'Ancient Egyptian Religion' is a website that serves as a gateway to a short but useful and well-maintained collection of links relating to the religious beliefs of ancient Egyptians. The list, compiled by Andrew Bayuk, is lightly annotated. The materials chosen cover items such as: deities; beliefs; practices; culture; mythology; priesthood; history; philosophy; symbols; death; funeral; embalming; and tombs. The site forms part of the 'Guardian's Egypt' website, which features various other aspects of Egypt and Egyptology. Accessible and informative, this resource is suitable for undergraduate use.
For those searching for primary resources on Zoroastrianism, the Avesta Zoroastrian Archives are an excellent starting point. Zoroastrianism was a major world religion from the 6th century BC to the 7th century AD, and still has several hundred thousands adherents in India, Iran and North America. The site includes the whole of the Avesta (ancient scriptures of Zoroastrianism) in both English and Avestan (though the latter is provided in Latin script), an assortment of the middle-Persian/Pahlavi texts, and a selection of modern works. Introductory discussions on Zoroastrianism and the Avestan language are also offered. The linguistic section contains a helpful dictionary and descriptions of the language, but caution should be exercised with some of the other Zoroastrian resources, as not all information presented here reflects the best of scholarly opinion. Nevertheless, they do offer an intriguing view into modern expressions of the faith.
This truly superior online collection of citations and bibliographic material has been compiled by Barend J. ter Haar at the University of Leiden. The main introductory page of his Bibliographies on Chinese History and Culture leads to eight different extensive (and usually annotated) bibliographical resources on Chinese society. While this includes references for literacy and education, violence, and protest and dissent, many categories are specifically devoted to religious themes including the Yao religion, Shamanism, and the Falun Gong movement, as well as more general collections on twentieth century religious life and culture in mainland China. The bibliographies are organised in a series of logical sub-divisions, and include details of electronic resources. However, a basic search engine to retrieve references by author or exact subject would be a welcome addition to the site. In any case, undergraduates and academics at all levels who wish to enlarge their knowledge of Chinese secondary sources will find these lists useful, whether they are searching for books or material on the Web. New lecturers may also wish to avail themselves of the Teaching Aids section, which takes the form of an extended annotated exploration of Internet, encyclopaedic and print resources.
Part of James Winslow Dow’s (Department of Social Anthropology, Oakland University) online collection of anthropological course material, the Bibliography for the Study of Magic Witchcraft and Religion is an extensive introductory citation list that would be of benefit to any undergraduate student researching or writing papers on anthropology of religion. Unfortunately, at time of writing the bibliography does not list material published after 1998, but it is nevertheless a useful guide to older works in the field. The selection of material covers groups from all over the world, however references for North and South American culture groups are especially strong. The lists themselves are organised into four major sections: Comparative studies and theoretical works; Ethnographic reports; Historical works; and finally Shamanism and healing. These topics are then further subdivided by geographical zones and organised alphabetically by author.
The website 'black peacock' offers users a large number of Indian devotional images and scenes from religious and mythological tales. The site is organised into sections dealing with different texts in Hindu mythology, from which depictions are presented in galleries of thumbnails which can be expanded to reveal a larger image along with some explanatory text and sometimes relevant extracts from the original text. Other sections deal provide access to images of deities, avatars and demigods. The pictures are of a high quality and taken from originals which vary greatly in age, which makes for an interesting mix. It's an attractive website, although getting the drop down menus to stay in place while you move your cursor down them is a challenge.
The Book of the Dead is part of the Internet Sacred Text Archive, run by amateur John B. Hare as a free, non-profit archive of e-texts on religion and mythology. The site does not promote the views of John Hare or any other individual but simply presents sacred texts from original scans and printed anthologies. A bibliography of these texts and a code of standards in scanning is provided on the site. Mainly, the texts are given in English translation although a few texts are accessible in their original language. The Internet Sacred Texts Archive is a partner of Distributed Proofreading for Project Gutenberg in developing e-text projects. The page on the Egyptian Book of the Dead provides free access to E.A. Wallace Budge's 1895 translation of this sacred text. Texts are grouped under the Plate format of the Book, while Budge's extensive introductory material is reproduced in full. All material on the site is available free of charge, although Sacred texts also offer its archive on CD-ROM in order to fund the running of the site. An excellent resource.
The Institute for Antiquity and Christianity (IAC) is part of the Claremont Graduate School and is a research centre which focuses on the origins of western civilisation; its bulletin is made available online by the Claremont Colleges Digital Library. Volumes available here date from 1970 to 1997. The user may browse contents lists for each volume and then access each volume page-by-page in PDF format. Of particular academic interest are the texts of IAC public lectures, and a wide range of topics is covered by these, including: archaeology relating to Biblical sites; the writing of the New Testament; ancient Roman education; Judaism and Christianity; Alexandrian poetry; ancient magic; the synagogue; and papyrology.
Edited by Christopher B. Siren, 'Canaanite/Ugaritic mythology FAQ' is a website devoted to the culture and beliefs of the biblical nation that occupied what is now known as Syria. Aside from biblical accounts, little was known about the Canaanites - who thrived from about 3800-3000 BC - until the discovery of the city of Ugarit in 1928. Since then, writings and objects have been unearthed that have opened this enigmatic culture to modern scholars. Siren's site makes available to general readers the basic structure of Canaanite myth. When possible, comparisons with more familiar mythological systems are made. Details of source materials and suggestions for further reading are included.
