Ancestor Worship: Did you mean...?

Shapur II (r. 309-379 CE, also Sapur II) was the tenth monarch of the Sassanian Empire (224-651 CE) and among the most successful. Under his reign – which lasted his entire life – the Avesta (Zoroastrian scripture) was committed to...

Mystery cults, or mystery religions, were ancient religious associations characterized by secrecy and initiation rites. They typically surrounded one primary deity, but some mystery cults venerated multiple deities in their rites...

Leto is a Titan and the mother of the gods Apollo and Artemis in Greek mythology. Leto's twin children were the result of an amorous encounter with Zeus, and to avoid his wife Hera's wrath, the Titaness was obliged to give birth on the...

The myth of Adonis is a legendary love story that combines tragedy and death on the one hand, and the joy of coming back to life on the other. The story of the impossibly handsome Adonis and his lover the goddess Aphrodite originally...

Ancient Olympia was an ancient Greek sanctuary site dedicated to the worship of Zeus located in the western Peloponnese. The Pan-Hellenic Olympic Games were held at the site in honour of Zeus every four years from 776 BCE to 393 CE...

The Ankh is one of the most recognizable symbols from ancient Egypt, known as "the key of life" or "cross of life" and dated to the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150 - 2613 BCE). It is a cross with a loop at the top sometimes ornamented...

An obelisk is a stone rectangular pillar with a tapered top forming a pyramidion, set on a base, erected to commemorate an individual or event and honor the gods. The ancient Egyptians created the form at some point in the Early...

Nergal (also known as Erra and Irra) is the Mesopotamian god of death, war, and destruction. He began as a regional, probably agricultural, god of the Babylonian city of Kutha in the Sumerian...

The Kappel Wars (also known as the Wars of Kappel) were armed conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in Switzerland during the Swiss Reformation. The First Kappel War ended before it began in 1529, while the second, in 1531...

Hebe (meaning "youth" or "bloom of youth") is the goddess and personification of eternal youth in Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Zeus and Hera and the wife of the Greek hero Hercules. Hebe serves as the cupbearer for the gods...