Main content

When God was a Girl

Episode 1 of 3

Documentary about the history of women in religion, Bettany Hughes looks at the evidence in pre and early history of worship of goddess as both giver of life and killer.

Historian Bettany Hughes goes back to the beginning of time and visits the world's oldest religious site to find startling evidence that women were part of the very birth of organised religion. She visits a world where goddesses ruled the heavens and earth, and reveals why our ancestors thought of the divine as female. Travelling across the Mediterranean and the Near East, Bettany goes to remote places, where she encounters fearsome goddesses who controlled life and death. And she ends up in modern-day India, where the goddess is still a powerful force for thousands of Hindus. Immersing herself in the excitement of the Durga Puja festival, Bettany experiences goddess worship first-hand, and finds out what the goddess means to her devotees.

50 minutes

Last on

Sun 16 Mar 2014 20:10GMT

More episodes

Previous

You are at the first episode

See all episodes from Divine Women

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Bettany Hughes
Director Ruairi Fallon
Executive Producer Leonie Jameson

Broadcasts