1247–1633.

Foundation.

The hospital was founded in 1247 as the Priory of the New Order of our Lady of Bethlehem in the city of London during the reign of Henry III. It was established by the Bishop-elect of Bethlehem, the Italian Goffredo de Prefetti, following a donation of personal property by the London alderman and former sheriff, Simon FitzMary. The original location was in the parish of St Botolph, Bishopsgate's ward, just beyond London's wall and where the south-east corner of Liverpool Street Station now stands. Bethlem was not initially intended as a hospital, in the clinical sense, much less as a specialist institution for the insane, but as a centre for the collection of alms

Politics and patronage.

During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with its activities underwritten by episcopal and papal indulgences, the hospital's role as a centre for alms collection persisted, but its linkage to the Order of Bethlehem increasingly unravelled, putting its purpose and patronage in doubt. In 1346 the master of Bethlem, a position at that time granted to the most senior of London's Bethlemite brethren, applied to the city authorities seeking protection; thereafter metropolitan office-holders claimed power to oversee the appointment of masters and demanded in return an annual payment of 40 shillings. It is doubtful whether the city really provided substantial protection and much less that the mastership fell within their patronage but, dating from the 1346 petition, it played a role in the management of Bethlem's finances. By this time the Bethlehemite bishops had relocated to Clamecy, France, under the surety of the Avignon papacy. This was significant as, throughout the reign of Edward III (1327–77), the English monarchy had extended its patronage over ecclesiastical positions through the seizure of priories under the control of non-English religious houses. As a dependent house of the Order of Saint Bethlehem in Clamecy, Bethlem was vulnerable to seizure by the

From Bethlem to Bedlam.

It is unknown when Bethlem, or Bedlam began to specialise in the care and control of the insane, but it has been frequently asserted that Bethlem was first used for the insane from 1377. This date is derived from the unsubstantiated conjecture of the Reverend Edward Geoffrey O'Donoghue, chaplain to the hospital, who published a monograph on its history in 1914. While it is possible that Bethlem was receiving the insane during the late fourteenth century, the first definitive record of their presence in the hospital is in the details of a visitation of the Charity Commissioners in 1403. This recorded that amongst other patients there were six male inmates who were ""mente capti"", a Latin term indicating insanity. The report of the visitation also noted the presence of four pairs of manacles, 11 chains, six locks and two pairs of stocks but it is not clear if any or all of these items were for the restraint of the inmates. While mechanical restraint and solitary

Management.

The position of master was a sinecure largely regarded by its occupants as means of profiting at the expense of the poor in their charge. The appointment of the masters, later known as keepers, had lain within the patronage of the crown until 1547. Thereafter the city, through the Court of Aldermen, took control and, as with the King's appointees, the office was used to reward loyal servants and friends. Compared to the masters placed by the monarch, those who gained the position through the city were of much more modest status. In 1561 the Lord

Helkiah Crooke.

At the bidding of James VI and I, Helkiah Crooke (1576–1648) was appointed keeper-physician in 1619. As a Cambridge graduate, the author of an enormously successful English language book of anatomy entitled "Microcosmographia: a Description of the Body of Man" (1615) and a member of the medical department of the royal household, he was clearly of higher social status than his city-appointed predecessors (his father was a noted preacher, and his elder brother Thomas was created a baronet). Crooke had successfully ousted the previous keeper, the layman Thomas Jenner, after a campaign in which he had castigated his rival for being "unskilful in the practice of medicine". While this may appear to provide evidence of the early recognition by the Governors that the inmates of Bethlem required medical care, the formal conditions of Crooke's appointment did not detail any required medical duties. Indeed, the Board of Governors continued to refer to the inmates as "the poore" or "prisoners" and their

Conditions.

In 1632 it was recorded that the old house of Bethlem had "below stairs a parlour, a kitchen, two larders, a long entry throughout the house, and 21 rooms wherein the poor distracted people lie, and above the stairs eight rooms more for servants and the poor to lie in". It is likely that this arrangement was not significantly different in the sixteenth century. Although inmates, if deemed dangerous or disturbing, were chained up or locked up, Bethlem was an otherwise open building with its inhabitants at liberty to roam around its confines and possibly the local neighbourhood. The neighbouring inhabitants would

1634–1791.

Medical regime.

The year 1634 is typically interpreted as denoting the divide between the mediaeval and early modern administration of Bethlem. It marked the end of the day-to-day management by an old-style keeper-physician and its replacement by a three-tiered medical regime composed of a non-resident physician, a visiting surgeon and an apothecary, a model adopted from the royal hospitals. The medical staff were elected by the Court of Governors and, in a bid to prevent profiteering at the expense of patients that had reached its apogee in Crooke's era, they were all eventually salaried with limited responsibility for the financial affairs of the hospital. Personal connections, interests and occasionally royal favour were pivotal factors in the appointment of physicians, but by the measure

Bethlem rebuilt at Moorfields.

Although Bethlem had been enlarged by 1667 to accommodate 59 patients, the Court of Governors of Bethlem and Bridewell observed at the start of 1674 that "the Hospitall House of Bethlem is very olde, weake & ruinous and to[o] small and streight for keepeing the greater numb[e]r of lunaticks therein att p[re]sent". With the increasing demand for admission and the inadequate and dilapidated state of the building it was decided to rebuild the hospital in Moorfields, just north of the city proper and one of the largest open spaces in London. The architect chosen for the new hospital, which was built rapidly and at great expense between 1675 and 1676, was the natural philosopher and City Surveyor

Public visiting.

Visits by friends and relatives were allowed and it was expected that the family and friends of poor inmates would bring food and other essentials for their survival. Bethlem was and is best known for the fact that it also allowed public and casual visitors with no connection to the inmates. This display of madness as public show has often been considered the most scandalous feature of the historical Bedlam.  On the basis of circumstantial evidence, it is speculated that the Bridewell Governors may have decided as early as 1598 to allow public visitors as means of raising hospital income. The only other reference to visiting in the sixteenth-century is provided in a comment in Thomas More's 1522 treatise "The Four Last Things", where he observed that "thou shalt in Bedleem see one laugh at the knocking of his head against a post". As More occupied a variety of

1791–1900.

Despite its palatial pretensions, by the end of the eighteenth century Bethlem was suffering physical deterioration with uneven floors, buckling walls and a leaking roof. It resembled "a crazy carcass with no wall still vertical – a veritable Hogarthian auto-satire". The financial cost of maintaining the Moorfields building was onerous and the capacity of the Governors to meet these demands was stymied by shortfalls in Bethlem's income in the 1780s occasioned by the bankruptcy of its treasurer; further monetary strains were imposed in the following decade by inflationary wage and provision costs in the context of the Revolutionary wars with France. In 1791, Bethlem's Surveyor, Henry Holland, presented a report to the Governors detailing an extensive list of the building's deficiencies including structural defects and uncleanliness and estimated that repairs would take five years to complete at a cost of £8,660: only a fraction of this sum was allocated and by the end of the decade it was clear that the problem had been largely unaddressed. Holland's successor to the post of Surveyor, James Lewis, was charged in 1799 with compiling a new report on the building's condition. Presenting his findings to the Governors the following year, Lewis declared the building "incurable" and opined that further investment in anything other than essential repairs would be financially imprudent. He was, however, careful to insulate the Governors from any criticism concerning Bethlem's physical dilapidation as, rather than decrying either Hooke's design or the structural impact of additions, he castigated the slipshod nature of its rapid construction. Lewis observed that it had been partly built on land called "the Town Ditch", a receptacle for rubbish, and this provided little support for a building whose span extended to over. He also noted that the brickwork was not on any foundation but laid "on the surface of the soil, a few inches below the present floor", while the walls, overburdened by the weight of the roofs, were "neither sound, upright nor level".

Bethlem rebuilt at St George's Fields.

While the logic of Lewis's report was clear, the Court of Governors, facing continuing financial difficulties, only resolved in 1803 behind the project of rebuilding on a new site, and a fund-raising drive was initiated in 1804. In the interim, attempts were made to rehouse patients at local hospitals and admissions to Bethlem, sections of which were deemed uninhabitable, were significantly curtailed such that the patient population fell from 266 in 1800 to 119 in 1814. Financial obstacles to the proposed move remained significant. A national press campaign to solicit donations from the public was launched in 1805. Parliament was

1815–16 Parliamentary Inquiry.

