In my youth, most looked (more at than in)to the Bible to make sense of themselves, their lives and our world (sub specie biblia, if not dei) but in fact, most of human history, especially that area into which each one has been born and raised, is a kind of mirror of human life, collectively and individually. As I long ago coined: Anthropography.
http://steppenwolfmoscow1.blogspot.com/2012/03/anthrography.html
Stephen Lapeyrouse . . . Notes Dropped Along the Way 