Caroline Humphrey

Sacred architecture reflects a society's awareness of its relationship with the divine-and is thus a powerful expression of the human quest for spirituality. This book is a vivid, richly illustrated exploration of the symbolism and significance of sacred architectural forms-from spires and minarets to pyramids and temples-and of how different cultures translate their complex beliefs into physical structures.

In an authoritative and thoroughly accessible text, the authors explain the links between cosmologies and the construction of buildings, and describe the activities of worship, sacrifice, and performance within sacred spaces. The focus ranges widely to show a representative selection of the world's most fascinating sacred buildings, from prehistoric stone circles and Buddhist temples to European cathedrals and New Guinea meeting-houses.

The reference section at the back of the book explains the construction techniques behind sacred architecture and analyzes essential form such as arches, vaults, and domes.

Caroline Humphrey, Ph.D. is Director of Studies in Social Anthropology at King's College, University of Cambridge, England. Since obtaining her Doctorate, she has pursued a distinguished academic career. Her publications include Culture and Environment in Inner Asia (1996)

Piers Vitebsky, Ph.D., is an anthropologist and Head of Social Sciences at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, England. For 20 iyears he has carried out fieldwork in tribal India, Sri Lanka, and Siberia. His latest publications incude Dialogues with the Dead (1993) and The Shaman (1995).

Sacred architecture is deeply symbolic, reflecting a culture's awareness of its relationship with the divine. A vivid and richly illustrated account of the way in which different cultures translate their faith into architecure, this book examines how themes that are common throughout the world are expressed with wonderful diversity through structure and embellishment.

Presents a superb pictorial record of some of the world's most outstanding sacred buildings, with more than 200 photographs and illustations, mostly in full color, including specially commissioned plans, diagrams, and maps.

Captures the power and beauty of a wide range of temples, shrines, and other sacred buildings, from the great pyramids and medieval cathedrals to the tribal architecure of the Indonesian islands.

Explores such key themes as choosing a site, space and boundaries, feng shui, celestial alignments, consecration and urification, and the architecture of the afterlife.

Features a detailed vislual treatment, with maps, photography, and artwork, of 17 sacred sites, from the Kaaba at Mecca to the oracle at Delphi.

Concludes with a glossary of architectural terms and a guide to the construction techniques of sacred buildings.

Contents

Introduction
I Architecture and the cosmos
Models of the cosmos
Celestial alignments
Site 1: Chichen Itza, Mexico
The cosmic pillar
Temples as mountains
Site 2: Borobudur, Java
Dwellings of the gods
Choosing a site
The mythical dimension
Site 3: Mayan ball courts, Central America
Body, plan and proportion
II Sacred and social dimensions
The sacred home
The sacred meeting place
Priests and officiants
Teaching the faith
Stained glass
Space and gender
Architecture and power
Retreat and isolation
III Ritual and ceremony
Consecration and purification
Sacrifice and offerings
Praying, preaching and dancing
Sound in space
Procession and pilgrimage
Site 4: The Kaaba, Mecca
IV Types and traditions
Megalithic monuments
Site 5: Avebury and Silbury Hill, England
Egyptian temples
Site 6: The temple of Amun at Karnak
Shinto shrines and temples
Site 7: The Ise Grand Shrine, Japan
Mosques
Site 8: Isfahan, Iran
Hindu temples
Site 9: Madurai, India
Buddhist temples
Site 10: Wat Arun, Bangkok
Synagogues and the Temple of Solomon
Site 11: Beth Sholom, Pennsylvania
Mesoamerican temples
Site 12: Teotihuacan, Mexico
Greek temples
Site 13: The Parthenon, Athens
Roman temples
Site 14: The Pantheon, Rome
Churches
Site 15: St. Peter's, Rome
V Boundaries, thresholds and the centre
Inner and outer realms
Gateways, thresholds and openings
Pathways
Courtyards
Labyrinths and spirals
The centre
Site 16: Delphi, Greece
VI The Architecture of the afterlife
The needs of the dead
Tombs
Site 17: Toraja rock-cut tombs, Indonesia
Public memorials
Defying time: the afterlife of monuments
VII Documentary reference
Techniques of building
Glossary
Further reading (bibliography)
Index
Picture credits… (meer)

> ECRITS APOCRYPHES CHRÉTIENS, de Caroline Humphrey et Piers Vitebsky. — A signaler, dans la collection "Sagesses du monde” aux Éditions Albin Michel, deux ouvrages richement illustrés, "l’architecture sacrée”, et “rel="nofollow" target="_top">La grande Déesse-Mère”. Le premier offre un large panorama de monuments sacrés et d’édifice religieux de toutes les traditions, avec une analyse de leurs fonctions symboliques rituelles et cosmologiques ; le second explore un à un tous les cultes que les différentes civilisations, du paléolithique à nos jours, ont rendus à la Mère Universelle, garante de l’ordre cosmique, et présidant à l’ensemble des processus naturels de fertilité et de fécondité. Superbe. 1998 - 180 p.
—3e millénaire, (48), Été 1998… (meer)