Manichaeism

This is a former world religion founded in the 3rd century CE by the Parthian prophet Mani in the Sasanian Empire. An adherent of Manichaeism was called a Manichaean, Manichean, or Manichee.

Manichaeism taught a complex dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good spiritual world of light, & an evil material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process that takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter & returned to the world of light, whence it came.

Mani’s teaching was intended to combine, succeed, & surpass the teachings of Platonism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Rabbinic Judaism, Gnostic movements, Ancient Greek religion, Babylonian & other Mesopotamian religions, & mystery cults. Manichaeism reveres Mani as the final prophet after Zoroaster, the Buddha, & Jesus.

This religion thrived between the 3rd & 7th centuries, & at its height was one of the most pervasive religions in the world. Manichaean churches & scriptures existed as far east as China & as far west as the Roman Empire.

Before the spread of Islam, it was briefly the main rival to early Christianity in the competition to replace polytheism. Under the Roman Dominate, Manichaeism was persecuted by the Roman State & was eventually stomped out in the Roman Empire.

The religion was present in West Asia into the Abbasid Caliphate period in the 10th century. It was also present in China despite gradually strict bans under the Tang Dynasty & was the official religion of the Uyghur Khaganate until its collapse in 830.

It experienced a resurgence under the Mongol Yuan Dynasty during the 13th & 14th centuries. However, it was consequently banned by the Chinese emperors. Manichaeism there became into Buddhism & Taoism.

Some historic Manichaean sites still exist in China, including the Temple of Cao’an in Jinjiang, Fijian, & the religion may have influenced later movements in Europe including Paulicianism, Bogomilism, & Catharism.

Mani was an Iranian born in 216 CE in or near Ctesiphon (now al-Mada’in in Iraq) in the Parthian Empire. According to the Cologne Mani-Codex, Mani’s parents were members of the Jewish Christian Gnostic sect known as the Elcesaites.

Mani composed 7 works, 6 of which were written in the late-Aramaic Syriac languages. The 7th, the Shabuhragan, was written by Mani in Middle Persian & he gave it to Sasanian emperor Shapur I. There’s no proof that Shapur I was a Manichaean, he did tolerate the spread of Manichaeism & didn’t persecute the religion or its adherents within his empire’s borders.

Manichaeism won the support of many high-ranking political figures. With the help of the Sasanian Empire, Mani began missionary trips. After failing to win the favor of the next generation of Persian royalty & experiencing the disapproval of the Zoroastrian clergy, Mani reportedly died in prison awaiting his execution by the Persian emperor Bahram I. His death date is estimated between 276-277 CE.

Mani believed that the teachings of Jesus, Buddha, & Zoroaster were incomplete. He’s believed his revelations were for the entire world, calling his teachings the “Religion of Light.”

Manichaean writings suggest that Mani received revelations when he was 12 years old & again when he was 24. Over this period, Mani grew dissatisfied with the Elesaites, a Jewish Christian Gnostic sect, that he was born into.

Mani taught how the soul of a righteous individual returns to Paradise upon dying. But the souls of a person who persisted in things of the flesh – fornication, procreation, possessions, cultivation, harvesting, eating of meat, drinking of wine – is condemned to rebirth in a succession of bodies.

Mani began preaching at an early age & was possibly influenced by contemporary Babylonian-Aramaic movements like Mandaeism, Aramaic translations of Jewish apocalyptic works similar to those found at Qumran (Book of Enoch literature), & by the Syriac dualist-Gnostic writer Bardaisan, who lived a generation before Mani. With the discovery of the Mani-Codex, it also became clear that he was raised in the Jewish Christian sect of the Elcasaites & possibly influenced by their writings.

According to biographies preserved by ibn al-Nadim & Persian polymath al-Biruni, Mani received as a youth from a spirit. Whom he (Mani) would later call his “Twin,” Syzygos (“spouse, partner,” in the Cologne Mani-Codex), “Double,” “Protective Angel,” or “Divine Self.” This spirit taught him wisdom that he then developed into a religion.

It was his “twin” who brought Mani to self-realization. Mani claimed to be the Paraclete of the Truth promised by Jesus in the New Testament. Paraclete is a word used, in Christian theology, to refer to the Holy Spirit & is translated as “advocate,” “counsellor,” or “helper.”

Jesus, in Manichaeism, possessed 3 separate identities: Jesus the Luminous, Jesus the Messiah, & Jesus patibilis, or the Suffering Jesus.

