Too much of humanitys history might have been lost through the great flood, which mercifully rendered humankind another chance to dwell on the Earth. This fictional account through Methuselah begins with the creation of the two Earths and follows Adam through his multiple wives torn by sons who murder each other. His remaining sons divide into tribes separated by their relationship with the creator. Nonetheless, wickedness rose in Seths tribe, while righteousness comes forth from Cains seed. Eve rewards Irad after he avenges the murder of his mother who was a favored stepdaughter of Eve. Eve rewards Irad with three of her cherished daughters. They launch a new homeland beyond the two established borders, and through their faith in the God of Adam find favor with the Ancient~One, who reestablishes his covenant with a descendant of Habil (Cain). Lilith and several of her daughters bond with Duci, one of Irads wives, exploring the wild unsettled bulk of Pangaea lands beyond the invisible border, which protects humanity from the hungry dinosaurs living in the open wilderness. Duci, with help from the Nephilim build the foundations for their two new cities and multiple temples. Irads tribe sails on secret ships to the southern hemisphere and build a Holy nation serving the Ancient~One. Enoch settles his small family on a mountaintop protected by angels as humanity falls into the final stage of wickedness. Irad and his wives end their long fruitful lives, nevertheless; they watch from heaven as the vast majority of their family chose to follow their own gods and disown the Ancient~One. Just three young men, who must sail to a distant island with their wives, remain servants of the Ancient~One. Noah builds a giant rectangle ship boarding his sons and many wild animals saving them through a large flood. Avram sails through the flood with his small group while watching death consume the lands.

This work examines the world's indigenous peoples, their cultures, the countries in which they reside, and the issues that impact these groups.

Twenty-eight African cultures are represented here by artifacts created to communicate with ancestors, spirits, and gods, about such issues as health, conception, and determination of guilt or innocence. Issued in conjunction with an April-July 2000 exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, this catalog contains extensive ethnographic, descriptive, and interpretive text in connection with each of 50 pictured pieces, as well as a 13-page essay about divination in Sub-Saharan Africa (by John Pemberton III) and an introductory essay by LaGamma. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

"Author Hoefling (Journey to God, 2010) seamlessly combines her extraordinary mastery of early biblical tales with a spirit of inventive creativity, weaving a story that both embellishes but also preserves the original story... a gripping account that only deepens an inherited tale about the birth of mankind and about good and evil." -Kirkus Reviews Akliah, a daughter of Adam and Eve, has grown up at the foot of the holy mountain where the Garden of Eden lies. She and her siblingsknow well the story of their parents fall from innocence and their banishment from Eden. And they know the prophecy, that their privileged brother, Cain, will soon crush the head of the ancient serpent who tempted their parents there. Fiercely in love with Cain, Akliah is determined to become his wife. But her schemes are shattered when Cain kills his brother, Abel, and abducts her to a barren land east of Eden where shegrieves her mistakes and Cain spirals into ever-deepening tiers of delusion through his bondage to a beautiful fallen angel. When she finally meets a man who offers a chance for love and redemption, Akliah is torn between an honest confession of her past and her longing to be admired. Against the backdrop of life in a city dedicated to dark powers,Akliah must finally make the choice to restore her integrity, or die trying.

Issued in connection with an exhibition held Sept. 20, 2011-Jan. 29, 2012, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and at the Rietberg Museum, Zeurich, at later dates.

This volume draws on a unique dataset to answer pressing questions about human religiosity. Building upon the first volume in this series, it presents results from the second phase of the Evolution of Religion and Morality (ERM) project. The second volume investigates key questions in the evolutionary and cognitive sciences of religion and highlights cultural variability and context specificity of diverse religious systems. Chapters draw on a dataset comprising 2,228 participants from 15 ethnographically diverse societies that stretch from Africa and India through Oceania to South America, and include hunter-gatherers, pastoralists, horticulturalists, subsistence farmers and wage laborers. Four chapters using the full dataset answer the following questions: What are the general predictors of commitment to supernatural agents? Is there a gender gap in religiosity? Does belief in punitive gods facilitates cooperation? Are supernatural agents implicitly associated with moral concerns? Chapters from individual field sites further explore the distinction between moralizing and local gods, the potentially disruptive role of belief in local gods on cooperation with anonymous co-religionists, and the relationship between belief in moralizing gods, cooperation, and differential access to material resources. Above these empirical studies, the book also includes an informed discussion with specialists on the challenges of running such a large cross-cultural project and gives concrete recommendations for future projects. The Evolution of Religion and Morality: Volume II will be a key resource for scholars and researchers of religious studies, human evolutionary biology, psychology, anthropology, the cultural evolution of religion and the sociology of religion. This book was originally published as a special issue of Religion, Brain & Behavior.

What gives beauty such fascinating power? Why is beauty so easy to recognize but so hard to define? Across cultures and continents and over the centuries the standards of beauty have changed but the desire to portray beauty, to praise beauty, and to possess beauty has never diminished. Icons of Beauty offers an enthralling overview of the most revered icons of female beauty in world art from pre-history to the present. From images of Eve to Cindy Sherman's self-portraits, from Cleopatra to Madonna, from ancient goddesses to modern celebrities, this interdisciplinary set offers fresh insight as to how we can use perceptions of beauty to learn about world cultures, both past and present. Each chapter looks at an individual work of art to pose a question about the power of beauty. What makes beauty modern? What is the influence of celebrities? How do women portray their own beauty in a different manner than men? In-depth profiles of the icons reveal how specific ideas about beauty were developed and expressed, offering a full analysis of their history, cultural significance, and lasting influence. In addition to renowned works of art, Icons of Beauty also looks at icons in literature, film, politics, and contemporary entertainment. Interdisciplinary and multicultural in its approach, chapters inside this set also feature sidebars on provocative topics and issues, such as foot binding and body adornment; myths and practices; opinions and interpretations; and even related films, songs, and even comic book characters. Generously illustrated, this rich set encompasses history, politics, society, women's studies, and art history, making it an indispensable resource for high school and college students as well as general readers.