Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'Babylon'

Ghostbusting with Gozer

May 31st, 2011 · 3 Comments · Economy, History, Neolithic, Power

According to the Ghostbusters Wiki, Gozer the Gozerian (known also as Gozer the Destructor, Volguus Zildrohar, and Lord of the Sebouillia) is an ancient entity who “was originally worshiped as a god by the Hittites, Mesopotamians, and the Sumerians around 6000 BC.” When not visiting retribution on New York in the form of the Stay [...]

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The Supernatural and Stonehenge

July 25th, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology, Cultural Evolution, History, Neolithic, Pagans, Power, Ritual

As you can see from Texas A&M’s anthropology aggregating site (which is one of my favorite places on the net), at least a dozen stories have appeared in the past week about new archaeological finds near Stonehenge.  Using ground penetrating radar and other non-invasive technology, archaeologists have discovered another henge — which was wooden, approximately [...]

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Stephen Hawking on Religion: “Science Will Win”

July 19th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Archaeology, Axial Age, Cognition, Cultural Evolution, History, Hunter-Gatherers, Neolithic, Power

Over at ABC News, Ki Mae Heussner reports on a Diane Sawyer interview of the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking with this contentious headline: “Stephen Hawking on Religion: Science Will Win.”  This is an unfortunate banner.  During the interview, Sawyer asked if religion and science could be reconciled.  Hawking’s response was profoundly unhelpful:
“There is a fundamental [...]

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Sumerian Spiritualism: The Earliest Organized Religion

June 27th, 2010 · 4 Comments · Archaeology, Cultural Evolution, Ecology, Economy, History, Neolithic, Pagans, Power

It was with great sadness that I read a recent article in the New York Times documenting the pillaging and destruction of Mesopotamian archaeological sites in Iraq.  Although these Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian sites — and previous excavations — receive scant attention outside small groups of antiquities scholars, they are of critical importance to our [...]

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