Radio Times: Review by:; Claire Webb

When Victorian archaeologists dug up figurines of female deities, they hurriedly buried them again in the backrooms of museums, disgusted. Thank goodness Bettany Hughes has taken it upon herself to dust off these shamefully forgotten women, along with the female torchbearers and disciples also consigned to history’s sidelines, and restore them to their rightful place at the heart of religion.

Her crusade begins in south-east Turkey in the oldest religious building in the world – a temple that pre-dates Stonehenge by 7,000 years – where she finds a foxy lady among the prehistoric carvings. From there, Hughes heads west to admire the fabulously buxom sculptures unearthed in the Neolithic city of Catal Huyuk.

About this programme

1/3. Bettany Hughes traces the history of women in religion, and argues it has often been ignored or hidden despite its importance to the development of spiritual traditions. She begins by visiting the world's oldest religious site and finds women were present at the earliest days of organised religion. The historian explores why the divine was often thought of as female, and attends a Hindu Durga Puja festival to experience goddess worship first-hand.