Delphi

Archaeological Sites in Central Region, Greece

Nestled in the forests of sacred Mt. Parnassus are the ruins of Delphi, the supreme oracle site of the ancient Mediterranean. Archaic legends mention a holy place of the earth goddess Gaia, whose shrine was guarded by her daughter, the serpent Python. Killing the serpent, Apollo erected an oracular temple on the site of the earlier shrine. Orienting its axis to align with the solstices, he placed an omphalos stone in the inner sanctum of temple, at the exact place where he had speared the serpent. The 'spearing' of the serpent may be interpreted as the marking of an area of energetic power and the omphalos was used to gather, concentrate and emanate those energies.

Women, considered more sensitive than men to these energies, would sit near the omphalos stone, enter a visionary trance and pronounce oracles. Plutarch, a Greek philosopher, spoke of sweet smelling geologic fumes, known as pneuma, which inspired divine frenzies. Until recently this matter was considered to be a fabrication from post-Delphic times. During the late 1990’s however, scientists proved the ancient legends to be accurate. The oracular temple is situated at the intersection of two geological faults, from which issue methane, ethane and ethylene fumes. Ethylene, a psycho-active gas, produces feelings of euphoria and visionary insight. Further adding to the intrigue of Delphi is its location along that remarkable alignment of sacred sites stretching 2500 miles from Skellig Michael to Mt. Carmel.

Archaeologically little is known about the beginnings of Delphi. Excavations have revealed a Mycenean village from 1500 BC, with an oracular cult of the Earth Goddess. Around 1000 BC the worship of Apollo became dominant, the use of the site was continued by politically astute priests, and Delphi achieved Pan-Hellenic fame by the 7th century BC. Exercising political and social influence for a thousand years, the Delphic oracle was in decline by the 1st century AD and its last recorded oracle was in 362 AD.

Temple of the Inscriptions

Archaeological Sites in Mexico

Vast, mysterious and enchanting, the ruined city of Palenque is considered to be the most beautifully conceived of the Mayan city-states and one of the loveliest archaeological sites in the world. Its geographic setting is splendid beyond words. Nestled amidst steep and thickly forested hills, the ruins are frequently shrouded in lacy mists. A rushing brook meanders through the city center and from the temple summits there are stupendous views over an immense coastal plain. Here and there, piercing the dark green forests, soar great pyramids, towers and sprawling temple complexes. In its period of cultural florescence Palenque was even more beautiful, for then its limestone buildings were coated with white plaster and painted in a rainbow of pastel hues. Hidden deeply in the jungles, the ruin's existence was unknown until 1773. Even then, Palenque was rediscovered and lost several times until 1841 when the explorers John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, with their evocative writings and splendid drawings, introduced this jewel of Mayan architecture to the world.

Scattered pottery shards show that the site was occupied from as early as 300 BC, but most of the buildings were constructed between the 7th and 10th centuries AD. Then, mysteriously, the great city was abandoned and reclaimed by the inexorable claws of the jungle. Even the Mayan name of the city was lost, and the ruins received their current name from the nearby village of Santo Domingo de Palenque. While the ruins have received some of the most extensive excavation and reconstruction efforts of any of the Mayan sites, only 34 structures have been opened of an estimated 500 that are scattered around the area. As one wanders through the ruins or gazes from atop the tall buildings, small hills are seen everywhere about the site. These are not hills however, but Mayan structures long overgrown with jungle.

Omayyad Mosque

Mosques in Damascus, Syria

Located in the heart of the teeming city of Damascus, the Great Mosque is known to be the oldest existing monumental architecture in the Islamic world. For millennia before the birth of Islam however, the city of Damascus was a sacred site of other cultures. The recognized history of the temple site is known to go back to at least 1000 BC when the Aramaens built shrines for Hadad, the god of storms and lightening, and the goddess Atargites (Venus). Upon the foundations of these Aramaen sanctuaries the Romans built a temenos, or sacred enclosure, with a temple of the god Jupiter in the 1st century AD.

Christianity took possession of the Roman temple platform in the 4th century and a church of St. John the Baptist was built in the exact place where the Jupiter temple stood. This church, an important pilgrimage site of early Byzantine Christianity, continued to function even after the Islamic conquest of Damascus in 636. Following their occupation of the ancient city, the Muslims shared the great Roman temple platform with the Christians, the Christians retaining possession of their church and the Muslims using the southern part of the Roman temenos for their prayers. In 706 an Umayyad caliph demolished the church and constructed an enormous mosque upon the same site. Using thousands of craftsmen of Coptic, Persian, Indian and Greek origin, the construction took ten years to complete and included a prayer hall, a large courtyard and rooms for visiting pilgrims.

Inside the mosque is a small shrine of John the Baptist (Prophet Yahia to the Muslims) where tradition holds that the head of John is buried. This head is believed to possess magical powers and continues to be the focus of the Mandaeans’ annual pilgrimage, when they press their foreheads against the metal grill of the shrine and reportedly experience prophetic visions. Adjacent to the prayer hall, along the eastern wall of the courtyard, is the entrance to another shrine chamber. According to legend this shrine holds the head of Zechariah, the father of St. John the Baptist, or the head of Hussein, the son of Imam Ali, who was the son in law of Muhammad and the forth of the ‘Rightly Guided Caliphs’. There are several other pilgrimage sites in the Damascus area including the Shrine of Ibn Arabi, the Cave of the Seven Sleepers on Mount Qaysun, and the shrine of Lady Zeinab at the Sayyida Zeinab Mosque. The granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad, through Fatima, Lady Zeinab was the sister of Imam Hussein and Imam Hasan.

Bam

Archaeological Sites in Bam, Iran

Located in southeastern Iran, the ruined city of Arg-e-Bam is made entirely of mud bricks, clay, straw and the trunks of palm trees. The city was originally founded during the Sassanian period (224-637 AD) and while some of the surviving structures date from before the 12th century, most of what remains was built during the Safavid period (1502-1722). During Safavid times, the city occupied six square kilometers, was surrounded by a rampart with 38 towers, and had between 9000 and 13,000 inhabitants. Bam prospered because of pilgrims visiting its Sassanian era Zoroastrian fire temple and as a trading center on the famous Silk Road. Directly upon the site of the Zoroastrian temple the Jame Mosque was built during the Saffarian period (866-903 AD) and adjacent to this mosque is the tomb of Mirza Naiim, a mystic and astronomer who lived three hundred years ago. Bam declined in importance following an invasion by Afghans in 1722 and another by invaders from the region of Shiraz in 1810. A massive earthquake destroyed much of the archaeological ruins of Bam in 2003.

Mosque of Jam Karan

Mosques in Qom, Iran

Besides the highly visited shrines of the Imams, there are two other categories of Islamic pilgrimage sites in Iran. These are imamzadihs, or the tombs of descendants, relatives and close friends of the twelve Imams; and the mausoleums of revered Sufi saints and scholars. Saints, Imams and the individuals enshrined in the Imamzadihs are viewed as having a close relationship with god and are therefore approached by pilgrims as intercessors. Pilgrims visit the shrine of a saint in order to receive some of his baraka, or spiritual power. Making a pilgrimage, ziyarat, also brings religious merit. Near the holy city of Qum stands the mosque of Jam Karan, built in 1005, and visited by large numbers of pilgrims. Other important pilgrimage shrines in Iran are located in Qum, Shiraz, Rey and Mahan. Written in classical Arabic with exquisitely laid tile work, verses of the Koran grace the sides of the mosques’ domes.