The website "Catholic encyclopaedia: demonology" is part of the New Advent site, which provides information on religious and theological topics. This entry focuses on demonology, defined on the site as "the science or doctrine concerning demons". It provides a good basic introduction to the subject for those studying witchcraft, the history of religious ideas or theology. Links to other entries in the encyclopaedia are embedded in the text, which is also very useful. Since the site is published by a Roman Catholic organisation, the site-user must bear this in mind. The article briefly discusses a variety of demonologies including: Assyrian and Akkadian; Iranian; Jewish; Early Christian; Medieval and Modern. It provides good background reading for the subject, but is evidently dated, published as it was, in the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1908.
This Web page, 'Classical documents for Christian research', features a series of links to English translations of ancient texts (originating from Greece, Rome, and Egypt) which may be of use to those undertaking research into parallels between Biblical texts and stories featured in classical literature. As the full-text of many of the works is included, these may also be of interest to anyone seeking online translations of the featured authors. Works which appear here are: Aristophanes' 'Peace', 'Clouds' and 'Ecclesiazusae'; Euripides' 'Bacchae'; Hesiod's 'Theogony' and 'Works and Days'; the Homeric Hymns; selected works of Plato; Herodotus' Histories; and extracts from Catullus, Pausanias, Aristotle and Athenaeus, as well as a number of Egyptian texts.
Culture of Barbarous Europe is a site containing the doctoral thesis of Alex Fantalov a Russian anthropology student. The thesis has been translated from Russian and unfortunately the text is unclear and over complicated in places. The thesis explores images and characters from European mythology concentrating specifically on: Celtic deities; Scandinavian gods; Thraco-Dacian mythological characters; Illyrian characters; Scythian-Samatian characters; Baltic mythological images; and Slavic images. A comprehensive bibliography provides further points of reference. This site is of use to those studying comparative mythology, or the mythologies of individual peoples.
'Dibaajimowinan idash Aadizookaanag' is a site devoted to disseminating the culture, history and narratives of Native Americans. Available on the site are stories translated from a number of Native American languages. These include Dibaajimowinan (Native narratives, true stories), Aadizookaanag (traditional stories, myths and legends) and Mazinaajim (picture stories). There are also features on the difficulties of collecting and authenticating Native American tales such as these, comparisons between American and European myths, articles on 19th-century revisionism, and information about Native American languages. Of both anthropological and literary interest, this site is a valuable addition to folk-tale resources on the Internet.
Created by El Equipo Naya (Noticias de Antropología y Arqueología) - an educationally focused Web portal on the ethnography and archaeology of indigenous cultures predominantly located in the western hemisphere - the Diccionario de Mitos y Leyendas is a Spanish language reference resource that offers short descriptions of significant legendary and mythological figures from the South American continent. The Dictionary may prove to be a valuable reference tool for researchers, or anyone generally interested in the beliefs and stories of this region. The documents themselves may be searched either alphabetically, or by the national or cultural origin of the mythological or legendary figure/event in question. In addition, while by no means extensive, there is a good introductory Spanish bibliography that will familiarise new students with some of the variety and major types of cultural expression found in this region.
The Religious Aspects page is part of the Duke Papyrus Archive website, and offers over a hundred enlargable images of papyri which relate to religion in some way. The list is divided into categories for ease of use. The most substantial sections cover manuscripts related to paganism and early Christianity, but there are also works referring to magical practices, astrology, Hinduism, and Islam. Each papyrus is accompanied by brief notes on its type, size, script, date, provenance, and content. Most of the texts are in Greek or Coptic, with a few in Arabic or other languages.
The Earthlore Explorations website is devoted to cultural legacies including history; myth; poetry; and more. Resources at the Earthlore site are arranged into sections. Gothic Dreams includes: photographs and artwork depicting the architecture, sculpture, arts, and crafts of the Medieval period; a glossary of various aspects of gothic cathedrals and churches; and an in-depth historical overview of Notre Dame de Paris, comprehensively hyperlinked throughout to relevant resources within Earthlore Explorations. Ireland includes history and mythology, and gives an article on the poems of W. B. Yeats. Additional countries that may be featured with their own sections include Brazil; China; and Egypt. The Mystery of Lost and Forgotten Histories examines: the relevance of a historical or legendary King Arthur (including an in-depth historical overview of the Holy Grail); and the decline of ancient Peruvian civilization. The Lore of Astrology examines the history and evolution of the world's astrological sciences. Additional subjects that may be featured in the future include symbolism; music; literature; and Arthurian lore. Earthlore Explorations, online since 1995, was originally the work of New York based photographer Rhey Cedron. Cedron now works with a number of other investigators and researchers, all of whom are cited on this resource.
The website of The Ecole Initiative : The Eleusinian Mysteries is dedicated to the ancient Greek festival held annually in honour of Demeter and Persephone. The Eleusinian Mysteries were the most sacred and revered of all the ritual celebrations of ancient Greece. The website has been compiled by Edward Beach of the University of Wisconsin. The site offers an account of what little is known about the Mysteries, and some of this is necessarily speculative. This includes discussion of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. The site also offers images of Demeter, Persephone and Eleusis. There is also a bibliography. The resource would primarily be of interest to ancient historians working on Greek religion.
