Delubrum Samaritanum (Samaritan Sanctuary)

This woodcut depicts a multi-tiered, altar-like structure set against a maritime landscape with clouds and ships in the distance. At the apex sits a peacock, beneath which is a central arch featuring a five-pointed star and two figures: one with a wolf's head and human torso, and another represented as a donkey. Below this, the structure is divided into niches containing a goat (left), a prancing horse (center), and a herm or pillar-like figure (right). The base level features a rooster on either side and a boat in the center transporting a small house or building. The entire composition is numbered from 1 to 10 to reference a specific, albeit now obscure, system of symbolic identification.

This plate appears in Athanasius Kircher’s 'Oedipus Aegyptiacus', a massive seventeenth-century work attempting to synthesize Hermeticism, Egyptology, and universal theology through the decoding of hieroglyphs. It exemplifies Kircher’s syncretic approach to comparative mythology, linking Samaritan tradition with broader occult and alchemical motifs.