It is the traditions that are about death that give the earliest evidence of religious beliefs. Scientists have discovered that 120,000 years ago, Neanderthal people started burying their dead. Early Homo sapiens put tools and other things into graves with the bodies, as if they could use them in the afterlife. From 40,000 years ago, many of the objects in graves are small artworks. Scientists believe that these objects were put there for religious reasons.
An institution is one name for an organization. Many religions have organizations that manage the way that people who follow the religion are to act. The organization might employ religious leaders, educate people into the ideas of the religion, manage money, own buildings and make rules. Many religions have sub-groups which are called denominations. In Islam, for example, there is Ahmadiyya, Sunnism, Shi'ism and Sufism.
Most religions have special buildings where people meet. They are often called temples. In Judaism, they are called synagogues. In Christianity, they are called churches. In Islam, they are called mosques. In Buddhism there are pagodas, temples and monasteries. In Hinduism they are called Mandirs. People often try to make their religious building as beautiful as possible. Some religious buildings are great works of architecture.
People often make artworks that are about their religion, or that are used in religious celebration, or are put in a religious building. Religious art comes in all shapes and sizes, from tiny pieces of jewellery to huge statues and paintings. Artworks often give important clues to historians about different ancient religions that are not well understood.
Music is often important in religious celebrations. Singing, chanting and playing musical instruments are often part of regular religious gatherings of people. Special music is often used on special occasions. Many famous composers have written religious music. The words of songs that are 3,000 years old are used every day in Christian churches and Jewish synagogues.
Roman
Roman or Romans may refer to:
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936) was an British author and poet. He was born in Bombay, India. He wrote children's fiction, like "Kim", "The Jungle Book" and "Puck of Pook's Hill". He also wrote the well-known poems, "If —" and "Gunga Din", and many short stories set in India. He was awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize in Literature. He spent part of his life living and writing in New England with his American wife but returned to England to live in Sussex.
Kipling died of a perforated duodenal ulcer in Fitzrovia, London in 1936 and is buried in Westminster Abbey, London.
Recreation
Recreation or fun is a person's time of refreshing his or her body and mind.
There are many different forms of recreation which are shaped by individual interests and by environment; a few examples being reading, playing or listening to music, watching movies or TV, gardening, hunting, hobbies, sports, studies, and travel. These activities are just some of a wide variety of recreation activity available in day to day life.
Public places such as parks and beaches are very important for many recreational activities. Tourism profession has recognized long ago that many of their clients are specifically attracted by recreational offerings.
Red
Red is the color that is on the outside edge of the rainbow. It is one of the three primary colors, along with blue and yellow. Red light has a wavelength between 630-740 nanometers.
It is sometimes used to mark things that are wrong, important or dangerous.
Red is also commonly used as a warning to stop.
Raw food
Foods are raw when they are not cooked.
Most things are good to eat raw, but some can be poisonous.
There's currently no solid evidence to suggest that raw food is more healthy than cooked food.
Raw food can sometimes make people sick because of bacteria which would otherwise be destroyed by cooking.
Ram
Ram can mean:
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the largest empire of the ancient world. Its capital was Rome, and its empire was based in the Mediterranean. The Empire dates from 27 BC, when Octavian became the Emperor, or Augustus, until it fell in 476 AD, marking the end of the Ancient World and the beginning of the Middle Ages, or Dark Ages.
The empire was the third stage of Ancient Rome. Rome was first ruled by Roman kings, then by the Roman Republic, then by an emperor.
Augustus Caesar ruled the Roman Republic and Roman Empire so Rome was a republic before it was an empire.
Tiberius Caesar ruled Rome as also and appointed Pontius Pilate.
Many modern lands were once part of the Roman Empire, for example Britain (not Scotland), Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Egypt, Levant, Crimea, Switzerland, and the north coast of Africa. The main language of the Roman Empire was Latin with Greek as an important secondary language, especially in the Eastern provinces of the Empire.
The western half of the Roman Empire lasted for about 500 years till the barbarian general Odoacer deposed its final emperor Romulus Augustus. On the other hand, the eastern half, consisting of the Balkans, Anatolia, The Levant and Egypt, continued for about a thousand years more (the Levant and Egypt were lost to the Arabs in the 8th century). The eastern part was called the Byzantine Empire. Its capital was Constantinople, now called Istanbul.
In order to control their large empire, the Romans developed important ideas about law and government. They developed the best army in the world at that time, and ruled by force. They had fine engineering, and built roads, cities, and outstanding buildings. The Empire was divided into provinces, each with a governor plus civil and military support. Letters, both official and private, would constantly go to and from Rome.
Trade was most important for Rome, a city of more than a million people, by far the largest city in the world. They needed, and got, wheat from Egypt, tin from Britannia, grapes from Gaul, and so on. In return, the Romans built provincial capitals into fine cities, protected them from raids by barbarians, and provided education and career opportunities for young people in the provinces, such as jobs in the Roman Army.
In principle, emperors had absolute control, and could do as they pleased. In practice, they faced many difficult problems. They had a staff of what we call 'civil servants' and the advice of the Roman Senate. The emperor had to decide what were the most important issues facing the Empire, and what should be done about them. Most of them tried to do two sorts of thing. One was to do things to improve the life of Romans in peacetime. The other was to fight and defeat Rome's enemies. A wealthy empire always has enemies.
With kings and emperors, a big problem is the order of succession. Kings were sometimes followed by their eldest son, if he was capable of ruling. For Roman emperors, more often it would be an adopted son. It worked like this. The emperor would notice an outstanding young man from one of the best families. He would adopt him as his son. Before he died he would make clear whom he thought should succeed him, by making him a Roman consul, or by stating in his will that the younger man should succeed him. Sometimes this worked; sometimes it did not. Every now and then there would be a civil war between claimants to the throne.
An adopted son or two gave the emperor more choices. Some emperors had no son; some had sons who did not survive. Later on, emperors grew so weak that the Roman army would just pick one of their generals to be the next emperor. This often led to civil war. The life stories of the emperors can be found in List of Roman emperors.