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A votive deposit or votive offering is an object left in a sacred
SACRED

SACRED was a Cubesat built by the Student Satellite Program of the University of Arizona. It was the product of the work of about 50 students, ranging from college freshmen to Ph....
 place for ritual
Ritual

A ritual is a set of repeated actions, often thought to have symbolic value, the performance of which is usually prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community by religious or political laws because of the perceived efficacy of those actions....
 purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally made in order to gain favor with supernatural
Supernatural

The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are Spell and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others....
 forces. Votive offerings have been described in historical Roman era and Greek sources, although similar acts continue into the present day, for example the modern day practice of tossing coins into a wishing well
Wishing well

A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe water well where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the idea that water housed deity or had been placed there as a gift from the gods, since water was a source of life and often a scarce commodity....
 or fountain.

Ancient offerings
In Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 votive deposits date to the Neolithic
Neolithic

The Neolithic period was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 Before the Christian Era in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age....
, with polished axe
Axe

The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for Millennium to shape, split and cut wood, harvest Lumber, as a weapon and a ceremony or Heraldry symbol....
 hoard
Hoard

In archaeology, a hoard is a collection of valuable objects or artifact , sometimes purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by metal-detectorists, members of the public and arch...
s, reaching a peak in the late Bronze Age
Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is, with respect to a given prehistory, the period in that society when the most advanced metalworking included smelting copper and tin from naturally-occurring outcroppings of copper and tin ores, creating a bronze alloy by melting those metals together, and casting them into bronze artifact s....
.






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015230 Paraskevotive
A votive deposit or votive offering is an object left in a sacred
SACRED

SACRED was a Cubesat built by the Student Satellite Program of the University of Arizona. It was the product of the work of about 50 students, ranging from college freshmen to Ph....
 place for ritual
Ritual

A ritual is a set of repeated actions, often thought to have symbolic value, the performance of which is usually prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community by religious or political laws because of the perceived efficacy of those actions....
 purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally made in order to gain favor with supernatural
Supernatural

The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are Spell and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others....
 forces. Votive offerings have been described in historical Roman era and Greek sources, although similar acts continue into the present day, for example the modern day practice of tossing coins into a wishing well
Wishing well

A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe water well where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the idea that water housed deity or had been placed there as a gift from the gods, since water was a source of life and often a scarce commodity....
 or fountain.

Ancient offerings


In Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 votive deposits date to the Neolithic
Neolithic

The Neolithic period was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 Before the Christian Era in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age....
, with polished axe
Axe

The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for Millennium to shape, split and cut wood, harvest Lumber, as a weapon and a ceremony or Heraldry symbol....
 hoard
Hoard

In archaeology, a hoard is a collection of valuable objects or artifact , sometimes purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by metal-detectorists, members of the public and arch...
s, reaching a peak in the late Bronze Age
Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is, with respect to a given prehistory, the period in that society when the most advanced metalworking included smelting copper and tin from naturally-occurring outcroppings of copper and tin ores, creating a bronze alloy by melting those metals together, and casting them into bronze artifact s....
. High status artifact
Artifact (archaeology)

In archaeology, an artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human archaeological culture, and often one later recovered by some archaeological endeavor....
s such as sword
Sword

A sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used as a cutting, thrusting, and clubbing weapon in many civilizations throughout the world. The word sword comes from the Old English language wikt:sweord, cognate to Old High German swert, Middle Dutch swaert, Old Norse sver? Old Frisian and Old Saxon swerd and Dutch langua...
s and spearhead
Spearhead

A spearhead is the sharpened tip of a spear.Spearhead may also refer to:*Spearhead , a musical group founded by Michael Franti*Spearhead , a novel by Franklin M....
s were apparently buried or more commonly cast into bodies of water or peat bog
Bog

A bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
s, whence they could not possibly have been recovered. Often all the objects in a ritual hoard are broken, 'killing' the objects to put them even further beyond utilitarian use before deposition. The purposeful discarding of valuable items such as sword
Sword

A sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used as a cutting, thrusting, and clubbing weapon in many civilizations throughout the world. The word sword comes from the Old English language wikt:sweord, cognate to Old High German swert, Middle Dutch swaert, Old Norse sver? Old Frisian and Old Saxon swerd and Dutch langua...
s and spearhead
Spearhead

A spearhead is the sharpened tip of a spear.Spearhead may also refer to:*Spearhead , a musical group founded by Michael Franti*Spearhead , a novel by Franklin M....
s is thought to have therefore had ritual overtones. The items have since been found in rivers, lakes and former wet-places (now drained by modern agriculture) by metal-detectorists, members of the public and archaeologists.

In Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica or Meso-America is a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, within which a number of pre-Columbian society flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries....
, votive deposits have been recovered from the Olmec
Olmec

The Olmec were an ancient Pre-Columbian people living in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in what are roughly the modern-day Mexican state of Veracruz and Tabasco....
 site of El Manati
El Manatí

El Manat? is an archaeological site in the Political divisions of Mexico of Veracruz. El Manat? was the site of a sacred Olmec sacrifice bog from roughly 1600 Common Era until 1200 BCE....
 (dated to 1600-1200 BC) and the Maya Sacred Cenote
Sacred Cenote

The Sacred Cenote refers to a noted cenote at the pre-Columbian Maya civilization archaeological site of Chichen Itza, in the northern Yucat?n Peninsula....
 at Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucat?n Peninsula, in the Yucat?n state, present-day Mexico....
 (850-1550 AD).

Tesoro De Guarrazar (m
In archaeology
Archaeology

Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
, votive deposits differ from hoard
Hoard

In archaeology, a hoard is a collection of valuable objects or artifact , sometimes purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by metal-detectorists, members of the public and arch...
s in that although they may contain similar items, votive deposits were not intended for later recovery.

Curse tablets

A curse tablet or defixio is a small sheet of tin or lead on which a message wishing misfortune upon someone else was inscribed. Usually found rolled up and deliberatly deposited, there are five main reasons for dedicating a curse-tablet: 1 - Litigation, 2 - Competition, 3 - Trade, 4 - Erotic Ambition, 5 - Theft

Of those in Britain, of which the largest numbers are from the sacred spring at Aquae Sulis( 130 examples) and at Uley (140 examples), the vast majority are type 5.

The use of the curse-tablet in seeking restoration of stolen property, for example, is evdience of invoking divine power through a very non-traditional water-deposition context. The usual form of divine invocation was through prayer, sacrifice and altar dedication

Judaism

The use of votive offerings are found in the Tanakh
Tanakh

The Tanakh is the Bible used in Judaism. The name "Tanakh" is a Hebrew language Acronym and initialism formed from the initial Hebrew alphabet of the Tanakh's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim - hence TaNaKh....
. The Torah
Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
 makes provision for "free-will offerings" which may be made by any individual. When Solomon
Solomon

Solomon is a figure described in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an. The biblical accounts identify Solomon as the son of David. He is also called Jedidiah in the Tanakh , and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah split; following th...
 built his temple he provided a number of furnishings above and beyond what had been commanded to Moses
Moses

Moses is a Hebrew Bible Hebrews religious leader, lawgiver, prophet, to whom the Mosaic authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew , he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and also an important prophet of Christianity, Islam, the Bah?'? Faith, Rastafari movement, Chrislam and many ot...
 on Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai , also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gebel Musa or Jabal Musa by the Bedouin, is the name of a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula....
 (see Temple of Solomon).

