page_title: Sacred grove
section_title: Ancient Near East
hierarchical_section_title: Sacred grove / In history / Ancient Near East
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Древние оливы в Гефсимании, Иерусалим.
context_page_description: A sacred grove or sacred woods are any grove of trees that are of special religious importance to a particular culture. Sacred groves feature in various cultures throughout the world. They were important features of the mythological landscape and cult practice of Celtic, Baltic, Germanic, ancient Greek, Near Eastern, Roman, and Slavic polytheism, and continue to occur in locations such as India, Japan, and West Africa. Examples of sacred groves include the Greco-Roman temenos, various Germanic words for sacred groves, and the Celtic nemeton, which was largely but not exclusively associated with Druidic practice. During the Northern Crusades, there was a common practice of building churches on the sites of sacred groves. The Lakota and various other North American tribes consider particular forests or other natural landmarks to be sacred. Singular trees which a community deems to hold religious significance are known as sacred trees.
context_section_description: There are two mentions on this tradition in the Bible:
  Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there the name of God.
  —Genesis 21:33
  and
  where the women wove hangings for the grove.
  —II Kings 23:7
  Excavations at Labraunda have revealed a large shrine assumed to be that of Zeus Stratios mentioned by Herodotus as a large sacred grove of plane trees sacred to Carians. In Syria, there was a grove sacred to Adonis at Afqa.
caption: Olive trees can attain impressive age, as here at Gethsemane
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