Ancient (before AD 500)
- See culture hero for legendary founders of doubtful historicity.
| Name | Religious tradition founded | Life of founder |
|---|---|---|
| Naram-Sin of Akkad | first known ruler to impose an imperial cult | 22nd century BC (short chronology) |
| Ur-Nammu | built the Ziggurat of Ur to Nanna | 21st century BC (short chronology) |
| Abraham | Blood-right of inheritance for Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and more recently Baha'i | approx. 2000 - 1800 BC |
| Akhenaten | Atenism | 14th century BC (conventional Egyptian chronology) |
| Moses | Judaism, Samaritanism | approx. 12 century BC |
| Various Rishis | composed the hymns of the Rigveda foundational to historical Vedic religion | second half of 2nd millennium BC |
| Solomon | Israelite king who built the first Temple in Jerusalem to Yahweh. | 10th century BC (For Solomon's historicity, see Solomon#Historical figure) |
| Parshva | The penultimate (23rd) Tirthankara in Jainism | 877–777 BCE |
| Zoroaster | composed the gathas foundational to Zoroastrianism | c. 11th to 9th c. BC |
| Numa Pompilius | Roman king who codified and organized the Roman religion | 717 BC – 673 BC |
| Laozi | Taoism | 6th c. BC |
| Nebuchadnezzar II | built the Etemenanki, established Marduk as the patron deity of Babylon | 6th c. BC |
| Mahavira | The final Tirthankara in Jainism | 599–527 BCE |
| Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha | Buddhism | ca. 5th c. BC |
| Confucius | Confucianism | 551 BC – 479 BC |
| Pythagoras | Pythagoreanism | fl. 520 BC |
| Mozi | Mohism | 470 BC – 390 BC |
| Ezra HaSofer | established Second Temple Judaism | fl. 459 BC |
| Epicurus | Epicureanism | fl. 307 BC |
| Zeno of Citium | Stoicism | 333 BC – 264 BC |
| Patanjali | Raja Yoga (part of Hinduism) | 2nd century BC |
| Jesus | Christianity | ca. 5 - 4BC - ca. 33 AD |
| Paul the Apostle and Saint Peter | Pauline Christianity | 1st century |
| James the Just | Jewish Christianity | 1st century |
| Judah haNasi | Talmudic Rabbinical Judaism | 2nd century AD |
| Nagarjuna | Madhyamaka | 150–250 |
| Plotinus | Neoplatonism | 205–270 |
| Marcion of Sinope | Marcionism | 110–160 |
| Mani | Manichaeism | 210–276 |
| Arius | Arianism | 250–336 |
| Pelagius | Pelagianism | 354–430 |
| Nestorius | Nestorianism | 386–451 |
| Eutyches | Monophysitism | 380–456 |
Read more about this topic: List Of Founders Of Religious Traditions
Famous quotes containing the word ancient:
“There was about all the Romans a heroic tone peculiar to ancient life. Their virtues were great and noble, and these virtues made them great and noble. They possessed a natural majesty that was not put on and taken off at pleasure, as was that of certain eastern monarchs when they put on or took off their garments of Tyrian dye. It is hoped that this is not wholly lost from the world, although the sense of earthly vanity inculcated by Christianity may have swallowed it up in humility.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)