Search
Search Results

Definition
Magi
The Magi are the visitors who came to Bethlehem to worship the newly-born Jesus of Nazareth in the gospel of Matthew (2:1-2). 'Magi' is a transliteration of the Greek magos from old Persian magus ("powerful") as a reference to the Zoroastrian...

Definition
Thomas Müntzer
Thomas Müntzer (l. c. 1489-1525) was a German theologian and apocalyptic preacher who became one of the leaders of the German Peasants' War (1524-1525). An early follower of the reformer Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546), Müntzer established his...

Article
Religious Responses to the Black Death
The Black Death of 1347-1352 CE is the most infamous plague outbreak of the medieval world, unprecedented and unequaled until the 1918-1919 CE flu pandemic in the modern age. The cause of the plague was unknown and, in accordance with the...

Article
Biblical Apocalypse
Apocalypse (Greek: apokalypsis, an "unveiling of secrets") is not an event, but a text that contains prophesies concerning God’s future intervention, and apocalypticism is a reference for attitudes and worldviews in biblical and non-canonical...

Article
Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Persia
A vision of the afterlife is articulated by every culture, ancient or modern, in an effort to answer the question of what happens after death. Ancient Persia had the same interest in this as any culture of the past or in the present day and...

Image
Islamic Conquests in the 7th-9th Centuries
A map illustrating the rise and expansion of early Islamic caliphates from the Prophet Muhammad until the 9th century.

Image
Expansion of Early Islamic Caliphates
This map shows the expansion of the Islamic Caliphates in the 7th and 8th Centuries CE: 1. Dark Shade: Expansion under the Prophet Muhammad, 622-632 CE. 2. Medium Shade: Expansion under the Rashidun Caliphate, 632-661 CE. 3. Light Shade...

Image
Entrance to the Cave of Hira
The entrance to the Cave of Hira, a holy site for Muslims located in Jabal al-Nour, a mountain near Mecca. According to Islamic tradition, the Cave of Hira is where Prophet Muhammad received his first revelation in 610 CE.

Image
Muhammad Conquers Mecca & Destroys Its Idols
This illustrated manuscript depicts the Muslim army after their conquest of Mecca, it also shows the destruction of the idols inside the Ka'aba. Muhammad himself is not depicted, as depicting a prophet is considered taboo in Islamic tradition...

Image
Calligraphy of Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib
A calligraphic vector diagram of the name of Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (c. 568–c. 653 CE), an uncle of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and progenitor of the Abbasid Dynasty.