The Edfu project is conducted by the Archeological Institute of the University of Hamburg and aims at translating and publish all text material that is found at the Horus temple of Edfu in Egypt. The temple at Edfu was built during the Ptolemaic era (around 300 to 30 BC) and is one of the best preserved temples of ancient Egyptian times and was dedicated to the worship of the falcon god Horus. The temple is inscribed with a great number of religious inscriptions and is a invaluable source of knowledge about ancient Egyptian religion. Despite its comparably late date the texts are considered to be based on much older traditions and is, because of that, deemed to be of great interest for the study of older stages of Egyptian religion. The website contains information about the project, images and a bibliography. In addition there is a virtual library with links to publications regarding the temple in PDF-format.
A site as wonderful in its detail as it is frustrating in its navigation, Egyptian Royal Tombs of the New Kingdom is a website providing information about and diagrams of major Egyptian burial sites constructed between the 16th and 11th centuries B.C. (Dynasties XVIII-XX). With extensive descriptions, Kelley Ross (of Los Angeles Valley College) takes us through the tombs and various chambers of pyramids and the Valley of the Kings, highlighting their major features and offering brief inventories of their contents, along with scholarly theories from some of the more recent secondary sources. The majority of material is directed towards an undergraduate or general interest user who is specifically interested in the physical construction and setting of Egyptian funerary rituals, both of whom will appreciate the number of diagrams and their level of detail.
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature is based at the University of Oxford. It contains nearly 400 literary works composed in the Sumerian language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) during the late third and early second millennia BCE. The materials available include a variety of historical, mythological, and literary texts from a number of different Sumerian city-states including Ur, Babylon and Nippur. All resources are available in non-ASCII character transliterations and are accompanied by a typically brief, but essential bibliography. As the vast majority of texts are also available in English, this resource is open to researchers at all levels, whether they are student or professional. The texts are grouped thematically, and may be browsed by category or number, or searched via a customised search engine. The editors of the site plan to introduce English labels to further facilitate searching the Sumerian transliterations. The list of bibliographic references is impressive, and those both new and familiar with this field may wish to spend some time browsing the references. This project received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) within the Research Grants scheme. This corpus can also be ordered via the Oxford Text Archive (OTA) website (formerly part of the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS)), on completion of a request access form.
The Encyclopedia Mythica, edited by M.F. Lindemans, contains in excess of 7,000 articles on mythological figures, deities, and supernatural beings. The site is extremely straightforward to use: one can simply enter the required mythological terms into the search engine, or explore the alphabetically arranged major subsets, which include the mythology of over two dozen geographical areas or traditions. Other sections include a bestiary, genealogical tables, and an image gallery of over 250 pictures. As with many works of this type, the definitions are quite short: in fact, the structure is perhaps more reminiscent of a dictionary than an encyclopaedia, but that does not detract from its utility as a quick reference resource. While users can be reasonably confident about the reliability of the descriptions about specific deities or figures from a single culture, the encyclopaedia generally fails to give much consideration to the changes and evolutionary nature of mythic and folklore strands. Thus, while a definition may be correct for a specific group, where a supernatural entity is shared across more than one culture or an extended period, the explanation tends to be somewhat oblivious to these variations.
ETANA is a cooperative project between ten scholarly institutions and organizations, funded by the Mellon Foundation, with the aim of enabling wider access to Abzu (the Internet gateway for Ancient Near East studies) and the digitization of core texts in the field. At the time of review, there were over 350 digitized texts, covering topics including ancient Egyptian and Babylonian history, biblical archaeology, and the religion of the Semites. There are also over 180 digitized cuneiform texts. Texts include an electronic version of the 'Pantheon Babylonicum: Nomina Deorum e Textibus Cuneiformibus Excerpta et Ordine Alphabetico Distributa' by Deimel, Panara, Patsch and Schneider. The site also offers a short list of links to archaeological projects and organizations affiliated with ETANA. The ETANA core texts collection can be browsed alphabetically, or keyword searches can be performed using the Abzu interface. Abzu also offers details of a vast array of websites, online journals, and ebooks relevant to academics and students working in this area.
The website Folklore and Mythology at Harvard provides information on the study of those subjects at Harvard University. It is useful to those already in the field or who are thinking of studying these subjects. It provides a good explanation of the disciplines and how they are taught at the university as well as an outline of the faculty and their specialities. The site emphasises the position of folklore studies in between the social sciences and the humanities, and its very interdisciplinary nature with the possibility of specialising in regional and/or themed areas. The course summaries are also online, which enables the potential student to examine the degree classes more closely and gain a better idea of the types of subjects studied at this level.
Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts is an extensive, though not exhaustive, online collection of the most well-known folklore tales still transmitted in western culture Compiled by D. L. Ashliman of the University of Pittsburgh, the site brings together a variety of narratives, arranged by either their common titles or thematic links (for example, “Devil’s Bridge Legends” or “Red-Riding Hood”). Where available, each section contains variant re-tellings of the same story or fable, is categorised by the appropriate Aarne-Thompson folktale classification, and includes limited selection of bibliographic references. Shorter tales are typically transcribed for the reader, while long narratives are accessible off-site through the links provided. Though the majority of textual material is derived from post-Renaissance European sources, some material from East-Asia is also available, and there is an excellent collection of Germanic myths, legends, and sagas available through related Web pages.
A collection of mostly European folktales, compiled by Professor D.L. Ashliman for the University of Pittsburgh, USA, website. The collection is organised thematically, and content categories are listed alphabetically. The entire collection is spread over two Web pages, which are interlinked.
