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Shop03 · Culture Library
The peoples of the world, their languages, philosophies, food, history and heritage. Humanity speaks about 7,000 languages grouped in more than 140 families.
Sources in every card · References
01Peoples of the world
Humanity speaks about 7,000 languages grouped in more than 140 families. Every people names the world in its own way; together they are one human library. The map shows a sample of peoples and the schematic regions of their language families. Press “Map” on a family to see its peoples and its region.
02World Gastronomy
Ten foods that every people shares. All the gastronomy of the three libraries →
Nothing here matches yet. Ask the librarian.
Fertile Crescent · the world
Wheat and fire: one of humanity's oldest foods.
Asia · the world
The daily grain of billions.
Mesoamerica
Nixtamalized maize: the base of traditional Mexican cuisine (UNESCO 2010).
Maghreb
Shared knowledge of the Maghreb (UNESCO 2020).
Korea
Kimjang, the making and sharing of kimchi (UNESCO).
Japan
Traditional Japanese cuisine (UNESCO 2013).
Ethiopia and Eritrea
Fermented teff flatbread shared from one plate.
Naples, Italy
The art of the pizzaiuolo (UNESCO 2017).
Mesoamerica · the world
The drink of the gods became the world's chocolate.
China · the world
Traditional tea processing of China (UNESCO 2022).
03World Philosophy
Philosophies and cosmovisions of every continent, in their own words.
I am because we are
Ethics of shared humanity from southern Africa.
The way
Chinese thought of the natural order that flows through all.
Cosmic order and duty
Right living in the traditions of India.
Good living
Andean harmony between people and Pachamama.
All my relatives
Lakota words of kinship with all beings.
Truth, balance, order
The ancient Egyptian principle of harmony.
Reason, word
Greek idea of the order that makes the world knowable.
Beauty of the imperfect
Japanese aesthetics of impermanence.
Love, compassion, breath of life
Hawaiian way of living with others and the land.
Law of the land
Aboriginal Australian knowledge of creation and country.
04Codices & Books
Clay tablets, palm leaves, bark paper, parchment and paper: the books in which every people kept its memory, its sciences and its sacred words.
Nothing here matches yet. Ask the librarian.
British Museum, London
Mesopotamian epic on clay tablets, among the oldest great works of literature.
Bhandarkar Institute, Pune
Ancient Sanskrit hymns; its manuscripts are in UNESCO's Memory of the World.
British Library, London
Printed in 868: the oldest dated printed book.
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Manuscripts more than 2,000 years old found at Qumran.
Newberry Library, Chicago
The K'iche' Maya book of creation.
Vatican Library
Painted Mesoamerican book of the count of days.
Trinity College, Dublin
Illuminated Gospels made about the year 800.
Ahmed Baba Institute, Timbuktu
Centuries of science, law and poetry of West Africa.
Japan
Murasaki Shikibu's novel of the Heian court, about 1010.
Library of Congress and others
The first major book printed with movable metal type in Europe, about 1455.
05Words of culture
Every concept is a term, connected, in every language, with its sources.
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