Layla and Majnun
Layla and Majnun at school together, from a manuscript of the Khamsa that belonged to Timur's son and is now in the Hermitage Museum (1431 AD). An Iranian story This [...]
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08, 2017
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08, 2017
What is a theologian? History of religion
Pope Gregory the Great writing, from the 900s AD. Ivory, probably from Kenya. (Now in Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum) A theologian (thee-oh-LOW-gin) is a person who studies religion. The word comes from [...]
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08, 2017
History of religion – sacrifice, holidays
Building at Gobekli Tepe (ca. 9000 BC) People have started a lot of different religions. Some of them are still practiced today; others are not. It is hard even to [...]
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08, 2017
The end of animal sacrifice – History of religion
Sacrificial procession (Pitsa, ca. 530 BC) People probably began to do animal sacrifice around the time they began farming and keeping domesticated animals, about 10,000 BC. They were certainly sacrificing animals to their gods all over Europe and Asia [...]
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08, 2017
Bible verses – Christianity – Religion
Gutenberg Bible When people want to tell you where to find certain words in the Christian Bible, they write something like Matthew 10:25, or Exodus 12:1. This means look in the book [...]
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08, 2017
What is the Trinity? Christianity – Religion
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Perugino, about 1482 in Rome) Christian people all believed that there was one God. But many people thought God existed in three forms: God the Father, Jesus the [...]
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08, 2017
What did Manichaeans believe? – Christianity
Manichaean painting (Turfan, western China, ca. 900s AD) - Who were the Manichaeans? The prophet Mani in the Sassanian Empire In the 300s and 400s AD many Christians turned to believing in [...]
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08, 2017
Byzantine Iconoclasm: History of Christianity
Byzantine iconoclasm: an Icon of St. Nicholas (Russia) Byzantine iconoclasm By the early 700s AD, the Roman Empire had seen four hundred years of religious arguments about what or who Jesus Christ was. The Arians believed that [...]
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08, 2017
Where do Easter eggs come from? History of religion
Ostrich eggshell from Diepkloof Rock Shelter, South Africa (60,000 BC) When did people start dyeing eggs? Easter eggs go back long before Easter, and even long before the beginning of farming. As [...]
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08, 2017
Donatists – Christianity – history of religion
The Roman emperor Constantine - the first Christian emperor - had to deal with the Donatists When did the Donatists get started? Almost as soon as Constantine had won the battle [...]
