The ancient world was home to a huge variety of religions and
belief systems. Most have faded away, their temples and statues vanished
or half-sunk in the desert sand, their gods barely remembered.
The religions on this list were all founded before most of the main
religions of today (christianity, hinduism, islam) and most of them have
completely died out—although some are being revived by new
practitioners.
10. Finnish Paganism
A polytheistic religion without a name, Finnish paganism was the
indigenous religion of Finland until it was christianized. Evolving from
shamanism, it shared a number of features, including ancestor
veneration, with neighboring religions.
The Finns also put great stock in the power of words and thought that
both animate and inanimate objects had souls. Finnish pagans were
intertwined with nature and they thought the world was created from the
egg of a diving duck.
The main god of the religion was Ukko, the sky and thunder god, and his
feast day, held on April 4, was one of the most important dates in their
calendar. He shared a few common traits with the Norse god Thor, namely
a magic hammer, and thunderstorms were said to be caused when Ukko
slept with his wife Akka. In a weird twist for such a manly god, Ukko’s
sacred animal was said to be the ladybug, and it was known as “Ukko’s
cow.”
9. Canaanite Religion
Also unnamed, this was the religion of the Canaanites, natives of the
area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. For thousands
of years, the only evidence we had of their religion was from the Torah
and the bible, where they are a constant enemy of the Israelites.
However, between 1927 and 1937, a number of Canaanite tablets were
discovered on the northern coast of Syria.
It was a polytheistic religion with a number of deities, the most
prominent among them being El, the supreme deity, and Baal, his son and
the god of thunder and rain.One of the most popular myths was of a fight
between Baal and Mot, the god of death. Baal challenges Mot and is
easily overpowered, leading to a drought. All of the other gods, led by
El, band together to free Baal.
Anat, the virgin goddess of war, ends up going to the Underworld,
slaying Mot, and freeing Baal. Influenced by a number of neighboring
sects, it was slowly eroded by Israelite conquests and religious
pressure, until it vanished altogether.
8. Atenism
Introduced by Pharoah Akhenaten (also known as Amenhotep IV) of Egypt,
Atenism was a monotheistic religion which was designated the official
religion of Egypt during his reign (after he died, the old beliefs were
gradually brought back). Aten was an obscure Egyptian god and the
traditional name for the sun-disk itself.
At first, Atenism was accepting of the other Egyptian deities but, over
time, they were all rejected.Because of its restrictive nature (only
Akhenaten could talk to Aten), ordinary Egyptians retained most of their
old beliefs, which made the transition after his death much easier.
Tablets found in the early 20th century stated that Akhenaten had become
more and more obsessed with his new religion, especially after the
death of his beloved wife, Queen Nefertiti. He was also the father of
Tutankhamun, who changed his name from Tutankhaten after pressure from
priests. A number of hymns were produced during the reign of Akhenaten,
one of which bears a resemblance to Psalm 104.
7. Minoan Religion
Yet another polytheistic religion without a name, this was the religion
of the Minoan inhabitants of Crete. It was very much in touch with
nature, as bull masks and horns have been found during various
excavations. There is even evidence that indicates the ancient Minoans
may have had contests which resembled our modern-day rodeos, in which
they tried to chase down a bull and ride it.
Like many ancient religions, there was no centralized text and much of
the information we have is derived from cave paintings and various
archaeological discoveries on the island.The main Minoan deity was
actually a female nature goddess, making this one of the few matriarchal
religions (there were some male deities but they were usually smaller
than the female deities, and may have not been gods at all).
In addition to the bull, snakes and double-headed axes played integral
parts in rites. During recent excavations, evidence has been found which
seems to imply they participated in human sacrifice—perhaps giving rise
to the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.
6. Mithraism
Mithraism was brought to Europe from its Persian roots after Alexander
the Great’s conquests. Extremely popular among Roman soldiers, it became
one of the ancient Roman mystery cults, religious sects which were
restricted to initiates and were generally quite secretive. Mithras, as
he was known to the Romans, was the Persian god of the sun, or at least
the airy light between heaven and earth.
There is not much surviving text about Mithraism, least of all a central
holy book, which may never have existed. Most of what we know about the
religion comes from the ruins of its temples. These were commonly
located underground and were cheaply constructed, as the followers
preferred to make a new temple whenever the old one wore out.A detail
which separates Roman worship of Mithras from the Persian god is that he
is often shown slaying a bull, which has led to a lot of confusion
among archaeologists.
One of the most important dates in their calendar was December 25, which
was recognized as Mithras’ birthday. Because of this, and a few other
details, it is known that much of christianity evolved from
this religion.
5. Manichaeism
Founded in the third century A.D. by a Persian man named Mani,
Manichaeism was originally viewed as a heretical christian sect, but has
since been recognized as its own religion. Its founder claimed he was
bringing together all the world’s religions, including zoroastrianism, buddhism, and christianity.
In fact, quite a few apocryphal christian writings would have been lost
had it not been for the Manichaeans. Focused on the difference between
good and evil, Manichaeism was known for having knowledge as its road to
salvation. The highest adherents to the religion were known as the
“Elect” or the “Perfect” and resembled Buddhist monks, although they
were required to be nomadic.Its followers were great missionaries,
spreading Mani’s influence across the globe, until it lost its
popularity in the Middle Ages.
Much of their downfall was related to the many persecutions they
suffered at the hands of the Chinese government, the ancient Roman
government, or the catholic cult. The greatest myth of Manichaeism is
perhaps their creation myth which describes a battle waged between the
World of Light and the World of Darkness, which began as two separate
realms.