'GOLEM: Journal of Religion and Monsters' is a full-text peer-reviewed ejournal. At February 2009 there are two issues online, featuring articles such as: 'Smiting Goliath: Giants as Monsters in the Ancient Near East'; 'Religious Themes of George Romero’s Zombie Movies'; and 'The Doomsday Body, or Dr. Strangelove as Disabled Cyborg', among others. The journal also contains a section titled "Gremlin", for student work, and invites submissions for "Monster Tracks", a section that allows fans to... "contribute a succinct reflection on a monster, without writing an entire article". All articles are offered as PDF files. The journal is edited from Cape Breton University, and the website contains full details of the editorial board and submissions procedure.
This is a simple website explaining the Hittite and Hurrian deities, their forms, roles, and relations. The information is divided into sections on the following topics: 'Who were the Hittites?'; 'What deities did they worship?'; and 'Cosmology and the structure of the universe'. There is also a short annotated bibliography of relevant sourc material. Within the explanatory text of each section the descriptions for each god or goddess contain hyperlinks to other deities, allowing for easy navigation around this single-page website.
This website is the online version of a wide ranging, lavishly illustrated and extensively referenced online art history course by Dr. Chris Witcombe of Sweet Briar College, Virginia. The course focuses on the social, political and religious interpretations of artistic representation of women in six broad areas or periods: Egypt; the Aegean basin; Palestine; Greece; the early prehistoric period; and barbarian Europe. Each section is organised around a series of case studies or essays which are accompanied by discussion topics and questions, extensive bibliographic lists, and collections of relevant Web links. Particular pieces of art from each culture or period are examined: the site describes each art piece, looks at how they have been interpreted, and examines the role of women in ancient cultures. Essays and online lectures by other academics and students are also featured. Textual sources from the relevant Greek, Hebrew and Egyptian contexts are extensively used throughout. A hypertext medium with frames is employed which sometimes can be clumsy to use, though it allows you to have several parts of the course on screen at once. Some of the in-text links are inaccessible to off-campus browsers. This resource will be valuable both to college students taking courses in ancient art, archaeology, ancient history, and gender studies, and also for those interested in cross-cultural and multi-period approaches to art and gender and in comparative religion.
J.B. Hare established the Internet Sacred Text Archive to make public domain religious and mythological texts available to the interested reader. It brings together material collected by the archive itself with a variety of links from other primary resource sites on the Internet to form one of the largest and far reaching electronic text resources available anywhere. With a somewhat eclectic selection in content, the site includes everything from English translations of the sacred texts of African, Australian, and North American indigenous cultures to Eastern, Neo-Pagan and Occult traditions. Judeo-Christian and Islamic resources are also well represented. The archive is still growing, with new texts added on a regular basis. The need to avoid material which is still in copyright means that many of the translations date from over a hundred years ago, but the variety of resources in translation makes the site invaluable to those lacking extensive foreign language skills who wish to rapidly familiarise themselves with a specific tradition. This site is an excellent starting point for anyone who wants to locate an electronic English-language version of a significant religious text from almost any religious tradition.
The home page for the J. R. Ritman Library (Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica) provides information about the library's collections and activities. This private library (unaffiliated to any university or other institution, but freely accessible to the public) houses materials relating to the Hermetic-Christian tradition (Hermeticism is a set of religious and philosophical beliefs based on a body of writings attributed to the mythical philosopher and alchemist, Hermes Trismegistus). Topics covered include: alchemy; mysticism; Rosicrucianism; and Hermetic philosophy. It is possible to search the library's catalogue online, and a digitisation project is underway, although at time of review the works were not yet available via the website. The site also offers a series of articles on subjects relating to the Hermetic tradition, a bibliography of other relevant works, and access to the library's online exhibitions.
The Jewish Roman World of Jesus is a high-quality introductory site describing the surrounding political and social conditions during the life of Jesus and the first few centuries of Christian development. The pages open with two substantial introductory essays on the Roman and Jewish environments into which Christianity springs and will provide a useful historical introduction for anyone unfamiliar with this period. The remainder of this resource contains a series of brief sociological sketches on topics ranging from religion, to archaeological discoveries, to New Testament origins, all complemented by historical quotations that illuminate the opinions and quality of life of early Christians.This web guide will be most useful as summary for undergraduates beginning New Testament or Early Christian History studies. While some limited bibliographic material may be derived from the internal articles, unfortunately a comprehensive bibliography of secondary source material is lacking.
The website of the Joseph Campbell Foundation provides information about this organisation, which exists to promote the work of the American mythologist and scholar of comparative religion, best known for his seminal text, 'Hero with a Thousand Faces'. The website offers an introduction to Campbell's work and philosophies, plus information about his publications and how these can be obtained. Users who wish to take an active part in discussion or other aspects of the Foundation's work are invited to join the free associate programme, which then allows access to a wider range of works, including a forum, articles, and transcripts of Campbell's lectures.
K C Hanson's website may be a chaotic montage of loosely connected resources, but within this eclectic host of sub-directories, there are several topics worth exploring by those interested in history, culture or religion. Dr. Hanson's primary interest seems to lie with the interactions between various ancient and classical communities spanning from the apogee of the Egyptian to the Roman Empire (in particular the relationship between the later and the early Christian communities). He has assembled a series of dynastic chronologies for both Israel and Rome, along with a selection of texts relevant to this period. With a little searching one can find ancient documents from Mesopotamian, Hittite, and Greek civilizations, along with a selection from Semitic cultures. These texts, all translated, tend to cluster between the eighth century BCE and the third century CE but there are a number which predate these.