Oral tradition
Oral Torah

A term used to denote the legal and interpretative traditions which were transmitted Speech, and which were not written in the Torah. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the oral Torah, oral Law, or oral tradition was given by God orally to Moses in conjunction with the written Torah ....
 in Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism

Rabbinic Judaism or Rabbinism is the mainstream religious system of post-Jewish diaspora Judaism. It evolved after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE by the Roman Empire, when it became impossible to practice the religious customs and Korban that were at that time central to Jewish observance....
 also speaks of a huge golden grape vine which adorned the outside of the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem

The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to a series of structures located on the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem. Historically, two temples were built at this location, and a The Third Temple features in Jewish eschatology....
 before its destruction by the Romans.

Christianity

The tradition of votive offerings has been carried into Christianity in both the East and the West.

Eastern Christianity


According to Sacred Tradition
Sacred Tradition

Sacred Tradition or Holy Tradition is a technical theological term used in some Christian traditions, primarily in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox traditions, to refer to the fundamental basis of church authority....
, after Constantine the Great's conversion and subsequent victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, he donated one of the crosses he carried in battle to the Church. This cross is reputed to be preserved on Mount Athos
Mount Athos

Mount Athos is a mountain on the peninsula of the same name in Macedonia , of northern Greece, called in Greek language Agion Oros , or in English, "Holy Mountain"....
.

One of the most famous Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
 votive offerings is that by Saint
Saint

A saint in Christianity is a human being who has been called to holiness. The term is used differently by various denominations, with some, such as the Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans distinguishing between Saints and saints....
 John of Damascus
John of Damascus

John of Damascus was a monk and Priesthood from Damascus. He was born and raised in that city, and died at his monastery Mar Saba.He was a polymath whose fields of interest and contribution included law, theology, philosophy, and music....
. According to tradition
Hagiography

Hagiography is the study of saints. A hagiography, from Greek ' and ' , refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically the biography of ecclesiastical and secular leaders....
, while he was serving as Vizier
Vizier

A Vizier , is a term for a high-ranking political advisor or minister, often to a Muslim monarch such as a Caliph, or Sultan. It sometimes refers to ministers and advisors of the Persian Empire's Shahs....
 to the Caliph
Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah....
, he was falsely accused of treachery and his hand was cut off. Upon praying in front of an icon
Icon

An 'icon' is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity. More broadly the term is used in a wide number of contexts for an image, picture, or representation; it is a sign or likeness that stands for an object by signifying or representing it either concretely or by analogy, as in semiotics; by extension, ...
 of the Theotokos
Theotokos

Theotokos is a title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches....
 his hand was miraculously
Miracle

File:Folio 171r - The Raising of Lazarus.jpgA miracle is a sensibly perceptible interruption of the laws of nature, such that can only be explained by divine intervention, and is sometimes associated with a miracle-worker....
 restored. In thanksgiving, he had a silver replica of his hand fashioned and attached it to the icon (see image at left). This icon, now called "Trojerucica
Trojerucica

Bogorodica Trojerucica or simply Trojerucica is a famous wonderworking icon in the Serb Orthodox monastery of Hilandar on Mount Athos, Greece....
" (The Three-handed) is preserved at Hilandar
Hilandar

Hilandar is a Serbian Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos in Greece. It was founded in 1198 by the Serbian Saint Sava and his father, Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja of Ra?ka ....
 Monastery on Mount Athos
Mount Athos

Mount Athos is a mountain on the peninsula of the same name in Macedonia , of northern Greece, called in Greek language Agion Oros , or in English, "Holy Mountain"....
.

Orthodox Christians continue to make votive offerings to this day, often in the form of tamata
Tama (votive)

Tama are a votive offering or ex-voto used in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, particularly the Greek Orthodox Church. Tamata are usually small metal plaques, which may be of base or precious metal, usually with an embossed image symbolizing the subject of prayer for which the plaque is offered....
, metal plaques symbolizing the subject of their prayer
Prayer

Prayer is the act of communicating with a deity or spirit in worship. Specific forms of this may include praise, requesting divine providence, confessing sins, as an act of reparation or an expression of one's emotional expression....
s. Other offerings include, candle
Candle

A candle is a source of light, and sometimes a source of heat, consisting of a solid block of fuel and an embedded candle wick.Today, most candles are made from paraffin....
s, prosphora
Prosphora

