Preview

Ritual Human Sacrifice

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2190 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ritual Human Sacrifice
Introduction

The use of human sacrifice in different rituals has featured largely in many cultures for thousands of years. To better understand this one must first consider and define what is actually meant by the term ‘ritual’. According to The Oxford English Dictionary, ritual is described as ‘the series of actions used in a religious or other rite’. Renfrew and Bahn (1991, 408-9) indicate that ritual activity can be identified by the observation of four contributing components, such as the focusing of attention on the location, a sacred place; the presence of a possible liminal boundary between ‘this world and the next’; evidence for the worship of a deity and the participation and offerings made by individuals. The term ‘sacrifice’ as defined by The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Archaeology (Darvill, 2003, p371) as the slaughter of an animal or person or the surrendering of possessions to a deity. It goes on to say, Although seen as ceremonial in context, sacrifice may have a functional ends institutionalized in the practice itself, for example the regulation of a population and the creation of an instrument of political terror.

Ancient Egypt

Kings of the first 2 dynasties (3100-2686BC) were not buried alone. Since death was regarded as a mirror image of life in Ancient Egypt their graves needed to contain all that they had needed when alive. This included members of their household, their servants and their slaves. When the tomb of King Wadji (c. 2980BC) (Wilkinson, 1999) was excavated 455 bodies were discovered. Members of the king’s personal household numbered 338 (Shaw, 2000, p68). Also, the bodies of 77 female and 41 important male employees shared the grave of Wadji’s queen, Mernieth. Many of the servants buried with their employers were deliberately killed for the purpose often by poison. Others, not so lucky, were buried alive as attested to by their contorted bodies when they where excavated (Lewis, 2006, p267).

Mesopotamia

The Sumerians



Bibliography: Bahn, P., 1996. The Story of Archaeology. George Weidenfeld and Nicolson Ltd., London. Darvill, T., 2003. The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Archaeologhy. Oxford University Press, New York. Deem, J,. 1998. Bodies From The Bog. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York. Fernandez, A., 1996. Dioses Prehispanicos de Mexico. Panorama, Mexico City. Green, M., 1986. The Gods of The Celts. Sutton Publishing, Gloucester. Harner, M., 1977. The Enigma of Aztec Sacrifice, Natural History, Vol. 86, No. 4; p46-51. Hogg, G., 1966, Cannibalism and Human Sacrifice. The Citadel Press, New York. Lewis, B., 2006. Endless Path, Ancient Egypt. Flame Tree Publishing, London. Meyer, M. and Sherman, W., 1995, The Course of Mexican History (5TH ed.). Oxford University Press, Oxford. Macullough, J., 1911. The Religion of the Ancient Celts, Hutchinson’s University Library, London’ Moctezuma, M Shaw, I., 2000. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Smith, M., 1996. The Aztecs, Blackwell Publishers Inc. Oxford. Van De Mieroop, M., 2004. A History of the Ancient Neat East. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford. Wilkinson, T., 1999. Early Dynastic Egypt. Routledge, London. Woolley, L., 1954. Excavations at Ur. Crowell Company, New York.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Ancient Egypt, a magnificent civilization, but just how did they treat their dead kings? This essay will explain what and why pharaohs became mummified, and how they did.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King Djoser’s Step Pyramid, Pyramid of Amenemhet II, and Valley of the Kings are all important monuments regarding burial of either royalties or both royalties and officials. These three monuments are from different time period and it is clear that ancient Egyptian tombs come in all sort of kinds. The tombs, artwork, and sculpture shows that the belief in the afterlife existed back then.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Xochiquetzal Essay

    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Markman, Roberta H., and Peter T. Markman. The flayed God: The mesoamerican mythological tradition : Sacred texts and images from pre-Columbian Mexico and Central America. [San Francisco, Calif.]: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992.…

    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bibliography: Hernan Cortés, and Anthony Pagden, In _Letters from Mexico_ (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 11.…

    • 1631 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When the words “Human Sacrifice” come to your mind, what do you think? To me I think it is abnormal and horrific. Most people could agree with me, but others not so much. Human sacrifice is really popular in the Aztec culture. The Aztecs were the Native Americans who took over Northern Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest, during the 14th through the16th century. The Aztecs were fearless warriors and pragmatic builders. When it came to their religious beliefs, they were very specific in whom they believed in. They had many ways to thank and praise their gods, and one of those ways was through Human Sacrifice. Now there are many different ways to remember the Aztecs, such as their amazing agriculture. But if we had to choose between those two topics, human sacrifice is more intriguing. Historians should emphasize human sacrifice in the Aztec culture because there was an enormous sale that cannot be ignored, the connections to religion, and also the most important factor, the human connection.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ritual sacrifice is a common element that has been found within many cultures around the globe. Two of these cultures are the Paracas and the Nazca, located on the coastal edge of the Andes along river valleys. These two cultures are believed to be linked to each other, inhabiting the same region and the Nazca culture following shortly after the Paracas culture.…

