sacred objects
Venerated ritual things
Sacred objects are items believed to hold religious or spiritual significance—relics, icons, ritual vessels, ceremonial garments.
They may be considered holy in themselves or become sacred through blessing, association with divine figures, or use in worship.
Many traditions restrict who may touch or view sacred objects: The sacred objects were kept in a locked chamber accessible only to priests.
- talismanMagical protective charm
- crossPass from side to side
- chaliceOrnate ritual drinking vessel
- holy grailSupremely elusive objective
- offeringsThings presented or given
votive candle · menorah · totem pole · Torah scrolls · mandala · anointing oil · icon · prayer beads · holy water · prayer flags · rosary · communion wafer · sacra · animism · censer · amulet · ancestor worship · burial ground
- religionChristianity, Islam, beliefs, Judaism, Hinduism
- museum thingsart, paintings, sculptures, statues, fossils
- anthropologyanthropology, fieldwork, ethnography, social anthropology, cultural anthropology
- Indigenous cultureancestors, ancestry, ancestral lands, ancestral lineage, animal totems
- cultural propertyartifacts, monuments, manuscripts, archaeological sites, historic buildings
- heritage issuescultural erasure, historic preservation, looting, stolen art, antiquities trade
sacred objectseveryday objects
Ordinary things encountered routinely
common goods · household items · consumer products · commodities