Home›Polytheistic (Historical)›Status Today›Historical; not practised continuouslyBrowse ByHistorical; not practised continuouslyThis page groups religions by their current standing, from a thriving global faith to one with only a small surviving community. Wikipedia notes that the Mandaeans, for example, "are the last surviving Gnostics from antiquity," a status very different from a religion still actively converting new adherents. Browsing by status today lets a visitor tell a living, growing tradition apart from one that survives only as a small remnant.FactsLearn MoreHistorical; not practised continuouslySourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe many-deity religions of the ancient world, known from their own texts, temples, inscriptions and art, and no longer carried on as public state religion in their original form. 2Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedAncient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Etruria, the Hittites, Mesopotamia and Canaan, together with the Aztec, Maya and Inca religions of the Americas - whose descendant peoples are living communities today. 2StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedA standard historical grouping, with one thing worth saying about the word: polytheism was coined by monotheists for other people's religion, and none of the religions here thought of itself as a member of a class. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedReligions 1Learn MoreHistorical Polytheisms This group holds the historical polytheistic religions, the many-god religions of the ancient world that were once the established faiths of great civilisations and are no longer practised in their original form. They are known through their texts, monuments and the records of their neighbours. The browser will find the religions of ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia and other vanished worlds. The atlas describes each as a historical religion, reconstructed from the sources, and distinguishes it from any modern revival, which is classed separately.Historical; not practised continuouslyFilter Results17 entriesPlace of OriginAllAnatolia and Asia Minor (1)Ancient Rome (1)Assyria (1)Etruria (1)Greece (1)Rome (1)The Andes (1)Valley of Mexico (1)ScripturesAllAmduat (1)Book of Gates (1)Book of the Dead (1)Coffin Texts (1)Pyramid Texts (1)Where PractisedAllAnatolia and Asia Minor (2)Egypt (1)Etruria (1)Greece (1)Italy (1)Mesoamerica (1)Mesopotamia (1)The Andes (1)Origin EraAll-3500 (1)-3300 (1)-2300 (1)-2000 (1)-1750 (1)-1400 (2)-800 (2)-750 (1)-700 (1)-500 (1)-400 (1)-100 (1)32 (1)80 (1)1325 (1)Decline EraAll-1200 (2)-100 (2)350 (1)380 (3)1521 (1)1533 (1)Conception of the DivineAllPolytheistic: many gods (17)Closed Practice StatusAllClosed ceremonial knowledge, described but not reproduced (2)Discontinued as a state religion (9)Giving Obligation EnforceabilityAllCodified Obligation With Consequences (1)Kind of TraditionAllPolytheistic (Historical) (9)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 17Ancient Egyptian ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyAncient Greek ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyAztec ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyCanaanite ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyEtruscan ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyHittite ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyHurrian ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyInca ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyMesopotamian ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyMithraismHistorical; not practised continuouslyNabataean ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyNazca ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyPalmyrene ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyPhrygian ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyRoman ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslyThe Eleusinian MysteriesHistorical; not practised continuouslyZapotec ReligionHistorical; not practised continuouslySources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Encyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. PolytheismView the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.