The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are typically seen as decisive in the emergence of new attitudes towards the management and treatment of the insane. Increasingly, the emphasis shifted from the external control of the mad through physical restraint and coercion to their moral management whereby self-discipline would be inculcated through a system of reward and punishment. For proponents of lunacy reform, the Quaker-run York Retreat, founded in 1796, functioned as an exemplar of this new approach that would seek to re-socialise and re-educate the mad. Bethlem, embroiled in scandal from 1814 over its inmate conditions, would come to symbolise its antithesis.  Through newspaper reports initially and then evidence given to the 1815 Parliamentary Committee on Madhouses, the state of inmate care in Bethlem was chiefly publicised by Edward Wakefield, a Quaker land agent and leading advocate of lunacy reform. He visited Bethlem several times during the late spring and early summer of 1814. His inspections were of the old hospital at the Moorfields site, which was then in a state of disrepair; much of

1930 to the present.

In 1930, the hospital moved to a suburb of London, on the site of Monks Orchard House between Eden Park, Beckenham, West Wickham and Shirley. The old hospital and its grounds were bought by Lord Rothermere and presented to the London County Council for use as a park; the central part of the building was retained and became home to the Imperial War Museum in 1936. The hospital was absorbed into the National Health Service in 1948.

750th anniversary and "Reclaim Bedlam" campaign.

In 1997 the hospital started planning celebrations of its 750th anniversary. The service user's perspective was not to be included, however, and members of the psychiatric survivors movement saw nothing to celebrate in either the original Bedlam or in the current practices of

Recent developments.

In 1997, the Bethlem Gallery was established to showcase the work of artists that have experienced mental distress.  In 1999, Bethlem Royal Hospital became part of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust ("SLaM"), along with the Maudsley Hospital in Camberwell, and the merger of mental health services in Lambeth and Lewisham.  In 2001 SLaM sought planning permission for an expanded Medium Secure Unit in 2001 and

Fatal restraints.

Olaseni Lewis (aged 23), died in 2010 at Bethlem Royal Hospital after police subjected him to prolonged restraint of a type known to be dangerous. Neither police nor medical staff intervened when Lewis became unresponsive. At coroner's inquest the jury found many failures by both police and medical staff which played a part in Lewis's death. They said "The excessive force, pain compliance techniques and multiple mechanical restraints were disproportionate and unreasonable. On the balance of probability, this contributed to the cause of death." Ajibola Lewis, Olaseni

Facilities.

The hospital includes specialist services such as the National Psychosis Unit.  Other services include the Bethlem Adolescent Unit, which provides care and treatment for young people aged 12–18 from across the UK.  The hospital has an occupational therapy

Media.

In 2013, the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) took part in a Channel 4 observational documentary, Bedlam. Staff and patients spent two years working with television company The Garden Productions. The four-part series started on 31 October.  The first programme, "Anxiety", followed patients through the 18-bed Anxiety and Disorders Residential Unit. This national unit treats the most anxious people in the country—the top one per cent—and claims

Footnotes.

Sources.

Primary

Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as St Mary Bethlehem, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam, is a psychiatric hospital in London. Its famous history has inspired several horror books, films and TV series, most notably "Bedlam", a 1946 film with Boris Karloff.

Das Bethlem Royal Hospital ist eine psychiatrische Klinik in London. Sie wird allgemein auch als Bedlam bezeichnet, eine Verballhornung des englischen Wortes für Bethlehem. Der Begriff "bedlam" hat als Synonym für "Chaos" oder "Tumult" Eingang in die englische Sprache gefunden.


Story.

The "Aeneid" can be divided into halves based on the disparate subject matter of Books 1–6 (Aeneas's journey to Latium in Italy) and Books 7–12 (the war in Latium). These two halves are commonly regarded as reflecting Virgil's ambition to rival Homer by treating both the "Odyssey"s wandering theme and the "Iliad"s warfare themes. This is, however, a rough correspondence, the limitations of which should be borne in mind.

Journey to Italy (books 1–6).

Theme.

Virgil begins his poem with a statement of his theme ("Arma virumque cano...", "Of arms and the man I sing...") and an invocation to the Muse, falling some seven lines after

Book 1: Storm and refuge.

Also in the manner of Homer, the story proper begins "in medias res" (into the middle of things), with the Trojan fleet in the eastern Mediterranean, heading in the direction of Italy. The fleet, led by Aeneas, is on a voyage to find a second home. It has been foretold that in Italy he will give rise to a race both noble and courageous, a race which will become known to all nations. Juno is wrathful, because she had not been chosen in the judgment of Paris, and because her favorite city, Carthage, will be destroyed by Aeneas's descendants. Also, Ganymede, a Trojan prince, was chosen to be the cupbearer to her husband, Jupiter—replacing Juno's daughter, Hebe. Juno proceeds to Aeolus, King of the Winds, and asks that he release the winds to stir up a storm in exchange for a bribe (Deiopea, the loveliest of all her sea nymphs, as a wife). Aeolus agrees to carry out Juno's orders (line 77, "My task is /

Book 2: Trojan Horse and sack of Troy.

In books 2 and 3, Aeneas recounts to Dido the events that occasioned the Trojans' arrival. He begins the tale shortly after the war described in the "Iliad". Cunning Ulysses devised a way for Greek warriors to gain entry into the walled city of Troy by hiding in a large wooden horse. The Greeks pretended to sail away, leaving a warrior, Sinon, to mislead the Trojans into believing that the horse was an offering and that if it were taken into the city, the Trojans would be able to conquer Greece. The Trojan priest Laocoön saw through the Greek plot and urged the horse's destruction, but his protests fell on deaf ears, so he hurled his spear at the horse. Then, in what would be seen by the Trojans as punishment from the gods, two

Book 3: Wanderings.

Aeneas continues his account to Dido by telling how, rallying the other survivors, he built a fleet of ships and made landfall at various locations in the Mediterranean: Thrace, where they find the last remains of a fellow Trojan, Polydorus; Delos, where Apollo tells them to leave and to find the land of their forefathers; Crete, which they believe to be that land, and where they build their city (Pergamea) and promptly desert it after a plague proves this is not the place for them; the Strophades, where they encounter the Harpy Celaeno, who tells them to leave her island and to look for Italy, though, she prophecies, they won't find it until hunger forces them to eat their tables; and Buthrotum. This last city had been built in an attempt to replicate Troy. In Buthrotum, Aeneas

Book 4: Fate of Queen Dido.

Dido realises that she has fallen in love with Aeneas. Juno seizes upon this opportunity to make a deal with Venus, Aeneas's mother, with the intention of distracting Aeneas from his destiny of founding a city in Italy. Aeneas is inclined to return Dido's love, and during a hunting expedition, a storm drives them into a small covered grove in

Book 5: Sicily.

Looking back from the deck of his ship, Aeneas sees the smoke of Dido's funeral pyre, and although he does not understand the exact reason behind it, he understands it as a bad omen, considering the angry madness of her love. Hindered by bad weather from reaching Italy, the Trojans return to where they started at the beginning of book 1. Book 5 then takes place on Sicily and centers on the funeral games that Aeneas organises for the anniversary of his father's death. Aeneas organises celebratory games for the men—a boat race, a foot race, a boxing match, and an archery contest. In all those contests, Aeneas is careful to reward winners and losers, showing his leadership qualities by not allowing antagonism even after foul play. Each of these contests comments on past events

Book 6: Underworld.

Aeneas, with the guidance of the Cumaean Sibyl, descends into the underworld. They pass by crowds of the dead by the banks of the river Acheron and are ferried across by Charon before passing by Cerberus, the three-headed guardian of the underworld. Then Aeneas is shown the fates of the wicked in Tartarus and is warned by the Sibyl to bow to the justice of the gods. He also meets the shade of Dido, who remains unreconcilable. He is then brought to green fields of Elysium. There he speaks with the spirit of his father and is offered a prophetic vision of the destiny of Rome.

War in Italy (books 7–12).

Book 7: Arrival in Latium and outbreak of war.

Upon returning to the land of the living, Aeneas leads the Trojans to settle in Latium, where King Latinus received oracles pointing towards the arrival of strangers and bidding him to marry his daughter Lavinia to the foreigners, and not to Turnus, the ruler of another native people, the Rutuli. Juno,

Book 8: Visit to Pallanteum, site of future Rome.

Given the impending war, Aeneas seeks help from the Tuscans, enemies of the Rutuli, after having been encouraged to do so in a dream by Tiberinus. At the place where Rome will be, he

Book 9: Turnus' siege of Trojan camp.

Meanwhile, the Trojan camp is attacked by Turnus—spurred on by Juno, who informs him that Aeneas is away from his camp—and a

Book 10: First battle.

A council of the gods is held, in which Venus and Juno speak before Jupiter, and Aeneas returns to the besieged Trojan camp accompanied by his new Arcadian and Tuscan allies. In the ensuing

Book 11: Armistice and battle with Camilla.

After a short break in which the funeral ceremony for Pallas takes place, the war continues. Another notable native, Camilla, an

Book 12: Final battle and duel of Aeneas and Turnus.

