Project Gutenberg 2003-12-01 Public domain in the USA. 246 Lord, John 1810 1894 Beacon Lights of History, Volume 01: The Old Pagan Civilizations E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Charlie Kirschner, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team "Beacon Lights of History, Volume 01: The Old Pagan Civilizations" by John Lord is a historical account written in the late 19th century. The book explores ancient civilizations, specifically focusing on their religions, beliefs, and societal structures, including those of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and the development of Brahmanism and Buddhism in India. It aims to provide a coherent understanding of how these early religious systems influenced subsequent cultures, particularly in relation to modern belief systems. The opening of the work introduces Lord's intention to summarize the substantial knowledge of these ancient civilizations while presenting a view of their religions as influences on character and morality. Lord emphasizes the importance of understanding these pagan religions, noting that they initially reflect pure monotheistic ideals that became complex and often corrupted over time. He outlines the polytheistic beliefs of the Egyptians, the dualism in Persian religion, and the eventual rise of Buddhism as a reform against Brahmanism. This foundation sets the stage for the detailed examination of how these religions have shaped human civilization and philosophical thought. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 55.5 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read. en History, Ancient D Text Paganism Children's History Category: History - Ancient Category: History - Religious 532056 2025-08-05T03:44:56.893539 text/html 509134 2020-12-19T22:44:37 text/html 1309778 2025-08-05T03:45:06.639081 application/epub+zip 1313341 2025-08-05T03:45:00.612101 application/epub+zip 260355 2025-08-05T03:44:59.204054 application/epub+zip 1627716 2025-08-05T03:45:11.422033 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1590210 2025-08-05T03:45:05.374072 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 440945 2022-09-05T08:13:13.195507 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 494201 2025-08-05T03:44:55.957605 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 474207 2024-10-28T17:50:36 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 495391 2020-12-19T22:44:37 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 495396 2020-12-19T22:44:37 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 21340 2025-08-05T03:45:11.577012 application/rdf+xml 25708 2025-08-05T03:44:59.735030 image/jpeg 4927 2025-08-05T03:44:59.469034 image/jpeg 183617 2020-12-19T22:44:37 application/octet-stream application/zip 2198155 2020-12-19T22:44:37 application/octet-stream application/zip 183546 2020-12-19T22:44:37 application/octet-stream application/zip 1310946 2025-08-05T03:44:56.969539 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia