{"id":4689,"date":"2026-04-27T09:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T09:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/literature\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:05:19","slug":"literature","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/literature\/","title":{"rendered":"Literature"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Literature\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Literature, sources in religious studies<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Literature page collects sources in religious studies<\/span> for the lexicon, gathering the key sources<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t

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Literature<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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This bibliography brings together the central works on which the entries of the iWell Guard lexicon and encyclopedia rely. The selection is not exhaustive: a complete bibliography of the history of religion<\/span> would easily exceed the scope of the website itself.<\/p>

We name the works that count as the standard reference for a subject area and that serve us as the basis for the individual entries.<\/p>

The list is sorted by subject area: history of religion in general<\/strong>, demonology and mythology<\/span><\/strong>,

Anyone who wants to go deeper will find the specialised source references on the individual pages of the respective cultures, for example Egypt<\/a>, Greece<\/a>, Judaism<\/a>.<\/p>

Source hierarchy at iWell Guard<\/h3>

The bibliography is built on a three-tier source hierarchy. First, the standard works of religious studies<\/span><\/em>: monographic works by established authors that count as a reference point in academic research and are widely received through the German and English secondary literature.<\/p>

Second, the specialist literature on individual classes of beings or practices<\/em>: works with a clearly defined focus that serve as the main sources for the detail pages of the respective beings or practices.<\/p>

Third, the source editions in the history of religion<\/em>: critical editions of the most important primary texts, from the Maqlu<\/span> series (Abusch\/Schwemer) to the Lemegeton<\/span> (Peterson, Skinner\/Rankine).<\/p>

The individual detail pages on iWell Guard each refer to the works from this bibliography that are central to them. The bibliography is not complete; it lists only the works that were actually drawn upon in the iWell Guard documentation.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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History of religion (selection)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Burkert, Walter: Griechische Religion der archaischen und klassischen Epoche. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2nd revised edition 2011. Standard work on ancient Greek religion; covers cult<\/span>, myth<\/span>, the festival calendar, mysteries, and hero cult in a systematic way. The single most important reference for the entries on Greek beings.<\/p>

Eliade, Mircea: Geschichte der religi\u00f6sen Ideen, 3 volumes. Freiburg: Herder 1978, 1985 (original edition Paris 1976, 1983). A comparative history of religion from the Palaeolithic to the 20th century.<\/p>

Methodologically located in the phenomenology of religion, with the caveat that Eliade’s syntheses are now regarded in part as too smoothing over, but indispensable as an introduction and a cross-reference work.<\/p>

Frazer<\/span>, James George: The Golden Bough, A Study in Magic<\/span> and Religion. London: Macmillan 1922 (standard edition; first edition 1890).<\/p>

A classic of comparative religious studies<\/span>, in many respects methodologically outdated, but still relevant as a collection of material. We cite Frazer where comparative findings are at issue; Frazer’s methodological conclusions are not taken over unexamined.<\/p>

Smith, Jonathan Z.: Map Is Not Territory. Studies in the History of Religions. Leiden: Brill 1978. A methodological self-critique of comparative religious studies<\/span>; important for understanding what a comparative operation in the history of religion can and cannot achieve.<\/p>

Bremmer, Jan N.: Greek Religion. Oxford 1994. A concise, dense introduction to Greek religion; methodologically abreast of more recent research.<\/p>

Burkert, Walter: Homo Necans. Interpretationen altgriechischer Opferriten und Mythen. Berlin: de Gruyter 1997 (first edition 1972). A study on the anthropology of sacrifice<\/span>, important for understanding religious rites of violence in the Greek tradition<\/span>.<\/p>

Extended list: history of religion<\/h3>

Assmann, Jan: Moses der \u00c4gypter. Entzifferung einer Ged\u00e4chtnisspur<\/em>. Hanser, Munich 1998. A foundational work on the question of the monotheistic special path.<\/p>

Assmann, Jan: Tod und Jenseits im alten \u00c4gypten<\/em>. Beck, Munich 2001. Egyptian funerary religion from a comparative perspective.<\/p>

Bott\u00e9ro, Jean: La religion babylonienne<\/em>. Presses universitaires de France, Paris 1952. A classic standard work on Mesopotamian religion.<\/p>

Burkert, Walter: Anthropologie des religi\u00f6sen Opfers<\/em>. Carl Friedrich von Siemens Stiftung, Munich 1984. A phenomenology of religion of sacrifice.<\/p>

Eliade, Mircea: Geschichte der religi\u00f6sen Ideen<\/em>, 4 volumes. Herder, Freiburg 1978, 1991. A universal history of religion in four volumes.<\/p>

Heiler, Friedrich: Erscheinungsformen und Wesen der Religion<\/em>. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1961. Phenomenological religious studies<\/span>.<\/p>

Otto, Rudolf: Das Heilige<\/em>. Trewendt & Granier, Breslau 1917. A classic of the philosophy of religion tradition.<\/p>

Pauly, August \/ Wissowa, Georg: Realencyclop\u00e4die der classischen Altertumswissenschaft<\/em>, from 1894. The standard reference for ancient<\/span> mythology<\/span> and religion.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Demonology and mythology<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Russell, Jeffrey Burton: The Devil. Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity<\/span> to Primitive Christianity. Ithaca: Cornell University Press 1977. The first volume of the four-volume history of the concept of the devil; covers the ancient roots and the early Christian development.<\/p>

Russell, Jeffrey Burton: Lucifer. The Devil in the Middle Ages. Ithaca 1984. The second volume; medieval demonology, witch belief, scholastic syntheses.<\/p>

Walde, Christine (ed.): Der Neue Pauly. Enzyklop\u00e4die der Antike<\/span>. Stuttgart: Metzler 1996ff. A standard work on the ancient world with detailed articles on gods, heroes, demons<\/span>, spirits<\/span>, and religious practices; the single most important reference for all entries on Greco-Roman beings.<\/p>

West, Martin L.: Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Oxford 2007. Comparative mythology<\/span> of the Indo-European language family; systematically covers the cross-connections between the Vedic, Greco-Roman, Germanic, and Celtic traditions.<\/p>

Lurker, Manfred: Lexikon der G\u00f6tter und D\u00e4monen. Stuttgart: Kr\u00f6ner, 2nd expanded edition 1989. A concise reference work with keyword articles on gods and demons of all cultures; the most important aid for quick access in the lexicon style.<\/p>

Eliade, Mircea (ed.): The Encyclopedia of Religion. New York: Macmillan 1987 (16 volumes). An English-language standard work with detailed subject articles; supplements the coverage for the non-European traditions where the Neue Pauly is silent.<\/p>

Stuckrad, Kocku von: Geschichte der Astrologie. Munich: Beck 2003. A religious-studies classification of the Western astrology tradition; relevant for the interface between mythology<\/span> and ritual<\/span> practice.<\/p>

Extended list: research on