Part of the site provides useful support resources for the textbook 'Palestine in the Time of Jesus: Social Structures and Social Conflicts', which Dr Hanson co-authored with Douglas E. Oakman. Those wishing to delve further into a particular topic may also wish to consult Hanson's robust series of web links to the ancient world and/or his bibliographic collections on rituals on ancient Greco-Roman society; Hellenic, Semitic and Anatolia Cultures; and The Old Testament. An attractive collection of images from many of these cultures has been compiled.
'Lilith' is a website compiled by Alan Humm. According to Jewish lore, Lilith was Adam's first wife who rebelled against God and transformed herself into a demon. The content of this resource is quite miscellaneous: it provides links to a variety of sites whose focus ranges from the study of pre-medieval texts in which Lilith is mentioned to interpretations of the Lilith figure in modern feminist thought. Most of it is not scholarly in the strict sense of the word but it is still a useful starting point for anyone interested in the continuity of middle eastern mythology into contemporary Judaism. It contains an extensive bibliography and a list of passages quoted.
This site provides listings of magical manuscripts and early printed books from the classical, medieval and early modern periods. The material has been gathered by Frank Klassaan of the University of Saskatchewan and is a work in progress. The listings are divided in to four themed areas: 'Ars notaria' and 'Liber visionum'; Necromantic and other ritual magic manuscripts; 'mage magic, Arabic image magic, and other Arabic magic; and the 'Sworn Book of Honorius' or 'Liber sacer'. Records are listed alphabetically by place of repository. There are also list of manuscripts by author (where known) and an index of incipits (first lines). This site will interest historians of magic, of science, of religion and theology.
This unique online resource, Graeco-Roman Marriage Papyri, compiled by David Instone-Brewer, collates every Greek, Roman and Jewish text relating to marriage and divorce from the fourth century BC to the fourth century AD. The texts are accessible here in their original languages, whether Greek, Latin, Aramaic or Hebrew; links are given to the documents on the websites of the Perseus Digital Library, the Tyndale Archive and the Advanced Papyrological Information System (APIS). References to the texts in which the documents can be found are also given (these are shown in pop-up windows, so to make use of this resource the user must disable any pop-up blockers). The papyri are organised in chronological order, and the catalogue listing for each item is accompanied by references to relevant secondary material and English translations, where possible. Also featured are: a full bibliography; a checklist of editions of papyri; links to other works on divorce, remarriage and the New Testament written by the site's author; and link to downladable Greek and Hebrew fonts.
This website is a major corpus of artifactual and historical material relating to the people of Canaan/Israel and surrounding areas in the Middle and Late Bronze Age and Iron Age I-II periods, c2200-550 B.C. This resource is aimed at both undergraduate students and researchers in archaeology and ancient or biblical history. It will also be of interest to those interested in ancient Near Eastern religions and the origins of Judaism. The site uses a Hypertext medium to interpret Canaanite material culture in the context of the historical and literary record which is provided through extensive quotations from J.B. Pritchard's seminal Ancient Near Eastern Texts (ANET). The material in this resource can be accessed in three main ways: a period by period account provides a chronological and cultural framework based on contemporary historical sources, biblical accounts and excavation reports; a topical index based on important aspects of culture such as burial customs, dress and personal adornment, warfare and architectural; a Hyperlink general index with links to over 90 key topics of Canaanite, Israelite and Phoenician culture.There are many photographs and drawings of artifacts, architecture and archaeological contexts from all over the region while bibliographic references accompany all of the major entries. Quicktime Plug-in 4.1 or later is required for some of the interactive features. The lack of a word-search index is frustrating given the considerable quantity of material in the resource and the historical sources are not explicitly indexed. Nonetheless the quantity and range of the material is impressive and the website will be of widespread interest.
This is the website of the Megiddo Expedition of Tel Aviv University. The archaeological site of Megiddo in Israel, the Armageddon of the Book of Revelation, was occupied continuously from ca. 7000-500 B.C. and features prominently in Near Eastern and biblical history in the second and first millennia B.C., particularly in the period of the United Monarchy when it was one of King Solomon's regional capitals. This attractively presented website provides a useful introduction to the history and archaeology of the settlement and surrounding region as well as providing information on a wide range of topics connected with digging in Israel and biblical archaeology. Apart from providing reports on the renewed excavations at the site by Tel Aviv University and a history of previous campaigns at Megiddo, this website describes a number of ancillary projects connected with Megiddo including the landscape survey of the surrounding countryside, the magnetometer survey of the city itself, the petrographic analysis of the pottery discovered during excavations and a guide to the controversy surrounding the dating of archaeological sites of the United Monarchy. Also featured is "Revelations from Megiddo" the newsletter of the expedition which has numerous articles on issues related to the archaeology and history of Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley.The text is accompanied by numerous attractive images including a 3D virtual tour of the highlights of the archaeology. VISCAPE is required for this presentation. The website also provides detailed information for volunteers wishing to take part in the archaeological excavations.This site will mainly appeal to the interested amateur and to undergraduates but also provides a useful overview for a more specialist audience, particularly the extensive bibliography and the up-to-date chronological information.
