VOLUME 1: PREHISTORY TO AD 600 Alphabetical List of Entries Topical List of Entries Preface Introduction: Encyclopedias and the Modern Understanding of Religion Introduction to Volume 1 The Encyclopedia: Prehistory to AD 600 First Burials Revealing the Beliefs in the Afterlife at Shanidar Cave, Iraq (ca. 60,000 BC)First Recorded Burial of Homo neanderthalensis at La Chapelle-aux-Saints, France (ca. 60,000 BC)Venus of Willendorf (21,000 BC)First Attestation of a Skull Cult at Mas d''Azil, France (ca. 15,000 to 10,000 BC)Establishment of Göbekli Tepe, the Oldest Human-Made Place of Worship Yet Discovered (10th Millennium BC)Discovery of Çatal Höyük, Turkey (Major Cult Site of the Neolithic Period, 7500-5700 BC)First Temple at Eridu (ca. 4500-3600 BC)Building of the Anu Ziggurat in Uruk (4th Millennium BC)Establishment of the Bronze Age Sanctuary and Burial Ground at Stonehenge, U.K. (3100-1100 BC)Ritual Use of Alcohol in Ancient Religions (ca. 3rd Millennium BC-Present)Building of the Egyptian Pyramids (2700-1514 BC)Reign of Naram-Sin of Akkad (2254-2218 BC), the First Ruler to Think of Himself as GodKing Ur-Nammu''s Building of the Great Ziggurat in Ur in Honor of Nanna/Sin (21st Century BC)Writing of the Epic of Gilgamesh (ca.

2100 BC)Abraham''s Leadership of the Early Hebrews (2nd Millennium BC)Zoroaster and the Establishment of Zoroastrianism (1750-1000 BC)Aaron''s Priesthood (ca. 1600-1200 BC)First-Known Celebration of the Dionysian Mysteries, Thebes (ca. 1500 BC)Composition of the Hindu Upanishads (1500-600 BC)Moses''s Leadership of the Hebrew People (ca. 15th-13th Centuries BC)Establishment of the Oracle of Delphi (ca. 1400 BC-AD 380)Akhenaten''s Rejection of Polytheism (ca. 1348 BC)Adad-Nirari I, King of Assyria, Orders Inscriptions in Which He Claims Gods Called Him to War--First Use of Religion to Justify War (Early 13th Century BC)Ancient Chinese Oracle Bones (ca. 1200-1045 BC)Saul as the First King of Israel (ca. 1000 BC)Reign of King David (ca.

1000-960 BC)Building of the First Temple on Mount Moriah--Solomon''s Temple (965-927 BC)Building of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus (8th Century BC)Olympic Games (773 BC-AD 339)Building of the Temple of Vesta in Rome under Numa Pompilius (715-673 BC)Numa Pompilius Establishes the Religious Institutions of Rome (r. 715-673 BC)The Iliad , the Odyssey , and the Homeric Hymns (ca. 7th-5th Centuries BC)Building of the Etemenanki Ziggurat in Honor of Marduk in Babylon (6th Century BC)Building of the Temple of Aphrodite in Corinth (6th Century BC)Building of the First Temple of Apollo in Delphi (6th Century BC)Beginning of the Cult of Asklepios in Epidauros (6th Century BC)Creation of Daoism (6th Century BC)Eleusinian Mysteries Become Pan-Hellenic (6th Century BC)Mahavira and the Foundations of Jainism (6th Century BC)Destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (598-597 and 587-586 BC)Nebuchadnezzar II and the Destruction of the Temple of Solomon (587 BC)Beginning of the Pythian Games in Delphi (582 BC)First Isthmian Games (581 BC)Life and Influence of Confucius (551-479 BC)Building of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill in Rome (509 BC)Buddha and the Founding of Buddhism (6th-4th Centuries BC)Building of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (ca. 5th Century BC)Pindar''s Odes (5th Century BC)Beginning of the Cult of the Soldiers Fallen at Marathon (490 BC)Building of the Temple of Zeus in Olympia (Mid-5th Century BC)Ritual Purification of the Island of Delos (425 BC)Festival of Samhain (Origin of Halloween ca. 400 BC)Development of the Hebrew Palestinian Canon (ca. 5th Century BC-1st Century AD)Building of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace (4th Century BC)Trial of Socrates (399 BC)Proclamation of Ptolemy I as God by His Son, Ptolemy II Philadelphos (309-246 BC)Beginning of the Cult of Antigonos I Monophtalmos and Demetrios I Poliorcetes Honored as Saviors of Athens (307 BC)Plebeians in Rome Eligible for Priesthood, Lex Ogulnia (300 BC)Serapis, the God Invented by Ptolemy I (3rd Century BC)Ptolemy''s Commissioning of the Septuagint (3rd Century BC)Third Buddhist Council (247 BC)First Celebration of Cybele ( Magna Mater ) in Rome (204 BC)Emergence of Buddhism in China during the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220) Senatusconsultum de Bacchanalibus (186 BC)Revolt of the Maccabees and the Rise of the Hasmonaean Dynasty (165-163 BC)Origins of Hanukkah (165 BC)Establishment and Influence of the Essenes (2nd Century BC-AD 68)Compilation of the Bhagavad Gita (2nd Century BC-3rd Century AD)Ajanta Caves and the Establishment of Buddhist College Monasteries (2nd Century BC-7th Century AD)Roman Conquest of Judaea (63 BC)Julius Caesar Declared Pontifex Maximus (63 BC)Julius Caesar Declared Parens Patriae and Subsequently Deified (44 BC)Octavian/Augustus and the Establishment of the Cult of the Emperor (Late 1st Century BC-Early 1st Century AD)Development of Synagogues as Centers of Jewish Religious Life (1st Century BC-1st Century AD)Introduction of the Imperial Cult in the Roman Empire (1st Century AD)Jesus and the Founding of Christianity (4 BC-AD 325)Crucifixion of Christ (ca. AD 30-33)Resurrection of Jesus (ca. AD 33)Pentecost and the Beginning of the Church (1st Century AD)Saint Thomas and the Nasrani (Saint Thomas Christians) in India (1st Century AD)Stoning of Stephen the Protomartyr (1st Century AD)Conversion of Saul (Saint Paul) (ca.

AD 34)Saint Paul''s Ministry (ca. AD 34-67)Paul''s First Mission Trip to Cyprus (AD 46-49)Council of Jerusalem (ca. AD 50)Paul''s First Trip to Corinth (AD 50-52)Fire of Rome and the Persecution of Christians under Emperor Nero (AD 64)Great Jewish Revolt (AD 66-70)First Use of the Title Dominus et Deus , Master and God, by the Emperor Domitian (r. AD 81-96)Council of Jamnia (ca. AD 90)Rise of Mithraism in the Roman Empire and Its Possible Influences on Early Christianity (ca. 1st-2nd Centuries AD)Establishment of the New Testament Canon (1st-4th Centuries AD)Building of the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon in Mesoamerica (1st-5th Centuries AD)Christian Responses to the Greco-Roman Education System (1st-5th Centuries AD)Influence of Platonic Thought on Christian Theology (1st-5th Centuries AD)Sexual Renunciation in the Early Christian Church (1st-5th Centuries AD)Establishment of the Coptic Church (2nd-13th Centuries AD)Fourth Buddhist Council (2nd Century AD)Deification of Antinous, Emperor Hadrian''s Lover (AD 130)Bar Kokhba Revolt (AD 132-135/136)First Dedication to Sol Invictus in Rome (AD 158)Emperor Commodus Proclaimed Romanus Hercules (AD 192)Development of the Doctrine of Mary''s Perpetual Virginity in Antiquity (2nd-7th Centuries AD)Ephesus and Sardis Competing to Become Neocorates (Imperial Cult Centers, 3rd Century AD)Mani and the Foundation of Manichaeanism (3rd Century AD)Earliest Frescoes in the Roman Catacombs (ca. AD 200)Edict of Septimius Severus and Anti-Christian Persecutions (AD 202)Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas (AD 203)Emperor Elagabalus Establishes His Own Cult in Rome as Sol Invictus (AD 218-222)Emperor Decius''s Decree on Sacrifice (AD 249)Antony of Egypt''s Becoming a Hermit and His Influence on Monasticism (Late 3rd-4th Centuries AD)Influence of Origen on Christian Theology (3rd-4th Centuries AD)Gregory the Illuminator and the Conversion of Armenia to Christianity (AD 301)Council of Elvira (AD 305)Battle of the Milvian Bridge (AD 312)Conversion of Constantine the Great (ca. AD 312-337)Edict of Milan (AD 313)Emperor Constantine the Great Establishes Dies Soli as the Roman Day of Rest (AD 321)Pachomius and the Beginnings of Cenobitic Monasticism (ca.

AD 320-347)Founding of Constantinople (AD 324-330)Ecumenical Councils (AD 325-787)Council of Nicaea (AD 325)Ulfila''s Mission to the Goths (AD 340s)Building of the First Church Dedicated to the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) in Constantinople (AD 360)Reign of Julian the Apostate (AD 361-363)Athanasius''s Easter Letter Recognizes the Current New Testament Canon (AD 367)Theodosius I Declares Nicene Christianity the State Religion of the Roman Empire (AD 380)First Council of Constantinople (AD 381)Ambrose''s Promotion of Religious Orthodoxy (4th Century AD)Frumentius and the Conversion of Ethiopia to Christianity (4th Century AD)Saint Basil of Caesarea and His Influence on Monasticism (4th Century AD)Life and Influence of Saint Augustine (AD 354-430)Influence of Christianity on Roman Law (4th-5th Centuries AD)Theodosian Code and the First Anti-Jewish Legislation (4th-5th Centuries AD)Jerome''s Translation and Publication of the Vulgate (Late 4th-Early 5th Centuries AD)John Chrysostom and the Christian Critique of the Abuse of Power (Late 4th-Early 5th Centuries AD)Establishment of the Avesta (4th-6th Centuries AD)Decline of Early Christian Pacifism (4th-7th Centuries AD)Byzantine-Persian Wars (AD 359-628)Chandragupta II and the Rise of Vaishnavism (ca. AD 375-413)Pulcheria and the Beginnings of the Cult of the Virgin Mary as Mother of God ( Theotokos ) (5th Century AD)Papacy of Leo I and the Beginnings of the Doctrine of Papal Primacy (5th Century AD)Saint Patrick and the Conversion of Ireland (5th Century AD)Hypatia''s Murder in Alexandria (AD 415)Council of Ephesus (AD 431)Cyril of Alexandria and the First Council of Ephesus (AD 431)Council of Chalcedon (AD 451)Sabbas and the Creation of the Great Lavra in the Kidron Valley (ca. AD 478-539)Conversion of Clovis (AD 496)Third Samaritan Revolt (AD 529)Emperor Justinian''s Closing of the Academy at Athens (AD 529)Building of the Second Church Dedicated to the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) in Constantinople (AD 537)Second Council of Constantinople (AD 553)Three Chapter Controversy (AD 553-689)Leovigild and Arianism in Visigothic Spain (AD 568-586)Augustine of Canterbury and the Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons (ca. AD 595)Benedict of Nursia and the Beginnings of Mona.