Single combat is proposed between Aeneas and Turnus, but Aeneas is so obviously superior to Turnus that the Rutuli, urged on by Turnus's divine sister, Juturna—who in turn is instigated by Juno—break the truce. Aeneas is injured by an arrow but is soon healed with the help of his mother Venus and returns to the battle. Turnus and Aeneas dominate the battle on opposite wings, but when Aeneas makes a daring attack at the city of Latium (causing the queen of Latium to hang herself in despair), he forces Turnus into single combat once more. In the duel, Turnus's strength deserts him as he tries to hurl a rock, and Aeneas's spear goes through his thigh. As Turnus is on his knees, begging for his life, the epic ends with Aeneas initially tempted to obey Turnus's pleas to spare his life, but then killing him in rage when he sees that Turnus is wearing his friend Pallas's belt over his shoulder as a trophy.

Reception.

Critics of the "Aeneid" focus on a variety of issues. The tone of the poem as a whole is a particular matter of debate; some see the poem as ultimately pessimistic and politically subversive to the Augustan regime, while others view it as a celebration of the new imperial dynasty. Virgil makes use of the symbolism of the Augustan regime, and some scholars see strong associations between Augustus and Aeneas, the one as founder and the other as re-founder of Rome. A strong teleology, or drive towards a climax, has been detected in the poem. The

Virgil's death and editing.

According to tradition, Virgil traveled to Greece around 19 BC to revise the "Aeneid". After meeting Augustus in Athens and deciding to return home, Virgil caught a fever while visiting a town near Megara. Virgil crossed to Italy by ship, weakened with disease, and died in Brundisium harbour on 21 September 19 BC, leaving a wish that the

History.

The "Aeneid" was written in a time of major political and social change in Rome, with the fall of the Republic and the Final War of the Roman Republic having torn through society and many Romans' faith in the "Greatness of Rome" severely faltering. However, the new emperor, Augustus Caesar, began to institute a new era of prosperity and peace, specifically through the re-introduction of traditional Roman moral values. The "Aeneid" was seen as reflecting this aim, by depicting the heroic Aeneas as a man devoted and loyal to his country and its prominence, rather than his own personal gains. In addition, the "Aeneid" gives mythic legitimization to the rule of Julius Caesar and, by extension, to his adopted son Augustus, by immortalizing the tradition that renamed Aeneas's son, Ascanius (called Ilus from "Ilium", meaning Troy), "Iulus", thus making him an ancestor of the "gens Julia", the family of Julius Caesar, and many other great imperial descendants as part of the prophecy given to him in the Underworld. (The meter shows that the name "Iulus" is pronounced as 3 syllables, not as "Julus".)  The perceived deficiency of any account of Aeneas's marriage to Lavinia or his founding of the Roman race led some writers, such as the 15th-century Italian poet Maffeo Vegio (through his "Mapheus Vegius" widely printed in the Renaissance), Pier Candido

Style.

As with other classical Latin poetry, the meter is based on the length of syllables rather than the stress, though the interplay of meter and stress is also important. Virgil also incorporated such poetic devices as alliteration, onomatopoeia, synecdoche, and assonance. Furthermore, he uses personification, metaphor and simile in his work, usually to add drama and tension to the scene. An example of a simile can be found in book II when Aeneas is compared to a shepherd who stood on the high top of a rock unaware of what is going on around him. It can be seen that just as the shepherd is a protector of his sheep, so too is Aeneas to his people.  As was the rule in classical antiquity, an author's style was seen as an expression of his personality and character. Virgil's Latin has been praised for its evenness, subtlety and dignity.

Structure.

The "Aeneid", like other classical epics, is written in dactylic hexameters: each line consists of six metrical feet made up of dactyls (one long syllable followed by two short syllables) and spondees (two long syllables). This epic consists

Themes.

"Pietas".

The Roman ideal of "pietas" ("piety, dutiful respect"), which can be loosely translated from the Latin as a selfless sense of duty toward one's filial, religious, and societal obligations, was a crux of ancient Roman morality. Throughout the "Aeneid", Aeneas serves as the embodiment of "pietas", with the phrase "pious Aeneas" occurring 20 times throughout the poem, thereby fulfilling his capacity as the father of the Roman people. For instance, in Book 2 Aeneas describes how he carried his father Anchises from the burning city of Troy: "No help/ Or hope of help existed./ So I resigned myself, picked up my father,/ And turned my face toward the mountain range."

Divine intervention.

One of the most recurring themes in the "Aeneid" is that of divine intervention. Throughout the poem, the gods are constantly influencing the main characters and trying to change and impact the outcome, regardless of the fate that they all know will occur. For example, Juno comes down and acts as a phantom Aeneas to drive Turnus away from the real Aeneas and all of his rage from the death of Pallas. Even though Juno knows in the end that Aeneas will triumph over Turnus, she does all she can to delay and avoid this outcome.  Divine intervention occurs multiple times, in Book 4 especially. Aeneas falls in love with Dido, delaying his ultimate fate of traveling to Italy. However, it is actually the gods who inspired the love, as

Fate.

Fate, described as a preordained destiny that men and gods have to follow, is a major theme in the "Aeneid". One example is when Aeneas is reminded of his fate through Jupiter and Mercury while he is falling in love with Dido. Mercury urges, "Think of your expectations of your heir,/ Iulus, to whom the whole Italian realm, the land/ Of Rome, are due." Mercury is referring to Aeneas's preordained fate to found Rome, as well as Rome's preordained fate to rule the world: He was to be ruler of Italy, Potential empire, armorer of war; To father men from Teucer's noble blood And bring the whole world under law's dominion. It is important

Violence and conflict.

From the very beginning of the "Aeneid", violence and conflict are used as a means of survival and conquest. Aeneas's voyage is caused by the Trojan War and the destruction of Troy. Aeneas describes to Dido in Book 2 the massive amount of destruction that occurs after the Greeks sneak into Troy. He recalls that he asks his men to "defend/ A city lost in flames. Come, let us die,/ We'll make a rush into the thick of it." This is one of the first examples of how violence begets violence: even though the Trojans know they have lost the battle, they continue to fight for their country.  This violence continues as Aeneas makes his journey. Dido kills herself in an excessively violent way over a pyre in order to end and escape her worldly problem: being heartbroken over the departure of her "husband" Aeneas. Queen Dido's suicide is a double edged sword. While releasing herself from the burden of her pain through violence, her last words implore her people to view Aeneas's people with hate for all eternity: This is my last cry, as my last blood

Propaganda.

Written during the reign of Augustus, the "Aeneid" presents the hero Aeneas as a strong and powerful leader. The favorable representation of Aeneas parallels Augustus in that it portrays his reign in a progressive and admirable light, and allows Augustus to be positively associated with the portrayal of Aeneas. Although Virgil's patron Maecenas was obviously not Augustus himself, he was still a high figure within Augustus' administration and could have personally benefitted from representing Aeneas in a positive light.  In the "Aeneid", Aeneas is portrayed as the singular hope for the rebirth of the Trojan people. Charged with the preservation of his people by divine authority, Aeneas is symbolic of Augustus' own accomplishments in establishing order after the long period of chaos of the Roman civil wars. Augustus as the light of savior and the last hope of the Roman people is a parallel to Aeneas as the savior of the Trojans. This parallel functions as propaganda in support of Augustus, as it depicts the Trojan people, future Romans themselves, as uniting

Allegory.

The poem abounds with smaller and greater allegories. Two of the debated allegorical sections pertain to the exit from the underworld and to Pallas's belt.  Aeneas's leaving the underworld through the gate of false dreams has been variously interpreted: One suggestion is that the passage simply refers to the time of day at which Aeneas returned to the world of the living; another is that it implies that all of Aeneas's actions in the remainder of the poem are somehow "false". In an extension of the latter interpretation, it has been suggested that Virgil is conveying that the history of the

Influence.