This small website, written by Alison B. Griffith, is a hypertext introduction to Mithraism, the ancient Roman mystery cult of the god Mithras. Roman worship of Mithras began sometime during the early Roman empire, perhaps during the late first century CE, and flourished from the second through the fourth centuries CE. The resource gives details on the following topics: the deity Mithras; possible origins of the Roman cult; structure and liturgy of the cult; iconography; and the popularity of Mithraism geographically, socially and chronologically. There is also a short bibliography of scholarly works.
This online resource contains an illustrated essay by David Ulansey on the meaning of some of the symbolism connected to the ancient mystery religion of Mithraism, which flourished across the Roman empire from the end of the first century CE until the eventual triumph of Christianity in the fifth century. Mithraism has left no scriptural evidence of the beliefs or cultic practices of its intiates, so Ulansey attempts here to penetrate some of its mysteries by studying the material artefacts and iconography that remain. The central thesis of this essay is that the cosmic symbolism of the Mithraic cult, with its zodiacal 'grades' of initiation and bull-slaying imagery, is connected to astronomical and astrological observation of the path of the sun through the constellations. Although the arguments become quite abstruse, they are clearly presented and illustrated with some useful diagrams. Ulansey's argument is an alternative to the accepted wisdom that Mithraism originated in Iran. This essay does not focus on the historical, archaeological, or sociological aspects of the worship of Mithras so much as on the basis for the worshippers' beliefs and the iconography. For those interested in the subject it offers a useful angle of approach through the study of the heavens.
The Mystica.org is the home of two electronic encyclopaedias maintained by Alan Hefner. The first, Mystica, covers a wide array of occult and mystical topics, while the other, Mythical-Folk, deals with mythology and folklore. At the time of writing, these two resources comprise well over a thousand articles. The entries range from the brief to the substantial, and all contain references to sources and cross-references to other entries where appropriate. Some of the more robust topics include divination, witchcraft, magic, ancient sects, and the paranormal. Public submission of new entries (which are vetted by the editorial board) is encouraged. The encyclopaedias may be of particular use to those studying New Age and occult religious movements in the modern western society, or the history of folk belief.
The website Organised pagan cult in Kievan Rus. The invention of foreign elite or evolution of local tradition? is an extensive piece by Roman Zaroff. The work discusses the pagan Slavonic pantheon, beginning with a quote from the Laurentian version of the Russian Primary Chronicle, describing the setting up of the idols Perun, Dazhbog, Stribog and others, by Vladimir (Volodymyr). In a wide-ranging work, that discusses the much-debated topic of the origin of the Slavs and their religions, Zaroff adopts a tripartite approach to the question of pre-migration Slavonic religion. He traces the evolution of selected deities and confusions between other popular and sustained myths about the pantheon. Perun, Weles (Veles), Stribog, and Svarozhits are all discussed here, as is the anthropomorphisation and personification of the deities. The piece brilliantly places the subject in an international and European comparative context, as well as focusing on Eastern Slavonic aspects. It has an excellent bibliography and is extremely useful for those interested in the early or religious history of the Slavs or Kievan Rus, and its inhabitants. Unfortunately the Polish characters have not converted.
This is the website of the Pali Text Society, founded in 1881, which exists to promote the study of the Pali canon, the principal works of Theravada Buddhism. The website gives details of the work of the society and has a list of society members which scholars new to the field will find particularly useful. There are also a number of translation exercises and tutorials on the site which will be helpful for new learners. The principal focus of the website are the lists of publications. None of these are available online, but the site gives details of prices and how to place an order, which can be done directly through the site.
The papyrus Egerton 2 is a fragment of an unknown gospel, dated between 150 and 200 CE and found in Egypt in the 1930s. This home page is a private site published under the University of Bremen Web pages, containing high quality images of the Egerton 2 papyrus, with full transcription and translations into English and German. The author has also provided a brief history of the papyrus and the scholarly debate it has provoked, information on its palaeography and a discussion of its canonical parallels. Finally, this resource holds an extensive bibliography and a number of online secondary sources.
Papyrus of Ani; Egyptian Book of the Dead website is a translation of the ancient Egyptian book of Going Forth by Day, more commonly referred to as the Book of the Dead. The translation was made by the famous English Egyptologist Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge (1857 - 1934). The text is a funerary text that was used during the New Kingdom in Egypt and is based on Old Kingdom pyramid texts and the coffin texts from the Middle Kingdom. It describes the journey of the dead through the nether world and is thus an important source of information about the concepts of death during this era. The website consists of the translated text from the papyrus of Ani which is dated to the 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom in Egypt. The text contains, in addition, alternative sections from other papyri with the same or similar texts. This is a useful resource for anyone interested in Egyptology or the religions of the ancient world.
Pathways to Ancient Myth is an online resource initially designed for use by Calvin College's classical mythology students, but which will appeal to others with an interest in looking at locations relevant to the legends of ancient Greece. It presents what are described as five virtual walking tours of places important in history, myth, ritual, and art of the Greek world. Featured sites are the Athenian Acropolis; Delphi; Dodona; Eleusis; and Olympia. Each tour comprises a set of photographs, accompanied by explanatory text describing the history, mythology, and buildings of the sites. This is a clear and easy-to-use resource which brings together visuals and text and could be used as an introduction to Greek history or as an aid to teaching Greek architecture as well as in courses relating to the myths of Greece.
