Encyclopedia entry

2016

Articles in Great Events in Religion. An Encyclopedia of Pivotal Events in Religious History. Edited by Florin Curta and Andrew Holt. Vol. 1, pp. 6-12,18-21, 39-40, 55-56, 80-84, 65-96, 118-119, 173-177, 182, 183-184, 186-188,197-198, 218-220, 232-234, 239-240,245-248, 270-272; vol. 2, pp. 335-337, 373, 394-397, 407-409, 432-433, 460-463, 474-475, 479-481, 483-485, 488-490, 493-497, 655-659; vol. 3, pp. 677-679, 787-789, 950-952. Santa Barbara/Denver: ABC-Clio, 2016

  • “Establishment of Göbekli Tepe, the oldest human-made place of worship yet discovered (10th millennium BC)”
  • “Discovery of Çatal Höyük, Turkey (major cult site of the Neolithic period, 7500-5700 BC)”
  • “First Temple at Eridu (ca. 4500-3600 BC)”; “Reign of Naram-Sin of Akkad (2254-2218 BC), the first ruler to think of himself as god”
  • “King Ur-Nammu’s building of the Great Ziggurat in Ur in honor of Nanna/Sin (21st century BC)”
  • “Adad-Nirari I, king of Assyria, orders inscriptions in which he claims gods called him to war—first use of religion to justify war (early 13th century BC)”
  • “Building of the Etemenanki ziggurat in honor of Marduk in Babylon (6th century BC)”
  • “Beginning of the cult of the soldiers fallen at Marathon”; “Building of the Temple of Zeus in Olympia (mid-5th century BC)”
  • “Ritual purification of the island of Delos (425 BC)”
  • “Beginning of the cult of Antigonos I Monophtalmos and Demetrios I Poliorcetes honored as saviors of Athens (307 BC)”
  • “Julius Caesar declared pontifex maximus (63 BC)”; “Establishment of the Coptic Church (2nd-13th centuries AD)”
  • “First dedication to Sol Invictus in Rome (AD 158)”
  • “Emperor Commodus proclaimed Romanus Hercules (AD 192)”
  • “Ephesus and Sardis competing to become neocorates (imperial cult centers, 3rd century AD)”
  • “Emperor Elagabalus establishes his own cult in Rome as Sol Invictus (AD 218-222)”
  • “Pachomius and the beginnings of cenobitic monasticism (ca. AD 320-347)”
  • “Ulfila’s mission to the Goths (AD 340s)”
  • “Theodosius I declares Nicene Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire (AD 380)”
  • “Frumentius and the conversion of Ethiopia to Christianity (4th century AD)”
  • “Chandragupta II and the rise of Vaishnavism (ca. AD 375-413)”
  • “Mar Babai and the growth of Nestorian Christianity in Persia (7th century)”
  • “Battle of Karbala (680)”; “Iconoclasm Controversy (early 8th century)”
  • “Donation of Constantine (ca. 750)”
  • “Anskar’s mission to the Swedes (830-860)”
  • “Foundation of the Rila Monastery (ca. 930)”
  • “Wenceslas murdered by his brother Boleslav (935)”
  • “Revolt of the Liutizi (983)”
  • “Summit in Gniezno and emperor Otto III’s pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Adalbert (1000)”
  • “King Stephen and the conversion of Hungary”
  • “Foundation of the Sazava Abbey (1032)”
  • “Abdallah ibn Yasin starts the Almoravid movement and dynasty (1050s)”
  • “Foundation of the Monastery of the Caves near Kiev (11th century)”
  • “Council of Florence (1439)”
  • “Establishment of the Greek-Orthodox patriarch by Mehmet II (1454)”
  • “Synod of Jerusalem (1672)”
  • “Rise of liberation theology (20th century)”

2010

Article “Archaeology: the Balkans,” in The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Edited by Robert E. Bjork. Vol. 1, pp. 93-96. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

2005

Articles “Antes, people (history and archaeology),” “Bulgars, people (location, archaeology, and early history),” “Sclavenes, people (history and archaeology),” and “Magyars, people (location, archaeology, and early history).” In International Encyclopaedia for the Middle Ages – Online. A Supplement to Lexikon des Mittelalters – Online. Turnhout: Brepols, 2005 (Brepolis Medieval Encyclopaedias)