The "Aeneid" is a cornerstone of the Western canon, and early (at least by the 2nd century AD) became one of the essential elements of a Latin education, usually required to be memorized. Even after the decline of the Roman Empire, it "remained central to a Latin education". In Latin-Christian culture, the "Aeneid" was one of the canonical texts, subjected to commentary as a philological and educational study, with the most complete commentary having been written by the 4th-century grammarian Maurus Servius Honoratus. It was widely held to be the pinnacle of Latin literature, much in the same way that the "Iliad" was seen to be supreme in Greek literature.  The strong influence of the "Aeneid" has been identified in the development of European vernacular literatures—some English works that show its influence being "Beowulf", Layamon's "Brut" (through the source text "Historia Regum Britanniae"), "The Faerie Queene" and Milton's "Paradise Lost". The Italian poet Dante Alighieri was himself profoundly influenced by the "Aeneid", so much so that his magnum opus "The Divine Comedy", itself widely considered central to the western canon, includes a number of quotations from and allusions to the "Aeneid" and features the author Virgil as a major character – the guide of Dante through the realms of the Inferno and Purgatorio. Another continental work displaying the influence of the "Aeneid" is the 16th-century Portuguese epic "Os Lusíadas", written by Luís de Camões and dealing with Vasco da Gama's voyage to India.  The importance of Latin education itself was paramount in Western culture: "from 1600 to 1900, the Latin school was at the center of European education, wherever it was found"; within that Latin school, Virgil was taught at the advanced level and, in 19th-century England, special editions of Virgil were awarded to students who distinguished themselves. In the United States, Virgil and specifically the "Aeneid" were taught in the fourth year of a Latin sequence, at least until the 1960s; the current (2011) Advanced Placement curriculum in Latin continues to assign a central position to the poem: "The AP Latin: Virgil Exam is designed to test the student's ability to read, translate, understand, analyze, and interpret the lines of the "Aeneid" that appear on the course syllabus in Latin."  Many phrases from this poem entered the Latin language, much as passages from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope have entered the English language. One example is from Aeneas's reaction to a painting of the sack of Troy: "Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt"—"These are the tears of things, and our mortality cuts to the heart" ("Aeneid" I, 462). The influence is also visible in very modern work: Brian Friel's "Translations" (a play written in the 1980s, set in 19th-century Ireland), makes references to the classics throughout and ends with a passage from the "Aeneid": "Urbs antiqua fuit"—there was an ancient city which, 'tis said, Juno loved above all the lands. And it was the goddess's aim and cherished hope that here should be the capital of all nations—should the fates perchance allow that. Yet in truth she discovered that a race was springing from Trojan blood to overthrow some day these Tyrian towers—a people "late regem belloque superbum"—kings of broad realms and proud in war who would come forth for Libya's downfall.  One of the first operas based on the story of the Aeneid was the English composer Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (1688). The opera is famous for its aria Dido's Lament ('When I am laid in earth'), of which the first line of the melody is inscribed on the wall by the door of the Purcell Room concert hall in London.  The story of the "Aeneid" was made into the grand opera "Les Troyens" (1856–1858) by the French composer Hector Berlioz.  The "Aeneid" was the basis for the 1962 Italian film "The Avenger".  In the musical "Spring Awakening", based on the play of the same title by Frank Wedekind, schoolboys study the Latin text, and the first verse of Book 1 is incorporated into the number "All That's Known".  Ursula Le Guin's 2008 novel "Lavinia" is a free prose retelling of the last six books of the "Aeneid" narrated by and centered on Aeneas' Latin wife Lavinia, a minor character in the epic poem. It carries the action forward to the crowning of Aeneas' younger son Silvius as king of Latium.  A seventeenth-century popular broadside ballad also appears to recount events from books 1–4 of the "Aeneid," focusing mostly on the relationship between Aeneas and Dido. The ballad, "The Wandering Prince of Troy", presents many similar elements as Virgil's epic, but alters Dido's final sentiments toward Aeneas, as well as presenting an interesting end for Aeneas himself.

Parodies and travesties.

A number of parodies

The Aeneid ( ; ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It comprises 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter. The first six of the poem's twelve books tell the story of Aeneas's wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem's second half tells of the Trojans' ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed.

Aeneis oder veraltet "Äneide" ist ein Epos, das der lateinische Dichter Vergil (70–19 v. Chr.) auf der Grundlage insbesondere der Homer zugeschriebenen Ilias und Odyssee gestaltete.


By region.

Middle Eastern.

The Canaanites of the 12th- and 13th-century BC Levant personified death as the god Mot ( "Death"). He was considered a son of the king of the gods,

Hellenic.

In Ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Death (Thanatos) is one of the twin sons of Nyx (night). Like her, he is seldom portrayed directly. He sometimes appears in art as a winged and bearded man, and occasionally as a winged and beardless youth. When he appears together with his twin brother, Hypnos, the god of sleep, Thanatos generally represents a gentle death. Thanatos, led by Hermes "psychopompos",

Celtic.

In Breton folklore, a spectral figure called the Ankou ("yr Angau" in Welsh) portends death. Usually, the Ankou is the spirit of the last person that died within the community and appears as a tall, haggard figure with a wide hat and long white hair or a skeleton with a revolving head. The Ankou drives a deathly wagon or cart with a creaking axle. The cart or wagon is piled high with corpses and a stop at a cabin means instant death for those inside.  Irish mythology features a similar creature known as a dullahan, whose head would be tucked under his or her arm (dullahans were not one, but an entire species). The head was said to have large eyes and a smile that could reach the head's ears. The dullahan would ride a black horse or a carriage pulled by black horses, and stop at the house of someone about to die, and call their name, and immediately the person would die. The dullahan did not like being watched, and it was believed that if a

Latin America.

As is the case in many Romance languages (including French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian), the Spanish word for death, "muerte," is a feminine noun. As such, it is common in Spanish-speaking cultures to personify death as a female figure.  In Aztec mythology, Mictecacihuatl is the "Queen of Mictlan" (the Aztec underworld), ruling over the afterlife with her husband Mictlantecuhtli. Other epithets for her include "Lady of the Dead," as her role includes keeping watch over the bones of the dead. Mictecacihuatl was represented with a fleshless body and with jaw agape to swallow the stars during the day. She presided over the ancient festivals of the dead, which evolved from Aztec traditions into the modern Day of the Dead after synthesis with Spanish cultural traditions.  Our Lady of the Holy Death (Santa Muerte) is a female deity or folk saint of Mexican folk religion, whose popularity has been growing in Mexico and the United States in recent years. Since the pre-Columbian era, Mexican culture has maintained a certain reverence towards death, as seen in the widespread

Slavic.

In Poland, Death, or "Śmierć", has an appearance similar to the Grim Reaper, although Śmierć's robe is white instead of black. Because the word "śmierć" is feminine in gender, death is frequently portrayed as a skeletal old woman, as depicted in 15th-century dialogue ""Rozmowa Mistrza Polikarpa ze

The Low Countries.

In the Netherlands, and to a lesser extent in Belgium, the personification of Death is known as "Magere Hein" ("Meager Hein") or Pietje de Dood ("Peter the Death"). Historically, he was sometimes simply referred to as "Hein" or variations thereof such as "Heintje", "Heintjeman" and "Oom Hendrik" ("Uncle Hendrik"). Related archaic terms are "Beenderman" ("Bone-man"), "Scherminkel" (very meager person, "skeleton") and "Maaijeman" ("mow-man", a reference to his scythe).  The concept of "Magere Hein" predates Christianity, but was Christianized and likely gained its modern name and features (scythe,

Scandinavia.

In Scandinavia, Norse mythology personified death in the shape of Hel, the goddess of death and ruler over the realm of the same name, where she received a portion of the dead. In the times of the Black Plague, Death would often be depicted as an old woman known by the

Baltic.

Latvians named Death Veļu māte, but for Lithuanians is was Giltinė, deriving from the word "gelti" ("to sting"). Giltinė was viewed as an old, ugly woman with a long blue nose and a deadly poisonous

India.

The Sanskrit word for death is "mrityu" (cognate with Latin "mors" and Lithuanian "mirtis"), which is often personified in Dharmic religions.  In Hindu scriptures, the lord of death is called King Yama (, "Yama Rājā"). He is also known as the King of Karmic Justice ("Dharmaraja") as one's karma at death was considered to lead to a just rebirth. Yama rides a black buffalo and carries a rope lasso to lead the

East Asia.

Yama was introduced to Chinese mythology through Buddhism. In Chinese, he is known as King Yan (,, "Yánwáng") or Yanluo (,, "Yánluówáng"), ruling the ten gods of the underworld Diyu. He is normally depicted wearing a Chinese judge's cap and traditional Chinese robes and appears on most forms of hell money offered in ancestor worship. From China, Yama spread to Japan as the Great King Enma (, "Enma-Dai-Ō"), ruler of Jigoku (); Korea as the Great King Yeomna (), ruler of Jiok (); and Vietnam as ', ruler of'or "".  Separately, In Korean mythology, death's principal figure is the "Netherworld Emissary" Jeoseungsaja (, shortened to Saja (사자)). He is depicted as a stern and

In Abrahamic religions.

The "Angel of the Lord" smites 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp (II Kings 19:35). When the Angel of Death passes through to smite the Egyptian first-born, God prevents "the destroyer" ("shâchath") from entering houses with blood on the lintel and side posts (Exodus 12:23). The "destroying angel" ("mal'ak ha-mashḥit") rages among the people in Jerusalem (II Sam. 24:16). In I Chronicles 21:15 the "angel of the Lord" is seen by King David standing "between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem." The biblical Book of Job (33:22) uses the general term "destroyers" ("memitim"), which tradition has identified with "destroying angels" ("mal'ake Khabbalah"), and Prov. 16:14 uses the term the "angels of death" ("mal'ake ha-mavet"). The angel Azra'il is sometimes referred as the Angel of Death as well.  Jewish tradition also refers to Death as the Angel of Dark and Light, a name which stems from Talmudic lore. There is also a reference to "Abaddon" (The Destroyer), an angel who is known as the "Angel of the Abyss". In Talmudic lore, he is characterized as archangel Michael.

