Free Republic

Students stand on a temple at the Zultepec-Tecoaque archeological site in Tlaxcala state, Mexico Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. New excavations here, the site of one of the Spanish conquistadors' worst defeats in Mexico, are yielding new evidence about what happened when two cultures clashed, and the native Mexicans, at least temporarily, were in control. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was one of the worst defeats in one of history's most dramatic conquests: Only a year after Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico, hundreds of people in a Spanish-led convey were captured, sacrificed and apparently eaten. Excavations at a site just east...

The population is equally divided between Christian (Coptic Christians, Ethiopian Orthodox, Roman catholic and Lutheran protestants) and Muslim religions. The population of the high plateau (Asmara) is predominantly Christian, whereas that of the lowlands and the coast are predominantly Muslim. Despite contrasts between the Muslim and Christian religions and the potential for conflict, both religious groups have managed to live together in harmony and in peace. There is also a small community of Kunamas (Gash-Setit), who practice their own traditional religion, centered around worship of Anna, the creator, and veneration of ancestral heroes. The conversion of Axum to Christianity dates...