Dictionary of Ancient Deities |  | Authors: Patricia Turner, the late Charles Russell Coulter
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
List Price: $34.95
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Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 278260
Media: Paperback
Edition: Trade
Pages: 608
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.3
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 7 x 1.7
ISBN: 0195145046
Dewey Decimal Number: 291.21103
EAN: 9780195145045
ASIN: 0195145046
Publication Date: July 19, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Nothing reveals more about a civilization than the gods and goddesses it worshipped. For thousands of years humans have fashioned stories about divine beings to explain their most mysterious, terrifying, and exalted experiences. Today the names of many of these deities have fallen into obscurity. The Dictionary of Ancient Deities brings these gods and goddesses back to light.
Here, in one superbly written volume, is every known divine being throughout recorded history, from Athena and Brahma to the evil demon king Ngworekara of the African Fan people and the Babylonian dream messenger Zaqar. With over 10,000 entries, The Dictionary of Ancient Deities is the most comprehensive reference of its kind, covering not only gods and goddesses, but also spirits, places, festivals, sacred texts and objects, heroes, monsters, demigods, and the plethora of fantastic mythical beasts that have populated the human imagination from time immemorial. The encyclopedia also includes many deities often missing from standard collections, notably from Inuit, Native American, and African cultures. Alphabetically arranged entries provide the name of each deity (with alternate spellings), followed by the tribe or culture that worshipped the deity. Most importantly, the entries--whether brief descriptions or longer essays--offer lucid and engaging explanations of the origins and functions of the god or goddess.
With a comprehensive index and an extensive bibliography, The Dictionary of Ancient Deities is the best choice for anyone intrigued by the rich pantheon of divine beings that have mirrored the human psyche and shaped our earliest civilizations.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
 Still have not gotten the book! October 26, 2009
Christopher Giles
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I ordered this book over 4 weeks ago and i still have not received it. They were sure to charge me within 24 hours, but the book is still not anywhere in sight. I am not at all happy with this transaction. I ordered the book 3 weeks before i need it and now the time for its use has come and gone and i was without the book then and i still have not seen it. I will not be doing business with this company again!
 Comparative Mythology/Religion made a whole lot easier July 28, 2009
Vairochana (Brooklyn, NY)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This Dictionary is massive and I mean that in a good way. In our modern age of internet search engines galore, one might ask is such a book necessary? As a person who is regularly using the popular search engines to research and track down esoteric and occult knowledge, the answer is an absolute whole-hearted emphatic Yes! Despite my tenacity and drive to track down information that I am seeking, I find it 99.9999% of the time, but when i do find the answer, usually that .0001%, it is very miniscule at best shedding little light upon my original inquiry. Well I am pleased to see that both Deities and rites that are obscure are found within the pages of this text. If I was too sit down and go through all the pantheons and related subject matter culture by culture, even reading at my fastest speed, while maintaining understanding, it will probably take me at least 6 to 8 weeks to read through all the entries. In terms of content, some of the entries are very short while others are fairly long, as would be the case with any other dictionary or encyclopedia. This book is a must have for any student's of comparative mythologies or religions. The bibliography is also really good for those persons who wish to do additional or more in depth reading on a particular culture's religious iconography.
 Handy rederence Tool March 23, 2009
M. Arellano (Los Angeles, CA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
As someone with a passion with worlds religions I was psyched at having such a reference book that promised a collection of world deities. The tome does wonderful job at collecting the well known western world mythos.
The books categorizes powers, gods, and spiritual place in alphabetical order, crossing referencing with alternate/alias names as well.
So far this book contains almost every pantheon known to man, collected in a single volume.
However, when it comes to the mythos of China and the Celestial Bureaucracy, I was saddened that many of the well known gods were either not listed or were in one of the many other pinyin spellings. Example, unless you are familiar with Haunaman, you will not find any info about Sun Wu Kong the Monkey King. Likewise Guan Yu, a chinese God of War from who was a general of the Three Kingdoms era is likewise listed under a Pinyin name that I found by accident. Hopefully in a later edition, the deities of China can be cleaned up. An appendix categorizing deities by pantheons and cultures would have been an excellent help as well and hopefully would be found in later editions.
Good Reference Source March 10, 2009
Avid Reader (California)
It had been difficult for me to find information on ancient myths, especially some eastern cultures. This book has a very comprehensive list of ancient deities. I am glad that I ordered this book.
A Great Compilation February 26, 2007
RootedHand (Ohio)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
There have been a few books readily available on various deities and spirits of the world, but this is by far the best I have ever seen. I appreciate that the author really seems to have done some solid research, theres certainly a bit more than just the scratch of the surface on many of the deities listed. I have found a lot of information on many Gods that I had heard of, and even more on those that I had not. Buy with confidence.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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