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Definition
Bible
The Bible takes its name from the Latin Biblia ('book' or 'books') which comes from the Greek Ta Biblia ('the books') traced to the Phoenician port city of Gebal, known as Byblos to the Greeks. Writing became associated with Byblos as an...
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Passover in the Hebrew Bible
Passover is a Jewish festival celebrated since at least the 5th century BCE, typically associated with the tradition of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. According to historical evidence and modern-day practice, the festival was...
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Threshing Floors of the Bible
The threshing floors of the Bible were outdoor stone floors, usually circular in fashion, used by farmers to process the grain of their crops. For the larger community, like watermills of the recent past, they could be gathering places bustling...
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Ancient Israelite & Judean Religion
As early as the 10th century BCE, Israelite and Judean religion began to emerge within the broader West Semitic culture, otherwise known as Canaanite culture. Between the 10th century and 7th centuries BCE, ancient Israelite and Judean religion...
Definition
William Tyndale
William Tyndale (l.c. 1494-1536) was a talented English linguist, scholar and priest who was the first to translate the Bible into English. Tyndale objected to the Catholic Church’s control of scripture in Latin and the prohibition against...
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Chinese woodblock print
Woodblock print in the shangtu xiawen format (illustration above, text below) from the 9th century CE, Tang Dynasty. The top part shows the seated Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, flanked by two inscribed cartouches. The bottom part contains a...
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Japanese Woodblock Print Depicting a Courtesan
Woodblock print depicting the courtesan Chojiya-uchi Chozan with her young attendant (kamuro) and friend preparing to smoke, by Suzuki Harunobu, Japan, 1765-1770.
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Mud-Brick With a Dog's Paw Print from Ur
This mud-brick was stamped with the name and titles of the Neo-Sumerian king Ur-nammu (reigned 2047-2030 BCE, short chronology). Note the dog's paw print; this "footprint" might well have been "stamped" accidentally during the formation/dryness...
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The Printing Press & the Protestant Reformation
The printing press, credited to the German inventor and printer Johannes Gutenberg (l. c. 1398-1468) in the 1450s, became the single most important factor in the success of the Protestant Reformation by providing the means for widespread...
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Early Judaism
During the period of early Judaism (6th century BCE - 70 CE), Judean religion began to develop ideas which diverged significantly from 10th-to-7th-centuries BCE Israelite and Judean religion. In particular, this period marks a significant...