Yin Yang
Light contains a shadow; darkness a glimmer of light.
Relief from the golden shrine of Tutankhamun, c. 1330 BCE
- ID:
- 001-006
- Discipline:
- Philosophical
- Era:
- Bronze
- Civilization:
- Egypt
- Medium:
- Relief
The Ouroboros — a serpent devouring its own tail — is one of the oldest and most enduring symbols in human history. Its earliest known depiction appears on the golden shrine of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, c. 1330 BCE, where it encircles the head and feet of a god, enclosing the cosmos in a single unbroken line. It represents time not as a line, but as a loop: life folding into death, endings feeding beginnings, eternity as a cycle rather than a destination. The serpent consumes itself yet remains whole — a paradox that speaks to the nature of transformation, identity, and continuity. Across cultures and eras, the Ouroboros has reappeared as a symbol of cosmic unity, alchemical rebirth, and the recursive nature of consciousness. It is the logic of seasons, of memory, of myth. In the Egyptian version, it is more than metaphor — it is architecture. The universe itself is shown as something that eats and renews, bound not by chaos but by sacred repetition. To glimpse the Ouroboros is to witness a truth that predates language: that everything we are is made from what came before, and what we leave behind will one day become us again.
Artifact Origin
Relief from the golden shrine of Tutankhamun, c. 1330 BCE
- ID:
- 001-006
- Discipline:
- Philosophical
- Era:
- Bronze
- Civilization:
- Egypt
- Medium:
- Relief
Artifact Origin
The Ouroboros — a serpent devouring its own tail — is one of the oldest and most enduring symbols in human history. Its earliest known depiction appears on the golden shrine of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, c. 1330 BCE, where it encircles the head and feet of a god, enclosing the cosmos in a single unbroken line. It represents time not as a line, but as a loop: life folding into death, endings feeding beginnings, eternity as a cycle rather than a destination. The serpent consumes itself yet remains whole — a paradox that speaks to the nature of transformation, identity, and continuity. Across cultures and eras, the Ouroboros has reappeared as a symbol of cosmic unity, alchemical rebirth, and the recursive nature of consciousness. It is the logic of seasons, of memory, of myth. In the Egyptian version, it is more than metaphor — it is architecture. The universe itself is shown as something that eats and renews, bound not by chaos but by sacred repetition. To glimpse the Ouroboros is to witness a truth that predates language: that everything we are is made from what came before, and what we leave behind will one day become us again.
