This monumental, four-volume reference overviews significant events and developments in religious history over the course of more than five millennia.Written for high school students, undergraduates, and general readers interested in the history of world religions, this massive reference chronicles developments in religious history from 3500 BCE through the 21st century. The set comprises four volumes, treating the ancient world from 3500 BCE through 499 CE, 500 through 1399, 1400 through 1849, and 1850 through 2009. Each volume includes hundreds of brief entries, arranged chronologically and then further organized by region and religion. The entries provide fundamental information on topics ranging from the neolithic Ggantija temples near Malta through the election of Mary Douglas Glasspool as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in 2009. Global in scope and encyclopedic in breadth, this chronology of world religions is an essential purchase for all libraries concerned with the development of human civilization.