As Jesus the Luminous, his primary role was as supreme revealer & guide. It was Jesus who woke Adam from his slumber & revealed to him the divine origins of his soul & its painful captivity by the body & mixture with matter.

Jesus the Messiah was a historical being who was a prophet of the Jews & a forerunner of Mani. Manichaeans believed that he was wholly divine, & he never had a human birth. The Christian doctrine of a virgin birth was regarded as obscene. Since Jesus was the Light of the World, where was this light, they reasoned, when Jesus was in the womb of the Virgin? Jesus the Messiah was truly only born at his baptism. It was on this occasion that the Father openly acknowledged his sonship. The suffering, death, & resurrection of this Jesus were in appearance only & a prefiguration of Mani’s own martyrdom.

The pain suffered by the imprisoned Light-Particles in the whole of the visible universe, on the other hand, was real & immanent. This was symbolized by the mystic placing of the Cross whereby the wounds of the passion of our souls are set forth. On this mystical Cross of Light was suspended the Suffering Jesus (Jesus patibilis) who was the life & salvation of man. This mystica crucifixio was present in every tree, herb, fruit, vegetable, & even stones & the soil. This constant & universal suffering of the captive soul is exquisitely expressed in 1 of the Coptic Manichaean Psalms.

St. Augustine of Hippo noted that Mani declared himself to be an “apostle of Jesus Christ.” Manichean tradition is also noted to have to have claimed that Mani was the reincarnation of religious figures from previous eras such as the Buddha, Krishna, & Zoroaster, in addition to Jesus Himself.

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Apotheosis

This is also called divinization or deification. It’s from the Latin deificato, meaning “making divine.” This is the glorification of a subject to divine levels & commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity.

The original sense of apotheosis relates to religion & is the subject of many works of art. Figuratively “apotheosis” may be used in almost any context for “the deification, glorification, or exaltation of a principle, practice, etc.” So normally attached to an abstraction of some sort.

In religion, apotheosis was a feature of many religions in the ancient world. Some that are active today. It requires a belief that there’s a possibility of newly created God’s, so a polytheistic belief system.

The Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam, & Judaism don’t allow this. Though many recognize minor sacred categories such as saints. They’re created by a process called canonization. In Christian theology, there’s a concept of the faithful becoming god-like, called divinization or in Eastern Christianity theosis.

In Hinduism, there’s some range for new deities. A human may be deified by becoming regarded as an avatar of an established deity, usually a major one, or by being regarded as a new, independent deity (usually a minor one), or a mix of the 2.

In art, an apotheosis scene usually shows the subject in the Heavens or rising towards them. They’re often partnered by a number of angels, putti, personifications of virtues, or similar figures.

Especially from Baroque art onwards apotheosis scenes may show rulers, generals, or artists purely as an honorific symbol. In many cases, the “religious” context is classical Greco-Roman pagan religion, like The Apotheosis of Voltaire, which features Apollo. The Apotheosis of Washington (1865) sits high in the dome of the United States of America Capitol Building is another example. Personification of places or abstractions are also shown receiving an apotheosis. The classic composition was suited for artistic placement on ceilings or inside domes.

Before the Hellenistic period, imperial cults were known in ancient Egypt (pharaohs) & Mesopotamia (from Naran-Sin through Hammurabi). In the New Kingdom of Egypt, all deceased pharaohs were deified as the god Osiris, having been identified as Horus while on the throne. They were sometimes referred to as the “son” of other various deities.

The architect Imhotep was defied after his passing away. Though the process seems to have been gradual. This took over 1,000 years, by which time he had become associated with medicine. About a dozen non-royal ancient Egyptians became regarded as deities.

Ancient Greek & Roman religions have many characters who were born as humans but became gods. Like Disney’s Hercules. They’re usually made divine by 1 of the main deities, the 12 Olympians. In the Roman story of Cupid & Psyche, Zeus gave the ambrosia of the gods to the mortal Psyche. This transformed her into a goddess herself.

In the case of the Hellenistic queen Berenice II of Egypt was deified like other rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty. The court dispersed a myth that her hair, that was cut off to fulfill a vow, had its own apotheosis before becoming the Coma Berenices, a group of stars that still bear her name.

