Paradise: Did you mean...?

A belief in an afterlife was central to every major civilization of the ancient world and this encouraged the recognition of the reality of ghosts as the spirits of the departed who, for one...

A text known as The Lay of the Harper, dating from the Middle Kingdom (2040-1782 BCE) encourages its audience to make the most of the time because death is a certainty: Make a holiday! And do not tire of playing! For no...

Ancient Persian culture contributed many of the aspects of the modern world which people take for granted as having always existed. The designation “Persia” comes from the Greeks – primarily from the historian...

The gods of the Mesopotamian region were not uniform in name, power, provenance or status in the hierarchy. Mesopotamian culture varied from region to region and, because of this...

At the beginning of time, the god Atum stood on the primordial mound in the midst of the waters of chaos and created the world. The power which enabled this act was heka (magic) personified in the god Heka, the invisible...

Ancient Egypt is defined as the civilization that flourished in North Africa between circa 6000 and 30 BCE – from the Predynastic Period in Egypt (circa 6000 to circa 3150 BCE) through...

Dogs were an integral aspect of the lives of the people of Mesoamerica regardless of their location or culture and, throughout the region, were recognized as liminal beings belonging not only to the natural...

The Mayan religious text, the Popol Vuh (known by many names, among them, The Light That Came From Beside The Sea) is the Quiche Maya story of creation translated into Spanish in the early 18th century...

Egypt is a country in North Africa, on the Mediterranean Sea, and is home to one of the oldest civilizations on Earth. The name "Egypt" comes from the Greek Aegyptos, which was the Greek pronunciation...

Eridu (present-day Abu Shahrein, Iraq) was considered the first city in the world by the ancient Sumerians and is among the most ancient of the ruins from Mesopotamia. Founded circa 5400 BCE, Eridu...