In Judaism.

In Hebrew scriptures, Death (""Maweth"/"Mavet(h)"") is sometimes personified as a devil or angel of death (e.g., ; ). In both the Book of Hosea and the Book of Jeremiah, Maweth/Mot is mentioned as a deity to whom Yahweh can turn over Judah as punishment for worshiping other gods. The memitim are a type of angel from biblical lore associated with the mediation over the lives of the dying. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "mĕmītǐm" (מְמִיתִים – "executioners", "slayers", "destroyers") and refers to angels that brought about the destruction of those whom the guardian angels no longer protected. While there may be some debate among religious scholars regarding the exact nature of the memitim, it is generally accepted that, as described in the Book of Job 33:22, they are killers of some sort.

Form and functions.

According to the Midrash, the Angel of Death was created by God on the first day. His dwelling is in heaven, whence he reaches earth in eight flights, whereas Pestilence reaches it in one. He has twelve wings. "Over all people have I surrendered thee the power," said God to the Angel of Death, "only not over this one [i.e. Moses] which has received freedom from death through the Law." It is said of the Angel of Death that he is full of eyes. In the hour of death, he stands at the head of the departing one with a

Scholars and the Angel of Death.

Talmud teachers of the 4th century associate quite familiarly with him. When he appeared to one on the street, the teacher reproached him with rushing upon him as upon a beast, whereupon the angel called upon him at his house. To another, he granted a respite of thirty days, that he might put his knowledge in order before entering the next world. To a third, he had no access, because he could not interrupt the study of the Talmud. To a fourth, he showed a rod of fire, whereby he is recognized as the Angel of Death (M. K. 28a). He often entered the house of Bibi and conversed with him (Ḥag. 4b). Often, he resorts to strategy in order to interrupt and seize his victim (B. M. 86a; Mak. 10a).  The death of Joshua ben Levi in particular is surrounded with a web of fable. When

Rabbinic views.

The Rabbis found the Angel of Death mentioned in Psalm 89:48, where the Targum translates: "There is no man who lives and, seeing the Angel of Death, can deliver his soul from his hand." Eccl. 8:4 is thus explained in Midrash Rabbah to the passage: "One may not escape the Angel of Death, nor say to him, 'Wait until I put my affairs in order,' or 'There is my son, my slave: take him in my stead.'" Where the Angel of Death appears, there is no remedy, but his name (Talmud, Ned. 49a; Hul. 7b). If one

In Christianity.

Death is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse portrayed in the Book of Revelation, in Revelation 6:7–8 He is also known as the Pale Horseman whose name is Thanatos, the same as

In Islam.

In Islam, Archangel Azrael is the "Malak al-Maut" (angel of death). He and his many subordinates pull the souls out of the bodies, and guide them through the journey of the afterlife. Their appearance depends on the person's deed and actions, with those that did good seeing a beautiful being, and those that did wrong seeing a horrific monster.  Islamic tradition discusses elaborately as to what exactly happens before, during, and after the death. The angel of death appears to the dying to take out their souls. The sinners' souls are extracted in a most painful way while the righteous are treated easily. After the burial, two angels – Munkar and Nakir – come

Media.

Songs.

Lethal Temptress by The Mendoza Line.

Death is portrayed in this song as a female. The song implies that Death is someone that we give into that ends suffering.

Books.

Death ("Discworld").

Death is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series, and depicted as one of many Deaths. His jurisdiction is specifically the Discworld itself; he is

Death ("The Book Thief").

Death is the narrator of Markus Zusak’s 2005 novel "The Book Thief." As the

Death ("Harry Potter").

Death appears in "The Tale of Three Brothers in J.K. Rowling's "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," a collection of fairytales featured in her "Harry Potter" series. Three brothers avoid Death and Death, furious at

Death ("Incarnations of Immortality").

Death is a held office in Piers Anthony's 1983 novel "On a Pale Horse". The character Zane becomes Death after a failed suicide attempt that ends up killing the previous Death. He is taught by his fellow Incarnations Time and Fate and must

Charlie Asher ("A Dirty Job").

Death is a career in Christopher Moore’s "A Dirty Job". Charlie Asher is chosen to be a “Death Merchant” for retrieving souls and protect them from dark forces while managing his story and raising his newborn daughter.

Comics.

Death (DC Comics).

Death first appeared in "The Sandman" vol. 2, #8 (August 1989), and was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg. She is both an embodyiment of death and a psychopomp in The Sandman Universe, and depicted as a down to earth, perky, and nurturing figure. Death is the second born of The

Death (Marvel Comics).

The character first appeared in "Captain Marvel" #26 (Jun. 1973) and was created by Mike Friedrich and Jim Starlin. Death is an abstract entity, the embodiment of the end of life in the Marvel Universe, and resides inside a pocket dimension known as the Realm of Death. The character can change appearance at will shown in a storyline of "Captain Marvel" where Thanos' scheme to conquer the universe, as the character becomes determined to prove his love for Death by destroying all life.

Film.

"Death Takes a Holiday" (1934).

After years of questioning why people fear him, Death takes on human form for three days so that he can mingle among mortals and find an answer. He finds a host in Duke Lambert after revealing himself and his intentions to the Duke, and takes up temporary residence in the Duke's villa. However, events soon spiral out of control as Death falls in love with the beautiful young Grazia. As he does so, Duke Lambert,

"The Seventh Seal" (1957).

Death is one of the main characters in 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film "The Seventh Seal". The film tells the story of a knight encountering Death, whom he challenges to a chess match, believing he can survive as long

"The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1988).

Throughout the film, Munchausen is pursued by Death, a skeletal angel with raven's wings, carrying a scythe in one hand and an hourglass in the

"Final Destination" film series (2000–2011).

In each of the "Final Destination" films, a group of protagonists escapes a disaster in which many innocent people are killed. Their escapes alter the design intended by Death, which, while never portrayed as a physical entity, is instead described as an omniscient supernatural consciousness. In each film, the characters learn that they are doomed to be killed, and that Death will follow them, leading them each into misadventure until they eventually die.

Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other beliefs hold that the Spectre of Death is only a psychopomp, serving to sever the last ties between the soul and the body, and to guide the deceased to the afterlife, without having any control over when or how the victim dies. Death is most often personified in male form, although in certain cultures Death is perceived as female (for instance, Marzanna in Slavic mythology, Dhumavati in Indian mythology, or La Catrina in Mexico).

Der Sensenmann (auch Gevatter Tod oder Schnitter) ist eine aus dem Mittelalter stammende personifizierte, anthropomorphe Allegorie des Todes. Der Tod wird oft als gerippenhafte Gestalt (Skelett) dargestellt, die mit einer Sense die Menschen dahinmäht.


History.

Brown coal and later oil shale was actively mined from 1859. The pit first became known for its wealth of fossils around 1900, but serious scientific excavation only started around the 1970s, when falling oil prices made mining the quarry uneconomical. Commercial oil shale mining ceased in 1971 and a cement factory built in the quarry failed the following year. The land was slotted for use as a landfill, but the plans came to nought and the Hessian state bought the site in 1991 to secure scientific access. In the few years between the end of mining and 1974, when the state began preparing the site for garbage disposal, amateur collectors were allowed to collect fossils. The amateurs developed the "transfer technique" that enabled them to preserve the fine details of small fossils, the method still employed in preserving the fossils today.  Due to the extraordinary fossils, the pit was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1995, one of the few sites that have ever been placed on the list exclusively due to fossils.  Many of the known specimens from the site have come from amateur collectors and in 1996, an amnesty on previously collected fossils was put in effect, in the hope of getting privately owned collections back into public ownership and available to science.

Depositional characteristics.

The current surface of the Messel pit is roughly below the local land and is about in area. The oil-shale bed originally extended to a depth of. 47 million years ago in the Eocene when the Messel deposits formed, the area was 10° further south than it is now. The period was very close to the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum and the climate and ecology of the site were very different. A large series of lakes, surrounded by lush sub-tropical forests supported an incredible diversity of life. The Messel lake bed was probably a center point for drainage from nearby rivers and creeks.  The pit deposits were formed during the Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period about 47 million years ago, based on dating of basalt fragments underlying fossilbearing strata. Oil shale, formed by the slow anoxic deposition of mud and dead vegetation on the lake bed, is the primary rock at the site. Its sediments extend downward and lie atop an older sandstone foundation. The fossils within the shale show a remarkable clarity and preservation due to the unique depositional characteristics of the lake and so the Messel pit represents a Konservat-Lagerstätte. The upper stratifications of the lake most certainly supported a variety of organisms, but the bottom was subject to little disturbance by current, spawning a very anoxic environment. This prevented many epifaunal and infaunal species from inhabiting this niche and thus bioturbation was kept at a minimum. Overturn of the lake layers (caused by seasonal variations) lowered oxygen content near the surface and led to a periodic "die-off" of aquatic species. Combined with a relatively low rate of deposition, per year, this provided a prime environment for the preservation of fauna and flora.

