Sacred Atlas
The ConstellationParallels across civilizations

Watch the ideas propagate.

Five thousand years of scripture, laid flat across one horizon. Each dot is a book at its best-guess composition date; each gilt arc is a parallel — a story or teaching that travels between traditions. Trace the flood story from Gilgamesh to Genesis to Mahabharata, or the golden rule from Analects to Torah to Matthew to Dhammapada.

Traditions:
Parallels
160%
30 scriptures · 13 parallelsdrag · scroll-zoom · pinch · arrows · 0 reset
Bronze AgeLate Bronze CollapseMedievalEarly ModernAncient Near EastHinduismZoroastrianismJudaismBuddhismTaoismConfucianismChristianityIslam3000 BCE3000 BCE2500 BCE2500 BCE2000 BCE2000 BCE1500 BCE1500 BCE1000 BCE1000 BCE500 BCE500 BCE250 BCE250 BCE00250 CE250 CE500 CE500 CE1000 CE1000 CE1500 CE1500 CE2000 CE2000 CEEpic of Gilgamesh — Th…Rigveda — Selected HymnsAvestaExodusGenesisIsaiahEzekiel1 KingsJobThe AnalectsJonahMahabharata — SelectionsTao Te ChingDhammapadaBhagavad Gita1 Enoch — Book of the …DanielUpanishadsMatthewLukeJohnRevelationGospel of ThomasSurah 4: An-Nisa (The …Surah 11: Hud (Hud)Surah 19: Maryam (Mary)Surah 20: Taha (Ta-Ha)Surah 37: As-Saffat (T…Surah 41: Fussilat (Ex…Book of Mormon
Each dot is a scripture placed at its best-guess composition date. Click a dot to open the book. Pick a parallel above and the thread illuminates between the scriptures it connects. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom; 0 resets, arrow keys nudge.