Category موضوعي
Ritual and changes in belief
Worship, ritual and religious change, including Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions.
Advanced search →Artifact 1 Entity 81 Period 1 Person 13 Site 12 Study 29 Ancient text 3
-
Original photograph
Site
Karahantepe
An excavation area in the Taş Tepeler project in southeastern Anatolia, where a faced T-shaped pillar was announced in 2025.
The Karahantepe excavation on 22 August 2024. Ropes and work supports are modern. The T-shaped pillar in this frame is not the faced pillar announced in 2025, and the photograph is not a reconstruction of the Neolithic site
Read the record → -
Original photograph
City
Şanlıurfa
A modern city in southeastern Turkey, near Göbekli Tepe, whose museum displays Urfa Man.
A modern view of Şanlıurfa from Urfa Castle, 5 July 2006, including a mosque and minarets of the later city. It shows the contemporary city, not Göbekli Tepe or the Neolithic period
Read the record → -
Original photograph
Site
Jericho / Tell es-Sultan
Archaeological mound near present-day Jericho in Palestine’s Jordan Valley, preserving early Neolithic settlement and Bronze Age layers.
Plastered skull from Jericho, Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, displayed at the British Museum. An ancient modeled face on human remains, not a modern facial reconstruction
Read the record → -
Original photograph
Site
Elephantine / Yeb
Island near Aswan at the Nile’s first cataract; Persian-period Aramaic papyri document a Jewish community and Yaho’s temple.
Modern view of Elephantine Island and the Nile near Aswan; geographical context, not the remains of Yaho’s temple
Read the record → -
Illustration
City
Amarna / Akhetaten
Site of Akhenaten’s capital in Middle Egypt; boundary stelae record successive proclamations and reaffirmation.
Modern timeline of boundary-stela proclamations in years 5, 6 and 8. Not an archaeological city plan or a claim that all changes occurred on one day; inscriptional claims do not verify revelation
Read the record → -
Illustration
Site
Khirbet el-Qom
Site west of Hebron known for an eighth-century BCE funerary inscription commonly associating Yahweh with “his asherah”; damaged text and readings disputed.
Modern diagram of context, common reading and limits at el-Qom. Not the inscription or its physical layout; debated translation not made certain
Read the record → -
Illustration
Site
Kuntillet ʿAjrud
Sinai site preserving blessings by Yahweh of Samaria/Teman and “his asherah” around 800 BCE; building function and wording disputed.
Modern summary of two Kuntillet ʿAjrud formulas in published readings. Not a jar photograph, inscription facsimile or map; does not settle “his asherah” or drawing identities
Read the record → -
Original photograph
Site
Boncuklu Höyük
A Konya Plain Neolithic settlement with oval houses and burials associated with continued building use.
Boncuklu today: replica houses, visitor-centre interior, interpretative garden and pond, Figure 6 of the 2026 study. Modern facilities, not an excavation photograph or burial-ritual reconstruction
Read the record → -
Illustration
Site
Balıklı
A central Anatolian Neolithic site with floor and wall burials and special skull treatment.
Modern Balıklı guide: changing counts in the 2024 and 2025 reports, with floor and wall burials. An entrance in one better-preserved building prevents universal claims of roof access
Read the record → -
Illustration
Site
Aşıklı Höyük
A Neolithic Cappadocian settlement with successive buildings and selected subfloor burials.
Modern Aşıklı guide: 2021 counts, some close relatives and selective burial. Proposed roof hatches are architectural inferences, not evidence of a heaven or underworld doctrine
Read the record → -
Original photograph
Site
Ain Ghazal
Neolithic site near Amman, Jordan, known for large Pre-Pottery Neolithic plaster statues. Faces and decorated eyes are recognizable, but the figures’ names and religious function remain unresolved.
Head of a plaster statue from Ain Ghazal, Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Jordan Museum, Amman. Photograph: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, CC BY-SA 4.0. A comparison from another community, not direct evidence of an Ubaid maker’s skill
Read the record → -
Original photograph
Site
Eridu
Abu Shahrain in southern Iraq, with a long architectural sequence beginning before writing. Associated with Enki in historical times, which does not establish the sacred being’s identity in its earliest layers.
Eridu ziggurat remains, photographed by David Stanley on 11 April 2016. The visible architecture postdates the Ubaid; it is not a photograph of its earliest temples or evidence of their deity’s identity
Read the record →