Homosexuality and religion supported them. Ancient religious texts such as the Vedas often refer to people of a third gender known as hijra, who are neither female nor male. Some see this third gender as an ancient parallel to modern western lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex identities. Hinduism has taken various positions, ranging from positive to neutral or antagonistic. Referring to the nature of Samsara, the Rigveda, one of the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism says 'Vikruti Evam Prakriti' (perversity/diversity is what nature is all about, or, what seems unnatural is also natural). A "third gender" has been acknowledged within Hinduism
Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament it assembled some of the most significant Ancient Near Eastern texts in authoritative, generously annotated English translations based on the accumulated insight of several generations of scholarship scattered". It is conventional to cite the work as ANET. ANEP refers to a companion volume "Ancient Near Eastern Pictures Relating to the Old Testament" (1st ed. 1954, 2nd ed. 1969), featuring 882 black and white designs and photos. An additional volume of supplementary texts and pictures was published in 1969 as ""The Ancient Near East: Supplementary Texts and Pictures Relating to the Old Testament"". An abridgement of ANET and ANEP was published