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8 results for "offering"

U_4_15 Credible Art, Music & Culture

U_4_15 — Ritual Objects and Votive Offerings: Material Culture of Devotion

Ritual objects — material things created, consecrated, or used in religious or ceremonial practice — and votive offerings — objects dedicated to a deity, saint, or supernatural power in fulfillment of a vow, in supplicat

ritual object votive offering ex-voto talisman amulet reliquary
C_3_10 Global Traditions

C_3_10 — Sacrifice and Offering Across Civilizations

Sacrifice — the ritual destruction or relinquishment of something valuable to establish, maintain, or restore a relationship with sacred powers — is arguably the most universal and foundational religious act in human his

sacrifice human sacrifice animal sacrifice offering Aztec Carthage
W_1_10 World Civilizations

W_1_10 — Greek Religion as Lived Practice

Greek religion as actually practiced bore little resemblance to the sanitized "mythology" familiar from modern retellings. It was not a coherent theological system but a complex ecology of ritual obligations embedded in

polis religion Eleusinian Mysteries Orphic rites Delphic Oracle Pythia mystery cults
C_1_12 Global Traditions

C_1_12 — Fire Symbolism, Sacred Flame, and the Theft of Fire

Fire is arguably the most transformative technology in human history — and the most universally sacralized natural phenomenon. The control of fire (~1.5 million years ago, Homo erectus) enabled cooking (which transformed

fire sacred flame Prometheus Agni Zoroastrian fire Atar
C_5_06 Global Traditions

C_5_06 — Mesopotamian Underworld — Ereshkigal and Kur

The Mesopotamian underworld — known as Kur, Irkalla, or the "Land of No Return" — represents one of humanity's earliest detailed conceptions of an afterlife realm. Unlike the moralized afterlives of later traditions (Egy

Ereshkigal Kur Irkalla Mesopotamian underworld Inanna descent Ishtar descent
C_5_28 Verified Global Traditions

C_5_28 — Ritual Sacrifice: Blood, Fire, and the Sacred Exchange

Ritual sacrifice — the deliberate destruction or offering of something valuable (animal, human, agricultural produce, wealth) to a divine or supernatural power — is one of the most universal and oldest documented human p

ritual sacrifice human sacrifice animal sacrifice scapegoat Aztec Inca
O_3_02 Earth Anomalies

O_3_02 — Sacred Water: Wells, Springs, and Purification Rites

Water occupies a unique position in human religious experience — simultaneously the substance of creation (primordial waters from which the cosmos emerged), the medium of purification (baptism, mikveh, wuḍūʾ), the portal

sacred water holy well sacred spring purification baptism mikveh
D_5_07 Sites & Artifacts

D_5_07 — Handbag / Knowledge Container Motif

One of the most puzzling cross-cultural motifs in ancient art: a "handbag" or bucket-shaped object appears in the hands of divine and semi-divine beings across civilizations separated by thousands of miles and thousands

handbag motif banduddû bucket purse knowledge container ME container