0521847125 cambridge university press a handbook of ancient religions mar 2007

This page intentionally left blank A Handbook of Ancient Religions Ancient civilizations exercise an intense fascination for people the world over This book takes the ‘story’ of religions as far back as Palaeolithic cave art, tracing the religious beliefs of ancient Egypt, Ugarit, Mesopotamia, ancient Israel, Greece and Rome, ancient Europe, the Indus Valley Civilization, ancient China and the Aztecs and Incas Each set of religious beliefs and practices is described in its cultural and historical context, via a range of different sources, enabling the reader to obtain a rounded view of the role of religion in these ancient societies The book provides truly global coverage by scholars who write with a passionate enthusiasm about their subject Many of the contributors have pioneered completely new areas or methods of research in their particular field John R Hinnells is Research Professor in the Comparative Study of Religions at Liverpool Hope University, Honorary Professorial Research Fellow at SOAS, University of London and Senior Member of Robinson College, Cambridge He is author of Zoroastrians in Britain (1996) and The Zoroastrian Diaspora (2005) His edited works include The new dictionary of religions (1995/1997) and A new handbook of living religions (1996/1998) A Handbook of Ancient Religions Edited by John R Hinnells CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521847124 © John R Hinnells 2007 This publication is in copyright Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press First published in print format 2007 ISBN-13 ISBN-10 978-0-511-27518-0 eBook (NetLibrary) 0-511-27518-8 eBook (NetLibrary) ISBN-13 ISBN-10 978-0-521-84712-4 hardback 0-521-84712-5 hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate Contents List of illustrations page vii List of maps ix List of tables x List of contributors xi Introduction John R Hinnells Palaeolithic art and religion Jean Clottes and David Lewis-Williams Ancient Egypt 46 Rosalie David Religion in ancient Ugarit 105 Nicolas Wyatt Mesopotamia 161 Benjamin R Foster Ancient Israel to the fall of the Second Temple 214 John Rogerson Greek religion 266 Susan Guettel Cole Religions in the Roman Empire 318 J A North Ancient Europe 364 Hilda Ellis Davidson The Indus Civilization Gregory L Possehl 418 vi Contents 10 The religion of ancient China 490 Edward L Shaughnessy 11 Aztec and Inca civilizations 537 Philip P Arnold Index 577 Illustrations 1.1 Two probably Neanderthal structures of broken stalagmites found in the Bruniquel cave (France) 1.2 page 10 The child burial at Qafzeh (Israel) 16 1.3 Triple Upper Palaeolithic burial at Doln´ı Vestonice 17 1.4 Engravings of reindeer, ibex and bison, Les Trois-Fr`eres 20 1.5 Palaeolithic therianthropes, with an association of human and animal features 2.1 26 Temple wall relief of king presenting burning incense before the god 56 2.2 A reconstruction of the Dynasty pyramids at Abusir 65 2.3 Plan of the pyramid complex of Sahure (Dynasty 5) at Abusir 66 2.4 Plan of temple of Amen-Re at Karnak 69 3.1 The ‘Baal au Foudre’ stela from Ugarit 148 3.2 Stone statuette of El from Ugarit 150 3.3 Suckling goddess from the ivory bed-head from Ugarit 151 3.4 Smiting panel from the ivory bed-head from Ugarit 152 4.1 Pantheon of principal Mesopotamian deities 166 9.1 Plan of Mohenjo-daro 424 9.2 Plan of Harappa 426 9.3 Plan of Kalibangan 427 9.4 An Indus stamp seal with the ‘unicorn’ device 428 9.5 The narrative seal of ‘Divine Adoration’ 430 9.6 Figurines from the Indus Valley Civilization that may be representative of Marshall’s Female Deity 437 9.7 Representations of the scene of ‘Divine Adoration’ 438 9.8 Two Indus objects with seven figures 440 9.9 The Proto-Shiva seal from Mohenjo-daro 442 9.10 Seal from Mohenjo-daro showing a water buffalo being speared 444 viii List of illustrations 9.11 Yogic postures in the Indus Valley Civilization 446 9.12 Buffalo pot from Kot Diji 447 9.13 Horns on pottery from the Gomal Valley, Pakistan and Padri, Gujarat, India 448 9.14 The buffalo pot from Burzahom 449 9.15 The ‘Priest-King’ from Mohenjo-daro 451 9.16 Two phallic stones and a yoni from Mohenjo-daro 452 9.17 Two sealings with animals in procession, from Mohenjo-daro 454 9.18 Mythical animals in the art of the Indus Valley Civilization 455 9.19 The swastika from Susa and Tall-I Bakun, Iran 455 9.20 The swastika on seals and sealings from Mohenjo-daro 456 9.21 The Ebani or Enkida seal from Mohenjo-daro 458 9.22 A Gilgamesh theme seal from Mohenjo-daro 459 9.23 Goats or ‘rams’ in the posture of those from the Royal Graves of Ur 459 9.24 The seal from Chanhu-daro with a gaur ravishing a human 465 9.25 Plan of the Mound of the Great Bath 469 9.26 Plan of the Great Bath 470 9.27 Reconstruction of the Great Bath 471 9.28 Plan of House 474 9.29 House XXX 475 9.30 Block 11 476 9.31 Block 8a 477 9.32 A brick-lined grave at Kalibangan 480 11.1 The city of Teotihuacan looking south from the top of the Temple of the Moon along the Street of the Dead 542 11.2 The Temple of the Sun at Teotihuacan 543 11.3 Tlaloc brazier from the Templo Mayor 545 11.4 The frontispiece of the Fej´erv´ary Mayer, which depicts the Aztec cosmology 555 11.5 Quipu expert from Guam´an Poma de Ayala 557 11.6 Ball court at Xochicalco 560 11.7 The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe 570 11.8 A Catholic church on top of the Mesoamerican pyramid at Cholula, Mexico 571 ... back as Palaeolithic cave art, tracing the religious beliefs of ancient Egypt, Ugarit, Mesopotamia, ancient Israel, Greece and Rome, ancient Europe, the Indus Valley Civilization, ancient China and... plans to practices associated with divination Each author was allocated 20,000 words, facilitating more substantial accounts than are found in most encyclopaedias This allocation was made to take... the sites of La Chapelle-aux-Saints, Le Roc de Marsal, La Ferrassie and Le Moustier in France, Teshik-Tash in Uzbekistan, Kebara in Israel and Shanidar in Iraq, they buried people of all ages, from