Cult: Did you mean...?

A modern recreation of the palatial cult centre at Mycenae during the Greek Bronze Age, by Rocío Espin. Courtesy of Ancient History Magazine / Karwansaray Publishers.

The faithfully reconstructed corner of the smaller of two twin temples dedicated to the imperial cult at Glanum, southern France. c. 20 BCE.

This was part of a wall relief and was found inside a well within the courtyard of the temple of Assur at the city of Ashur, the capital city of the Assyrians. The central part of the relief depicts a male deity. Two smaller water deities...

The Mithraic Mysteries, also known as Mithraism, were a mystery cult in the Roman world where followers worshipped the Indo-Iranian deity Mithras (Akkadian for "contract") as the god of friendship, contract and order. The cult first appeared...

Did you know that Rome’s Imperial Cult never claimed the living emperor was a god? This video is all about the Imperial Cult or the cult of the emperor of ancient Rome, what it meant, and how it worked. The Imperial Cult of ancient Rome...

Serapis is a Graeco-Egyptian god of the Ptolemaic Period (323-30 BCE) of Egypt developed by the monarch Ptolemy I Soter (r. 305-282 BCE) as part of his vision to unite his Egyptian and Greek subjects. Serapis’ cult later spread throughout...

The Imperial Cult in the Roman Empire was an important tool for the romanization of the Empire, it brought with it a sense of commonality to the provinces of the Roman world. But it proved to be incompatible with Christianity. Narration...

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. Members...

History verifies the importance of religion not only on a society's development but also on its survival; in this respect the Romans were no different than other ancient civilizations. During the formative years of the Roman Republic, especially...

The gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt were an integral part of the people's everyday lives for over 3,000 years. There were over 2,000 deities in the Egyptian pantheon, many whose names are well known - Isis, Osiris, Horus, Amun, Ra, Hathor...