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The Sorcerer depicts a humanoid figure with antlers and animal features that has been interpreted as a shaman in ritual trance. It features the merging of human and animal forms, representing early and evolving views of indwelling spirit facilitated through articulated spiritual transformation and communication with the otherworldly. It is located in the Cave of the Trois-Frères, Ariège, France. (c. 13,000 BCE)

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The White Lady, a prehistoric rock painting created by a San shaman who lived thousands of years ago, is located in the Brandberg Mountains of Namibia. While formerly interpreted as a woman, the figure is now seen as a male spiritual specialist, either in trance or in some form of ritual dance, surrounded by animals and other figures. Instead of free decorating or creating art, the painting was a spiritual record, thus facilitating contact with supernatural forces. (c. 2000 BCE)

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This limestone statue of Pharaoh Senusret III portrayed him as an unusually lifelike, intense subject, in a break from the typical idealized royal imagery. Wearing the nemes headdress and adorned with the traditional royal insignia, the statue suggests that Senusret III embodied divine authority and a cosmic role as the protector of Egypt. Pieces like this were often symbolic of the king having supernatural powers and more importantly projected him as a mediator for gods and people. The statue is now located at the Egypt Museum in Cairo but was originally in Karnak Temple. (c. 1878 -1839 BCE)

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Statue of Senusret III Wearing the Nemes Headdress

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Statue of Senusret III Wearing the Nemes Headdress

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The Sed Festival reliefs created by temple artisans, commemorate Pharaoh Amenemhat III's ritual act of renewing kingship indicating divine regeneration and eternal kingship. Most of the reliefs are of the king in a sacra regalia performing sacred ritual acts which demonstrate the idea of kingship in super-natural terms as a cosmic duty that renews itself, important for sustaining balance and wealth. It is located in Hawara, Egypt. (c. 1855 BCE)

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Sed Festival Reliefs of Pharaoh Amenemhat III 

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Sed Festival Reliefs of Pharaoh Amenemhat III 

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The Mahabodhi Temple is located at the Buddha’s enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree. The stupa with its tall towers and symmetrical plan, represent the universe’s cosmic order, and the path to liberation.  The architecture was designed to embody the divine transformation that took place there  not merely commemorate it. The Architect is unknown but it was funded by Emperor Ashoka. (Originally made in 3rd Century BCE)

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The Great Buddha Hall of Todaiji is home to an immense bronze figure of Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha. The statue was created for Emperor Shōmu, and the temple it resided in represented the spiritual and political unity of his rule under divine authority. The great scale of the hall and the sacred purpose of the building connected the emperor to Buddhist cosmology, presenting his agency as a protector of dharma and divine representative. The temple is in Nara, Japan and was completed in 752 CE.

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Located in Nigeria, the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove is a forest sanctuary devoted to the Yoruba goddess of fertility, healing, and protection, Osun. The landscape is dotted with shrines and sculpture, forming a living spiritual web. This sacred site brings together art, architecture, ritual and nature, creating an entry point between the human and the divine. According to Yoruba belief, the grove is alive spiritually, and rituals carried out here restore the balance between people, their ancestors and their deities. It is still a primary place for visualizing and experiencing supernatural powers. ( created in the 14th-19th century)

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Located in Sudan, the Temple of Mut is carved into the foot of Jebel Barkal, a mountain that was holy to both Egyptians and to Nubians. The temple is dedicated to the lion-headed goddess Mut, and was thought to be constructed at the literal place of the gods. The architectural intention combines natural rock with a constructed sacred area, emphasizing that the heavens that the gods reside in come from the land. (c. 680-660 BCE)

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The tomb of Queen Amanishakheto, provides evidence of the Nubian worldview of divine kingship and the capacity for supernatural change after death. Amanishakheto's burial included gold amulets, and paraphernalia with images of deities directed to her body which were supposed to protect and endow her with the power of the afterlife .Debatably the most iconic images in her regalia are representations of Egyptian deities such as Sekhmet and Isis, that represents a spiritual blending of African and Egyptian cosmologies. Historian László Török explains that the Nubian royal tombs are not simply a burial but an entry point beyond this earthly realm and the possibility of being defined as ancestral or if the tomb is divine, not human. It is located in Meroë, Sudan. (c. 1st century BCE)

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The Tomb of the Meroitic Queen Amanishakheto

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The Tomb of the Meroitic Queen Amanishakheto

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Han noblemen were buried in garments made of hundreds of jade plaques sewn together to cover their entire body. Jade was thought to preserve the spirit and protect the body from corrupting. This insurance, or divine protection, should guarantee immortality in the next world. The jade burial suits demarcated the dead as sacred and untouchable, transforming them into removed beings in perpetuity while visually documenting belief in life after death and spiritual rebirth. They're located in tombs across northern China. (c. 2nd Century BCE)

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The Borgia Mappa Mundi is not a geographic map in the modern sense; it is a visual cosmology. It places Jerusalem in the center, rings the world with symbolic zones, and portrays heaven, hell, and superhuman beings together with biblical history. The map demonstrates the medieval Christian belief in divine order of both space and time. According to art historian David Woodward, medieval mappae mundi were created "to instruct the soul", not just to navigate the land. It is currently located in the Vatican Library. (c. 1450 CE)

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The Dendera Zodiac is a circular star map, carved into the ceiling of a sacred temple. It combines notions of Egyptian gods, astrological signs, and constellations envisioned as divine order in the cosmos. This relief was used to determine sacred festivals and spiritual alignments, so that celestial cycles could be instituted into religious practice. It is located in the Temple of Hathor, Dendera, Egypt. (c. 50 BCE)

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Shiva is shown with a perfectly proportioned, rhythmic body, caught mid-dance in a ring of fire, a cosmic ballet signifying creation, destruction, and transcendence. His gestures (mudras) offer devotees protection from fear and ignorance, and the dwarf at his feet symbolizes ignorance conquered by the knowledge of the divine. Scholars reference the Nataraja as “the clearest image of the God who is both being and becoming,” and the ideal body represents the divine energy in human form. It is located in Tamil Nadu, India. (c. 11th Century CE)

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The Tlatilco Duality Figurine depicts a female figure that has two faces molded into one body, potentially representing duality and supernatural Balancing. Ex: life and death, body and spirit, or visible and invisible worlds. The figurine's wide hips suggest fertility, a sign of the sacred life-force, in some Mesoamerican cultures. Archaeologist Michael Coe considered these figurines visual metaphors for the cosmic oppositions in existence. Coe interpreted the body as a spiritual container of metaphysical forces. It is located in Central Mexico. (c. 1200–600 BCE)

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Lamu Old Town is a dynamic sacred city where Islamic spirituality informs architecture and social order. The urban design infuses key mosques into each residential area, embedding sacred rhythms into daily life. The intertwined narrow back lanes of Lamu Old Town are riddled with carved doors, Qur’anic verses, and symbols of protection, turning these spaces into acts of worship. Located in Lamu Island, Kenya. (c. 14th century CE -present)

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Teotihuacan, or "City of the Gods," was structured to act as a cosmic mirror. The Avenue of the Dead, along with pyramids, was orientated spatially in relation to celestial movements. Territorial and celestial orientation was significant in Mesoamerica because it framed sacred time and space. The Pyramid of the Sun may have functioned as a hinge, or spiritual axis, and may have been constructed above a sacred cave that some believe symbolized the womb of the earth.  Located in the Valley of Mexico. (c. 100 BCE - 550 BCE )