Altar: Did you mean...?

Geghard Monastery in Armenia contains a number of churches, altars, and tombs, most of which are cut into rock. The monastery is widely considered the very peak of Armenian medieval architecture. It was founded at some point in the 4th century...

This is from the Eye Temple at Tell Brak. The gold and stone elements were fastened to wood. The design appears to reflect a temple facade; the small circles imitate cone mosaic, and the vertical fluting represents half-columns or niches...

Celebrations of the Ghost Festival include public altars and parades where food is thrown into the air. The ghosts are thought to be hungry and so food is provided for them in homes and also in public places. Altars of fresh fruit and sweet...

On the left side the goddess Hecate is depicted while fighting the giant Clytius (she fights in three incarnations with a torch, a sword, and a lance); Detail from the Pergamon Altar's frieze (The frieze depicts Gigantomachy); built in 2nd...

This limestone altar was dedicated to the temple of the god Sibitti by the Assyrian King Sargon II. From Dur-Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad, Ninawa Governorate, Iraq), Mesopotamia. Neo-Assyrian era, 721-705 BCE. (Istanbul Archeological Museums/Ancient...

These enamelled bricks formed part of an altar at the forecourt of the temple palace of Guzana (or Gozan). From Tell Halaf (modern Al-Hasaka Governorate), northeastern Syria. Neo-Assyrian period, circa 800 BCE. (The Pergamon Museum, Berlin...

A church altar from Jacobstow Church, Cornwall, England. During the English Reformation and reign of Edward VI of England (r. 1547-53 CE), the altar, like many others, was removed to be replaced by a communion table.

Neolithic clay altar figurine of a mother goddess from Tumba Madzari, North Macedonia, the second half of the 6th millennium BCE. Archaeological Museum of the Republic of Macedonia, Skopje. Tumba Madzari (lit. hill of the tomb) is a Neolithic...

The sacrificial altar standing in the Temple Courtyard in Aquae Sulis (Bath). The altar was used for public ceremonies and animal sacrifices during the Roman period (1st - early 5th century CE). Carvings of Jupiter, Apollo, and other Roman...

Day of the Dead altar, photograph by Eneas De Troya, 2009. Depicted here is a home altar of offerings (ofrenda) assembled for the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos), a widely observed festival in Mexico in which celebrants commemorate...