Russian Resistance to Human Sacrifice among the Tlingit Indians (1819–1867)

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-34
Author(s):  
Andrei V. Grinëv ◽  
Richard L. Bland
Keyword(s):  
Human Sacrifice

Thresholds of Time and Space

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 8-28
Author(s):  
Susan Milbrath
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Human Sacrifice ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Animal Sacrifice ◽  
Cardinal Directions ◽  
Death Imagery

Analysis of the iconography in a directional almanac on Codex Borgia pages 49–52 invites comparison with almanacs in a related set of divinatory manuscripts known as the Borgia Group, but one aspect of the Codex Borgia almanac remains unique. It records real-time dates employing the central Mexican system of year dates that help identify the images as year-end rituals. These fifteenth-century dates correlate with the last twenty-day “month” in the year, known as Izcalli in the Valley of Mexico and neighboring Tlaxcala. Izcalli rituals in February involved drilling a new fire, the erection of sacred trees, and animal sacrifice, all of which appear on Borgia 49–52. During Izcalli, human sacrifice was performed only every fourth year, a pattern like that seen in the Codex Borgia and the Codex Cospi, where death imagery and decapitated humans appear prominently on the fourth year-bearer page, associated with the southern direction. Borgia Group codices also depict trees and birds representing the four cardinal directions. These are most prominent on Codex Fejérváry-Mayer page 1 in a cosmogram representing two different calendar formats, like those seen in the Borgia almanac. The 5 × 52-day format was used to measure the solar year and Venus cycle, and a second set of day signs appears in a 4 × 65-day pattern useful in calculating the fifty-two-year cycle and the Venus cycle. This provides a subtext for understanding the dates represented on Borgia 49–52 and the extension of the almanac on page 53, where the Venus almanac begins.

Carthage

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara K. Gold
Keyword(s):  
Religious Life ◽  
Human Sacrifice ◽  
Roman Emperor ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Social ◽  
The City

This chapter discusses the rise, development, and Romanization of ancient Carthage in the early Christian period after the formation of the province of Africa Proconsularis in the Augustan period; the physical topography of the city of Carthage, including the Byrsa, the Antonine Baths, and the amphitheater; and it describes the tophet or outdoor sacrificial area and whether human sacrifice was practiced among the Carthaginians. It also covers the life, influence, and African roots of Septimius Severus, the Roman emperor during Perpetua’s life and death. Also discussed are the social, religious, and intellectual conditions for pagans in Roman Carthage, who their local gods were (Tanit, Saturn, Juno Caelestis, Baal Hammon), and the connections between civic and religious life.

Who’s Afraid of the S-word? Deviants’ Burials and Human Sacrifice

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Walsh ◽  
Marianne Moen ◽  
Sean O’neill ◽  
Svein H. Gullbekk ◽  
Rane Willerslev
Keyword(s):  
Human Sacrifice

CHILD SACRIFICE IN TULA: A BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angélica María Medrano Enríquez
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Cervical Vertebrae ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Young Age ◽  
Human Sacrifice ◽  
Postcranial Skeleton ◽  
Compound A ◽  
Cut Marks ◽  
Early Postclassic

AbstractRecent salvage excavations conducted in the Early Postclassic city of Tula, Hidalgo, exposed a residential compound containing an open patio, beneath which was discovered a massive burial, designated Feature 5. Human remains involving a minimum of 49 individuals were discovered, many of whom were arranged in a sitting or squatting position. The majority of individuals, including all of the latter, were young children. The bioarchaeological analysis suggests that they were sacrificed. Many individuals exhibited anthropogenic modification, including cut marks on the skull and postcranial skeleton, indicating the children had been flayed. Some individuals were represented only by the skull and cervical vertebrae, suggesting decapitation. The individuals appeared to be in bad health, a common attribute of children sacrificed to Tlaloc by the Aztecs. According to ethnohistorical sources, children offered to Tlaloc commonly had their throats slit, although this practice was not identified among the individuals in Feature 5, possibly owing to their young age. Sacrifice also may have been made to Xipe Totec, as suggested by the evidence of flaying and the presence of a large hollow sculpture of the deity located in an adjacent residential compound, a deity who has been also linked to human sacrifice related to regeneration and fertility.

Fray Juan De Zumárraga–His Social Contributions

1949 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 264-274
Author(s):  
James A. Magner
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Human Sacrifice ◽  
Forward Movement ◽  
Charles V ◽  
Social Contributions ◽  
Aztec Empire ◽  
Conquest Of Mexico

To Understand the conquest of Mexico, one must recognize the various human factors and the variety of motives that entered into the titanic struggle for mastery of the land. In the letters of Cortés to the Emperor Charles V, the whole gamut of ambitions—personal, national, grossly material and highly spiritual—are revealed. There can be no doubt that Cortés and the Spaniards with him were moved in the first place by a spirit of personal adventure and a desire to better their fortunes. As the panorama of the Aztec Empire opened itself before his eyes, the dream of expanding the Spanish domains came to Cortés as a justifying cause for his forward movement, so that escape or retreat appeared as treachery to his King. At the same time, as a product of the Spanish crusading era, he beheld himself in the rôle of a spiritual hero bringing the doctrine of Christian Redemption to heathen tribes sunk in idolatry and human sacrifice.

