Art and Architecture of the World's Religions

435 Pages·2009·11.15 MB·English

by  Leslie D. Ross

Art and Architecture
of the World’s Religions

Art and Architecture
of the World’s Religions

Leslie Ross
G P
REENWOOD RESS
An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC
Copyright 2009 by Leslie Ross
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a
review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ross, Leslie, 1956–
Art and architecture of the world’s religions / Leslie Ross.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-313-34286-8 (hard copy set : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-34288-2
(hard copy v. 1 : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-34290-5 (hard copy v. 2 : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-0-313-34287-5 (ebook set) — ISBN 978-0-313-34289-9 (ebook v. 1) —
ISBN 978-0-313-34291-2 (ebook v. 2)
1. Art and religion. 2. Architecture and religion. 3. Religions. I. Title.
N7790.R67 2009
203'.7—dc22 2009014590
13 12 11 10 09 1 2 3 4 5
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook.
Visit www.abc-clio.com for details.
ABC-CLIO, LLC
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Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911
This book is printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
To my parents

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
1. Prehistoric Belief Systems 1
2. Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia 27
3. Religion in Ancient Egypt 49
4. Religion in Ancient and Classical Greece and Rome 73
5. Mesoamerican and Andean Religions 97
6. Native American Religions 121
7. Indigenous Religions of Oceania 147
8. Indigenous Religions of Africa 171
9. Judaism 195
10. Christianity 221
vii
Contents
11. Islam 245
12. Hinduism 269
13. Buddhism 291
14. Taoism 315
15. Confucianism 335
16. Shinto 357
Conclusion 377
Selected Bibliography 381
Index 385
About the Author 397
viii
Acknowledgments
Many colleagues, friends, and acquaintances have, during the two to three years
since these volumes have been in preparation, expressed either great sympathy
or total disbelief about this project. How could one possibly even begin to think
about composing a book or two dealing with such a large topic as the art and
architecture of the world’s religions? This is a question I have regularly asked
myself too. And, in reply to queries about how long I have been working on this
book, I have simply had to say that I have been working on this study, in some
form, formany decades now.
I need to give great credit to my editor at Greenwood Press, Debra Adams,
for her consistent enthusiasm and helpful guidance, as ever. Debby has invited
and assisted me enormously in shaping and defining my previous several book
projects for Greenwood Press, and her support for and enthusiasm about this
current project has been deeply cherished indeed.
A number of other staff members of Greenwood Press deserve copious thanks
too. Liz Kincaid is to be greatly thanked for her assistance with the final details
of image acquisition, and Sandy Windelspechts’s creation of the excellent
graphics (diagrams and floor plans) found in these volumes deserves more than
great thanks indeed. Many thanks to the staff at Apex CoVantage for over-
seeing the final production stages of these volumes. It has been a pleasure, as
always, to have worked with Greenwood Press.
My research and writing also relied most significantly on the library staff at
Dominican University of California. I want to express my deepest gratitude to
the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael for their founding, in the late 19th century,
an institution that continues to support scholarship in a wide range of fields and
ix