Volcanic gas releases.

The area around the Messel Pit is believed to have been geologically and tectonically active during the Eocene. Leading scientists hypothesize that events much like the 1986 volcanic gas releases at Lake Nyos, Cameroon could account for the large deposition of non-aquatic species (Franzen & Koster, 1994). Periodic subsurface shifts possibly released large concentrations of reactive gases (such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide) into the lake and adjoining ecosystems, killing susceptible organisms. During these releases, birds and bats might have fallen in if near the lake surface and terrestrials could be overwhelmed when near the lake shore. Since the lake was very deep, animals that fell in it drifted downwards into oxygen- and bacteria-poor water, where they were preserved remarkably well, being overlaid by successive layers of mud that petrified later, thus producing an aggregation of fossils of exceptional quality, quantity, integrity, and variety. However, other hypotheses have been postulated as well, and have suggested a Cyanobacteria bloom origin resulting in the poisoning of the animals. This last one was considered to be necessary in order to explain the occurrence of excellent fossils throughout the entire sedimentary sequence (Koenigswald & others, 2004).

Fossils.

The Messel Pit provides the best preserved evidence of Geiseltalian flora and fauna so far discovered. Most other sites are lucky to contain partial skeletons, but Messel boasts extensive preservation of structural integrity, even going so far as to preserve the fur, feathers and "skin shadows" of some species. Unusual preservation has sparked some closely reasoned interpretations. The symptomatic "dumb-bell"-shaped bite marks on either side of the leaf vein on a fossilised leaf have been identified as the death-grip of a carpenter ant terminally parasitized by the fungus "Ophiocordyceps unilateralis", that, apparently then as today, commandeered its behavior, in order to release its spores from a favourable location; it is the earliest concrete sample of fungal behavioural manipulation.  The diversity of species is remarkable partly as a result of the hypothesized periodic gas releases. A brief summary of some of the fossils found at the site follows:  The following is only a partial list:

Access.

Exhibits from the pit may be seen in the Messel town museum, the Museum of Hessen in Darmstadt ( from Messel) and also the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt-am-Main (some from Messel). Casual visitors can park close to the pit and walk around to a viewing platform overlooking the pit. Entrance to the pit is only possible as part of a specially organized tour.

The Messel Pit () is a disused quarry near the village of Messel, (Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg, Hesse) about southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of fossils, it has significant geological and scientific importance. After almost becoming a landfill, strong local resistance eventually stopped these plans and the Messel Pit was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site on 9 December 1995. Significant scientific discoveries are still being made and the site has increasingly become a tourist site as well.

Die Grube Messel in Messel, südöstlich des gleichnamigen Ortsteils Grube Messel, im Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg in Hessen ist ein stillgelegter Ölschiefer-Tagebau. Wegen der hervorragenden Qualität der dort geborgenen Fossilien aus dem Eozän wurde sie 1995 zum UNESCO-Weltnaturerbe ernannt. Bislang wurden dort Vertreter aller Wirbeltiergroßgruppen sowie Insekten und Pflanzen gefunden. Die bekanntesten Vertreter der Messel-Fauna sind wohl die beiden frühen Pferdeartigen "Propalaeotherium" und "Eurohippus", von denen bislang über 70 Individuen ausgegraben wurden. Weitere bedeutende Funde sind der Kranichvogel "Messelornis cristata" und "Darwinius masillae" („Ida“), ein früher Primat.


Etymology.

It was suggested by Catholic scholar of Islam Louis Massignon that the phrase "Abrahamic religion" means that all these religions come from one spiritual source. Paul the Apostle referred to Abraham as the "father of us all". There is a Quranic term, "millat Ibrahim",'religion of Ibrahim', indicating that Islam sees itself as standing in a tradition of religious practice from Abraham. Jewish tradition claims that the Jews are descended from Abraham, and adherents of Judaism derive their spiritual identity from Abraham as the first of the three "fathers" or biblical patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  All the major

Challenges to the term.

The appropriateness of grouping Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by the terms "Abrahamic religions" or "Abrahamic traditions" has been challenged.  In 2012, Alan L. Berger, Professor of Judaic Studies at Florida Atlantic University, in his Preface to "Trialogue and Terror: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam after 9/11" wrote that there are "commonalities", but "there are essential differences between the Abrahamic traditions" both "historical and theological". Although "Judaism birthed both Christianity and Islam", the "three monotheistic faiths went their separate ways". The three faiths "understand the role of Abraham" in "differing ways", and the relationships between Judaism and Christianity and between Judaism and Islam are "uneven".

Religions.

Judaism.

One of Judaism's primary texts is the Tanakh, an account of the Israelites' relationship with God from their earliest history until the building of the Second Temple (c. 535 BCE). Abraham is hailed as the first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people. One of his great-grandsons was Judah, from whom the religion ultimately gets its name. The Israelites were initially a number

Christianity.

Christianity began in the 1st century as a sect within Judaism initially led by Jesus. His followers viewed him as the Messiah, as in the Confession of Peter; after his crucifixion and death they came to view him as God incarnate, who was resurrected and will return at the end of time to judge the living and the dead and create an eternal Kingdom of God.

Islam.

Islam is based on the teachings of the Quran. Although it considers Muhammad to be the Seal of the prophets, Islam teaches that every prophet preached Islam, as the word Islam literally means submission to God, the main

Other Abrahamic religions.

Historically, the Abrahamic religions have been considered to be Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Some of this is due to the age and larger size of these three. The other, similar religions were seen as either too new to judge as being truly in the same class, or too small to be of significance to the category.  However, some of the restriction of Abrahamic to these three is due only to tradition in historical classification. Therefore, restricting the category to these three religions has come under criticism. The religions listed below here claim Abrahamic classification, either by the religions themselves, or by scholars who study them.

Bábism.

Bábism (, "Babiyye"), also known as the Bayání Faith (Arabic:, "Bayání"), is a monotheistic religion which professes that there is one incorporeal, unknown, and incomprehensible God who manifests his will in an unending series of theophanies, called Manifestations of God (Arabic: ). It is an extremely small religion, with no more than a few thousand adherents according to current estimates, most of which are concentrated in Iran. It was founded by 'Ali Muhammad Shirazi who first assumed the title of Báb ( "Gate")

Bahá'í Faith.

The Bahá'í Faith, which dates to the late 19th century, is a new religious movement that has sometimes been listed as Abrahamic by scholarly sources in various fields.  Bahá'u'lláh (1817–1892), the founder, affirms the highest religious station for Abraham and generally for prophets mentioned among the other Abrahamic religions, and has claimed a lineage of descent from Abraham through Keturah and Sarah. Additionally, Baha'is cite that Bahá'u'lláh lost a son, Mírzá Mihdí. Bahá'u'lláh, then in prison, eulogized his son and connected

Druze faith.

The Druze faith or Druzism is a monotheistic religion based on the teachings of high Islamic figures like Hamza ibn-'Ali ibn-Ahmad and Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, and Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad is considered the founder of the Druze and the primary author of the Druze manuscripts. And Jethro of Midian is considered an ancestor of Druze, who revere him as their spiritual founder and chief prophet.  The Epistles of Wisdom is the foundational text of

Mandaeism.

Mandaeism or Mandaeanism ( "") is a monotheistic Gnostic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Noah, Shem, Aram, and especially John the Baptist. Occasionally, Mandaeans are called "Christians of Saint John" by Jews and Christians.  The Mandaeans do not worship the God of Abraham and they hate Abraham, considering him, along with Moses, Jesus and Mohammed, to be a false prophet. They regard the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity

Rastafari.

Rastafari, sometimes termed Rastafarianism, is also sometimes listed as an Abrahamic religion. Classified as both a new religious movement and social movement, it developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It lacks any centralised authority and there is much heterogeneity among practitioners, who are known as Rastafari, Rastafarians, or Rastas.  Rastafari refer to their beliefs, which are based on a specific interpretation of the Bible, as "Rastalogy". Central is a monotheistic belief in a single God—referred to as Jah—who partially resides within each individual. The former emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, is given central importance. Many Rastas regard him as an incarnation of Jah on Earth and as the Second Coming of Christ. Others regard him as a human prophet who fully recognised the inner divinity within every individual. Rastafari is Afrocentric and focuses its attention on the African diaspora, which it believes is oppressed within Western society, or "Babylon". Many Rastas call for the resettlement of the African diaspora in either Ethiopia or Africa more widely, referring to this continent as the Promised Land of "Zion". Other interpretations shift focus on to the adoption of

Samaritanism.

