United States,
10.1
,
10.2
,
aft.1
,
aft.2
,
nts.1
n3; Afghanistan war of,
13.1
; Army,
10.3
,
12.1
,
13.2
; Bosnia and,
13.3
; Civil War,
10.4
; in Cold War,
11.1
,
12.2
,
12.3
,
13.4
; Constitution of,
10.5
,
10.6
,
10.7
; drone aircraft of,
13.5
; Founders of,
10.8
,
10.9
,
10.10
; fundamentalism in,
11.2
,
11.3
,
aft.3
,
aft.4
; industrialization of,
10.11
; Iran and,
11.4
,
11.5
,
11.6
,
11.7
,
13.6
; Iraq War of,
13.7
; Islamist antagonism toward,
13.8
,
13.9
; Israel supported by,
13.10
,
13.11
; Lebanon and,
12.4
; Muslims in,
13.12
; Pakistan and,
13.13
; protest movements in,
11.8
; Saudi Arabia and,
13.14
; slavery in,
10.12
; terrorist attacks on,
itr.1
,
13.15
,
13.16
,
13.17
,
13.18

Unto This Last
(Ruskin)

Upanishads,
2.1
,
2.2
,
11.1

Ur (Sumer),
1.1
,
1.2
,
4.1
,
nts.1
n20

Urban II, Pope,
8.1
,
8.2
,
8.3
,
8.4
,
aft.1

Urban VI, Pope

Urban VIII, Pope,
9.1

urbanization,
2.1
,
5.1
,
5.2
,
12.1
; poverty and,
6.1
,
11.1
; premodern,
1.1
,
1.2
,
4.1
,
4.2
,
aft.1
;
see also names of cities

Uruk (Sumer),
1.1
,
1.2
,
1.3
,
1.4

Uthman,
7.1
,
7.2
,
7.3

Valerian,
5.1
,
5.2

Varanasi (India),
2.1
,
12.1

Varuna,
1.1
,
1.2

Varus, P. Quintilius,
5.1
,
5.2

Vayu (god of physical force)

Veblen, Thorstein

Vedas,
2.1
,
2.2
,
2.3
,
2.4
,
2.5
,
2.6
,
2.7
,
2.8
,
10.1
,
10.2
,
10.3

Venice,
8.1
,
9.1

Vietnam War,
itr.1
,
11.1

Vikings

Virginia,
10.1
; colonial,
10.2
,
10.3

Virginia Company,
9.1
,
10.1

Vishnu (Lord of the World),
2.1
,
11.1

Vitoria, Francisco de

Volga region (Russia)

Voltaire

Vratras

Vritra,
2.1
,
2.2
,
2.3

Vrtrahan

Wafd party,
11.1
,
11.2

Wahhabism
,
13.1
,
13.2
,
nts.1
n3

Waldenses

Waldman, Eliezer

Wallenstein, Albrecht von

Wampanoag tribe

War of Independence,
see
American Revolution

Wars of Religion,
itr.1
,
itr.2
,
9.1
,
9.2
,
aft.1
,
aft.2
; in France,
9.3
;
see also specific wars

War on Terror,
13.1
,
13.2

Way of Heaven,
3.1
,
3.2

Weber, Marianne

Weber, Max
, n17

Weeks, harvest festival of

Wei Valley,
3.1
,
3.2

West Bank,
11.1
,
11.2
,
12.1

Westermann, François-Joseph

Westminster Confession

Westphalia, Peace of,
9.1
,
10.1

World Council of Churches

World Islamic Front Against Zionists and Crusaders

World Trade Center (New York), terrorist attacks on,
13.1
,
13.2
,
13.3
,
13.4
,
13.5

Worms (Germany),
8.1
; Diet of,
9.1

Wotyla, Karol

Wu, Emperor

xenophobia,
4.1
,
aft.1
,
aft.2

Xia dynasty

Xunzi,
3.1
,
3.2

Yadavas,
2.1
,
2.2

Yahweh,
4.1
,
5.1
,
5.2
,
11.1
,
aft.1
,
nts.1
n20; accommodation to paganism of cult of,
4.2
,
4.1
; Assyria and,
4.3
; agrarian civilization opposed by,
4.4
; creation of Garden of Eden by,
4.5
,
4.6
; Moses and,
4.7
, 158; Persians and,
4.8
; ritual sacrifices to,
4.9
,
4.10
; wars ordained by,
4.11
,
4.12
,
5.3

Yale University,
10.1
,
10.2
,
10.3
,
10.4

Yam

Yamuna River

Yan Hui

Yao,
2.1
,
3.1
,
3.2
,
3.3
,
3.4

Yasa military code,
8.1
,
8.2

Yassin, Sheikh Ahmed,
12.1
,
12.2

Yathrib (Medina)

Yavneh

Yazid, Caliph,
7.1
,
11.1

Yellow Emperor
,
3.1
,
3.2
,
3.3

Yellow River,
2.1
,
3.1
,
3.2

Yemen,
7.1
,
7.2
,
12.1
,
13.1
,
13.2

Yiddish

Yohanan ben Zakkai, Rabbi,
5.1
,
5.2

Yugoslavia,
13.1
,
13.2

Zhao, King of Qin,
3.1
,
3.2
,
3.3

Zhou dynasty,
3.1
,
3.2
,
3.3
,
3.4

Zhuangzi

Zigong

Zionism,
10.1
,
11.1

Zoroaster,
1.1
,
2.1
,
4.1
,
aft.1

Zoroastrianism
,
1.1
,
4.1
,
6.1
,
6.2
,
7.1
,
7.2

Zwingli, Ulrich,
9.1
,
9.2

Zuckmayer, Carl

Zweig, Stefan

A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

K
AREN
A
RMSTRONG
is the author of numerous books on religion, including
The Case for God, A History of God, The Battle for God, Holy War, Islam, Buddha,
and
The Great Transformation,
as well as a memoir,
The Spiral Staircase.
Her work has been translated into forty-five languages. In 2008 she was awarded the TED Prize and began working with TED on the Charter for Compassion, created online by the general public and crafted by leading thinkers in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. It was launched globally in the fall of 2009. Also in 2008, she was awarded the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Medal. And in 2013, she received the British Academy’s inaugural Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Transcultural Understanding.

ALSO BY KAREN ARMSTRONG

Through the Narrow Gate

A History of God:

The 4,000–Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths

Islam: A Short History

Buddha

The Battle for God:
Fundamentalism in Judaism,
Christianity and Islam

The Spiral Staircase

A Short History of Myth

Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time

The Great Transformation:
The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions