Esther's photos with the keyword: sacred

"Venerated and often mummified by Ancient Egyptians as a symbol of the god Thoth, the ibis was, according to Herodotus and Pliny the Elder, also invoked against incursions of winged serpents. Herodotus wrote: There is a region moreover in Arabia, situated nearly over against the city of Buto, to which place I came to inquire about the winged serpents: and when I came thither I saw bones of serpents and spines in quantity so great that it is impossible to make report of the number, and there were heaps of spines, some heaps large and others less large and others smaller still than these, and these heaps were many in number. The region in which the spines are scattered upon the ground is of the nature of an entrance from a narrow mountain pass to a great plain, which plain adjoins the plain of Egypt; and the story goes that at the beginning of spring winged serpents from Arabia fly towards Egypt, and the birds called ibises meet them at the entrance of this country and do not suffer the serpents to go by but kill them. On account of this deed it is (say the Arabians) that the ibis has come to be greatly honored by the Egyptians, and the Egyptians also agree that it is for this reason that they honor these birds. In more mythical stories, it was also said that the flies that brought pestilence died immediately upon propitiatory sacrifices of this bird" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_sacred_ibis LIMG 1339

The Terrace of the Lions in Delos Greece which was dedicated to Apollo by the Naxos people before 600 BC originally had between nine and twelve marble guardian lions along the Sacred Way. The remaining orginial lions have been removed to the Delos Archelogical Museum and what remains outdoors exposed to the elements are copies. AIMG_3607 AIMG_3607

Inside the Tibetan monastery at Swayambhunath, the Monkey Temple, located on a hill overlooking the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. Swayambhunath is an ancient religious complex consisting of a stupa, a number of shrines and temples and a Tibetan monastery, museum and library. ODT: Diagonal AIMG_0354

A lion guards Swayambhunath, the Monkey Temple which looks over the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal AIMG_0378

Rhesus monkey at Swayambhunath, the Monkey Temple located on a hill overlooking the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. Swayambhunath is an ancient religious complex consisting of a stupa, a number of shrines and temples and a Tibetan monastery, museum and library. AIMG_0316