A prosphoron is a small loaf of bread used in Eastern Orthodox Church Liturgy. The plural form is prosphora . The term originally meant any offering made to a temple, but in Orthodox Christianity has come to mean specifically the bread offered at the Divine Liturgy....
, wine, oil, or incense
Incense

Incense is composed of aromatic Biotic material materials. It releases fragrant smoke when burned. The term incense refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces....
. In addition, many will leave something of personal value, such as jewelry, a pectoral cross
Pectoral cross

A pectoral cross or pectorale is a Christian cross, usually large, suspended from the neck by a cord or Link chain. Most pectoral crosses are made of precious metals and some contain precious or semi-precious gems....
 or military decoration
Military decoration

A military decoration is a state decoration given to military personnel or units for heroism in battle or distinguished service. They are designed to be worn on military uniform....
 as a sign of devotion.

Western Christianity

In the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 offerings were made either to fulfill a vow
Vow

A vow is a promise or oath....
 made to God for deliverance, or a thing left to a Church in gratitude for some favor that was granted. Today votives can be lit candles, offered flowers, statues, vestments, and, monetary donations.

Ancient examples include:

  • Henry III of England
    Henry III of England

    Henry III was the son and successor of John of England as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester....
     had a golden statue of his queen made and placed on the shrine of St. Edward
    Edward the Confessor

    Saint Edward the Confessor , son of Ethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was the penultimate Anglo-Saxons List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of England and the last of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 until his death....
     at Westminster
  • A falcon in wax at the shrine of St. Wulstan by Edward I
    Edward I of England

    Edward I , popularly known as Longshanks, the English Justinian, and the Hammer of the Scots , was a House of Plantagenet King of England who achieved historical fame by conquering large parts of Wales and almost succeeding in doing the same to Scotland....
  • A diamond and a ruby, adorning the tomb of St. Thomas Becket
    Thomas Becket

    Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to his death. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion....
     at Canterbury
    Canterbury Cathedral

    Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christianity structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
  • Numerous crutches, left in the grotto at Lourdes
    Lourdes

    Lourdes is a town and communes of France situated in the southwest of the Hautes-Pyr?n?es Departments of France, lying in the first Pyrenean foothills, in southwestern France....
  • The song "O Wilhelme, pastor bone" composed by John Taverner
    John Taverner

    John Taverner was an England composer and organist, regarded as the most important English composer of his era....
     is a Votive Antiphon dedicated to Cardinal Wolsey


See also

  • Ex-voto
    Ex-voto

    An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or divinity. It is given in fulfillment of a vow or in gratitude or devotion. Ex-votos are placed in a Church or chapel where the worshipper seeks grace or wishes to give thanks....
  • Grave goods
    Grave goods

    Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods....
  • Votive candle
    Votive candle

    A votive candle is a small, typically white or beeswax yellow, candle, originally intended to be burnt as a votive offering in a religious ceremony....
  • Pinax
    Pinax

    In the culture of ancient Greece and Magna Graecia, a pinax or a "board", denotes a votive tablet of painted wood, terracotta, marble or bronze that served as a votive deposit deposited in a sanctuary or as a memorial affixed within a burial chamber....
  • Votive site
    Votive site

    Votive sites are sites where animal sacrifice in the form of bones deposited in a split in a block of stone or beneath a cairn are made.The sites strongly resemble Grave s or tombs, however no human bones are found....
  • Foundation deposit
    Foundation deposit

    Foundation deposits are ritual mudbrick lined pits or holes dug at specific points under Ancient Egypt temples or tombs, which were filled with ceremonial objects, usually amulets, scarabs, food, or ritual miniature tools, and were supposed to prevent the building from falling into ruin....
  • Anathema
    Anathema

    Anathema originally meant something lifted up as an offering to the gods; later, with evolving meanings, it came to mean:# to be formally setting apart;...


External links