In the Greek world, the 1st leader who granted himself diving honors was Philip II of Macedon. At the wedding to his 6th wife, Philip’s enthroned image was carried in procession among the Olympian gods. Such Hellenistic state leaders might be raised to a status equal to the gods before death, like Alexander the Great, or afterwards, like members of the Ptolemaic dynasty.

A heroic cult status that’s similar to apotheosis was also an honor given to a few reversed artists of the distant past, such as Homer.

Up to the end of the Roman Republic, the god Quirinus was the only 1 the Romans accepted as having undergone apotheosis, for his identification/syncretism with Romulus. Syncretism is the practice of meshing together different beliefs & various schools of thought. Eventually apotheosis in Ancient Rome was a process whereby a deceased ruler was recognized as divine by their successors. This was usually done by a decree of the Senate & popular consent.

The 1st of these cases was the posthumous deification of the last Roman dictator Julius Caesar in 42 BC by his adopted son, the triumvir Caesar Octavian. In addition to showing respect, the present ruler often deified a popular predecessor to legitimize himself & gain popularity himself & gain popularity with the people.

A vote in the Roman Senate, in the later Empire confirming an imperial decree, was the normal official process. But this sometimes followed a period with the unofficial use of deific language or imagery for the individual. This was often done rather discreetly within the imperial circle.

There was then a public ceremony, called a consecratio, including the release of an eagle which flew high. This represents the ascent of the deified person’s soul to Heaven. Imagery featuring the ascent, sometimes using a chariot, was common on coins & in other art.

The largest & most famous example in art in a relief on the base of the Column of Antoninus Pius, showing the emperor & his wife, Faustina the Elder, being carried up by a much larger winged figure, described as representing “Eternity,” as the personifications of “Roma” & the Campus Martius sit below, & eagles fly above. The imperial couple are represented as Jupiter & Juno (or Zeus & Hera).

The historian Dio Cassius, who said he was present, gives a detailed description of the large, & lavish, public consecratio of Perinax, emperor for 3 months in 193, ordered by Septimius Severus.

At the height of the imperial cult during the Roman Empire, sometimes the emperor’s deceased loved ones (heirs, empresses, or lovers) like Hadrian’s Antinous were deified as well.

Deified people were posthumously given the title ‘Divus’ for men & ‘Diva’ for women to their names to signify their divinity. Traditional Roman religion distinguished between a deus (god) & divus (a mortal who became divine or deified), though not consistently. Temple & columns were erected to provide a space for worship.

The imperial cult was mainly popular in the provinces. Especially in the Eastern Empire, where many cultures were well used to deified rulers, & less popular in Rome itself, & among traditionalists & intellectuals.

Some privately, & cautiously, ridiculed the apotheosis of inept & feeble emperors, as in the satire The Pumkinification of (the Divine) Claudius. This is usually attributed to Seneca.

Numerous mortals have been deified into the Taoist pantheon. Examples are Guan Yi, Iron-crutch Li, & Fan Kuai. Song dynasty general Yue Fei was deified during the Ming dynasty. He’s considered by some practitioners to be 1 of the 3 highest-ranking heavenly generals. The Ming dynasty epic Investiture of the Gods deals heavily with deification legends.

In the complicated, & variable, conceptions of deity in Buddhism, the achievement of Buddhahood may be regarded as an achievable goal for the faithful. Many significant deities are considered to have begun as normal people, from Gautama Buddha (the original Buddha & the creator of Buddhism) downwards. Most of these are seen as avatars or re-births of earlier figures.

Some significant Hindu deities, in particular Rama, were also born as humans. He’s seen as an avatar of Vishnu. In more modern times, Swaminarayan is an undoubted & well-documented historical figure, who’s regarded by some Hindus as an avatar of Vishnu, or as being a still more elevated deity. Bharat Mata (Mother India) began as a national personification devised by a group of Bengali intellectuals in the late 19th century. But now it receives some worship.

Various Hindu & Buddhist rulers in the past have been represented as deities, especially after death, from India to Indonesia. Jayavarman VII, King of the Khmer Empire the 1st Buddhist king of Cambodia, had his own features used for the many statues of Buddha/Avalokitevara he erected.

The extreme personality cult instituted by the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-Sung, has been to represent a deification. And continues to this day with the current leader. Even the nation is admittedly atheist.

