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Poseidon: The Powerful Greek Sea God Who Created the Minotaur

Poseidon: Greek God of the Sea Who Created the Minotaur

Remembered today as the God of the Sea, Poseidon is one of the most well-known Greek gods. Whilst he is immortalized in myths as a violent and hot-headed god who would brew up a raging sea, the story...
Left, a Sedducee, who some scholars claim the Teacher of Righteousness is based on. Right, A fragment of the Damascus Scroll in which the Teacher is most mentioned. 	Source: Left; Hartmann Schedel / Public Domain, Right; CC0

Who was the Teacher of Righteousness in the Dead Sea Scrolls?

The Teacher of Righteousness is supposedly the person who replicated the God-like figure by his words, beliefs and actions. Who was he? Was he Jesus? The Teacher of Righteousness is a figure...
Baron Samedi and his Voodoo powers over death continues to be a powerful force in the Caribbean region, especially in Haiti.

Baron Samedi And the Voodoo Loa of Haiti

Death is an inevitability that every person must face. It is the fate of all humans. However, to make death easier, each religion provides a guide that assists the transition from the human world to...
The ruins of the Enlil temple, or the Ekur, in Nippur, which was once the most important pilgrimage destination in Mesopotamia. The brick structure on top was constructed by American archaeologists around 1900.		Source: David Stanley /CC BY 2.0

Nippur: The Great Mesopotamian Holy City That Gave Early Ideas Of God

The ancient city of Nippur is one of the most interesting holy cities in the Middle East. Now only known as a dilapidated, prehistoric town, Nippur was once recognized as an essential religious...
The lost city of Amarna found in the 19th century was built by the almost alien-like heretic pharaoh Akhenaten, who introduced the smaller, more efficient talatat blocks for building construction and changed Egyptian religion for a while. 		Source: Brown University

Talatat Blocks and Akhenaten’s Failed Architectural Revolution

Egypt has a rich history of architectural monuments that dot its landscape. Each monument is a testament to the pharaoh who created it. These buildings have forever cemented the names of the pharaohs...
Ezekiel’s Daniel may be Biblical, or it may be based on the Ugaritic Danel from the Tale of Aqhat, with evidence pointing in both directions. Prophets Daniel and Ezekiel on the south side of the medieval rood screen, St Firman's, North Crawley, Buckinghamshire, England.		Source: World History

Ezekiel’s Daniel: Biblical Hero or Ancient Ugaritic Legend?

Ezekiel’s Daniel could be a real person, or he could be the Danel of ancient Ugaritic legend, and evidence points both ways. In the Biblical prophecies of Ezekiel, Daniel is characterized as paragon...
Adi Shankara, 788-820 AD, founder of the Advaita Vedanta, the oldest extant sub-school of Vedānta, a tradition of interpretation of the Upanishads, by Raja Ravi Varma.	Source: Raja Ravi Varma / Public domain

India’s Vedic Sanskrit Upanishads: Foundation of Religions and Karma!

The Upanishads are a genre of texts that form the final and last section of the Vedas. The Upanishads were composed orally in Sanskrit, and the earliest surviving ones dating to the 1st millennium BC...
Balaam and the Angel, who is said to be the evil angel or Jewish Satan Mastema, by the painter Gustav Jaeger. 		Source: Gustav Jäger/ Public domain

The Jewish Satan Mastema and the Cosmic War Against God

The earliest Jewish accounts did not have a clear Satan figure, but one of the earliest to be named was Mastema. Mastema is portrayed as the adversary of God. Mastema has his origin in the Jewish...
Two entrances to the Barabar Caves: Sudama Cave (small entrance, left side), and Lomas Rishi Cave on Barabar Hill.   Source: Klaus-Norbert / CC BY 3.0

The Architecture and Spiritual History of India’s Famous Barabar Caves

The Barabar Caves are a group of rock-cut caves located in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. The Barabar Caves contain a total of seven caves, the oldest of which date to the Mauryan period. The...
The “articulated” pig skeleton found in an ancient dig site just outside of Jerusalem, Israel, suggesting that pork was on the menu for some for a period of time in the First Temple period.

Israeli Archaeologists Find Forbidden Pig Skeleton During Jerusalem Dig

During a recent excavation in Jerusalem, archaeologists searching through the rubble of a building constructed during the First Temple period found something unusual. Inside one room, they discovered...
Is There Scientific Evidence for the Exodus?

Is There Scientific Evidence for the Exodus?

The different milestones in world history that have shaped the foundations of human civilization also hold promising cultural significance. One such event which has been mired in the cloud of...
Taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, 15th July 1099, Emile Signol

Why the Crusades Were Not a ‘Clash of Civilizations’

Ask pretty much anyone – whether terrorists, politicians (of all camps), dinner party guests, or religious leaders – and the one thing that they will say with confidence about the Crusades is that...
Curse tablet in Jerusalem

Archaeologists Find Ancient Magic Curse Tablet in Jerusalem

Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists have discovered a 1,700-year-old curse tablet in the ruins of an old Roman mansion in the City of David in Jerusalem. It is believed the words were written...
One God Versus Many

One God Versus Many - The Plurality is in the Pronoun (Part 1)

The Hebrew/Christian concept of monotheism has invaded the far corners of the earth, and many people have heard its doctrine; however, it continues to cause confusion and controversy, just as it did...
Sodom and Gomorrah

The Wrath of the Gods: Sodom and Gomorrah

It is one of the largest catastrophes mentioned in the Bible, and one that—though still in dispute between archaeologists—has possibly been verified as true. It is the destruction of Sodom and...
The Hindu sacred texts about human origins

The Hindu sacred texts about human origins

Third in the list of major religions, with more than 870 million followers, is Hinduism. Hinduism goes back to 5000 BCE and is a compilation of many diverse traditions (in contrast to Christianity...
Muslims: The Origins of Human Beings

Muslims: The Origins of Human Beings

With more than 1.67 billion followers, Muslims are the second biggest religious population on Earth. The major sacred text of the Muslims is the Quran (also spelt Koran), which they believe is the...