Ancient Egyptian Texts for the Afterlife?
Ancient Egyptian funerary texts have been a source of fascination since their discovery. But do these texts describe a coherent vision of an afterlife, or is that a 19th century ac
Altered States and Paleolithic Caves
Humans have been using caves for at least 100,000 years. Caves let humans get closer to the entities below, but does oxygen deprivation help create altered states and worldly wonde
Monotheism or Monopoly? Akhenaten and His Religious-Political Reform
Few ancient personalities excite as much interest as Akhenaten. Was he an enlightened religious leader and an idealistic politician, or was he mentally ill and physically frail?
Commemorating Jesus: Constantine’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre
March 2021 | Vol. 9.3 By Jordan J. Ryan Since antiquity, Christians have travelled to the region that they call the “Holy Land” in order to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and
The (Historical) Origin of God
March 2021 | Vol. 9.3 By Theodore J. Lewis When a historian of Israelite religion talks of the origin of God, she certainly doesn’t mean ontology. Proofs for the existence of God
Resurrection in the Mediterranean World
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth gradually made its way around the ancient Mediterranean world. But it fell on fertile ground because the idea of resur
‘Mummify like an Egyptian’ – Egyptianizing Mummification in the Canary Islands
One of the most remarkable features of the indigenous culture of the Canary Island was their practice of mummification. Writers have long associated the practice with Egypt, but is
Birth and Rebirth in Ancient Egypt
Birth is one of the most dangerous parts of life. But for ancient Egyptians the birth of a child had a counterpart: the rebirth after death. Both of these were necessary to maintai
Peqi‘in Cave—A Unique Chalcolithic Cemetery in the Southern Levant
Peqi‘in Cave— A unique Chalcolithic cemetery in the Southern Levant Over the course of 500 years people brought their dead to a cave in the Galilee. But behind the decorated fa