In Christian theology, instead of the word “apotheosis,” they use the words “deification” or “divinization” or the Greek word “theosis.” Pre-Reformation, & mainstream theology, in both East & West, views Jesus Christ as the preexisting God who undertook mortal existence. Not as a mortal being who attained divinity. A view known as adoptionism. Adoptionism is an early Christian non-Trinitarian doctrine that holds that Jesus was born a mere human being. But Jesus was later adopted by God as His son, usually at Jesus’ baptism or resurrection, rather than being divine from eternity.

It holds that he has made it possible for human beings to be raised to the level of sharing the divine nature as II Peter 1:4 states that he became human to make humans “partakers of the divine nature.”

In John 10:34, Jesus referenced Psalm 82:6 when he stated: “Is it not written in your Law, I have said you are gods?” Other authors stated: “For this is why the Word became man, & the Son of God became the Son of man: so that Man, by entering into communion with the Word & thus receiving divine sonship, might be made God.” Accusations of self deification to some degree may have been placed on heretical such as the Waldensians.

The language of II Peter is taken up by St. Irenaeus, in his famous phrase, “if the Word has been made man, it is so that men may be made gods.” It becomes the standard in Greek theology. In the 14th century, St. Athanasius repeats Irenaeus almost word for word. In the 5th century, St. Cyril of Alexandria says that we shall become sons “by participation” (Greek methexis). Methexis is “group sharing,” where the audience actively participates in the performance.

Deification is the central idea in the spirituality of St. Maximus the Confessor. For whom the doctrine is the result of the Incarnation: “Deification, briefly, is the encompassion & fulfillment of all times and ages.”

The Roman Catholic Church doesn’t use the term “apotheosis” in its theology. This is equivalent to the Greek word theosis are Latin-derived words “divinization” & deification” used in the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church.

The concept has been given less prominence in Western theology than in that of the Eastern Catholic Churches. But is present in the Latin Church’s liturgical prayer.

Despite the theological differences, in the Catholic church art depictions of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in art & the Ascension of Jesus in Christian art do share many similarities in composition to apotheosis subjects. As there are many images of saints being raised into Heaven.

Anthropolatry is the deification & worship of humans. It was practiced in ancient Japan towards their emperors. Followers of Socinianism were later accused of practicing anthropolatry.

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Entering Heaven Alive

This is also called ascension, assumption, or translation. This is the belief that’s held in a variety of religions.

Sine death is the normal end to an individual’s life on Earth & the beginning of afterlife, entering Heaven without dying 1st is considered exceptional & usually a sign of a deity’s special recognition of a person’s piety.

In the Hebrew Bible, there are 2 people, Enoch & Elijah, who are to have entered Heaven alive. But both wordings are subject to debate. Genesis 5:24 says, “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” But it doesn’t say whether he was alive or dead nor where God took him.

The Book of Kings describes the prophet Elijah being taken towards the Heavens in a whirlwind. But the word can mean can mean either Heaven as the home of God or the sky.

According to the post-biblical Midrash, 8 people went to, or will go to, Heaven alive. This is also referred to as the Garden of Eden & Paradise. The 8 people were: 1) Enoch, Noah’s great-grandpa (Genesis 5:22-24). 2) Elijah (II Kings 2:11). 3) Serah, the daughter of Asher, the son of Jacob. 4) Eliezer, the servant of Abraham who chose Rebecca to be Isaac’s wife. 5) Hiram I, King of Tyre, who helped Solomon build the First Temple. 6) Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian 7) Jaabez, the son of Judan ha-Nasi, who was the editor of Mishnah 8) Pharaoh’s daughter, sometimes called Bithiah

There were also 4 rabbis who visited Heaven. 4 entered the orchard: Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher (also known as Elisha Ben Avuya) & Rabbi Akiva. One looked & died. One looked & was harmed. One looked & cut down the trees. The last one went up in peace & went down in peace.

Jesus is considered by vast majority of Christians to have passed away before being resurrected & ascending to Heaven, bodily, to sit at the right hand of God with a promise to someday return to Earth.

There are some people who believe that Jesus didn’t die. These are known as the Swoon hypothesis & Docetism. The Virgin Mary is thought in Eastern Orthodoxy to have passed away before being translated into Heaven. Roman Catholicism believe this also.

Protestants generally believe that Mary died and passed away naturally like another mortal person. Then Mary entered Heaven in a pretty usual manner. But certain observers belonging to the Evangelical Catholic tradition of Lutheranism & the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism believe in the Assumption of Mary. Others in these traditions reject the Assumption of Mary.

