Religious History

A new study looks at the role “pro-social” religions play in fostering large-scale societies

Which Came First, Vengeful Gods or Complex Civilizations?

A new study pushes back against the hypothesis that moralizing gods were necessary to keep large societies civil

Young Yoshiko Hide Kishi moved with her family to the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center; "It's important to educated people about what happened," she recently told Smithsonian curators.

The Complex Role Faith Played for Incarcerated Japanese-Americans During World War II

Smithsonian curator of religion Peter Manseau weighs in on a history that must be told

Gary Brannan, archivist, and Professor Sarah Rees Jones examine one of the archbishops' registers.

A Medieval Nun Wanted to Escape Her Convent—so She Faked Her Death

This story and others have come to light during a project to translate and digitize a series of texts about archbishops in York, England

In this 2018 photo provided by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH, a skull-like stone carving and a stone trunk depicting the Flayed Lord, a pre-Hispanic fertility god depicted as a skinned human corpse, are stored after being excavated from the Ndachjian–Tehuacan archaeological site in Tehuacan, Puebla state, where archaeologists have discovered the first temple dedicated to the deity.

Archaeologists Find First-Known Temple of ‘Flayed Lord’ in Mexico

While the rituals associated with the site may not be entirely clear, identifying the ruins of a temple to the deity Xipe Tóte is an important discovery

Since 2002, a series of fragments with questionable provenance have flooded the antiquities market

Museum of the Bible Acknowledges Five of Its Dead Sea Scrolls Are Forgeries

Analysis suggests nearly one-third of the museum's 16 scrolls are fakes, and study of the remaining fragments may yield similar results

A.D. 200-300. A burning river of fire and other flaming torments described in the Apocalypse of Paul shaped medieval Europe’s understanding of damnation—and our own.

What Does Hell Look Like?

A new book imagines how the underworld may appear with these illustrations

Pope Joan allegedly enjoyed a brief tenure as the Catholic Church's leader during the mid-800s

Why the Legend of Medieval Pope Joan Persists

The mythical female pope is back in the news as an academic uses medieval coins to look for physical evidence of her reign

The graffiti found on St. Sophia's walls includes sketches of cats, business announcements and invocations of medieval curses

Artificial Intelligence Can Now Decipher Medieval Graffiti (Cat Sketches and All)

Researchers sought to decipher the 11th-century graffiti adorning the walls of St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Kiev

Pocket-Sized Bible Returns to Canterbury Cathedral After 500 Years

The volume was lost after Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the cathedral’s monastery

Over the course of the 2018 Folklife Festival, experienced artisans worked hand in hand with crochet novices to decorate a humble tree of life.

Armenia’s “Tree of Life” Tradition Took Root Thousands of Years Ago, and Has Only Grown Since

The tree adorned in this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival will continue to blossom overseas

Water throwing on Vardavar is a holiday unique to Armenia.

The Point of Armenia's Splashy Holiday Is Getting Wet

The ancient tradition of Vardavar attracts tourists to Armenia, but bring a change of clothes

Knights of the SMOTJ wear the red cross pattée, believed to have been first used by the Knights Templar in 1147.

Meet the Americans Following in the Footsteps of the Knights Templar

Disbanded 700 years ago, the most famous of the medieval Christian orders is undergoing a 21st century revival

The Armenian countryside on the road from Yerevan to Vanadzor.

Unfurling the Rich Tapestry of Armenian Culture

This year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival will offer a window on Armenian visions of home

Christchurch Cathedral in New Zealand partially collapsed after a 2011 earthquake.

How Computer Scientists Model the Role of Religion in Society

Virtual simulations attempt to show how faith influences human behavior in the face of terror

Sacred Sites Can Also Be Hotspots of Conservation

Protecting burial grounds, temples and churchyards can bolster wildlife and forests

Ramin Haerizadeh, He Came, He Left, He Left, He Came, 2010, mixed media and collage on canvas, The Farook Collection, Dubai.

Exhibition Shows How Iran's Present and Past Merge Through Art

The new show at LACMA features 125 works of art from more than 50 artists, some of whom couldn’t make it to the opening because of the travel ban

Billy Graham, Jr. by James Pease Blair, 1958

Smithsonian’s Curator of Religion on Billy Graham’s Legacy

He was among the most influential religious leaders in U.S. history, says Peter Manseau

Greek Orthodox priests taking part in a procession inside the Katholikon, or Catholicon Chapel, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

A Crusader-Era High Altar Resurfaces in Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulcher

This reminder of centuries-old history was sitting in plain sight all along

Relics of St. Valentine of Terni at the basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin

The Gory Origins of Valentine's Day

The holiday began as a feast to celebrate the decapitation of a third-century Christian martyr, or perhaps two. So how did it become all about love?

Thomas Jefferson's two-volume personal copy of George Sale's 1734 translation of the Qur'an is now in the collections of the Library of Congress.

Why Thomas Jefferson Owned a Qur’an

Islam in America dates to the founding fathers, says Smithsonian’s religion curator Peter Manseau

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