THE ARCHEOLOGY OF WORLD RELIGIONS pdf

The Archeology Of World Religions

THE ARCHEOLOGY OF WORLD RELIGIONS

In addition to the more prominent systems of belief and practice cherished by groups which have long recorded histories or political or numerical importance, there are the numerous forms of faith found among preliterate peoples in various parts of the earth.

 If the latter may be dealt with collectively under the heading of “primitivism” the major religions of the present world are at least twelve. They are Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Primitivism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism.

The archeological background of the Plebrew and Christian faiths was the subject of my Light from the Ancient Past (Princeton University Press, 1946), and it is the purpose of the present book to give a similar account relative to the ten others.

In a study primarily archeological it is clear that the chief concern will be with the early history of the religions, rather than with their recent and contemporary aspects.

A beginning of the entire inquiry will be made with Primitivism.

Pertaining as the adjective primitive does to that which is earliest in time, this subject directs our attention to the first discernible evidences of religion, back in the mists of man’s prehistory; but synonymous as the same adjective is with abo¬ riginal, it also points to the faiths of native peoples still on earth today