Religions of the Ancient World PDF Download

Author: Sarah Iles Johnston
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674015173
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 750

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Book Description
This groundbreaking, first basic reference work on ancient religious beliefs collects and organizes available information on ten ancient cultures and traditions, including Greece, Rome, and Mesopotamia, and offers an expansive, comparative perspective on each one.

Author: Walter Burkert
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674643642
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
Ancient Greek culture is often described as a miracle, owing little to its neighbors. Walter Burkert argues against a distorted view, toward a more balanced picture. "Under the influence of the Semitic East--from writers, craftsmen, merchants, healers--Greek culture began its unique flowering, soon to assume cultural hegemony in the Mediterranean."

Author: Alhena Gadotti
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350301884
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Exploring life, death, and the afterlife in Mesopotamia, Alhena Gadotti and Alexandra Kleinerman examine how life and death experiences continually developed over the course of nearly three millennia of Mesopotamian history. To achieve this, the book follows the life cycle of the people of the Tigris and Euphrates River valleys from 3000 BCE to 300 BCE, from birth, through death, and beyond. This book is the first to interrogate the relationships between living and dying through case studies and primary evidence. Including letters written by both women and men, the book allows readers to enter the minds of the ancients. First, the authors focus on life through topics such as the rituals surrounding birth, marriage, and religion. The authors then examine the common causes of death, the rituals associated with death, and the Mesopotamian views of the netherworld, its gods, and inhabitants. Concepts of gender fluidity, both in life and death, are considered alongside evidence from epigraphic data. Illustrating daily life as a multifaceted subject affected by time, space, location, socioeconomics, and gender, this book creates a window into the conditions and concerns of the Mesopotamian people.

Author: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
ISBN: 0870994387
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 72

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Book Description

Author: Walter Farber
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 1575068826
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 487

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Book Description
Lamaštu was one of the most important Mesopotamian demons, playing a dominant role in the magico-religious and magico-medical beliefs and practices of ancient Mesopotamia for nearly two millennia. Yet, she has never been the subject of a scholarly monograph dedicated to the textual and visual evidence for her, her activities, and the measures that ancient magical specialists took to counter her. This volume also falls short of this description, because it covers only one part of the material: it is an edition of the textual record only, which is, however, collected here as completely as seems possible today. Walter Farber, who has studied these materials for decades, presents a comprehensive collection of all of the known texts, the texts of the primary incantations in a “score” format, and transliteration and translation of a number of ancillary texts. This much-awaited volume will fill the void in the literature on this aspect of the life and thought of ancient Mesopotamian peoples regarding the character of this malevolent creature and the means of warding off the threat that she posed.

Author: Paul Mirecki
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004283811
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
This volume contains a series of provocative essays that explore expressions of magic and ritual power in the ancient world. The essays are authored by leading scholars in the fields of Egyptology, ancient Near Eastern studies, the Hebrew Bible, Judaica, classical Greek and Roman studies, early Christianity and patristics, and Coptology. Throughout the book the essays examine the terms employed in descriptions of ancient magic. From this examination comes a clarification of magic as a polemical term of exclusion but also an understanding of the classical Egyptian and early Greek conceptions of magic as a more neutral category of inclusion. This book should prove to be foundational for future scholarly studies of ancient magic and ritual power. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.

Author: Michael Ford
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1435763343
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
Maskim Hul is a complete grimoire of Tiamat-centered magick, pre-luciferian sorcery developed from authentic Mesopotamian clay tablets. Tiamat, Kingu and the 11 Chaos-Monsters created by Tiamat are explored, their functions, manifestations and how they survived and existed in the pantheon of Marduk, Ea and the other gods. The gods, demons and evil spirits of Mesopotamia are presented along with Cuneiform sigils and documentation of their use in sorcery. The extensive Invocations of the Gods, Hymns and the entire foundation of authentic Kassapu-practice of ancient Babylon is offered in a concise manner. The grimoire is founded and dedicated to the Seven Sebitti or Maskim, the "Seven Evil Gods" or rebels along with Lamashtu, Lilith are presented in a plethora of rituals and their names of calling. The Serpent Gods of fertility, Ishtar revealed as a form of Tiamat (from pantheon sources) and the rites of necromancy and the Black Flame (Melammu) is presented.

Author: Eli Hinze
Publisher: Eli Hinze
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 143

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Book Description
A wanderer. An outcast. A Queen. Against the customs of the land, Kigal is amongst the few still willing to bury the dead. It is a life that has left her wandering, without friend or home, but she spreads her message of justice for the deceased wherever she can. However, when targeted by those who loathe her, she narrowly escapes execution and tumbles into the Underworld. There Kigal is met with the impossible: the souls of the dead proclaiming her as their goddess, fated to be Queen of the Underworld. Hurled into a world beyond her imagining, clashing with seductive gods and bringing demons to heel, she must fight to bring justice to the forgotten dead. Yet as an ancient evil rises in the Land of the Living, Kigal must not only fight for the lives of those who sought her ruin, but for their very souls. Queen of Shades is a 110-page novella, the first in a Mesopotamian fantasy series. Grab your copy and begin the journey today. About the Queen of Shades series This fast-paced historical fantasy series is packed with demons, monsters, gods and goddesses, ancient lore, and more. If you enjoy diverse fantasy with intrigue of mythic proportions, struggles for justice, enemies-to-lovers, and a lot of heart – this series is for you. What Readers are Saying “An exciting, fast-paced story full of magic and monsters, this nonetheless got me thinking deeply about death, grieving, and rituals surrounding grief. If you’re looking for an evocative, thought-provoking story with girl power and just a dash of sass, give this a shot!” - Elisabeth W. “If gods, demons and mythical creatures are up your street, you're in for a treat. There were definitely a few moments where the action took a completely unexpected twist.” - Gem J. “With its fresh characters, thoughtful themes, vivid setting, and pacy plot, I thoroughly enjoyed Queen of Shades and look forward to reading the next novellas. - Suzannah R. “Hinze manages to build a world that is rich and believable in its details, and compelling in its mythology. The book never loses a kind of charmingly otherworldly feel.” - Heather D.

Author: John H Elliott
Publisher: James Clarke & Company
ISBN: 0227905261
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus of Nazareth makes reference to one of the oldest beliefs in the ancient world - the malignity of an Evil Eye. The Holy Scriptures in their original languages contain no less than twenty-four references to the Evil Eye, although this is obscured by most modern Bible translations. John H. Elliott's Beware the Evil Eye describes this belief and associated practices, its history, its voluminous appearances in ancient cultures, and the extensive research devoted to it over the centuries in order to unravel this enigma for readers who have never heard of the Evil Eye and its presence in the Bible. This is the first of a four-volume work on the Evil Eye.

Author: Dana Hammer
Publisher: BookCountry
ISBN: 1463007671
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
When Lori discovers she's pregnant after a one night stand with a stranger she met in a bar, she decides to have an abortion to hide her infidelity from her husband. But when the abortion clinic is hit by several bolts of lightning, she takes it as a sign and decides to keep the baby and pass it off as her husband's. Meanwhile, Pazuzu, King of the Demons of the Wind, Bearer of Storms and Drought, is most displeased with Lori and her attempts to murder his Most Glorious Son. What is a demon to do with such a tedious and horrible woman? And what is to be done with the Tiny Little Man who dares to call himself a father to Pazuzu's Resplendant Seed? And what of his ex-girlfriend, the vengeful baby-killing demoness, Lamashtu? Perhaps the Great and Revered Dr. Phil would know what to do.... A tale about parenthood, and what it requires of us, and how it transforms us.