Major Religions of the Ancient World

Judaism

The history of Judaism begins during the Bronze age in the Middle East; it was a monotheistic religion, so the Jewish people worshiped God and Abraham. They worshiped in the Temple during early times, but later, rabbis encouraged Jews to observe ethical laws and cycle of prayer at home and at synagogues, which decreased the importance of the Temple. During the rule of the Romans, the Jews rebelled against them, but were brutally put down. The Temple was destroyed, marking the end of Temple worship in Judaism. A second revolt left many dead, enslaved, and banned from Jerusalem. Jews were persecuted and sent to exile in Babylon, which marked the beginning of Diaspora (living away from Israel). Despite Roman oppression, Judaism expanded and scholars created the first written collection of rabbi teachings, later compiling into the Talmud. The second and better version of the Talmud was finalized in 400 CE, around the time when Jews were granted Roman citizenship, but forbidden to marry Christians. However, later in 439 CE, Romans banned synagogue building and prohibited Jews from holding offices.

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism, originating in Persia, is one of the oldest monotheistic religions and later, affected Judaism. 549 BCE, The Archaemenian Persians created the Persian Empire and made Zoroastrianism the official religion of the empire. The kings ruled justly in accordance to Zoroastrian law of truth and righteousness. Cyrus, the first Archaemenian Persian king, was religiously tolerant toward exiled Jews, which would eventually lead to Zoroastrianism impacting Judaism. When Greek leader Alexander the Great defeated and conquered the Persian Empire, Zoroastrianism felt a huge blow. Its priests and texts were destroyed, but the core of the religion, recorded in the Gathas, survived. After Alexander's empire split, the Seleucids ruled Iran, and Zoroastrianism became autonomous. The Parthians overthrew the Seleucids and recollected Zoroastian texts. Using Zoroastrian as propoganda, the Sasanians usurped the Parthian throne. Under the Sasanians, one Zoroastrian church was created under the control of Persia. The Gathas texts were preserved, use of images in worship was banned, fire temples were promoted, and religious tolerance was no longer practiced during this time. 

Christianity

Christianity, a strain of Judaism, began with the emergence of Jesus, a Jewish teacher in Israel. He distanced himself from the Jewish community and began preaching his beliefs on his own and eventually attracted enough followers for Jewish officials to see him as a threat. Christians believed that Jesus was God's son, which the Jews did not. After his persecution and death by the Jews, his twelve apostles further spread his teachings. Christianity would have not made a lasting impact if Paul did not help spread it. He was first in opposition to Christianity, but converted after he was temporarily blinded. His teachings were centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus; he built Christian churches throughout the Roman Empire. The Romans persecuted Christians no differently than the Jews. However, the persecution ended when Constantine became the Roman emperor and converted to Christianity after winning a battle to become emperor. Christianity then became the official religion of the Roman Empire. When the Roman Empire collapsed, Christianity split into a Western and Eastern strain: the Orthodox church the Roman Catholic church.

Buddhism

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama through his path to Enlightenment to end suffering in the world. He was a prince, but abandoned his royal status after seeing all the pain and suffering in life. He became a monk first, but realized asceticism did not offer a solution to suffering no more than luxury. He found the Middle Way and finally achieved Enlightenment, along with the creation of the Four Noble Truths. He devoted the rest of his life to teaching and spreading his beliefs. After the death of the Buddha, Buddhism diverted into two strains: Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. The Theravada strain follows the original beliefs of the Buddha of stressing the importance on the individual and dismissing the importance of gods and goddesses. Theravada Buddhism remains popular in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar. Mahayana Buddhism incorporated religion-like elements into Buddhism such as worshiping the Buddha as a god and setting up Buddhist shrines and temples. This strain became more popular than the Theravada strain and flourished in Tibet, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia.

Hinduism

The origin of Hinduism is not defined since it embraces the traditions of Vedic culture and Buddhism. Hinduism existed as early as the early BCEs but became strengthened in the Classical Age. Hinduism follows the Vedic concepts of karma and reincarnation. The idea of dharma is central to Hinduism. There are thousands of Hindu gods since most of them are reincarnations of the Buddha. The rise of the Gupta empire in 300 CE gave rise to the great gods Vishnu and Shiva. From the Gupta empire and on, Buddhism faded out of India and its beliefs merged with Hinduism, which became popular in India.