Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World

(Sean Pound) #1
897




▶ sacred sites


introduction
Probably the fi rst sacred sites were aspects of the natural world
that people identifi ed with the supernatural. Large forma-
tions, such as big rock outcrops, mountains, lakes, and rivers,
all could serve as impressive sources of spiritual power. Moun-
tains are imposing not only because of their size but also be-
cause they seem closer to the sky. Many cultures have placed
shrines or altars atop mountains in the belief that people could
be better heard by gods when they were nearer the sky than
when they were at the bases of mountains. Rock outcrops of-
ten have the advantage of having faces on which sacred images
could be painted or carved, allowing people to show in their
images what is special about the sacred place. Lakes and riv-
ers frequently are associated with the life force, because water
is believed to be part of the life force; aft er all, people quickly
die without water. Lakes and rivers were thought to have gods
dwelling in them, and many ancient peoples made sacrifi ces to
lakes and rivers in the hope of making the gods there happy or
to persuade the gods to help with crops or wars.
A place in a dense forest where light cannot penetrate
past the branches and leaves of trees could be construed as
a place where forest spirits would gather or dwell. Shrines in
such places might not have survived if they were wooden or
consisted of no more than the space among the trees, but his-
torical records suggest that ancient cultures in Europe, Af-
rica, Asia, and America had such places, where good and evil
spirits were thought to dwell.
Sacred places can be associated with historical events or
important people. Where a special person received enlight-

enment about the supernatural or spoke with spirits can be-
come a holy place to which the faithful will make pilgrimages.
Shrines could be built to mark locations where a single reli-
gious leader received or proclaimed divine k nowledge over his
or her lifetime, with the shrines marking stations for religious
pilgrimages of the followers of the religious leader or of the re-
ligion of which the religious leader’s revelations became a part.
Th e locations of great battles that were important sites in my-
thology sometimes were commemorated with altars, shrines,
temples, or tombs. Th ere were so many such places that some
ancient people wrote tour guides to the sacred sites.
Otherwise ordinary places could be made sacred by
people. One way was to deposit a sacred relic, such as a frag-
ment of hair, bones, fi ngernail clippings, or a personal item
worn or used by a sacred or holy person. Great mounds could
be built over the relics, or temples could be erected to house
them. Another way to make a place sacred was through ritual.
Sometimes ancient cities were made sacred and even objects
of worship by depositing icons of gods in central temples or
through ritual blessings of the cities. Sometimes the ground
on which a city was to be built was consecrated through ritu-
als, making the new city a sacred place that was set apart from
the ordinary world.

AFRICA


BY ROBERT SHANAFELT


Sacred sites in ancient Africa include special areas of the nat-
ural landscape such as mountains, caves, forests, and springs
and human constructions such as mounds, tombs, and pyra-
mids. Th e continent contains some of the oldest sites in the

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