This strangely entitled but useful site brings together a wide variety of unconnected material on all manner of subjects about which Mr. Slone (University of California at Berkelety) is obviously seriously interested. Topics range from linguistic structures to carcinogens in our atmosphere, but this diversity aside, he has also assembled a number of helpful resources on indigenous Melanesian or Papua New Guinean society that will be of use to anyone studying the anthropology, culture or language of this region. Contained within these pages is a compilation of folklore and stories translated from the original Papua New Guinea Pidgin English. As a complement to this resource, Slone has added a Bibliography of Melaneasian Pidgin English dictionaries, phrase books and study guides, and the large and well organised Annotated Bibliography of Papua New Guinean Folklore. This latter bibliography will likely have the widest mass appeal to students and researchers. Citations are organised initially into geographic divisions, but at the end of the list are also reorganised by category, theme, community and author. At the time of review the site hadn't been updated since 2003 and quite a few of the outgoing links were broken.
This website provides the scholar with a detailed introduction to the Purusha Sukta, one of the Rig Vedas, as well as with a translation and transliteration of the text itself. The introduction gives a detailed analysis of the origins of the Purusha Sukta according to Hindu tradition, and the place of the text in the broader context of Hindu and Vedic mythology. The text itself is offered in transliterated form and in translation verse by verse, with each section being examined and explained before moving on to the next. This creates a very detailed and comprehensive investigation of the work, although some of its narrative coherence is lost as a result.
The site "Regional Folklore and Myth", edited by Philip R. Burns, is an annotated gateway to a collection of folklore, legends, myths and mythology resources. Links are listed alphabetically according to region or culture, and range from the pre-classical to modern.The web resources that this page links to are highly variable: many are produced by amateurs and enthusiasts but seem to be reasonably well researched; some are rather more commercially-inclined with little to recommend them as sources of information. Rather too many of the links were broken at the last visit and it is to be hoped that the editor updates them more regularly in future. Having said this, the site should nevertheless provide students of mythology and folklore with a starting point for locating online resources.
Religion Compass (ISSN: 1749-8171) is an online journal dedicated to original peer-reviewed surveys of research and other works from across the discipline. Published by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing and edited by Tamara Sonn, the resource is targeted at teachers, researchers and students of religion, as well as non-specialist scholars. The materials can be browsed according to Authors' names and the following section themes: African Religions; Ancient Near East; Buddhism; Chinese and Japanese Traditions; Christianity; Indian Traditions; Islam; Judaism; New Religions; Native Religions of the Americas; and Theory and Method. Although subscription is needed to access the materials in full, this website makes available their abstract alongside information about the journal's editorial board.
Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean is both the weblog and main website of Philip Harland, an Assistant Professor at York University, Toronto. The blog covers a variety of topics related to the religions of ancient Greece and Rome, early Judaism, and early Christianity. Posted items which will be of interest to academics include: details of conferences, papers and publications; comments on recent articles in the media; references to ancient religion in popular culture (with a strong emphasis on cinematic portrayals of ancient religions); and links to other related websites. As well as reading the blog chronologically the user may also search posts according to a series of categories. These include: apocalypticism; archaeology and epigraphy; art and religion; Christian origins and literature; early Judaism and the diaspora; Greco-Roman religions and culture; history/religion and popular culture; Mesopotamian and Israelite religions; travel and religion; and women and religion.
Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History is a major research institute located at the University of San Francisco. The Ricci Institute website has full details of current activities and five major research projects, and also has details of conferences, scholarships, and other scholarly news. The website contains nine issues of Pacific Rim Reports online, offering 15 full-text PDF papers on aspects of Chinese history and culture. There is a searchable online catalogue for the Ricci Institute Library. The website provides a Web link to the Ricci 21st Century Roundtable on the History of Christianity in China website. There are also nine online exhibitions, such as: Through the Moon Gate: Portraits of China, 1950s-1990s; Icons of the Celestial Kingdom; and Mechanics of Heaven: Jesuit Astronomers at the Qing Court, among others.
This website presents the translation of a selection of verses from the Rig Veda, one of the earliest Sanskrit texts, along with a brief introduction. As there are only thirty verses available here, this is not a great resource for scholars in terms of the original texts available. What is of use, however, is the list of resources at the bottom of the home page. Here are links to sites which contain the full text, others examining other Vedic literature and some which look at the cultural and religious history of India which informs their creation. This site itself is rather weak in its presentation and content, but it is nonetheless useful as a portal to connect to other, more helpful websites.
The Rylands Papyri website gives online access to the extensive collection of papyri held at the Manchester University, John Rylands University Library. The collection contains some seven Hieroglyphic, 19 Hieratic, 166 Demotic papyri along with numerous Coptic, Arabic and Greek texts. It is one of the largest collections of its kind in Britain. The collection contains the so called Rylands Library Papyrus P52 or St John’s fragment which is thought to be the earliest extant copy of New Testament canonical writing. The website gives access to images of the papyri and the interface allows the user to zoom in and study the texts in detail. The website is instructive and easy to access. This is a valuable resource for students and researchers alike.
The website 'stories of Krishna' allows users to explore a selection of the paintings featured in the exhibition 'Painted visions from India and Pakistan, past and present' in the 'past exhibitions' section of the website of the Seattle art museum. The exhibition comprises copies of nine paintings alongside which are presented an audio commentary of the story of Krishna and a transcript of the text of this story. Users can navigate to points in the exhibition by clicking on thumbnails of the images at the top of each page. On each page there are icons over the images which link to a pop-up description of the roles of the characters depicted. The music on the home page, as well as some of the audio features on subsequent pages, are a bit superfluous to the story, but this is an excellent representation of a museum exhibition which has quite rightly been recognised with awards. Well worth a visit.
