A Handbook of Ancient Religions

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Illustrations......Page 9
Maps......Page 11
Tables......Page 12
Contributors......Page 13
Introduction......Page 15
 Introduction......Page 21
  A different world......Page 25
  Ways of life......Page 26
  Material remains......Page 28
  The art of the caves and shelters......Page 32
  Human activities in the caves......Page 35
  Ethnography and analogy......Page 36
 Former understandings of ur-religion......Page 37
  Sympathetic magic......Page 38
  Totemism......Page 41
  Structuralism......Page 42
 Ur-religion......Page 44
  Ur-cosmology......Page 49
 Searching for power......Page 50
  Building a cosmological religion......Page 54
 Conclusion......Page 57
 Bibliography......Page 58
 History of scholarship......Page 60
  Chronology......Page 61
  Archaeological sites (Map 2.1)......Page 63
  Artefacts......Page 65
  Mummification......Page 67
  Religious paintings......Page 69
  The funerary texts......Page 71
  Mythology......Page 73
  The Wisdom literature......Page 74
  The Pessimistic literature......Page 75
   The Predynastic Period (c. 5000–c. 3100 BCE)......Page 77
   The Old Kingdom (c. 2686–c. 2181 BCE)......Page 78
   The Middle Kingdom (1991–1786 BCE)......Page 81
   The New Kingdom (1567–1085 BCE)......Page 82
   The Late Period (664–332 BCE)......Page 84
 The political and social context......Page 85
  The pharaoh......Page 86
  The nobility and officials......Page 87
  Craftsmen and peasants......Page 88
  Egypt’s neighbours......Page 89
  The role of religion in education, law and medicine......Page 90
   The temples......Page 91
   The priesthood......Page 94
  The gods......Page 95
  Personal piety......Page 96
   The concept of the personality......Page 98
   The afterlife......Page 99
   Tomb and pyramid development......Page 100
   Tomb art......Page 101
  The Amarna ‘revolution’......Page 102
  The tomb of Tutankhamun......Page 105
  Mummification techniques......Page 107
  Animal cults......Page 110
   Egyptian and biblical texts......Page 112
   Events and personalities......Page 114
   Egypt and the classical world......Page 116
 Bibliography......Page 117
 Introduction......Page 119
  Excavation and discoveries......Page 121
  Nature of the site......Page 122
  Languages and culture......Page 124
 Religion at Ugarit......Page 125
  Cosmology......Page 126
   Lists......Page 127
   Individual deities......Page 130
  Royal involvement in the cultus......Page 138
  Royal ideology......Page 140
 Myths and other ‘ideological’ literature......Page 145
  Baal myths......Page 146
  Keret......Page 147
  Aqhat......Page 148
  Shorter compositions......Page 150
  Religion and economic life......Page 152
  Omens and oracles......Page 155
 Personal religion......Page 156
  Sickness and health......Page 157
  Death, funerals and kispum (= pagru?) rites......Page 158
  Stelae......Page 161
 Ugarit and its legacy in the external world......Page 163
  Greece......Page 165
  Israel......Page 167
 Notes......Page 168
 Bibliography......Page 172
 Supplementary reading......Page 174
  Sources......Page 175
  History......Page 179
  The many and the particular......Page 186
  Systematization......Page 187
  Individual deities......Page 189
  Properties of divinity......Page 193
  Birth and death......Page 194
 Gods in their dwellings......Page 195
  Works and deeds......Page 196
  Cosmology......Page 197
  End of the world......Page 198
  Gods and the human race......Page 199
  Treatment of humanity......Page 200
  The deluge......Page 201
  Death and the afterlife......Page 202
 Demons, ghosts, monsters, protective spirits......Page 204
  Religious institutions in human society......Page 206
  Priesthood......Page 208
  Prophets and oracles......Page 209
  Devotion......Page 210
  Rituals, observances, offerings, festivals......Page 211
  Ethics, piety......Page 215
  Scepticism, impiety......Page 216
  Divination......Page 218
  Magic......Page 219
  Innovation and reform......Page 220
  Mesopotamian religion and the Bible......Page 221
 Bibliography......Page 223
  Introduction......Page 228
  The biblical picture......Page 230
  The critical reassessment......Page 233
   Second period (650–540 BCE)......Page 236
   Third period (540–50 BCE)......Page 237
   Twentieth-century refinements......Page 238
   The assumptions of the present chapter......Page 243
   YHWH, his consorts and other gods in popular, prophetic and official religion......Page 246
   YHWH’s attributes......Page 251
   Angels, demons and the Satan......Page 252
   Election and covenant......Page 256
   Other nations as servants of YHWH......Page 258
   Creation and cosmos......Page 259
   Theodicy and scepticism......Page 260
   Conceptions of afterlife and eschatology......Page 262
   Sanctuaries, temples and the temple......Page 264
   Religious calendars and festivals......Page 267
   Priesthood......Page 270
   Prophecy......Page 271
   Sacrifice......Page 272
   Hymns, prayers and sacred texts......Page 275
 Bibliography......Page 277
 An introduction to recent scholarship on Greek religion......Page 280
