Tsukubai, a washbasin provided at the entrance to a holy place
In Japan, aĀ tsukubaiĀ (č¹²čø)Ā is a washbasin provided at the entrance to a holy place for visitors to purify themselves by the ritual washing of hands and rinsing of the mouth.Ā This type…
SanxingduiĀ (‘Three StarĀ Mound’)
Sanxingdui (Chinese: äøęå ; pinyin: SÄnxÄ«ngduÄ«; lit. ‘Three Star Mound‘) is an archaeological site and a major Bronze Age culture in modern Guanghan, Sichuan, China. Largely discovered in 1986, following a preliminary finding in 1927, archaeologists excavated artifacts that radiocarbon dating placed in the twelfthāeleventh centuries BC. The archaeological site is the type…
Asherah and Asherim notes
In the ancient Levant, doves were used as symbols for the Canaanite mother goddess Asherah. The Canaanite religion was the group of ancient Semitic religions practiced by the Canaanites living in the ancient Levant from at least the early Bronze Age through the first…
Seven heavens notes
InĀ religiousĀ or mythological cosmology, theĀ seven heavensĀ refer to seven levels or divisions of theĀ Heavens. The concept, also found in the ancientĀ Mesopotamian religions, can be found inĀ Judaism,Ā Christianity, andĀ Islam; a similar concept is also…
In Judaism, TheĀ Guf or Treasury of Souls is sometimes described as aĀ columbarium
In post-biblical Judaism, souls are envisioned as bird-like (BahirĀ 119), a concept that may be derived from the Biblical notion that dead spirits “chirp” (Isa. 29:4). TheĀ Guf, or Treasury of Souls,…
Doves are shown on cult objects associated with Inanna as early as the beginning of the third millennium BC
In ancientĀ Mesopotamia, doves were prominent animal symbols ofĀ Inanna-Ishtar, the goddess of love, sexuality, and war.Ā Doves are shown on cultic objects associated with Inanna as early as the beginning of the…
AĀ tzompantliĀ orĀ skull rackĀ was used for the public display ofĀ human skulls, typically ofĀ war captivesĀ or sacrificial victims
AĀ tzompantliĀ (Nahuatl pronunciation:Ā [tĶ”somĖpantĶ”ɬi]) orĀ skull rackĀ was a type of wooden rack or palisade documented in severalĀ MesoamericanĀ civilizations, which was used for the public display ofĀ human skulls, typically those ofĀ war captivesĀ or otherĀ sacrificial victims. It…
San Bernardino alle Ossa, Milan
San Bernardino alle Ossa is a church in Milan, northern Italy, best known for its ossuary, a small side chapel decorated with numerous human skulls and bones. In 1210, when an adjacent cemetery…
Catacombs of Lima, Peru
TheĀ Catacombs of LimaĀ (Spanish:Ā Catacumbas de Lima) are undergroundĀ ossuariesĀ in theĀ historic centreĀ ofĀ Lima,Ā Peru. TheĀ catacombsĀ were built under theĀ Basilica and Convent of San FranciscoĀ and currently function as aĀ museum. History In 1546, theĀ Franciscan orderĀ began construction of theĀ Basilica…
AnĀ arcosolium is an arched recess used as a place of entombment
AnĀ arcosolium, pluralĀ arcosolia, is an arched recess used as a place of entombment. The word is from LatinĀ arcus, “arch”, andĀ solium, “throne” (literally “place of state”) or post-classical “sarcophagus“.[dubiousĀ āĀ discuss] Early arcosolia were carved…
Chapel of Bones (Faro, Portugal)
The Capela dos Ossos (English: Chapel of Bones) is an ossuary chapel in Faro, Portugal, which belongs to the 18th century Carmelite church Nossa Senhora do Carmo. Above the entrance, there is the following inscription: PĆ”ra aqui a considerar…
TheĀ Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo
The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo (also Catacombe dei Cappuccini or Catacombs of the Capuchins) are burial catacombs in Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. Today they provide a somewhat macabre tourist attraction as well as an extraordinary historical record. Historical background Palermo’s Capuchin monastery outgrew its original cemetery in…
