Ancient Religious Practices: Human Sacrifice and Its Impact on Modern Societies
Human sacrifice has been a part of religious and cultural practices throughout human history, often serving as a means to please or appease gods, rulers, or ancestral spirits. This practice has been widespread in many ancient societies and has left a significant impact on the development of modern religiosity and cultural norms. In this article, we explore the history, purpose, and decline of human sacrifice, discussing its various forms and the contexts in which it was practiced.
What is Human Sacrifice?
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans, typically as part of a ritual intended to please or appease gods, rulers, authoritative figures, or spirits of dead ancestors. Closely related practices, such as cannibalism and headhunting, have also been found in some tribal societies. Human sacrifice was once widespread but has become extremely rare in recent times.
Purpose and Variations of Human Sacrifice
The rationale behind human sacrifice often aligns with traditional religious motives, such as seeking good fortune or appeasing the gods. It was commonly performed during the dedication of buildings, such as temples or bridges. Fertility was another significant theme, as seen in sacrifices to the Aztec god of agriculture, lsquo;Xipe Totecrsquo;. Additionally, in ancient Japan, legends speak of lsquo;hitobashirarsquo; being buried alive at the base of buildings to protect them from disasters or enemy attacks.
Examples of Human Sacrifice in Ancient Societies
During the re-consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reportedly killed approximately 80400 prisoners over the course of four days. This occurrence, documented by Ross Hassig in his book lsquo;Aztec Warfarersquo;, underscores the extent to which human sacrifice was practiced in these societies. Another purpose for human sacrifice included winning the favor of the gods in warfare, as seen in the Homeric legend of Iphigeneia, whose father, Agamemnon, was planning to sacrifice her to Artemis to secure victory in the Trojan War.
Motives and Social Impact
Human sacrifice could serve various purposes within a society. For instance, it could bring societal unity by creating a bond among the community and by combining human sacrifice with capital punishment to remove individuals negatively affecting social stability. However, outside of civil religion, it could also lead to blood frenzy and mass killings, resulting in societal destabilization.
Decline of Human Sacrifice
By the Iron Age (1st millennium BCE), human sacrifice was becoming less common in regions such as Africa, Europe, and Asia, and was viewed as barbaric during the classical antiquity period. In the Americas, the practice lasted until European colonization. Today, human sacrifice is extremely rare, and modern secular laws treat it as tantamount to murder.
Religious and Cultural Perspectives
Most major religions today condemn the practice of human sacrifice. The Hebrew Bible, for instance, prohibits murder and human sacrifice to Moloch. Some cultures display traces of prehistoric human sacrifice in their mythologies and religious texts, but the practice ceased before the onset of historical records. The story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 is often cited as an etiological myth explaining the abolition of human sacrifice.
Replacement of Human Sacrifice
With the decline of human sacrifice, many societies replaced it with animal sacrifice or the mock-sacrifice of effigies, such as during the Argei festival in ancient Rome.