The establishment of Roman Mithraism in the West (1st to 4th century CE) mirrored the military and cultural challenge to Roman hegemony that emerged in the East from the Parthian Empire.   Successor to a Persian legacy, Parthia was the true patron of Mithraism’s deeply antiquated and authentic, pre-Roman tradition. Following the Zoroastrian tradition, […]

From about 3000 BCE until about the collapse of the Bronze Age in 1200 BCE, the Minoans were a premier Aegean culture. Located on the island of Crete, the Minoan people developed sophisticated trade and diplomatic ties with other cultures, such as the Egyptians. With the wealth they gained from those ties, the Minoans […]

One of the most famous scenes surviving from ancient Egyptian art is the Weighing of the Heart Ceremony, during which the heart of the deceased was weighed against the feather of Ma’at. If the heart was lighter than the feather, they passed into ancient Egypt’s paradisical afterlife. If it was heavier than the feather, […]

The political fragmentation in China after the collapse of the Tang Dynasty was brought to an end by Zhao Kuangyin, a warlord who founded the Song Dynasty in 960. Northeastern China remained under the control of the Khitan Liao Dynasty, which was overthrown by the Jurchens early in the 12th century. The Jurchen Jin […]

The lists of commandments in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 are almost identical to each other, diverging significantly only in the reasons they each give for keeping the Sabbath day. This list—often called the Decalogue—is what is popularly known as the Ten Commandments. However, according to the biblical narrative, Moses shattered the tablets upon […]