ANCIENT RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

Prehistoric Religious Practices  How do we know what was practiced tens of thousands of years ago?  We look at archaeological findings (like rock paintings, sculptures, tools, and home structure) and speculate based on what indigenous belief systems are like today

Shamanism  Not a unified faith  Describes a diverse set of practices  View of the world and beyond:  Our life on earth can be affected by the spirit world  TERM: Shamans are men or women who can interact with the spirit world while they are in a trance  Places: China, Japan, Siberia, Alaska to South America

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Animism (TERM)  an·i·mism (n-mzm)n.  1. The belief in the existence of individual spirits that inhabit natural objects and phenomena.  2. The belief in the existence of spiritual beings that are separable or separate from bodies.  3. The hypothesis holding that an immaterial force animates the universe  Ancient Chinese Religion:  china#religions-of-ancient-china china#religions-of-ancient-china

Totems (TERM)  Often associated with Native American beliefs  An animal or other figure that represents the spirit of a group of people (like a family)

Famous Ancient Sites Believed to be Religious in Nature

Ancient Egypt  Time: BCE  Place: Nile River/ cycle of life and death influenced Egyptian beliefs.  Nile Valley was long and needed a strong central ruling center – religion and pharaohs provided this  Leaders: Pharaohs were linked with sun god, Ra and thought to be immortal  Mummification  Gods: Multiple gods for multiple purposes  Childbirth, passage into next world, fertility, etc.

afterlife

Zoroastrianism  Time: 600 BCE – 600ish CE  Place: Persia (Iran)  Leaders: Prophet Zoroaster  Gods: Two (good and evil) who constantly battle  Fate of people: depends on choice of the two gods based on a person’s good deeds  Influenced Judaism and Christianity  Angels, heaven and hell, good and evil

Greek and Roman Religions