Documentary with Committed Buddhist Richard Gere

These are the links referenced in lecture:

Hinduism Documentaries with Michael Woods (again!)

A brief "overview":

Vedic Traditions

A helpful look at some of the concepts and beliefs we discussed in lecture.

Zoroastrianism

The first is a more comedic overview, the second a more "scholarly" discussion.
Ahriman battles the forces of right, light and justice.

Ahura-Mazda

Mithras slays the bull.

An artist rendering of the prophet Zoroaster.







Below is another (attempted) link to an explanatory essay regarding Zoroastrianism and other faiths:
Zoroastrianism and other faiths

Ahura Mazda had help from other deities (in addition to the people as "Collective Savior" and the Messiah/Saoshyant at the end of the age) in his battle against the forces of evil/chaos/Ahriman. One was Mithra, whose worship will eventually spread to India, Palestine, Asia Minor, and ultimately the Roman Empire. Mithra is usually portrayed as slaying a bull, thus bringing salvation, order, and security to his followers.

Destruction of the First Temple

The images in this brief clip are somewhat dated, but just get a sense of the apparent role of the Temple in Jewish history.

Hatshepsut Documentary

A bit over-dramatic, but again I like the visuals.

Akhenaten Documentary

Akhenaten was a controversial figure. This is one interpretation of his life, religion, and family.

Amon-Ra and His Sun-Boat

Don't know the origin of this brief clip, but I like the visuals. Sorry about the over-the-top music, perhaps just hit he MUTE button?

Origni of Civilizations Documentary with Tiamat and Apsu from an Ancient Text

Many historians consider the ancient region of Sumer (the regions of modern-day Iraq and Kuwait) to be the birthplace of complex civilizations. The image is that of a stepped pyramid called a "ziggurat".
The ziggurat was probably the origin for the story of the Tower of Babel in the Hebrew Bible.
The second image is an example of Cuneiform writing that developed very early in Mesopotamia. Below is the "Legacy" documentary series featuring Michael Woods centering Iraq as the "Cradle of Civilization":

Human Origins Documentary, "Apocalypse" Documentary and the Scholar Norman Cohn's Cosmos & Chaos

The quality is not the best on this documentary. The documentary below has pretty high production values (especially with Richard Kiley ["Spared no expense!"] and Jean Simmons.



Marduk, representing order, predictability, wealth, health, and success,
destroyed the Dragon-Mother Tiamat to both bring order out of chaos AND
to create the physical universe.

One of the earliest representations of the battle between order and disorder, cosmos and chaos occurred in the mythology of early Babylon. Read the following brief description at:
Battle Against Tiamat and Chaos
Read a review of Cohn's "Cosmos, Chaos and the World to Come" at:
Chaos Book Review
The late historian, Norman Cohn, developed the notions of "Chaos and Cosmos" we refer to several times in the early part of the semester. Read his obit from the New York Times:
Cohn obit