Adam and Eve were said to have been created by the evil beings, while
Jesus and Mani were said to have been created by the good beings, in
order to reveal true spirituality to the human race. Many of Mani’s
writings have been lost, but portions have recently been discovered.
4. Tengriism
One of the oldest religions in the world, Tengriism is said to have
originated sometime in the Bronze Age (between 3600 and 1200 B.C.).
Developed by the people of the Altai Mountains in Central Asia, it is a
monotheistic religion with heavy elements of ancestor worship. There is
no holy book as in other religions and much of the early belief system
has fallen out of our collective knowledge.
However, it is believed the Huns of the Northern Caucasus may have
worshiped a god named Tengri, to whom they were said to have sacrificed
horses.There are a number of close similarities with christian
traditions (as is the case with a lot of “pagan” religions). The most
important holiday is known as the Tengrian Epiphany and takes place on
December 23.
The bulk of that tradition dates back to the fifth century A.D. and
involves bringing home a Yule tree and decorating it. While it fell out
of popularity during the Mongol era, Tengriism is still practiced to
this day—there are even politicians in Kyrgyzstan who are trying to make
it the official state religion.
3. Ashurism
The national cult of the Assyrian people, Ashurism was nearly identical
to the older Babylonian religion but with one major difference: Instead
of worshiping Marduk as the supreme deity, the Assyrians chose to honor
Ashur. A polytheistic religion with thousands of gods, Ashurism
contained about 20 important deities, including Ishtar and Marduk.
Since it is so similar to the Babylonian religion, Ashurism shares a
number of common stories with judaism and christianity, namely the
creation myth, the “Great Flood,” and the Tower of Babel. They also
shared the apocryphal tale of Lilith, the woman-demon hybrid who was
said to be Adam’s first wife.
The New Year’s Festival, known as Akitu, was the most revered date in
Ashurism, lasting 11 days, and Ashur was worshiped greatly during it.
The religion was founded sometime in the 18th century B.C. and lasted
until the fifth century B.C., when the country of Assyria was destroyed,
though it may have continued in secret for a while.
2. Vedism
Vedism is the religion of the ancient Indo-Aryans and was popular from
1500 B.C. to 500 B.C. It can also be seen as the origin of the modern hindu belief system, as they share the same holy texts, the Four Vedas,
but there are differences between the two.
It was polytheistic in nature, with gods falling into two categories:
Devas, gods of nature, and Asuras, gods of moral concepts. Oral hymns
were extremely important to followers of Vedism and priests played a
huge role in the various ceremonies, said to improve the lives of the
followers by pleasing the gods.
While Vedism did practice animal sacrifice, it was not very common. Milk
and grain were used much more frequently.Indra was the supreme god of
Vedism, and one of the most popular myths was that of Indra and the
children of Diti, the mother of demons. After Indra had killed most of
her children, Diti began performing magic to help her last unborn son
become more powerful than Indra.
When he found out, Indra hurled a thunderbolt at her womb, destroying
it, and the impact turned the unborn child into 49 lesser demons.
1. Olmec Religion
The religion of the Mesoamerican Olmec people was popular from 1400 B.C.
until their destruction in 400 B.C. (there is no confirmed reason for
their decline, but volcanic activity or other environmental changes are
seen as the most likely causes). As there is no direct evidence of their
religion, archaeologists have had to compare relics with the Mayan and
Aztec religions and look for similarities.
Closely related to shamanism, the most popular god for the Olmec people
was a jaguar god of rain and fertility (although some theories say there
was no main god, but eight separate, equally important gods.)Various
sacrifices, like blood and jade figures were made to the gods, as well
as a number of ritualistic dances and masks.
Olmec priests are believed to have inhaled some form of hallucinatory
drug in order to help them communicate with the spirits. So far, only 10
of the Olmec deities have been identified by archaeologists. Due to its
early origins, the Olmec religion is said to be a sort of “mother” to
the later Mesoamerican religions, as they share a number of common
elements.
Tombstone
was a wild and wooly town in this early stage, and the Cowboys pretty
much had free reign there. The Cowboys were a band of outlaws,
cutthroats, horse thieves, rustlers and ne'er-do-wells. (This was the
original use of the word "cowboy.” Our now familiar usage of the word,
meaning a man, usually a farmer or rancher, who lived in the old west,
did not come into common usage until later).
Doc
Holliday, walking with a cane, met the Earps and volunteered to
accompany them. (it is unknown why Doc was using a cane that day). Wyatt
asked Doc why he was volunteering and told him it wasn't his fight. Doc
replied that he was surprised Wyatt could ever say that. Doc and Wyatt
had been extremely close friends ever since the day Doc had reputedly
saved Wyatt's life when gunmen had the drop on him. Doc was quickly
sworn in as a deputy.
“Throw
up your hands! i've come to disarm you!" Virgil said firmly. Two of the
Cowboys cocked their guns, as Ike and Billy Claiborne ran away. Ike
reputedly kneeled before Wyatt and begged him not to kill him.
Wyatt
Earp, as would be expected, far outlived the other eight figures in
"the gunfight at the O.K Corral.” Earp survived, living a happy,
contented life, married to his beloved wife, actress Josephine Marcus,
for 47 years. The two went on various adventures and endeavors, their
finances rising and falling regularly and routinely. Wyatt finally
succumbed to chronic cystitis, in January of 1929, at the ripe old age
of 80.
