Ritual: Did you mean...?

Xunzi (pronounced shund-zee, l. c. 310-c. 235 BCE) was a Confucian philosopher of the Warring States Period (c. 481-221 BCE) in China. He is also known as Hun Kuang, Hsun Tzu, Xun Tzu, and Xun Kuang. Xunxi translates as Master Xun and is...

Kykeon (from the Greek “to mix, stir”) was a beverage of water and barley (sometimes flavored with mint or thyme) popular among the working, 'lower' class of ancient Greece. In Homer's Illiad it is described as a mixture of water, barley...

3D model render of the Saqqara necropolis looking north. The pyramids of Unas (r. c. 2345–2315 BCE) (left) and Djoser (c. 2670 BCE) (middle) are in the foreground. Render by Savannah Dawson. Reprinted from Constructing the Sacred...

Ritual bronze spear-blade (dohoko) from the Yayoi Period. The blade is said to have been excavated at Okamoto-cho, Kasuga City, modern Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Roman religion Animistic/Animism Anthropomorphic/ Anthropomorphism Antithetical Henotheism Integration Martyrdom Monotheism Mythology Pacifism Paganism Polytheism Ritual Subversive Temple

In ancient Celtic cultures, torcs were a common form of jewellery and were made from bronze, copper, silver, and gold. Torcs were not just exquisite works of Celtic art but also identified the wearer’s status and perhaps were believed to...

Located in modern Turkey, Göbekli Tepe is one of the most important archaeological sites in the world. The discovery of this stunning 10,000 year old site in the 1990s CE sent shock waves through the archaeological world and beyond, with...

Block XLIV of the South Frieze of the Parthenon Sculptures. Attributed to Pheidias 438BC-432 BCE. Detail of a cow being led to sacrifice by four youths. The cow does not seem to be too happy about this. The two youths at right look back to...

The Vedas are the religious texts which inform the religion of Hinduism (also known as Sanatan Dharma meaning “Eternal Order” or “Eternal Path”). The term veda means “knowledge” in that they are thought to contain the fundamental knowledge...

Christianity is the world's largest religion, with 2.8 billion adherents. It is categorized as one of the three Abrahamic or monotheistic religions of the Western tradition along with Judaism and Islam. 'Christian' is derived from the Greek...