In the beginning, there was... something. But when exactly was the beginning of that something? And where did these beginnings begin?
A person's religion isn't just a set of beliefs — it's the result of complex geopolitical and societal shifts that occurred as the world's major faiths were born, grew, fought for supremacy (or harmony, occasionally) and spread across the globe over millennia. To help visualize this evolution, Maps of War created a short animation of 5,000 years of religious history:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
What's behind Trump's last-minute merch push?Today's Big Question With just weeks to go before the election, Donald Trump is spending the waning days of his campaign hawking a suite of new products, from silver coins to cryptocurrency
-
Kamala Harris' plan to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthythe explainer Tweaks, rather than sweeping overhauls, characterize the Democratic nominee's proposals
-
Rowan Jacobsen's 6 favorite books that explore our relationship with foodFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Harold McGee, Kristin Kimball, and more
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation courtSpeed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
-
Anders Breivik to testify in prison isolation lawsuit against NorwaySpeed Read Far-right fanatic who killed 77 people in 2011 claims he has received 'inhuman treatment' in custody
