Ancient Religions Research
The religious ideas and practices of ancient civilisations may be studied because historians have pieced together the aspects of these religions through archaeological and textual research. Your research rests on the painstaking work of historians and archaeologists, of sociologists, librarians, artists, internet designers, writers and anthropologists. We cannot take their work for granted. Be ready to acknowledge all sources of information.
The TaskYou will need to choose some partners and one of the ancient religions (gain your teacher’s approval for this) and then complete your research in readiness for a presentation. We will be using search engines on the internet and teacher recommended sites to complete the research. The research and bibliographical information will be stored in shared documents. Use your understanding of the nine aspects of religious traditions to grow your understanding these worlds of meaning from early Neolithic civilizations through to the Axial Age.
Your teacher will support you through the group establishment phase and with the selection of an ancient religion to study. There will also be decisions to be made about the allocation of work tasks with in the group Initially, your group will need to find these places on a map and place them in a time frame within the history of the world. You are trying to understand the world views of these ancient people by looking at the aspects of the traditions, especially rituals and stories to understand their beliefs. How these religions related to and impacted and played their role in their ancient societies is also to be investigated. We are also interested in what happened to these systems of religion and if any ideas from that time have made it down through history to modern times? Key Areas of Consideration for the Presentation
Key Questions
What is the evidence of these beliefs?
Create a bibliography of your research - a list of websites. Present your findings for the class using Information Technology - the use of graphics and illustrations on loan from the internet need to be acknowledged. You can begin by downloading the nine aspects chart to the far right. There are links to each of ancient religions. Click on any of the Options in the next column to get started |
The Options
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The Tools
Sacred Texts Rituals Individual Spiritual Experiences Beliefs Ethics Symbols Stories Social Structure Spaces, places, times, artifacts Key Search wordsCult
Mythology Deity / Gods Cosmology Fertility Morality Afterlife Cermonies / Ritual Festivals Meditation on Life's Big Questions
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