With the adoption of the Nicene Creed in 325, the ascension of Jesus into Heaven has been officially taught by all Christian churches. It’s celebrated on Ascension Thursday. In the Roman Catholic Church, the ascension of the Lord is a Holy Day of Obligation. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the ascension is 1 of 12 Great Feasts.

In the Reformed Churches, which teaches Calvinist theology, belief in the ascension of Christ is included in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism, & the Second Helvetic Confession.

Dispensationalists believe in a “rapture.” The rapture is rejected by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, & most Protestants. The rapture comes from a reference to “being caught up” that’s found in I Thessalonians 4:17. This passage says that when the “dead in Christ” & “we who are alive and remain” will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord/God. Christians differ on the interpretation of this Bible passage.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church teach that Mary died a natural death like any other human being. She was buried by the Apostle, except for Thomas (of Doubting Thomas fame), who was late. 3 days later, after Thomas arrived, Mary was found to be missing from her tomb, just like her son Jesus.

They also teach that the Apostles got a revelation during which Mary appeared to them & told them that she’d been resurrected by Jesus & taken body & soul into Heaven. They teach of Heavenly bliss that other saints will experience only after the Last Judgment.

In Mandaeism, the Left Ginza (1 of their holy books) mentions that Shitil (Seth), the son of Adam, was taken alive to the World of Light without a masiqta or death mass.

In the Hellenistic religion, Apollonius of Tyana was said to have been “assumed” into Elysium by Philostratus.

In Hinduism, Yudhishthira, of the Mahabharata, & Lakshmana, of the Ramayana, are believed to be the only humans that were able to cross the plane between mortals & Heaven/Svarga while still in their mortal bodies. Nahusha was admitted to Heaven in his human body, as were several other kings. Tukaram is believed to have taken to Vaikuntha on Garuda. This event is reported to be seen by villagers.

In Islam, Muhammad was transported from the Great Mosque of Mecca to Al-Aqsa during the Night Journey. After he lead prayers at the mosque, Muhammad ascended into Heaven alive. In Heaven, he greets, individually, previous prophets. Later, he speaks to Allah. Allah gives Muhammad instructions regarding the details of prayer. Muhammad’s ascent into Heaven was temporary. He came back to Earth later. Islamic texts deny the idea of the crucifixion or death accredited to Jesus by the New Testament.

The Quran says that people (Jews & Romans) sought to kill Jesus. But they couldn’t crucify or kill him. Although “this was made to appear to them.” Muslims believe that Jesus wasn’t crucified but instead he was raised by God into the Heavens. This “raising” is often understood to mean through bodily ascension.

Some Islamic scholars have identified the prophet Idris to be the same person as Enoch from the Bible. This is because the Quran states that God “raised him to a lofty station,” & that has taken to be term for ascending, on which it’s concluded that Idris was Enoch.

Members of various Ascended Master Teachings, a group of New Age religions based on Theosophy. They believe that Francis Bacon underwent a physical ascension without experiencing death. He then became the deity St. Germain.

They believe that there were a lot of others that have undergone Ascension. They were called the Ascended Masters & act as spirit guides to human souls on their spiritual path. The leaders of these religions claim to be able to receive channeled messages from the Ascended Masters, which they then relay to their followers.

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Severe Drought in Iraq Reveals Dozens of Ancient Tombs Created 2,300 Years Ago

The tombs, which likely date to Iraq's Hellenistic period, were discovered along the Mosul Dam reservoir

Smithsonian Magazine

St. Augustine of Hippo

St. Augustine of Hippo was a theologian & philosopher of Berber origin & the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. Hippo Regius is in modern-day Annaba, Algeria. He was born I 354 in the municipium of Thagaste (now Souk Ahras, Algeria) in the Roman province of Numidia.

His mom, Monica/Monnica, was a devout Christian. His dad, Patricius, was a pagan, who converted to Christianity on his deathbed. Augustine, in his writings, mentions his identity as a Roman African.

His writing deeply influenced the development of Western philosophy & Western Christianity. He’s viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Church in the Patristic Church.

Patristics, a.k.a. Patrology, is a branch of theological studies focused on the writings & teachings of the Church Fathers, between the 1st-8th century AD.

St. Jerome said of Augustine: he “established anew the ancient Faith.”

In his youth, he was drawn to the Manichaean faith & later to the Hellenistic philosophy of Neoplatonism. After his conversion to Christianity & baptism in 386, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy & theology, that had a variety of methods & perspective.