    • 1703 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The accounts of the Spanish conquest of Mexico are often Spanish and almost always "patently self-serving" (Hassig 3). They glorify the ideals of the groups that the authors represent and emphasize the improbability of the Spanish victories. They largely ignore the Native points of view of the conquest, due to both a smaller number of Native accounts and due to their own motives. However, Hassig presents a balanced narrative of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and considers the Native perspectives and motives from a practical point of view.…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Aztec empire, religion was really important. They honored a lot of goddesses and gods, and each of these gods had ruled different people, so each god had different jobs. The Mesoamerican religion is the way of saying “the Aztecs”. In the Mesoamerican religions, they had elements of human sacrifice in most of the festivals, and they were held in the Aztec calendar.…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the course of history the Mayan and Aztec societies have been viewed as some of, if not the most bloodthirsty cultures in history, due to the immense significance of human sacrifice. Both the Aztec and Mayans have gained an infamous reputation for the ritualistic ceremony of human sacrifice, but it is important to remember that both cultures did this as a gratification to the gods and this process was viewed as a necessity to life and the prolonged prosperity of the people. Self sacrifice was common practice in both these developing empires, as they believed human blood was the key to appeasing the gods, as a result auto sacrifice became common practice in showing your commitment to the gods and played a momentous role in the life of the people.…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aztec Sacrifices

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Sacrifices were made as an offering to specific gods, therefore, the rituals varied in different circumstances. Types of sacrifices included, being shot with arrows, drowned, burned, mutilated but the most well-known was when the heart was removed from the victim chest. The Aztec people believed that this would please their gods which was why they welcomed it into their lives. Every 18 months in the Aztec cycle, there was a ritual sacrifice. Moreover, the victim would be taken to the top of the pyramid and into the temple, painted and then placed on a slab to have their heart removed (Source 4). The priest would use an instrument called the “Holy Knife”, and use it specifically to cut open the chest of sacrificial victims. In summary, many…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The ritual of human sacrifice dates beyond memory and was used in many cultures. Sacrifice has been performed by many cultures for a diverse amount of reasons and in a variety of ways.…

    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In this paper, I will be summarizing the following chapters: Chapter 3: "A Legacy of Hate: The Conquest of Mexico’s Northwest”; Chapter 4: “Remember the Alamo: The Colonization of Texas”; and Chapter 5: “Freedom in a Cage: The Colonization of New Mexico. All three chapters are from the book, “Occupied America, A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo F. Acuna. In chapter three, Acuna explains the causes of the war between Mexico and North America. In chapter four, Acuna explains the colonization of Texas and how Mexicans migrated from Mexico to Texas. In chapter five, Acuna explains the colonization of New Mexico and the economic changes that the people had to go through.…

    • 1328 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    mayan society

    • 503 Words
    • 2 Pages

    During the time of the Mayan Temple one thing that was very important was sacrifice. They did sacrifice by cutting themselves sometimes and they used by killing other people. Also human sacrifice was a central Mayan religion. It was believed to encourage fertility, demonstrate piety, and propitiate the gods. The Mayan gods were thought to be nourished by human blood, and ritual bloodletting was seen as the only means of making contact with them. The Maya believed that if they neglected these rituals, cosmic disorder and chaos would result.…

    • 503 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    All prominent cultures and religions in the world devote specific rites and rituals to their respective societies and faiths. Rites are acts of social, spiritual and religious origins and apply not only to ceremonies for the living, but to ceremonies for the dead as well. This paper will compare and contrast the rituals practiced by my Italian-American family with the rituals practiced by those of Muslim beliefs.…

    • 2073 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jacklyn Walton Professor. Philbin History 111 (M,TH,F) 15 October 2014 Ancient Egyptian After Life and Gods and Goddesses The Ancient Egyptian’s had a very interesting take on their after life. People have spent a lot of time and money to try and learn more about them. These people have found out a bunch of information about Egyptian gods and goddesses along with their version of the after life and what happens to the dead.…

    • 2473 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics