Monthly Archives: July 2023

Legends and Sagas   General  Northern European  Arabia  Baltic  Basque  Celtic  Eastern European  England  Finland  France  Germany  Greece  Iceland  Italy  Persia  Portugal  Roma (Gypsy)  Scandinavia  Spain  This section of sacred-texts archives the rich literature of Sagas and Legends. These are mostly (but not all) from Northern Europe, and primarily based on legendary events and people from the Middle Ages. Many of these narratives are based on archetypal stories that date even further back […]

The Babylonian Talmud Translated by Michael L. Rodkinson [1918] Book 1: Tract Sabbath Book 2: Tracts Erubin, Shekalim, Rosh Hashana Book 3: Tracts Pesachim, Yomah and Hagiga Book 4: Tracts Betzh, Succah, Moed Katan, Taanith, Megilla and Ebel Rabbathi or Semahoth Book 5: Tracts Aboth, Derech Eretz-Rabba, Derech Eretz-Zuta, and Baba Kama (First Gate) Book 6: […]

Judaism Tanakh  Talmud  Haggada  Kabbalah  Midrash  Haggadah  Prayer Books (Siddur)  Ancient/Medieval  Modern  Links Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) The Tanakh is the Hebrew Bible, the quintessential sacred text. The first five books of this comprise the Torah (or Pentateuch), the core sacred writings of the ancient Jews, traditionally written by Moses under divine inspiration.  Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). Unicode with vowels. Talmud and Mishna  The Babylonian Talmud Translated […]

  Journal Articles   Journals: IA   JA   JAOS   JPTS   JRAS   Mon.   OC Topics: Buddhism   Chinese   Christianity   Hinduism   Islam   Judaism   Zoroastrian These files are articles excerpted from a number of scholarly (and not-so-scholarly) journals. Many of them have been edited more or less extensively to remove both the untranslated text that often accompanies the translation and the more […]

Jainism Jain Texts  Jaina Sutras, Part I (Sacred Books of the East vol. 22) Translated from the Prakrit by Hermann Jacobi, 1884 Two Jain sacred texts, the Akaranga and Kalpa Sutras.  Jaina Sutras, Part II (Sacred Books of the East vol. 45) Translated from the Prakrit by Hermann Jacobi, 1884 Two Jain sacred texts, the Uttaradhyayana Sutra and Sutrakritanga. […]

Shiite Documents   Not many primary Shiite texts were translated into English during the 19th century. The following are translations of Shiite documents, prepared by a volunteer for sacred-texts [TJ]. The views expressed are those of the translator, and the translations are presented without any editing. The copyright status of these texts is dubious, so […]

Islam Qur’an  Hadith  Sufi Texts  Islamic History and Culture Islamic Date PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT NOTE Qur’an The Qur’an is the primary text of Islam, revealed to the Prophet Muhammed beginning in the year 610 C.E. It was canonicalized between 644 and 656. The Qur’an is required reading for anyone who wants to understand Islam. Qur’an means “The […]

I Ching        The I Ching James Legge, tr. Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16 [1899]   Contents    Start Reading The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is the most widely read of the five Chinese Classics. The book was traditionally written by the legendary Chinese Emperor Fu Hsi (2953-2838 B.C.). It is possible […]

The Indian Stories of F.W. Bain     The Indian Stories of Francis William Bain (b. 1863, d. 1940) were published early in the 20th century. They purport to be translations of unidentified manuscripts. However, these books are not directly derived from Hindu texts or traditions. Bain was eventually unveiled as a writer of orientalist fantasies, but […]