Believing the grace of Chris was indispensable to human freedom, he helped formulate the doctrine of original sin & made significant contributions to the development of just war theory.

The just war theory is a doctrine of military ethics that aims to ensure that a war is morally justifiable through a series of criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just.

When the Western Roman Empire began to fall apart, Augustine imagined the Church as a spiritual City of God, which is distinct from the material Earthly City.

There’s a segment of the Church that follows the concept of the Trinity as defined by the Council of Nicaea & the Council of Constantinople closely identified with Augustine’s On the Trinity.

Augustine is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheran church, & Anglican church. He’s also a Catholic “Doctor of the Church.” And he’s the patron of the Augustinians. His feast day is on August 28th, the day he passed away. The Church of England also celebrates August 28th as his feast day. In the Greek & Russian Orthodox Churches, his feast day is June 15. He’s the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, & a number of cities & dioceses.

Many Protestants, especially Calvinists & Lutherans, consider Augustine one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation & divine grace.

In the East, Augustine’s teachings are disputed. The most controversial doctrine associated with him is the filioque. It was rejected by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Other disputed teachings include Augustine’s views on original sin, the doctrine of grace, & predestination. Despite this, Augustine is considered mistaken on some points, he’s still considered a saint.

Filioque is a Latin phrase meaning “and the Son.” This was added to the Nicene Creed by the Western Church to clarify that the Holy Spirit proceeds “from the Father & the Son.”

In 1842, a portion of Augustine’s right arm (cubitus) was secured from Pavia & returned to Annba. It now rests in St. Augustin Basilica within a glass tube inserted into the arm of a life-sized marble statue of the saint. It’s considered a relic.

Augustine was canonized by popular acclaim. He was later recognized as a Doctor of the Church in 1298 by Pope Boniface VIII.

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#1298 #1842 #1stCenturyAD #354 #386 #8thCenturyAD #Algeria #AnglicanChurch #Annaba #August28 #Augustinians #Berber #Calvinists #CatholicChurch #Christ #Christianity #ChurchFathers #ChurchOfEngland #CouncilOfConstance #CouncilOfNicaea #Cubitus #DivineGrace #DoctorOfTheChurch #DoctrineOfGrace #EasternOrthodoxChurch #Filioque #GreekOrthodox #Hellenistic #HippoRegius #JustWarTheory #LatinChurch #LutheranChurch #Lutherians #Manichaeism #Municipium #Neoplatonism #NorthAfrica #Numidia #OriginalSin #PatristicChurch #Patrology #Pavia #PopeBonifaceVIII #Predestination #ProtestantReformation #Protestants #relics #RomanAfrican #RomanNorthAfrica #RussianOrthodox #SoukAhras #StAugustinBasilica #StAugustineOfHippo #StJerome #Thagaste #Trinity #WesternRomanEmpire

Fascinating world of ancient #glass: A close-up of the spiral design of a mosaic glass bowl, one of the principal patterns employed by #Hellenistic glassmakers. The three-dimensional effect is truly mesmerising. 2nd century BC

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@Nonilex The moment I saw the first #photo of the #hellenistic #statue I immediately knew that it was off the shores of #alexandria. I personally cannot #imagine the amount of #knowledge #humanity lost with the destruction of the #AlexandrianLibrary and Museum

Ancient mosaics and sacred inscriptions uncovered in Turkey’s Olympos reveal early Christian history

Archaeologists who have been working at the ancient city of Olympos in the southern Antalya province of Turkey have discovered beautifully preserved mosaics and an inscription at the entrance of a fifth-century church...

More information: https://archaeologymag.com/2025/06/mosaics-and-inscriptions-uncovered-in-olympos/

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#archaeology #archaeologynews #hellenistic #romanempire #romanmosaic #byzantine #christianity #olympos

2,000-Year-Old Hellenistic Tomb Discovered Under Collapsed Port Road in Northern Cyprus - Arkeonews

A routine alert about a collapsed road at Gazimağusa Port in Northern Cyprus has led to a remarkable archaeological breakthrough.

Arkeonews

A pair of gold bull head earrings, decorated with granulation, filigree and garnets. Dating late 4th century BC.

Hoops formed of wound wire with animal-head finials were a very popular type of earring during the #Hellenistic period.

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On display at Landesmuseum Württemberg

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