Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-290) and index.

"From the time of human beginnings, holy words, chants, liturgy and narratives have enabled people to communicate the mysteries of the universe. Because of their great cultural significance, many bodies of liturgical composition survived oral transmission for centuries until calligraphers could write them on stone, parchment, or paper. The world's most sacred and influential writings are covered in this compendium. Entries are arranged alphabetically, from Adi Granth to Zand-Avesta, and include holy law (The White Roots of Peace), funeral prescriptions (the Tibetan Book of the Dead), ceremonies (the Lakota Black Elk Speaks), literature (Homeric hymns), hero stories (the Japanese Kojiki), word puzzles (the koans of Zen), Christ lore (the Apocrypha and the New Testament), matrices (I Ching and Tantra), and numerology (the Jewish Kabbala). Significant people and places are also covered, and a map locates the germ of sacred revelation and writing in sites all over the globe. A timeline of dateable events from the history of world scriptures names events in chronological order, from the beginnings of the I Ching in 2800 B.C.E. to the publication of a child's version of the Popul Vuh in C.E. 1999. The encyclopedia is comprehensively indexed with ample cross-referencing to assist researchers toward further study."--Jacket.

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