Human remains at Caral, Peru: the earliest human sacrifice?

1970 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido P. Lombardi ◽  
Uriel García-Cáceres
Keyword(s):  
Human Remains ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Human Sacrifice ◽  
Central Coast ◽  
Residential Units ◽  
The City

Caral (5000-3000 BP), South America’s largest pre-ceramic complex, is located in the central coast of Peru. Its many pyramids, squares, and specialized residential units are currently in study. Despite the fact that no cemetery has been found for the city yet, the skeletal remains of a young man were found buried on the top the largest pyramid of the «sacred city.» This unusual discovery poses many questions. This paper presents the results of the study of this body, as well as some ideas about its relevance for Andean archeology

Devotio and human sacrifice in archaic Italy and Rome

2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 363-398
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Sacrifice ◽  
Roman Religion ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Mona Island ◽  
Narrow Definition ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Father And Son ◽  
Very High

Abstract The Roman father and son of the same name, P. Decius Mus, became paragon heroes by deliberately giving their lives in battle that Rome might win over a fierce enemy. Both engaged in a special ritual called devotio (from which our word “devotion” derives) to offer themselves to the gods of the Underworld, with whom regular people have very little interaction and to whom they rarely sacrifice. While the Mus family is the most famous for this act, it turns out the willingness to sacrifice oneself for Rome frequently occurs within stories of great patriots, including the story of Horatius Cocles, Mettius Curtius, Atilius Regulus, and even the traitors Coriolanus and Tarpeia. Romans regarded self-sacrifice as a very high, noble endeavor, whereas they loathed and persecuted practitioners of human sacrifice. It is therefore quite amazing to read that the Romans thrice engaged in state-sponsored human sacrifice, a fact they rarely mention and generally forget. The most famous enemy practitioners of human sacrifice were the Druids, whom the Romans massacred on Mona Island on Midsummer Night's Eve, but the Carthaginians, the Germans, the Celts, and the Thracians all infamously practiced human sacrifice. To Romans, the act of human sacrifice falls just short of cannibalism in the spectrum of forbidden practices, and was an accusation occasionally thrown against an enemy to claim they are totally barbaric. On the other hand, Romans recognized their own who committed acts of self-sacrifice for the good of the society, as heroes. There can be no better patriot than he who gives his life to save his country. Often the stories of their heroism have been exaggerated or sanitized. These acts of heroism often turn out to be acts of human sacrifice, supposedly a crime. It turns out that Romans have a strong legacy of practicing human sacrifice that lasts into the historic era, despite their alleged opposition to it. Numerous sources relate one story each. Collecting them all makes it impossible to deny the longevity of human sacrifice in Rome, although most Romans under the emperors were probably unaware of it. The paradox of condemning but still practicing human sacrifice demonstrates the nature of Roman religion, where do ut des plays a crucial role in standard sacrifice as well as in unpleasant acts like human sacrifice. Devotio was an inverted form of sacrifice, precisely because it was an offering to the gods of the Underworld, rather than to Jupiter or the Parcae. Romans may have forsaken devotio, but they continued to practice human sacrifice far longer than most of us have suspected, if one widens the current narrow definition of human sacrifice to include events where a life is taken in order to bring about a better future for the commonwealth, appease the gods, or ensure a Roman victory in battle.

scholarly journals The Judeo-Christian Concept of ‘Sacrifice’ and Interpretation of Human Sacrifice in Uganda

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 39-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paddy Musana
Keyword(s):  
Belief Systems ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Human Sacrifice ◽  
World Religions ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
The Media

There is today a marked increase of reports on human sacrifice especially in the media and police. Accounting for these actions have been difficult given the secrecy that surrounds it especially given the fact that it is considered a „ritual‟ enacted for spiritual-magical benefits. The practice of human sacrifice has antecedents in most world religions, many times serving the ritual-magical purpose of setting and maintaining relationships with what humans in the respective belief systems consider as divine (supernatural). This paper seeks to investigate and relate the meaning of „sacrifice‟ from the Judeo-Christian faith in the Ugandan context, given the place and influence of Christianity in the Ugandan community. The conclusion of the evidence provided is that the new forms of sacrifice in Uganda today do not in any way conform to the Judeo-Christian form and understanding. In essence, the phenomenon confirms the fact that in spite of the spread of Christianity in the country, most of its adherents still conform to the indigenous beliefs and practices; as it (Christianity) serves as a veneer.

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