In ancient times, there was a wide variety of religions. Bashny.Net

In ancient times, there was a wide variety of religions. Most of them today have lost their meaning and forgotten. Temples and statues dedicated to the ancient gods, completely destroyed, and it is almost impossible to find their location. Although most of the religions in this list originated long before Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.

1. In ancient times, the Finns were pagans. According to their ancient faith, the world came from the duck eggs and all things animate and inanimate nature have a soul, so said they attached great importance. The most important god they had Ukko commanding thunder and lightning. Oddly enough, but a sacred animal was a little brave Thunderer "Ukko cow." It is familiar to all today insect "ladybug».





2. Natives of the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River hanaatisy worshiped many gods. The most revered of them was the god El and his son Baal - lord of thunder and rain. Hanaatisy constantly at war with Israel and other neighboring nations, so their culture is gradually fell into disrepair, which led to the complete disappearance of the religion.



3. Atenism appeared in ancient Egypt during the reign of Akhenaten. According to it the Egyptians had only worship Aten - the sun-god, and the only Pharaoh who could declare the will of God to the people. Religion has lost its power after the death of Akhenaten - Egyptians have returned to their old beliefs.



4. Religion Minoan Cretans had no name of its own, and it's little that is known. Presumably it was closely connected with nature. The islanders worshiped woman - the goddess and brought her casualties. In rituals necessarily participated snakes and bulls. Perhaps it was then that was born the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.

5. Mitarizm came to Europe from Persia after the conquests of Alexander the Great. He was extremely popular among the Roman soldiers. Religion was dedicated to the sun god. About her little is known. All ceremonies remain secret. And the temples were located deep underground, and the entrance to the uninitiated was there strictly prohibited.



6. Manichaeism arose in the third century AD. Its founder was a Persian Mani, who claimed that he was able to unite all world religions into one. His followers became nomads and spread this doctrine throughout the world. But in the Middle Ages the followers of Manichaeism were subjected to persecution. Therefore, over time, religion has lost its massive popularity. Most recently was discovered whole library with writings of Mani. They contain not only the basics of teaching, but also a lot of interesting myths dealing with the struggle between good and evil.



7. Tengriizm refers to one of the oldest religions of the world. Approximately originated in the Bronze Age (between 3600 and 1200 BC) in the North Caucasus. Believers worshiped the god Tengri and brought him to sacrifice horses. They did not have the holy books, but annual holiday celebrated on December 23 Tengirchilik mandatory decorated Christmas tree. What makes this kind of religion like Christianity. Though tengriizm and lost its popularity, but there are still politicians in Kyrgyzstan who want to give this state religion status.



8. Ashurizm was distributed among the Assyrians. He is very reminiscent of the old Babylonian religion. But a significant difference was the worship of many gods (about a thousand). Only twenty of them were considered supreme patrons. Ashurizm closely intertwined with Christianity and took out the myths about the creation of the world, the Flood, the Tower of Babel and the first woman - Lilith. The emergence of this religion in the 18th century BC and lasted until the 5th century of our faith. Forgotten it was due to the complete destruction of Assyria.



9. The religion of the ancient Indo Aryans was veddizm. Arising somewhere in 1500 BC and lasted until 500 BC. He served as the basis for the creation of the later creeds - Hinduism. Of great importance was given to Vedism reading prayers. Usually read them priests. Practiced sacrifice (animals, grain and milk).

10. Religion Olmec know quite a bit. She was born in 1400 BC and lasted until the disappearance of the nation, in the year 400 BC. The reason for their extinction has not been established. The opinions of scientists on the subject were divided, as well, and at the number of gods. Some argue that the Olmec worshiped only one god of rain, other lists at least a dozen different deities. All the rituals took place necessarily performing rites of sacrifice. Local shamans before communicating with spirits necessarily inhaled substances that cause hallucinations and go into a trance. There was this religion for a long time. Therefore, it became the basis for the creation of later Mesoamerican religions.