Curated category
Polytheism
- PolytheismThe word polytheism comes from the Greek roots poly meaning many and theos meaning god. A Jewish writer named Philo of Alexandria coined this term in…
- BuddhismIn the 5th century BCE, a man named Siddhartha Gautama walked the eastern Gangetic plain of India. He was born in Lumbini, now part of modern Nepal, and grew…
- HinduismThe word Hindu derives from the Sanskrit term Sindhu, which named the Indus River and the lower basin region. Proto-Iranian sound changes transformed the…
- MonolatryThe word monolatry describes a specific religious stance where many gods exist, yet only one receives worship. Frank E. Eakin, Jr.
- Canaanite religionThe clay tablets unearthed at Tell Mardikh in Syria date to the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. These Ebla tablets contain lists of offerings to El…
- Chinese folk religionIn the early 21st century, a temple in Yulin, Shaanxi, was restored after decades of neglect. Locals claimed that grain stored inside had rotted because the…
- ConfucianismIn the year 551 BC, a man named Confucius was born in the state of Lu. He lived until 479 BC during an era known as the Hundred Schools of Thought.
- Aztec religionThe Nahua concept of teotl centers on a single, dynamic, vivifying, eternally self-generating and self-regenerating sacred power.
- TengrismThe word Tengri first appeared in Chinese chronicles during the 4th century BC as the sky god of the Xiongnu. Ancient Turkic and Mongolic languages used…
- ShintoThe torii gateway to the Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima Prefecture stands as a recognizable symbol of Shinto, yet the word itself carries a history far…