This Web page provides a description of the pantheon and cosmology of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq between 5000 BC and 2000 BC. Aspects of Sumerian culture are touched upon, as are parallels with Biblical stories. Information is provided for each major deity and legendary figure, and each entry contains hyperlinks to associated entries. A full and annotated bibliography of sources is provided. This is a clearly presented online resource which serves as a good introduction to ancient Sumerian mythology.
Boston-born American writer Thomas Bulfinch (1796-1867) is best known today for his attractive retelling of classical myths for the general public published in 1855 as The Age of Fable; or stories of gods and heroes but later re-issued in 1881 under its better known title Bulfinch's Mythology. This useful website provides a biographical sketch and number of informative articles by Marie Cleary on various aspects of Bulfinch's life and work and on his important role in the popularisation (or 'democratisation' as Cleary sees it) of the ancient classics in 19th century America, in addition to a valuable unpublished short account of the role of classical literature in American society prior to Bulfinch's first venture into print in the 1850s. The articles are reproduced from the journals Humanities and Classical World and from the Biographical Dictionary of North American Classicists. Cleary emphasises how Bulfinch's juxtaposition of translations from the ancient authors with classic or contemporary English poetry was an innovative didactic method aimed to overcome the widespread lack of classical education among teachers and students alike. He also wrote to educate and edify, particularly his younger audience, which explains both the bowdlerised retelling of some ancient tales but also the Victorian Christian undertones to his writings. Cleary also expounds her own views on the nature and significance on classics in the current US school and university curriculum. This website will thus benefit students and researchers interested in the reception of classical literature, but also historians of education and religion in 19th century America.
Created by the University of Michigan Library, Traditions of Magic in Late Antiquity offers a good visual and descriptive introduction to magical practices, devices and ornamentation from the pre-Christian period. Developed around the University's own extensive collection of papyri texts, each section begins with the description of a specific type of magical object, ranging from a early magic recipe books to a protective amulet. This description is followed by a series of related images that detail the features, significance and functionality of these apparatuses. The objects described come predominantly from the Mesopotamian and Egyptian regions, between the first and fifth centuries C.E. The site will be of appeal to anyone who has an interest in early magical rituals and practices during the height and decline of the Roman Empire. Those new to the subject may also wish to explore the brief, but helpful, bibliography at the end of the exhibit.
The 'University of St. Andrews Library : Special Collections : Manuscripts' website provides information about the university's collections of manuscripts, which are used in a supporting role in the research and teaching of the university. The collection ranges from Greek papyri to modern business records, and relates to individuals, families and institutions. The holdings are particularly strong on manuscripts relating to the former North-East Fife Burghs and the Kirk Session Records of the former Presbyteries of Cupar and St Andrews. There is also a good collection of material on the Roman Catholic Modernist Movement (especially relating to Wilfred Ward). An interesting resource for those researching on Christianity and church history. To access the Web pages relating to the individual collections, click on the terms directly underneath 'Manuscripts' in the left-hand side menu. The website uses frames.
Directed and primarily authored by Richard Hooker at Washington State University, the 'World Civilizations' website is a superior example of the integration of electronic materials and resources into a teaching or classroom setting. Designed as a series of survey courses, the pages broadly track the development and influence of major world cultures from around the world, while highlighting key philosophical, religious and textual themes. There are a number of ways to navigate these pages, but familiarisation with the layout does take a little while.
To begin, it is recommended that users first enter the 'contents' section and select the learning modules. From here one can browse a variety of cultural traditions in detail, and gain a better insight into what this resource has to offer. The learning modules themselves are directed specifically towards undergraduates at the beginning of their university studies. Information is provided on: early traditions (including Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Israel); Africa; China; European traditions; Islam; India; Japan; and Native North Americans. Each is laid out as a series of introductory electronic lectures complemented by selections of primary texts and a glossary of key terms. Many also come complete with a helpful introductory bibliography and a selection of additional external Internet resources. As a teaching resource, the scope of the site is so comprehensive that it can stand independently or easily complement any introductory class on world religions and culture. For students, the rapid access to pre-selected primary resources coupled with lectures and reference materials makes it an invaluable learning tool that will both illuminate and enhance any study environment. This is an archived site.
World Mythology is a set of online resources designed to accompany a course run by Michael Webster at Grand Valley State University, Michigan. The materials available offer an insight into the mythology found in archaic Greek poetry, biblical texts, and Norse and Babylonian sources. As well as providing information for students of classics or theology the site will also be of use to anyone interested in comparative mythology. Classical texts covered are the early Greek hexameter poems of Hesiod (Theogony and Works and Days), the Homeric Hymns, and the Odyssey of Homer. The biblical section covers stories from the Book of Genesis, and there are sections on the gods of Norse, Babylonian, and Sumerian myth, as well as on the epic of Gilgamesh and Egyptian myth. A copy of Webster's course syllabus is provided, with accompanying material including: notes and commentary on the relevant texts, with explanations of key terms and names; suggested questions for essays or discussion; extracts from the primary sources; and bibliographies. The pages are cross-referenced, with hyperlinks to other relevant sections of the site.