Who are the Hindus? People living East of the Indus River. People were originally known as Hindos or Indos. Sanatana Dharma Many Hindus who would rather call the religion something different. They believe Hinduism is more than a religion. It is a culture, a way of life, and a code of behavior. Some Hindus use ‘Sanatana Dharma’ instead, which means eternal law. Eternal means forever and never ending. Laws are rules people have to live by. Indus Valley Civilsation Located in an area known as Pakistan and part of NW India. Farming from around 3200 BCE Cities began around 2500 BCE 100 settlements have been located along the Indus River Did the Indus Valley Religion? No site of a temple has been found. Religious artifacts reveal links to modern Hindu culture. Figures show what may be early representations of Shiva, a major Hindu god. Other figures relate to a mother goddess, fertility images, and the worship of the bull. All of these became part of later Indian civilisation. Who were the Ayrans? Around 1500 BCE a group of people descended onto the land that lies between the tributaries of the River Indus. These people were tall, fair skinned, prominent nosed, proud people who called themselves Aryans. They would have looked and spoke very differently to the native people of the Indus Valley. These invaders mixed with the Indus Valley people to create a new Indian civilisation. It is from this new civilisation that the religion of Hinduism was first formed. How did Hinduism begin? According to recent theories, the Indus Valley peoples migrated to the region of India near the River Ganges. The Aryan peoples also migrated from further north to the same area near the Ganges. The cultures and beliefs of these peoples mixed and became what we now know as Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma.

Where did Jesus live? Jesus lived in Palestine approximately 2000 years ago, at the start of the 1st century CE. During Jesus’ time Palestine was part of the Roman Empire What was life like in Palestine? Houses were normally small and simple, made of mud and bricks and consisting of 2-4 rooms.Most households would have owned animals such as sheep, donkeys, goats and cattle. Two meals a day was the norm, and the main food people ate was bread. Jewish merchants and traders could speak some Greek, but the primary language of the Palestinian Jews was Aramaic (a language closely related to Hebrew). Hebrew was also spoken widely. What was Jesus’ religion? Jesus was a Jew. The Jews were different from most others in the ancient world in that they believed there was only one God. The Jewish leaders did not like Jesus very much; they accused him of blasphemy (disrespecting God) because he did not deny claims that he was the Son of God. Evidence for the existence of Jesus TRANQUILUS SUETONIUS - He wrote about Jesus being responsible for disturbances in the Jewish community in Rome in his book, The Life of the Deified Claudius: “Christ urged on the Jews, who kept causing a disturbance, so Claudius sent them away from Rome.” FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS - Those who followed him thought he was God’s chosen leader. When he was condemned to the cross, he appeared alive at the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold.” CORNELIUS TACITUS - Tacitus provides an early non-Biblical account of Christians: “Nero blamed and tortured a group of people hated for their evil practices - a group popularly known as Christians. Christ Jesus, from whom this group took their name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, one of the Roman governors, during the reign of the Emperor Tiberius.” THE GOSPELS - The Gospels record many different things about Jesus and his life. They record miracles, teachings and key events that happened to Jesus THE TALMUD - “On the eve of the Passover they hanged Jesus. He practiced black magic and led Israel astray.” THE QUR’AN - The Quran recalls his miraculous birth, his teachings, the miracles he performed by God’s permission, and his life as a respected prophet of God. The Quran also repeatedly reminds that Jesus was a human prophet sent by God, not part of God Himself.