Samaritanism is based on some of the same books used as the basis of Judaism but differs from the latter. Samaritan religious works include the Samaritan version of the

Shabakism.

Shabakism is the name given to the beliefs and practices of the Shabak people of Kurdistan region and around Mosul in Iraq. A majority of Shabaks regard themselves as Shia, and a minority identify as Sunnis. Despite this, their actual faith and rituals differ from Islam, and have characteristics that make them distinct from neighboring Muslim populations. These include features from Christianity including confession, and the consumption of alcohol, and the fact that Shabaks often go on pilgrimage to Yazidi shrines. Nevertheless, the Shabak people also go on pilgrimages to Shia holy cities such as Najaf and Karbala, and follow many Shiite teachings.  The organization of Shabakism appears to be much

Yazdânism (the Yezidi, Yarsani and Chinarism faiths).

Yazdânism, or the Cult of Angels, is a proposed pre-Islamic, native religion of the Kurds. The term was introduced by Kurdish scholar Mehrdad Izady to represent what he considers the "original" religion of the Kurds as the primary inhabitants of the Zagros Mountains, until their increasing Islamization in the course of the 10th century.  According to Izady, Yazdânism is now continued in the denominations of Yazidism, Yarsanism, and Chinarism. The three traditions subsumed under the term Yazdânism are primarily practiced in relatively isolated communities, from Khurasan to Anatolia and parts of western Iran.  The concept of Yazdânism has found a wide perception both within and beyond Kurdish nationalist discourses, but has been disputed by other recognized scholars of Iranian religions. Well established, however, are the "striking" and "unmistakable" similarities between the Yazidis and the Yaresan or "Ahl-e Haqq", some of which can be traced back to elements of an ancient faith that was probably dominant among Western Iranians and likened to practices of pre-Zoroastrian Mithraic religion. Mehrdad Izady defines the Yazdanism as an ancient Hurrian religion and states that Mitannis could have introduced some of the Vedic tradition that appears to be manifest in Yazdanism.

Abrahamic ethno-religious groups.

Some small religions, such as Samaritanism, Druze, Rastafari movement, and the Bábí Faith, are Abrahamic. These

Origins and history.

The civilizations that developed in Mesopotamia influenced some religious texts, particularly the Hebrew Bible and the Book of Genesis. Abraham is said to have originated in Mesopotamia.  Judaism regards itself as the religion of the descendants of Jacob, a grandson of Abraham. It has a strictly unitary view of God, and the central holy book for almost all branches is the Masoretic Text as elucidated in the Oral Torah. In the 19th century and 20th centuries Judaism developed a small number of branches, of which the most significant are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform.  Christianity began as a sect of Judaism in the Mediterranean Basin of the first century CE and evolved into a separate religion—Christianity—with distinctive beliefs and practices. Jesus is the central figure of Christianity, considered by almost all denominations to be God the Son, one person of the Trinity. ("See God in Christianity.") The Christian biblical canons are usually held to be the

Common aspects.

All Abrahamic religions accept the tradition that God revealed himself to the patriarch Abraham. All are monotheistic, and conceive God to be a transcendent creator and the source of moral law. Their religious texts feature many of the same figures, histories, and places, although they often present them with different roles, perspectives, and meanings. Believers who agree on these similarities and the common Abrahamic origin tend to also be more positive towards other Abrahamic groups.  In the three main Abrahamic religions(Judaism, Christianity and Islam), the individual, God, and the universe are highly separate from each other. The Abrahamic religions believe in a judging, paternal, fully external god to which the individual and nature are subordinate. One seeks salvation or transcendence not by contemplating the natural world or via philosophical speculation, but by seeking to please God (such as obedience with God's wishes or his law) and see divine revelation as outside of self, nature, and custom.

Monotheism.

All Abrahamic religions claim to be monotheistic, worshiping an exclusive God, although one known by different names. Each of these religions preaches that God creates, is one, rules, reveals, loves, judges, punishes, and forgives. However, although Christianity does not profess to believe in three gods—but rather in three persons, or hypostases, united in one essence—the Trinitarian doctrine, a fundamental of faith for the vast majority of Christian denominations,

Theological continuity.

All the Abrahamic religions affirm one eternal God who created the universe, who rules history, who sends prophetic and angelic messengers and who reveals the divine will through inspired revelation. They also affirm that obedience to

Scripture.

All Abrahamic religions believe that God guides humanity through revelation to prophets,

Ethical orientation.

An ethical orientation: all these religions speak of a choice between good

Eschatological world view.

An eschatological world view of history and destiny, beginning with the creation of the world

Importance of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is considered Judaism's holiest city. Its origins can be dated to 1004 BCE when according to Biblical tradition David established it as the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel, and his son Solomon built the First Temple on Mount Moriah. Since the Hebrew Bible relates that Isaac's sacrifice took place there, Mount Moriah's importance for Jews predates even these prominent events. Jews thrice daily pray in its direction, including in their prayers pleas for the restoration and the

Significance of Abraham.

Even though members of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not all claim Abraham as an ancestor, some members of these religions have tried to claim him as exclusively theirs.  For Jews, Abraham is the founding patriarch of the children of Israel. God promised Abraham: "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you." With Abraham, God entered into "an everlasting covenant throughout the ages to be God to you and to your offspring to come". It is this covenant that makes Abraham and his

Differences.

God.

The Abrahamic God is conceived of as eternal, omnipotent, omniscient and as the creator of the universe. God is further held to have the properties of holiness, justice, omnibenevolence and omnipresence. Proponents of Abrahamic faiths believe that God is also transcendent, but at the same time personal and involved, listening to prayer and reacting to the actions of his creatures. In Jewish theology, God is strictly monotheistic. God is an absolute one, indivisible and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. Jewish tradition teaches that the true aspect of God is incomprehensible and unknowable and that it is only God's revealed aspect that brought the

Scriptures.

All these religions rely on a body of scriptures, some of which are considered to be the word of God—hence sacred and unquestionable—and some the work of religious men, revered mainly by tradition and to the extent that they are considered to have been divinely inspired, if not dictated, by the divine being.  The sacred scriptures of Judaism are the Tanakh, a Hebrew acronym standing for "Torah" (Law or Teachings), "Nevi'im" (Prophets) and "Ketuvim" (Writings). These are complemented by and supplemented with various (originally oral) traditions: "Midrash", the "Mishnah", the "Talmud" and collected rabbinical writings. The Tanakh (or Hebrew Bible) was composed between 1,400 BCE, and 400 BCE by Jewish, kings, and priests.  The Hebrew text of the Tanakh, and the Torah in particular is considered holy, down to the last letter: transcribing is done with painstaking care. An error in a single

Eschatology.

In the major Abrahamic religions, there exists the expectation of an individual who will herald the time of the end or bring about the Kingdom of God on Earth; in other words, the Messianic prophecy. Judaism awaits the coming of the Jewish Messiah; the Jewish concept of Messiah differs from the Christian concept in several significant ways, despite the same term being applied to both. The Jewish Messiah is not seen as a "god", but as a mortal man who by his holiness is worthy of that description. His appearance is not

Worship and religious rites.

Worship, ceremonies and religion-related customs differ substantially among the Abrahamic religions. Among the few similarities are a seven-day cycle in which one day is nominally reserved for worship, prayer or other religious activities—"Shabbat", Sabbath, or "jumu'ah"; this custom is related to the biblical story of Genesis, where God created the universe in six days and rested in the seventh.  Orthodox Judaism practice is guided by the interpretation of the Torah and the Talmud. Before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jewish priests offered sacrifices there two times daily; since then, the practice has been replaced, until the Temple is rebuilt, by Jewish men being required to pray three times daily, including the chanting of the Torah, and facing in the direction of Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Other practices include circumcision, dietary laws, Shabbat, Passover, Torah study, Tefillin, purity and others. Conservative Judaism,

Circumcision.

Judaism commands that males be circumcised when they are 8 days old, as does the Sunnah in Islam.  Western Christianity replaced the custom of male circumcision with the ritual of baptism a ceremony which varies according to the doctrine of the denomination, but it generally includes immersion, aspersion, or anointment with water. The Early Church (Acts 15, the Council of Jerusalem) decided that Gentile Christians are not required to undergo circumcision. The Council of Florence in the 15th century prohibited it. Paragraph #2297 of the Catholic Catechism calls non-medical amputation or mutilation immoral. By the 21st century, the Catholic Church had adopted a neutral position on the practice, as long as it is not practised as an initiation ritual. Catholic scholars make various arguments in support of the idea that this policy is not in contradiction with the previous

Dietary restrictions.

Judaism and Islam have strict dietary laws, with permitted food known as kosher in Judaism, and halal in Islam. These two religions prohibit the consumption of pork; Islam prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages of any kind. Halal restrictions can be seen as a modification of the kashrut dietary laws, so many kosher foods are considered halal; especially in the case of meat, which Islam prescribes must be slaughtered in the name of God. Hence, in many places, Muslims used to consume kosher food. However, some foods not considered kosher are considered halal in Islam.  With rare exceptions, Christians do not consider the Old Testament's strict food laws as relevant for today's church; see also Biblical law in Christianity. Most Protestants have no set food laws, but there are minority exceptions.  The Roman Catholic Church believes in observing abstinence and penance. For example, all Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days. The law of abstinence requires a Catholic from 14 years of age until death to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in honor of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops obtained the permission

Sabbath observance.

Sabbath in the Bible is a weekly day of rest and time of worship. It is observed differently in Judaism,

Proselytism.

Judaism accepts converts, but has had no explicit missionaries since the end of the Second Temple era. Judaism states that non-Jews can achieve righteousness by following Noahide Laws, a set of moral imperatives that, according to the Talmud, were given by God as a binding set of laws for the "children of Noah"—that is, all of humanity. It is believed that as much as ten percent of the Roman Empire followed the Judaism either as fully ritually obligated Jews or the simpler rituals required of non-Jewish members of that faith.  Moses Maimonides, one of

Dialogue between Abrahamic religions.

This section reports on writings and talks which describe or advocate dialogue between the Abrahamic religions.  Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi  In 1997, Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi claims to have met Jesus in New Mexico. Since then he has exalted God's love above all religious differences. He describes the situation in this way: "A Muslim says, 'I am superior to all.' A Jew declares, 'I am even better than the Muslim.' And a Christian says, 'I am greater than both the Muslim and the Jew, and the rest of the religions, because I am the nation of God's Son.'" However, Gohar Shahi himself "declares that superior and best of all is the one who possesses God's love in his heart, in spite of his indifference to any religion".  Amir Hussain In 2003, a book called "Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism" contains a chapter by Amir Hussain on "Muslims, Pluralism, and Interfaith Dialogue" which he shows how interfaith dialogue has been an integral part of Islam from its beginning. From his "first revelation" for the rest of his life, Muhammad was "engaged in interfaith dialogue." Islam would not have spread without "interfaith dialogue."  Hussain gives an early example of "the importance of pluralism and interfaith dialogue" to Islam. When some of Muhammad's followers suffered "physical persecution" in Mecca, he sent them to Abyssinia, a Christian nation, where they were "welcomed and accepted" by the Christian king. Another example is Córdoba, Andalusia in Muslim Spain, in the ninth and tenth centuries. Córdoba was "one of the most important cities in the history of the world". In "Christians and Jews were involved in the Royal Court and the intellectual life of the city." Thus, there is "a history of Muslims, Jews, Christians, and other religious traditions living together in a pluralistic society."  Turning to

Violent conflicts.

Between Abrahamic religions.

During most of their common history, the three Abrahamic religions have been "ignorant about each other, or worse, especially in the case of Christians and Muslims, they have attacked each other." In the La Convivencia (The Coexistence) in the 14th and 15th centuries, Muslims, Christians and Jews co-existed in relative peace, but,

The Abrahamic religions, also referred to collectively as Abrahamism, are a group of Semitic-originated religious communities of faith that claim descent from the Judaism of the ancient Israelites and the worship of the God of Abraham. The Abrahamic religions are monotheistic, with the term deriving from the patriarch Abraham (a major biblical figure from the Old Testament, who is recognized by Jews, Christians, Muslims, and others).

Abrahamitische, abrahamische oder Abrahamsreligionen ist in manchen islamwissenschaftlichen Studien und im interreligiösen Dialog die Bezeichnung für jene monotheistischen Religionen, die sich auf Abraham, den Stammvater der Israeliten nach der Tora (), bzw. auf den Ibrahim des Koran und seinen Gott beziehen. Die Bezeichnung dient als „theologische Klammer“ in den Gesprächen zwischen den Religionsgemeinschaften. Sie will die gemeinsame Herkunft und die Zusammengehörigkeit von Juden, Christen und Muslimen ausdrücken. Abraham ist für die drei großen Weltreligionen eine Vaterfigur und ein bedeutsamer Ausgangspunkt, wenn auch je auf eigene Weise:


Early life.

Hermann Kant was born on June 14, 1926, in Hamburg, Germany the son of a factory worker and a gardener born into poverty. His younger brother, Uwe Kant, became a well-known children's author. Because of the impending bombing of Hamburg during the Second World War, the family moved to Parchim in 1940, where his paternal grandfather lived as a master potter. After passing elementary school he began an electrician apprenticeship in Parchim, which he completed in 1944. On December 8, 1944, he was drafted into the German Military. He became a Polish POW, was held in Warsaw's Mokotów Prison and later was transferred to a labor camp, which was located on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. He was the co-founder of the antifascist committee and teacher at the Antifa Central School. During this time he met the writer Anna Seghers, who would have a lasting impression on him. After being released as a prisoner of war in 1949, he moved to East Germany and joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.  Kant finished High School in 1952 at the "Workers' and Peasants Faculty" in Greifswald. From 1952 to 1956 he studied German literature at the Humboldt University of Berlin. His thesis was entitled "The representation of the ideological-political structure of the German fascist army in Pliviers novel Stalingrad." After graduating he worked until 1957 as a research assistant at the University and was also the editor of the student magazine, "Tua res", from 1957 to 1959. In 1960, Kant became a freelance writer and member of the Writers' Union of East Germany.

Writing career.

Kant's first book was published in 1962 as a collection of short stories entitled, "A Little South Seas". The book showed stylistic influences adopted from the American Short Story genre and authors such as O. Henry, giving the East German literature a new satirical and a plainly ironic style.  In his first novel, "The Aula" (1965), Kant described his own experiences at the "Workers and Peasants Faculty." In the book, the closure of the faculty is an occasion for a graduation, for which the main character is to deliver a speech, which determines the fate of their fellow students and thus a part of their own lives in the early days of East Germany. "Kant's most famous and best novel" made him famous overnight in both the East and the West, while the book also being considered controversial in both German states. In East Germany most viewed the book as a "partisan commitment" of Kantian protagonists devoted to the "socialist movement", Marcel Reich-Ranicki remarked that Kant was too timid to write about the real conditions that existed in East Germany.  In 1972, the novel was published in a second edition, where he perfected his writing style. The publication was always seen as a false depiction of parts of the East German cultural bureaucracy, and Kant was criticized for painting a misrepresentation of the social conflict. In 1976 he began developing the novel "Der Aufenthalt" in the Bildungsroman style. He tells the story of Mark Niebuhr, mistakenly labelled as a German war criminal. With the protagonist socialist Roman left Kant's "hero" with nothing to do. The story describes a "conversion" or "enlightenment", but also knowledge of "disenchantment". The writing was depicted in the 1983 DEFA film "The Turning Point".  In addition, Kant wrote occasionally scripts and screenplays, including for Günter Reisch's feature film "Ach du fröhliche..." (1962 - with supporting role) and, based on his own novel, turned into a made-for-TV movie; "Mitten im kalten Winter" (1968).  From the 1970s, Kant took despite its rather narrow view a "weighty significance" in the contemporary literature of East Germany, and had "helped shape minds." Heiner Müller described Kant's narrative "Bronze Age" (1986) in his autobiography as "the sharpest East German satire" which he had read in recent years. For many other colleagues, literary and social critic Kant was opposed to the "pattern and quintessential as maneuverable as windy compromise literati" become the bridge between conformism and confrontation; an impression that was reinforced by his vacillation as a literary functionary. So Kant remained in East and West "one of the most controversial figures in East German literature".

Hermann Kant (; June 14, 1926 – August 14, 2016) was a German writer noted for his writings during the time of East Germany. He won the Heinrich Mann Prize in 1967. He served the Stasi as an informer under the codename "IM Martin".

Hermann Kant (* 14. Juni 1926 in Hamburg; † 14. August 2016 in Neustrelitz) war ein deutscher Schriftsteller und ein Politiker der SED. Seine Bücher wurden in zahlreiche Sprachen übersetzt und erzielten in der DDR hohe Auflagen. Als sein Hauptwerk gilt das Buch "Die Aula". Kant hatte eine Reihe von Funktionen in der DDR inne: von 1981 bis 1990 war er Abgeordneter der Volkskammer der DDR und von 1986 bis 1989 Mitglied des ZK der SED.