 Early history......Page 284
 The early Greek polis......Page 285
 Dividing the cosmos......Page 286
 The regional sanctuaries......Page 288
 Behaviour and belief......Page 289
 Defining the sacred......Page 293
 Temples and sacred places......Page 295
 The gods of the polis......Page 297
 Ritual acts......Page 302
 Prayer and the expectation of reciprocity......Page 306
 Votive gifts......Page 309
 Divination and oracles......Page 311
 Oaths: calling the gods to witness......Page 314
 Civic rituals......Page 315
 The power of dreams......Page 316
 Birth......Page 320
 Rituals of maturation......Page 321
 Weddings and funerals......Page 323
 Serving the dead......Page 324
 Wearing amulets, making spells and cursing competitors......Page 325
 The shifting topography of the dead......Page 327
 Bibliography......Page 329
 The study of Roman ‘paganism’......Page 332
 The sources......Page 339
 The history of the Romans......Page 345
 Society and economy......Page 350
 The religion of the Roman people......Page 355
 Religious change in the Roman Empire......Page 366
 Note......Page 374
 Bibliography......Page 375
 Early Europe......Page 378
 Scandinavian mythology......Page 379
 Germans and Celts......Page 384
 Discovery of the mythology......Page 387
 The medieval viewpoint......Page 395
 The theorists......Page 396
 Fresh approaches......Page 398
 Sacred sites......Page 401
 Disposal of the dead......Page 404
 Ritual objects......Page 406
 Iconography......Page 407
 Names and titles......Page 410
 RELIGIOUS BELIEFS......Page 411
 The sky-god......Page 412
 The war-god......Page 414
 The powers of fertility......Page 416
 Enigmatic gods......Page 418
 The world of the gods......Page 419
 Irish mythology......Page 422
 Religions of the Celts......Page 425
 RELIGION IN EVERYDAY LIFE......Page 426
 Bibliography......Page 430
 Introduction......Page 432
  Geography......Page 433
   Mohenjo-daro......Page 437
   Harappa......Page 439
   Lothal......Page 440
   Kalibangan......Page 441
  Writing......Page 442
  Trade and crafts......Page 444
 The peoples of the Indus Civilization......Page 445
   The Dravidians......Page 446
    Who is an Aryan?......Page 447
   Sir John Marshall’s position on the Indus and Aryan civilizations......Page 449
  The Great Female Goddess......Page 450
   The seal of ‘Divine Adoration’......Page 452
    Seven attending figures on the seal of Divine Adoration......Page 453
   The Great Male God......Page 455
   A critique of Marshall’s Proto-Shiva......Page 457
    The Proto-Shiva seal has on it the vehicles of later Hindu gods......Page 458
    History of the water buffalo motif in the Indus region......Page 459
   Summary on the Proto-Shiva seal......Page 461
  Continuity between the religion of the Indus Civilization and later India......Page 462
  Shaktism......Page 464
 Three cults: baetyls, lingas and yonis......Page 466
  The swastika......Page 468
 Mesopotamian themes in Indus iconography......Page 471
 The important place of water in the belief system of the Indus Civilization......Page 474
  Ramaprasad Chandra......Page 475
  Asko Parpola......Page 476
   The Sky Garment......Page 477
  F. R. Allchin’s interpretation of a seal from Chanhu-daro......Page 478
 Indus religious architecture......Page 480
   The Great Bath......Page 482
   The College of Priests......Page 485
   A temple proposed to be below the stupa......Page 486
  Proposed temples in the lower town of Mohenjo-daro......Page 487
  Fire-altars......Page 490
   Fire-altars at Kalibangan......Page 491
   Religious architecture: summary......Page 492
 Indus funerary practices and religion......Page 493
   The two great gods......Page 495
   Other Indus gods......Page 496
  Religious architecture......Page 497
  Aspects of later Indian religion begin in the Indus Civilization......Page 498
 Bibliography......Page 501
 Presuppositions......Page 504
 Sources......Page 505
  Traditional texts......Page 506
  Archaeological materials......Page 507
 The world of ancient China......Page 510
 The social organization of religion......Page 513
  Early correlative thought......Page 517
  The rise of Five Processes systems......Page 520
 Religious experience in ancient China......Page 523
  The gods of ancient China......Page 525
  The ancestor cult......Page 530
  Rituals and ritual......Page 533
  One variety of religious experience: divination......Page 539
 Notes......Page 547
 Bibliography......Page 548
 Introduction......Page 551
 The Aztecs and Incas in the popular and scholarly imaginations......Page 553
  The Olmecs: ‘mother culture’......Page 554
  The great city of Teotihuacan......Page 556
  Mythic Tollans......Page 559
  The peaceful Mayas......Page 560
  The bloody Aztecs......Page 563
  The imperial Incas......Page 567
   Texts......Page 568
   Archaeology......Page 572
   Ethnography......Page 575
   Priestly writings......Page 576
   Accounts of the Conquistadores......Page 577
   Native narratives......Page 578
  The Aztecs......Page 579
  The Incas......Page 581
 Survivals of ancient civilized religions in Latin American Catholicism......Page 582
 Bibliography......Page 586
Index......Page 591