure distance is divided in three scales:
The Sotin-Ia'Ar, which is the smallest scale available (like the Earthling "millimeters")
For example, the lug size of an average Abunese bracelet is 22 Sotin-Ia'Ar, which are 22 millimeters on planet Earth.
The Visen-Ia'Ar, which is greater (like the centimeter).
The Awas-Ia'Ar, its name directly derived from the mathematician, representing the largest scale ever (similar to the Earthling "meters").
Weight is measured in three scales as well, the Naia. The smallest is the Sotin-Naia, then there's the Visen-Naia and the Awas-Naia, similar to the Earthling grams, kilograms and tons. Naia in Abunese language means "mass".
Speed is measured in Sul'Dra (which means "speed"), and is similar to the Earthling Kilometres. One Sul'Dra equals one kilometer.
To measure the size of an house, the standard adopted is the Feb, which is more or less equal to one square metre on planet Earth.
For exmample, an house that measures 30 Feb is equal to an Earthling house that measures 30 square metres.
7) Atheism doesn't exist in Abun, because everybody believes in the Gods. However...
The Abunese are very religious people. Although some of them might be less than others, they all believe that their planet and themselves have been created by a supreme God, Sinit, who spawned the other Gods as well, and they must fight against the absolute evil, incarnated by Hyar'Emar and his minions. However, there are some people who are critic towards them and try to see things in a less-religious way, without straying from their religion. Prince Faad is one of them.
8) In Abun the spoken word has the same legal value of a written document
If an Abunese promises something to someone, and he gives his word as a form of warranty, he must abide to it, because oral contracts have the same value of written ones, according to the Law of the Ancients. The reason behind this law is because not all the Abunese know how to read and write (and not all of them are able to write their own signature), so they either pay a notary in order to write the contract, or they make an oral contract.
In order to not let the parts forget about the contract, they take two stones, the Oshga and paint them with a particular symbol that only the two counterparts that make a contract can recognize. That symbol will make them remember about their pact, in order to honour it. If the pact isn't honoured, one of the parts can go to a court and make a trial against the counterpart.
9) The Abunese have their own currency, but they also barter goods
The kingdom of Abun is one of the few states in the southern part of planet Nakti that accepts both coins (the Sid) and bartering as a form of trade. If someone doesn't have money or is too poor to have them, he can trade goods with something that has a similar value.
10) The Abunese have an efficient postal system
It might seem strange for a civilization that according to an Earthling point of view, has a primitive way of life compared to us, but the Abunese have an efficient postal system.
Every city and village of the kingdom has its own postal office called Thervqua offices, Thervqua means "communications" in Abunese, that receives the mail from Enit, where there's the main sorting center, and delivers it to the recipients with the usage of the messengers, who usually travel on horses or chariots. This means that every city in Abun has its own civic address and every building has a civic number.
However, the mail in Abun could require from one week to eight months in order to reach its destination, according to the distance, because the Abunese don't have fast means of transportation (only chariots and ships).
