Ancient Geometry

Ancient geometry rests on no a priori axioms or assumptions. Unlike Euclidean and the more recent geometries, the starting point of ancient geometric thought is not a network of intellectual definitions or abstractions, but instead a meditation upon a metaphysical Unity, followed by an attempt to symbolize visually and to contemplate the pure, formal order which springs forth from this incomprehensible Oneness. It is the approach to the starting point of the geometric activity which radically separates what we may call the sacred from the mundane or secular geometries. Ancient geometry begins with One, while modern mathematics and geometry begin with Zero.

Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry